In this in-depth Q&A, Ben Kaya offers readers a rare look into his remarkable journey as an author and the creative forces driving his work
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, January 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Ben Kaya’s life and work are shaped by movement across borders, cultures, and identities. Born in Turkey, educated in England, and ultimately finding home in the United States, his journey to America demanded resilience, reinvention, and the courage to start over. Those lived experiences now fuel his writing, grounding his crime fiction in emotional realism and hard-won perspective.
Question:
You left your home country at a young age and eventually built a literary career in the United States. What did that journey teach you about resilience, identity, and starting over?
Answer:
My identity is layered. My roots and culture are Turkish, my education comes from England, and the United States is where I feel at home. My journey began at ten with the dream of becoming a worldly man, later replaced by the desire to become an American citizen.
Making that dream real was difficult and dangerous. Had I stayed, I would have ended up in a menial job caring for my siblings and likely would not be alive today. I first went to Istanbul, working construction by day and studying English at night, then to London, where I worked as a waiter while finishing high school and college. In England, I was always the foreigner. When my Green Card was approved, and I arrived in America, I felt something new: belonging.
Question:
What was the most difficult adjustment after arriving in the U.S., and how did it shape you as a writer?
Answer:
Everything felt king-sized. In my village, four rooms were shared by extended family. In England, I lived in a single room. In America, my first apartment had two bedrooms, my car was enormous, and even the food came in double portions. That sense of space carried into my writing. I no longer felt confined. I write without worrying about word counts or deadlines, choosing to write only when the urge comes.
Question:
How did your early life experiences influence the stories you feel compelled to tell today?
Answer:
I was a loner with few friends and grew up in a violent household. Reading became my escape. I devoured Mike Hammer novels translated into Turkish and the works of Yaşar Kemal. Fiction became my first real connection to the world and a means of survival.
Question:
Why is crime fiction such a powerful genre for exploring truth and human behavior?
Answer:
Readers have always loved crime stories, from Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie to Dostoyevsky, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Shakespeare. We love puzzles, we are fascinated by human behavior, and we crave resolution. Crime fiction allows us to explore darkness while still holding onto hope that good can triumph.
Question:
The Jack Ludefance series has gained a loyal following. How is Jack connected to your own life?
Answer:
Jack Ludefance is partly me. He is the poor boy from the Louisiana bayous, just as I was the poor boy from a village in Eastern Turkey. His pursuit of education mirrors my own, and his vulnerability reflects experiences I understand well.
Question:
How has Jack evolved alongside you as a writer?
Answer:
I began Treacherous Estate while having dinner with my wife overlooking the Santa Rosa Sound. Jack was created as a character full of contradictions: strength and vulnerability, clarity and doubt, past trauma colliding with present fears. With each novel, those contradictions deepen. Jack becomes more self-aware, and so do I.
Question:
Your latest novel, Deception, moves the series into moral gray areas. What inspired it?
Answer:
The Jack Ludefance series became the perfect vehicle for exploring my research into the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the virus’s origins, government complicity, public deception, mishandled responses, medical pressure, lockdowns, mandates, and the fast-tracking of a vaccine pushed onto an exhausted population. These issues demanded examination through fiction.
Question:
What questions does Deception ask readers?
Answer:
After COVID, how much do you trust the government? And what will you do when the next pandemic arrives?
Question:
What does crime fiction offer readers right now?
Answer:
Escape, and the possibility that truth can still be uncovered.
Question:
What lesson from America continues to guide your writing and worldview?
Answer:
America remains a land of freedom and opportunity, but freedom requires respect for the law, and opportunity demands hard work and self-belief.
Question:
What’s next for you creatively?
Answer:
The next Jack Ludefance novel is Murder at Tutley Brewery. After a year of self-imposed retirement, Jack is drawn back into investigation when a young woman is found murdered inside a brewery fermentation tank.
Conclusion: From displacement to belonging, from survival to storytelling, Ben Kaya’s life journey mirrors the moral questions at the heart of his work. His crime fiction challenges readers to confront power, deception, and truth while holding onto the belief that justice is still possible. As the Jack Ludefance series continues, Kaya remains a fearless voice in contemporary crime fiction shaped by experience, conviction, and an unrelenting search for truth.
To learn more about Kaya and his thrilling work, click here: https://bit.ly/4jGsigg
To purchase copies of Jack Ludefance PI Series, follow this link: https://bit.ly/4qjwC7L
Amanda Kent
Boundless Media USA
+1 313-403-5636
email us here
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