Loren D. Estleman [b. 1952] is the award-winning author of over sixty-five novels, including mysteries and westerns.
Raised in Michigan, Estleman submitted his first story for publication at the age of fifteen and accumulated 160 rejection letters over the next eight years. Once The Oklahoma Punk was published in 1976, success came quickly, allowing him to quit his day job and become a fulltime writer.
Estleman's most enduring character, Amos Walker, made his first appearance in 1980's Motor City Blue, and the hardboiled Detroit private eye has been featured in twenty novels since.
Estleman has also won praise for his adventure novels set in the Old West. In 1980, The High Rocks was nominated for a National Book Award, and since then Estleman has featured its hero, Deputy U.S. Marshal Page Murdock, in seven more novels, most recently 2010's The Book of Murdock. Estleman has received awards for many of his standalone westerns, receiving recognition for both his attention to historical detail and the elements of suspense that follow from his background as a mystery author. Journey of the Dead, a story of the man who murdered Billy the Kid, won a Spur Award from the Wetsern Writers of America, and a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
In 1993, Estleman married Deborah Morgan, a fellow mystery author. He lives and works in Ann Arbor, Michigan.