During a special video-streaming event held earlier today in association with New Zealand’s WORD Christchurch Festival, the winners of four 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards for crime, mystery, and thriller fiction (and crime non-fiction) were announced. If you’re interested, you can watch the full 72-minute Zoom presentation—which includes appearances by 20 authors—by clicking here.
Best Novel: Sprigs, by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)
Also nominated: The Murder Club, by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press); The Tally Stick, by Carl Nixon (Penguin); The Secrets of Strangers, by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin); and Tell Me Lies, by J.P. Pomare (Hachette)
Best First Novel: For Reasons of Their Own, by Chris Stuart
(Original Sin Press)
Also nominated: The Girl in the Mirror, by Rose Carlyle (Allen & Unwin); The Beautiful Dead, by Kim Hunt (Bloodhound); Where the Truth Lies, by Karina Kilmore (Simon & Schuster); and While the Fantail Lives, by Alan Titchall (Devon Media)
Best Non-fiction: Black Hands: Inside the Bain Family Murders,
by Martin van Beynen (Penguin)
Also nominated: Weed: A New Zealand Story, by James Borrowdale (Penguin); Rock College: An Unofficial History of Mount Eden Prison, by Mark Derby (Massey University Press); From Dog Collar to Dog Collar, by Bruce Howat (Rangitawa); and Gangland: New Zealand’s Underworld of Organised Crime, by Jared Savage (HarperCollins)
Best YA/Kids Book: Katipo Joe, by Brian Falkner (Scholastic)
Also nominated: Red Edge, by Des Hunt (Scholastic); A Trio of Sophies, by Eileen Merriman (Penguin); and Deadhead, by Glenn Wood
(One Tree House)
A hearty congratulations to all of this year’s nominees!
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Thursday, October 28, 2021
Mannix Steers You Right
Several fictional TV detectives became famous in part for the automobiles they drove. Think Lieutenant Columbo with his beat-up 1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet, or Jim Rockford with his road-chase-ready Pontiac Firebird Esprit; Harry Orwell with his wheezy, gray 1960s Austin-Healey Sprite, Inspector Morse with his 1960 Jaguar Mk II 2.4, and Thomas Magnum with his Ferrari 308 GTS.
Los Angeles private eye Joe Mannix (Mike Connors), star of the CBS-TV series Mannix (1967-1975), may not have been the most stylish dresser, what with his wool sports coats and knife-edge-creased slacks, but he wheeled about the City of Angels in a heavenly selection of convertibles. The video below collects them all, from a 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado and a George Barris-customized 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 340 to a flashy succession of Plymouth Barracudas, a 1974 Dodge Challenger, a 1974 Chevy Camaro LT, and more. Let’s ride!
READ MORE: “Curbside TV—The Cars of Mannix,” by J.P. Cavanaugh (Curbside Classic).
Los Angeles private eye Joe Mannix (Mike Connors), star of the CBS-TV series Mannix (1967-1975), may not have been the most stylish dresser, what with his wool sports coats and knife-edge-creased slacks, but he wheeled about the City of Angels in a heavenly selection of convertibles. The video below collects them all, from a 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado and a George Barris-customized 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 340 to a flashy succession of Plymouth Barracudas, a 1974 Dodge Challenger, a 1974 Chevy Camaro LT, and more. Let’s ride!
READ MORE: “Curbside TV—The Cars of Mannix,” by J.P. Cavanaugh (Curbside Classic).
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Lover’s Big Leap
Given the existing plenitude of annual awards presented for crime, mystery, and thriller fiction, you might think there was no necessity in establishing a brand-new one. Yet that’s exactly what the popular British Web site Crime Fiction Lover has chosen to do.
“These awards are different,” the site says in its announcement. “They’re international, with a very special judging panel. And you’re on it. That’s right, the winners of our awards are going to be chosen by readers. We’ve spent many long years building up a community of crime fiction lovers around our website and we believe this is the way it should be. As part of our gang, you will play a role in deciding who wins a Crime Fiction Lover Award in 2021.”
Nominations will be accepted between now and noon (UK time) on Wednesday, November 10, in six different categories:
• Best Crime Novel
• Best Debut
• Best in Translation
• Best Indie Novel
• Best Author
• Best Crime Show
The official nominating form can be filled out here. You need not enter a title or name in every category.
Books, authors, and TV shows will be ranked according to their numbers of nominations, with the biggest vote-getters earning spots on a shortlist of contenders. “To qualify for the shortlist,” explains Crime Fiction Lover, “your nomination will need to have been published in English between 1 November 2020 and 31 October 2021. In the Best Author category, the author needs to have published a work of crime fiction during this period. We know it’s difficult to define what an ‘indie’ crime novel is. For this category we’re looking for crime novels published by smaller independent companies or self-publishing authors with a turnover under £500,000 (US$690,000).”
Following publication of the shortlist, a second online poll will determine the winners. In addition, says the site, “our team will select an Editor’s Choice award from the shortlist—which may or may not be the same as the book, show or author that receives the most votes.”
Now, I’m always suspicious of prize selections based solely on public opinion; they tend to favor books that have received the most publicity, rather than those that are truly imaginative or distinctive. I place greater faith in programs that at least balance public votes with those of established critics and editors. Still, we’ll see what Crime Fiction Lover can produce here. The results could be enjoyable.
Again, click here to register your votes.
“These awards are different,” the site says in its announcement. “They’re international, with a very special judging panel. And you’re on it. That’s right, the winners of our awards are going to be chosen by readers. We’ve spent many long years building up a community of crime fiction lovers around our website and we believe this is the way it should be. As part of our gang, you will play a role in deciding who wins a Crime Fiction Lover Award in 2021.”
Nominations will be accepted between now and noon (UK time) on Wednesday, November 10, in six different categories:
• Best Crime Novel
• Best Debut
• Best in Translation
• Best Indie Novel
• Best Author
• Best Crime Show
The official nominating form can be filled out here. You need not enter a title or name in every category.
Books, authors, and TV shows will be ranked according to their numbers of nominations, with the biggest vote-getters earning spots on a shortlist of contenders. “To qualify for the shortlist,” explains Crime Fiction Lover, “your nomination will need to have been published in English between 1 November 2020 and 31 October 2021. In the Best Author category, the author needs to have published a work of crime fiction during this period. We know it’s difficult to define what an ‘indie’ crime novel is. For this category we’re looking for crime novels published by smaller independent companies or self-publishing authors with a turnover under £500,000 (US$690,000).”
Following publication of the shortlist, a second online poll will determine the winners. In addition, says the site, “our team will select an Editor’s Choice award from the shortlist—which may or may not be the same as the book, show or author that receives the most votes.”
Now, I’m always suspicious of prize selections based solely on public opinion; they tend to favor books that have received the most publicity, rather than those that are truly imaginative or distinctive. I place greater faith in programs that at least balance public votes with those of established critics and editors. Still, we’ll see what Crime Fiction Lover can produce here. The results could be enjoyable.
Again, click here to register your votes.
Wharton’s Night Frights
With Halloween fast approaching, The New Yorker’s Anna Russell takes the measure of Ghosts, a collection of Edith Wharton’s spookier short stories, newly re-released by NYRB Classics:
For a writer known mostly for incisive social novels about the old New York of her childhood, Wharton’s ghost stories make up a significant chunk of her œuvre. In addition to longer works, including “The House of Mirth” and “Ethan Frome,” she published some eighty-five short stories, many of them spectral. Wharton’s ghost tales have been anthologized alongside other American masters of unease—Edgar Allan Poe, whom she admired, and her good friend Henry James—but her 1937 collection, which was published shortly after her death, has long been out of print. This October, it will be revived by NYRB Classics, with the same preface it was initially published with, and the same title, “Ghosts.” Spanning the length of Wharton’s career—the earliest story, “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell,” is from 1902—the tales appear in their original, somewhat perplexing order. Wharton seems to not have arranged them chronologically or thematically, but according to her own mysterious preferences. “I liked the idea of, ‘This is exactly what she put out,’ ” Sara Kramer, the executive editor of NYRB Classics, told me.Click here to find Russell’s full piece.
What Wharton put out is a bewitching, and frequently terrifying, collection of tales which more often than not fulfill her criterion for a successful ghost story: “If it sends a cold shiver down one’s spine, it has done its job and done it well.” In her preface, Wharton frets about the public’s ability to appreciate a good ghost story, an instinct she sees “being gradually atrophied by those two world-wide enemies of the imagination, the wireless and the cinema.” Modern life in 1937 was too noisy, too diffuse and distracted, for a ghost to make much headway. “Ghosts, to make themselves manifest, require two conditions abhorrent to the modern mind: silence and continuity,” she wrote. “For where a ghost has once appeared it seems to hanker to appear again; and it obviously prefers the silent hours, when at last the wireless has ceased to jazz.”
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Happy News of “Happy Valley”
(Above) A fan-made trailer for Happy Valley, Series 1.
Progress toward a third series of the British TV crime drama Happy Valley has been so sluggardly, that many people—nay, most people—probably thought its actual appearance would never come.
The first two seasons of that award-winning program, starring Sarah Lancashire as West Yorkshire Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood, debuted in the UK in 2014 and 2016. Then in 2019, The Killing Times (which had named Happy Valley as one of its top crime shows of the 2010s) reported that a third series “has now been greenlit.” But since that time, there’s only been more quiet. Surely, the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t have helped this situation, as many TV and film productions were shut down to help prevent the virus’ spread.
Today, however, The Killing Times brings this update: “[T]he BBC has confirmed that the Sally Wainwright-created series will be returning in 2022 for a third and final six-episode run. Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran and James Norton (yes, James Norton) will all be returning for the series.” The site provides a brief Series 3 overview:
Progress toward a third series of the British TV crime drama Happy Valley has been so sluggardly, that many people—nay, most people—probably thought its actual appearance would never come.
