Konrath, J(oseph) A(ndrew) 1970-

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KONRATH, J(oseph) A(ndrew) 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born 1970; married; wife's name Maria; children.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Illinois. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Hyperion Books, 77 West Sixty-sixth St., Eleventh Floor, New York, NY 10023.

CAREER:

Mystery writer. College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL, creative writing instructor.

WRITINGS:

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

Also contributor of short stories and articles to periodicals such as Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Writer's Digest.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Two more Jack Daniels mysteries, tentatively titled Rusty Nail and Bloody Mary, for Hyperion.

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 an interviewer for Mystery Ink, "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 planned series, Whiskey Sour introduces readers to Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, a tough cop who's 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 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.…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 for Reviewing the Evidence, 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 concluded, 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 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 for Buried.com, "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."