Crime Fiction Dossier

Does the News Matter To Anyone Anymore?

David Simon, creator of HBO's The Wire and a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, had an excellent article in Sunday's Washington Post about the decline of the newspaper business.

It's strange to imagine a world in which the daily newspaper is an anachronism, but we're fast heading in that direction.

Book of the Week: Richard Stark's "The Jugger"

Richard Stark has a new Parker novel coming out in April -- always something to get excited about. I received a galley of it a while back, but before I read it I realized that I had one of the Stark reprints that Mysterious Press did a couple years ago that I still hadn't read. The Jugger is a different kind of story for Parker, in that it's not a heist novel -- Parker isn't planning a job at all. He's spending time in a small town in Nebraska where an old friend has just died, leading to several complications. I could read Stark all day long. There is such an elegance about his lean & mean prose. The Jugger isn't up there with the best of the series, but they're all good. (While preparing this post, I learned that this book is once again out-of-print. That is a damn shame. If you're looking for a great read, pick up one of his other books instead.)

Outtake from Yorba Linda Star interview

Here is a question from the interview I did with Patti McCoy Jacob that was cut for reasons of space. I thought it might be interesting to some.

PMJ: Any advice for someone interested in reviewing books but unsure how to begin?

DJM: Read, read, read. Read everything you can get your hands on, including reviews. Find critics whose work speaks to you and study their reviews. Figure out what they're doing and how they're doing it. Then experiment with expressing your own thoughts about a book; what was good, what was not-so-good. You not only have to be able to form interesting insights about the book, you have to be able to express them in an interesting way. It's something few people seem to be able to do well.

I would also advise people that the only reason to write reviews is because you love books and have thoughts about them you want to share. Don't do it because you think there's money in it. There isn't.

Review of Stephen King's "Duma Key"

After too long of an absence, my work returns to the pages of the Chicago Sun-Times, where I review Stephen King's excellent Duma Key.

I don't ordinarily care for long books, but I enjoyed this one a lot.

The 2008 Edgar Award Nominees are...

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 199th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2007. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 62nd Gala Banquet, May 1, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.


BEST NOVEL

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (Henry Holt and Company)
Priest by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)
Down River by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
In the Woods by Tana French (Penguin Group – Viking)
Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard (The Rookery Press)
Head Games by Craig McDonald (Bleak House Books)
Pyres by Derek Nikitas (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Queenpin by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Blood of Paradise by David Corbett (Random House - Mortalis)
Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks (Serpent's Tail)
Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill (Hard Case Crime)
Who is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

BEST FACT CRIME

The Birthday Party by Stanley Alpert (Penguin Group – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
by Vincent Bugliosi (W.W. Norton and Company
Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit by Kerry Max Cook (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Relentless Pursuit: A True Story of Family, Murder, and the Prosecutor Who Wouldn't Quit by Kevin Flynn (Penguin Group – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Sacco & Vanzetti: The Men, The Murders and the Judgment of Mankind by Bruce Watson (Penguin Group – Viking)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The Triumph of the Thriller:  How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction by Patrick Anderson (Random House)
A Counter-History of Crime Fiction:  Supernatural, Gothic, Sensational by Maurizio Ascari (Palgrave Macmillan)
Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction by Christiana Gregoriou (Palgrave Macmillan)
Arthur Conan Doyle:  A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley (The Penguin Press)
Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy
by Jean Gould O’Connell (McFarland & Company)

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Catch" – Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)
"Blue Note" – Chicago Blues by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Bleak House Books)
"Hardly Knew Her" – Dead Man's Hand by Laura Lippman (Harcourt Trade Publishers)
"The Golden Gopher" – Los Angeles Noir by Susan Straight (Akashic Books
"Uncle" – A Hell of a Woman” by Daniel Woodrell (Busted Flush Press)

BEST JUVENILE

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Shadows on Society Hill by Evelyn Coleman (American Girl Publications)
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion Books)
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion Books for Young Readers)
Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things by Wendelin Van Draanen (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Rat Life by Tedd Arnold (Penguin – Dial Books for Young Readers)
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children's Books – Delacorte Press)
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing – Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Blood Brothers by S.A. Harazin (Random House Children's Books – Delacorte Press)
Fragments by Jeffry W. Johnston (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing – Simon Pulse)

BEST PLAY

If/Then by David Foley (International Mystery Writers' Festival)
Panic by Joseph Goodrich (International Mystery Writers' Festival)
Books by Stuart M. Kaminsky (International Mystery Writers' Festival)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

