San Francisco native Joanne Pence grew up amidst the rich cultural diversity and culinary excellence of that city. A graduate of U.C. Berkeley with a master's degree in journalism and a Phi Beta Kappa key, Joanne has taught school in Japan, written for magazines and worked as an operations analysis manager. Fiction writing, however, always has been her first love. Her background, as well as her Italian and Spanish heritage, are reflected in her critically-acclaimed, award-winning mystery series. The series combines mystery with humor, romance and food. It features Angelina Amalfi, an underemployed journalist and gourmet cook, and San Francisco homicide inspector Paavo Smith. Angie wants two things in life--a good job, and Paavo--but culinary crime and murder keep getting in the way.

The series has won an Independent Booksellers' Golden Scroll Award. Under the category of Romantic Suspense, Too Many Cooks has received a Gold Certificate from RomCon and Reviewer's Choice from Romantic Times, Something's Cooking was nominated for a RITA by the Romance Writers of America, and To Catch A Cook has been nominated for a Daphne DuMaurier award in Mystery, a Golden Quilll award in Romantic Suspense, and a Reviewer's Choice award for Best Amateur Sleuth..

Joanne now lives north of Boise, Idaho with her husband, sons, and a plethora of pets. She is NOT a gourmet cook.