Peter Spiegelman (born 1958) is an American

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

author and former

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

executive. He is most known for his series of books following the cases of the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

-based

private eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent criticism ...

, John March, winning a

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 of the year. The Prize is given annually to recognize outstanding achievement i ...

for the first novel in the series. He lives with his family in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

Biography

Spiegelman grew up in Forest Hills, Queens and, creating his own home made superhero

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

, was interested in writing from a young age. He attended boarding school and studied English as an undergraduate at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely fol ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, winning the Beatrice Daw Brown prize for "a member of the senior class who has demonstrated excellence in the composition of poetry". Spiegelman then "sobered up and realized I had to pay the rent" and worked for twenty years in the

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companie ...

industry; starting out as a

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

for a small consulting firm and ending up as a

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is o ...

of J.P. Morgan. He followed this by becoming a junior partner for The Frustum Group, a company that sold computer software to large financial institutions, until, in 2001, it was sold for "a "high eight-figure" sum" allowing him the financial freedom to return to writing. Speaking about his time on the

trading floor Open outcry is a method of communication between professionals on a stock exchange or futures exchange, typically on a trading floor. It involves shouting and the use of hand signals to transfer information primarily about buy and sell order ...

, Spiegelman stated that "it's a great place to study dysfunctional

ego Ego or EGO may refer to: Social sciences * Ego (Freudian), one of the three constructs in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche * Egoism, an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality * Egotism, the drive to ...

s and uncompromising greed - great for an aspiring novelist. Wall Street is such a ' noirish' place." He was influenced by

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade (' ...

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

, and

Ross Macdonald Ross Macdonald was the main pseudonym used by the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar (; December 13, 1915 – July 11, 1983). He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in Southern California and featur ...

. He currently lives in

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 25,033 at the 2020 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, ...

, with his wife Alice Wang, a managing director at J. P. Morgan.

Bibliography

''John March'' series

The series of books follows John March, an ex-deputy Sheriff and current

-based

. Spiegelman came up with the character "during his drives from Ridgefield" to his workplace in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivisi ...

. * 2003 ''Black Maps'' * 2005 ''Death's Little Helpers'' (in the UK market, this book was initially published in as ''False Dawn'' and later as ''No Way Home'') * 2007 ''Red Cat'' (aka ''The Alibi League'') * 2007 ''This Year's Model'' (short-story)

Standalone works

* 2007 ''Wall Street Noir'' (short-story collection, editor) * 2011 '' Thick as Thieves'' * 2016 ''Dr. Knox: A Novel'' * 2022 ''A Secret About a Secret''

Awards

His first novel, ''Black Maps'', earned him the 2004

in the "Best First P. I. novel" category. The third novel of the ''John March'' series, ''Red Cat'', was nominated for the 2008 Barry Award for "Best Novel". His fourth novel, ''Thick as Thieves'', was recognised by '' Kirkus Reviews'' editor Elaine Szewczyk as one of the "Best Fiction ovelsof 2011".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiegelman, Peter Living people 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery writers Shamus Award winners 1958 births Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from New York City Vassar College alumni 21st-century American male writers