Author R&R with Lyn Squire

Lyn Squire was born in Cardiff, South Wales and earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Wales, his master’s at the London School of Economics, and his doctorate at Cambridge University. During a twenty-five year career at the World Bank, Lyn published over thirty articles and several books within his area of expertise. Lyn also served as editor of the Middle East Development Journal for over a decade and was the founding president of the Global Development Network, an organization dedicated to supporting promising scholars from the developing world. Lyn has always been an avid reader of whodunits and has reviewed scores of mysteries for the City Book Review (Sacramento, CA), but it was the thrill of solving Charles Dickens’s unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood that convinced him to put aside his development pen and turn to fiction. His first novel is Immortalised to Death, the first installment in a planned trilogy.

In Immortalised to Death, death strikes England’s foremost novelist, his latest tale only half told. Was he murdered because someone feared a ruinous revelation? Or was it revenge for some past misdeed? Set in the Kent countryside and London slums of 1870, Immortalised to Death embeds an ingenious solution to Charles Dickens’s unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood within the evolving and ultimately tragic consequences of a broader mystery surrounding the author himself. Convinced that the identity of Dickens’s murderer lies in the book's missing denouement, Dickens’s nephew and unlikely detective, Dunston Burnett, sets out to complete his uncle’s half-finished novel. A stunning revelation crowns this tale about the mysterious death of England’s greatest novelist, and exposes the author’s long-held secret.

Lyn Squire stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing the book:

 

The research an author undertakes depends, of course, on the subject matter of his novel.  In my case, my debut novel, Immortalised to Death, is a mystery set in 1870 England.  In brief, the story opens with Charles Dickens, dead at his desk, his latest tale, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, only half told. My protagonist, a middle-aged, retired bookkeeper (hardly detective material) has to complete the half-finished novel to solve a broader mystery surrounding the legendary author himself.  With this in mind, here are the three modes of research I used.

Online Research:   

Consider this example:

Hugo sat alone at a table outside a small brasserie in the Place des Charmes drinking his coffee. He watched the white-aproned waiters scurrying from table to table, trays held head-high on upturned hands.  He studied the cafe’s customers seated under the sun-shading awning – businessmen, couples, friends – but not her.  Would Nicolette come?

The question is this: Will the reader think that this scene is set in a French square?  Probably.  But the fact of the matter is that I just made up Place des Charmes. 

The example illustrates a point that is perfectly general.  All the novelist has to do is make the reader believe the character is situated in whatever environment suits the author’s purpose.  The key word is, of course, believe.  The writer must conjure up enough of the flavor of a place or time to be convincing.  If, however, he slips too far into factual inaccuracies, readers can be jarred out of their enjoyment of the story, and, if noticeable errors pop up too often, become sufficiently annoyed to quit reading.

My novels are set in nineteenth century England.  To avoid any ‘jarring’ possibilities, I researched Victorian dress, furniture, architecture, and so on at a general level. It is relatively easy these days to research all these aspects of Victorian life online.  I suspect the same holds true for other places and other times.  Being ‘believable’ for scene-setting and general background, then, should be a routine task for any serious author and is one that can be accomplished relatively easily.     

Bibliographical Research:

Matters become more complicated when a famous person features prominently in a story (Charles Dickens in my case).  The same principle – be believable but do not jar – still applies.  But, unlike the easily-swallowed Place des Charmes, all readers will know something about Charles Dickens and many people will know a great deal.  In consequence, authors must be much more thorough in their research to avoid crossing the red-line between believable and jarring.  Ensuring historical accuracy in everything related to Dickens, then, was a top priority for me.

I started my research with several biographies of the author (including John Forster’s 900-page monster, the first biography to appear) and several other biographies of secondary characters including Georgina Hogarth, his sister-in-law, and Ellen Ternan, his mistress.  This provided all I needed to know about Dickens and gave me a solid foundation for some of the main characters in the book. 

I also read all of his novels.  Not a requirement in most cases, I imagine, but I had a specific reason: I wanted to make sure that when Dunston Burnett, my protagonist, wrote his continuation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, he stayed true to the literary tendencies of the master storyteller himself.  The following two characteristics of Dickens’s writing proved particularly important.

