Aaron Elkins (born July 24, 1935 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

) is an American mystery writer. He is best known for his series of novels featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver—the 'skeleton detective'.

Biography

Elkins's father was a machinist, his mother a homemaker. Elkins graduated from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also adm ...

in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts, after which he studied at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, earned master of arts degrees at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

(1960) and

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

(1962), and received a doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in 1976 from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Elkins had a multi-year career as a government employee, consultant, lecturer, and teacher in the fields of business, psychology, and anthropology. Elkins and his wife,

Charlotte Elkins Charlotte Elkins (pen name, Emily Spenser; born July 4, 1948) is an American author who teamed with her husband, writer Aaron Elkins, to write a series of mystery novels about Lee Ofsted, a struggling female professional golfer. Biography Elkins ...

, live in

Sequim Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic M ...

, Washington; they have two children.

Writing

Elkins began his first novel (the first in the Gideon Oliver series) in 1978, at the age of 42. The fourth Oliver book, ''Old Bones'', received the 1988 Edgar Award for "Best Mystery Novel" and was nominated for the

1988 Anthony Award Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the conve ...

in the same category. The seventh Gideon Oliver novel, ''Make No Bones'', was nominated for an

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre: "books typified by the works of Agatha Christie . . . loosely defined as mysteries that contain no expli ...

in 1991. In another series, the protagonist is

museum curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Chris Norgren, an expert in Northern Renaissance art. His third novel in the Chris Norgren series, ''Old Scores'', won a Nero Award for best mystery novel (1994), and was also nominated for an Agatha Award for "Best Novel". One of his stand-alone thrillers, ''

Loot Loot may refer to: Film *''Loot'' (1919 film), a film by William C. Dowlan * ''Loot'' (1970 film), a British film by Silvio Narizzano * ''Loot'' (2008 film), a documentary * ''Loot'' (2011 film), an Indian film * ''Loot'' (2012 film), a Nepali fil ...

'', deals with art stolen by the Nazis and introduces protagonist Dr. Benjamin Revere. With his wife, he has also co-written a series of golf mysteries about LPGA member Lee Ofsted. They shared an Agatha Award (1992) for their short story "Nice Gorilla".

Works

Gideon Oliver novels

#''Fellowship of Fear'' (1982) #''The Dark Place'' (1983) #''Murder in the Queen's Armes'' (1985) #''Old Bones'' (1987) #''Curses!'' (1989) #''Icy Clutches'' (1990) #''Make No Bones'' (1991) #''Dead Men's Hearts'' (1994) #''Twenty Blue Devils'' (1997) #''Skeleton Dance'' (2000) #''Good Blood'' (2004) #''Where There's a Will'' (2005) #''Unnatural Selection'' (2006) #''Little Tiny Teeth'' (2007) #''Uneasy Relations'' (2008) #''Skull Duggery'' (2009) #''Dying on the Vine'' (2012) # ''Switcheroo'' (2016)

Chris Norgren novels

#''A Deceptive Clarity'' (1987) #''A Glancing Light'' (1991) #''Old Scores'' (1993)

Lee Ofsted novels (with Charlotte Elkins)

#''A Wicked Slice'' (1989) #''Rotten Lies'' (1995) #''Nasty Breaks'' (1997) #''Where Have all the Birdies Gone?'' (2004) #''On the Fringe'' (2005)

Alix London novels (with Charlotte Elkins)

#''A Dangerous Talent'' (2012) ''(German version: Gefährliches Talent, Translator: Olaf Knechten, 2013)'' # ''A Cruise to Die For'' (2013) # ''The Art Whisperer'' (2014) # ''The Trouble with Mirrors'' (2016)

Other novels

*''Loot'' (1999) *''Turncoat'' (2002) *''The Worst Thing'' (2011) *''A Long Time Coming'' (2018)

Adaptations

The character of Gideon Oliver appeared in an eponymous

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

starring Louis Gossett Jr. that ran on the ABC television network between February 1989 and May 1989 as part of the

ABC Mystery Movie ''The NBC Mystery Movie'' is an American television anthology series produced by Universal Pictures, that NBC broadcast from 1971 to 1977. Devoted to a rotating series of mystery episodes, it was sometimes split into two subsets broadcast on dif ...

rotation.

References

External Links

Interview with Aaron Elkins
''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #12 (1992)
Interview with Aaron Elkins
''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #85 (1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Elkins, Aaron 1935 births Living people American mystery writers 20th-century American novelists Edgar Award winners Agatha Award winners Nero Award winners Writers from Sequim, Washington Writers from Brooklyn Hunter College alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Arizona alumni California State University, Los Angeles alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American male novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Washington (state)