Michael Zinn Lewin (born 1942 in Springfield, Massachusetts) is an American writer of mystery fiction perhaps best known for his series about Albert Samson, a low-keyed,

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

who plies his trade in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Samson's was arguably the first truly regional series for a private-eye, beginning with Ask the Right Question, published in 1971. Lewin himself grew up in Indianapolis, but after graduating from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and living for a few years in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

and then

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he moved to England where he has lived since 1971. However, much of his fiction continues to be set in Indianapolis, including a second series about Leroy Powder, a confrontational Indy police officer who also sometimes appears in the Samson novels. Samson and Powder also feature in short stories. The Samson and Powder novels and stories have been widely praised.^{by whom?'']} Another series is set in

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

in England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. There are three novels and several short stories about them. Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. One novel, ''Confessions'' ''of a Discontented'' ''Deity'', is even set largely in Heaven. A satire, it is one of a number of Lewin's works that break from traditional genre fiction. Other examples are ''Rover's Tales'' (short stories that view humanity from below, compared to Deity's view from above), ''Cutting Loose'' (a historical novel that moves from Indiana to London in the 19th century), ''Men Like Us'' (whose central character is an American from Indiana trying to find redemption in London), and ''Whatever It Takes'', a short dystopian novel which has also been viewed by some as satire. Lewin is the son of

Leonard C. Lewin Leonard C. Lewin (October 2, 1916 – January 28, 1999) was an American writer, best known as the author of the bestseller '' The Report from Iron Mountain'' (1967). He also wrote ''Triage'' (1972), a novel about a covert group dedicated to ki ...

, author of the 1967 bestselling satire '' The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace''. Leonard C. Lewin also wrote as L. L. Case. A new book on the history and effects of Iron Mountain will be published in the spring of 2025 in the US and UK. ''Ghosts of Iron Mountain: The Hoax of the Century, Its Enduring Impact, and What It Reveals about America Today'', it has been written by British journalist Phil Tinline. His sister is Julie E. Lewin, a nationally known advocate on animal issues and the author of highly influential "Get Political for Animals and Win the Laws They Need."

Works

Albert Samson

Samson tells his stories in the first-person narrative form typical of many private-eye novels. They are witty, and they are off-beat, both for their plotting and setting and for the sharply drawn relationships that Samson has with his mother, who owns a luncheonette, and with his long-time but nameless girlfriend. In more recent work Samson's daughter features significantly. What about his late father? That relationship is described in "A Question of Fathers" first published in 2014 in ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...

''. Samson neither drinks regularly nor chases women in the manner characteristic of his fictional confrères. He does not own a gun, makes modest meals for himself, and shoots hoops in the park as a recreation. Although the stories start off in an understated fashion about seemingly trivial domestic matters, they eventually escalate to scenes of sometimes startling violence. Of major importance in the stories is the city of Indianapolis and, occasionally, other locales in Indiana. One novel, "And Baby Will Fall", focuses on Samson's long term romantic interest. Although not named in the Samson novels, Adele Buffington is the lead character in the book and both Samson and Powder also appear. The book was adapted as a television movie in Japan (as was the Samson novel, "Missing Woman". Among the several Samson short stories are four with a recurring client. These have been collected in ''Alien Quartet'' (2018). "A Question of Fathers" is the fourth story in this collection.

Leroy Powder

Powder began life as a reaction to the raft of fictional cops who ignore the rules and do "it" their own way. Powder is a stickler for doing things properly as a Lieutenant in the Indianapolis Police Department. He loves to "help" other officers become a "better" cops. However Powder's personal life is a bit more complicated than the rulebook. The first Powder book in particular, "Night Cover", was a fresh breath in crime fiction in 1976 and even received a rave review in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

Biblio

Albert Samson novels

*''Ask the Right Question'', Putnam, New York, 1971 *''The Way We Die Now'', Putnam, New York, 1973 *''The Enemies Within'', Knopf, New York, 1974 *''The Silent Salesman'', Knopf, New York, 1978 *''Missing Woman'', Knopf, New York, 1981 *''Out of Season'', Morrow, New York, 1984; British title: ''Out of Time'', Macmillan, 1984 *''Called by a Panther'', Mysterious Press, New York, 1991 *''Eye Opener'', Five Star, 2004

Leroy Powder novels

*''Night Cover'', Knopf, New York, 1976 *''Hard Line'', Morrow, New York, 1982 – 1988 Maltese Falcon Award, Japan *''Late Payments'', Morrow, New York, 1986

Other Indianapolis novels

*''Outside In'', Knopf, New York, 1980 *''And Baby Will Fall'', Morrow, New York, 1988 *''Underdog'', Mysterious Press, New York, 1993 *''Oh Joe'', Five Star, 2008

Lunghi Family

*''Family Business'', Foul Play, 1995 *''Family Planning'',

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

, New York, 1999 *''Family Way'', Five Star, 2011

Stand alone novels

*''

The Next Man ''The Next Man'' (also known as ''The Arab Conspiracy'' and ''Double Hit'') is a 1976 American political action thriller film starring Sean Connery, , Albert Paulsen, and Charles Cioffi. Music for the film features New York City guitarist Freder ...

'', Warner, 1976 (Novelization of the screenplay by

Morton Fine Morton Fine (December 24, 1916 – March 7, 1991) was an American screenwriter. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Fine worked in an advertising agency, a bookstore, and an aircraft factory before joining the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 during Wo ...

Alan Trustman Alan Trustman (born December 16, 1930) is an American lawyer, screenwriter, pari-mutuel operator and currency trader. He is best known for writing the 1968 film, '' The Thomas Crown Affair'', ''Bullitt'', and ''They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'', in his ...

, David M. Wolf and

Richard Sarafian Richard Caspar Sarafian (April 28, 1930 – September 18, 2013) was an Armenian-American film director and actor. He compiled a versatile career that spanned over five decades as a director, actor, and writer. Sarafian is best known as the direct ...

) *''Cutting Loose'', Holt, New York, 1999 *''Confessions of a Discontented Deity'' Smashwords 2013, Gatekeeper 2022 *''Men Like Us'', iUniverse, 2021 *''Whatever It Takes'', Gatekeeper 2022

Short story collections

*''Telling Tails'', PawPaw 1994 *''Rover's Tales'' ( St Martin's) *''The Reluctant Detective'', (

Crippen & Landru Crippen & Landru Publishers is a small publisher of mystery fiction collections, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1994 by husband and wife Sandi and Douglas G. Greene in Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an indepen ...

, 2001 (Including two Edgar nominated stories) *''Family Trio'' 2011 Amazon Kindle (three Lunghi family stories). *''Alien Quartet'' 2018 iUniverse (four Albert Samson stories)

Various awards and recognitions

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

nominations from

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

: * ''Ask the Right Question'' Best First Novel * ''The Reluctant Detective'' Best Short Story * ''If the Glove Fits'' Best Short Story Maltese Falcon for the best foreign mystery novel of the year in Japan: "Hard Line", 1988. The "Marlowe" for best crime novel of the year by the Raymond Chandler Society in Germany for "Called by a Panther" in 1992. Lifetime Achievement from Magna cum Murder (Muncie, Indiana) in 1994. The

Shamus Award The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction ( P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a sing ...

for Best Short Story of 2011 for "Who I Am". Nominated for Best Thriller Short Story of 2011 at Thrillercon, "Anything to Win". Nominated for

for Best Short Story of 2013 for "Extra Fries". Private Eye Writers of America Life Achievement Award, "The Eye" in 2021.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewin, Michael Z. 1942 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers Harvard University alumni Maltese Falcon Award winners Novelists from Massachusetts 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers