Koryta, Michael J. 1983(?)-

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KORYTA, Michael J. 1983(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1983. Education: Attended Indiana University.

ADDRESSES: Home—Bloomington, IN. Agent—c/o Publicity Department, Thomas Dunne Books, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Writer. Herald-Times, Bloomington, IN, reporter; also works for a private investigation firm.

MEMBER: Indiana Society of Professional Investigators.

AWARDS, HONORS: Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination for best first novel, Mystery Writers of America, and Best First Private-Eye Novel contest winner, St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America, both for Tonight I Said Goodbye.

WRITINGS:

Tonight I Said Goodbye (detective novel), Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2004.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Another "Lincoln Perry" novel.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael J. Koryta wrote his first detective novel while he was still a freshman in high school. Although ultimately rejected by publishers, he received enough positive feedback to write his second novel, Tonight I Said Goodbye, which was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award. The detective story is set in Cleveland, Ohio, and is narrated by private eye Lincoln Perry. Perry is a former policeman who left the force in disgrace and now works with his former partner, a retired cop named Joe Pritchard. The two are hired to investigate the death of another private investigator, whose death is ruled a suicide. To complicate matters, the deceased's family has gone missing, and the police suspect they have been killed by the husband and father. Although initially reluctant to take the case, the two detectives get involved and soon uncover unsavory dealings in real estate and a gang of Russian mobsters who seem to want them off the case. Perry eventually traces the dead investigator's family to Myrtle Beach, only to discover that the Russians are on their trail as well.

In a review of Tonight I Said Goodbye for the Thrilling Detective Web site, James R. Winter called Koryta "a master at chapter management, always ending with a question hanging in the air." Although Winter felt that the author's "descriptions are a tad obvious" in some sections, he added that, "overall, Koryta's prose is crisp and his plotting solid." Stacy Alesi, writing in Library Journal, commented that the novelist "excels at building characters and story, making this one of the best mystery debuts this year." In a review for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Minette Walters called Tonight I Said Goodbye "a terrific debut, an old-fashioned private eye novel that has a timeless feel but features contemporary issues."