Konrath, J.A. 1970–

(Joe Konrath, Joseph Andrew Konrath)

PERSONAL:

Born 1970, in Chicago, IL; married; wife's name Maria; children: Talon; (stepchildren) Chris and John.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Schaumburg, IL. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and educator. College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL, creative writing instructor.

WRITINGS:

"JACQUELINE ‘JACK’ DANIELS" MYSTERY SERIES

Whiskey Sour: A Jack Daniels Mystery, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2004.

Bloody Mary, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

Four Pack of Jack (e-book; short stories), Amazon, 2005.

Dirty Martini, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2005.

Rusty Nail, Hyperion (New York, NY), 2006.

OTHER

Six Pack of Crime (e-book; short stories), Amazon, 2006.

(Editor) These Guns for Hire: 31 Short Stories about Hitmen (short stories), Bleak House Books (Madison, WI), 2006.

Also author of the A Newbie's Guide to Publishing Web blog. Contributor of short stories and articles to periodicals, including Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Writer's Digest.

SIDELIGHTS:

J.A. Konrath has been reading mysteries since he came across Robert Parker's book The Judas Goat at the age of nine. As he told David Montgomery in an interview on the Mystery Ink Web site: "Since then, I've been hooked on reading mysteries. Writing is just a natural extension of that." Still, like many writers, Konrath found it difficult to get his writing published. He earned 450 rejections over twelve years before finding success with Whiskey Sour: A Jack Daniels Mystery, a sometimes gruesome, sometimes comic mystery. The book centers on an elusive serial killer who calls himself The Gingerbread Man and leaves the naked bodies of his victims in garbage cans throughout Chicago.

The first in a series, Whiskey Sour introduces readers to Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, a tough cop who has had to wage a two-front battle against both criminals and the old-boys network in the Chicago Violent Crimes Unit. In this case, Lieutenant Daniels also has to contend with a couple of ineffectual FBI agents and their preposterous profile of the likely serial killer. Eventually, when the increasing publicity of the case alerts The Gingerbread Man to her identity, Daniels finds herself being stalked by the "can't catch me" killer. At the same time, she must deal with upheavals in her personal life. Her live-in boyfriend has left her for her personal trainer, and in desperation she signs up with a dating service, which provides its own complications. For Mystery Reader Web site contributor Lesley Dunlap: "Whiskey Sour has the classic signs of the debut book in a new series. The primary purpose is establishing characters, setting, tone. What is lacking is a strong plot." Dunlap went on to note: "The plot takes a secondary role to the focus on main character's work life, personal life, love life, social life and general attitudes on life." P.J. Coldren, writing on the Reviewing the Evidence Web site, appreciated the other people in Jack's life, noting that "Konrath handles his secondary characters with as much verve and élan as he does Jack and her partner, Detective First Class Herb Benedict." Overall, Coldren wrote, Konrath's "characters are good, the plot is good, the writing is excellent. If you enjoy Kinsey Milhone, Stephanie Plum, and other strong female characters, then you should enjoy this."

In the sequel to Whiskey Sour, titled Bloody Mary, Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is surprised when two arms without a body are found at the Chicago morgue and are handcuffed together with Jack's missing cuffs. When she finds that the murderer is probably a cop, Jack is targeted as the next victim. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "peppers the story with one-liners that are sometimes riotous." Jenny McClarin wrote in Booklist: "Chicago native Konrath gets the city ambience just right."

Rusty Nail finds Jack the recipient of a snuff film sent to her by a serial killer mimicking serial killer The Gingerbread Man, who featured in Whiskey Sour. As she works on the case, Jack discovers that the serial killer is targeting people somehow associated with her. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted the novel's "engaging characters, true guffaws and tightly knit subplots."

In Dirty Martini, Jack is on the case of the self-named "Chemist," who is poisoning food in grocery stores. Eventually, the serial killer demands two million dollars from the city of Chicago or else he will infect baby food with botulism. In the meantime, Jack's boyfriend proposes, but she finds herself infatuated with an FBI agent. In a review for Booklist, David Pitt commented that the author "clearly understands the importance of creating a believable, interesting villain." A Publishers Weekly contributor referred to Dirty Martini as "a particularly potent mix of equal parts mirth and mayhem."

In addition to his own writing, Konrath teaches courses in both creative writing and the marketing aspects of a writer's life. He also holds his own short story contests every few months. As he told an interviewer on the Buried.com Web site: "I know how hard it is to get a break. I promised myself years ago, if I ever attained any sort of success, I'd help out other writers, because no one helped me at all."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2005, Jenny McLarin, review of Bloody Mary, p. 1761; July 1, 2007, review of Dirty Martini, p. 34.

Forbes, January 30, 2006, Kerry A. Dolan, "Promote It Yourself," p. 72.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2005, review of Bloody Mary, p. 613; May 1, 2007, review of Dirty Martini.

Library Journal, July 1, 2005, Rex E. Klett, review of Bloody Mary, p. 57; October 15, 2006, Bob Lunn, review of These Guns for Hire: 31 Short Stories about Hitmen, p. 57.

Publishers Weekly, May 30, 2005, review of Bloody Mary, p. 43; May 22, 2006, review of Rusty Nail, p. 34; April 23, 2007, review of Dirty Martini, p. 33.

ONLINE

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (September 9, 2005), interview with author.

Buried.com,http://www.buried.com/interviews/ (October 14, 2004), interview with Joe Konrath.

Crime Scene Scotland,http://www.crimescenescotland.com/ (August 3, 2007), Pat Mullan, "The Crime Scene Interview: A Day in the Life of Joe Konrath."

Gotta Write Network,http://www.gottawritenetwork.com/ (October 14, 2004), "J.A. Konrath Serves Us Whiskey Sour."

J.A. Konrath Home Page,http://www.jakonrath.com (October 14, 2004).

Likha Web blog,http://www.zarinadocken.com/ (June 21, 2004), interview with author.

Mysterious Musings,http://juliabuckley.blogspot.com/ (February 23, 2007), Julia Buckley, "J.A. Konrath on the Hard Work of Promotion, the Importance of Buying Beer, and the Truth behind His Mysterious Moniker."

Mystery Ink,http://www.mysteryinkonline.com/ (June 28, 2004), David Montgomery, interview with Joe Konrath.

Mystery Reader,http://www.themysteryreader.com/ (October 14, 2004), Leslie Dunlap, review of Whiskey Sour: A Jack Daniels Mystery.

Reviewing the Evidence,http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/ (June, 2004), P.J. Coldren, review of Whiskey Sour.

Short of It,http://theshortofit.blogspot.com/ (March 20, 2005), "J.A. Konrath Interview."

Up Close & Personal,http://eijohnson4u.blogspot.com/ (May 7, 2007), "Bestselling Author—J.A. Konrath—He Is A Fiction Writer of Mystery, Thriller, and Horror Genres."

Writing Life—Mark Terry,http://www.journalscape.com/Markterry/ (July 28, 2005), Mark Terry, interview with author.