Wojciech Chmielarz (born 1984 in Gliwice), one of the most popular Polish crime writers, arrived at the world of literature through journalism – he was editor-in-chief of the niwserwis.pl website dealing with security issues, terrorism, organised crime, and economic intelligence. He published, among others, in “Puls Biznesu”, “Press”, and “Nowa Fantastyka”.

This journalistic background – meticulousness and discipline in the presentation of facts as well as attachment to realism – were visible in his debut novel Podpalacz (“The Arsonist”, 2012), the first novel in the five-part series about Commissioner Jakub Mortka; the series also includes Farma lalek (“Dolls’ Farm”, 2013), Przejęcie (“Takeover”, 2014), Osiedle marzeń (“Dream Estate”, 2016), and Cienie (“Shadows”). For his Takeover, Chmielarz received the prestigious ‘Nagroda Wielkiego Kalibru’ award in 2015 for the best Polish crime novel.