Author Bios

Gary Phillips is an American crime writer born in 1955 in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles and has spent his career writing crime fiction rooted in the specific geography, history, and culture of that city and its diverse communities. Before becoming a full-time author, Phillips worked as a community…

Jacqueline Winspear is a British author born in 1955 in the rural village of Marden in Kent, England. She grew up hearing stories of World War I from her grandfather and great-uncles, an oral tradition that planted the seeds of her historical fiction career. After immigrating to the United States in the early 1990s, Winspear…

Karo Hamalainen is a Finnish author and journalist born in 1979 in Finland. He has worked extensively as a financial journalist, and this professional background in the world of money, markets, and corporate culture infuses his crime fiction with a sharp-eyed understanding of economic power and the crimes it enables and conceals. Hamalainen represents a…

Cara Black is an American author born in 1951 who is best known as the creator of the Aimee Leduc Investigation series, a long-running sequence of crime novels set in the arrondissements of Paris. Black’s deep love for Paris — informed by her frequent visits to the city over many decades and her close relationships…

Alan Carter is a British-born author who emigrated to Australia and has built a distinguished career writing crime fiction rooted in the landscapes and communities of his adopted country. After working as a BBC television producer in the United Kingdom, Carter moved to Western Australia, where the vast, sun-scorched landscape and the complex social dynamics…

Colin Cotterill is a British author born in 1952 who has lived and worked extensively in Southeast Asia, an experience that forms the bedrock of his fiction. After a career as an educator in countries including Thailand, Japan, and Laos, Cotterill began writing crime fiction set in the region, drawing on his intimate knowledge of…

David Downing is a British author born in 1946 who is best known for his John Russell series of historical spy thrillers set in Nazi Germany and wartime Europe. Drawing on a lifelong passion for twentieth-century European history and a meticulous research ethic, Downing has created one of the most vividly realized historical worlds in…

Stephen Mack Jones is an American crime writer based in Detroit, Michigan. A former advertising copywriter and marketing professional, Jones spent years developing his craft before finding his voice in crime fiction rooted in the specific geography and culture of Detroit’s Latino community. His background in storytelling through advertising and marketing informs a writing style…

Kwei Quartey is a Ghanaian-American physician and crime writer born in 1953 in Accra, Ghana. He grew up moving between Ghana and the United States, the son of an African-American mother and a Ghanaian father, an experience that gave him a bicultural perspective that deeply informs his fiction. After completing his medical training, Quartey worked…

Mick Herron is a British author born in 1963 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He studied English literature at Merton College, Oxford, and has worked as an editor and copywriter. Herron wrote several well-received standalone thrillers before creating the series that would make his reputation: the Slough House novels, a sequence of spy thrillers built…