We’re delighted to announce that The Mystery Writers of America has named Max Allan Collins a Grandmaster — the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing. The award honors his important contributions to the genre as well as a stellar body of work that is, as they put it, “both significant and of consistent high quality.” We couldn’t agree more!
Max was thrilled, of course, to get the news. “To be in the company of Agatha Christie, Rex Stout and Mickey Spillane is both thrilling and humbling. This is an honor second to none in the art of mystery and suspense fiction.”
Max sold his first two novels in 1972 while a student at the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. More than one hundred novels have followed, including his award-winning and groundbreaking Nathan Heller historical series, starting with True Detective (1983). His graphic novel Road to Perdition was the basis of the Academy Award-winning 2002 film starring Tom Hanks — and his just-released novel Road to Perdition: The New, Expanded Edition won a coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly. He’s also written ten novels based on the hit TV series CSI, selling millions of copies worldwide, and scores of movie novelizations. His Quarry novels became the basis this year of the hit TV series on Cinemax. And all that just scratches the surface of his extraordinary output, including his collaborations with Mickey Spillane and writing the Dick Tracy comics for many years.
Previous Grand Masters include Walter Mosley, Lois Duncan, James Ellroy, Robert Crais, Carolyn Hart, Ken Follett, Margaret Maron, Martha Grimes, Sara Paretsky, James Lee Burke, Sue Grafton, Bill Pronzini, Stephen King, Marcia Muller, Dick Francis, Mary Higgins Clark, Lawrence Block, P.D. James, Ellery Queen, Daphne du Maurier, Alfred Hitchcock, Graham Greene, and Agatha Christie.
Max will receive his award at the 71st Annual Edgar Awards Banquet, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on Thursday, April 27, 2017.
