About Judge Mader
Since childhood, author Katherine Mader has had a passion for true crime, beginning with wanting to become Nancy Drew, her fictional heroine. She never veered off course, including interviewing gangster Mickey Cohen for her junior-high school journalism class to the horror of her teacher. Katherine attended UCLA and UC Davis law schools.
Beginning her career as a deputy public defender, she experienced the criminal justice system from every angle (other than being arrested herself), both prosecuting and defending complex murders such as the “Hillside Strangler” case in Los Angeles, becoming the first LAPD inspector general, and, as a Superior Court judge, spending nineteen years overseeing a felony trial courtroom in downtown Los Angeles.
Judge Mader is also co-author of Fallen Angels, Chronicles of Los Angeles Crime and Mystery (Facts on File, NY, 1986); Rotten Apples, True Stories of New York Crime and Mystery, (Ballantine, NY, 1991); and Perfect Crimes, (Ballantine, NY, 1995). She has also written countless articles for legal magazines as well as op-ed pieces and two personal essays for Los Angeles Sunday Times Magazine. Additionally, she served as the editor of California’s state-wide judge’s magazine, The Bench, from 2014 to 2017.
She lives with her spouse near Los Angeles, California, and has raised three children.