Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue From the Cold War

ABOUT THE EDITORS AND AUTHORS

A former journalist, folksinger, and attorney, Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author of thirty-two novels and two collections of short stories. His novels are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages.

His The Bodies Left Behind was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller The Broken Window was also nominated for that prize. He is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Readers Award for Best Short Story of the Year and has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He’s won both the Steel Dagger and the Short Story Dagger from the Crime Writers Association in the U.K.

His most recent novels are The Kill Room, a Lincoln Rhyme novel, and XO, a Kathryn Dance thriller, for which he wrote an album of country-western songs, available on iTunes and as a CD.

Readers can visit his website at www.jefferydeaver.com.

Raymond Benson is the internationally acclaimed author of thirty published titles. The fourth book in his most recent thriller series—The Black Stiletto: Secrets & Lies—recently appeared, preceded by The Black Stiletto, The Black Stiletto: Black & White, and The Black Stiletto: Stars & Stripes. The fifth and final chapter in the saga will be published late 2014. Raymond was the fourth — and first American — author of the official James Bond novels (1996–2002), and his work is currently collected in the anthologies Choice of Weapons and The Union Trilogy. His “rock ’n’ roll thriller” Dark Side of the Morgue was a Shamus nominee for Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel of 2009. Raymond is also a prolific tie-in writer, the most recent work being Homefront — The Voice of Freedom (cowritten with John Milius) and Hitman: Damnation. For more information, you can visit www.raymondbenson.com or www.theblackstiletto.net.

Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of ten novels and whom the Boston Globe has called a “master of the modern thriller.” A Russian Studies major at Yale, he did graduate work at the Harvard Russian Research Center and wrote widely on Soviet politics and intelligence before publishing his first novel, The Moscow Club, which was named by Publishers Weekly as one of the ten best spy novels of all time.

Killer Instinct was named Best Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers, and a major motion picture based on Paranoia was released in 2013, starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Liam Hemsworth. His novel High Crimes became a hit movie starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, he lives in Boston. His most recent book is Suspicion (Dutton, 2014).

John Lescroart is the author of twenty-four novels, fifteen of which have been New York Times bestsellers. Libraries Unlimited places him among “The 100 Most Popular Thriller and Suspense Authors.” With sales of over ten million copies, his books have been translated into twenty-two languages in more than seventy-five countries, and his short stories appear in many anthologies. John’s first novel, Sunburn, won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award. Dead Irish and The 13th Juror were nominees for the Shamus and Anthony Best Mystery Novel, respectively; additionally The 13th Juror is included in the International Thriller Writers publication “100 Must-Read Thrillers of All Time.” Hard Evidence made “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Ultimate Reading List.” The Suspect was the American Author’s Association 2007 Book of the Year. John’s books have been Main Selections of the Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Book of the Month Club.

Gayle Lynds is the New York Times bestselling “Queen of Espionage.” Her recent novel, The Book of Spies, was named one of the five best thrillers of 2011 by Library Journal. Her novel Masquerade is among Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Spy Novels of All Time. She is a member of the Association for Intelligence Officers and the cofounder (with David Morrell) of International Thriller Writers, I.T.W. Gayle interested John C. Sheldon in fiction after they married in 2011. John, a former Maine state judge and Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Law School, had published frequently in legal journals. He now prefers writing fiction because “you can blow things up and grease people.” They live together on fourteen wooded acres outside of Portland, Maine.

Sara Paretsky grew up in Kansas during the Cold War, when anticommunist fears were at their height. Her father, a cell biologist, went to Bratislava to meet his Czech counterparts in 1964. On his way home, he injected himself with their strain of Rickettsia. Paretsky loves Golden Retrievers, hates ideologies, and is also the author of the V. I. Warshawski novels, and holder of both the Diamond Dagger and the Edgar for lifetime achievement as a mystery writer.

Gary Alexander has written thirteen novels, including Loot, fourth in the mystery series featuring comic Buster Hightower. Disappeared, the first in the series, has been optioned to Universal Pictures.

He has written 150+ short stories and sold travel articles to six major dailies.

Dragon Lady, his Vietnam novel, is being published by Istoria Books, available both as an ebook and print-on-demand. His website is www.garyralexander.com.

Alan Cook writes mystery/suspense novels, including the Carol Golden amnesia series. Carol Golden isn’t her real name. She gives herself that name in Forget to Remember when she gets hit on the head and can’t remember who she is or anything about her past. In Relatively Dead she has recovered her identity but not most of her memory. While trying to connect with cousins, she discovers they are targeted for death and she may be next. Dangerous Wind finds her working with a shadowy group of government agents and traveling to all seven continents to apprehend an ex-boyfriend she doesn’t remember who is supposedly trying to foment world chaos. Alan has also collaborated with illustrator Janelle Carbajal to create the children’s book, Dancing with Bulls.

Brendan DuBois of Exeter, New Hampshire, is the award-winning author of nearly 130 short stories and sixteen novels including his latest, Fatal Harbor (Pegasus Crime), part of the Lewis Cole mystery series. His short fiction has appeared in Playboy, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and numerous anthologies including The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century, published in 2000 by Houghton-Mifflin, as well as The Best American Noir of the Century, published in 2010. His stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and have also earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America. He is also a Jeopardy! game show champion. You can visit his website at www.BrendanDuBois.com.

