About Shelby
Shelby Nichols has lived in the mid-west all her life and enjoys many outdoor activities such as taking long walks and playing tennis. However, she will admit that her favorite activity is going for a ride on the back of a motorcycle. She is happily married to a successful lawyer, Christopher Nichols, and has two children, Joshua and Savannah.
She is an active member of the PTA in her children’s school, and enjoys helping out in her church. Her name first appeared in the paper when she was wounded during a robbery at the grocery store. She worked with a police detective to find the culprit, and was later recruited as a consultant for the police department.
Shelby began her own consulting agency after she was instrumental in helping the police solve a theft at the Museum of Fine Arts. Recognized for her help at the Museum Gala, she received an award from the mayor of the city. The museum curator also honored her with a plaque bearing her name which is prominently displayed in the fine arts section of the museum.
Since beginning her own consulting agency, Shelby has successfully solved a number of her own cases, along with many others involving her consultation with the police. These include recovering money from a bank theft, solving a few cold cases involving a serial killer, and she was instrumental in uncovering a violent drug ring with ties to the attorney general.
In her down time, Shelby enjoys a good bubble bath, watching her favorite TV shows, and playing poker with friends, where for some reason…she always wins.
Shelby can be contacted by posting through this website.
Shelby Nichols Consulting 
I absolutely love reading all the books about you, Shelby. I bought all five and could not put them down, often reading into the wee hours of the morning. I was so disappointed with I finished #5. I can’t wait to read all the blogs on here about your adventures! Keep up the good work.
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Thanks Jen! I plan on having many more adventures!!
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Oh wow! Congratulations! Another stellar book! I can’t wait for the next, really enjoyed the addition of Coco too!
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Thank you so much!!
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Cannot wait for the next adventure!
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Woot! It’s coming soon!
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Read all 5 books! They were page turning nonstop adventure! Was disappointed that there wasn’t a new one to start on immediately. Can’t wait till book 6 is available!
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Hi Kelly – Actually there are six out right now… Carrots, Fast Money, Lie Or Die, Secrets That Kill, Trapped By Revenge and Deep In Death! So glad you enjoyed them!! I hear there’s a book 7 in the works!
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Right…all 6 books (I discounted)! Still can’t wait for the next book.
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Saweet!!
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Starting on book 6……..read #5 in one day!! I got hooked after the first book. Very happy to have stumbled across this series! Glad to hear there is to be a number 7!
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Thanks Sandy!! Yes – book 7 is in the works and hopefully many more!!
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Just finished book 6 and can’t wait for the next one. I even got my husband reading them!!
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Awesome!!!
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WHEN IS BOOK SEVEN COMING…????????
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I hear it’s in the works…but no release date yet…hoping for March!!
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Enjoyed the new book. Hurried up and re read all the others waiting for this one
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Saweet!! So glad you enjoyed it!!
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Thank you so much for this series…I’ve loved every one of Shelby’s adventures. So hoping for more!
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Thanks so much!! I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed the books. No worries…I’m hard at work on the next adventure!
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I read all 7 wonderful! Now reading songbird good book but miss shelby cant wait for #8 ha
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I bought all 8 books and sadly they are done. Will you be having more adventures? Hoping to hear about your Paris adventure with your family.
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Yes – the next adventure is in the works!! So glad you enjoyed the books – I will be sure to write about some of my adventures in Paris with my family. Thanks for the suggestion!!
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I am hooked!! I read all 8 in less than 2 week…would have been faster but my 3 year old kept telling me to put my tablet down!!! So I had to read at night. Super excited to find out there are more adventures keep them coming!!!
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Thanks Sarah! I just can’t seem to stay out of trouble – but it makes for some good stories, right?
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I’m looking for # 13 in the Shelby Nichols is it out or not yet?
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[…] is the author of the bestselling Shelby Nichols Adventure Series. Colleen is often asked if Shelby Nichols ** is her alter-ego. “Definitely,” she says. “Shelby is the epitome of everything I wish I […]
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I’ve recently found your books on audible and I LOVE them. I have to say that the main reason I bought CARROTS is because my daughter’s name is Shelby Nichols. She will be 27 on August 31, 2018. I truly love your books and I hope you continue your writing.
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Oh wow! What a coincidence!! Thanks for reading! Tell your daughter “the real” Shelby Nichols happy birthday for me!! I’m hard at work on the next book!
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Dear Shelby,
how are you doing? We haven’t heard from you for some time… what’s going on in your life at the moment? Got anything planned for Halloween already?
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Dear Shelby
Pleas give me another book. I have read all of your books.I can hardly wait for the next one!
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I am hard at work on the next one!! Thanks for reading!
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Loved 13…. can’t wait for 14,15, 16, 17….. sense a pattern?
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Thanks so much!!
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I absolutely love your books. Once I start a new book I can’t put it down and can’t wait for the next one to come out. Thank you for transporting me to another world, even for a short time.
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You are welcome!! Thanks for reading!!
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I love this series. Colleen Helms is a great writer. She kept my interest I loved each and every book and can’t wait till the next Shelby story. I hope her adventures continue with Ramos and her husband.
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Thank you, Ms Helms. I have delighted in your work.
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Yay!! Thanks for reading!! I’m so happy you enjoy the books!!
