Cristina Sumners holds a B.A. in English from Vassar, an M.Div. from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, and an M.Phil. in medieval English studies from Oxford University. She has taught English and religious studies, and has served churches in Texas and England. Married to a scientist, she lives in Taos, New Mexico, where she is at work on her second suspense novel, Thieves Break In.