The first can be found in many of his novels.  Dickens delighted in revealing on virtually the last page some unexpected connection among the story’s characters that allowed him to deliver that final surprise so loved by readers… and authors.  For example: That Esther Summerson is the illegitimate daughter of Lady Dedlock and Captain Hawdon, the secret that ultimately drove her ladyship to suicide, is only disclosed towards the conclusion of Bleak House.  The pattern is repeated time and time again.  The second is unique to David Copperfield.  Dickens grew up in poverty and was so ashamed of his upbringing he rarely mentioned it, but he still wanted some way of telling his story.  David Copperfield’s early life was the vehicle he chose for that purpose.  I make use of both of these literary devices in crafting Dunston Burnett’s solution to The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Physical Research:

Finally. I visited Gadshill Place, Dickens’s home in Kent, less than an hour’s train ride from central London, to make sure that the book’s description of the house was as faithful to the original as possible.  I actually stood in his study where the murder in my novel is supposedly perpetrated.  I also walked down the drive and crossed Gravesend Road for a glass of ale in The Falstaff Inn, the scene of another incident in my book.  And I surveyed the house’s surroundings, especially the route via Forge Lane to Higham railway station, the link to London used by several of my characters.  By the time I’d finished my one-day visit, I felt comfortable that what I wrote about the novelist’s home and its setting would be close to one hundred percent accurate and would be accepted without question by most readers, even those who have toured Gadshill Place themselves. 

A Personal Perspective:

The above may sound like a lot of work for one novel, but to my mind it was required to render my story believable, and it was an opportunity to learn about a truly fascinating man who accomplished so much in his fifty-eight years.  I’m following the same strategy in the subsequent two books in The Dunston Burnett Trilogy.  After Immortalised to Death (to be published by Level Best Books on September 26 of this year), book number two, Fatally Inferior (forthcoming in September 2024), is set against the furor generated by the publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, and the third, The Séance of Murder (forthcoming in September 2025), has as its backdrop the spiritualist movement that swept through Victorian England.

I’ve already read a mass of material on Darwin’s theory of evolution with its magnificent general law governing the evolution of all organic beings – multiply; vary; let the strongest live; let the weakest die.  And I am now in the midst of reading up on the great mediums of the nineteenth century and the famous converts to the spiritualist movement ranging from Queen Victoria to Arthur Conan Doyle.  This reading serves as a means of checking for factual accuracy but it also provides ideas for plots… and I learn a lot.

 

You can read more about Lyn Squire and his writing via his website. Immortalised to Death is published today by Level Best Books and is available via all major booksellers.

Mystery Melange

Karys Frank's Stone Cold Truth has won the 2023 Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction. The literary prize, now in its fifth year, aims to celebrate the outstanding crime and thriller storytelling of those who are from, or whose work celebrates, the North East England. Frank's winning thriller novel tell the story of a daughter who flees her narcissistic mother’s suffocating love, only to run into her mother’s net from which she can’t escape. As the winner of the prize, Karys will receive a £2,500 cash prize to support the development of her work, alongside funding for membership of the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

The Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers announced the 2023 Colorado Gold Rush Winners, including the Mystery/Thriller Category, which was won by What Survives the Fire by Maria St Louis Sanchez. The other finalists were Speaking in Tongues by D Gonzales Montano and Killing Every Alice by JV Reed.

Six books have been chosen as Richard and Judy (Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan) picks for the autumn Book Club in the UK, including three crime fiction titles. Mystery writer Janice Hallett’s The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels features on the list, a book that Finnegan describes as "creepy and complicated" and lays out a new story in the author’s "inimitable cosy style of dossiers, emails, texts and recorded phone calls." Also chosen was the thriller, The Traitor, by former crime reporter and civil servant, Ava Glass, and Gregg Hurwitz's thriller, The Last Orphan, marking the author's third time on the list. (HT to Shots Magazine)

Elaine's in Alexandria, Virginia, will host its inaugural Noir at the Bar this evening, September 21, at 7:00 pm. Authors schedule to read from their writing include E.A. Aymar, S.A. Cosby, Adam Meyer, Eliza Nellums, Kathryn O'Sullivan/Paul Awad, Josh Pachter, and Stacy Woodson.