The first two seasons of that award-winning program, starring Sarah Lancashire as West Yorkshire Police Sergeant Catherine Cawood, debuted in the UK in 2014 and 2016. Then in 2019, The Killing Times (which had named Happy Valley as one of its top crime shows of the 2010s) reported that a third series “has now been greenlit.” But since that time, there’s only been more quiet. Surely, the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t have helped this situation, as many TV and film productions were shut down to help prevent the virus’ spread.
Today, however, The Killing Times brings this update: “[T]he BBC has confirmed that the Sally Wainwright-created series will be returning in 2022 for a third and final six-episode run. Sarah Lancashire, Siobhan Finneran and James Norton (yes, James Norton) will all be returning for the series.” The site provides a brief Series 3 overview:
The BBC says: “When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir it sparks a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to [rapist/kidnapper] Tommy Lee Royce [Norton].Those new half-dozen episodes are expected to begin filming in northern England next year. There’s no estimation yet of when they might air, but hearing that they’re actually going to exist should bring ssmile to the faces of Happy Valley fans.
“Her grandson Ryan is now sixteen and still living with Catherine, but he has ideas of his own about what kind of relationship he wants to have with the man Catherine refuses to acknowledge as his father. Still battling the seemingly never-ending problem of drugs in the valley and those who supply them, Catherine is on the cusp of retirement.”
Hano’s Final Inning
Arnold Hano was born in New York City back in March 1922. He grew up to become a copy boy for the New York Daily News, a book editor, an award-winning sportswriter, and the first president of a group dedicated to preserving the “unique village character and cultural heritage” of Laguna Beach, California, where he and his wife had lived since 1955. Oh, and along the way, Hano penned novels—noir thrillers, westerns, and sports yarns, often published under pseudonyms.
Hano finally died this last Sunday, October 24, aged 99.
In its obituary, The Laguna Beach Independent recalls that Hano’s “writing career encompassed 26 books, including A Day in the Bleachers [2004]”—his much-lauded memoir of attending Game 1 of the 1954 World Series—“as well as hundreds of magazine articles and over 200 newspaper columns compiled in It Takes a Villager: Wit and Wisdom by Laguna’s Irreverent Observer [2013].” He also authored the crime yarn So I'm a Heel (1957), which was republished, along with Flint (1957) and The Big Out (1951), in a 2012 Stark House Press omnibus edition titled 3 Steps to Hell. Fellow Southern California author and sometime Rap Sheet contributor Gary Phillips, who composed that omnibus’ introduction, brings my attention to the fact that Hano served as managing editor at Bantam Books, then as editor-in-chief at Lion Books, working with David Goodis and with Jim Thompson “during his most prolific period.”
In an e-mail note, Phillips tells me, “It was my great pleasure to know him and hang out a bit with him and his wife, Bonnie, these past few years. Great guy and wonderful writer.”
Would that we could all be remembered in like fashion.
Hano finally died this last Sunday, October 24, aged 99.
In its obituary, The Laguna Beach Independent recalls that Hano’s “writing career encompassed 26 books, including A Day in the Bleachers [2004]”—his much-lauded memoir of attending Game 1 of the 1954 World Series—“as well as hundreds of magazine articles and over 200 newspaper columns compiled in It Takes a Villager: Wit and Wisdom by Laguna’s Irreverent Observer [2013].” He also authored the crime yarn So I'm a Heel (1957), which was republished, along with Flint (1957) and The Big Out (1951), in a 2012 Stark House Press omnibus edition titled 3 Steps to Hell. Fellow Southern California author and sometime Rap Sheet contributor Gary Phillips, who composed that omnibus’ introduction, brings my attention to the fact that Hano served as managing editor at Bantam Books, then as editor-in-chief at Lion Books, working with David Goodis and with Jim Thompson “during his most prolific period.”
In an e-mail note, Phillips tells me, “It was my great pleasure to know him and hang out a bit with him and his wife, Bonnie, these past few years. Great guy and wonderful writer.”
Would that we could all be remembered in like fashion.
Monday, October 25, 2021
The Byte Stuff
I’m usually a pretty modest guy, more comfortable dispensing praise than receiving it. Yet I feel it incumbent upon me to point out Kristopher Zgorski’s very favorable mention of The Rap Sheet (and, well, yours truly) in the latest edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s “Blog Bytes,” the column he took over in 2018 from Bill Crider (who died in February of that same year). 
To quote from Wikipedia: “Blog Bytes contains reviews and updates of crime and mystery short fiction blogs.” Zgorski’s column for November/December 2021 includes this write-up about The Rap Sheet:
My thanks to Kristopher for saying such complimentary things about the blog you’re reading. While this isn’t the first time The Rap Sheet has been mentioned in EQMM (Ed Gorman tossed a bouquet our way back in 2007), I’m always glad to hear that readers appreciate what my colleagues and I accomplish here. Oh, and if you are not already a reader of Zgorski’s fine blog, BOLO Books, check it out.
To quote from Wikipedia: “Blog Bytes contains reviews and updates of crime and mystery short fiction blogs.” Zgorski’s column for November/December 2021 includes this write-up about The Rap Sheet:
The Rap Sheet ... is J. Kingston Pierce’s love letter to the crime-fiction community. Under his regular “Bullet Points” posts, readers will find a wealth of information that is always fascinating. Here Pierce links to the source of all the gathered information while also providing a paragraph (or sentence) recap of the relevant news. This allows readers quickly to know a bit about what is happening in the industry overall, but also allows for a deeper dive into those topics that are of particular interest to each visitor. Fans of book reviews will find his “Revue of Review[er]s” posts invaluable. Here Pierce links to various other websites that are posting well-crafted reviews of recent releases (in the interest of disclosure, I should point out that my reviews at BOLO Books are often included amongst these choices). The Rap Sheet can always be counted on to keep readers apprised of the latest awards nominations and winners as well as to provide a gold mine of information on one of Pierce’s passions, vintage book covers. Perhaps one of the most impressive features is a seasonal rundown of if not all, at least the majority of the highly anticipated new book releases by month, for both the U.S. and the U.K.! I could continue to list examples of the wonderful content found here, but you should just go check it out for yourself.Zgorski’s endorsement of this blog is sandwiched between comments about book-related news in Entertainment Weekly and a “blog collective” with which I was previously unfamiliar: The Mystery Lover’s Kitchen. You’ll find his whole column here.
My thanks to Kristopher for saying such complimentary things about the blog you’re reading. While this isn’t the first time The Rap Sheet has been mentioned in EQMM (Ed Gorman tossed a bouquet our way back in 2007), I’m always glad to hear that readers appreciate what my colleagues and I accomplish here. Oh, and if you are not already a reader of Zgorski’s fine blog, BOLO Books, check it out.
Sunday, October 24, 2021
PW Presents Its Preferences
From now through the end of December, I expect to see a steady stream of “best books of 2021” lists being issued. The latest comes from Publishers Weekly, which commends a dozen crime, mystery, and thriller novels released during this year’s first 11 months:
• The Anatomy of Desire, by L.R. Dorn (Morrow)
• The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier (Other Press)
• Black Ice, by Carin Gerhardsen (Scarlet)
• The Bloodless Boy, by Robert J. Lloyd (Melville House)
• Five Decembers, by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
• Midnight, Water City, by Chris McKinney (Soho Crime)
• The Photographer, by Mary Dixie Carter (Minotaur)
• The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon)
• The Push, by Ashley Audrain (Pamela Dorman)
• Steel Fear, by Brandon Webb and John David Mann (Bantam)
• These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)
• Who Is Maude Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)
There are actually several titles here that I hadn’t expected to find, which is more than can be said of Barnes & Noble’s recent “Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021” selection. On the other hand, two of PW’s picks were books I abandoned reading only partway through.
(Hat tip to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.)
• The Anatomy of Desire, by L.R. Dorn (Morrow)
• The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier (Other Press)
• Black Ice, by Carin Gerhardsen (Scarlet)
• The Bloodless Boy, by Robert J. Lloyd (Melville House)
• Five Decembers, by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
• Midnight, Water City, by Chris McKinney (Soho Crime)
• The Photographer, by Mary Dixie Carter (Minotaur)
• The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon)
• The Push, by Ashley Audrain (Pamela Dorman)
• Steel Fear, by Brandon Webb and John David Mann (Bantam)
• These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)
• Who Is Maude Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)
There are actually several titles here that I hadn’t expected to find, which is more than can be said of Barnes & Noble’s recent “Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021” selection. On the other hand, two of PW’s picks were books I abandoned reading only partway through.
(Hat tip to Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.)
Saturday, October 23, 2021
Bullet Points: Saturday Sampler Edition
• Looking for another crime-writing contest? According to a press release, the Glencairn Glass—touted as “the world’s favourite whisky glass”—has launched “its very own crime short-story competition, in partnership with Scottish Field magazine. … The competition opens for entries on 20th October and runs until 31st December, inviting all budding crime writers to build their stories around the theme ‘A Crystal-Clear Crime’ in no more than 2,000 words.” A trio of cash prizes is being offered: first place fetching £1,000, while two runners-up will each receive £250. “All three winners,” the media notice explains, “will also receive a set of six bespoke engraved Glencairn Glasses to enjoy their favourite dram with. The overall winning entry will be published by Scottish Field in spring 2022 
as well as on the Glencairn Glass website.” Among the judges of this contest is Peter Ranscombe, drinks columnist at Scottish Field and author of a historical thriller titled Hare, about which I wrote half a dozen years ago. For more entry details, click here.
