Meet the Author
MARY ELIZABETH SUMMER (she/her 🏳️🌈) likes to poke at dark places until the light spills out, which is why her characters are constantly glaring at her and applying adhesive bandages. She is currently contributing to the delinquency of minors by writing books about a teen con artist who solves mysteries by doing crime.
She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her daughter and their small menagerie of pets. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found hiking forest trails, watching anime, or warming up her coffee before the next plot twist.
The Writer Behind the Grifters
Mary Elizabeth has a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Wells College and has spent her career crafting stories that blur the line between right and wrong. Her work explores moral ambiguity, found family, and the kind of loyalty that survives even the worst betrayals.
Her bestselling Trust Me series follows Julep Dupree, a teenage grifter with a code of her own and a knack for getting in over her head.
Mary Elizabeth weaves fast-paced action, emotional depth, and slow-burn queer romance into stories that challenge readers to ask what makes a hero and whether honesty is always the best policy.
Her Storytelling Philosophy
Mary Elizabeth writes for readers who crave complexity. She believes young adult fiction should never talk down to its audience, and that adult fiction should be filled with wonder and hope. Her characters may lie, steal, or bend the rules, but they always fight for something real: identity, belonging, redemption.
At the heart of every story is the same message: accept yourself as you are while reaching for who you want to become, and help others to do the same along the way.