Martin Cruz Smith, the acclaimed author whose Arkady Renko thrillers captivated readers for decades, has died at the age of 82. His publisher, Simon & Schuster, confirmed he passed away on Friday, "surrounded by those he loved."
Smith had revealed a decade ago that he was living with Parkinson’s disease, a condition he later gave to his iconic Moscow investigator, Arkady Renko. His 11th and final Renko novel, Hotel Ukraine, is set to be published this week, having been praised by The Associated Press as a "gem" that "upholds Smith’s reputation as a great craftsman of modern detective fiction with his sharply drawn, complex characters and a compelling plot."