• Provided there are no disastrous flare-ups of COVID-19 in the near future, CrimeFest should return next year as an in-person event. It’s currently scheduled to take place in Bristol, England, from May 12 to 15. Mystery Fanfare brings word that author Ann Cleeves will be among 2022’s featured guests. Diamond Dagger recipients Martin Edwards and Robert Goddard are both set to be interviewed during the weekend, and Dick Francis will be celebrated as the convention’s first “Ghost of Honor.” (Click here for a list of other participating authors.) Finally, the Crime Writers’ Association is expected to resume its annual tradition of announcing its Dagger Awards shortlists during a Friday-night reception at CrimeFest. Tickets are already on sale here, with an Early Bird rate of £145 ending on Monday, November 1—so you’d best not delay if you hope to take advantage of that discount.
• Speaking of crime-fiction gatherings, here are the events arranged for this year’s online-only Midwest Mystery Conference (November 5-6). Registration is required, but will set you back only $25.
• And of course, Iceland Noir will return next month for the first time since 2018! “[C]o-founded in 2013 by Quentin Bates, Ragnar Jónasson and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir …,” writes Abby Endler in Crime by the Book, “the festival typically takes place every other year in Reykjavik (though of course, the 2020 festival was cancelled [due to the pandemic]), and includes a whole variety of fantastic author events (panels, spotlight interviews, and more) as well as fun special events for festival attendees, too!” This year’s festival will run from Wednesday, November 17, through Saturday, November 20. Featured guests are to include Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz, Sara Blædel, Emelie Schepp, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Ragnar Jónasson, and Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir. Tickets can be purchased here. For scheduling details and updates, refer to Iceland Noir’s Twitter page.
• TV viewers in the UK, take note: Dalgliesh, a six-episode crime drama set in the 1970s and based on P.D. James’ beloved Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, will debut on Channel 5 come Thursday, November 4, with the second half of that two-part episode to be broadcast the following night, November 5. A blog called The British TV Place says three of James’ novels have been adapted for this new series: Shroud for a Nightingale, The Black Tower, and A Taste for Death. Bertie Carvel portrays “the titular, enigmatic detective and poet,” while Jerry Irvine has been cast as his partner, Detective Sergeant Charles Masterson. The U.S. streaming service Acorn TV is bringing Dalgliesh across the pond, reportedly beginning on November 1.
• Actress Emma Corrin, who shone in Pennyworth and as Princess Diana in The Crown, has been recruited to star in a new limited series for pay channel FX-TV. Titled Retreat, the project comes from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (creators of The OA) and finds Corrin in the role of “‘Gen Z amateur sleuth’ Darby Hart …, who is ‘invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a Retreat at a remote and dazzling location,’” according to The Wrap. “When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must fight to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.” The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has Retreat’s debut slated for 2022.
• Included in The New York Times Book Review’s jam-packed 125th-anniversary “keepsake edition”—available in print this Sunday, but already to be found online—are the newspaper’s 1912 review of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and a selection of vintage comments addressing such crime-fiction favorites as Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Ellery Queen’s The Dutch Shoe Mystery, Margery Allingham’s The Death of a Ghost, S.S. Van Dine’s The Kidnap Murder Case, and Ngaio Marsh’s Death and the Dancing Footman.
• Well, this is a pleasant surprise: “Though the pandemic caused financial hardship for many independent bookstores,” explains Publishers Weekly, “particularly those in cities and states that forced retailers to close their doors for months, it has also paved the way for a mini-boom of bookstore openings.”
• I wasn’t even aware that Britain’s Telos Publishing has, for the last several years, been reissuing the mid-20th-century hard-boiled detective novels credited to “Hank Janson.” But Shotsmag Confidential now reports the imminent appearance of two further reprints: Milady Took the Rap (1951), and The Jane with Green Eyes (1950), both expected back in print next month. We’re also told to be on watch, in December, for Hank Janson Under Cover, “a sumptuous large-format, full colour, guide to every cover that the Hank Janson books have enjoyed world-wide, including many rarities and hard-to-find editions.” For readers who don’t know, the Janson yarns were actually produced by London-born clerk-turned-journalist Stephen Daniel Frances. “[S]tarring the Chicago Chronicle reporter Hank Janson,” Shotsmag Confidential explains, “the books sold in their millions back in the day, and were also subject to various 'obscenity' trials and court cases for their content and 'salacious' covers.”
• The blog Paperback Warrior has posted an “extensive” backgrounder on Orrie Hitt (1916-1975), “a suburban family man in upper New York who was quietly one of the most successful creators of sleaze paperbacks in the 1950s and 1960s.”
• Carole Nelson Douglas, a former journalist with the St. Paul Pioneer Press who went on to compose more than 60 novels across a range of genres (including mystery), passed away on October 20—just a month shy of her 77th birthday. Wikipedia says Douglas “began writing fiction in the late 1970s,” becoming a full-time author in 1984, after she moved to Texas. She started out crafting fantasy novels such as Amberleigh (1980), but in the early ’90s launched what turned out to be a very successful succession of mysteries starring “a feline supersleuth” named Midnight Louise (Catnap, Pussyfoot, Cat on a Blue Monday, etc.). Douglas also published Good Night, Mr. Holmes (1990), the first of what would be eight novels starring Irene Adler, the American adventuress who bested Sherlock Holmes and thereby won his admiration (in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia”); I reviewed the sixth of those, 2002’s Castle Rouge, in the old Rap Sheet newsletter. Douglas was born in Everett, Washington, in 1944. Her friend and fellow fictionist, Jean Marie Ward, posted on Twitter that Douglas died “after an illness following hip surgery.”
• Finally, we bid good-bye to Leslie Bricusse, “a prolific songwriter whose work included some of the best-known songs of the 1960s spy craze …,” according to The Spy Command. “He collaborated with composer John Barry and wrote the lyrics to two of the most famous James Bond songs, Goldfinger (with Anthony Newley) and You Only Live Twice.” Bricusse was 90 years old at the time of his demise.
as well as on the Glencairn Glass website.” Among the judges of this contest is Peter Ranscombe, drinks columnist at Scottish Field and author of a historical thriller titled Hare, about which I wrote half a dozen years ago. For more entry details, click here. • Provided there are no disastrous flare-ups of COVID-19 in the near future, CrimeFest should return next year as an in-person event. It’s currently scheduled to take place in Bristol, England, from May 12 to 15. Mystery Fanfare brings word that author Ann Cleeves will be among 2022’s featured guests. Diamond Dagger recipients Martin Edwards and Robert Goddard are both set to be interviewed during the weekend, and Dick Francis will be celebrated as the convention’s first “Ghost of Honor.” (Click here for a list of other participating authors.) Finally, the Crime Writers’ Association is expected to resume its annual tradition of announcing its Dagger Awards shortlists during a Friday-night reception at CrimeFest. Tickets are already on sale here, with an Early Bird rate of £145 ending on Monday, November 1—so you’d best not delay if you hope to take advantage of that discount.
• Speaking of crime-fiction gatherings, here are the events arranged for this year’s online-only Midwest Mystery Conference (November 5-6). Registration is required, but will set you back only $25.
• And of course, Iceland Noir will return next month for the first time since 2018! “[C]o-founded in 2013 by Quentin Bates, Ragnar Jónasson and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir …,” writes Abby Endler in Crime by the Book, “the festival typically takes place every other year in Reykjavik (though of course, the 2020 festival was cancelled [due to the pandemic]), and includes a whole variety of fantastic author events (panels, spotlight interviews, and more) as well as fun special events for festival attendees, too!” This year’s festival will run from Wednesday, November 17, through Saturday, November 20. Featured guests are to include Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz, Sara Blædel, Emelie Schepp, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Ragnar Jónasson, and Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir. Tickets can be purchased here. For scheduling details and updates, refer to Iceland Noir’s Twitter page.
• TV viewers in the UK, take note: Dalgliesh, a six-episode crime drama set in the 1970s and based on P.D. James’ beloved Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, will debut on Channel 5 come Thursday, November 4, with the second half of that two-part episode to be broadcast the following night, November 5. A blog called The British TV Place says three of James’ novels have been adapted for this new series: Shroud for a Nightingale, The Black Tower, and A Taste for Death. Bertie Carvel portrays “the titular, enigmatic detective and poet,” while Jerry Irvine has been cast as his partner, Detective Sergeant Charles Masterson. The U.S. streaming service Acorn TV is bringing Dalgliesh across the pond, reportedly beginning on November 1.
• Actress Emma Corrin, who shone in Pennyworth and as Princess Diana in The Crown, has been recruited to star in a new limited series for pay channel FX-TV. Titled Retreat, the project comes from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (creators of The OA) and finds Corrin in the role of “‘Gen Z amateur sleuth’ Darby Hart …, who is ‘invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a Retreat at a remote and dazzling location,’” according to The Wrap. “When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must fight to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.” The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has Retreat’s debut slated for 2022.
• Included in The New York Times Book Review’s jam-packed 125th-anniversary “keepsake edition”—available in print this Sunday, but already to be found online—are the newspaper’s 1912 review of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and a selection of vintage comments addressing such crime-fiction favorites as Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, Ellery Queen’s The Dutch Shoe Mystery, Margery Allingham’s The Death of a Ghost, S.S. Van Dine’s The Kidnap Murder Case, and Ngaio Marsh’s Death and the Dancing Footman.
• Well, this is a pleasant surprise: “Though the pandemic caused financial hardship for many independent bookstores,” explains Publishers Weekly, “particularly those in cities and states that forced retailers to close their doors for months, it has also paved the way for a mini-boom of bookstore openings.”
