Aaron Elkins is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 mystery writer. He is best known for his series of novels featuring forensic anthropologist

Forensic anthropology

Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased...

 Gideon Oliver—the 'skeleton detective'.

Education and background:
Elkin's father was a machinist; his mother was a homemaker. Elkins graduated from Hunter College (Manhattan) in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts, after which he studied at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, earned masters of arts degrees at the University of Arizona (1960) and California State University (Los Angeles) (1962), and, finally, received a doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in 1976 from the University of California at Berkeley.

Professional: Elkins had a multi-year career as a government employee, consultant, lecturer, and teacher in the fields of business, psychology, and anthropology. He began his first novel (the first in the Gideon Oliver series) in 1978, at the age of 44. The fourth Oliver book, Old Bones, received the 1988 Edgar Award

Edgar Award

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 for Best Novel. As Oliver is a world-renowned authority, he travels around the world and each book is set in a different and often exotic locale.

In another series, the protagonist is museum curator Chris Norgren, an expert in Northern Renaissance art. His third novel in the Chris Norgren series, "Old Scores," won a Nero Award

Nero Award

The Nero Award is a literary award for excellence in the mystery genre presented by The Wolfe Pack, a society founded in 1978 to explore and celebrate the Nero Wolfe stories of Rex Stout...

 for best mystery novel (1994).

One of his stand-alone thrillers, Loot, deals with art stolen by the Nazis and introduces protagonist Dr. Benjamin Revere.

With his wife, Charlotte Elkins

Charlotte Elkins

Charlotte Elkins is an American author who teamed with her husband, writer Aaron Elkins, to write a series of mystery novels about Lee Ofsted, a struggling female professional golfer.-Background:...

, he has also co-written a series of golf mysteries about LPGA member Lee Ofsted. They shared an Agatha Award

Agatha Award

The Agatha Awards are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write via the same method as Agatha Christie...

 (1992) for their short story "Nice Gorilla".

Elkins and his wife live in Sequim

Sequim, Washington

Sequim is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The 2010 US Census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains...

, Washington.

Elkins has two children.

Gideon Oliver novels

• Fellowship of Fear (1982)
• The Dark Place (1983)
• Murder in the Queen's Armes (1985)
• Old Bones (1987)
• Curses! (1989)
• Icy Clutches (1990)
• Make No Bones (1991)
• Dead Men's Hearts (1994)
• Twenty Blue Devils (1997)
• Skeleton Dance (2000)
• Good Blood (2004)
• Where There's a Will (2005)
• Unnatural Selection (2006)
• Little Tiny Teeth (2007)
• Uneasy Relations (2008)
• Skull Duggery (2009)

Chris Norgren novels

• A Deceptive Clarity (1987)
• A Glancing Light (1991)
• Old Scores (1993)

Lee Ofsted novels (with Charlotte Elkins)

• A Wicked Slice (1989)
• Rotten Lies (1995)
• Nasty Breaks (1997)
• Where Have all the Birdies Gone? (2004)
• On the Fringe (2005)