Like many mystery writers, Susan discovered Nancy Drew novels and would read them every free moment. The character inspired her career in journalism and mystery writing. She lived in Alaska for five years and worked as a reporter and photographer for a daily newspaper, writing numerous articles about on business, the environment and politics. She taught for 10 years at Yale and Southern Connecticut State University. Froetschel uses mystery fiction to delve into problematic public policies and social institutions often taken for granted.  She is the author of four mystery books: Fear of Beauty is set in a rural Afghanistan village. The mother of five children is desperate to learn how to read after the murder of her oldest son. In Royal Escape, a fictional princess struggles to remove her children from a royal trap that limits career, marriage and other life choices. Interruptions, set in Alaska, is about a mother who combats an unnecessary cross-island road that would destroy wilderness, while also fighting school officials about medicating her precocious son. In Alaska Gray, a woman moves to Sitka, Alaska, for a financial director position. The job offer is withdrawn, but she stays in town, asking too many questions that result in the death of a talented Native artist.