And yet more authors are suing ChapGPT. In a grievance filed with the Authors Guild, the authors accuse the A.I. company of infringing on authors’ copyrights, claiming it used their books to train its ChatGPT chatbot. Some of the high-profile crime fiction authors involved with the Authors Guild suit include Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Douglas Preston, and John Grisham.

Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime That Captivated a Nation by Bruce Dorsey was featured at the Page 99 Test. About the book, from the publisher: a master storyteller presents a riveting drama of America's first "crime of the century," from murder investigation to a church sex scandal to celebrity trial, and its aftermath.

Jessica would be proud. A "Murder, She Wrote" picket from the WGA is planned for Fox today, which actually makes a lot of sense considering Jessica Fletcher was a professional writer. It’s the brainchild of strike captain Tyler Ruggeri, who surveyed his followers on Twitter about the possibility before making it a reality. He’s also asking members to wear their best J-Fletch outfits to walk the line.

In the Q&A roundup, mystery novelist Nancy M Bell chatted with Lisa Haselton about her new historical novel, Discarded, set in Winnepeg in the 1800s; over at the Writers Who Kill blog, E. B. Davis interviewed author Kait Carson about Death Dive, the third book in the Hayden Kent mystery series set in the Florida Keys; and Lou Berney spoke with The Orange County Register about his new thriller, Dark Ride, which centers around a theme park scare actor and cannabis-consuming twentysomething underachiever named Hardy “Hardly” Reed.

Author R&R with Maggie Giles

Canadian author Maggie Giles developed an interest in writing while backpacking in Europe and began writing historical fiction from the Tudor era in England. She later turned her hand to thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, including the 2022 novel, The Things We Lost. She has been a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association since 2014 where she volunteers as their Social Media Director. Her latest thriller novel, Twisted, is being released via Rising Action Publishing today.

In Twisted, Detective Ryan Boone thought the simple jewelry heist was an open and shut case. That is until he discovers an unknown drug, and the minor crime he was investigating may be tied to a string of seemingly unconnected murders. Meanwhile, Mel Parker, unscrupulous leader of a high-end escort service, stumbles across the same pills. On top of protecting her "investment," she has her own reasons for attempting to unravel the mystery behind the medication. Ryan knows someone has the answers he seeks, and Mel can’t come forward. To complicate things further, five other women are implicated in the murders despite most having never met. As the trail turns up as many mysteries as resolutions, Ryan and Mel must discover the twisted connection before someone else ends up dead.

Maggie Giles stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching the book:

 

Research has always been a tricky thing. Authors want to make sure we get the facts right but we also don’t want our stories to be too rooted in reality. We want some suspension of belief and some escapism.

Most readers, when they think of research, they think historical fiction as this is a genre that requires the upmost care and precision to stay true to the times written. However, it is often overlooked how much research can go into a contemporary novel. This includes specifics about jobs, procedures, places, and people of importance. The opportunities for research are endless.

When it comes to my research, I find my focus is on the more finite details. In my debut novel, The Things We Lost, one of my characters is arrested.  I was lucky enough to chat with an RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Officer to nail down some of the details surrounding the police procedure and arrest. I wanted to make sure my character’s experiences were authentic and believable. In my upcoming novel, Twisted, I have a point of view that follows a Toronto detective on the case of his life. For this I chatted with an Ontario Provincial Police Officer to ensure I represented him correctly.

Both officers were super helpful in talking me through the different scenarios that I hoped to portray. While I didn’t feel the scenes needed to be 100% accurate to the real-life processes, having close friends in law enforcement has allowed me to experience their frustration with poor representation of procedure in some fiction and that was something I wanted to make sure I got right in my books.

I’ve set both my works in the Toronto area, which has been a huge bonus as it was somewhere I spent a lot of time growing up. I was able to pull from my own experience (verified with online research) and bring the city alive.

