Farewell and Good Night

 

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
--Emily Dickinson

Here are some of the many bright lights we lost from the world of crime fiction in 2008:

Eliot Asinof, d.June 10. Famous as the author of Eight Men Out, which became the basis of the 1988 movie; wrote over a dozen books including two mystery novels. He was 88. 

Andrew Britton, d.March. The young military veteran wrote three Ryan Kealey counterterrorist operative novels. He was 27. 

William Buchan, also known as Lord Tweedsmuir, d.June 29. He wrote two thrillers including Helen All Alone (possibly the first spy novel with a woman as its protagonist). He was 92.

George C. Chesbro, d.November 18. Author of the Robert "Mongo" Frederickson private eye novels and also wrote the CIA-agent-turned-artist Veil Kendry series and the avenger John "Chant" Sinclair series (under the David Cross pseudonym). He was 68. 

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, d.March 19, 2008. Mostly known for his science fiction works, he also penned crime fiction stories. He was 90.

C. R. Corwin (pseudonym of Rob Levandoski), d.September 8. Writing as Corwin, he authored three novels in the Morgue Mama series featuring newspaper librarian Maddy Sprowls. He was 59. 

Michael Crichton, d.November 4. Wrote bestsellers Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park and created the popular TV series ER. He was 66.

Oliver Kaufman Crawford, d.September 24. Blacklisted during the "Red Scare" of the 1950's but became a successful TV writer (Perry Mason, Fugitive, Mannix, Kojak, Ironside, Petrocelli, and The Blue Knight) and also wrote two mystery novels. He was 91. 

James Crumley, d.October 17. Created two private eye series: the Milo Milodragovitch series and the C. W. Sughrue series. He was 68.

Julius Fast, d.December 15. Won the first Edgar award for a mystery short story, mostly wrote popular nonfiction.

Elaine Flinn, d.October 25. Wrote the Molly Doyle mysteries set in Carmel, California.

Simon Gray, d.August 6. Wrote five novels, one of which was a thriller, as well as several crime-oriented plays. He was 71.

Oakley Hall, d.May 12. Wrote a number of novels, several of them mysteries, and the Ambrose Bierce series. He also used the pseudonym Jason Manor to write several mysteries featuring California private eye Steve Summers. He was 87. 

Tony Hillerman, d.October 26, 2008. Known for his series of Navajo mysteries featuring Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Sgt. Jim Chee of the Navajo Tribal Police.

Edward D. Hoch, d.January 17. Prolific short story writer of mystery fiction. He had a story in every issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine since the May 1973 issue. He was 77. 

Russell Warren Howe, d.December 17. Famous for his nonfiction book, Mata Hari: The True Story, he also wrote a number of crime novels and novellas. He was 83. 
Joe Hyams, d.November 8. He wrote more than 25 books, including two mystery novels. He was 85.

Donald James, pseudonym of Donald James Wheal, d.April 28. Famous as the TV scriptwriter of The Avengers and Mission: Impossible among others, he also wrote several thrillers. He was 76. 

Richard Kidd, d.July 19. Authored several juvenile mysteries. He was 56.

William Cecil Knott, d.October 24. Primarily a writer of westerns penned under the Will C. Knott name, he also wrote wrote two mystery novels under the Bill Knott name featuring Skip Tracewski. He was 81. 

Leon Lazarus, d.Nov. 28. He wrote 1,500 comic book stories for Stan Lee in the 50's and 60's and also two Nick Carter novels. He was 89. 

Jack Lynch, d.June 6. The former journalist penned the Peter Bragg private eye series. He was 78.

Arthur Lyons, d.March 21. Author of the Jacob Asch private eye series and also a founder of the Palm Springs Film Noir Festival. He was 62. 

Zekial Marko, d.May 9. He wrote the TV plays for The Rockford Files, Kolchak, and Toma, as well as the screenplay for Once a Thief, based on his own novel, Scratch a Thief, written under the John Trinian pseudonym. He authored a number of paperback mysteries. He was 74. 

Stephen Marlowe, d.February 22. He wrote the Chester Drum private series. His recent books included The Lighthouse at the End of the World (about Edgar Allan Poe, 1995). He was 79. 

Gregory McDonald, September 7, 2008. The former newspaper reporter authored The Fletch series. He was 71.

Robin Moore, d.February 21. Wrote The French Connection and The Green Berets. He was 82.

Dennis Richard Murphy, d.June 19. Wrote mystery short stories for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Storyteller, with several of his stories were nominated for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis awards. He was 64.

Rick Nelson, d.December 20. His first and last novel, Bound by Blood, a police procedural, was published this year by St. Martin's Press. He was 57. 

Meg O'Brien, d.December 6. Authored the five Jessica (Jesse) James mystery novels.

Audrey Peterson, d.February 12. After writng Victorian Master of Mystery: From Wilkie Collins to Conan Doyle, she penned the series featuring music professor Andrew Quentin and his former student Jane Winfield.  She was 87. 

Dorothy Porter, d.December 9. Won the Poetry Book of the Year for The Monkey's Mask (Hyland, 1994), a crime thriller in verse about a lesbian detective. Her latest verse novel was nominated for the 2008 Ned Kelly Award. She was 54. 

Julian Rathbone, d.February 28. Wrote the three-book series featuring Turkish policeman Colonel Nur Bey, as well as another series featuring Police Commissioner Jan Argand, and a third series featuring Renate Fechter, head of a German squad of the Eco-Cops. His most recent series featured British private eye Chris Shovelin. He was 73.

Alain Robbe-Grillet, d.February 18. His novels are considered "anti-literary" crime fiction without conventional storytelling.He was 85.

Jerry A. Rodriguez, d.June 22. A playwright whose first mystery was published in 2007, with ex-NYPD detective Nicholas Esperanza. He was 46. 

Benjamin M. Schutz, d.January 17. An expert in forensic psychology who also wrote five novels featuring Washington DC private eye Leo Haggerty (one of which won a Shamus award), as well as a stand-alone, The Mongol Reply, and a story collection. He was 58. 

Margaret Truman Daniel, d.January 29, 2008. Daughter of President Harry Truman who wrote mostly mystery novels like Murder at the White House. She was 83.

W. T. Tyler (the pen name of Samuel J. Hamrick), d.February 29. A former counterintelligence officer at the State Department who wrote seven non-series spy novels. He was 78. 

Peter Vansittart, d.October 4. He was a prolific historical novelist but also wrote a crime novel set in the fourth century BC in ancient Greece and Sicily. He was 88.

Janwillem van de Wetering, d.July 4. He wrote a the Grijpstra and de Gier novels as well as the Inspector Saito short stories under the Seiko Legru pseudonym for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (later put together into a collection). He was 77.

Phyllis A. Whitney, d.February 8, 2008. Authored over 70 books of adult suspense, young adult fiction, children's mystery and non-fiction about writing. She won two Edgars in the juvenile category. She was 104.

Wade Wright (pseudonym of John Wright) d.November. Wrote a number of private eye novels featuring three separate protagonists, Bart Condor, Paul Cameron, and Calhoun. None of his novels were published in the US until Ramble House issued a brand new Cameron novel, Echo of Fear, in 2007. He was 75.

Review Roundup

 

Some recent books in review:

• Tulsa World covered Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay. (" Barclay is able to weave humor into his characters through a well-paced story while keeping tensions high and surprises coming.")
  
