A Gift for Gab

Wow, you’ve got to hand it to first-time Chicago novelist Julia Buckley (The Dark Backward) for her enthusiasm as an interviewer. I mentioned in a previous post that she was devoting July to “dialoguing” with other mystery novelists, but now it seems she’s extending that enterprise into August. Since I last mentioned Buckley’s campaign, she’s tackled Martha Reed (The Nature of the Grave), Clea Simon (Cattery Row), Kathy Brandt (Under Pressure), Nancy Cohen (Dead Roots), Mary Reed and Eric Mayer (Six for Gold), Ann Parker (Iron Ties), Jeffrey Cohen (As Dog Is My Witness), Libby Hellman (A Shot to Die For), Sandra Rutten (Suspicious Circumstances), and Lillian Stewart Carl (The Murder Hole), among others. Buckley’s tastes seem to run generally (though not exclusively) in the direction of “cozies,” which aren’t exactly my cup of reading tea. However, as one who does crime-novelist interviews himself, I cannot but admire the energy she’s putting into this project. Let’s hope she keeps it up for a while longer, at least. Who knows what more we might learn?