Lee Goldberg


Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, publisher and producer known for his bestselling novels Lost Hills and True Fiction and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including Diagnosis: Murder, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Hunter, Spenser: For Hire, Martial Law, She-Wolf of London, SeaQuest, 1-800-Missing, The Glades and Monk.

Career

Goldberg began his career as a journalist, covering local news and the police beat for the Contra Costa Times and UPI, and writing feature articles, interviews and reviews for various national publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and American Film among others.
He attended UCLA, where he was a reporter and feature writer for the Daily Bruin student newspaper, in addition to his aforementioned journalism work. There he befriended Lewis Perdue, the paper's journalism advisor from 1979 to 1982, who got Goldberg his first writing assignment for Pinnacle Books. The novel, .357 Vigilante, was published under the pseudonym "Ian Ludlow" in 1985. The novel spawned three more sequels and the series' movie rights were optioned by New World Pictures. Although the movie was never made, his script for the movie, co-written with fellow UCLA classmate William Rabkin, led to a long career in television and film. Their first television credit was on the "If You Knew Sammy" episode of Spenser: For Hire about an author of vigilante novels.

Film and television

His subsequent writing and producing credits include Murphy's Law, SeaQuest DSV, The Cosby Mysteries, and Monk, among others. He is perhaps best known for his stint as supervising producer and executive producer of the long-running series Diagnosis Murder starring Dick Van Dyke as a doctor who solves crimes.
In 2007, Goldberg wrote and produced the pilot for a German television program, Fast Track: No Limits. which aired on television in some countries and was released as a theatrical film in others.
In 2010, he wrote and directed the short film Remaindered, based on his short story for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, on location in Kentucky. He wrote and directed the sequel, Bumsicle, in 2012.
In 2019, he co-wrote and co-created with Robin Bernheim the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries telefilm series Mystery 101 starring Jill Wagner and Kristofer Polaha.
In April 2021, Constantin Films announced that they will be producing a feature film version his novel The Walk based on his screenplay adaptation.
In April 2024, ID8 Media and producers Shelby Stone and Derek Dudley announced that they will be producing a TV series based upon his novel Malibu Burning
In May 2025, he became a writer & co-executive producer of the upcoming, six episode first season of You're Killing Me, a light-hearted mystery series created by Robin Bernheim and starring Brooke Shields, Amalia Williamson and Tom Cavanagh. The series will air on AMC/Acorn in early 2026.
In July 2025, it was announced that Madison Lintz, who starred in Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, will star in and executive produce "Eve Ronin," a TV series based on Goldberg's bestselling series of novels.