  
• Sarah Weinman reviewed 3 books for the Baltimore Sun:  The Paris Enigma by Pablo De Santis, Shot Girl by Karen E. Olson and Old Flame by Ira Berkowitz.
• Jon Land in the Providence Journal reviewed new thrillers The Spy Who Came for Christmas by David Morrell, Steve Berry’s latest, The Charlemagne Pursuit, and The Memorist by M.J. Rose.
  
  
• The New York Examiner took a closer look at The Blue Door by David Fulmer and hopes the novel will be the first in a series of Philadelphia stories, much like New Orleans set the stage for his successful Storyville trilogy.
• The Chicago Tribune continued its one-minute crime fiction reviews with Third Strike: A Charlie Fox Thriller by Zoë Sharp, The Children of Black Valley by Evan Kilgore, The Fourth Victim by Tony Spinosa and The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins.
• The Dallas News liked Laurie Moore's madcap mystery Jury Rigged, wondering why her novels haven't hit the big screen.
• The Glass of Time, a Victorial thriller by Michael Cox, was reviewed by Michael Sims at the LA Times, "creating a story that is somehow both leisurely and gripping."
• And the Denver Post reviewed three new crime fiction books, Without Conscience, by David Stuart Davies, The Good Thief's Guide to Paris, by Chris Ewan, and Six Geese A-Slaying, by Donna Andrews.

Media Murder

 

Here's a roundup of news from the world of mystery fiction and crime dramas on radio, TV, film, and the stage:

On December 21st at 10pm ET, the Investigation Discovery network will premiere the new series The Shift, which follows a team of homicide detectives at the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

WETA's Author Author! has an interview with Louis Bayard about his book The Black Tower.

On December 18, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson featured Michael Connelly, author of The Brass Verdict (hopefully they'll have the video up soon).

The Telegraph featured a piece on Dame Stella Rimington, the former director general of MI5, who was surprised when her criticisms of the television series Spooks led to the makers offering her a position as their official consultant.

The Writers Guild has nominated the writing teams for Dexter (Scott Buck, Daniel Cerone, Charles H. Eglee, Adam E. Fierro, Lauren Gussis, Clyde Phillips, Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, Tim Schlattmann) and The Wire (Ed Burns, Chris Collins, David Mills, David Simon, William F. Zorzi, Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos) in the category for best drama series.

The Guardian reviewed Hungarian film-maker Béla Tarr's adaptation of the Georges Simenon thriller The Man From London.

Director Justin Chadwick is penning an adaptation of Stef Penney's prize-winning novel The Tenderness of Wolves for Film 4 and Target Entertainment. Shooting is planned for 2009, under the direction of Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl).

The Crimespree Cinema blog posted a link to new Photos released by Warner Brothers from the shoot for the movie Whiteout. It stars Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Pearl Harbor) as U.S. Marshall Carrie Stetko, who has been sent to Antarctica to solve the continent's first murder.

If you live in the UK or have access to shortwave, you might try and find BBC Radio 7 and its lineup of detective shows.

The 2008 International Mystery Writers' Festival has released a CD of live radio plays recorded at the festival, Ray Bradbury's "It Burns Me Up" from a 1940's collection of noir tales and Mary Higgins Clark's "Crime of Passion."

Writers Digest TV just added three pay-per-view video workshops from Thrillerfest 2008, with Eric Van Lustbader, James Rollins, and Steve Martini.

Some International Spice for Your Holidays

For the Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Rozovsky offered up his listing of the best international crime fiction for 2008:  

• Canada: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, by John McFetridge
• England: Second Violin, by John Lawton 
• Iceland: The Draining Lake, by Arnaldur Indriðason 
• Ireland: The Big O, by Declan Burke; Yours Confidentially, by Garbhan Downey 
• Italy: Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, by Amara Lakhous, "a great little novel that made book critic Carlin Romano wonder: "Do we have an Italian Camus on our hands?"
• Switzerland: The Chinaman, by Friedrich Glauser 

The Times Online reviewed several "exotic detectives": 

• Arctic Chill, by Arnaldur Indridason (with Icelandic Inspector Erlendur)
• The Pyramid, by Henning Mankell (a collection of Swedish Inspector Wallander stories)
• The Slaughter Pavillion, by Catherine Sampson (featuring Beijing private eye, a former cop called Song)
• The Maze of Cadiz, Aly Monroe (featuring British spy, Peter Cotton, sent to Franco’s Spain)
• Blood Wedding, by the husband-and-wife team who use the pen name PJ Brooke (Set in Granada and the Sierra Nevadas and centered on Sub-inspector Max Romero)
• The Mind's Eye, by Hakan Nesser (with Swedish Inspector Van Veeteren)
• A Not So Perfect Crime by Catalan novelist Teresa Solana.

And the International Noir Fiction blog takes a look at Swedish author Johan Theorin's debut novel, Echoes from the Dead.

Some International Spice for Your Holidays

 

For the Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Rozovsky offered up his listing of the best international crime fiction for 2008:  

• Canada: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, by John McFetridge
• England: Second Violin, by John Lawton 
• Iceland: The Draining Lake, by Arnaldur Indriðason 
• Ireland: The Big O, by Declan Burke; Yours Confidentially, by Garbhan Downey 
• Italy: Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, by Amara Lakhous, "a great little novel that made book critic Carlin Romano wonder: "Do we have an Italian Camus on our hands?"
• Switzerland: The Chinaman, by Friedrich Glauser 

The Times Online reviewed several "exotic detectives": 

• Arctic Chill, by Arnaldur Indridason (with Icelandic Inspector Erlendur)
• The Pyramid, by Henning Mankell (a collection of Swedish Inspector Wallander stories)
• The Slaughter Pavillion, by Catherine Sampson (featuring Beijing private eye, a former cop called Song)
• The Maze of Cadiz, Aly Monroe (featuring British spy, Peter Cotton, sent to Franco’s Spain)
• Blood Wedding, by the husband-and-wife team who use the pen name PJ Brooke (Set in Granada and the Sierra Nevadas and centered on Sub-inspector Max Romero)
• The Mind's Eye, by Hakan Nesser (with Swedish Inspector Van Veeteren)
• A Not So Perfect Crime by Catalan novelist Teresa Solana.

And the International Noir Fiction blog takes a look at Swedish author Johan Theorin's debut novel, Echoes from the Dead.

Sherlock Was Wrong?

 

David Loftus of California Review  took a look at the recently-released (in the U.S.) book Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong by French literature professor and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard. In the book, Bayard turns to the same analysis of classic detective fiction he did in Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? The Mystery Behind the Agatha Christie Mystery and asserts that in fingering Jack Stapleton and his hound, Holmes nailed the wrong suspect(s): "… I feel there is every reason to suppose that the generally acknowledged solution of the atrocious crimes that bloodied the Devonshire moors simply does not hold up, and that the real murderer escaped justice." Bayard also adds that the most famous mystery novella of all time features "A murder without a weapon, without a threat, without an insult, where the victim puts himself to death while the other characters applaud — it would be hard to find a finer triumph in the annals of crime."

Of course, if you're ready to throw tomatoes, fear not, the work is satire and a new subgenre which Bayard calls "detective criticism." As reviewer Loftus asks, "Why does he [Bayard] do it? Is it one of those pomo French things intended to show that everything is relative and you can prove absolutely anything you choose, no matter how absurd? Not entirely. These books are indeed a kind of witty parlor game, certainly. But though Bayard occasionally gallops into the high alpine meadows of literary and psychoanalytic theory, he still sticks closely to the text he’s given. And though he probably doesn’t believe half of what he’s saying, it does pass the logical plausibility test. It has an inner consistency, and that makes it worth doing — as a challenge, as a joke, and (dare one say it?) as a work of art."

