Mike Cobb, esteemed historical crime fiction writer, talks to me about his work, his upcoming film adaptation, and the horrendous real-life tragedy that inspires his writing.
Please tell me about your books. Which one was your favourite to write?
I’ve published four books to date. While they deal with crime, I don’t consider them to be your typical formulaic crime stories. My books are as much historical fiction and explorations of moral tension and the state of humankind as they are about crime.
Dead Beckoning is a fictionalized account of a true cold case, the murder of a prominent businessman in Atlanta in 1895. The books is rich with historical detail coupled with a page-turning mystery.
The Devil You Knew is part coming-of-age novel, part historical crime fiction. It’s about some girls who go missing in 1963. The protagonist Billy Tarwater, an eleven-year-old boy, is infatuated with one of the girls. Fast forward to 1980. Now an up-and-coming reporter, he sets out to avenge what happened to the girls, free an innocent man who was convicted of their murders, and find the true killer.
In You Will Know Me by My Deeds, the sequel to The Devil You Knew, someone is out to get Billy and his wife. A gripping story of intrigue and suspense is woven around the Atlanta Child Murders, a tragic period in the city’s history.
In Muzzle the Black Dog, a novella, a mysterious stranger appears at the protagonist Jack Pate’s isolated cabin door. This encounter is the beginning of a harrowing journey of self-reflection and redemption, changing Jack’s life forever.
As for which one was my favourite to write, that’s difficult to answer, as I loved writing all of them. However, if I had to pick one, I would say The Devil You Knew. Dead Beckoning would be a close second.
Tell me about what drew you to crime and thrillers?
I write about crime because of a tragic personal experience. When I was seventeen, a young woman six years my senior took me under her wing at a vulnerable time in my life, when I was a lonely, directionless teenager struggling to find my footing. She was brutally murdered, and her killer has never been found. I am currently working on Susan – A True Crime Story of Friendship, Murder, and the Fight for Justice, an account of her life and death and my relationship with her.
What books do you like reading yourself? Any authors you’re particularly fond of?
My reading tastes are very eclectic and extend far beyond crime and historical fiction. My favorite contemporary writers include, for example, Patrick Modiano, Joan Didion, Erik Larson, Amor Towles, Lou Berney, Umberto Eco. Reaching further into the past, I love Nabokov, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Virginia Woolf, Flannery O’Connor, Truman Capote.
If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, on a writing project, who would it be and why?
Great question. I believe it would be Patrick Modiano. He’s a wonderful literary writer of memory, loss, and identity, often using the tools of crime fiction (missing persons, secret dossiers, shadowy characters) to explore postwar trauma, especially in France. His narrators often search for somebody—a woman, a friend, a father—but the search is existential, not procedural. The setting is often Paris, filtered through fog, memory, and moral haze, particularly in the shadow of the Nazi occupation and Vichy complicity. He is probably my favorite living writer. Plus he writes short books, something I’m learning to do.
What books are you looking forward to in 2025?
Another great question. My TBR list includes Modiano’s Invisible Ink, Didion’s Notes to John, William Geroux’s The Fifteen: Murder, Retribution, and the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWs in America, and Graydon Carter’s When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines. When I can get to them, I also want to reread some of the classics, including The Iliad and The Odyssey.
What’s next for you? Any new projects you’re excited about?
I’m currently working on the Susan true crime story, mentioned earlier, and a film adaptation of Muzzle the Black Dog.
Do you have anything to add?
Just that I love writing, but I love it even more when readers tell me that my books challenge and delight them.
Huge thanks to Mike for taking the time to share these incredible insights. If you’re interested in finding out more about Mike and his work, you can follow him on Facebook and Instagram or check out his website HERE.
