Crime Fiction Dossier

Nothing to see here

That absurd Patricia Cornwell post that I made last week has attracted more traffic, and almost as many comments, as anything I've posted in months.

So I deleted it.

Now I know why people attack bestselling writers: it gets attention. Since I don't want that kind of attention, I removed it. I will, however, leave all the boring posts active. Read those instead.

Book of the Week: Kevin Wignall's "Who Is Conrad Hirst?"

One of my favorite reads of the past few months, Kevin Wignall's Who Is Conrad Hirst? is an excellent thriller about an assassin suffering from a major identity crisis. When his world is turned upside down, Conrad Hirst goes on a violent and bloody existential journey, searching for answers to impossible questions. More le Carré than Ludlum, Who Is Conrad Hirst? is a surprising, smart and very satisfying book. (Check back soon for my full-length review.)

Latest Chicago Sun-Times round-up column

My latest column ran this morning in the Chicago Sun-Times. It contained reviews of:

Dean Koontz: The Darkest Evening of the Year
Meg Cabot: Big Boned
Robert Harris: Ghost
Karen E. Olson: Dead of the Day
Jonathan Hayes: Precious Blood

Enjoy!

Plots with Guns returns

I'm always out of the loop, so I just heard about this. (Thanks Guyot.) Anthony Neil Smith has announced that Plots with Guns, one of the best publications for short crime fiction, is returning.

I'll be doing quarterly issues.  The pay will be...well, it'll be me buying you your drink of choice the next time I happen to see you.  The standards will be higher than ever, and I'll be pickier than ever. Looking for hard-boiled, noir and transgressive crime fiction.  Every story has to have a gun in it somehow, some way (doesn't have to play a big role.  Just needs to be there).  No pastiche.  It's got to feel right to find a home in PWG.

In 2008, we're starting over with Issue #1.  Send me your best (email only).  You know how to get in touch.  And I promise you this won't be a Ross Perot thing (he's running, he's not, he's running again, he's not).  This time, I'm sticking around for the long haul.

Very welcome news indeed.

Book of the Week: Gordon Campbell's "Missing Witness"

Although I already reviewed this book, I wanted to single it out again, as it's one of the best things I've read this year. Missing Witness is the story of a young lawyer who gets assigned the case of a lifetime, serving as second chair to a legendary defense attorney whose client is on trial for murder. The plot is nicely twisted and complex, the characters are fresh and the prose is good enough to keep you interested. Campbell spent nearly three decades writing this book, so who knows if he'll ever write another. In the meantime, enjoy Missing Witness, one of the best debuts of the year.

Update

There was no Book of the Week (or anything else) last week because my daughter was sick. (She's fine now.) But I'll be posting something this week.

Assuming you were waiting with bated breath...

Ask the Critic: Mysteries suitable for a 14-year-old?

A reader asks:

My 14 yr old niece has devoured all of her grandmother's Nancy Drew. She has been looking for similar types of books which must be father approved (no slashers, vampire, psycho-killer stuff, oh yeah he has issues with sexual content). Are there any mystery/thriller authors that can satisfy my brother-in-law as a well as entertain/challenge my niece?

Most of what I read probably wouldn't fit the bill... So I'm calling on you folks to help. Any suggestions? I was thinking of Agatha Christie...

Book of the Week: Karen E. Olson's "Dead of the Day"

Dead of the Day is the third book in Olson's excellent series featuring Annie Seymour, a salty police reporter in New Haven, Conn. Once again, Annie is in over her head investigating a story that’ll either win her a Pulitzer Prize or get her killed. Olson writers fun mysteries with just enough edge to make them sparkle. Now that the series has moved from hardcover to paperback (and from Mysterious Press to Signet), hopefully it will start finding the larger audience it deserves.

First, kill all the lawyers...

A judge has approved a settlement in the case of book buyers who were duped into purchasing James Frey's fictional memoirs. As it turns out, hardly anyone really cared, and only 1729 people filed to get their money back.

Here's the part I like, though. The payments mandated by the settlement break down as follows:

$27,348 in refunds to the 1,729 claimants
$432,000 to publicize the settlement
$180,000 donated to the American Red Cross, Hazelden and First Book
$783,000 for the attorneys

So the lawyers are getting 29 times as much as the aggrieved parties.

Book of the Week: Joyce Carol Oates' "The Museum of Dr. Moses"

Just in time for Halloween, an excellent collection of mystery stories from one of the most prolific and talented literary writers. (At least, people say she's talented. This is actually the first thing of hers that I read...but I really enjoyed it.) The Museum of Dr. Moses is a short collection of short stories, most of them suspenseful, mysterious or creepy in one way or another. Oates mines the horrors of everyday life -- always the best place to look -- for her material, crafting a satisfying and scary little book. (To read more about the collection, see my review in the Washington Post.)