Hopefully, someone will also translate one of Bayard's other works,  Enquête sur Hamlet, in which he apparently proves that Claudius did not kill Hamlet’s father. In the meantime, you can more easily find the English version of his 2007 bestseller, How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read—just in time for all those Christmas parties.

A Visit to Blood Island

 

H. Terrell Griffin is the author of Blood Island, the third mystery in the Matt Royal series (there are details on how you can enter to win a copy of Blood Island at the end of this post). Although originally born in Georgia, Griffin moved to Florida and upon graduation from high school, enlisted in the U.S. Army. After three years of active duty, he began his studies at Mercer University and earned degrees in history and law. A board-certified trial lawyer, Griffin practiced law in Orlando for 38 years. In addition to Blood Island, Griffin is the author of Murder Key and Longboat Blues. 

I recently sent Griffin some questions about his latest novel, which deals with the very timely theme of religious zealotry—in the U.S.

IRTM: First of all, I want to congratulate you on having Blood Island selected as a Mystery/Suspense finalist for the 2008 National Best Book Award by USA Book News. Did you go out and celebrate (Bloody Mary optional, of course)?
 
HTG: Thanks. It was a great and unexpected honor. I did do a little celebration, but, like Matt Royal, I did it with Miller Lite beer.

IRTM:  Apparently the genesis for your book was based on recent events around the globe and the historical underpinnings of religious extremist movements?

 

HTG:  It was. I’m fascinated by the similarities of the radical Islamic movement of today and the Christian activities of the Middle Ages. In the political spectrum in this country today, we see both ends and every gradation possible in between. For example, on one side we have the theory that our government must teach religion in the schools and if one does not adhere to the principle of inerrancy, then one can’t be a Christian. On the other end of the spectrum is the thought that religious faith has no place in public discourse and anybody who has strong religious beliefs is a troglodyte. Religious extremism is very dangerous, no matter what faith it is based upon.

 

IRTM:  Were you worried the book might appear anti-religion or that there might be any backlash from this type of theme?

 

HTG:  That thought crossed my mind, but I think a reading of the book will allay those fears. The Rev and his cohorts are obviously disturbed people. These are the same type of people who would follow Jim Jones and drink the deadly cool-aid. These characters do not represent any mainstream religious tradition, but are just a caricature of some of the most extreme and discounted beliefs that we find on the most dangerous end of the spectrum.

 

IRTM:  Although fanaticism can appear at any time and in any place, you based this book--in fact all of your books--in Florida, albeit a fictional island in this latest novel. Do you really think something like this couple happen in that state? (I lived in Tallahassee for ten years and the fanaticism I noticed was more of the sporting variety, although religion can definitely take many forms.)

 

HTG:  Perhaps if you substitute God for Bobby Bowden, you can see how it could develop in Florida. Seriously, I think there are little pockets of extremism where ever you look. They are usually so small and impotent that they’re not much of a threat, but the nuts are out there. Florida seems to draw all kinds of strange people, and that is one reason I love it so much. The sunshine state is fertile ground for extremism. Just think about Jacksonville during the Florida-Georgia weekend, or, perhaps even worse, when the Seminoles are playing the Gators.

 

IRTM:  I like the fact that you based several of the characters in your books on your friends. That took guts. What made you decide to take that approach and how do they feel about it?

HTG:  My friends love it, but that is in part because my friends are only the good characters. With one major exception. The Reverend Robert William Simmermon in Blood Island has the same name as one of my oldest friends from college days, who was in reality a very successful lawyer in Orlando. The physical description of the Rev matches my friend. Bill Simmermon loved being the bad guy. I showed him the manuscript before it was submitted to the publisher and would not have used his name without his approval.

 In 1980, a friend named Wyatt Wyatt, who was a professor of English at the University of Central Florida, wrote a novel named Deep in the Heart, published by Atheneum. One of his characters was a lawyer named H. Terrell Griffin, and he described me in excruciating detail. I loved it. I might add that my next book, which is in the editing process now, is named Wyatt’s Revenge. A little bit of an inside joke that about 5 people in the whole world will get, but still an homage to my friend Wyatt who died several years ago.

 

IRTM:  Experts often tell you to "write what you know." Both you and your protagonist are former military and former lawyers based in Florida. How much of Matt Royal is based on you and how much is pure fiction? Where does one end and the other begin?

 

HTG:  The similarity between Matt and me is that we're both lovers of the law and a little disgusted at the turn the practice of law has taken over the past few years. When the practice of law became a business instead of a learned profession, it lost its nobility. I was lucky enough to practice in a profession for many years, but ended my career in the business of law. I tried mightily to practice honorably, and I think I succeeded. That is the core of Matt. We both live on Longboat Key (I do part-time). The similarities pretty much end there. Matt is a tough guy. My last fight occurred in the 8th grade. Matt is somewhat of a lady's man. I'm hopelessly in love with the woman I’ve been married to for almost 45 years. Matt doesn’t have a family and relies on his friends for emotional support. I have a wife, three children, a daughter-in-law who is like one of my children, and two grandchildren who give me all the emotional support I could ever need. That said, my friends are very important to me and I treasure those relationships. Finally, I think Matt and I both learned something about honor during our time in the Army. We both try to live lives based on the Army's code: "Duty, Honor, Country."

 

IRTM:  Generally, writers either love or hate research. Obviously with your legal background, you don't have to worry much about researching those aspects of your character and the plots. Are there other areas of research you've had to delve into for your books or any that you've particularly enjoyed?

 

HTG:  I weave a little history into all my books. My college major was history and during the years I practiced law, I finished most of the course work for a Master's degree in history. You can imagine that it is a field I love to delve into. I always research so that I can bring reality into the fictional account. However, I blend that history with fiction. For example, the story in Blood Island of how the island got its name is based on history, but I embellished the historical account with fiction to come up with a reason to name an island that never existed except in my imagination. When I take the characters to places I research those places, so that the street names are real, a park is where it's supposed to be, the police headquarters is located properly. On the other hand, I also embellish that, so, for example, the Orlando Church in Blood Island doesn't really exist and there is no church in the location where I placed the one in the book.

 

IRTM:  Do you have a vision for the Matt Royal series down the pike, e.g. a target number of installments for the series, certain themes you'd like to explore, or taking the character in new directions?

 

HTG:  I don’t have a target number in mind, but I think there is a lot of room to explore and expand Matt's character and Logan's and Jock's as well. Logan and Jock are based loosely on my two best friends, Miles Leavitt and John (Jock) Allred, respectively. I have taken the bare bones of their personalities and stretched their character beyond all recognition. I guess I did some of the same with Matt and myself. However, I know how these guys think, what is important to them, how they go about living their lives, their regrets, their triumphs. I want to keep expanding those characters to bring out the real Miles and Jock wrapped in the fictional characters that are so unlike the real characters. I’m not even sure that what I just wrote in this answer makes sense. I might add that my buddy Miles Leavitt died last year at the age of 61 from lung cancer. I was with him at the end and he said, "Now that I’m checking out, I guess you’ll have to kill off Logan." I told him that as long as I was able to write Logan would be alive and living well on Longboat Key. I intend to keep that promise.

I'm not sure about new directions for the characters. I think that will unfold over time as the characters grow. I do not want to end up writing by formula, so that every book is essentially the same. I'll experiment with the characters and their situations and try to keep them and their adventures fresh. I'm writing a book now with the same characters but with a shifting point of view. We'll see how it reads when I’m finished.

