For the former Major League Baseball player, see Jeff Abbott (baseball).
Jeff Abbott at the 2007 Texas Book Festival.
Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has a degree in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. His early novels were traditional detective fiction but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. A theme of his work is the idea of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary danger and fighting to return to their normal lives. His novels are published in several countries and have also been bestsellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and France.
Novels
- The Jordan Poteet mysteries, set in Texas. These novels are more traditional mysteries, centering around Jordan Poteet's eccentric family in a small Texas town:
- Do Unto Others (1994) -- winner of the Agatha Award and the Macavity Award (given by Mystery Readers International) for Best First Novel, nominated for the Dilys Award given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Associations
- The Only Good Yankee (1995)--nominated for the Writers' League of Texas Violet Crown Award
- Promises of Home (1996)
- Distant Blood (1996)
- The Whit Mosley series (Mosley is a Texas judge and coroner who partners with investigator Claudia Salazar in a Gulf Coast county). These books are darker and more thriller-oriented than the Poteet novels:
- A Kiss Gone Bad (2001)--nominated for the Anthony Award (given out at the World Mystery Conference also known as Bouchercon)
- Black Jack Point (2002)--nominated for the Edgar Award (given by Mystery Writers of America) and for the Anthony Award and for the Barry Award
- Cut and Run (2003)--nominated for the Edgar Award
- Panic (2005)--nominated for the Thriller Award (given by the International Thriller Writers)
- Fear (2006)
His novel, Panic, has been optioned for film by The Weinstein Company and is in developments.
