Biography

Ace Atkins is the author of seven novels, including his latest, Devil’s Garden, from G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

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.

While at the Tribune, 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 and now, Devil’s Garden, Ace continues to carve a new a niche as both a talented storyteller and a meticulous journalist, blending first-hand interviews and original research into police and court records with tightly woven plots and incisive characters. Ace’s novels tell great American stories, weaving fact and fiction into a colorful, seamless tapestry.

Devil’s Garden, Wicked City, and White Shadow are all very personal books for Atkins, all set in his former homes: San Francisco, where he lived as a child; Alabama, his family’s home and where he was born and went to college; and Tampa, where he embarked on his career as a writer. Each novel contains bits of himself—friends and colleagues he once knew, people he respected or admired, family members, and personal heroes.

In Devil’s Garden, Atkins explores the early life of one of those heroes: Dashiell Hammett, the originator of the hard-boiled crime novel. As a Pinkerton Agency detective, Hammett investigated the rape/manslaughter case against early Hollywood star Roscoe Arbuckle, one of the most sensational trials of the 20th Century.

Ace lives on a historic farm outside Oxford, Mississippi with his family.