H. Terrell Griffin is giving away a signed copy of his book, Blood Island, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to Terry's book tour page and enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 3542, for your chance to win. Entries from In Reference to Murder will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on Terry's book tour page next week.

 

 

Putting the Reference Back in Murder

 

In keeping with the spirit of "In REFERENCE to Murder," every now and then I like to pull a few sites from The Crime Fiction Resrouces List on which to throw the spotlight, in this case some of the newer sites I've run across.

In case you hadn't heard, The Bloodstained Bookshelf folded after many years of loyal service of providing lists of upcoming crime fiction releases organized by month. But fortunately, all is not lost. Ashley McConnell took over bibliographic duties and has moved the list to the Mystery Bookshelf.

Google has added a vast searchable database from photos printed in Life Magazine. Both Duane Swierczynski and  Rex Parker have already picked out a couple of gems, Dashiell Hammett smoking in Hollywood, circa 1937 and Mickey Spillane proudly posing with paperback versions of his books.

Grammarphobia throws several of those grammatical Commandments from elementary school English classes out the window and helps reassure today's modern writer that "to boldly go" isn't going to bring the wrath of Khan, er God, down upon you anymore.

The FBI also does its best to help writers "keep it real."  They have a site with information on how you can contact the FBI if you have a question about

• Guidance on content regarding FBI investigations, procedures, structure, and history;
• Information on costumes, props, scenery, and weapons;
• Fact checks;
• Liaison and coordination with local FBI field offices;
• Coordination of location shots; and
• Access to FBI facilities for filming scenes, interviews, or b-roll footage

The FBI also has many online resources about procedures, including this one on serial murder.

 

Crimes Are Us

 

From the true crime department, come some recent interesting stories of note:

The New York Times reported on how internet attacks are becoming more potent. They singled out distributed denial of service (D.D.O.S) attacks, routinely used during political and military conflicts such as in Estonia in 2007 during a political fight with Russia, and in the Georgian-Russian war last summer. Such attacks are also being used in blackmail schemes and political conflicts, as well as for general malicious mischief.

DNA is now being used to assist in solving property crimes. Once reserved mostly for violent cases such as rape and murder, genetic testing is now much cheaper and faster than when the technology was new. The evidence can include almost any biological material left at a crime scene: saliva taken from food, skin cells from the steering wheel of a stolen car, drops of blood from a thief who got cut on a window pane.

The Washington Post profiled David R. Fowler, Maryland's chief medical examiner, whose lab is one of the busiest in the country with more than 4,000 autopsies conducted annually. Fowler said he is amused at the public perception fueled by the 6 o'clock news. "They always say,'The body has been sent to the medical examiner to determine the exact cause of death.'"  Some cases are obvious -- gunshot and stab wounds, for example -- but more often pathologists must call on their experience and their 13 years of medical training, consult with police and peers, and then make what is essentially a judgment call. And they must do so with the expectation that they'll have to defend it in court.

This year, the Supreme Court will tackle a DNA issue involving a convict seeking new tests he thinks could exonerate him, in a case pitting the administration of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin against a Republican-appointed judge. Some in law enforcement fear that federal courts could be flooded with lawsuits if the Supreme Court upheld April's appeals court ruling in the convict's case. "A blanket right to post-conviction DNA testing would be a dangerous prospect," said Chris Asplen, former director of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence and a former prosecutor. He said any Supreme Court ruling should be limited and "highly qualified."

A Global Feast

 

It's good to see crime fiction alive and well and thriving in different parts of the world. I don't know about you, but sometimes I crave some good Thai, Indian, or Mexican cuisine, and so it goes with books.

Mike Nicol takes a look at what’s happening in the genre in Africa, even referring to a conference in Germany earlier this year titled Beyond Murder by Magic: Investigating African Crime Fiction. As Nichol points out, Africa’s got a thriving crime fiction genre but "you’re more likely to bump into African crime writers in Europe than you are anywhere south of the Limpopo."

Not to be outdone, Argentina has noir writers Guillermo Martínez and Pablo De Santis.  Martinez is is the author of eight novels including the international best seller Crímenes imperceptibles (The Oxford Murders), made into a movie by Spanish director Alex de la Iglesi aand starring Elijah Wood. De Santis jsut had his English-language debut with the whodunit The Paris Enigma, awarded last year’s first Premio Iberoamericano Planeta-Casa de América.

Much has been made about Icelandic crime fiction recently, with good reason. Since 1997 over 70 crime novels have been published by Icelandic authors (relative to population, that’s the equivalent of 15,000 crime novels being published every year in the UK. Why the goldrush? As Iceland Review says, "As paranoia and xenophobia are on the up, fear’s selling like never before and the Icelandic reading public’s appetite for murder and mayhem has never been keener. With a slew of new home-grown crime novels coming out every year, this trend looks like more than a passing fad. The Icelandic thriller is here to stay!"

Mahmud Rahman wrote recently about pulp fiction in Bangladesh. One fascinating note to those of who've become accustomed to a more disinterested reading populace in the U.S., Rahman talks about people eager to get into the 2007 book fair and waiting in lines sometimes stretching for half a mile. Major newspapers carry weekly literary pages with original writing and essays. The papers and magazines also publish thick holiday specials carrying fiction, memoir, and poetry that sell out within days of their publication. Ah, if only...

Omnivoracious applauded Akashic Books and its noir anthology series with three "exotic noir" books to date:  Trinidad Noir edited by Lisa Allen-Agostini & Jeanne Mason, Paris Noir edited by Aurelien Masson, and Istanbul Noir edited by Mustafa Ziyalan & Amy Spangler.

Bon appétit!

A Global Feast

It's good to see crime fiction alive and well and thriving in different parts of the world. I don't know about you, but sometimes I crave some good Thai, Indian, or Mexican cuisine, and so it goes with books.

Mike Nicol takes a look at what’s happening in the genre in Africa, even referring to a conference in Germany earlier this year titled Beyond Murder by Magic: Investigating African Crime Fiction. As Nichol points out, Africa’s got a thriving crime fiction genre but "you’re more likely to bump into African crime writers in Europe than you are anywhere south of the Limpopo."

Not to be outdone, Argentina has noir writers Guillermo Martínez and Pablo De Santis.  Martinez is is the author of eight novels including the international best seller Crímenes imperceptibles (The Oxford Murders), made into a movie by Spanish director Alex de la Iglesi aand starring Elijah Wood. De Santis jsut had his English-language debut with the whodunit The Paris Enigma, awarded last year’s first Premio Iberoamericano Planeta-Casa de América.

Much has been made about Icelandic crime fiction recently, with good reason. Since 1997 over 70 crime novels have been published by Icelandic authors (relative to population, that’s the equivalent of 15,000 crime novels being published every year in the UK. Why the goldrush? As Iceland Review says, "As paranoia and xenophobia are on the up, fear’s selling like never before and the Icelandic reading public’s appetite for murder and mayhem has never been keener. With a slew of new home-grown crime novels coming out every year, this trend looks like more than a passing fad. The Icelandic thriller is here to stay!"

Mahmud Rahman wrote recently about pulp fiction in Bangladesh. One fascinating note to those of who've become accustomed to a more disinterested reading populace in the U.S., Rahman talks about people eager to get into the 2007 book fair and waiting in lines sometimes stretching for half a mile. Major newspapers carry weekly literary pages with original writing and essays. The papers and magazines also publish thick holiday specials carrying fiction, memoir, and poetry that sell out within days of their publication. Ah, if only...

