出生于美国底特律，在密歇根州立大学毕业。曾获2000年爱伦坡奖、夏姆斯奖、2006年密歇根州作家奖。首部作品《冷寂天堂》（A Cold Day in Paradise）一出版便一举拿下2000年美国推理小说新人奖以及爱伦·坡最佳小说奖。他的新作《天才锁匠》更再次摘得2011年度爱伦·坡大奖，并入围英国作家协会金匕首奖的争夺名单，是迄今为止为数不多拿过两次爱伦坡大奖的作者。目前就职于美国IBM公司纽约分部。

""I was the Miracle Boy, once upon a time. Later on, the Milford Mute. The Golden Boy. The Young Ghost. The Kid. The Boxman. The Lock Artist. That was all me.""But you can call me Mike."""" Marked by tragedy, traumatized at the age of eight, Michael, now eighteen, is no ordinary young man. Besides not uttering a single word in ten years, he discovers the one thing he can somehow do better than anyone else. Whether it's a locked door without a key, a padlock with no combination, or even an eight-hundred pound safe ... he can open them all. It's an unforgivable talent. A talent that will make young Michael a hot commodity with the wrong people and, whether he likes it or not, push him ever close to a life of crime. Until he finally sees his chance to escape, and with one desperate gamble risks everything to come back home to the only person he ever loved, and to unlock the secret that has kept him silent for so long.Steve Hamilton steps away from his Edgar Award-winning Alex McKnight series to introduce a unique new character, unlike anyone you've ever seen in the world of crime fiction.