In Craig Smith's The Whisper of Leaves, which has been revised since its U.K. publication under the title Silent She Sleeps (1997), a serial killer stalks a southern Illinois college town.

British-born Katz Cowley has a degree in Illustration from the University of Northumbria.

She has now illustrated a number of books for Scholastic: The Wonky Donkey, Seesaw Po, The Fidgety Itch, All I Want for Christmas, The Bee's Sneeze and Craig Smith's Willbee the Bumblebee, as well as The House That Wonky Built. A former Christchurch resident, she now lives in the UK.