• I wasn’t even aware that Britain’s Telos Publishing has, for the last several years, been reissuing the mid-20th-century hard-boiled detective novels credited to “Hank Janson.” But Shotsmag Confidential now reports the imminent appearance of two further reprints: Milady Took the Rap (1951), and The Jane with Green Eyes (1950), both expected back in print next month. We’re also told to be on watch, in December, for Hank Janson Under Cover, “a sumptuous large-format, full colour, guide to every cover that the Hank Janson books have enjoyed world-wide, including many rarities and hard-to-find editions.” For readers who don’t know, the Janson yarns were actually produced by London-born clerk-turned-journalist Stephen Daniel Frances. “[S]tarring the Chicago Chronicle reporter Hank Janson,” Shotsmag Confidential explains, “the books sold in their millions back in the day, and were also subject to various 'obscenity' trials and court cases for their content and 'salacious' covers.”
• The blog Paperback Warrior has posted an “extensive” backgrounder on Orrie Hitt (1916-1975), “a suburban family man in upper New York who was quietly one of the most successful creators of sleaze paperbacks in the 1950s and 1960s.”
• Carole Nelson Douglas, a former journalist with the St. Paul Pioneer Press who went on to compose more than 60 novels across a range of genres (including mystery), passed away on October 20—just a month shy of her 77th birthday. Wikipedia says Douglas “began writing fiction in the late 1970s,” becoming a full-time author in 1984, after she moved to Texas. She started out crafting fantasy novels such as Amberleigh (1980), but in the early ’90s launched what turned out to be a very successful succession of mysteries starring “a feline supersleuth” named Midnight Louise (Catnap, Pussyfoot, Cat on a Blue Monday, etc.). Douglas also published Good Night, Mr. Holmes (1990), the first of what would be eight novels starring Irene Adler, the American adventuress who bested Sherlock Holmes and thereby won his admiration (in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia”); I reviewed the sixth of those, 2002’s Castle Rouge, in the old Rap Sheet newsletter. Douglas was born in Everett, Washington, in 1944. Her friend and fellow fictionist, Jean Marie Ward, posted on Twitter that Douglas died “after an illness following hip surgery.”
• Finally, we bid good-bye to Leslie Bricusse, “a prolific songwriter whose work included some of the best-known songs of the 1960s spy craze …,” according to The Spy Command. “He collaborated with composer John Barry and wrote the lyrics to two of the most famous James Bond songs, Goldfinger (with Anthony Newley) and You Only Live Twice.” Bricusse was 90 years old at the time of his demise.
Friday, October 22, 2021
Revue of Reviewers: 10-22-21
Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Carrying on Hillerman’s Legacy
Courtesy of In Reference to Murder comes the news that Christina Estes, an Emmy award-winning reporter and author in Phoenix, Arizona, has won the 2020 Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest. Her novel, Off the Air, is being readied for release, by Minotaur Books, in 2023.
A news release explains that Estes’ story focuses on “a local TV news reporter who gets the scoop of a lifetime while investigating the murder of a popular radio talk show host. But the killer is determined to keep her silent.” Commenting on that work, Joseph Brosnan, who oversees the Hillerman Prize program for Minotaur, says, “We’re so excited to publish Off the Air. Christina’s novel was a treat to read, and both Hillerman and mystery fans are going to love it.”
Atlanta, Georgia, bookseller Samantha Jayne Allen captured the 2020 Hillerman Prize; her debut novel, Pay Dirt Road, is due out in April 2022. A list of other previous recipients is available here.
A news release explains that Estes’ story focuses on “a local TV news reporter who gets the scoop of a lifetime while investigating the murder of a popular radio talk show host. But the killer is determined to keep her silent.” Commenting on that work, Joseph Brosnan, who oversees the Hillerman Prize program for Minotaur, says, “We’re so excited to publish Off the Air. Christina’s novel was a treat to read, and both Hillerman and mystery fans are going to love it.”
Atlanta, Georgia, bookseller Samantha Jayne Allen captured the 2020 Hillerman Prize; her debut novel, Pay Dirt Road, is due out in April 2022. A list of other previous recipients is available here.
Barnes & Noble Plays It Safe
I must agree with Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine editor George Easter, who contends that book retailer Barnes & Noble’s picks for “The Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2021” are less than representative of the many fine works released this year. Its choices:
• Silverview, by John le Carré (Viking)
• The Madness of Crowds, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• False Witness, by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)
• While Justice Sleeps, by Stacey Abrams (Doubleday)
• The Heron’s Cry, by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)
• Mrs. March, by Virginia Feito (Liveright)
• The Guilt Trip, by Sandie Jones (Minotaur)
• The Maidens, by Alex Michaelides (Celadon)
• Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
I haven’t read every one of those novels, but have enjoyed several, with another among them set to benefit from my undivided attention before the end of this month. I’m sure they all have individual merits, though only a single title here is so far in serious contention for my own list of 2021 crime-fiction favorites. But the disappointment is that none of Barnes & Noble’s top 10 are remotely surprising; indeed, almost all of them received heavy publisher promotions.
I guess I shouldn’t expect anything different from a chain operation, since its goal is, first and foremost, to make money. However, wouldn’t there be value in challenging readers to explore lesser-known yarns, rather than simply validating their narrow experience of the genre? Couldn’t that boost annual sales overall?
Yeah, yeah, call me an idealist.
READ MORE: “Barnes & Noble’s Top Books of 2021,” by Jamie
Canaves (Book Riot).
• Silverview, by John le Carré (Viking)
• The Madness of Crowds, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• The Man Who Died Twice, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• False Witness, by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)
• While Justice Sleeps, by Stacey Abrams (Doubleday)
• The Heron’s Cry, by Ann Cleeves (Minotaur)
• Mrs. March, by Virginia Feito (Liveright)
• The Guilt Trip, by Sandie Jones (Minotaur)
• The Maidens, by Alex Michaelides (Celadon)
• Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
I haven’t read every one of those novels, but have enjoyed several, with another among them set to benefit from my undivided attention before the end of this month. I’m sure they all have individual merits, though only a single title here is so far in serious contention for my own list of 2021 crime-fiction favorites. But the disappointment is that none of Barnes & Noble’s top 10 are remotely surprising; indeed, almost all of them received heavy publisher promotions.
I guess I shouldn’t expect anything different from a chain operation, since its goal is, first and foremost, to make money. However, wouldn’t there be value in challenging readers to explore lesser-known yarns, rather than simply validating their narrow experience of the genre? Couldn’t that boost annual sales overall?
Yeah, yeah, call me an idealist.
READ MORE: “Barnes & Noble’s Top Books of 2021,” by Jamie
Canaves (Book Riot).
PaperBack: “Four Lost Ladies”
Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.
Four Lost Ladies, by Stuart Palmer (Dell, 1953). Published originally in 1949, this was the 10th novel starring “lean, angular spinster lady” and amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers. Cover illustration by Griffith Foxley.
Four Lost Ladies, by Stuart Palmer (Dell, 1953). Published originally in 1949, this was the 10th novel starring “lean, angular spinster lady” and amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers. Cover illustration by Griffith Foxley.
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Boyle’s Voice Rises Above All
A little over a month after the announcement of finalists for Capital Crime’s 2021 Amazon Publishing New Voices Award, competition organizers bring word that London-based journalist and writer Darren Boyle has secured the accolade with his unpublished thriller, The Black Pool. You can watch the digital declaration of Boyle’s victory here.
As Shotsmag Confidential explains, “Boyle has more than 20 years’ experience working in the national media in Dublin and London. The Black Pool is set in contemporary Dublin and features a journalist protagonist who ventures deep into the murky world of organised ‘tiger raids’ gangs. How much is he willing to risk for the ultimate story?”
“In acknowledgement of the quality of this year’s entries,” the blog adds, “the judges gave two honourable mentions to the shortlisted writers Patti Buff, a native of southern Minnesota who has lived in Germany for the last twenty years (for The Ice Beneath Me), and Casey King, an Irish crime writer from County Cork (for No Time to Cry).” The other seven works contending for this year’s New Voices Award were The Incident at Palmer Road, by Andrea Crossett; Wasteland, by Luke Deckard; Garotte 2, by Mary McQueen; Self Help for Serial Killers: Let Your Creativity Bloom, by Mairi Campbell-Jack; Five by Five, by Claire Wilson; How Like Wolves, by Andrew Fadairo; and The Venom of the Snake, by M.Z. Turner.
As this year’s top vote-getter, Boyle will receive £1,000 in prize dough, plus a trophy and a “potential offer” of publication (apparently no promises are being made) from Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing’s imprint for mysteries and thrillers.
As Shotsmag Confidential explains, “Boyle has more than 20 years’ experience working in the national media in Dublin and London. The Black Pool is set in contemporary Dublin and features a journalist protagonist who ventures deep into the murky world of organised ‘tiger raids’ gangs. How much is he willing to risk for the ultimate story?”
“In acknowledgement of the quality of this year’s entries,” the blog adds, “the judges gave two honourable mentions to the shortlisted writers Patti Buff, a native of southern Minnesota who has lived in Germany for the last twenty years (for The Ice Beneath Me), and Casey King, an Irish crime writer from County Cork (for No Time to Cry).” The other seven works contending for this year’s New Voices Award were The Incident at Palmer Road, by Andrea Crossett; Wasteland, by Luke Deckard; Garotte 2, by Mary McQueen; Self Help for Serial Killers: Let Your Creativity Bloom, by Mairi Campbell-Jack; Five by Five, by Claire Wilson; How Like Wolves, by Andrew Fadairo; and The Venom of the Snake, by M.Z. Turner.
As this year’s top vote-getter, Boyle will receive £1,000 in prize dough, plus a trophy and a “potential offer” of publication (apparently no promises are being made) from Thomas & Mercer, Amazon Publishing’s imprint for mysteries and thrillers.
Fodder for Nightmares
There’s still a week and a half to go before Halloween, but stories related to that not-quite-a-holiday are already popping up everywhere.
The British Web site Crime Fiction Lover provides us with a list of “12 chilling crime reads,” including Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman, Fiona Cummins’ Rattle, Will Carver’s Hinton Hollow Death Trip, and Elizabeth Hands’ The Book of Lamps and Banners. CrimeReads’ Molly Odintz has her own “10 New Horror Novels Perfect for Crime Fans” selection, while elsewhere in that same publication you’ll find this story by Kate Belli (Betrayal on the Bowery) showcasing New York City’s “haunted locations and the authors inspired by them.”
Janet Rudolph has updated her lengthy rundown of Halloween crime novels and short-story collections for Mystery Fanfare. And for something a bit different, Literary Hub has posted a virtual tour of artist and macabre humorist Edward Gorey’s “elephant house” (now a museum) in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts. Katie Yee says the place comes “complete with his toddler shoes, his first spoon, and pretty much every drawing he ever did. (He was an only child.)”
READ MORE: “Scary, Spooky, and Sleuth-y: A List of Crime Books Set On or Around Halloween,” by Tara Laskowski (CrimeReads).
The British Web site Crime Fiction Lover provides us with a list of “12 chilling crime reads,” including Jo Nesbø’s The Snowman, Fiona Cummins’ Rattle, Will Carver’s Hinton Hollow Death Trip, and Elizabeth Hands’ The Book of Lamps and Banners. CrimeReads’ Molly Odintz has her own “10 New Horror Novels Perfect for Crime Fans” selection, while elsewhere in that same publication you’ll find this story by Kate Belli (Betrayal on the Bowery) showcasing New York City’s “haunted locations and the authors inspired by them.”
Janet Rudolph has updated her lengthy rundown of Halloween crime novels and short-story collections for Mystery Fanfare. And for something a bit different, Literary Hub has posted a virtual tour of artist and macabre humorist Edward Gorey’s “elephant house” (now a museum) in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts. Katie Yee says the place comes “complete with his toddler shoes, his first spoon, and pretty much every drawing he ever did. (He was an only child.)”
READ MORE: “Scary, Spooky, and Sleuth-y: A List of Crime Books Set On or Around Halloween,” by Tara Laskowski (CrimeReads).
Monday, October 18, 2021
The Story Behind the Story:
“Five Will Die,” by Trace Conger
(Editor’s note: This is the 89th installment in The Rap Sheet’s “Story Behind the Story” series. Today’s contribution comes from Trace Conger, a Cincinnati, Ohio, resident who writes a thriller series starring Connor Harding [Mirage Man], a former fixer for a New York mob family; and another series featuring unlicensed private eye Finn Harding, aka Mr. Finn [The Prison Guard’s Son]. Conger won a Shamus Award for his debut novel, 2014’s The Shadow Broker. His suspense novella, The White Boy, won the Fresh Ink Award for Best Novella of 2020. Below he writes about Five Will Die, a police procedural being released this month in both print and e-book editions.)
I’ve had an interest in serial killers for as long as I can remember. It was one of the reasons I enrolled in college with aspirations of a criminology degree. My major shifted to creative writing my sophomore year,
but that’s a story for another time. To me, one of the more interesting aspects of serial murderers was their enthusiasm toward taunting the police via letters to the department or published in the local paper. All the big boys did it, from the Zodiac Killer and BTK to Son of Sam and even Jack the Ripper.
But while all of these headline-makers taunted the authorities after they began their murder sprees, I wondered if anyone had contacted the police before claiming their first victim. Less of a “catch me if you can” angle and more of an “I’m coming to your town, get ready” approach. As far as I know, that’s never happened. So I made it happen.
My sixth novel, Five Will Die (Black Mill), follows Tim Burke, a retired Cleveland homicide detective who moves to the sleepy town of Lincoln, Ohio. Three years after his retirement, Burke takes up as that town’s sheriff to stave off the boredom of small-town life.
In Lincoln, the only thing Sheriff Burke has to worry about is who spray-painted the side of Walt Tanner’s barn. That all changes when someone slips a note under his door. A note claiming five people will die in Lincoln.
At first, Burke and his two green deputies dismiss it as a prank by local teenagers, the same troublemakers he singled out for defacing Walt’s barn.
Then the first body turns up. Then the second.
Writing this novel was a personal experience for me. Actually, all of my books have touched me personally, but Five Will Die was different.
As readers will learn, Burke didn’t retire from the Cleveland Police Department voluntarily. A panic disorder, triggered by a brutal, unsolved case, punched his ticket for him. His role as Lincoln’s sheriff was a compromise with himself. He gets to return to his law-enforcement roots and contribute something positive to society, but in a much less violent environment, one that won’t feed his panic disorder.
Where’s the personal tie? In early 2020, I began experiencing severe stomach pain. Gut-wrenching stuff. I had all the tests, and a few procedures and a few grand in medical bills later, my doctors told me nothing was wrong with me. All that expensive diagnostic imagery couldn’t find a thing.
For most people, the idea of medical tests confirming there was nothing physically wrong with them would bring a sigh of relief. Apparently, that’s not how my brain works. My brain was convinced the medical community missed something. So, I demanded more tests, which I got, and which confirmed the results of all the other tests.
That’s when the darkness came. On my worst days, I would wake up and immediately lose feeling in my hands and feet. I lost a tremendous amount of weight in a short time. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I was falling apart. I felt an invisible weight crushing me. It took so much energy just to get out of bed or off the couch. The most lingering sensation was that of someone cinching a belt around my chest and pulling as hard as they could, as if trying to cut me in half.
Then I talked to a psychologist who confirmed that I had a panic disorder. Mine was severe, almost as if I was trapped in some panic-loop for days on end. She explained the science behind it, and I was floored at how my noggin was causing so much physical pain.
I worked with a few professionals who gave me ways to cope. One of those coping mechanisms was to journal. They said writing about your feelings and sending them into the ether via (in my case) a leather-bound journal with fancy paper helped. But there was a problem. I hate journaling. Loathe it. Always have.
To stay busy, and to get my mind off the dark shit my brain was conjuring up, I decided to start my next novel. I already had the serial-killer-alerts-the-police plot in my head, but I didn’t know that, like me, Tim Burke would suffer from a panic disorder. But all of a sudden, he did. He began experiencing the same things I had, and I found it therapeutic to torment him as my own mind had tormented me. It wasn’t journaling, but it was just as effective.
I wrote off and on. Concentrating on something other than what was happening to me gave me a reason to get out of bed every day. It likely saved my life, too.
(Left) Author Trace Conger
Five Will Die was a departure for me. It was my first police procedural. I usually write about P.I.s and mob fixers, all of whom straddle the line between criminal and investigator, between good guy and bad guy. Burke was my first truly good guy.
The story unfolded pretty quickly. The ending shifted on me and went in a different direction than I had outlined. Like a bucking bronco, sometimes you just have to hang on and see where the story takes you. The killer wasn’t who I expected it to be, which surprised the hell out of me. That’s the fun part of the writing process.
As the story unfolds, the investigation takes Burke and his team in different directions. With a lack of physical evidence, Burke needs help, and he receives it from Maren Krueger, a free-spirited criminal psychologist. Maren introduces into this tale the art of criminal profiling and builds a list of suspects based on psychological traits instead of physical evidence. Burke soon discovers that everyone in Lincoln is a suspect, including some on his payroll.
Burke also uncovers a link to another small Ohio town, where a killer left a similar note, claimed five victims, and vanished without a trace. This offers a glimpse of what awaits Lincoln if he can’t catch his killer, and the prospect of not making an arrest sends his disorder into overdrive.
As Burke’s condition worsens, propelled by the floundering investigation and his inability to seek help for what’s happening to him, his health begins to unravel. He hides his condition from his colleagues, convinced they’ll run him out of town, just like the chief of police did in Cleveland.
You’ll have to read the novel to see if Burke overcomes his debilitating condition and whether he’s able to keep it together long enough to solve the case. I suspect you may think you already have the answer, but I wouldn’t be so sure. Like I said earlier, stories have a way of shifting on you and going in a direction you didn’t see coming.
I’ve had an interest in serial killers for as long as I can remember. It was one of the reasons I enrolled in college with aspirations of a criminology degree. My major shifted to creative writing my sophomore year,
but that’s a story for another time. To me, one of the more interesting aspects of serial murderers was their enthusiasm toward taunting the police via letters to the department or published in the local paper. All the big boys did it, from the Zodiac Killer and BTK to Son of Sam and even Jack the Ripper.But while all of these headline-makers taunted the authorities after they began their murder sprees, I wondered if anyone had contacted the police before claiming their first victim. Less of a “catch me if you can” angle and more of an “I’m coming to your town, get ready” approach. As far as I know, that’s never happened. So I made it happen.
My sixth novel, Five Will Die (Black Mill), follows Tim Burke, a retired Cleveland homicide detective who moves to the sleepy town of Lincoln, Ohio. Three years after his retirement, Burke takes up as that town’s sheriff to stave off the boredom of small-town life.
In Lincoln, the only thing Sheriff Burke has to worry about is who spray-painted the side of Walt Tanner’s barn. That all changes when someone slips a note under his door. A note claiming five people will die in Lincoln.
At first, Burke and his two green deputies dismiss it as a prank by local teenagers, the same troublemakers he singled out for defacing Walt’s barn.
Then the first body turns up. Then the second.
Writing this novel was a personal experience for me. Actually, all of my books have touched me personally, but Five Will Die was different.
