Frank Gertcher was born in Clinton, Indiana near the Wabash River and raised on a farm south of Terre Haute in Sullivan County. During his working career (1961-2006), he applied his four degrees in science, engineering and economics. In 1984, he retired from the U.S. Air Force with 23 years of service. In 2006, he retired as a contract Senior Scientist with Northrop Grumman. During the period 1982-2006, On September 1, 2018, he published a stand-alone novel titled The Dark Cabin Murders. He then published the first book in the Caroline Case mystery series, The River Rat Murders, in 2019. He now lives in the Shell Point retirement community in Florida.

"For The Dark Cabin Murders: In mid-19th-century Indiana, good and evil spirits vie for the soul of an 11-year-old boy in Gertcher’s mystical debut novel. An imaginative morality tale about free will, crime, punishment, and the possibility of redemption." -- Kirkus Reviews