MAX ALLAN COLLINS, a frequent Mystery Writers of America “Edgar” nominee in both fiction and non-fiction categories, has been hailed as “the Renaissance man of mystery fiction.” He has earned an unprecedented fifteen Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations, winning twice for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective (1983) and Stolen Away (1991), and receiving the PWA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, “the Eye,” in 2006. His other credits include film criticism, short fiction, songwriting, trading-card sets, and movie/TV tie-in novels, including the New York Times best-sellers Saving Private Ryan and American Gangster, winner of the International Association of Tie-In Writers “Scribe” award.
His graphic novel Road to Perdition was the basis of the Academy Award–winning feature film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, directed by Sam Mendes. A nominee for both the Eisner and Harvey awards (the “Oscars” of the comics world), Max has many comics credits, including “Dick Tracy” “Batman” “Johnny Dynamite” and his own “Ms. Tree.”
An acclaimed and award-winning independent filmmaker in the Midwest, he has written and directed the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996) and three other features, including Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (2005). His produced screenplays include the 1995 HBO World Premiere The Expert and The Last Lullaby (2008) from his novel The Last Quarry. He lives in Muscatine, Iowa, with his wife Barbara, a writer with whom he collaborates as “Barbara Allan” on the award-winning “Trash ‘n’ Treasures” cozy mystery series.
MATTHEW CLEMENS has authored or co-authored numerous short stories in such anthologies as Private Eyes, Murder Most Confederate, the Hot Blood series, the Flesh & Blood series, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With Pat Gipple, he co-authored Dead Water: The Klindt Affair, a regionally best-selling true crime book, and has written for such magazines as Fangoria, Femme Fatales, and TV Guide. He has worked as a book doctor on over fifty novels, and assisted the late Karl Largent on several best-selling techno-thrillers.
Clemens is also co-plotter and researcher for Max Allan Collins on books based on the television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, Dark Angel, Bones, and Criminal Minds. Collins and Clemens have also written graphic novels, computer games, and jigsaw puzzles based on the successful CSI franchise. Many of their collaborative short stories were gathered in My Lolita Complex and Other Tales of Sex and Violence (2006). Clemens lives in Davenport, Iowa, with his wife Pam, a teacher.