ABOUT VICTORIA THOMPSON

photo of author Victoria Thompson, a middle-aged white woman with short salt and pepper hair. She's wearing a gray and black jacket and glasses, and she's smiling.
photo: Monica Z

Victoria Thompson began her writing career as the bestselling author of twenty historical romance novels, which gave her great admiration for life in the nineteenth century. Her work includes the USA Today bestselling historical Gaslight Mystery series, which has been nominated for six Agatha Awards, an Edgar® Award, and a Bruce Alexander Award. Victoria’s other historical series, the Counterfeit Lady Novels, was nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award by Mystery Writers of America.

Victoria earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Secondary Education from the University of Maryland and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, a program for which she was also a professor for twenty-three years. Additionally, she taught in the Continuing Education Department at Penn State University and was a frequent speaker at writers’ conferences across the country. In 2012, she received a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times magazine.

Victoria passed away peacefully at home in the suburbs of Chicago, IL in August 2024 after a years-long battle with cancer. Her husband of fifty-five years, Jim Thompson, passed away in January 2025. The Thompsons are survived by two adult daughters who are both writers and three grandchildren. Their daughter, Ellen Thompson, is carrying on her mother’s legacy by continuing to write books in Victoria’s series.

Follow Victoria

"I became enchanted by New York City, and Greenwich Village in particular, while one of my daughters attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. After reading many books about the Village, and spending many pleasant hours dining, shopping, and just wandering the streets, I was permanently hooked on New York City!"
–VICTORIA THOMPSON

Awards & Achievements

2019 Sue Grafton Memorial Award Finalist: City of Secrets

2018 Agatha Award Finalist, Best Historical Novel: Murder on Union Square

2016 Malice Domestic Guest of Honor

2016 Agatha Award Finalist, Best Historical Novel: Murder in Morningside Heights

2015 Agatha Award Finalist, Best Historical Novel: Murder on Amsterdam Avenue

2014 Agatha Award Finalist, Best Historical Novel: Murder in Murray Hill

2013 Agatha Award Finalist, Best Historical Novel: Murder in Chelsea

2012 Romantic Times Career Achievement Award

2012 Agatha Award Finalist, Best Historical Novel: Murder on Fifth Avenue

2005 Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award Finalist: Murder on Marble Row

2001 Edgar® Award Finalist, Best Paperback Original: Murder on St. Mark’s Place

1999 First Mystery Award Nominee, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Awards: Murder on Astor Place

Organizations

Member, Mystery Writers of America

Member, Sisters in Crime

Founding Member and Past President, Novelists, Inc.

Co-founder and Past President, Pennwriters

Co-founder and First President, New Jersey Romance Writers

Board of Trustees, Vernon Area Public Library

Past Board Member, Romance Writers of America

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