Darold Graves was born in Kansas City, Missouri. After a 4 year tour with the air force, he attended college and then moved to Arizona. Dissatisfaction led him to re-enter the air force where he completed his master’s degree in management. During this time, he also taught management courses for 2 universities. After retiring from the air force, he entered state service supervising teachers and librarians at a state prison for women. Retiring from state service 10 years later, life for him settled into a quiet routine interrupted only with short teaching assignments and participating in the Arizona Senior Olympics.

Major life events occurred during COVID lockdowns. His wife passed away, he earned his doctorate in writing, and he moved to a resort community. From here, Darold maintains a robust life of cards with friends, board membership with the local symphony, serving as his church librarian, attending 2 book clubs, teaching writing at a nearby retirement community, and yes, turning out about 2 novels a year. As of this writing he has 20 mystery themed novels in print.