As readers will learn, Burke didn’t retire from the Cleveland Police Department voluntarily. A panic disorder, triggered by a brutal, unsolved case, punched his ticket for him. His role as Lincoln’s sheriff was a compromise with himself. He gets to return to his law-enforcement roots and contribute something positive to society, but in a much less violent environment, one that won’t feed his panic disorder.
Where’s the personal tie? In early 2020, I began experiencing severe stomach pain. Gut-wrenching stuff. I had all the tests, and a few procedures and a few grand in medical bills later, my doctors told me nothing was wrong with me. All that expensive diagnostic imagery couldn’t find a thing.
For most people, the idea of medical tests confirming there was nothing physically wrong with them would bring a sigh of relief. Apparently, that’s not how my brain works. My brain was convinced the medical community missed something. So, I demanded more tests, which I got, and which confirmed the results of all the other tests.
That’s when the darkness came. On my worst days, I would wake up and immediately lose feeling in my hands and feet. I lost a tremendous amount of weight in a short time. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I was falling apart. I felt an invisible weight crushing me. It took so much energy just to get out of bed or off the couch. The most lingering sensation was that of someone cinching a belt around my chest and pulling as hard as they could, as if trying to cut me in half.
Then I talked to a psychologist who confirmed that I had a panic disorder. Mine was severe, almost as if I was trapped in some panic-loop for days on end. She explained the science behind it, and I was floored at how my noggin was causing so much physical pain.
I worked with a few professionals who gave me ways to cope. One of those coping mechanisms was to journal. They said writing about your feelings and sending them into the ether via (in my case) a leather-bound journal with fancy paper helped. But there was a problem. I hate journaling. Loathe it. Always have.
To stay busy, and to get my mind off the dark shit my brain was conjuring up, I decided to start my next novel. I already had the serial-killer-alerts-the-police plot in my head, but I didn’t know that, like me, Tim Burke would suffer from a panic disorder. But all of a sudden, he did. He began experiencing the same things I had, and I found it therapeutic to torment him as my own mind had tormented me. It wasn’t journaling, but it was just as effective.
I wrote off and on. Concentrating on something other than what was happening to me gave me a reason to get out of bed every day. It likely saved my life, too.(Left) Author Trace Conger
Five Will Die was a departure for me. It was my first police procedural. I usually write about P.I.s and mob fixers, all of whom straddle the line between criminal and investigator, between good guy and bad guy. Burke was my first truly good guy.
The story unfolded pretty quickly. The ending shifted on me and went in a different direction than I had outlined. Like a bucking bronco, sometimes you just have to hang on and see where the story takes you. The killer wasn’t who I expected it to be, which surprised the hell out of me. That’s the fun part of the writing process.
As the story unfolds, the investigation takes Burke and his team in different directions. With a lack of physical evidence, Burke needs help, and he receives it from Maren Krueger, a free-spirited criminal psychologist. Maren introduces into this tale the art of criminal profiling and builds a list of suspects based on psychological traits instead of physical evidence. Burke soon discovers that everyone in Lincoln is a suspect, including some on his payroll.
Burke also uncovers a link to another small Ohio town, where a killer left a similar note, claimed five victims, and vanished without a trace. This offers a glimpse of what awaits Lincoln if he can’t catch his killer, and the prospect of not making an arrest sends his disorder into overdrive.
As Burke’s condition worsens, propelled by the floundering investigation and his inability to seek help for what’s happening to him, his health begins to unravel. He hides his condition from his colleagues, convinced they’ll run him out of town, just like the chief of police did in Cleveland.
You’ll have to read the novel to see if Burke overcomes his debilitating condition and whether he’s able to keep it together long enough to solve the case. I suspect you may think you already have the answer, but I wouldn’t be so sure. Like I said earlier, stories have a way of shifting on you and going in a direction you didn’t see coming.
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Mystery Makers to Descend on Mpls.
After the disappointment and confusion surrounding August’s Bouchercon (first cancelled due to the pandemic, then abbreviated into a brace of online events), many people might be hesitant to try convening again in Minneapolis, Minnesota, next fall. Yet registration has now opened for Bouchercon 2022 (“Land of 10,000 Crimes”), set to take place from September 8 to 11.
Those writers and fans who sign up for this gathering prior to March 1, 2022, will pay only $189 per person; after that, the registration fee climbs to $215. In either case, the form to fill out is here.
As Mystery Fanfare reminds us, 2022’s convention honorees will be Lou Berney and Attica Locke (American Guests of Honor), S.A. Cosby (Rising Star), William Kent Krueger (Local Guest of Honor), Jo Nesbø (International Guest of Honor), Ellen Hart (Lifetime Achievement), and Alexander McCall Smith (International Lifetime Achievement). Jess Lourey and Lori Rader-Day will hold forth as toastmasters.
I haven’t determined yet whether to participate. A good buddy of mine from college resides in the Minneapolis suburbs, so I could combine Bouchercon with a visit to his place. Much depends, though, on whether a couple of too-long-unseen friends from Europe also decide to attend this convention. Last year, I took advantage of the discounted Early Bird sign-up, only to later cancel my New Orleans trip, due to conflicting commitments. Maybe I shall wait longer this time around to decide, even though that will cost me a bit more.
I look forward to seeing how the already lengthy list of Minneapolis registrants grows over the coming months.
Those writers and fans who sign up for this gathering prior to March 1, 2022, will pay only $189 per person; after that, the registration fee climbs to $215. In either case, the form to fill out is here.
As Mystery Fanfare reminds us, 2022’s convention honorees will be Lou Berney and Attica Locke (American Guests of Honor), S.A. Cosby (Rising Star), William Kent Krueger (Local Guest of Honor), Jo Nesbø (International Guest of Honor), Ellen Hart (Lifetime Achievement), and Alexander McCall Smith (International Lifetime Achievement). Jess Lourey and Lori Rader-Day will hold forth as toastmasters.
I haven’t determined yet whether to participate. A good buddy of mine from college resides in the Minneapolis suburbs, so I could combine Bouchercon with a visit to his place. Much depends, though, on whether a couple of too-long-unseen friends from Europe also decide to attend this convention. Last year, I took advantage of the discounted Early Bird sign-up, only to later cancel my New Orleans trip, due to conflicting commitments. Maybe I shall wait longer this time around to decide, even though that will cost me a bit more.
I look forward to seeing how the already lengthy list of Minneapolis registrants grows over the coming months.
Saturday, October 16, 2021
For Once, Procrastinating Pays Off
If you’re already a subscriber to The Rap Sheet, thank you very much for your interest. If you’re not, but would like to receive notices whenever a new post goes up on this page, simply enter your e-mail address into the box found in the right-hand column under the helpful heading “Subscribe to The Rap Sheet.”
For most of the 15 years this blog has existed (that is, ever since I discovered such technology existed), subscriptions were handled by a Web feed management service called FeedBurner, which was founded in 2004 and acquired by Google three years later. It automatically e-mailed subscribers with the complete text of fresh posts, either daily or per item, whatever each recipient preferred. I heard no complaints about FeedBurner; it went about its business quietly and efficiently, and I never had to do a darn thing to keep things running.
However, this last spring FeedBurner began sending out a regular succession of messages alerting bloggers and other Web site operators to some upcoming service changes. Foremost among those was the warning that “Starting in July … we will be turning down most non-core feed management features, including e-mail subscriptions.” The company recommended that its users download their lists of e-mail subscribers and move those subscriptions to another online service.” Confusingly, it added: “For many users, no action is required. All existing feeds will continue to serve uninterrupted …”
Not being any sort of computer expert, and fearful that these procedures might be nowhere near as straightforward as they were made to sound, I procrastinated about trying to migrate my subscription list elsewhere. By late July, though, I was feeling pressured to act. So, taking a cue from Rob Kitchin at the blog The View from the Blue House, I asked another e-mail subscription service, Follow.it, what I need do to designate it as my provider, instead.
The technical folks at Follow.it were very polite and clear in their instructions; nonetheless, the actions they recommended I take didn’t work. Perhaps because my FeedBurner interface was ancient, or maybe because I had not set it up correctly in the first place, I couldn’t locate and then export the hundreds of subscribers I’d acquired over the years to Follow.it. I was informed that the best thing I could do was to tell all said followers they’d have to resubscribe to The Rap Sheet via a new Follow.it subscription box. Then, I should delete my FeedBurner feed, so there would be no duplication of subscriber notices.
Despairing as I too frequently do when my worst fears are realized, I decided to ignore those instructions—at least for the nonce. I figured I’d see what would happen if I didn’t screw with my FeedBurner account at all. And you know what? Nothing changed. Yes, I uninstalled the FeedBurner subscription box I had for so long provided on this page, and replaced it with the present Follow.it box. But my previous subscribers are reportedly still receiving e-mail notes whenever a new post goes up here. And readers who have more recently subscribed through Follow.it are sent their own, headlines-only notices.
It seems FeedBurner’s statement that “For many users, no action is required” applied to The Rap Sheet!
If only it had let me know as much from the outset …
Now, I can’t promise that nothing will go wrong with these technical arrangements in the near future, but if it does, we will have the Follow.it alternative to fall back on.
For most of the 15 years this blog has existed (that is, ever since I discovered such technology existed), subscriptions were handled by a Web feed management service called FeedBurner, which was founded in 2004 and acquired by Google three years later. It automatically e-mailed subscribers with the complete text of fresh posts, either daily or per item, whatever each recipient preferred. I heard no complaints about FeedBurner; it went about its business quietly and efficiently, and I never had to do a darn thing to keep things running.
