Author Biography (Short)

Benjamin Bradley is a member of both Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. He's the author of the Shepard & Kelly Mystery series through Indies United Publishing House and his short fiction has appeared in literary magazines including Reckon Review and Flash Fiction Magazine. He works in public health and homelessness and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, their cat Fox, and their dog Harper.

Author Biography (Long)

Benjamin Bradley was born and raised in northern New Jersey. His earliest exposure to writing crime fiction was a short story entitled “Mr. Frog Goes to Jail” written at the ripe age of eight. Through his teens and twenties, Benjamin put the craft on the back burner to explore the world through running, travel, and national community service through AmeriCorps. In all of his experiences, he found a love for sharing the stories of misadventures, mischief, and mayhem from different pockets of the world.

Always a voracious reader, Benjamin turned back to writing crime fiction and mystery novels in his downtime as a way to process and control the harsh realities of the world he saw working in poverty alleviation and public health. This escape grew and with great trepidation, Benjamin began sharing his work with family and friends, eventually publishing a YA thriller and The Shepard and Kelly Mystery novels with an independent press.

His latest novel, WHAT HE LEFT BEHIND is the first with CamCat Books, which is centered around experiences in many of the small communities across the south he has supported through his work. He cites Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly, Attica Locke, and SA Cosby as inspirations. His short fiction has appeared in esteemed literary magazines including Reckon Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Rural Fiction Magazine.

Benjamin holds degrees from Rowan University and NC State University and now calls Raleigh, North Carolina his home, where he lives with his wife and their cat and dog. He continues to work in public health and housing alongside a dedicated team committed to ending homelessness and providing equitable healthcare for all.

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Back Cover Copy (WHAT HE LEFT BEHIND)

In this town, everyone has a secret they’d kill to keep.

Oak Hill, North Carolina is a sleepy community where nothing exciting ever happens, a town so tiny it has no room for secrets. So when a stranger is found murdered in a cornfield, Detective Grace Bingham is forced to partner with Jacob Sawyer—a big city detective who broke her heart and fled the town years prior—in order to uncover the explosive truth. 

As Grace ID’s the Jane Doe, her identity points toward their tragic case from fifteen years ago and the powerful Dockery family. Grace and Sawyer race to piece together their case, armed with new evidence for the first time in decades, even if the town has turned against them. After all, everybody has a secret they’d kill to keep.

Praise for WHAT HE LEFT BEHIND

“Bradley’s latest is a good pick for readers who enjoy small-town police

procedurals.” — Library Journal

“What He Left Behind is a compelling, heartfelt debut, announcing

Benjamin Bradley’s welcome arrival on the literary scene. This whodunnit

expertly weaves the dangerous secrets of past and present in small-town

Appalachia, delivering a jaw-dropping conclusion that’s well worth your

time. Bradley has the goods, and I can’t wait to see what he cooks up next.”

—Scott Blackburn, author of It Dies with You

“Dark, atmospheric, and utterly gripping. What He Left Behind will keep

you up all night, peeling back Oak Hill’s layers of lies and heartbreak.

Benjamin Bradley writes with fire and grit—you won’t put this one down

until it’s burned itself into your soul.” —Eryk Pruitt, author of Something

Bad Wrong and Blood Red Summer

“Master storyteller Benjamin Bradley pulls you into a beautifully-written,

compelling tale with his latest, What He Left Behind. It has all the elements

mystery lovers want: an intriguing locale, powerful characters, and a puzzle

that won’t let go. A must read!” —Lisa Towles, award-winning author of

Terror Bay and other books

“What He Left Behind masterfully blends the past and present in a small-

town setting with chilling prose, a multi-layered mystery, and unforgettable

well-rounded characters. With page-turning mysteries like this, Benjamin

Bradley is an author you’ll want to come back to again and again!”

—Caleb Wygal, award-winning author of the Myrtle Beach Mystery series

“Benjamin Bradley has his finger on the pulse of small-town life: the thorny

relationships between the haves and the have-nots, the currency of gossip,

the distrust of outsiders, and the casual familiarity everyone has with the

details of each other’s lives . . . Bradley uses the conventions of a murder

mystery to conduct his own autopsy of Oak Hill and its residents, and no

one is spared. A worthy addition to the Southern Gothic tradition.”

—Christopher Swann, author of the Faulkner Family Thriller series

Press and Media

Quail Ridge Books Event Information

Library Journal - Review

Jennie Reads - Review

Promo Materials