Robert Crais (pronounced ; born June 20, 1953) is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A. Law. His writing is influenced by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Robert B. Parker and John Steinbeck. Crais has won numerous awards for his crime novels. Lee Child has cited him in interviews as one of his favourite American crime writers. The novels of Robert Crais have been published in 62 countries and are bestsellers around the world. Robert Crais received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award in 2006 and was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2014.
Biography Born in Independence, Louisiana, he was adopted and raised as an only child. He attended Louisiana State University and studied mechanical engineering.
Crais moved to Hollywood in 1976, where he initially found work as a screenwriter for the television series Baretta and Quincy, M.E., later working on Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey and Miami Vice. He was nominated for an Emmy award for a Hill Street Blues episode he co-wrote in 1981. Following the death of his father in 1985, Crais published the novel The Monkey's Raincoat, which won the 1988 Anthony Award for "Best Paperback Original" and the 1988 Mystery Readers International Macavity Award for "Best First Novel". It has since been selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
In 2006 Crais was awarded the Ross Macdonald Literary Award and in 2010 the Private Eye Writers of America's (PWA) Lifetime Achievement Award The Eye. In 2014 Crais received the Mystery Writers of America's (MWA) Grand Master Award. In 2026, MWA awarded The Big Empty the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Novel.
Crais novels include Demolition Angel, Hostage, Suspect, and The Two-Minute Rule. Most of Crais' books feature the characters Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, with The Watchman (2007), The First Rule (2010) and The Sentry (2011) centering on Joe Pike. Taken is a 2012 detective novel by Robert Crais. It is the fifteenth in a series of linked novels centering on the character Elvis Cole. The 2005 film Hostage was an adaptation of one of his books.
In 2020 his novel Suspect (2013) was named Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade in the Barry Awards.
Published works
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels Nr Year Title Award Result 1 1987 The Monkey's Raincoat Anthony Award – Best Paperback Original 1988 Macavity Award – Best First Novel 1988 Edgar Award – Best Paperback Original 1988 Shamus Award – Best Original P.I. Paperback 1988 2 1989 Stalking the Angel 3 1992 Lullaby Town Anthony Award – Best Novel 1993 Shamus Award – Best P.I. Hardcover 1993 4 1993 Free Fall Edgar Award – Best Novel 1994 5 1995 Voodoo River Dilys Award 6 1996 Sunset Express Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 1997 Publishers Weekly 7 1997 Indigo Slam Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 1998 8 1999 L.A. Requiem Dilys Award Edgar Award – Best Novel 2000 Anthony Award – Best Novel 2000 Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 2000 9 2003 The Last Detective Audie Award 10 2005 The Forgotten Man Shamus Award – Best P.I. Novel 2006 11 2007 The Watchman Barry Award – Best Thriller 2008 Mystery Ink's Gumshoe Award – Best Thriller 2008 Anthony Award – Best Novel 2008 International Thriller Writers Awards – Best Novel 2008 12 2008 Chasing Darkness Southern California Independent Booksellers Association – Best Mystery Award 13 2010 The First Rule Shamus Award – Best Hardcover P.I. Novel 2011 14 2011 The Sentry 15 2012 Taken Shamus Award – Best Hardcover P.I. Novel 2013 Left Coast Crime – The Watson (mystery novel with the best sidekick) 2013 16 2015 The Promise 17 2017 The Wanted 18 2019 A Dangerous Man 19 2022 Racing the Light 20 2025 The Big Empty Edgar Award – Best Novel 2026
Other novels Year Title Publisher Award Result 2000 Demolition Angel Doubleday Mary Higgins Clark Award 2001 Dilys Award 2001 Hostage Doubleday New York Times Book Review 2006 The Two-Minute Rule Simon & Schuster London Evening Standard Otto Penzler, The New York Sun Oline Cogdill, Sun-Sentinel January Magazine Audie Award 2013 Suspect
References
External links
Interview with Robert Crais, A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour TV Series, Episode #158 (1995)