Ace Atkins is the author of eleven novels, including The Lost Ones and Lullaby, both out from G.P. Putnam’s Sons in May 2012.
A former journalist who cut his teeth as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The
Tampa Tribune, he published his first novel, Crossroad Blues, at 27 and became a full-time novelist at 30. Last year, he was selected by the Robert B. Parker estate to continue the bestselling adventures of Boston’s iconic private eye, Spenser.
Parker himself had been chosen by the Raymond Chandler estate to continue the work of the late master.
As a reporter, Ace earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s. The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, White Shadow, which earned raves from noted authors and critics. In his next novels, Wicked City, Devil’s Garden, and Infamous, blended first-hand interviews and original research into police and court records with tightly woven plots and incisive characters. The historical novels told great American stories by weaving fact and fiction into a colorful, seamless tapestry.
The Lost Ones and The Ranger represent a return to Ace’s first love: hero-driven series fiction. Quinn Colson is a real hero—a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan—who returns home to north Mississippi to fight corruption on his home turf. The stories, contemporary tales with a dash of classic westerns and noir, are currently in development for a major television series.
Ace lives on a historic farm outside Oxford, MS with his family. Lately, he’s been spending a lot of time in Boston, much of it at the corner of Berkeley and Boylston.
About Lullaby
When fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother’s murder, he’s not completely convinced by her claim that the police investigation four years ago was botched. Mattie is gruff, street-smart, and wise beyond her years, left to care for her younger siblings and an alcoholic grandmother in a dilapidated apartment in South Boston. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hit Spenser where he lives — they’re the very characteristics he abides by. Mattie believes the man convicted of the crime is innocent and points Spenser to the Southie toughs who she saw carrying her mother away hours before her murder. Neither the Boston PD nor the neighborhood thugs are keen on his dredging up the past, but as Spenser becomes more involved in the case, he starts to realize that Mattie may be onto something. Spenser will need Hawk’s help to find peace for Mattie — a job that’s more dangerous than he ever thought.