Linda Fairstein is a Fellow of the American college of Trial Lawyers and for 30 years she ran the Sex Crimes Unit of the District Attorneys Office in Manhattan. She left that office in 2002. During her tenure, she helped to prosecute several high profile and controversial cases including the Robert Chambers Preppy Murder case in 1986.
Linda was born on May 5,1947 in Mount Vernon, New York. She graduated from Vassar College in 1969 with a B.A. in English Literature. Upon graduating from the University of Virginia Law in 1972, she joined the Manhattan District Attorneys Office as an Assistant District Attorney.
In 2004, Linda was named in a 10 million dollar lawsuit against the state of New York by Dr. Oliver Jovanovic. Dr. Jovanovic, a biologist, was convicted in 1998, for the kidnapping, sexual abuse and assault of a college student that he had met on the internet. His case was overturned in 1999, siting an unfair trial.
Lindas draws on her legal expertise for her series character, Alexandra Cooper, a Manhattan prosecutor. Linda says she writes her series in the first person because, I want them the readers to see victimization and then hopefully the result in the courtroom from Alexs perspective. Lindas first Alex Cooper novel, Final Jeopardy, was made into an ABC television movie starring Dana Delaney.
Linda says that people that arent very bright probably commit 90% of crimes in this country. She says that in her books, she may invent the murders, but the motives of the murders come from the motives in real cases. She says she has never written about any of her actual cases.
Linda centers all her novels in notable places around New York City. She states, I just love having places that are real and very rich with history, and then I let my imagination loose. She says she wants each book to be an entertaining escapism, and for the reader to come away learning something new. She said for her, writing the first hundred pages is equivalent to having a root canal but after 200 pages, its smooth sailing.
Linda loves to collect historical trivia, antique jewelry, desk and writing objects. She collects first edition books, particularly of crime and mystery genre. She also collects nineteenth century British Literature. She loves reading mysteries and her favorite television show is CSI Special Victims Unit.
Linda and her husband, Justin Feldman, live in Manhattan and have a home in Marthas Vineyard where they go each year for four months. She has a separate cottage where she plots and writes. Linda says that being a writer has been her passion since high school.
Linda is still a lawyer and takes a few cases for victims of violent crimes, usually pro bono. She also does consulting and is a keynote speaker lecturing on sex crimes and domestic violence.
Books by Linda Firestein:
Series:
Alex Cooper:
Final Jeopardy (1994)
Likely to Die (1997)
Cold Hit (1999)
The Deadhouse (2001)
The Bone Vault (2003)
The Kills (2004)
Entombed (2005)
Death Dance (2006)
Bad Blood (2007)
Killer Heat (2008)
Lethal Legacy (2009)
Omnibus:
Final Jeopardy/Likely to Die (2004)
Cold Hit/The Deadhouse (2005)
Novels:
Id Kill for That (2004) (with Rita Mae Brown, Jennifer Cruise, Lisa Gardner, Heather Graham, Kay Hooper, Katherine Neville, Anne Perry, Kathy Reichs, Julie Smith and Tina Wainscott)
Hell Gate (2010)
Non Fiction:
Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape (1993)
The Best American Crime Reporting 2007 (2007) (with Otto Penzler)
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