MICHAEL CONNELLY | MARTIN CRUZ SMITH

Masters of the mystery genre, bestselling-authors Michael Connelly and Martin Cruz Smith will reveal how they've kept readers at the edge of their seats for decades.

Inspired by the works of Raymond Chandler, Michael Connelly began his writing career covering crime for newspapers in South Florida, and later the Los Angeles Times. It was there that Connelly found the inspiration for some of his most beloved and popular characters, including Bosch, the LAPD detective at the heart of his popular series of crime novels, and Mickey Haller of The Lincoln Lawyer legal thrillers.

Hailed by The New York Times as “the master of the international thriller,” Martin Cruz Smith has created one of the most indelible characters in crime fiction:the beleaguered, incorruptible Moscow investigator Arkady Renko, whom Smith introduced to readers in his 1981 novel Gorky Park.

Connelly and Smith have kept his audience in suspense, keen to unpack the mysteries that they so masterfully craft. The best-selling authors will discuss their latest novels - Connelly's The Gods of Guilt, and Smith's Tatiana - and the process of developing such compelling stories and captivating characters.

Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of twenty-six novels and one work of nonfiction. With over fifty million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into thirty-six foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent #1 New York Times bestsellers include The Black Box, The Drop, The Fifth Witness, The Reversal, The Scarecrow, and The Brass Verdict. His next novel is titled The Gods of Guilt and it will be published on December 2, 2013.

Martin Cruz-Smith is a two-time winner of the Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers and a recipient of Britain's Golden Dagger Award, and lives in Northern California. Other Arkady Renko novels include: GorkyPark, Polar Star, Red Square, Havana Bay, Wolves Eat Dogs, Stalin’s Ghost, and Three Stations.

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