Omnivoracious applauded Akashic Books and its noir anthology series with three "exotic noir" books to date:  Trinidad Noir edited by Lisa Allen-Agostini & Jeanne Mason, Paris Noir edited by Aurelien Masson, and Istanbul Noir edited by Mustafa Ziyalan & Amy Spangler.

Bon appétit!

Mystery in Review

 

The Irish Independent took a look at how crime novels reveal truths about our dark age through the works Empire of Lies by Andrew Klavan, Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein, Bait by Nick Brownlee, and The Darker Side by Cody McFadyen, positing that "Arguably the most seductive, and perhaps even compelling, aspect of contemporary crime fiction is its relevance. As with the best journalism, the best crime writing speaks to us of where we are now and how we are coping with the indignities that assault our notions of civilisation."

The Chicago Tribune featured some "One-minute reviews" of Toros and Torsos by Craig McDonald, Immunity by Lori Andrews, 14 by J.T. Ellison, and The Max by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr.

Ed Gorman recently singled out the incredibly prolific author James Reasoner. Although mostly known for his westerns, he's just finished book number 225. Gorman called his recent noir novel Dust Devils as ranking among the best crime novels of the past few years.

The Sacramento Bee interviewed Ann Littlewood, whose debut novel Night Kill, a murder mystery set at a zoo, was recently released. As a former zookeeper herself, when she was asked how she felt about the anti-zoo campaigns, she replied, "Well, zoos keep getting better and the wild keeps getting more dangerous. It's one of our better tools to educate people, and it's a way to preserve a gene pool."

Oline Cogdill reviewed Mo Hayder's "chillingly brilliant" Ritual.

The Tampa Tribune said of True Crime: An American Anthology, edited by Harold Schechter, that this "collection of ghastly American crimes from Puritan times down to our own day is evidence of the gruesome possibilities that truth can get up to when it comes to one human being dispatching another - or, usually, many others."

When a Cozy is Not a Cozy

 

G.M. Malliet is a former American journalist and copywriter who attended Oxford University and holds a graduate degree from the University of Cambridge. In 2003 she was one of three writers who won Malice Domestic Grants. Ordinarily, that would sound like a ticket to the Big Time, but therein lies an instructive tale of how difficult it can be to get published, as well as the vagueries of the publishing industry.

Malliet, new honor in hand, took her manuscript to agents and editors, but was unable to find any interest in her homage to the traditional cozy which she at the same time lovingly parodies. Finally she got a nibble from an editor at Midnight Ink, an imprint of Llewellyn. Not happy with sitting around and waiting, she and her husband started a writers club, and she started working on short stories.

When Death of a Cozy Writer, featuring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and Detective Sergeant Fear of the Cambridgeshire constabulary, was finally released in July of this year, it debuted to good reviews, even making the IMBA bestseller list for August. Mystery Scene commented, "Malliet's skillful debut demonstrates the sophistication one would expect of a much more established writer. I'm looking forward to her next genre-bender, Death and the Lit Chick," and Kirkus added, "Malliet's debut combines devices from Christie and Clue to keep you guessing until the dramatic denouement," while Publishers Weekly applauded her "droll debut."

I heard Malliet talk at a recent writers club meeting, where she regaled us with some of her stories about the highs and lows to be expected in the publishing process, and asked her to share a few tidbits for the blog:

IRTM: How and when did you get the idea for your first book, DEATH OF A COZY WRITER (which, as you have stated, isn't exactly a traditional cozy)?

GMM:  That’s such a hard question to answer! I'd read all the Agatha Christie books, and all the Robert Barnards—he writes updated Agatha-type books that are also riotously funny. Also, I'd read all of Caroline Graham’s books several times over. Oh, and Sarah Caudwell—how I wish she were still around. Ms. Graham seems to have gone on to other interests than writing another Barnaby book. So I figured if I wanted something else to read that even came close to resembling these British books, I’d have to write a book myself.

IRTM: You indicated that even after you'd won a Malice Domestic Grant and Llewellyn/Midnight Ink expressed an interest in the novel, it took about a year for them to actually buy it.  What did you do in the meantime?

GMM: Actually, it took about a year for them to express an interest, and a couple more months for the editorial review board to okay buying it. This seems agonizingly slow, but it's actually about standard for the industry. This was in the days when my publisher was accepting unsolicited mysteries "over the transom" and they were buried in a deluge. They no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts; I got in just under the wire with that.

As to what I did in the meanwhile, I cultivated a Zen-like patience, and I took up yoga. Seriously. I was convinced L/MI would buy the book eventually (their acquiring editor had a reputation for liking the kind of book I'd written—this is important, because so many people were and are looking for thrillers). I knew a traditional British cozy would be a tough sell but for some reason I felt strongly that this editor would want it. Anyway, "just in case," I started a different series set in the D.C. area, I entered writing contests and won or finaled in a few (having a deadline helps me get going sometimes), and I wrote short stories. The short stories appear in a couple of anthologies now (Chesapeake Crimes 2 and 3, sponsored by the Sisters in Crime chapter), and I believe they were also instrumental in shoring up my credentials as a real, serious writer, not just someone who took up writing as a lark to see what would happen.

IRTM:  You had a change of editors, didn’t you? Can you describe what that was like?

GMM: I think there's a misconception that acquiring editors spend all their time rewriting books submitted to them, so that switching editors would be a shock. This is very far from the truth, although I have heard of agents putting in that kind of effort for clients. Editors don't have time for rewrites or critiques, and I’d imagine few agents do, so a book needs to be as perfect as you can manage before it ever gets to them. As I recall, my editor had only one question: Did anyone ever ask Sarah (one of the suspects) for her alibi? I couldn't remember and neither could anyone at L/MI, so I just had my detective DCI St. Just say something like, "Well, Sarah claims she was in the library." Problem solved. I've also been lucky in that the titles I've chosen have stuck. I didn’t know this was a rarity in the industry, but I've learned that it is. [IRTM:  She even had input on her first book cover, adding the little gargoyle/grotesque at the top.]

IRTM:  Knowing what you do now, would you change anything about the process for getting that first book published?

GMM: To go further back: I'd have completed the entire book before I submitted it for the Malice Domestic Grant (now renamed in memory of the much-missed William F. Deeck), even if it meant waiting another year to submit. That grant was really how I got my first toehold. But I think I had about fifty pages completed when I submitted, and fifty more when I was lucky enough to win the grant. You have to be ready to "pounce" on these things with a full manuscript, whether submitting to an agent, a contest, whatever ... it's a fast-moving business and the attention spans are short. Again, a Zen-like patience is good. Take up yoga.

IRTM: What's next for you in the future?

GMM:  The second book in the St. Just mystery series comes out in April 2009, and it's called DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK. I should mention that both of these books poke gentle fun at trends in the publishing industry. (I can’t imagine why this subject is so much on my mind.) The third book is in the works and will be out in 2010 ... this one is less about books and publishing, and more about St. Just in his natural habitat, which is the University of Cambridge, England.

The route Malliet took is obviously one of several available to authors, but these days approaching editors as an unagented author is getting harder to do.  Midnight Ink, as Malliet mentioned above, no longer even accepts unagented submissions. Malliet's timing and instincts turned out to be good, fortunately, and she has a multi-book contract in her series to show for it. However, she's still learning to adapt to the crazy world of publishing, having consulted with legal resources and considering an agent search. She's also hoping the second book in the series coming out in April 2009, which is another send-up (this time of the chick lit mystery genre and of the publishing industry itself), will find success despite the marketing department's choice of a cover which looks more like actual chick lit than satire.

