Thomas H. Cook (born September 19, 1947) is an American author, whose 1996 novel '' The Chatham School Affair'' received an

Edgar award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

from the

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 ...

Biography

Thomas H. Cook was born in

Fort Payne, Alabama Fort Payne is a city in and county seat of DeKalb County, in northeastern Alabama, United States. It is near Lookout Mountain. At the 2020 census, the population was 14,877. This city developed around a fort of the same name, built in the 183 ...

, and holds a bachelor's degree from Georgia State College, a master's degree in American history from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. 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 ...

, and a

Master of Philosophy A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at leas ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. From 1978 to 1981, Cook taught English and History at Dekalb Community College in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and served as book review editor for ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

'' magazine from 1978 to 1982, when he took up writing full-time. Cook began his first novel, '' Blood Innocents'', while he was still in graduate school. It was published in 1980, and he has published steadily since then. A film version of one of his books, '' Evidence of Blood'', was released in 1997. Six of his novels have been nominated for awards, including '' Red Leaves'' in 2006, which was also shortlisted for the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

's Duncan Lawrie Dagger and the

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

, and went on to win the Barry Award and the

Martin Beck Award The Best Crime Novel in Swedish Translation is an award given by the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy (''Svenska Deckarakademin'') for the best crime novel in translation . It is one of the most prestigious international crime-writing awards. It was ...

. Cook lives with his family in

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

and

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 ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Awards and honors

Publications

*''Blood Innocents'' (Playboy, 1980) *''The Orchids'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1982). *''Tabernacle'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1983). *''Elena'' (Houghton Mifflin, 1986). *''Sacrificial Ground'' (Putnam, 1988). *''Flesh and Blood'' (Putnam, 1989). *''Streets of Fire'' (Putnam, 1989). *''Early Graves'' (Dutton, 1990). *''Night Secrets'' (Putnam, 1990). *''The City When It Rains'' (Putnam, 1991). *''Evidence of Blood'' (Putnam, 1991). *''Blood Echoes'' (Dutton, 1992). *''Mortal Memory'' (Putnam, 1993). *''Breakheart Hill'' (Bantam, 1995). *''The Chatham School Affair'' (Bantam, 1996). *''Instruments of Night'' (Bantam, 1998). *''Places in the Dark'' (Bantam, 2000). *''The Interrogation'' (Bantam, 2002). *''Taken: A Novelization'' (Dell, 2002). *''Moon Over Manhattan'', with Larry King, (New Millennium Press, 2003). *''Peril'' (Bantam, 2004). *''Into the Web'' (Bantam, 2004). *''Red Leaves'' (Harcourt, 2005). *''The Murmur of Stones'' (Quercus, 2006)
(published in the US as ''The Cloud of Unknowing'', Harcourt, 2007). *''Master of the Delta'' (Harcourt, 2008). *''The Best American Crime Reporting 2008'', (with

Jonathan Kellerman Jonathan Seth Kellerman (born August 9, 1949) is an American novelist and psychologist known for his mystery novels featuring the character Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department. Born on the Low ...

and

Otto Penzler Otto Penzler (born July 8, 1942) is an American editor of mystery fiction, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Biography Born in Germany to a German-American mother and a German father, Penzler moved to The Bronx at ag ...

), (Harper Perennial, 2008). *''The Fate of Katherine Carr'' (2009). *''The Last Talk with Lola Faye'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010). *''The Quest for Anna Klein'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011). *''The Crime of Julian Wells'' (Mysterious Press, 2012). *''Sandrine's Case'' (Mysterious Press, 2013). *''Fatherhood and Other Stories'' (Pegasus Press, 2013). *''A Dancer in the Dust'' (Grove/Atlantic/Mysterious, 2015), *''Even Darkness Sings'' (Pegasus Press, 2018).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Thomas H. 1947 births Living people Hunter College alumni Columbia University alumni Savannah State University alumni American mystery writers 20th-century American novelists Novelists from Alabama People from Fort Payne, Alabama Edgar Award winners Barry Award winners 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers