C W Gortner

(Christopher Gortner)

aka Christopher Gortner

C W Gortner holds an MFA in Writing with an emphasis in Renaissance Studies from the New College of California, as well as an AA from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco. After an eleven year-long career in fashion, during which he worked as a vintage retail buyer, freelance publicist, and fashion show coordinator, C.W. devoted the next twelve years to the public health sector. In 2012, he became a full-time writer following the international success of his novels.

Genres: Historical, Historical Mystery

New and upcoming books

March 2025

The Saint Laurent Muse

Series

Spymaster Chronicles
   1. The Tudor Secret (2004)
     aka The Secret Lion
   2. The Tudor Conspiracy (2013)
   3. The Tudor Vendetta (2014)

Ania Throne (with M J Rose)
   1. The Steal (2021)
   2. The Bait (2021)
   3. The Heist (2022)

Novels

   The Last Queen (2006)
   The Confessions of Catherine de Medici (2010)
   The Queen's Vow (2012)
   Mademoiselle Chanel (2015)
   The Vatican Princess (2016)
   Marlene (2016)
   The Romanov Empress (2018)
   The First Actress (2020)
   The American Adventuress (2022)
   The Saint Laurent Muse (2025)

C W Gortner recommends

Such Good Friends (2023)
Stephen Greco
"A mesmerizing account of extravagance, glamour, privileged celebrity, and crushing betrayal. Greco's fabled protagonists capture the explosive alchemy between privacy and ambition, and the self-destructive caprices that upended an era."

Courting Dragons (2023)
(King's Fool Mystery, book 1)
Jeri Westerson
"The Tudor court as seen through the eyes of wily Will Somers, Henry VIII's jester, comes to vivid life in this sparkling mystery."

Jacqueline in Paris (2022)
Ann Mah
"Before she became the First Lady, Jacqueline Bouvier had the hopes and dreams of all of us in our youth. In this enchanting, engrossing tale of her time in Paris, we discover the young woman whose ambitions propel her to the City of Light, seduced by jazz and haunted by the recent Occupation. Romance collides with newfound maturity as Jackie paves the path to her later global fame. Ann Mah's sensitive portrayal of a woman on the cusp of inevitable change is vivid and unputdownable."

The Forty Elephants (2022)
Erin Bledsoe
"From the underworld of London to high-stakes heists in the city's most glamorous shops, Erin Bledsoe weaves a mesmerizing spell of a novel around women in the 1920s taking back their power, with style and verve. You'll fall head over heels with her tale of theft, hope, revenge, and daring, and with her ladies of the Forty Elephants."

The Crimson Thread (2022)
Kate Forsyth
"A spellbinding tale of resistance and love in WWII Crete. Courage, sacrifice, and betrayal form the backdrop for a Homeric love triangle, where a young woman faces impossible choices in a time of struggle and survival. Forsyth never fails to enchant with her masterful loom, weaving myth and history into her unique tapestries."

Leonora in the Morning Light (2021)
Michaela Carter
"Michaela Carter invokes the bohemian intrigues of artistic pre-WWII Paris, and the terrors that ensued, in her riveting story of Leonora Carrington’s tumultuous affair with celebrated painter, Max Ernst. . . . Vivid and colorful as her canvases, this novel depicts the conflicted heart of an artist, and a survivor who refused to admit defeat."

Tsarina (2020)
(Tsarina, book 1)
Ellen Alpsten
"Intrigue, rivalry, and sumptuous decadence leap to vivid life in this fascinating story of Peter the Great’s second wife...conjuring the gorgeous marble of the Winter Palace and deprivation of Russia in the 18th century, the perilous ascent to power of the first woman to rule as empress is a gripping and unforgettable journey."

Beyond the Ghetto Gates (2020)
Michelle Cameron
"With vivid clarity and keen historical insight, Michelle Cameron sweeps us into the unusual setting of Italy during the Napoleonic invasion, and the plight of two courageous women of different faiths, who must fight for their right to love and live during a time of tumultuous upheaval."

The Queen's Fortune (2020)
Allison Pataki
"Allison Pataki weaves a glittering spell around the mythical affair between Napoleon and Desiree. This enterprising young woman rose to the heights of glamour as Napoleon carved his path to power. Pataki imbues their fateful story with the yearning of a country reeling in the aftermath of a savage war and with the fierce heart of an ambitious girl who must survive at any cost."

Ecstasy (2018)
Mary Sharratt
"Alma Mahler’s unexpected, often heartbreaking journey from muse to independence comes to vivid, dramatic life. Sharratt skillfully evokes turn-of-the-century Vienna and the musical genius of the era, returning Alma to her rightful place in history as both the inspiration to the men in her life and a gifted artist in her own right."

The Lost Season of Love and Snow (2018)
Jennifer Laam
"This hauntingly elegant tale of love and tragedy in Imperial Russia, as seen through the eyes of Pushkin's much-reviled wife, sweeps us up into the fatal glamour and deceptions of an era, the peril of choices, and one woman's resilient struggle to discover herself."

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