Malliet and her husband live in Virginia but spend as much time as possible in England, the setting for the St. Just mysteries. She's currently working on her third installment in the series. Her web site is http://www.gmmalliet.com/.

 

NPR remembered Tony Hillerman by reposting a 1998 interview where the author discusses writing and his attraction to Native American culture, as well as a new interview with memories from Hillerman's friend, author Michael McGarrity.

NPR also had a feature on Italian Crime Novels in the midst of a nternational comeback of Italian culture.

The Today Show profiled Deborah Sharp, who discussed and read from her debut novel Mama Does Time.

CBS scrapped its attempt to attract younger audiences last season, returning to its tried-and-true format of crime dramas, an effort which has been rewarded by higher ratings. Good news for CBS and crime-drama fans, certainly—but what does it say about drawing in younger viewers to the genre?

Asia Media Journal reported that Sony television purchased The Mystery Channel, Inc. in Japan, which specializes in the mystery genre with over four million subscribers, showing programs like Monk, Poirot, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Mistaken Identity and Taggart.

Charlize Theron is joining Tom Cruise for the action thriller The Tourist (a remake of the 2005 French film titled Anthony Zimmer), playing an Interpol agent who uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.

Also lining up to make a thriller are Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg, teaming up for the supernatural thriller Hereafter for DreamWorks.

Voting is Murder

 

Are you a political junkie but tired of all the seemingly endless BidenClintonMcCainObamaPalin madness? How about escaping the mystery of real-life politics and instead leaping into a fictional version, if just for a little while.

Considering how high the emotions have been running during this 2008 election cycle, it's hard to believe that more mysteries and crime fiction novels haven't been based around election-themed plots. After all, how many politicians out there have wished their opponent would simply drop dead? (Of natural causes, of course, God rest their souls.)

But a few authors have taken up the voting gauntlet and created stories that would make Machiavelli proud. Here's a listing:

• Larry Beinhart, The Librarian (2004). How on earth did nebbish university librarian David Goldberg end up on Virginia's Ten Most Wanted Criminals list for bestiality? And how did he get ensnared in a vast right-wing conspiracy to steal the presidency?
• Gail Bowen, The Brutal Heart (2008). With a general election just weeks away, Joanne Kilbourn is following the campaign of Ginny Monaghan, a woman who has her eyes set on the leadership of the federal Conservative Party and whose success depends, not so much on the election-day poll, but on the outcome of a custody battle she’s fighting with her ex.
• Mark Coggins, Runoff (2007). How much does it cost to fix an election? That's the question uppermost in PI August Riordan's mind when Leonora Lee, the notorious, near-mythic Dragon Lady of San Francisco's Chinatown, hires Riordan to look into the city's mayoral election after her candidate finishes in single digits. Lee suspects someone has been tampering with newly installed touch-screen voting machines but only has until the runoff election, less than a week away, to find the answers.
• Silvia Foti, Skullduggery (2002). Supernatural reporter Alexandria Vilkas who launches a feature on a Crystal Skull, but is skeptical of its metaphysical powers---until the Chicago mayor dies in her arms. Now the prime suspect in the mayor's murder, Alex needs to clear her name, fast, if she hopes to live until the next election.
• Ed Gorman, Sleeping Dogs (2008). A seasoned politico works on the re-election campaign of a US senator with a reputation for sleeping around. A major televised debate proves to be a disaster for the senator, followed by the murder of a sleazy political op who knows something about the candidate that could completely destroy his career.
• Patricia Hall, Death by Election (2005). That quintessentially British institution, the brief, hotly contested by-election, forms the background for Hall's drama, in which an explosive combination of electoral and sexual politics engenders blackmail, suicide, and murder.
• Betsy Hartmann, Deadly Election (2008). A mysterious suicide in a military prison; a president whose thirst for alcohol may overwhelm his thirst for power; a White House advisor who takes matters into his own hands--With the country's future in the balance, a Supreme Court justice, a young congressional aide and a grieving mother are swept into a fight for their ideals-and their lives.
• Henry Kisor, Cache of Corpses (2007). Deputy Steve Martinez--Lakota Indian by birth, Porcupine City, Michigan, native by association--has investigated many crimes, but none more surprising than the case before him now. When clues at the first crime scene lead to a second headless corpse, Steve realizes this is someone's twisted idea of a game. And these events couldn't come at a worse time: the election for county sheriff is fast approaching and the sudden rash of bodies is just the sort of ammunition Steve's opponent is all too eager to use against him.
• Rob Loughran, High Steaks (2003). Davis O'Kane thought his fall from grace had reached its lowest point, with an impending divorce and a custody battle for his twin daughters, but then he finds a dead body in his restaurant in Nightingale, Nevada.  High Steaks propels the reader into the realm of crooked horse racing, cheating the roulette wheel, and murder as hot as a Nevada summer, set against a backdrop of the town's first contested mayoral race in decades.
• Brian McGrory, The Incumbent (2000). As he lies in the hospital, the day after being caught in the crossfire of a presidential assassination attempt, journalist Jack Flynn has some serious questions. With just eleven days until the election, it's becoming clear that he has stumbled into the middle of a far-reaching conspiracy.
• Barbara Michaels, Smoke and Mirrors (1989). The enthusiasm and idealism of Erin Hartsock, a young campaign worker, dissolves into terror when the campaign takes a malevolent turn. Someone has begun threatening Erin and her colleagues first with strange fires, then a seemingly accidental death.
• Ridley Pearson, Killer Weekend (2007). New York State attorney general Elizabeth Shaler, a political lightning rod, is expected to announce her candidacy for president at a conference in Sun Valley. Authorities learn of a confirmed threat on her life, and the Secret Service, the FBI, and local forces begin jockeying for jurisdiction.
• Gary Phillips, editor, Politics Noir (2008) Thirteen crime stories with political themes including "Collateral Damage" by Robert Greer. 
• Dana Stabenow, The Singing of the Dead (2001). When a Native American candidate for Alaska state senator starts receiving anonymous threats, PI Kate Shugak allows herself to be talked into a temporary bodyguard stint. The first body to turn up is the candidate’s fundraiser and future son-in-law.
• Jerome Teel, The Election (2005). Ed Burke has waited a lifetime to become president of the United States. He's not about to let his nemesis, Mac Foster, stop him now...especially when he's sold his soul for the Oval Office.
• Marilyn Wallace, Primary Target (1988) A female presidential candidate is threatened by a radical political group called The Brotherhood of Men. 
• Jeff Walter, Citizen Vince (2005). Vince has landed in eastern Washington via the witness-protection plan, and he is starting to like the simple pleasures, including receiving his first voter-registration card. So even when a hit man, a local cop, and Mob-boss-in-waiting John Gotti get Vince in their crosshairs, he keeps trying to figure out if he should pull the lever for Reagan or Carter.
• Charlene Weir, Up in Smoke (2003). Police Chief Susan Wren is a relative newcomer to Hampstead, Kansas. When the governor decides to kick off his campaign for the presidential nomination with a homecoming rally in town, he finds his efforts complicated by a local murder in which he and a campaign worker are implicated.
• Valerie Wolzien, Elected for Death (1996). Hancock, Connecticut--a historic enclave of wealth and conservatism--is in the final heat of a three-way mayoral election when long-shot candidate Ivan Deakin takes a sip of cyanide-laced water and is retired to the morgue. His murder exacerbates an already fierce controversy over proposed changes in rules governing the landmark status of local real estate--changes that would drastically alter property values.

