Karen Barnett

Karen Barnett writes historical fiction shaped by faith, place, and the pressures that test ordinary loyalties. Mistaken: First Impressions Are Never What They Seem was her debut novel, published by Abingdon Fiction in 2013. Set in Port Angeles, Washington, during Prohibition, the story follows Laurie Burke as smuggling along the Strait of Juan de Fuca complicates her judgments about Daniel Shepherd and federal agent Samuel Brown. Barnett uses the coastal setting and competing appearances to examine trust, family responsibility, and moral certainty. Before publishing fiction, she worked as a park ranger, and her later Vintage National Parks novels continued her interest in American landscapes and historical communities. Mistaken stands outside that later series, but it established several features of her work: a carefully researched period, a central figure weighing imperfect choices, and a setting that influences the action rather than merely decorating it. The full subtitle expresses the novel’s central concern with misleading first impressions.