Russell W. Johnson is a North Carolina attorney who got so sick of billable hours he began writing crime fiction. His debut story, “Chung Ling Soo’s Greatest Trick,” was published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and won the Edgar Awards’ Robert L. Fish Memorial prize for best short story by a new author. Since then he has been published in a number of outlets and been a finalist or nominee for the Pushcart Prize, Claymore Award, and Screencraft’s Cinematic Novel Competition.