Writing

In conjunction with his work on Monk and Diagnosis Murder, Goldberg wrote several original tie-in novels based on those series. He has also penned several original crime novels, two featuring ex-cop-turned-Hollywood troubleshooter Charlie Willis and the aforementioned .357 Vigilante series, which he wrote under the pseudonym Ian Ludlow, while still a UCLA undergraduate student.
His novel, The Man with the Iron-On Badge, was nominated for a Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America and was produced in 2007 as the stage play, Mapes For Hire, in Owensboro, Kentucky at the International Mystery Writers Festival.
Goldberg has also written non-fiction books about the entertainment industry, including Unsold Television Pilots and Successful Television Writing. His book, Unsold Television Pilots, was turned into two TV specials – The Greatest Shows You Never Saw on CBS and The Best TV Shows That Never Were on ABC, both written and produced by William Rabkin and Goldberg. They also co-created The Dead Man an original, monthly series of horror novels that rolled-out in October 2011 as the premiere titles of Amazon's new 47North sci-fi/horror/fantasy imprint. Amazon initially ordered 12 books and, in February 2012, extended the series by 12 more. The 24th title, the Kindle Serial Reborn, was published in January 2014 and is the final book in the series to date.
In June 2013, his novel The Heist, the first in a five-book series written with Janet Evanovich, was released by Random House. A prequel short story, "Pros and Cons," was published in May 2013 and became the #1 bestselling Kindle Single for seven straight weeks...and hit both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. The Heist debuted at #2 on the USA Today bestseller list and #5 on the New York Times bestseller list. The sequel, The Chase, debuted at #1 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list and #2 on The New York Times bestseller list in March 2014. The fifth book in the series, The Pursuit, was published in June 2016 and hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
His novel True Fiction, was published by Amazon/Thomas & Mercer in April 2018. It was followed by Killer Thriller in February 2019 and Fake Truth in April 2020. All three books are "Ian Ludlow" thrillers, the novelist hero sharing the same name as the pseudonym that Goldberg used to write his .357 Vigilante paperbacks when he was in college in the 1980s.
His series about Detective Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department history, kicked off with Lost Hills in January 2020 and was followed by Bone Canyon Gated Prey , Movieland . Dream Town, Fallen Star and the upcoming Split Screen. A TV series version, starring Madison Lintz from Bosch, is in the works.
Malibu Burning, the first novel in a series about LASD arson investigator Walter Sharpe and his partner Andrew Walker, an ex-U.S. Marshal, was released in September 2023, and was followed by a sequel Ashes Never Lie, a cross-over with his Eve Ronin series, in September 2024. A third cross-over novel, Hidden in Smoke, was released in April 2025.
His standalone thriller Calico was released in November 2023. and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America's 2024 Spur Award for Best Contemporary Western.
Murder by Design, the first book in his new Edison Bixby series, is scheduled for release in May 2026.

Publishing

In September 2014, Goldberg launched the publishing company Brash Books with novelist Joel Goldman. The company publishes new crime fiction as well as award-winning, highly acclaimed crime, thriller and suspense novels that have fallen out of print.
In 2018, Goldberg acquired the copyright to the published and unpublished books by the late author Ralph Dennis, who is best known for his Hardman series of crime novels, which were a major influence on the work of novelist Joe R. Lansdale and screenwriter Shane Black. The Hardman series, with introductions by Joe R. Lansdale, Ben Jones and Robert J. Randisi, among others, as well as Dennis' thriller The War Heist were released by Brash Books in 2019. In February 2020, Brash Books released "All Kinds of Ugly," a long-lost, final Hardman novel, which Goldberg discovered and revised.
In December 2020, he launched another publishing imprint, Cutting Edge Books, to release vintage crime novels, thrillers, westerns, and literary fiction from the 40s, 50s, and early 60s that had fallen out-of-print, including the work of authors Robert Dietrich, James Howard, March Hastings, Stuart James, Bud Clifton, and Richard Himmel.

Awards

Goldberg has been nominated twice for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America and twice for a Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America. He was the 2012 recipient of the Poirot Award from Malice Domestic.
He has served as a board member for the Mystery Writers of America and also founded, alongside novelist Max Allan Collins, the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers.
In July 2021, he was selected by the City of Agoura, California as their 2021 One City One Book honoree for his novel Lost Hills.
In March 2024, his novel Calico was honored by the Western Writers of America as a finalist for their Spur Award for Best Contemporary Western.

Personal life

Goldberg has three younger siblings – Tod Goldberg, Linda Woods and Karen Dinino—all of whom are writers. His uncle is true crime author Burl Barer.
He lives with his wife and daughter in Calabasas.

Ray Boyd

  • Crown Vic A collection of two novellas, Ray Boyd isn't Stupid and Occasional Risk, about a roaming criminal named Ray Boyd, whom Goldberg calls 'the anti-Reacher.'
  • Crown Vic 2: If I Were a Rich Man Contains one novella, originally published in the anthology ''Eight Very Bad Nights''

    Sharpe & Walker

  • Malibu Burning
  • Ashes Never Lie
  • Hidden in Smoke
  • Fallen Star

    Eve Ronin

  • Lost Hills
  • Bone Canyon
  • Gated Prey
  • Movieland
  • Dream Town
  • Ashes Never Lie
  • Hidden in Smoke
  • Fallen Star
  • ''Split Screen''

