Location-Boston
Hank Phillippi Ryan
A nationally bestselling author of 11 mystery novels, Ryan has won multiple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: five Agathas, three Anthonys, the Daphne, two Macavitys, and for The Other Woman, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. National reviews have called her a “master at crafting suspenseful mysteries” and “a superb and gifted storyteller.”
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P.J. Tracy
Location – Minneapolis
P. J. Tracy is a pseudonym for American mother-daughter writing team Patricia and Traci Lambrecht, winners of the Anthony, Barry, Gumshoe, and Minnesota Book Awards. Their nine novels include Monkeewrench, Live Bait, Dead Run, Snow Blind, Shoot to Thrill, and Off the Grid. Wikipedia
Sadly, Patricia passed away in December 2016, however, fortunate for fans, Traci has continued the series which continues to delight her readers. Be sure to read Traci’s reflections on her mom, included on the website.
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Joe R. Lansdale
Hap and Leonard series and Stand-alones.
Locations in Texas
Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. As of 2018, he has written 45 novels and published 30 short-story collections along with many chapbooks and comic-book adaptations. He has been inducted into The Texas Literary Hall of Fame, and several of his novels have been adapted to film.
His Hap and Leonard series of ten novels, four novellas, and three short-story collections feature two friends, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, who live in the fictional town of Laborde, in East Texas, and find themselves solving a variety of often unpleasant crimes. The characters themselves are an unlikely pairing; Hap is a white, working-class laborer in his mid-forties who once protested against the war in Vietnam and spent time in federal prison rather than be drafted; Leonard is a gay, black Vietnam vet. Both of them are accomplished fighters, and the stories (told from Hap’s narrative point of view) feature a great deal of violence, profanity, and sex. Lansdale paints a picture of East Texas which is essentially “good” but blighted by racism, ignorance, urban and rural deprivation, and government corruption. Some of the subject matter is extremely dark, and includes scenes of brutal violence. These novels are also characterized by sharp humor and “wisecracking” dialogue. These books have been adapted into a TV series for the SundanceTV channel and a series of graphic novels began publication in 2017. Season 2 of the television series is based on the second Hap and Leonard novel, Mucho Mojo, and season 3, which premiered on 3/7/18, is based on the third novel, The Two-Bear Mambo. Much of Lansdale’s work has been issued and re-issued as limited editions by Subterranean Press and as trade paperbacks by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Publications. His current new-release publisher is Mulholland Books. Lansdale also publishes with Dark Regions Press and Tachyon Publications, and with his daughter Kasey he has started a new publishing company called Pandi Press to control the re-issue and publishing of his older works.
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Michael Connelly
LOCATION – LOS ANGELES
Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is a titan of modern crime fiction, renowned for crafting intricate, gritty thrillers centered on iconic characters like LAPD Detective Harry Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller, evolving from a journalist’s keen eye for detail into a global bestselling author with over 90 million books sold, earning Edgar Awards, and successfully translating his complex legal and police procedurals into hit TV series like Bosch and The Lincoln Lawyer, solidifying his place as a master storyteller of Los Angeles’ underbelly and justice system.
Born in Philadelphia in 1956, Michael Connelly’s path to literary stardom began not in fiction, but in the trenches of journalism, particularly covering crime for newspapers in Florida and then the Los Angeles Times. This front-line experience, interviewing cops and victims, observing the gritty realities of law enforcement, became the bedrock of his storytelling, lending unparalleled authenticity to his future novels. His breakthrough came in 1992 with The Black Echo, the debut novel featuring Harry Bosch, which immediately earned the prestigious Edgar Award for Best First Novel, signaling the arrival of a major new voice in mystery.
Connelly’s success transcends the printed page. He has become a prolific producer for television, overseeing the highly acclaimed Bosch series (Amazon Prime/Freevee) and The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix), which brought his beloved characters to vibrant life for a global audience. He also produced the television adaptation of his Renée Ballard novel, The Law of Innocence, and previously saw his novel Blood Work adapted into a film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.
With over forty novels, numerous awards (including the Grand Master title from the MWA), and a global readership, Michael Connelly remains a leading figure in crime fiction, continually reinventing his universe while staying true to the core themes of justice, redemption, and the relentless search for truth in a world that often hides it. His work offers readers thrilling plots, complex characters, and a deep dive into the heart of criminal investigation.