However, this last spring FeedBurner began sending out a regular succession of messages alerting bloggers and other Web site operators to some upcoming service changes. Foremost among those was the warning that “Starting in July … we will be turning down most non-core feed management features, including e-mail subscriptions.” The company recommended that its users download their lists of e-mail subscribers and move those subscriptions to another online service.” Confusingly, it added: “For many users, no action is required. All existing feeds will continue to serve uninterrupted …”
Not being any sort of computer expert, and fearful that these procedures might be nowhere near as straightforward as they were made to sound, I procrastinated about trying to migrate my subscription list elsewhere. By late July, though, I was feeling pressured to act. So, taking a cue from Rob Kitchin at the blog The View from the Blue House, I asked another e-mail subscription service, Follow.it, what I need do to designate it as my provider, instead.
The technical folks at Follow.it were very polite and clear in their instructions; nonetheless, the actions they recommended I take didn’t work. Perhaps because my FeedBurner interface was ancient, or maybe because I had not set it up correctly in the first place, I couldn’t locate and then export the hundreds of subscribers I’d acquired over the years to Follow.it. I was informed that the best thing I could do was to tell all said followers they’d have to resubscribe to The Rap Sheet via a new Follow.it subscription box. Then, I should delete my FeedBurner feed, so there would be no duplication of subscriber notices.
Despairing as I too frequently do when my worst fears are realized, I decided to ignore those instructions—at least for the nonce. I figured I’d see what would happen if I didn’t screw with my FeedBurner account at all. And you know what? Nothing changed. Yes, I uninstalled the FeedBurner subscription box I had for so long provided on this page, and replaced it with the present Follow.it box. But my previous subscribers are reportedly still receiving e-mail notes whenever a new post goes up here. And readers who have more recently subscribed through Follow.it are sent their own, headlines-only notices.
It seems FeedBurner’s statement that “For many users, no action is required” applied to The Rap Sheet!
If only it had let me know as much from the outset …
Now, I can’t promise that nothing will go wrong with these technical arrangements in the near future, but if it does, we will have the Follow.it alternative to fall back on.
Friday, October 15, 2021
The Book You Have to Read:
“Shadow Boxer,” by Eddie Muller
(Editor’s note: For this 174th entry in The Rap Sheet’s ongoing series about great but forgotten books, I have resurrected a review [slightly edited] that I penned back in the days when this blog was still an occasional newsletter distributed by January Magazine. I was reminded of it while reporting recently on plans by Eddie Muller, film noir expert and host of Turner Classic Movies’ Noir Alley series, to produce a third book in his historical crime series starring San Francisco sports columnist Billy Nichols. The character was introduced in The Distance, which 
won the 2003 Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America. He returned in the yarn under consideration here today, Shadow Boxer.)
Intersections between the often sordid world of professional boxing and crime fiction aren’t unknown. (I’m reminded particularly of Steve Monroe’s ’57, Chicago and Robert J. Randisi’s Miles “Kid” Jacoby series.) But rarely has that world been so thoroughly or convincingly portrayed as it is in Eddie Muller’s two historical novels. The son of a renowned San Francisco boxing journalist (also named Eddie Muller), and founder of the now-closed San Francisco Historical Boxing Museum, this guy knows whereof he writes. And he writes of where he knows: a post-World War II Bay Area that exudes authenticity, whether Muller is setting a scene in the now-extinct Bank Exchange Bar (birthplace of the Pisco Punch) or near the Pacific-hugging Cliff House (“a sawed-off stepchild of the spectacular Bavarian confection that glowered over Seal Rock in the late 1800s”). These are the stomping grounds, too, of newspaper sports columnist and sometimes-detective William Nicholovich—better known as Billy Nichols, “Dean of the Fistic Fraternity” or simply “Mr. Boxing.”
In The Distance (2001), set in 1948, Nichols helped to cover up the murder of heavyweight fighter Hack Escalante’s manager, doing the seemingly ingenuous pug a favor. However, the reporter’s actions led to worse trouble, as he fell dangerously for Escalante’s “knockout redhead” of a wife, Claire, and as a cop who wasn’t nearly so thick-headed as he appeared closed in on the truth.
By the end of that initial outing, Nichols—having exposed a pestiferous extortion racket and pinned blame for Claire Escalante’s killing on the deserving party—figured he was a smart guy. Yet not long after Muller sounds the opening bell in his 2003 sequel, Shadow Boxer (Scribner), it becomes obvious that Mr. Boxing didn’t know half of what was really going on. It’s now late 1948, a few months after Claire suffered a terminal hemorrhage, and Nichols is looking forward to seeing her murderer “rot in a prison cell, for life.” The last thing this celebrated scribbler for the San Francisco Inquirer wants to do is help the accused prove that he’s being unjustly sacrificed to protect “the real operators” in a more extensive criminal enterprise. However, when the defendant’s former secretary—a shapely limbed, chain-smoking, Buick-coupe-driving number named Ginny Wagner—emerges from self-protective seclusion to share with Nichols a file containing dubious trust documents linking her ex-boss with a prominent but recently deceased lawyer, Nichols can’t help but recognize the ingredients of a good story. And a juicy scandal, to boot—one that will eventually connect a Napa Valley camp for underprivileged black youths with a gaggle of dummy corporations,
a backroom abortion clinic (those were sorry days before Roe v. Wade), and a conflicts-fraught deputy district attorney.
Muller, whose interest in film noir has led him to pen several non-fiction books (including 2001’s Dark City Dames and 2002’s The Art of Noir), lards Shadow Boxer with characters familiar from that genre: unctuous grifters, macho-spitting hoodlums and femmes who you know from the get-go are going to be fatale. In addition, he throws in a few extraordinary players, such as the good-hearted Manny Gold, a bulky peddler of promotional novelties, married to a mentally deteriorating socialite, who is torn between doing what he knows is right and what he thinks is necessary. Given this author’s pedigree, one might only expect that his ringside episodes (of which there are regrettably fewer here than in The Distance) should be finely framed masterpieces of anticipation and sweat and cigar smoke. But even some of Muller’s minor, binding paragraphs capture the postwar era with such tonal precision that you’re inclined to recheck the novel’s publication date. For instance, when introducing a scene in which Ginny recalls for a tea-sipping Nichols how she acquired those trust documents, the author writes:
Of course, none of this would be quite so enjoyable were it not for the presence of Billy Nichols, an ass-protecting moral relativist who’s signally short on heroics and long on complicating flaws. Bespectacled, with a “rakish mustache,” false teeth that he has to remove before lovemaking, and a repertoire of resentments that don’t begin or end with the fact that his wife cuckolded him (and now insists that Billy help her to rear that other man’s son), the 30-something Nichols enjoys in his profession an influence and romance that otherwise elude him in life. This deadline demon can’t fully compensate for Shadow Boxer’s sometimes convoluted plot; nor does he seem inclined to explain why his paper, so obviously William Randolph Hearst’s flagship San Francisco Examiner, has been barely cloaked in these books as the Inquirer. But, fast on his feet and with a wisecracking patter, Nichols shows that he can take a punch and still go on to wow the crowd. Can round three in Eddie Muller’s series be too soon in coming?
won the 2003 Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America. He returned in the yarn under consideration here today, Shadow Boxer.)Intersections between the often sordid world of professional boxing and crime fiction aren’t unknown. (I’m reminded particularly of Steve Monroe’s ’57, Chicago and Robert J. Randisi’s Miles “Kid” Jacoby series.) But rarely has that world been so thoroughly or convincingly portrayed as it is in Eddie Muller’s two historical novels. The son of a renowned San Francisco boxing journalist (also named Eddie Muller), and founder of the now-closed San Francisco Historical Boxing Museum, this guy knows whereof he writes. And he writes of where he knows: a post-World War II Bay Area that exudes authenticity, whether Muller is setting a scene in the now-extinct Bank Exchange Bar (birthplace of the Pisco Punch) or near the Pacific-hugging Cliff House (“a sawed-off stepchild of the spectacular Bavarian confection that glowered over Seal Rock in the late 1800s”). These are the stomping grounds, too, of newspaper sports columnist and sometimes-detective William Nicholovich—better known as Billy Nichols, “Dean of the Fistic Fraternity” or simply “Mr. Boxing.”
In The Distance (2001), set in 1948, Nichols helped to cover up the murder of heavyweight fighter Hack Escalante’s manager, doing the seemingly ingenuous pug a favor. However, the reporter’s actions led to worse trouble, as he fell dangerously for Escalante’s “knockout redhead” of a wife, Claire, and as a cop who wasn’t nearly so thick-headed as he appeared closed in on the truth.
By the end of that initial outing, Nichols—having exposed a pestiferous extortion racket and pinned blame for Claire Escalante’s killing on the deserving party—figured he was a smart guy. Yet not long after Muller sounds the opening bell in his 2003 sequel, Shadow Boxer (Scribner), it becomes obvious that Mr. Boxing didn’t know half of what was really going on. It’s now late 1948, a few months after Claire suffered a terminal hemorrhage, and Nichols is looking forward to seeing her murderer “rot in a prison cell, for life.” The last thing this celebrated scribbler for the San Francisco Inquirer wants to do is help the accused prove that he’s being unjustly sacrificed to protect “the real operators” in a more extensive criminal enterprise. However, when the defendant’s former secretary—a shapely limbed, chain-smoking, Buick-coupe-driving number named Ginny Wagner—emerges from self-protective seclusion to share with Nichols a file containing dubious trust documents linking her ex-boss with a prominent but recently deceased lawyer, Nichols can’t help but recognize the ingredients of a good story. And a juicy scandal, to boot—one that will eventually connect a Napa Valley camp for underprivileged black youths with a gaggle of dummy corporations,
a backroom abortion clinic (those were sorry days before Roe v. Wade), and a conflicts-fraught deputy district attorney.Muller, whose interest in film noir has led him to pen several non-fiction books (including 2001’s Dark City Dames and 2002’s The Art of Noir), lards Shadow Boxer with characters familiar from that genre: unctuous grifters, macho-spitting hoodlums and femmes who you know from the get-go are going to be fatale. In addition, he throws in a few extraordinary players, such as the good-hearted Manny Gold, a bulky peddler of promotional novelties, married to a mentally deteriorating socialite, who is torn between doing what he knows is right and what he thinks is necessary. Given this author’s pedigree, one might only expect that his ringside episodes (of which there are regrettably fewer here than in The Distance) should be finely framed masterpieces of anticipation and sweat and cigar smoke. But even some of Muller’s minor, binding paragraphs capture the postwar era with such tonal precision that you’re inclined to recheck the novel’s publication date. For instance, when introducing a scene in which Ginny recalls for a tea-sipping Nichols how she acquired those trust documents, the author writes:
She perched on a plump ottoman that matched the couch and took a drag of the tar-bar, her knees drawn together demurely: Little Miss Muffet’s more experienced sister. … I peered expectantly over the rim of the cup, mimicking the eager first-nighter waiting for the curtain to rise. Trying to resemble someone who actually gave a shit.That Muller pulls off this sort of hard-bitten wordsmithing without overstepping into cliché is an enviable feat.
