Helene Stap­in­s­ki is the nation­al­ly best­selling author of three mem­oirs: Five-Fin­ger Dis­count, Mur­der in Mat­era, and Baby Plays Around. She writes reg­u­lar­ly for The New York Times; her work has also appeared in The Wash­ing­ton Post, New York Mag­a­zine, Trav­el & Leisure, and dozens of oth­er pub­li­ca­tions. She teach­es at New York Uni­ver­si­ty and lives in Brooklyn.