Rene Denfeld is the award-winning, bestselling author of five novels including The Enchanted and The Child Finder. Her writing has been praised by Margaret Atwood as "astonishing."

 

Her new literary thriller The Talking Bone will be published July 21, 2026 by Harper. It was inspired by her work exonerating innocents. 

For almost twenty years, Rene has worked as a licensed defense investigator. The past Chief Investigator for a public defenders, she has worked hundreds of cases, including death row exonerations. Rene is a justice worker, a teacher and a coach. 

 

In 2017 The New York Times named Rene a hero of the year and she was awarded the Break The Silence Award in Washington, DC. Her novels have received many prestigious literary awards, including a French Prix, an ALA Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and a listing for the International Dublin Literary Award. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she is the happy parent of adult kids she adopted from foster care. 

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To read Rene's viral Modern Love story in The New York Times , read HERE

 

To read an interview with Rene, read HERE. 

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To order her new book click HERE. 

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photos by Brian McDonnell