Janis Thornton is Tipton, Indiana’s home-grown author of history, mystery, and true crime.
Her latest book, The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes in Indiana,takes a look back at Indiana’s worst weather disaster and includes more than 100 horrific, heartbreaking stories about the tornadoes, told by the people who experienced them.
Her previous release, No Place Like Murder, is a collection of 20 true crime stories that rocked Indiana between 1869 and 1950.
Her most recent novel, Love, Lies, and Azure Eyes, is a suspenseful, paranormal romantic mystery about possibilities for second chances, righting old wrongs, and finding love that lasts forever.
Her 2018 non-fiction release, Too Good a Girl, tells the story of Janis’ high school classmate, Olene Emberton, whose tragic, unsolved death in 1965 shocked their community. Now, some 50 years later, Janis has written Olene’s story to ensure it is never forgotten.
Janis’ other works include two cozy mysteries in the “Elmwood Confidential” series — Dead Air and Double Dare, released in June 2017 and Dust Bunnies and Dead Bodies, published in 2014.
Janis also is the author of three Central Indiana history books — Images of America: Tipton County, Images of America: Frankfort, and Images of America: Elwood — andshe is a contributor to Undeniably Indiana, a bicentennial project from Indiana University Press.
She is a member of the national mystery writer’s organization, Sisters in Crime, its Indianapolis chapter, Speed City Sisters in Crime, The Author’s Guild, Women Fiction Writers Association, the Indiana Writers Center, and the Tipton County Historical Society.