Crime Fiction Dossier

A book trailer that works

David J. Montgomery — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:41:11 -0400

As I've written before, I'm generally not a fan of book trailers. I tend to find them amateurish, and for most authors (who aren't bestsellers), they're very difficult to bring to the attention of potential readers. However, every once in...

A webcomic worth checking out

David J. Montgomery — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:29:09 -0400

I'm not really a comics fan, but a reader sent this in and I found it interesting. Zuda Comics (a division of DC Comics) is holding a competition to select a new comic writer, and one of the entrants (Shawn...

Book of the Week: Ellen Crosby's "The Bordeaux Betrayal"

David J. Montgomery — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:26:41 -0400

The delightfully named Lucie Montgomery returns for her third oenophilic mystery in Ellen Crosby's The Bordeaux Betrayal. Montgomery is hosting a charity auction featuring a rare and valuable bottle of wine that Thomas Jefferson supposedly bought for George Washington. When...

Latest Chicago Sun-Times round-up column

David J. Montgomery — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:26:45 -0400

I know you've been waiting for it...and here it is: my latest round-up column in the Chicago Sun-Times. It contains brief reviews of: Robert Crais - Chasing Darkness Lisa Gardner - Say Goodbye Lisa Black - Takeover Brent Ghelfi -...

Book of the Week: Lisa Gardner's "Say Goodbye"

David J. Montgomery — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:53:18 -0400

Lisa Gardner returns with another entertaining thriller featuring Kimberly Quincy, a special agent with the FBI and one of the author’s most likable characters. Say Goodbye is a haunting story that might challenge readers with its dark subject matter, but...

Michael Connelly interview on Evil E

David J. Montgomery — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:37:32 -0400

Evil E, the monthly blog perpetrated by Elaine Flinn, has a new edition up and it features a terrific interview with Michael Connelly. Here are my questions from it: DAVID MONTGOMERY: You’re probably tired of hearing this question, but I’ll...

Book of the Week: George Pelecanos' "The Turnaround"

David J. Montgomery — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:05:16 -0400

George Pelecanos, one of the finest living writers, returns with The Turnaround, yet another outstanding piece of literature from the dark poet of DC. In a broad sense this is a crime novel, but more importantly it's a story that...

Caveat emptor

David J. Montgomery — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:01:47 -0400

Readers of blogs are consumers of information. There are blogs on virtually every subject known to man -- and plenty that you wouldn't want to know about. A few of them are interesting and/or useful, most of them are filled...

Online vs. print reviewing

David J. Montgomery — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0400

The subject of online vs. print reviewing has been much debated in recent months, fueled by the devastating erosion of print outlets for book coverage. A piece on the Literary Saloon summarizes some of the recent discussion. The piece includes...

Bouchercon 2010: No contest

David J. Montgomery — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 09:18:57 -0400

For the first time in living memory, two groups have submitted valid bids to stage the Bouchercon mystery conference in the same year. The year is 2010 (which even though it sounds like a far-off science fiction future, is actually...