G. T. Karber
{{Short description|American author}}
File:G. T. Karber 20231205.jpg, London in 2023]]
Greg T. Karber is an American writer, best known as author of the Murdle series of murder mystery puzzle books and its accompanying website.
Early life and education
Karber was raised in Arkansas, the son of a judge and a civil rights attorney.{{cite news |last1=Wogahn |first1=Manon |title=Author Interview: G.T. Karber |url=https://www.manonwogahn.com/author-interview-g-t-karber/ |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=Mystery Manon |date=19 September 2023}}{{cite web |title=G.T Karber |url=https://profilebooks.com/contributor/g-t-karber/ |website=profilebooks.com |access-date=23 December 2023}} His maternal grandfather worked as an FBI agent in San Francisco in the 1960s.{{cite news |title=Murdle: meet the puzzle author who's Christmas 2023's bestseller |last=Clover |first=Jack |date=23 December 2023 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/murdle-puzzle-book-christmas-2023-best-seller-c85k9v3zk |work=The Sunday Times |access-date=24 December 2023}}
He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and English literature from the University of Arkansas, and an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Career
After graduating with his MFA, Karber remained in Los Angeles and worked adapting novels into screenplays.{{cite magazine |last1=Glazek |first1=Christopher |title=The Story Behind "Fitch the Homeless" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-story-behind-fitch-the-homeless |access-date=3 February 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=19 June 2013}} (As of 2013, he had written five unpublished novels.) He also began making comedic YouTube videos.
In 2013, he came across some 2006 comments by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries: "In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids...A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."{{cite news |last1=Denizet-Lewis |first1=Benoit |title=The man behind Abercrombie & Fitch |url=https://www.salon.com/2006/01/24/jeffries/ |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=Salon |date=24 January 2006 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Lutz |first1=Ashley |title=Abercrombie & Fitch Refuses To Make Clothes For Large Women |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-wants-thin-customers-2013-5 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=Business Insider |date=May 3, 2013}} Karber made a video excoriating Jeffries' comments titled "Fitch the Homeless," in which he handed out Abercrombie & Fitch clothing to homeless people on Los Angeles' Skid Row. The video became a viral hit, earning national media coverage.{{cite news |title="Fitch the Homeless" Is Backwards-Ass Activism |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/fitch-the-homeless-is-backwards-ass-activism/ |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=VICE |date=16 May 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Abad-Santos |first1=Alexander |title=Which Is Worse: Tone-Deaf Abercrombie or the Viral 'Fitch the Homeless' Response? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/abercrombie-fitch-the-homeless/315174/ |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=The Atlantic |date=16 May 2013 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=This'll Show Abercrombie & Fitch |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/abercrombie-and-fitch-homeless-brand-readjustment_n_3272498 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=HuffPost |date=14 May 2013 |language=en}} While many initially applauded the video, others saw it as "backwards-ass activism" and "as insensitive as the A&F chief he’s targeting."
Karber is a computer programmer.{{Cite news |last=Cogdill |first=Oline H. |date=October 8, 2023 |title=A complicated plot begins on a train |work=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2873878414 |access-date=2023-12-24 |id={{ProQuest|2873878414}} |via=ProQuest}} A mystery enthusiast, in 2022 he created Murdle, a web-based daily murder mystery game modeled on logic grid puzzles. The first two paperback volumes of Murdle were published in 2023, with the third volume published in March 2024.{{Cite web |title=International: 30 bestselling books of the week for May 4 |url=https://www.msn.com/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.msn.com}}
In December 2023, Karber undertook a U.K. bookshop tour, and appeared on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week.{{cite news |last1=Spanoudi |first1=Melina |title=Karber completes UK bookshop tour |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/karber-completes-uk-bookshop-tour |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Bookseller |date=15 December 2023}} For Christmas 2023, Murdle was the bestselling book in the U.K.,{{cite news |last1=Knight |first1=Lucy |title=Murder mystery puzzle book Murdle tops UK Christmas bestseller chart |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/20/mystery-puzzle-book-murdle-tops-uk-christmas-bestseller-chart |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=20 December 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Sanderson |first1=David |title=Murdle puzzle book tops Christmas bestsellers' chart |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/murdle-puzzle-book-tops-christmas-bestsellers-chart-08hnwzxcm |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Times |date=20 December 2023}} making Karber only the third non-British person to achieve that distinction, following Dan Brown and Michelle Obama.{{cite news |last1=Tivnan |first1=Tom |title=Murdle 'sleighs' the competition to grab the 2023 Christmas number one |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/bestsellers/murdle-sleighs-the-competition-to-grab-the-2023-christmas-number-one |access-date=21 January 2024 |work=The Bookseller |date=19 December 2023}} In May of 2024, Murdle received the British Book Award for overall book of the year.{{cite news |last1=Rackham |first1=Annabel |title=Children's author wins top British Book Award |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c88zzl5g69vo |access-date=31 May 2024 |work=BBC.com |date=13 May 2024}}
In January 2025, Karber announced his next family of puzzles, Bordergrams, a "spy connection puzzle" set to debut in September 2025.{{cite book |title=Bordergrams |url=https://static.macmillan.com/static/minotaur/bordergrams-9781250382580/ |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |access-date=3 February 2025 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Spanoudi |first1=Melina |title=Souvenir Press scoops new puzzle series by Murdle creator G T Karber |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/souvenir-press-scoops-new-puzzle-series-by-murdle-creator-g-t-karber |access-date=4 February 2025 |work=The Bookseller |date=11 Dec 2024 |language=En}}