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Scott Ellsworth again. I am rereading Marked for Murder, and am really annoyed with Beal. Hardly a surprise, of course, but I think it’s his assumptions about Shelby’s “premonitions.” Even if she actually _had_ premonitions, they wouldn’t necessarily inform her about everything that was going to happen. A premonition, by definition, is a warning about a future event; it’s not a roadmap to the future, showing every town, gas station, and tourist site along the way. But Beal, and some other characters, seem to think she should know everything that’s going to happen all the time. How does she put up with it? If a premonition worked as they seem to think, Shelby could have just emailed Billie, for example, that an unhinged woman would try to kill her boss that day at the newspaper, and then gone back to bed. Premonitions are precious because they aren’t like common roadmaps, even for a psychic (I mean, if she _had_ premonitions). Anyway, if i were Shelby—and I’m glad I’m not, with what that poor lady has to put up with—I think I’d get a little impatient with everyone deciding that I somehow controlled my “visions.” Maybe she should get out in front of it by letting Billie write about her, but explaining that a premonition doesn’t come for the asking: whoever is sending her what she knows isn’t downloading the future like a ticker tape into her brain.
I’m sorry. I _really_ don’t like Beal. He’s mean and vindictive and petty. (You wrote him very well. A bad guy I just love to hate. Brava.)
By the way, this blog is fantastic. i spent an hour the other day reading all of the posts, and then went and read Devil in a Black Suit and Midsummer Night’s Murder. Your work in delightful! I am very much looking forward to Book 15.
Oh, one quick question: where does Shelby live? I mean which city? or are you purposely leaving that vague? i was just wondering. Given flight times to and from DC and so forth, I’ve sort of guesstimated St. Louis. But maybe I’ve been so caught up in the story that my math is off.
Anyway, thanks again for a truly enjoyable read. You have drawn a wonderful character with a real life. Brava. Truly, Bravissima.
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Hi Scott,
I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed the books. Thanks so much!! Your post gives me the encouragement to keep writing!! In answer to your question, I’ve kept Shelby’s city vague on purpose – just to give you the sense that she could be your neighbor, or someone you might meet at the grocery store! Lol! I get that question a lot, so maybe I’m not doing anyone a favor, but that was my thinking on the matter. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this blog as well… it’s always nice to know.
Thanks again – you made my day!!
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Interesting I was just wondering the same thing and found this blog in my search. I noticed in the “about” page Shelby “you” are in the mid-west. So with Joey being a mob boss Chicago is the perfect fit in my imagination! Thanks so much for your wonderful books. Gives me a great escape from crunching numbers during tax season. Now off to read the blog!!
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These books are so delightful. This is my third time through, and I haven’t had so much fun since reading Nancy Springer’s Enola Holmes series. Your characters are so well drawn, fleshed out and, well, real. Rob Felt, for instance, is a right pig. I just can’t stand him (as you obviously intended), and he’s just enough of the Sam Spade wannabe to be both antagonist and comic relief. How Shelby puts up with such a jerk is beyond me.
You know, thinking about it, Shelby could have gotten an anti-stalking injunction against Felt for following her around, especially after roughing her up in the museum (which was an assault (criminal) and battery (civil)). And accusing her publicly of murdering Mercer was a clear case of slander. Wow … he’s a bigger jerk than I thought.
Any, thanks again! Your writing is brilliant.
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Oh, yeah: and interference with economic relations (for messing with her bank investigation). Sorry: when I read about the law, I get sort of invested. Even though my practice was mostly land use and water law. “Mud law” I called it: dirt and water. Okay, I’ll shut up.
Thanks.
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Haha! You and Chris sound like you’re cut out of the same cloth! I can’t wait for you to read High Stakes Crime! I hope you love it!!
Thanks for reading!!
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Hi, me again. (Sorry) I was just wondering whether Shelby can access, hear, or even share someone else’s dreams. That would be fascinating. And she could learn Spanish much faster than she thinks with a patient bilingual teacher, such as Ramos, for example. Wow, the possibilities!: She could always figure out magic tricks (it would be a blast to see her shred one of those “mind-reading” routines some magicians do with coded phrases between them and their accomplice); she’d always know what the next football play was going to be and the next pitch in baseball. Watching politics would be terribly discouraging, I’d bet. And she could ace a face-to-face IQ test.
Wow! What fabulous character!
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Thanks Scott – You always give me something to think about with Shelby’s powers! They have changed a bit (understanding animals – hearing ghosts) so who knows?! I liked your earlier comment about doing an interview with Billie – Shelby’s been dreading that, but maybe it wouldn’t be quite so bad….
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sorry, i meant ESP test, not IQ test.
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Wow! What a blast! High Stakes Crime was a fantastic romp through the wild world of Shelby Nichols. Three(!) separate episodes in one delightful adventure. We got to see the Shelby side of the poker tournament from Ella’s first book, the tracking skills of the mighty Coco, and the wonderful world of Dimples-in-the-sewer. All with your signature flare and honest exploration of Shelby’s heart. I couldn’t put it down—read it straight through, well into the early hours. … And a treasure hunt!
I have only one complaint: the book is too short! Once again, Brava! Brava!
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Thank you Scott!! You made my day!!
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I just love these books and am currently on book 15, will there be another? Can’t wait to read her blogs!
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Thanks so much!! Yes – I’m nearly finished with Book 16 – TIES THAT BIND!! Hoping for an October release!!
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Shelby has been my staunch companion through some rough times over the last few years. The writing is clear and powerful, the themes important, and the plots as delightful as the characters who bring them to pass. I’m rereading the whole set and finding it as delightful the second time through as it was through the first. And there’s still so much to explore. What an adventure!
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Aww… Thanks Scott! Thanks for sticking with me – you keep me writing!! XOXO!
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I’m curious, of course, about Shelby’s (1) awareness of others’ thoughts as she lies sleeping, (2) how much more she could pick up if she learned Spanish — she could talk to Ramos in the original, or Manetto in Italian. Conversely, others could hide from her power by thinking in Swahili or Russian or Vietnamese. Exciting.
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