Mystery Melange

 

In advance of her appearance as keynote speaker for the Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference July 17-20 in Seattle, Gayle Lynds was interviewed for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In answer to the question "How did you get started writing thrillers," she replied, "The truth is, I entered through the back door. I began as a literary writer of short stories, then wrote male pulp fiction, publishing in both fields. In the process, I found I had a real love of great writing and great adventure. And, of course, that meant thrillers. Some of the finest writing and most interesting story telling today is occurring in our field."

Time Magazine had a recent article on "Dr. Banville and Mr. Black." Writer Lev Grossman points out that, "It's currently chic for fancy novelists to slum it in the lower genres, the way Marie Antoinette used to dress up as a peasant and milk cows," but adds that "Watching [Banville/Black] try to do what a mystery writer does shows you what's so tough about it. Good genre writers know how to express ideas and emotions through events--plot--rather than dialogue or evocative descriptions."

The unlikely saga of online writer Robert Burton Robinson continues. Two years ago, he set out to write a free serial story online; with no experience and no plot, he began writing three chapters per week, never dreaming the story would lead to a four book series of mystery novels.

The Chicago Trib wrote about criminal defense attorney and part-time mystery writer Bruce Steinberg and how his legal experience fuels his legal thrillers (the latest is River Ghosts, written under the name B.R. Robb). After becoming an assistant Kane County public defender, Steinberg, who is Jewish, has represented clients from sex offenders to murderers and was twice assigned to represent neo-Nazis.

Thriller writer Phillip Margolin (who, like Steinberg, is a practicing attorney), just released his 13th novel, Executive Privilege, in which the U.S. president becomes a murder suspect. He was interviewed for Reuters, and says "The ending is the most important part of a novel. It is what the reader takes away with him and I hate reading books that are great but have a lousy ending. Until I have a good ending I won't even start writing it."

The Globe and Mail reviewed the Bravo documentary about pioneering Canadian crime fiction author Howard Engel who created the "first great Canadian detective" Benny Cooperman, starting with the 1979 novel The Suicide Murders.

In that same article, you can read about a new re-make of the classic TV mystery/spy series The Prisoner. The six-part drama is a co-production between AMC and U.K. broadcasters ITV Productions and Granada International. The remake will star Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) in the pivotal role of Number Six, a retired secret agent being held captive in a quaint village by the sea. (In the first version, Number Six was played by Patrick McGoohan, who also created, wrote and produced the series.) Film veteran Ian McKellen will assume the role of Number Two, the ominous chairperson who runs the village. Shooting begins in August with the miniseries slated to make its debut in 2009.

Book South Africa's Crime Beat talks about "a general lightening of mood in South African literature, nowhere more evident than in the crime fiction genre."

Australia's The Age notes that "Once frowned upon, crime writing has become a respected genre, and sales are booming."