J. L. Abramo was born and raised in the seaside paradise of Brooklyn, New York on Raymond Chandler's fifty-ninth birthday. A long-time journalist, educator and theatre artist, Abramo is the author of Catching Water in a Net, winner of the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America prize for Best First Private Eye Novel; the subsequent Jake Diamond Novels Clutching at Straws, Counting to Infinity and Circling the Runway (Shamus Award Winner); Chasing Charlie Chan, a prequel to the Jake Diamond series; and the stand-alone thrillers Gravesend, Brooklyn Justice and Coney Island Avenue, a follow-up to Gravesend. Abramo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Education from The City College of The City University New York and a Master’s Degree in Social Psychology at The University of Cincinnati. He is the current president of Private Eye Writers of America and lives and writes in Denver, Colorado. www.jlabramo.com