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William Landay

Bestselling author of Defending Jacob, former district attorney

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  • About William Landay

    Internationally bestselling author William Landay is a former assistant district attorney who holds degrees from Yale University and Boston College Law School. He is highly regarded for his mastery of suspense, a writer praised as much for his skill at plotting a story as for his well-crafted characters.

    In his lectures, Landay attracts standing-room-only crowds for discussions of his work and the writing process.

    Landay’s New York Times bestseller Defending Jacob was named one of the best books of 2012 by The Boston GlobeEntertainment Weekly and The Kansas City Star as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Defending Jacob has been adapted to eight-part series on Apple TV+ starring Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery. His anticipated upcoming novel All That Is Mine I Carry With Me is a grappling tale about family secrets, vengeance and loyalty. His previous novels are Mission Flats, which won the Dagger Award as best debut crime novel of 2003, and The Strangler, which was a Los Angeles Times Favorite Crime Novel and was nominated for The Strand Magazine Critics Award as best crime novel of 2007.

  • Speaking Topics

    An Evening with William Landay

    The bestselling author shares his work and discusses the craft of his writing.

    Thrilling Craft

    Inspiration, hard work, and what it takes to write a book.

  • Video

  • Praise for William Landay

    Praise for Defending Jacob

    A novel like this comes along maybe once a decade. William Landay’s Defending Jacob is a tour de force, a full-blooded legal thriller about a murder trial and the way it shatters a family. With its relentless suspense, mesmerizing prose, and a shocking twist at the end, it’s every bit as good as Scott Turow’s great Presumed Innocent. But also something more: an indelible domestic drama that calls to mind Ordinary People and We Need to Talk About Kevin. A spellbinding and unforgettable literary crime novel.

    Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Buried Secrets and High Crimes
  • Books by William Landay

  • Media About William Landay

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  • 212 572-2013
  • William Landay travels from Boston, MA

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