Matt Birkbeck is an award winning investigative journalist and critically acclaimed author of
The Quiet Don (Berkley/Penguin), Deconstructing Sammy (Amistad/Harper Collins), A Beautiful Child (Berkley/Penguin) and its sequel Finding Sharon (Summerville) and A Deadly Secret (Berkley/Penguin).
He is also the co-author of Till Death Do Us Part with Dr. Robi Ludwig (Atria/Simon & Schuster).
Matt has written feature articles for Playboy, The New York Times, Reader's Digest, Philadelphia Inquirer, Rolling Stone and Boston Magazine and was a correspondent for People magazine.
He won a 2002 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for a newspaper series called "A Price Too High" in which he exposed a vast housing deception that led homebuyers, many of them minorities, into buying homes at inflated prices that forced many into bankruptcy. The series led to several state and federal investigations and was cited in a 2004 Congressional hearing. And while at The Morning Call, he wrote a series of investigative reports in from 2007-2009 exposing the corruption behind Pennsylvania's entre into casino gambling, and how then Gov. Ed Rendell, the state legislature and Supreme Court conspired to approve a gaming license for a wealthy businessman with longstanding mob ties. His extensive work led to the publication of his bestselling book on Russell Bufalino, The Quiet Don.
Since 2010, Matt has been a senior writer covering the opaque world of asset- and mortgage-backed securities for Harrison Scott Publications, which was purchased by Green Street Advisors in February 2020.
He and his books have been featured on Dr. Oz, NBC's Dateline, ABC's 20/20 and Investigative Discovery programs, among others. He's also appeared numerous times on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Oxygen and OWN, among others.
In 2017, Lifetime TV adapted his book on Robert Durst, A Deadly Secret, into "The Lost Wife of Robert Durst" starring Katharine McPhee and Daniel Gillies.
The Quiet Don (Berkley/Penguin), Deconstructing Sammy (Amistad/Harper Collins), A Beautiful Child (Berkley/Penguin) and its sequel Finding Sharon (Summerville) and A Deadly Secret (Berkley/Penguin).
He is also the co-author of Till Death Do Us Part with Dr. Robi Ludwig (Atria/Simon & Schuster).
Matt has written feature articles for Playboy, The New York Times, Reader's Digest, Philadelphia Inquirer, Rolling Stone and Boston Magazine and was a correspondent for People magazine.
He won a 2002 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for a newspaper series called "A Price Too High" in which he exposed a vast housing deception that led homebuyers, many of them minorities, into buying homes at inflated prices that forced many into bankruptcy. The series led to several state and federal investigations and was cited in a 2004 Congressional hearing. And while at The Morning Call, he wrote a series of investigative reports in from 2007-2009 exposing the corruption behind Pennsylvania's entre into casino gambling, and how then Gov. Ed Rendell, the state legislature and Supreme Court conspired to approve a gaming license for a wealthy businessman with longstanding mob ties. His extensive work led to the publication of his bestselling book on Russell Bufalino, The Quiet Don.
Since 2010, Matt has been a senior writer covering the opaque world of asset- and mortgage-backed securities for Harrison Scott Publications, which was purchased by Green Street Advisors in February 2020.
He and his books have been featured on Dr. Oz, NBC's Dateline, ABC's 20/20 and Investigative Discovery programs, among others. He's also appeared numerous times on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Oxygen and OWN, among others.
In 2017, Lifetime TV adapted his book on Robert Durst, A Deadly Secret, into "The Lost Wife of Robert Durst" starring Katharine McPhee and Daniel Gillies.
Feature Articles by Matt Birkbeck
Denny McLain: Legendary Pitcher or Mafia Traitor? Playboy, September 2014
Did Legendary Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain swindle millions from the mob?
Civil Wrongs
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2003
Bonnie Jouhari, a civil rights and housing advocate, was chased out of Pennsylvania by the KKK and white supremacists.
The Real Life FBI Sting behind "American Hustle,"
AJA, November 2013
The inside story of the FBI's infamous Abscam investigation
Without A Trace,
Reader's Digest, December 2003
Thousands of adults go missing every year. Kristen Modafferi was one of them.
Foul Heir
Readers Digest, May 2002
Robert Durst had millions from his family's NY real estate empire. He was also a suspect in three murders.
Years after Death, the Battle for James Brown's Estate Rages On,
Rolling Stone, July 2011
James Brown left $100 million to needy children, so why haven't they received a penny?
Anatomy of a Riot,
Boston Magazine, May 2004
A Super Bowl victory, thousands of drunk college students and few cops leads to an explosion.
Desperate Times, Desperate Pleasures,
The New York Times, July 2004
Corruption and sex as seen through the eyes of a U.N. relief worker.
Did Legendary Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain swindle millions from the mob?
Civil Wrongs
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2003
Bonnie Jouhari, a civil rights and housing advocate, was chased out of Pennsylvania by the KKK and white supremacists.
The Real Life FBI Sting behind "American Hustle,"
AJA, November 2013
The inside story of the FBI's infamous Abscam investigation
Without A Trace,
Reader's Digest, December 2003
Thousands of adults go missing every year. Kristen Modafferi was one of them.
Foul Heir
Readers Digest, May 2002
Robert Durst had millions from his family's NY real estate empire. He was also a suspect in three murders.
Years after Death, the Battle for James Brown's Estate Rages On,
Rolling Stone, July 2011
James Brown left $100 million to needy children, so why haven't they received a penny?
Anatomy of a Riot,
Boston Magazine, May 2004
A Super Bowl victory, thousands of drunk college students and few cops leads to an explosion.
Desperate Times, Desperate Pleasures,
The New York Times, July 2004
Corruption and sex as seen through the eyes of a U.N. relief worker.