D. A. Ratliff
Bio
A Southerner with saltwater in her veins, Deborah lives in the Florida sun and writes murder mysteries. She is published in several anthologies and her first novel, Crescent City Lies, is scheduled for release in 2026.
Achievements (1)
Stories (103)
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The Neighborhood
The Neighborhood D. A. Ratliff A Detective Elijah Boone Mystery Mama Leone set the plate of Spaghetti Pomodoro on the table with all the flourish of a waiter in a five-star restaurant, certainly not at a family restaurant in a semi-residential neighborhood of New Orleans. Since leaving the Navy, where I served as an MP, I relocated to New Orleans and joined the NOLA police department. As a rookie officer, I spent many hours on the streets in this community among the shotgun and garden houses, small businesses, and docks along the Mississippi River. I grew to love the area so much that I bought a house, married, and planned to raise a family here. Still have the house, but not the family.
By D. A. Ratliff3 years ago in Fiction
Going Home
Going Home D. A. Ratliff I hadn’t planned on going there. Fate brought me to speak at a seminar in my home state, and the fact that I was only an hour’s drive from my old homestead gnawed at me. I tried to push it away, but the itch was there and needed attention.
By D. A. Ratliff5 years ago in Fiction
The Mug
"The Mug" By D. A. Ratliff I hadn’t been here in a long time. Not since my grandfather’s funeral, when my father had the funeral director swing by as we returned from the gravesite. My dad told us to stay in the car as he exited, brand new padlock in hand. He strode with a purpose to the building, pulled away the crime scene tape, and padlocked the latch at the top of the wooden door. Just as purposefully, he returned to the limo and announced, “No one will enter there again.”
By D. A. Ratliff5 years ago in Criminal
“Grann’s Secret”
“Grann’s Secret” Deborah A. Ratliff The tinkle of a bell attached to the door frame announced her arrival. Intense aromas from bins of fragrant herbs and incense assaulted Veronique Bergeron’s senses, and memories of her childhood hiding in the nooks and crannies of her grandmother’s Bourbon Street voodoo shop swept over her. Memories she had long repressed.
By D. A. Ratliff5 years ago in Families
Musings of a Southern Writer’s Journey
I am an unabashed lover of books. My journey into the world of words began when I was five years old, and I have never stopped. Granted at five, the books I read were golden or comic, but I loved each of them. As I grew older, I progressed from Chip ’n Dale and Justice League of America comics to reading Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and The Adventures of Tom Swift. A neighbor, Miss Boozer, a retired librarian, recognized my passion for reading and on my birthday and at Christmas gave me money to buy books, several books. I liked her.
By D. A. Ratliff5 years ago in Motivation