    The Ian Ludlow Thrillers

  • True Fiction
  • Killer Thriller
  • ''Fake Truth''

    Fox & O'Hare

  • "Pros and Cons" Short Story prequel
  • The Heist
  • The Chase
  • "The Shell Game" Short Story prequel
  • The Job
  • The Caper Short Story prequel
  • The Scam
  • ''The Pursuit''

    Diagnosis Murder Book Series

  • #1 The Silent Partner
  • #2 The Death Merchant
  • #3 The Shooting Script
  • #4 The Waking Nightmare
  • #5 The Past Tense
  • #6 The Dead Letter
  • #7 The Double Life
  • #8 ''The Last Word''

    Monk Book Series

  • Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse
  • Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii
  • Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
  • Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants, Winner Scribe Award in 2008.
  • Mr. Monk in Outer Space
  • Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
  • Mr. Monk is Miserable
  • Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop
  • Mr. Monk in Trouble Excerpt: The Case of the Piss-Poor Gold, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November 2009
  • Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out
  • Mr. Monk on the Road Excerpt: Mr. Monk and the Seventeen Steps, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2010
  • Mr. Monk on the Couch Excerpt: Mr. Monk and the Sunday Paper, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July 2011
  • Mr. Monk on Patrol Excerpt: Mr. Monk and the Open House Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine December 2011
  • Mr. Monk is a Mess Excerpt: Mr. Monk and the Talking Car Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine May 2012
  • Mr. Monk Gets Even Excerpt "Mr. Monk Sees the Light" Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2012

    Charlie Willis

  • My Gun Has Bullets Reprinted Kindle Edition
  • Beyond the Beyond Kindle edition

    The Dead Man Series

  • Face of Evil
  • Ring of Knives
  • Hell in Heaven
  • The Dead Woman
  • The Blood Mesa
  • Kill Them All
  • Beast Within
  • Fire & Ice
  • Carnival of Death
  • Freaks Must Die
  • Slaves to Evil
  • The Midnight Special
  • The Death Match
  • The Black Death
  • The Killing Floor
  • Colder Than Hell
  • Evil to Burn
  • Streets of Blood
  • Crucible of Fire
  • The Dark Need
  • The Rising Dead
  • ''Reborn''

    The Jury Series

  • .357 Vigilante Kindle Edition 2010
  • .357 Vigilante: Make Them Pay Kindle Edition 2010
  • .357 Vigilante: White Wash Kindle Edition 2010
  • .357 Vigilante: Killstorm Unpublished, released in a Kindle Edition 2010

    Non-fiction

  • Unsold TV Pilots
  • Unsold Television Pilots 1955–1989
  • Television Series Revivals retitled "Television Fast Forward" in the 2010 ebook edition
  • Science Fiction Film-Making in the 1980s – co-written with William Rabkin, Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier
  • The Dreamweavers: Fantasy Film-Making in the 1980s – co-written with William Rabkin, Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier
  • Successful Television Writing – co-written with William Rabkin
  • Tied In- The Business, Craft, and History of Media Tie-In Writing – editor
  • The James Bond Films 1962-1989
  • ''The Joy of Sets: Interviews on the sets of 1980s Genre Movies''

    Standalones

  • The Walk Kindle Edition 2009
  • The Man with the Iron-On Badge Kindle Edition 2011
  • Top Suspense: 13 Stories by 12 Masters of the Genre Contributor
  • Thrillers: 100 Must Reads contributor
  • Die, Lover, Die! contributor
  • McGrave
  • King City
  • Ella Clah: The Pilot Script
  • Hollywood vs the Author contributor
  • The Buy Back Blues
  • All Kinds of Ugly
  • Tales of a Sad, Fat Wordman
  • Collectibles Edited by Lawrence Block
  • Calico
  • Eight Very Bad Nights Edited by Tod Goldberg
  • ''Murder By Design: An Edison Bixby Mystery''

    Filmography