Mark Ashton is a Midwestern-born journalist turned novelist whose work threads technology, psychology, and the nuts-and-bolts of investigation. Raised in Des Moines, he studied criminology at Iowa State University and reported on cold cases and public corruption for the Kansas City Star from 2004 to 2012 before moving into the telecom sector as a communications analyst. That hands-on experience with networks and corporate bureaucracy informs his propulsive thrillers and procedurals, where infrastructure and motive collide. His previous books include The Indigo Trigger, Low Light Angle, and The Last Whisper, and his short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
Mark Ashton lives in Portland, Oregon, with his partner and a retired search-and-rescue shepherd, Harlow. He volunteers with the Innocence Project Northwest and coaches high school debate. When he isn’t writing, he reads maintenance logs for fun, hikes the coast, and tinkers with open-source forensics tools—all of which tend to find their way into his stories.