Bev Vincent is the author of three books: The Road to the Dark Tower (nominated for a Bram Stoker Award), The Stephen King Illustrated Companion (nominated for a Stoker and an Edgar), and, most recently, The Dark Tower Companion. He has published over seventy short stories, including appearances in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Thin Ice (for his Al Blanchard Award — winning story “The Bank Job”) and the MWA anthology The Blue Religion. He has been a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance since 2001, is an original member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community, and writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews. His website is bevvincent.com.

Katia Lief is the author of several internationally bestselling crime novels. Her latest is The Money Kill, the fourth installment of her Karin Schaeffer series, which was published in 2013 by HarperCollins. She teaches fiction writing at The New School in Manhattan and lives with her family in Brooklyn. You can visit her at katialief.com.

Vicki Doudera is a top-producing real-estate agent at a busy firm in coastal Camden, Maine, and the author of the Darby Farr Mysteries, published by Midnight Ink and featuring crime-solving, deal-making real estate agent Darby Farr. Her debut novel, A House to Die For, was chosen as a Best Read of 2010 by Suspense Magazine. Her latest and fifth in the series is Deal Killer.

When she’s not writing, Vicki enjoys cycling, hiking, and sailing with her family, as well as volunteering for her favorite cause, Habitat for Humanity. She has pounded nails from Maine to Florida, helping to build simple, affordable Habitat homes, and is currently President of her local affiliate.

In addition to MWA, Vicki belongs to Sisters in Crime and the National Association of Realtors. You can read more about her at vickidoudera.com.

Jonathan Stone does most of his writing on the commuter train between the Connecticut suburbs and Manhattan, where he is the creative director of a midtown advertising agency. His fifth and latest novel, Moving Day, was published in March, and has been optioned for film by Nick Wechsler and Steve Schwartz. A graduate of Yale, Jon is married, with a son and daughter in college. His previous short story, “Hedge,” appeared in last year’s MWA anthology, The Mystery Box.

Gigi Vernon grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. As a child of the Cold War, she’s always been fascinated by our so-called enemy Russia. She studied Russian language and history at Georgetown University, and earned a PhD in history from the State University of New York. Her short stories, set in a variety of historical time periods and places, have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and elsewhere. Currently she resides in upstate New York, and has always thought it criminal her closet isn’t full of beautiful designer clothes, purses, and shoes.

Joseph Wallace is old enough to remember 1966, when the United States Air Force lost a hydrogen bomb in the ocean off Spain — the incident that inspired him to write “Deep Submergence” for this collection. He is the author of two novels: Diamond Ruby (2010), a historical novel set in his hometown of Brooklyn, and Invasive Species (2013), an end-of-the-world thriller. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Baltimore Noir, Bronx Noir, Hardboiled Brooklyn, and a previous MWA anthology, 2009’s The Prosecution Rests, edited by Linda Fairstein. “Custom Sets,” his story in that anthology, went on to be selected by Lee Child and Otto Penzler for The Best American Mystery Stories 2010. Joe lives north of New York City with his wife and children, an overexuberant dog, and a put-upon cat.

Robert Mangeot has published short fiction in various journals and anthologies. His work has won contests sponsored by the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. He is married and lives in Nashville, Tennessee. You can visit his website at www.robertmangeot.com.

T. Jefferson Parker is the author of twenty crime novels, including Silent Joe and California Girl, both of which won the Edgar Award for best mystery. His novel Laguna Heat was made into an HBO movie, and his books have been translated into fourteen languages. His last six books are a “Border Sextet,” featuring ATF task-force agent Charlie Hood as he tries to stanch the flow of illegal firearms being smuggled from the U.S. into Mexico. Parker enjoys fishing, hiking, and cycling. He lives in Southern California with his family.

Laura Lippman has published nineteen novels, one novella, and a collection of short stories. Her work includes the Tess Monaghan series and several stand-alones, including Every Secret Thing, which has been adapted for the screen. Her work has won the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, Nero Wolfe, Quill, Barry, Macavity, and Gumshoe awards. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans.

Katherine Neville, New York Times bestselling author, has been called the female Umberto Eco, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens, and Stephen Spielberg. Publishers Weekly and Library Journal have credited her groundbreaking first novel, The Eight, with paving the way for adventure-quest books like The Da Vinci Code.

Neville’s previous twenty-year career as an international computer executive for the likes of the Department of Energy, IBM, OPEC, and the Bank of America took her to live in six countries on three continents; she had colorful stints along the way as a professional portrait painter, photographer, busboy, waiter, and fashion model. She draws on these experiences to enrich her fiction. Her award-winning books are translated into forty languages, in eighty-eight countries.

J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of forty-seven contemporary mysteries in four different series — J. P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady, The Walker Family, and Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and raised in Bisbee, Arizona, she now divides her time between homes in Tucson, Arizona and in Bellevue, Washington.