Jeffery Deaver (b. 1950) is an American author of thrillers. Born near Chicago, Illinois, he practiced law before writing his first novel,
Manhattan Is My Beat, in 1988. This story of Rune, a video-store clerk who investigates a client's murder, established Deaver's talent for psychological suspense. He wrote two more novels starring Rune before moving on to
Shallow Graves (1992), which introduced location scout and amateur sleuth John Pellam.
The Bone Collector (1997) kicked off a long-running series starring paralyzed detective Lincoln Rhyme; this debut title was made into a film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie in 1999.
Deaver alternates his Rhyme novels with standalone books such as
Garden of Beasts (2004) and
Edge (2010), as well as a series about body-language analyst Kathryn Dance. In addition to his success as an author, Deaver is an accomplished folk musician, and recorded an album to accompany
XO (2012), the third Kathryn Dance novel. He lives in New York City.
