Martin Clark is a Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Davidson College and a 1984 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. In 1992 he was appointed as a juvenile and domestic relations district court judge for the Twenty-first Judicial Circuit and currently serves as a circuit court judge for the Virginia counties of Patrick and Henry and the city of Martinsville, Virginia, a job he has held since 1995. Martin’s first novel, The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living, was a New York Times Notable Book for the year 2000, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, a finalist for the Stephen Crane First Fiction Award and appeared on several best-seller lists. The New York Times Magazine called Many Aspects “arguably the funniest legal thriller ever written” and declared Martin to be “the thinking man’s John Grisham.” Additionally, the screenplay for Many Aspects is being written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jerry Mitchell and his writing partner Mike Roden.

Martin’s second novel, Plain Heathen Mischief, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, was chosen as a selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club and, prior to release, appeared on both Amazon’s and Barnes and Noble’s Top 100. Mischief was nominated for several 2004 literary awards.

Martin’s third book, The Legal Limit, was selected by NPR as one of its “Summer Reads” and was featured and excerpted in the July 2008 edition of Readers Digest. Reviewers stated that The Legal Limit is “the new standard by which other works of legal fiction should be judged” and “the best courtroom story ever.” The New York Times Book Review called it “a novel of ample graces.” With multiple printings to its credit, Limit appeared on the SIBA best-seller list for five consecutive weeks and spent thirty straight weeks on Amazon’s legal thriller best-seller list, rising as high as number two. Also, the book was named to several “Best of 2008″ lists, including those compiled by The Washington Post and Bookmarks Magazine, and it won The 2009 Library of Virginia’s People’s Choice Award for fiction.

Martin is a former trustee of Stuart Presbyterian Church, a member of Trout Unlimited and an avid fly fisherman. He lives in Stuart, Virginia, with his wife Deana.