Former anthropologist Aaron Elkins has been writing mysteries and thrillers since 1982, having won an Edgar for Old Bones, as well as a subsequent Agatha (with his wife Charlotte), and a Nero Wolfe Award. His major continuing series features forensic anthropologist-detective Gideon Oliver, "the skeleton detective."
A second series features art curator-sleuth Chris Norgren, and he and Charlotte have collaborated on five mysteries with female golfer Lee Ofsted. In addition Aaron is the author of Loot, a massively researched, critically acclaimed novel dealing with modern-day consequences of Nazi art plunder in World War II and Turncoat, which explores a similar subject. Aaron speaks often at professional conferences, is a frequent contributor to the New York Times' travel magazine, has written for Smithsonian magazine, and is the author of several short stories and numerous articles on the mystery and on mystery-writing.
The Gideon Oliver books have been (roughly) translated into a major ABC-TV series and have been selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Literary Guild, and the Readers Digest Condensed Mystery Series. Turncoat is currently under option in Hollywood. His work has been published in over a dozen languages. He and his wife Charlotte live on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, their marriage having survived (more or less intact) their collaboration on novels and short stories.