Dr Leah Giarratano is a clinical psychologist in private practice. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Arts, with majors in English and Psychology, and a Masters Degree and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. During her fourteen-year career as a psychologist, Leah has worked in psychiatric hospitals, with the defence force, and in forensic settings, including with offenders who suffer severe personality disorders. She has assessed and treated survivors of just about every imaginable psychological trauma, including hostages; war veterans; rape, assault, and accident victims; and has worked with populations whose experiences lend realism to her crime novels, including police, fire and ambulance officers. Over the past eight years she has trained more than a thousand mental health professionals in assessing and treating psychological trauma. In 2006, Random House Australia acquired Leah's first two crime novels; she signed another two book deal with them in 2007. Her first novel Vodka Doesn't Freeze was published in July 2007, and her second, Voodoo Doll will be released in July 2008.

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