"Lost" Golden Age Nuggets

I received a heads-up from Dean Street Press that they are reissuing two lost golden age crime classics by Ianthe Jerrold from 1929-30, both out of print for over eighty years. Jerrold only wrote these two novels in the crime field before moving on to other genres, but her writing nonetheless influenced Dorothy L Sayers, John Dickson Carr and Ngaio Marsh.

The Studio Crime is a London mystery and begins as a fog-bound soiree is about to begin at artist Laurence Newtree's studio. But when his upstairs neighbor is murdered in a seemingly impossible crime, Scotland Yard and the unofficial but resourceful private sleuth John Christmas are called in to solve a baffling and eerie case.

Dead Man's Quarry moves the action to the beautiful border countryside between Herefordshire and Wales where a cycling holiday turns deadly when one of the party is found—shot—at the bottom of a local quarry. John Christmas is once again put into action (along with his forensic assistant, Sydenham Rampson), using his unique sleuthing insights in an ingenious, well-plotted mystery.

FYI, if you enjoy both books and want to get "closer" to the writer and her world, her Elizabethan house Cwmmau in Herefordshire is owned by the National Trust today and available for vacation rentals.

Riding into the Sunset

This past weekend, we lost Ron Scheer, writer, blogger, and long-time contributor to Patti Abbott's Friday's Forgotten Books. His Buddies in the Saddle blog focused on Westerns, crime fiction, videos, and anything else that struck his fancy. He also documented his fight with brain cancer over the past couple of years, a battle he ultimately couldn't win.

On his one-year anniversary of brain surgery in February of this year, he posted the following poignant note:

Today marks an anniversary of sorts. A year ago I was just out of surgery, most of a malignant tumor removed from my brain, I was yet to meet the oncologists who would get me started on chemo and radiation. Mostly I was amazed that I felt few effects from having my cranium cracked open, my gray matter invaded by a team of neurosurgeons I hardly knew, then stapled back together, soon to be sent back home.

 

My memories of that time are marked by the sound of cactus wrens outside my bedroom, chattering away each morning as I welcomed the new day, sometimes after an endless night of dreadful dreams and sleeplessness. I read Anne Lamott’s little book about three kinds of prayer (thanks, help, wow), which made me both laugh and cry. And I marveled at the flowering plants sent by a family friend. Here we were alive together.

 

Ron supported the Behrhorst Clinic in Guatemala, where he spent a college summer volunteering. The family has asked that if you want to make a donation, you can do so via the foundation's website.

Author R&R with Adam Mitzner

 

Adam Mitzner graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. and M.A. in politics and went on from there to study law at the University of Virginia. He's currently the head of the litigation department of Pavia & Harcourt LLP, which received some fame because it's the law firm where Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor practiced before she was appointed to the bench. Mitzner is the author of A Case of Redemption, a finalist for the ABA's Silver Gavel Award, and A Conflict of Interest, one of Suspense Magazine's Best Books of 2011.


Losing Faith is his latest novel, which centers on Aaron Littmann, the chairman of one of the country's most prestigious law firms. But Aaron's orderly world is turned upside down when he's offered an opportunity he can't refuse: to represent a Russian businessman accused of terrorism or else the Russian will go public with evidence the attorney had a torrid affair with Faith Nichols, a high-profile judge. Now Aaron and Faith must navigate a psychological game of power, ethics, lies, and justice if they are to salvage their reputations and their careers.

Adam Mitzner stopped by In Reference to Murder as part of his blog tour to take some "Author R&R" about how he approaches reference and research for his novels:

 

Author Reference and Research
by Adam Mitzner,
Author of Losing Faith

The research I do for my books falls into two categories: (1) legal issues; (2) everything else.

The legal issues are actually the easiest to research. As a practicing lawyer, I research the legal issues in my books the same way I would if I was representing a client with those issues. First, I hit the books, which these days means computerized research on the Westlaw database, looking for precedent to support the position that my fictional lawyers are going to cite to the fictional judge. If I'm uncertain about a particular area of the law, I reach out to lawyers with greater expertise – again, just as I do for my clients.

