The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer began writing together in 1992. After publishing several short stories in anthologies and in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, One For Sorrow, their first full length novel about John, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian I, appeared in 1999. They were honored with the 2005 Glyph Award for Best Book Series. The novels have been nominated for both the IPPY Best Mystery Award and the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award. In 2003 the American Library Association's Booklist Magazine named the John the Eunuch novels as one of its four Best Little Known Series.