Ace Atkins is a former newspaper journalist and current writer of crime fiction. He started off with a series about the New Orleans private eye, Nick Travers. Then he moved on to a quartet of critically acclaimed novels based on historic true crimes. Currently he is continuing the Spenser series for the Robert B Parker estate, as well as writing his own series based in the northern Mississippi county of Tibbeha, the newest of which is called The Redeemers.