The legal issues that arise in my books usually come from putting myself in the role of defense lawyer and prosecutor and thinking through the strategies that I'd pursue if it were a real case. Sometimes the issues that come up are ones that I've actually litigated. For example, in A Case of Redemption, I dealt with a witness asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. This happened in a case I was handling years ago, and I remember being surprised that the witness' invocation is made outside the presence of the jury. The result at first seems unfair: a defendant who believes that someone else committed the crime for which he stands accused wants to question that person ala Perry Mason, and get him to admit his guilt. However, if the witness asserts his Fifth Amendment privilege because he fears that his testimony will likely incriminate him, the jury never knows about it! But then when you study the reasoning behind the rule, you see the injustice that results if the invocation of the Fifth Amendment is made in front of the jury.

Then there's the research about everything else. That's where I rely on friends and family for their particular expertise. My wife helps me with everything, but I particularly rely on her knowledge of scotch, which for some reason I like my characters to drink, but with I don't personally have any familiarity. My children fill me in on what the slang is among high schoolers, and my doctor friends correct my medical jargon. I reached out to my own doctor during my annual physical regarding an issue and he referred me to a friend of his who is a coroner in the Midwest. The question was whether the coroner's report concerning a woman killed by blunt force trauma to the head would note if the victim had pubic hair. To my surprise, I was told that it varies from medical examiner to medical examiner.

My books are set in New York City, and I try to be as accurate as possible regarding the places depicted. That usually means visiting the restaurants to get the décor right, and even studying menus to make sure that the prices are correct. It has the side benefit of allowing me to have some very nice meals in the name of research.

Finally, I rely extensively on Google. It's a running joke I have with my wife that she has to be extra careful not to become a victim of a violent crime because our computer is filled with searches about ways to kill your spouse or dispose of bodies.

© 2015 Adam Mitzner, author of Losing Faith

 

For more on Adam and his books, check out his website and Facebook page.

Author R&R with Jon Land

 

Jon Land is the bestselling author of over 25 novels. He graduated from Brown University in 1979 Phi Beta Kappa and Magna cum Laude and continues his association with Brown as an alumni advisor. Jon often bases his novels and scripts on extensive travel and research as well as a twenty-five year career in martial arts. He is an associate member of the US Special Forces and frequently volunteers in schools to help young people learn to enjoy the process of writing.


Land teamed up with Fabrizio Boccardi for the thriller The Seven Sins, featuring Michael Tiranno (a/k/a "The Tyrant"), who saved the city of Las Vegas from a terrorist attack. The sequel, Black Scorpion, is set five years later, where a new enemy has surfaced in Eastern Europe in the form of an all-powerful organization called Black Scorpion. Once a victim of human trafficking himself, the shadowy group’s crazed leader, Vladimir Dracu, has become the mastermind behind the scourge’s infestation on a global scale. And now he’s set his sights on Michael Tiranno for reasons birthed in a painful secret past that have scarred both men.

Land is hitting the blogosphere for a virtual tour this week in association with the publication of Black Scorpion, and had some interesting things to say about his research and writing process:


Did you have to do any special research to write this book?

Yes, a ton. It’s always that way with thrillers that involve as much cutting edge technology as this one does. But so much of it is speculative, based not on what exists now but will eventually, that I’m essentially forced to go back to school on subjects I had very little knowledge of to start out. And not just pertaining to the villain’s world-threatening plot either. I had to figure out how to construct Black Scorpion’s lair inside a mountain, needed to concoct a away for a commando team to access from beneath a manmade lake in the climax. It’s all very James Bond-like and, as with Bond, with every challenge comes up a wonderful opportunity to do something no one’s ever done before.

How do you approach writing a book like Black Scorpion?

It all starts with the hero, Michael Tiranno. I started Black Scorpion with the premise that in the five years since the events depicted in The Seven Sins, Michael hasn’t changed very much. He’s still pretty much the same man we left at the end of the first book, a tyrant consumed by his desire to expand his empire and holdings. The whole essence of Black Scorpion is watching him evolve into something entirely different - still a tyrant, yes, but a tyrant for good. A superhero without a mask or cape. We watch his view of his entire place in the world change, forced upon him by the shattering truths and tragedy he encounters along the way. And in that respect his quest changes from the pursuit of riches and power to selffulfillment and self-actualization.

So now, above everything else, Michael Tiranno’s character is defined by his obsession for standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Bullies aren’t confined to the schoolyard and he won’t tolerate them under any circumstances. He’s spent his life trying to find the security he lost that day his parents were murdered and once there he uses the power that comes with it to defend those who need him the most. My point is your hero defines the very nature of a book with the sprawl and ambition of Black Scorpion. The book will rise or fall based on how the audience responds to him and you have to approach a book like this with that in mind.

