Bill Granger was an American novelist best known for his thrillers and crime fiction novels. Throughout his career, he wrote twenty-five novels, which were largely in the crime fiction genre and often set in Chicago. Granger was born in the United States and worked as a newspaperman before turning to fiction writing full time.
Granger's writing often featured colorful characters and evoked the rougher environments of Chicago. One of his most well-known novels is "Public Murders," which won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1981. In this novel, the city is in an uproar as a rapist-murderer strikes again and again, and the public and political pressure takes an emotional toll on the detectives investigating the crimes. Granger's fiction alternated between international spy thrillers and police procedurals, and he often used pen names such as Bill Griffith and Joe Gash.
Granger's first spy novel, "The November Man," caused an international stir when it was published in 1979. The novel involved a plot to assassinate a relative of Queen Elizabeth by blowing up a boat, and it was published just before the Irish Republican Army killed Lord Louis Mountbatten, the queen's cousin, on his fishing boat. Despite the controversy, Granger always considered himself more of a reporter than an author. He had a long and distinguished career in journalism, working for United Press International, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Chicago Daily Herald. He covered a wide range of topics, including sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.
Granger's writing was informed by his experiences as a journalist, and he brought a reporter's eye for detail and accuracy to his fiction. He had a distinctive voice and a talent for creating memorable characters. Despite suffering a series of strokes in the 1990s, Granger continued to write until 2000. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 80. He is survived by his wife, Lori, and his son, Alec. Granger's work continues to be celebrated by fans of crime fiction and thrillers, and his legacy as a writer endures to this day.