Bruce Robert Coffin retired from the Portland, Maine police department as a detective sergeant with almost thirty years of experience in law enforcement. At the time of his retirement, he supervised all homicide and violent crime investigations for Maine’s largest city. Bruce also had four years of experience with the counter-terrorism group of the FBI, where he earned the Director’s Award, the highest honor a non-agent can receive.

What do you do with all of that experience and exposure to crime? Well, you write crime novels. Bruce’s first novel, “Among the Shadows,” was hailed by critics, with Paul Doiron, author of “Widowmaker,” calling it the “best debut I’ve read in ages.” The novel is the first of a series featuring the character John Byron, with the second installment, “Beneath the Depths,” is due to be released on August 8. Bruce’s short story, “Fool Proof,” was named one of the twenty best mystery stories published in North American during 2015, and is included in Houghton Miflin Harcourt’s Best American Mystery Stories, 2016.

Bruce is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime New England, and the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, and is a regular contributor to the Maine Crime Writers blog. He lives and writes in Maine.