“Less Cake, More Blood”

For Shots, Tony Black (Paying for It) interviews his fellow UK crime novelist, Martyn Waites, about his history as a stand-up comedian, the far-right’s nefarious influence on poor white communities in Britain, and Waites’ new Joe Donovan novel, White Riot. At one point, Black asks what Waites thinks of the “current state of health of the crime genre,” only to elicit this response:

I think it’s at an interesting stage. The traditional lines of cosy vs. noir have blurred with the cosy being reinvented as the forensic novel--less cake, more blood--and also as a novel of social commentary in some cases. This has made the noir side either retreat into pastiche or try to find genuine ways to reinterpret the genre. It all seems to be up in the air at the moment. And that, I think, is a good thing.

You’ll find their full conversation here.