"It’s Alive" – Dexter, Teleplay by Daniel Cerone (Showtime)
"Yahrzeit" – Waking the Dead, Teleplay by Declan Croghan & Barbara Machin (BBC America)
"Pie-Lette" – Pushing Daisies, Teleplay by Bryan Fuller (ABC/Warner Bros Television
"Senseless" – Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Teleplay by Julie Martin & Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
"Pilot" – Burn Notice, Teleplay by Matt Nix (USA Network/Fox Television Studios)

BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY

Eastern Promises, Screenplay by Steven Knight (Focus Features)
The Lookout, Screenplay by Scott Frank (Miramax)
Michael Clayton, Screenplay by Tony Gilroy (Warner Bros. Pictures)
No Country for Old Men, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, based on the book by Cormac McCarthy (Miramax)
Zodiac, Screenplay by James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"The Catch" – Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)

GRAND MASTER

Bill Pronzini

RAVEN AWARDS

Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Kate's Mystery Books (Kate Mattes, owner)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Wild Indigo by Sandi Ault (Penguin Group – Berkley Prime Crime)
Inferno by Karen Harper (Harlequin – MIRA Books)
The First Stone by Judith Kelman (Penguin Group – Berkley Prime Crime)
Deadman's Switch by Barbara Seranella (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Recommendations for reading Ross Macdonald

Ross Macdonald has been enjoying something of a renaissance in recent months, as Vintage Crime/Black Lizard has been reprinting many of his books.

I had a conversation recently with Tom Nolan, crime fiction critic for the Wall Street Journal and the acclaimed biographer of Macdonald, in which I asked Tom for his recommendations for a reader who is new to Macdonald's work. This is his reply:

The Underground Man, with its forest-fire motif, is an exciting work, as much of a thriller as a murder-mystery; the fire itself is almost a character, racing towards its own destruction.

The Chill is maybe RM's masterpiece, combining his particular themes with memorable characters, terrific sequences, and a surprising plot.

The Galton Case is what he called the fulcrum of his oeuvre, upon which the rest of his work would turn; it was the book in which he most explored his own past (fictionally), and when he consciously committed his most serious writing ambitions to the mystery-novel genre.

I think any RM book from the golden period of the 1960s, when he had come into his mature prose style, would be a good Macdonald to start with; The Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Far Side of the Dollar, and Black Money are all excellent.

Then again, those who prefer a more hard-boiled approach might favor a '50s book. The Way Some People Die or The Barbarous Coast are among my own favorites.

I'm woefully unfamiliar with Macdonald's work, having only read (that I can recall) one novel and a couple of short stories. So I've definitely got some catching up to do.

Thoughts and prayers for William Tapply

I've just learned that writer William Tapply (author of the Brady Coyne series, among other works) is battling cancer and will be hospitalized for the next several weeks while he receives chemotherapy. He is reportedly in good spirits and determined to beat the disease.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to him. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Bill!

Interview with me, part 2

Since it can't all be about Guyot, here is part 2 of the interview I did for the Yorba Linda Star. (Many thanks to Patti McCoy Jacob for doing such a great job.)

In case you're too lazy to read it, here is the last question, which might be of interest:

PMJ: Finally, who are your favorite mystery/thriller writers?

DJM: Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, Barry Eisler and Robert Ferrigno. Those are my picks for today...

Ask the Critic: Do critics request books or are they sent automatically?

In the comments to the post below about my TBR stack, C.T. Henry asks an interesting question that I pulled out to answer here:

Did you request most of these books or were they just sent to you?

Usually, publishers send me the books automatically, without me having to request them. That's the easiest way to operate and it ensures that the books are at least considered for review.

Sometimes, though, the system doesn't work so smoothly and I have to seek out the books and request them. This is a lot more inefficient and doesn't always work particularly well. For one thing, it means I have to be aware of the book in the first place. (I try to keep up with everything, but often books slip through the cracks anyway.)

Also, it means I have to either figure out who the publicist is or just start querying people at the publisher to try to track the book down. For those publishers where I have good, ongoing relationships with the publicists, this is pretty easy to do. But if all I know is that a book is published by Random House, getting my hands on a copy can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth.

(As with all things, some publishers do a lot better job of sending books than others. This has a real impact on which books get reviewed. Too often I'm not even able to consider a particular book for review because I never got a copy.)

In this particular case, most of the books were sent to me, but a few I had to request.

TBR Stack

Here is a snapshot of my current to-be-read stack. (Along with some that I've read recently but haven't gotten around to filing yet.)

Every couple of months, I go through and remove the ones I never got around to reading, in order to make room for the new batch.

If you think this is bad, you should see the basement...