In 2024 my third novel, Wicked, will be released and this one presented more of a challenge. I opted to set the book in Ottawa, a well-known city but one I’ve only spent a few days in. To make sure I got the correct details, I spent hours going through the different neighbourhoods in Ottawa and learned about the different types of publications I could tie into my work. While I still took some liberties, I wanted the things I mentioned to come across as authentic as possible.

I make use of a lot of online imagery to get the descriptions and visuals of places, people, and things correct. I have something called aphantasia which basically means I do not have a visual imagination. Due to this I can sometimes struggle to describe things in the amount of depth a reader would enjoy. To combat this struggle, I will often use visual aids to help me properly explain what my readers may see in their minds.

Writing groups are another great way to find the resources you need. While online research can be stellar and heading to the library archives can provide you with an abundance of knowledge, I’ve found my ability to learn and retain information this way hasn’t always stuck. For me, it’s real-life people that can answer my real time, specific questions that have helped the most.

The Women’s Fiction Writers Association, which I am a member of, offers a toolbox for emerging authors which includes a list of member experts. I’ve consulted this list a few times when dealing with a specific industry or profession I don’t have any knowledge of.

My upcoming duology, Twisted and Wicked, revolve around a new medication and the consequences of it. To properly understand the intricacies of medication creation, I spoke to a former FDA employee to learn the ins and outs of how a medication gets to market. While I continued to take my creative liberties, I wanted to fully understand how such a thing could happen, so I could properly apply it to my novel.

While too much research can stifle creativity (or distract us from writing entirely!), I find that going into a story with a better sense of how things should be makes it easier for me to craft my storyline and allow for some creative changes.

 

You can read more about Maggie and her books via her website and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and TikTok. Twisted is now available via Rising Action Publishing and via all major booksellers.

 

Mystery Melange

The Black Spring Crime Series announced that the inaugural judge for its new crime-mystery prize will be Lee Child, best-selling author of the Jack Reacher series. The Big Bang: Black Spring's Best Opening to a Crime/Thriller Prize is open to anyone over the age of 18 who wants to write in the English-language and has an interest in crime, thriller or mystery novels. Organizers are looking for the best 50-200 words of an opening for a crime-mystery-thriller novel/story. The work must be never-before-published (including online), original to the author, and ideally written for this prize. It need not be connected to a completed book, and it's hoped the prize encourages people to start a novel, with this first page – and maybe go on to complete it. Writers can enter as many times as they want. The contest opened on September 7th and will close on December 7th. (HT to Shots Magazine)

A group of authors including Michael Chabon (The Yiddish Policemen's Union) have filed suit in federal court against OpenAI, alleging the company unfairly used their copyrighted works to teach its chatbots how to respond to written prompts. The suit notes that responses from a model like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are “entirely and uniquely dependent on the text contained in its training dataset,” adding that the chatbot can generate summaries and in-depth analysis of themes in the authors’ copyrighted works.

The American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) has a call for papers for an interesting and unusual topic. This seminar takes the global environmental crisis as a starting point to consider the ways that global crime fiction has sought to expose, mitigate, reflect, and reconfigure impending catastrophe. Contributions are invited that consider how or how well "the (crime) genre’s central ideological concerns with culpability and criminality" align to the climate crisis. Interested authors can submit individual paper abstracts by September 30, with the conference scheduled to place at the Palais des congrès de Montréal in Montreal, March 14-17, 2024. (Hat tip to Shots Magazine)

A life-sized bronze statue of Agatha Christie was unveiled by Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard, in the Oxfordshire town of Wallingford, near where the iconic novelist resided for more than forty years. Sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies, who also designed the Agatha Christie memorial in London, explained that it shows her "looking out as if she’s seen a clue for one of her stories." Christie bought Winterbrook House, located on the banks of the River Thames near Wallingford, in 1934. Many of her books were written at the house, and it remained her primary residence until she died there in 1976. She is buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church, Cholsey, just south of Wallingford.

Gentle Readers, start your to-be-read-pile engines. The Rap Sheet posted a list of choice crime novels being released in fall and early winter 2023.

