Julia Dahl is a distinguished American author, best known for her mystery/thriller novels. She has made a significant contribution to the genre with her Rebekah Roberts series. Dahl's interest in crime writing can be traced back to 2004 when she was assigned by Seventeen to cover a murder case involving a girl and her mother. This marked the beginning of her journey in crime reporting, which later translated into her successful career as a novelist.
Dahl was born in the Fresno, California area and developed an early interest in journalism during her high school years. Her fondness for the movie "The Big Lebowski" is well-known, and she has often mentioned watching it repeatedly in her free time. An interfaith upbringing in her family home influenced her early writing, providing a unique perspective that would later reflect in her novels.
After completing her education, Dahl moved to New York City and began her journalism career as a fact-checker at Entertainment Weekly. She subsequently worked as an editor at Marie Claire, a freelance reporter for the New York Post, the deputy managing editor for The Crime Report, and a crime and justice reporter for CBS News. Currently, she resides in New York's Hudson Valley with her husband and son and teaches journalism at NYU.
Dahl's debut novel, "Invisible City," was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and won the Barry Award, the Shamus Award, and the Macavity Award for Best First Novel. The book was also named one of the Boston Globe's Best Books of 2014 and has been translated into eight languages. Her success as a novelist is a testament to her exceptional storytelling abilities and her deep understanding of the crime genre, gained through her years of experience as a journalist.