Welcome to the website for writer, novelist, teacher, and playwright Leta Serafim!

Leta is best known for her Greek Islands Mysteries, which follow the suspenseful investigations of Inspector Patronus, a hero who combines courage and quiet magnetism with deep humanity—even as the world around him grows darker. Patronas anchors each novel with a basic decency that stays with the reader, and in the beauty and history of the Greek Isles that aren't just a backdrop, but an ever-living presence.

​

Each of Leta Serafim's Greek Islands Mysteries is an electrifying story of crime and discovery, where the ancient and modern worlds collide for mysteries that are as timely as they are timeless. The series brings the islands to rich and suspenseful life in stories that include The Devil Takes Half, When the Devil's Idle, From the Devil's Farm, and An Evil Most Men Welcome (Coffeetown Press). Leta's latest novel in the series, The Nameless Dead, was released on October 15, 2025 and continues to gain rave reviews, awards, and more, as of August 2026 honored as a Finalist in the 2026 American Fiction Awards, on the Mystery & Mayhem  Book Awards Shortlist for 2025, a Finalist by the CIBA Awards, and with a Literary Titan Book Award. Leta is also the author of the acclaimed historical novel To Look on Death No More and the charming children's book Molly Saw a Bear.

​

In her early career as a writer, Leta worked as a journalist at the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau before moving to Greece, where she taught art and illustrated books. Upon her return to the United States, she wrote feature stories for The Boston Globe before trying her hand at fiction, which resulted in her Greek Islands Mysteries—and the rest is history.

​

When she's not writing, Leta enjoys traveling and writing plays—including her much-anticipated new play Requiem, a two-act drama about revered Russian poet Anna Akhmatova.  While continuing to write and publish her fiction, she still continues to visit Greece each year and also teaches creative writing in the Boston area. She is currently at work on the new suspense novel Deadbeat. Inspired by her early days at The Washington Post, it's the gripping story of a young journalist who stumbles across a series of murders while working the obituary desk. Follow her on social media to learn more!