Janet Rudolph has a list of mysteries set during the days of awe: Rosh Hashanah (September 15-17) through Yom Kippur (September 24-25).

An early Van Gogh worth €3m-€6m (£2.6m-£5.2m) stolen from a Dutch museum three years ago was being passed around the criminal world like a hot potato, according to art detective Arthur Brand, who had a hand in the return of the painting Monday night. Brand, who is most famous for having recovered the "Hitler’s Horses" bronze statues, a Picasso painting and a ring that once belonged to Oscar Wilde, told The Guardian that such a famous stolen item had become "a headache" and that the man who eventually handed it over had nothing to do with the theft.

In the Q&A roundup, Indie Crime Scene interviewed Maggie Giles, whose novel Twisted has its debut on September 19; and Writers Who Kill's Grace Topping chatted with Frances Brody about her historical Kate Shackleton mysteries set in various locations in Yorkshire, England.

Author R&R with J. Lee

J. Lee was born and raised in the Midwest, between the Chicago suburbs and rural Southern Illinois. He received dual degrees in Engineering and Sociology from Duke University, and although his day job has been in engineering, marketing, and program management, he also pursued writing, first as a stress-relieving hobby and then as a professional endeavor. His first crime thriller, The Hubley Case, was published in 2018, followed by The Silent Cardinal in 2021, and The Deadly Deal, which was released today.

The Deadly Deal follows David Centrelli, a junior business development executive at a pharmaceutical company with no military training or criminal record whatsoever...but an innocent knock on the door one Monday morning changes his life forever. Thrust into a world of unbelievable accusations, outrageous claims, and danger he's only seen in the movies, he's told his best friend's death two weeks earlier was no accident, and that his buddy has a message for him from the grave. Blackmailed by decisions he made years ago, informed that his brother has been kidnapped, and threatened with a future not even his worst nightmare could imagine, the temptation to give up what he knows and disappear into affluent anonymity grows stronger by the second...until he learns millions of lives depend on him trying to do the right thing. But can this ordinary businessman really escape death from experts trained to administer it and prevent a colossal calamity already set in motion by the highest levels of government?

J. Lee stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching the book:

 

“Truths & Categories”

Whether you’re writing a term paper for a college class or a thriller novel for the beach reader, there are three truths about research that stand the test of time. Let’s start by identifying them:

1. You want to represent truth in what you write – for your audience, yourself, and what you’re writing. Doing so not only enhances the world by offering something genuine and original for people to enjoy, but also establishes and enhances credibility for you as an author.
2. As the world changes, the methods used to gather research will change, too. Gone are the days where Encyclopedia Britannica and the local library are the primary sources, but we’d all be naïve to think that in eighty years Google will be either.
3. What you’re writing isn’t solely about facts or figures that have already been established in the world…if it were, there’d be no need for you to write it. Thus, while you want your research to be accurate and support the story you are telling or point you are making, you don’t want it to become that either.

NOTE: if you don’t think the above are fundamental truths, you should stop reading. When I write, I do so believing they are central pillars to the research aspects of my book.  Not agreeing but reading on would be a waste of your time. 

So, I was asked to describe my approach to research as I wrote The Deadly Deal, my third mystery/suspense novel that centers around a fictional conspiracy launched between the federal government, a pharmaceutical company and an insurance conglomerate.

The research I did fell into one of two separate, yet equally important categories (Law & Order style) that in my head I labeled – not so originally – as:

1. The big picture
2. The nitty-gritty

For the big picture, it always starts with understanding the overall characters to the story, and I don’t mean people. In this case: How does the FDA approve drugs? What process and controls go into verification? How does the government’s separation of powers ensure it acts in the best interests of the people? What about the development process? How do drugs go from an idea to a tangible product? And how does insurance fit into all of this? We all know it affects the pocketbooks of both companies and consumers, but when does that start and how does that work?

These are the types of fundamental questions you need to ask first when you write fiction, especially plot-driven novels. Because ultimately, understanding the bigger picture players is critical to meeting Truth #1 above, and misrepresenting it will discredit your story.

