About Sara Winokur
Sara Winokur, Geneticist and Author
Sara Winokur is a geneticist, researcher, and author. Her historical fiction and cultural thrillers embody elements of DNA and forensic science, as she has a Ph.D. in molecular genetics. Her research helped identify mutations underlying muscular dystrophy, and Huntington’s disease.
In her Nordic noir novel “Double Blind: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders,” a young boy disappears from a fjord in Iceland. Years later, his twin sister Brynja, a DNA scientist, searches for him but lands in a world of trouble. Her second novel, the historical thriller “Ivory Bones: The Lewis Chessmen Murders,” finds Brynja racing against time to find the valuable medieval chess pieces before she herself becomes the target. Sara is a direct descendent of two of the main historical characters: the ruthless Barbary pirate Jans Janszoon and his son Anthony, the largest landowner in 1600s Brooklyn and Coney Island.
As an ovarian cancer thriver, Sara has a sense of gratitude, strength, and perspective that she extends to family, friends, work, and her writing. On her journey from science to writing, she says “Let go of who you are and become what you might be. Do what scares you.”
A mother of three, Sara Winokur resides with her husband and writes in Southern California. That is, when she is not traveling the world in search of unique stories.
The Reinvention of Sara Winokur
Fourteen years ago, after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara took a step back from research to focus on her health. She took the opportunity to reinvent herself by combining her passion for science with her love of reading and writing crime and historical fiction. When asked about what her readers can expect from her novels, she revealed that her audience will be met with suspense, a learning experience, and thought-provoking writing.
“I really want my readers to feel like they’re being informed as well as entertained. That’s what I love about historical fiction and I try to bring that same quality to my writing.”
Sara's Inspiration
Double Blind: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders and Ivory Bones: The Lewis Chessmen Murders blend Sara’s expertise in genetics with her affinity for the rich culture and surreal landscape of Iceland. Sara has keen interest in international culture, having traveled with her family to more than sixty countries and every continent.
Sara’s been nearly trampled by elephants while camping in Kenya’s Amboseli Park, walked with the Parahera in Sri Lanka, eaten fried beetles in Namibia, and chewed coca leaves while slung over horseback traversing the Andes.
Although genetics might tell her otherwise, Sara is convinced she must have some Icelandic blood coursing through her veins as nowhere has she felt more at home than in Iceland, where she has spent much time over the years.
