Richard Montanari

Richard Montanari
Born	December 6, 1952 (1952-12-06) (age 58)
Nationality
Period	1995 – present
Genres	Crime fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Notable work(s)	Deviant Way, The Violet Hour, Kiss of Evil, The Rosary Girls, The Skin Gods, Merciless, Badlands, The Devil's Garden, The Echo Man
Notable award(s)	Online Mystery Award – Best First Mystery 1995 Deviant Way
richardmontanari.com

Richard Montanari is an American crime writer who debuted with his novel Deviant Way, published by Simon & Schuster, in 1995. It won the Online Mystery Award (OLMA) for Best First Mystery. He has since published seven more novels, which are now available in almost 30 languages.

In 2005 he began his Philadelphia crime series with The Rosary Girls , a police procedural thriller set inside the homicide unit of the Philadelphia Police Department, introducing detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.

Montanari was born in Northeast Ohio, where he still resides.

Publishing History

Cleveland Series

• Deviant Way (1995)
• Kiss of Evil (2001)

In 1995 Montanari wrote Deviant Way, introducing Cleveland Police Department homicide detective John Paris. The story, a suspense novel chronicling a pair of thrill killers, earned him a two book deal from Michael Korda at Simon & Schuster. In 2001 Montanari published the sequel, Kiss of Evil. Both novels have been published worldwide, and were recently reissued by Random House UK.

Philadelphia Series

• The Rosary Girls (2005)
• The Skin Gods (2006)
• Merciless (2007) (UK title Broken Angels) (2007)
• Badlands (UK title Play Dead) (2008)
• The Echo Man (2011)

Set inside the homicide unit of the Philadelphia Police Department, these novels include the alternating narratives of veteran police detective Kevin Francis Byrne, and his younger partner Jessica Balzano.

The stories, which "possess a psychological depth all too rare in such fiction" (Publishers Weekly), also include other recurring characters, most notably Detective Joshua Bontrager, who was, at one time, a member of the Amish church. Each book in the series was an instant top 10 bestseller on the Sunday Times hardcover list.^{[citation needed]} This series is published in France by Le Cherche Midi, in Italy by Editrice Nord, in Germany by Verlagsgruppe Lübbe, and in Denmark by People's Press.

Other Works

In addition to his crime series, Montanari has penned two stand-alone novels. In 1998 he published The Violet Hour, a thriller featuring freelance writer Nicky Stella. In 2009 he published The Devil’s Garden, a psychological thriller introducing New York District Attorney Michael Roman.

As a journalist Montanari has written essays, profiles, articles, and both film and literary criticism in more than 200 publications, including The Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, The Seattle Times, The Plain Dealer, and many others.

References

• "Interview, Richard Montanari" Book Reporter 2006
• "Interview, Richard Montanari" Chris High, Crime Time Magazine 2007
• "Interview, Richard Montanari" Shots Magazine 2009

External links

• Richard Montanari website
• Richard Montanari at Random House US
• Richard Montanari at Random House UK
• The Rosary Girls mini-site

Persondata
Name	Montanari, Richard
Alternative names
Short description	American crime writer
Date of birth	1952-12-06
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death