Attica Locke is an American novelist and screenwriter born in Houston, Texas, in 1974. Alongside writing and producing television dramas, including “Empire,” she writes crime fiction exploring racism and justice in the American South. Her novel “Bluebird, Bluebird” follows Darren Mathews, a Black Texas Ranger investigating two murders in a small town along Highway 59 in East Texas. The victims—a Black lawyer visiting from Chicago and a local white woman—have become the focus of simmering racial tensions. As Darren pursues the truth, his professional duties collide with his loyalty to his roots and his complicated relationship with the state he once tried to leave. The novel won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2018. Against a rural landscape steeped in blues music and shared histories, Locke examines how loyalties to family, community and race can complicate the pursuit of justice.