Carnival, Carnival!

 

It's both the Day of the Dead and the day after Halloween, a perfect time to pay your four bits (adjusted for inflation) and Fall into the latest Carnival of the Criminal Minds, on the heels of its last stop at Crime Scene NI. I must say gorging on Halloween candy washed down with a little Jack Daniels until you barf would be an easier task than narrowing down the crime fiction site notables. It's a little like a teenage boy at Mardi Gras looking for mischief—oh the possibilities! Yet such was Barbara Fister's mandate in creating the roving Carnival, so narrow down I must, interspersed with some other Halloween goodies from the candy bag.

Have you ever lain awake at night unable to sleep, wondering if there were any mysteries actually set around Halloween? I'm pretty sure I have—although it might also have been something I ate (see note about Halloween candy above). I'll save you some insomnia because there are several such mysteries to choose from. Don's Stuff listed 25 to get you started, and if that isn't enough, the Springfield Library, Holiday Murders, and Cozy Mystery sites have gobs more, with titles from the likes of Ed McBain, Agatha Christie, Tony Hillerman, and Ellis Peters. Tums are extra.

2009 in the world of crime fiction will be the Year of Poe. The Baltimore Sun's Read Street blog is jumping the gun with some tidbits about the priciest Poe books, a  Poe tribute in January by actor John Astin (of The Addams Family fame), Christopher Walken reciting "The Raven" and other spooky morsels. Meanwhile, The Library Journal blog asks for help in solving a 166-year-old literary mystery related to Poe.

HALLOWEEN GOODY #1:  Halloween began as Samhain (Summer’s End), an ancient Celtic festival, although it wasn't until much later that many of the icons associated with the celebration came into being, such as the black cat. Although in the UK, black cats were believed to bring good luck, the opposite was true in the American colonies, where cats were thought to be either reincarnated or shapeshifting witches. Wonder what those early anal Pilgrims would have to say about black cat cookies?

Horror and dark suspense are certainly as appropros for both Halloween and the Day of the Dead as crime fiction, and The Dark Phantom Review featured interviews with horror authors, publishers, ezine editors, and booksellers throughout the month of October.

Speaking of horror, Indie Crime had a great Halloweenish cover; the Women in Crime chose their favorite horror movies, and the Women of Mystery scared up some horrible women, er Women of Horror.

HALLOWEEN GOODY #2: Check out Bruce Zalkin's collection of some of the worst Halloween costumes of all time, many of which may bring back some fond memories for those of us who are older than dirt. For more memories of favorite Halloween costumes of yore, check out this posting on the Murder She Writes blog, and from Cute Overload, Why Pets Hate Costumes.

One of the Women of Mystery took a trip to Salem and the Witch Museum, which tells the tale of the the 20 women condemned to either hang or be pressed to death, whose fates were intertwined with a servant from Barbados named Tituba.

For a witch of truly galactic proportions, check out this magical APOD.

What better way to celebrate the season than with ghost stories? The Material Witness blog showcases the Everyman Library's book of Ghost Stories, and guest blogger D.S. Dollman at the Stiletto Gang channels the ghost of Elizabeth I.


HALLOWEEN GOODY #3: For the more fashion-concious, skip the retro Halloween costume and just go with one of these scary handbags (and no, I don't mean Prada or Hermès, although those are pretty scary, all right—$37,000 for a Hermès Birkin bag adorned with orange crocodile skin and trimmed with palladium hardware? Yep, scary.).

Kevin Guilfoile of The Outfit: Collective wrote about "Much of Madness, and More of Sin," commenting on how for the last three years, the final week in October has given Chicago its own version of Day of the Dead, with crime victims Stacy Peterson, Dr. David Cornbleet, and most recently, the Hudson family slayings. And since Chicago this year holds the dubious distinction of the nation's highest murder rate, it just goes to show that true evil never takes a holiday.

Of course crime and fear of things that go bump in the night aren't new inventions. The folks at Murderous Musings provide some historical background to help establish the plot and setting.


HALLOWEEN GOODY #4: Extreme pumpkins! Tired of dull, inspired Jack-o-Lanterns? Try one of these on for size (the Death Star is way cool), or one of these, or these. And if you're just plain tired of anything having to do with pumpkins, check out these contest entries for Whatever-o-Lanterns.

The world of writing and publishing may quite possibly be a scarier business than undertaking (mortuarying? medical examining?), as J.A. Konrath points out the scariest thing that can happen to writers, and agent Jennifer Jackson strikes further fear into the hearts of writers everywhere with her list of query statistics.

This is frenzy season for murder-mystery dinner parties and related fetes. "A Murder Mystery in Old Allegheny" near Pittsburgh actually takes place tonight and features a progressive murder of sorts taking place in three of the neighborhood's old Victorians. What makes it particularly interesting and relevant to the Carnival is that one of the mansions is where famed mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart penned her first novel, The Circular Staircase, published in 1908.

Sarah Weinman offered up some Halloween bonbons with links to articles about the appeal of vampires, a literary Halloween tour and Bruce Springsteen's holiday offering for fans. The Rap Sheet has even more links for Halloween reads and Peter Rozovsky's latest Noir at the Bar.

HALLOWEEN GOODY #5: It might be too late for this year's Halloween party, but it's never too early to start planning for next year, especially since we now have essentially one long year-round holiday, NewPresiTinePatrEasterIndieColumboWeenThanksMas. So start lining up your fog machines, coffins, doors of doom, and grilled rat treats before they're all gone.

J.D. Rhoades of Murderati took a look at conspiracy theories and how we can't live without them. J.D. was on a panel at Thrillerfest moderated by Barry Eisler that focused on the subject, and decided to cast a little downer on the proceedings—How dare he? The nerve!—by concluding that instead of conspiracies, "I believe in stupidity, randomness and chaos. That's what causes most of the misery in the world."

And finally, Detectives Beyond Borders takes a look at The Ghosts of Ireland, the debut novel from Stuart Neville. As blogger Peter Rozovsky adds, "The chapters make chilling and evocative use of both parts of the novel's title, which makes Neville the second Northern Ireland crime writer I've read recently to explore the dramatic possibilities of ghosts."

So, Boo! (In the best possible sense) And save a little of that Jack Daniels for me. I think I OD'ed on Reese Cups again.

Up next for the Carnival—Karen at Austcrime.

Media Murder

 

RADIO/PODCASTS

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Agency, The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul, recently returned to the Beeb and will be broadcast during this month. Fortunately for latecomers, they also have the latest episode archived on the web site.

Investigation Discovery's David Lohr was a recent guest on True Crimes, a radio show hosted by Edgar Award winning true crime writer Burl Barer.  The archives can be found via on that same link.

TV

Author Henning Mankell provides insights into his creation Inspector Wallander, who will soon come to life on the TV screen as played by Kenneth Branagh. Although Branagh doesn't necessarily fit the image one would expect of Wallander, who is "astonishingly miserable, fairly ugly and so monumentally unhealthy, he should have his own dedicated obesity czar," the show's executive producer, Andy Harries, hopes the show could become a new Prime Suspect — “Maybe three every two years,” he says.

Gawker Online takes a guilty pleasure in enjoying the new TV series The Mentalist, saying rather grandiosly that it has "helped revive the mystery genre."  (And here I was thinking the mystery genre was doing rather well—on TV or otherwise).