Of course, none of this would be quite so enjoyable were it not for the presence of Billy Nichols, an ass-protecting moral relativist who’s signally short on heroics and long on complicating flaws. Bespectacled, with a “rakish mustache,” false teeth that he has to remove before lovemaking, and a repertoire of resentments that don’t begin or end with the fact that his wife cuckolded him (and now insists that Billy help her to rear that other man’s son), the 30-something Nichols enjoys in his profession an influence and romance that otherwise elude him in life. This deadline demon can’t fully compensate for Shadow Boxer’s sometimes convoluted plot; nor does he seem inclined to explain why his paper, so obviously William Randolph Hearst’s flagship San Francisco Examiner, has been barely cloaked in these books as the Inquirer. But, fast on his feet and with a wisecracking patter, Nichols shows that he can take a punch and still go on to wow the crowd. Can round three in Eddie Muller’s series be too soon in coming?
“Call” Set to Be Received
British television network ITV has scheduled its four-part adaptation of The Long Call, Ann Cleeves’ first Detective Inspector Venn novel (published in 2019). It will premiere on Monday, October 25, and run till the 28th. Here’s The Killing Times’ thumbnail of the plot:
McDonald & Dodds’ return is expected sometime in 2022.
Matthew was brought up in the Barum Brethren before leaving to go to University. At 19 he knew he couldn’t continue amongst the [religious] community and to his mother’s shock and dismay, he declared publicly he no longer believed. Now he’s back, not just to grieve for his father, but to lead a shocking murder investigation back where it all began for him.The Long Call, we’re told, is set “in a small community in North Devon [where Venn lives] with his husband, Jonathan.” There’s no word yet on when this program might become available to U.S. audiences.
* * *
Meanwhile, the same source alerts us that “Filming has begun on the third series of ITV crime drama McDonald & Dodds starring Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins … The four-part series starts with ‘Belvedere,’ where a young woman is found dead sitting in a deckchair in broad daylight in one of Bath’s most beautiful and populated parks. Why did this woman die with a smile on her face?”McDonald & Dodds’ return is expected sometime in 2022.
Thursday, October 14, 2021
A Steward of Hammett’s Digs, Now Gone
We must acknowledge, if belatedly, the death of William P. “Bill” Arney, who is said to have “reclaimed” the apartment, at 891 Post Street in San Francisco, once occupied by Dashiell Hammett and his private-eye creation, Sam Spade. He passed away this last September 28.
As author Mark Coggins explains in his blog,
Not surprisingly, Arney’s studio became a periodic stop on literary historian Don Herron’s popular Dashiell Hammett Tour, with participants riding up to it in what the Royal Rosamund Press blog calls “an elevator much like the one we see at the end of John Huston’s film version of Falcon—the one Brigid O’Shaughnessy gets ushered into after Sam Spade refuses to play the sap for her.”
The apartment building at 891 Post Street, San Francisco, where Hammett lived while batting out The Maltese Falcon.
The Great Recession of 2007-2009 cost Arney both his architectural post and his parallel job as occupant-caretaker of #401. But his fears that that historic place would be stripped of its original fixtures (including a Murphy bed and claw-footed bathtub) and otherwise modernized beyond recognition after he was gone were ultimately not realized. According to a piece by author Thomas Burchfield, “a local philanthropist, Robert Mailer Anderson, stepped in, took over the apartment and his kept as Bill left it, a most fitting memory.”
In addition to preserving Hammett’s onetime digs, Arney had a second claim to renown: For many years he was “the Voice of Noir City,” San Francisco’s annual film noir festival, delivering “wry, wisecracking introductions” to the movies on show. “From the start,” recalls Eddie Muller, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, “Bill’s omniscient Master of Ceremonies became an essential part of the Noir City experience. He too became a fixture, making friends with many of the regular patrons. What a lot of people didn’t know is that his wardrobe—the hats, spats, trench coat—wasn’t a costume donned for the show. That was Mr. Arney himself.”
I haven’t yet located an authoritative report of how old Arney was at the time of his demise. Muller says, though: “He’d been battling an assortment of maladies over the past few months, but none that seemed lethal. In fact, Bill called me the day before he died and he sounded the same as always—charming and avuncular, with that gruff voice straight out of a 1940s film noir. An undetected virus in his lungs dropped him for the count the following day.”
We offer our most sincere condolences to Arney’s family.
As author Mark Coggins explains in his blog,
Hammett lived in the building during the period [1927-1929] he wrote his first three novels and he put Spade in the same building in The Maltese Falcon. With a close reading of the Falcon text, and a comparison of the other apartments in the building, Hammett scholars have determined that #401 is the most likely to be Spade’s and Hammett’s, although there are no records of the particular apartment in which Hammett lived.”From what I can learn online, Arney, an architect who arrived in the Bay Area from Peoria, Illinois, in 1981, rented that fourth-floor studio apartment, #401—all 275 square feet of it—a dozen years later, in 1993. He’d been a Hammett fan for the previous decade, so set about to renovate the place, “fixing the floorboards, installing a ceiling light, stripping paint off the window frames, and rehabilitating an old frosted-glass door he found in the basement to its former glory,” according to a 2001 piece in SF Weekly. “He invested in a desk and padded rocking chair, which are mentioned often in the book.”
Not surprisingly, Arney’s studio became a periodic stop on literary historian Don Herron’s popular Dashiell Hammett Tour, with participants riding up to it in what the Royal Rosamund Press blog calls “an elevator much like the one we see at the end of John Huston’s film version of Falcon—the one Brigid O’Shaughnessy gets ushered into after Sam Spade refuses to play the sap for her.”
The apartment building at 891 Post Street, San Francisco, where Hammett lived while batting out The Maltese Falcon.The Great Recession of 2007-2009 cost Arney both his architectural post and his parallel job as occupant-caretaker of #401. But his fears that that historic place would be stripped of its original fixtures (including a Murphy bed and claw-footed bathtub) and otherwise modernized beyond recognition after he was gone were ultimately not realized. According to a piece by author Thomas Burchfield, “a local philanthropist, Robert Mailer Anderson, stepped in, took over the apartment and his kept as Bill left it, a most fitting memory.”
In addition to preserving Hammett’s onetime digs, Arney had a second claim to renown: For many years he was “the Voice of Noir City,” San Francisco’s annual film noir festival, delivering “wry, wisecracking introductions” to the movies on show. “From the start,” recalls Eddie Muller, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, “Bill’s omniscient Master of Ceremonies became an essential part of the Noir City experience. He too became a fixture, making friends with many of the regular patrons. What a lot of people didn’t know is that his wardrobe—the hats, spats, trench coat—wasn’t a costume donned for the show. That was Mr. Arney himself.”
I haven’t yet located an authoritative report of how old Arney was at the time of his demise. Muller says, though: “He’d been battling an assortment of maladies over the past few months, but none that seemed lethal. In fact, Bill called me the day before he died and he sounded the same as always—charming and avuncular, with that gruff voice straight out of a 1940s film noir. An undetected virus in his lungs dropped him for the count the following day.”
We offer our most sincere condolences to Arney’s family.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Do You Wanna Cross Over?
With news that singer Britney Spears is writing a mystery novel, has the trend of celebrities trying to capitalize on crime fiction’s fame finally gone too far? From Marie Clare magazine:
(Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.)
The star announced her new project on Instagram, though she’s only at writing stage at the moment, and didn’t mention whether she intended on publishing the book or not. Not to be dramatic, but if she doesn’t publish it, I will kick and scream—the plot sounds that good.Her fan-girl gushing aside, it’s hard not to agree with Marie Clare writer Iris Goldsztajn that there are reflections in this plot synopsis of Spears’ controversial 13-year probate conservatorship and mental health facility confinements.
Speaking of the plot, here’s what Spears revealed: “I’m writing a book about a girl who was murdered … yet her ghost gets stuck in limbo because of trauma and pain and she doesn’t know how to cross over to the world she use to know !!!!” she wrote. “After being stuck in limbo for three years, she is a ghost who thrives off of her reflection in her mirror for existence!!!! She has no one she can trust but something happens and she figures out how to cross over to the world where her family is !!!! Coming out of the limbo she has a decision to make … greet the same people who murdered her or create a whole new life !!!! She no longer needs her mirror … she found a portal by citing certain prayers constantly that give her the insight and gift to not be scared anymore and come out of limbo … but what I will leave to the IMAGINATION is what she does when she crosses over …… besides learning to write her name again !!!!”
(Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.)
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Revue of Reviewers: 10-12-21
Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.
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