Personal life

Michael Garnet Stewart (born May 15, 1955) is a native of Vredenburgh

Vredenburgh, Alabama

Vredenburgh is a town in Monroe County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 327.-Geography:Vredenburgh is located at .According to the U.S...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, in Monroe County

Monroe County, Alabama

Monroe County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States. As of 2010, the population was 23,068. Its county seat is Monroeville. It is a dry county, in which the sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or...

. He attended Tabor Academy

Tabor Academy

Tabor Academy is a highly selective independent preparatory school located in Marion, Massachusetts, United States. Tabor is known for its marine science courses...

 for the first two years of high school but graduated from Wilcox Academy in Alabama.

Stewart received his undergraduate degree from Auburn University

Auburn University

Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

. He spent his summers working as a forest technician, cowboy, and farmhand. After graduating from college, he worked as copy editor of the Atlanta Journal and worked on a friend's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign before attending law school.

At Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...

, he was an associate editor of the Cumberland Law Review, moot court champion, leadership scholarship recipient, and the author of a published case note cited by the Alabama Supreme Court.

For years after law school, he worked as a successful corporate attorney. In the 1990s, he retired from his position as General Counsel of Complete Health, a large healthcare company, and decided to pursue his lifelong dream of writing novels.
Stewart lives in Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 with his family.

Sins of the Brother (1999)

Stewart's first novel, Sins of the Brother, is the first installment of the Tom McInnes series. It is marked by a creative and "labyrinthine plot," Southern gothic

Southern Gothic

Southern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. It resembles its parent genre in that it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...

 ambiance, and familial tension.

Upon hearing of his younger brother's death, Tom McInnes, a successful attorney from Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, returns to the small sawmill town where he grew up. There he learns about his brother's gambling debts, cocaine use, and suspicious death on the river. As Tom digs more and more deeply into the mystery surrounding his brother's life and death, he places himself in increasingly grave danger.

Dog Island (2001)

Mike Stewart's second novel follows Tom McInnes through Alabama and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, specifically through St. George Island

St. George Island

St. George Island is an island in the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is a part of Franklin County, Florida.-Physical characteristics:St. George is a barrier island, long and wide at its widest point. St. George Island is adjacent to Cape St. George Island...

 and nearby Dog Island

Dog Island

Dog Island is located in the northwestern Florida Gulf coast just 3.5 miles off-shore from Carrabelle in Franklin County, Florida.-Location:The island is partly sheltering St. George Sound and Apalachicola Bay...

. When a teenage runaway witnesses a murder, she comes to Tom for help.

A Clean Kill (2002)

In the third McInnes mystery, a young woman asks Tom to investigate the death of her mother in a small-town hospital. As Tom explores the suspicious death, an attempt is made on his life, the state bar threatens to disbar him, and he is accused of murdering another lawyer. Working with a psychologist

Psychologist

Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

/jury expert, Tom uncovers a jury-rigging conspiracy.

A Perfect Life (2004)

Stewart's fourth book is not a Tom McInnes mystery. A Perfect Life tells the story of Scott Thomas, a Harvard-trained clinical psychologist. Scott is carjacked, burgled, and framed for the murder of a woman at the Boston hospital where he works. With no family to stand by him, Scott alone must prove his innocence and take back his life, confronting his own dark past along the way.

Critical reception

"Compelling ... Laced with page-turning tension and memorable scenes that are as poignant as they are vital.... Rich details and smart use of dialogue help make this a near-perfect ride."
--Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

“Stewart shows a gift for economy of language and plot that is rare these days, and a talent for evoking atmosphere that has all but vanished from thriller novels.…”
–The Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

“Stewart evokes taste, smell, sight and touch to put the reader right in the middle of the scene.”
–The Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper, in terms of circulation, in North Carolina and South Carolina...