Matt Rees

Matt Beynon Rees is the creator of the critically acclaimed series of mysteries featuring Palestinian detective Omar Yussef. The first novel in the series, The Collaborator of Bethlehem (published in the UK as The Bethlehem Murders), was one of the most lauded novels of 2007. It won the British Crime Writers Association’s John Creasey “New Blood” Dagger Award for Best First Novel; in the US, it was one of five finalists for the 2007 Quill Award for Best Suspense novel, and it was cited by both Publishers Weekly and Booklist as a Best Mystery of 2007. It was also a finalist for both the Barry and the Macavity Awards for Best First Novel. In 2015, Booklist named it one of the 101 Best Crime Novels of the Past Decade. This series has been translated into 24 languages.

In 2016, Matt started a new series with The Damascus Threat, featuring ICE agent Dominic Verrazzano, which Kirkus raves is “crackerjack entertainment” and Publishers Weekly calls “fast-paced, action-packed.” The second book in the series, China Strike, is out now from Crooked Lane.