Matt Birkbeck is an award winning investigative journalist and best selling author.
His latest book, The Life We Chose (William Morrow/Harper Collins) was published on July 11 and is
based on hours of interviews with William "Big Billy" D'Elia, the former head of the Bufalino Crime Family and apprentice of Russell Bufalino, one of the most powerful and influential Mafia leaders of the 20th Century.
His previous books include Deconstructing Sammy (Amistad/Harper Collins 2008), The Quiet Don (Berkley/Penguin 2013), A Deadly Secret (Berkley/Penguin 2015/2002), and A Beautiful Child (Berkley/Penguin 2004) and its sequel Finding Sharon (Summerville 2018), which were adapted by Netflix in 2022 for the hit film Girl in the Picture, for which he served as executive producer. He also co-wrote Till Death Do Us Part (Atria/Simon & Schuster 2006) with Dr. Robi Ludwig of Court TV.
He has also 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 covering mostly human interest and crime stories. His reporting on the Robert Durst story for People led to his first book A Deadly Secret. Lifetime TV adapted the book for its 2017 film The Lost Wife of Robert Durst, starring Katharine McPhee and Daniel Gillies.
He received 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 from the New York City area, into buying homes at inflated prices that forced many into bankruptcy. The series led to state and federal investigations, was cited in a 2004 Congressional hearing and is recognized as a precursor to the 2008 financial crisis.
And while at The Morning Call, he wrote a series of stories from 2006-2010 exposing the corruption behind Pennsylvania's casino gambling initiative and how then Gov. Ed Rendell, the state legislature and Supreme Court conspired to approve a gaming license for a wealthy businessman with longstanding ties to the Bufalino family. His extensive work led to the 2013 publication of his bestselling book on Russell Bufalino, The Quiet Don.
Since 2010, he has been a senior writer covering the opaque world of asset- and mortgage-backed securities for the leading trade industry financial publication Asset-Backed Alert.
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.