You have written a number of series; is this one of your favorite to write?

Frankly, no, that would be my Caitlin Strong Texas Ranger series. I’m not saying the books in that series are better than Black Scorpion because I think in many ways Black Scorpion is the most ambitious and best realized book in terms of vision I’ve ever written. I’m talking about the process. Black Scorpion is work for hire and I have an obligation to serve the needs of the Tyrant character’s creator, Fabrizio Boccardi. That robs this series, and me, of the spontaneity that defines me as a writer, since I don’t outline.

Writing with someone looking over your shoulder isn’t nearly as fun or gratifying. But, that said, the end result of both this book and its prequel, The Seven Sins, proves I’m capable of adapting. Fabrizio isn’t a writer or a storyteller and he doesn’t grasp all the intricacies of structure. But he has wonderful instincts that are right more often than not and form the perfect complement to my experience and talents. Look, Michael Tiranno is his baby. He turned him over to me to build but he could never be expected to let him go altogether. Ultimately, I think we work so well together because our passion is balanced by our willingness to compromise toward telling the best story we possibly can. It may drive me crazy at times, but the ends justify the means.

Check out Land and his books via his website or via Facebook or Twitter. And look for the feature film in active development based on the franchised character of The Tyrant, a blended adaptation of Black Scorpion and its predecessor, The Seven Sins, both of which have also been licensed to DC Comics for graphic novels publications worldwide.

Poetry is a Crime

April means National Poetry Month here in the States, and it also means it's time for the fifth annual Five-Two Crime Poem Blog Tour, hosted by Gerald So. I'm honored to take part again this year by focusing on some of the fine works showcased in the Five-Two's roster.

When I was first drawn to poetry as a young child, it was the fascination with the interplay of the words that lured me in. A turn of phrase here, a short passage there, nothing big in terms of space on the page, but that's all it takes to communicate a universe of ideas. Then, too, coming from a music background, I loved how poems are often musical in form, which is why so many nineteenth-century chanson and lieder composers based their songs on poems of the day.

So instead of focusing on just one poem from the Five-Two archives, I thought I'd point out some of the more lovely, musical, and poignant phrases from various poems to help illustrate why I love the form so much. Here's a case in point from R.A. Allen's poem "On Car Theft":

Truant, shoplifter, creature of the night,
your calling was low-slung and German.
Like a cheetah prowling the Kenyan plains
the road was your antelope to chase.

Or these lines from Tom Brzezina's "Lew Archer Writes a Poem":

The sun goes down
like a shot of cheap whiskey
and the whole city blacks out.
The moon is a toenail clipping.
And the stars drown in garish neon.

In both cases, the wildness and darker side of nature is used synonymously for the wild, dark side of the human subjects. This technique has probably been used as long as the first poet put quill (or charcoal) to paper or stone, but it's as effective now as then. Humans, the animals, the heavens, we're all born of the same violent universe that also feeds and nurtures us.

Then, there are more contemporaneous nuances in poems, like this from "Just Ice" by Thomas Pluck:

The ultimate in disrespect
Is a so-called man who leaves his son
A useless gun in pocket,
A heart with no justice, just ice.

And this from "Take a Bite Out of Crime" by Catherine Wald:

Admit it: you're starting
to savor the
whiff of danger
frisson of desire
crunch of crisp guilt
between your teeth.

Both of these poems hint of danger, guilt, abandonment, and betrayal. I love the play on words "no justice, just ice," and the visceral punch of the "crunch of crisp guilt between your teeth."

The concept of the air we breathe, the very substance required of all life as we know it, takes front stage in these lines from Peter Swanson in "The Survivor of a Slasher Flick in Middle Age":

A poacher with a bag of fallen birds.
She still can feel the whistle of his breath,
The swish of boning knife through gummy air.

As well as these lines from C.J. Edwards' "Nothing to See Here":

Gawkers and young kids skulk
to peek, and whisper behind
their hands to each other.
Sirens scream
and choked cries
clot the air.

You can practically feel the "gummy air" and "choked cries" that "clot the air." That's another of the aspects of poetry that I think appeal to all poetry fans - the way different words are paired together in unusual ways to create a new, more powerful image.

These are just some of the many powerful and beautiful ways that words become paintings on their own, with the ability to draw us in as deeply and as clearly as an image or sound. And that is why poet Paul Engle said "Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words."

For the entire schedule of the Five-Two's crime poetry lineup, check out this calendar link.