Murray Sinclair is best known for his Ben Crandel series, a trio of Los Angeles–based mystery novels set in the criminal underworld of late-1980s Hollywood. The first in the series, Tough Luck L.A., was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original; the third, Goodbye L.A., was among the few new publications from Black Lizard Books, the legendary crime fiction reissue press whose selections are widely regarded as hardboiled canon. A California native, Sinclair lives and works in Los Angeles, where he practices law.