How?

It’s common to say people should “write what they know” and this is where it best applies. I’d worked at a company involved with the regulatory process. So while I needed to verify what had changed over twenty years, I did have a baseline. I knew some people who still worked in the space. I also have a family member into cutting edge medical research who let me pick his brain about some things.

The point is that for the big picture, it helps immensely to start with something you know and like. You can Google “FDA Approval Process” and get a lot of information, more than enough to provide the level of detail I did in the book, but it’s incredibly helpful to have a baseline and rely on experts in the field going in. The other thing is, going back to Truth #3, don’t overdo it. If people wanted to read a detailed description about the FDA, there are books for that. Don’t over-demonstrate your knowledge of a subject at the expense of your story. Practically speaking, what that meant for me was that for every paragraph of research that made it into the book, there were five pages of notes that never saw the light of day.

For the nitty-gritty, there’s good and “bad” news.

The good news is the information is readily available and can be verified with multiple sources on the web. Some readers think I’m a gun guy because my books have lots of them used by good guys and bad guys. My first novel, The Hubley Case, even has the protagonist holding one on the cover. Yet without even owning one, I learned what I needed from reading online. And when I described an intersection, Street View gave me context that complemented my site visit. The data is available, and you don’t have use old-fashioned encyclopedias that could be outdated or be an Internet savant to get it…you just need to make the commitment to do the work.

There’s the “bad” news…it’s work.

When I wrote a scene with two guys chasing another through a boathouse, I didn’t necessarily want to look up types of boats, how boathouses are winterized, how big they are, what the floor material is, what the temperature might be, etc. But those details help set the scene. And answers are out there; it just takes time to get them.

Certainly, “writing what you know” makes nitty-gritty research easier and probably more enjoyable, but it’s not as critical as it is for the big picture. And trust me, even if you write what you know, when your book is 80,000 words, there’s going to be nitty-gritty research you just need to commit to doing to get it right. Most research at this level isn’t about the “how.” It’s about your mindset as a writer. You need to know it’s worth it.

Bottom line: respecting the three truths, big picture and nitty-gritty category research is hard work. But once you’ve made the commitment, once you’ve put in the effort to make your writing as authentic and genuine as you can, you’ll be that much more satisfied. You’ll know that your time and energy went into making something you’re happy to attach your name to.

And your readers will, too. 

 

You can learn more about J. Lee and his writing via his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. The Deadly Deal is now available via all major booksellers.

Mystery Melange

I'm a little late posting this week's "Mystery Melange," but unfortunately Typepad has been down. And thus it is with online services these days.

Anyway, without further ado, the Bouchercon conference in San Diego wasn't the only hotspot for crime fiction awards this past week, with the Anthony, Shamus, and Barry Awards. Australia was a close second, with winners named for the 2023 Davitt Awards (from Sisters in Crime Australia for best crime books by Australian women), and the 2023 Ned Kelly Awards (given by the Australian Crime Writers Association).

Ned Kelly winners:

• Best debut crime fiction: Wake by Shelley Burr (Hachette)
• Best crime fiction: Exiles by Jane Harper (Macmillan)
• Best true crime: Betrayed by Sandi Logan (Hachette)
• Best international crime fiction: The Lemon Man by Keith Bruton (Cutting Edge)

Davitt Award winners:

• Adult novel: All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien (HQ Fiction)
• Young adult novel: Seven Days by Fleur Ferris (PRH)
• Children’s novel: The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat by Charlie Archbold (Text)
• Nonfiction book: Out of the Ashes by Megan Norris (Big Sky)
• Debut book: Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor (Macmillan)
• Readers’ choice: The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis (A&U)

 

The shortlist for the 2023 McIlvanney Prize for Scotland's prestigious annual crime writing award was also announced. The Prize is named in memory of the "Godfather of Tartan Noir," the late William McIlvanney. The finalists and authors shortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize will lead a torchlit procession from Stirling Castle to the Albert Halls on Friday, September 15, when winner will be revealed. This year's finalists include:

• Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley (Pushkin)
• The Second Murderer by Denise Mina (Vintage)
• Cast a Cold Eye by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
• The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell (Little, Brown)
  
  

Seven crime novels from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland have been shortlisted for the 2023 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The winning title will be announced on 5th October 2023. The Petrona Award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia, and published in the UK in the previous calendar year. Here are this year's contenders:

• Femicide by Pascal Engman tr. Michael Gallagher (Sweden, Legend Press)
• The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock tr. Tara F Chace (Denmark, Swift Press)
• The Axe Woman by Håkan Nesser tr. Sarah Death (Sweden, Mantle)
• Land of Snow and Ashes by Petra Rautiainen tr. David Hackston (Finland, Pushkin Press)
• Kalmann by Joachim B Schmidt tr. Jamie Lee Searle (Switzerland, Bitter Lemon Press)
• Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Orenda Books)
• Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books)
   

But wait, there's more! The Capital Crime conference revealed winners of its Fingerprint Awards at Capital Crime 2023 in London. 

• Crime Novel of the Year: Elly Griffiths for Bleeding Heart Yard
• Thriller Book of the Year: Gillian McAllister for Wrong Place Wrong Time
• Historical Crime Book of the Year: Tom Hindle for A Fatal Crossing
• Genre-Busting Book of the Year: Erin Keely for The Skeleton Key
• Debut Book of the Year: Nita Prose for The Maid
• Audiobook of the Year: Adele Parks, narrated by Kristin Atherton for One Last Secret
• The Thalia Proctor Lifetime Achievement Award for her invaluable contribution to fiction publishing: Jane Wood
• Publishing Campaign of the Year 2023: Viking BooksUK for The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman.
   

Mystery Fanfare reported on the sad news that crime writer, Les Edgerton, passed away this past week at the age of 77. Les Edgerton published 23 books, including Adrenaline Junkie and the comedy crime novel, The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping (both from Down&Out Press) and Bomb! (Gutter Press). One of his most popular books is the writer's text, Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go. Les taught creative writing for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program, Trine University, St. Francis University, the New York Writer's Workshop, and was Writer-in-Residence for the University of Toledo. Before turning his hand to writing, Edgerton had an unusual background that included a stint in the U.S. Navy as a cryptographer but also two years in prison for burglary. Edgerton's fiction has been nominated for or won the Pushcart Prize, O. Henry Award, Edgar short story award, and more.


Featured at the Page 69 Test recently was Rusted Souls: A Tom Harper Mystery (#11) by Chris Nickson, set in 1920 Leeds. About the book, from the publisher: Retirement beckons for Chief Constable Tom Harper. Can he stop a spiraling crime spree involving love letters, robbery, and murder before he hangs up his boots for good?

Forensic science is turning to bees for inspiration. George Mason University Professor Mary Ellen O’Toole, who worked as an FBI profiler for twenty-eight years on cases including the Unabomber, Natalee Holloway, the Green River Killer, Golden State Killer, Zodiac Killer, and more, is the lead researcher on a project that will test a theory that bees can help find decomposing bodies.


Crime fiction fans planning a trip to Savannah, Georgia, might want to head to the North Historic District and check out at Agatha’s Coffee and Tea House. After decades of dreaming and coordinating, the cafe is an homage to the work of best-selling author Agatha Christie, complete with books, antiques, jazz, and employees dressed in period costumes.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Something Fishy" by J.H. Johns.

In the Q&A roundup, Indie Crime Scene interviewed Mark Pawlosky, whose novel Friendly Fire, the second novel in the Nik Byron Investigation series, was released in March; Lynda La Plante spoke with The Guardian about learning to read with dyslexia, the book that made her want to be a writer, and how Raymond Chandler's books made her laugh out loud; Lee Goldberg, who's penned many TV shows as well as the Eve Ronin mystery book series, chatted with Deborah Kalb about his new novel, Malibu Burning; and Author Interviews spoke with James R. Benn, author of Proud Sorrows, the eighteenth installment in the Billy Boyle World War II historical mysteries set within the Allied High Command during the Second World War.