Before starting work on The Man with the Axe, Maurice Smith took an eight-month-long private investigator’s course. That, along with his passion for murder mysteries from writers like James Patterson, David Baldacci, and Michael Connelly, led to the creation of private investigator Mitch Watson and the murder that Mitch finds himself embroiled in solving. Maurice lives in Toronto, where he plays and teaches chess and always enjoys a good game of poker.