NBC is reshuffling its schedule to create a Wednesday lineup into "wall-to-wall satisfying mysteries," with Knight Rider at 8pm, followed by Life at 9pm—the new series featuring Detective Charlie Crews, who returns to the force after serving time in prison for a crime he didn't commit—and Law and Order at 10. (I guess NBC has taken a tip from the Mentalist and already knows you'll find these shows "satisfying." Satisfying—Isn't that damning with faint praise? But I digress...)

THEATER

Broadway recently saw the premiere of Anthony Horowitz's acclaimed thriller, Mindgame, starring Keith Carradine and directed by Ken Russell. The plot involves a writer of pulp crime novels who gets an interview with a notorious serial killer, believing he has snared the coup of his career, only to discover while at the asylum that nothing can be trusted.

Mystery Melange

 

Marcus Sakey offered his Top 5 Favorite Movies on the Chicago Collective Blog, reprinted in the Chicago Trib.

Michael Connelly is fresh off his appearance as part of the Thurber House "Evenings With Authors" series. He paused long enough for a Q&A with the Columbus Dispatch, saying "I don't have a complaint about how the crime novel is viewed. It's largely responsible for keeping book publishing in business. I think it garners professional respect from the business angle. I think more and more, . . . it's harder and harder to write a story or a book about American society that doesn't have crime in it."

Another Chicago paper, the Sun-Times, profiled Lori Andrews, a law professor who has authored 13 books, most of them non-fiction works about biotechnology and genetics. But she's also written three mysteries, all of which feature her high-tech sleuth, geneticist Alexandra Blake. she said, "When it comes to [biotechnology] policy, people's eyes glaze over. They don't think they are entitled to an opinion," said Andrews, who also is director of the Institute for Science, Law and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology. "When they can see the technology set in a mystery novel and see how greed and policy and emotion play out, people really get enraged."

Here are a couple of crime writing news tidbits from East Tennessee, since I hail from them thar parts. Criminal Brief wrote about Louis Willis, who retired after 42 years of government service and then earned his master’s degree in English literature from the University of Tennessee. A voracious reader and fan of various genres, including crime fiction, he’s writing a nonfiction book which will be a critical analysis of black mystery writers "before shuffling off to the Great Library" in the Sky. And the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame just inducted four new writers, including David Hunter, nominated for an Edgar for his first mystery novel, The Jigsaw Man.

In 2009, the U.S. Postal Service will mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of poet and mystery writer Edgar Allan Poe and will unveil a new Poe stamp January 16 in Richmond, Vorginia. Look for a large spate of other Poe celebrations coming up next year.

The Independent included a pair of reviews recently of Japanese noir writer Natsuo Kirino, one reviewing her book Grotesque and the other Real World (both books in translation), adding that "Western stereotypes of Japanese femininity take a battering in the fiction of Natsuo Kirino – a crime writer who has placed some decidedly non-submissive female protagonists at the heart of her noirish thrillers."

How many crime fiction authors do you hear who schedule a prison as a stop on their book tour? Surprisingly few (prisoners tend not to have a lot of money to buy books, after all). But thriller writer and former SAS sergeant Chris Ryan is doing just that at Risley prison in the UK as part of the 2008 National Year of Reading.

Some Sad Notes and a Few Hopeful Ones, Too

 

By now, most folks probably know about the passing of author Tony Hillerman. You can find some nice tributes and links via Rap Sheet and Sarah Weinman. Unfortunately, the author didn't live to see the latest Tony Hillerman Writer's Conference coming up in two weeks, but another Hillerman legacy associated with that conference lives on. In 2005, author Michael McGarrity suggested a creative writing scholarship be established in Tony's name to honor him for his service to students, writers, and the people of New Mexico. It was decided to establish the scholarship at the College of Santa Fe, where both Hillerman and McGarrity once taught. Hillerman suggested that the scholarship should be in McGarrity’s name as well, so it is officially the Hillerman-McGarrity Creative Writing Scholarship. You can send contributions to that fund via the address listed on the conference site link here.

(One late addendum to this original blog posting -- news came today that mystery writer Elaine Flinn has just died after a bout with cancer.  Flinn was known for her Molly Doyle mysteries, and her 2003 debut novel was nominated for the Agatha, Gumshoe, Barry, and Anthony awards.)

I've also mentioned recently about crime fiction zines that have folded up this year—Demolition, Mouth Full of Bullets, Hard Luck Stories, and Murdaland. You can also add to that Muzzle Flash Fiction, as Gerald So reports that DZ Allen last night announced he was closing that publication, as well.

Still, hope springs eternal, and a couple of new short mystery/crime fiction sites have been added recently.  Five-Minute Mysteries features daily mysteries in brief that subscribers can access. They're soliciting submissions from writers, so if you're interested, check out their site link. And the Eastern Standard Crime blog announced a new venture called Crooked, devoted to crime fiction short stories "that would make Hammett, Chandler and Macdonald proud." It will be available PDF format, and although a non-paying market, authors will be able to promote themselves when published there. Geoff Eighinger hopes to have the first issued up by January 1st, with others to follow monthly. I sincerely wish both these organizations the best of luck.

You Say Po-TAY-to, I say Po-TAH-to

 

Crime Beat from South Africa is devoting several weeks of columns to a discussion of the "crime fiction" vs. "thriller" debate when it comes to labeling the genre. In the first installment, it's pointed out that the term "crime fiction" may be less appealing to readers as crime becomes a more intrusive and very real element in society. Therefore, it's thought, just rebrand the books as thrillers and folks who are turned off by the word "crime" will beat a path to the bookseller door.

That might be something that doesn't necessarily translate globally and may be more localized, as in this case, to areas like southern Africa where crime fiction sales have been on the decline (even as true crime statistics have been on the rise). In the second article, however, it's noted that in the UK, crime and thriller fiction has seen a 70% increase since 2001 and new startups like Black Star Crime obviously have no compunction whatsoever about using the term "crime." But even as one executive with publisher Umuzi (an imprint of Random House South Africa) feels there is growing unease about the term "crime fiction" (oooh, that word), Umuzi publisher Annari van der Merwe is more cautious. "Thriller frightens me off more than crime novel," she says. "Maybe it is the result of my association of the word with movies that frighten me to the point where I can’t bear watching them."

"Noir" usually seems to have less schizophrenia in its labeling (even if schizophrenia itself would be welcome as a plotline), although some may have difficulties separating "noir" from the "mere hard-boiled." Fordham University professor Leonard Cassuto's new book, Hard-Boiled Sentimentality, probably helps muddy the waters there, as despite its title, it purports to be an intellectual history of noir fiction and goes so far as to make a case for a connection between crime fiction and 19th century sentimental novels.

Po-TAY-TAH-To, anyone?

Speaking of noir, who knew that Chief Justice John G. Roberts was a writer of the genre? The DC Dictra recently pointed out that the start of a dissent written by Chief Justice Roberts could be read quite nicely, thank you, as the start of a noir story, to wit:

North Philly, May 4, 2001. Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He’d made fifteen, maybe twenty drug busts in the neighborhood.

Devlin spotted him: a lone man in the corner. Another approached. Quick exchange of words. Cash handed over; small objects handed back. Each man then quickly on his own way. Devlin knew the guy wasn’t buying bus tokens. He radioed a description and Officer Stein picked up the buyer. Sure enough: Three bags of crack in the guy’s pocket. Head downtown and book him. Just another day at the office.

Coming soon to the NYT Bestseller list? It's not entirely without precedent -- Herbert Brown, elected to the New York Supreme Court in 1986, has published a couple of novels and plays.