Lee Goldberg - Murder By Design

Deconstructing the Whodunit: A Conversation with Bestselling Author & Renaissance Man Lee Goldberg.

What happens when you take the classic, eccentric detective formula and turn it completely on its head?

In this episode of In Conversation, host Terry Shepherd sits down with bestselling author, television producer, and media renaissance man Lee Goldberg to celebrate the launch of his highly anticipated new mystery novel, Murder by Design.

Known for his masterful ability to balance laugh-out-loud humor with high-stakes plotting , Lee gives us an unfiltered, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of his fascinating new protagonist, Edison Bixby. Unlike the reclusive, celibate, or socially inept sleuths of classic detective fiction, Bixby is wealthy, handsome, and highly successful —but a traumatic brain injury has stripped away his internal filter, leaving him with a hilarious and dangerous knack for saying exactly the wrong thing at the absolute wrong time.

Lee and Terry dive deep into:

• The Architecture of Murder: How Murder by Design explores the terrifying ways the built environment, layout, and lighting can be manipulated to shape human behavior—and become instruments of crime.
• Twisting the Tropes: Why Lee deliberately paired his brilliant "design sociopath" with Wally Nash, a struggling actor hired as a social buffer, to honor and simultaneously subvert the classic "Watson" tradition.
• The Cinematic Writing Secrets: How Lee’s extensive career writing and producing for television (including his hit new series You're Killing Me) led him to an unconventional noveling process—writing his books as top-secret screenplays first to lock down pacing and dialogue.
• The Reality of the Writer's Life: A candid, humorous look at the rhythms of storytelling, navigating collaboration in Hollywood versus solo writing, and why Lee still feels like the same 10-year-old kid fueling his imagination with junk food and Diet Coke.

Whether you are a die-hard mystery fan, an aspiring writer curious about script-to-novel structures, or just love a witty conversation about how the literary "sausage is made", this interview is packed with creative wisdom, Hollywood anecdotes, and plenty of laughs.

About the Guest:Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award nominee and a prolific author and TV producer whose work spans decades of hit print series and television blockbusters. He is also the co-founder of Brash Books. Learn more about Lee and purchase your copy of Murder by Design at Leegoldberg.com.

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