Peggy O’Neal Peden is a long-time Nashville resident and Middle Tennessee native who grew up listening to country music and remembers her father making his own steel guitar. She holds degrees from Lipscomb University and the University of Kentucky, is an award-winning advertising copywriter, and has taught college-level English. She formerly owned a travel agency, paints and is a member of the Nashville Artist Guild, counting Maureen McCormick among her clients.

Your Killin’ Heart, 2016 Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery winner and a finalist in both the Killer Nashville and William Faulkner-William Wisdom Writing competitions, is Peden’s first published novel, a mystery set in Nashville. Gone Missin’, and Flyin’ Solo, both published in 2022, are also mysteries set in Nashville. She won the 2018 Author, Author award for promoting adult literacy in Middle Tennessee.

Peden was commissioned to write a book on Nashville’s annual outdoor Shakespeare-in-the-Park festival production of the Scottish play and also writes literary fiction. Peden is a member of Sisters-in-Crime, the American Association of University Professors, Authors Guild, and the Women’s National Book Association.

Peden loves most everything about Nashville except the traffic.