IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)For crime & thriller fiction (mainly UK); new & emerging authors; authors who deserve more attention; crime on screen; literary festivals; author & other events; the odd amusing thing; the odd rant and some politics creeping through.Creeping into the Man Booker Prize Longlist for 2008 is...- July 29, 2008 ... a crime fiction novel. It's the one in bold below. Aravind Adiga The White Tiger Gaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue Dress Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture John Berger From A to X Michelle de Kretser The Lost Dog Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency Joseph O'Neill Netherland Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence Tom Rob Smith Child 44 Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole Tom Rob...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/creeping-into-the-man-booker... Dylan, Caitlin, Double Drink, now again with Virago- July 16, 2008 Published in Canada in 1997, I picked up a copy of Double Drink Story: My Life with Dylan Thomas (Penguin, Canada) during a holiday visit to see friends. (I'd lived and worked in and out of Toronto during 1992 & 1993). It made fascinating reading, although it was also hardgoing on times, because of the material. I read the book such a long time ago but I still remember its impact. It is a book I have kept and intend to re-read at some point in the future. Today sees an email from Virago in..http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/dylan-caitlin-double-drink-n... Murder Most Boring, The Murder Wars, Publishing Most Foul, Harrogate, Publishing News- July 16, 2008 Harry Bingham continues to receive interesting comments on his blog Toasting Napoleon, on what he has dubbed "The Murder Wars". The latest comes in the post Publishing Most Foul where he draws attention to Jane Jakeman's comment in a previous post, where she referred to the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival's approach to the marketing of crime fiction and its authors. Jakeman wants to open our eyes to the reality behind the scenes and suggests that Harrogate's approach to enlisting...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/murder-most-boring-the-murde... Murder Most Boring Crime Fiction is Dead Join a debate, if you dare...- July 14, 2008 On the weekend I stumbled across a post from author Harry Bingham on his blog Toasting Napoleon entitled Murder Most Boring. (Bingham is a successful author and he also now leads The Writers' Workshop which he set up, I believe. It offers advice to budding writers and more.) But back to that post of his. It ain't all negative. Where Harry suggests that the mainstream or "highways" of crime fiction (from the good and the great in today's world) have become boring, he also adds that...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/murder-most-boring-crime-fic... Takin' Over the Asylum- July 12, 2008 Ever had to give up on something I have. More than once - and more on the significant other in my screen thoughts later this year; it breaks my heart at the moment. But for now... I caught the end of an episode of a TV series back in the earlymid 90s that had me walking the streets of London - I lived there at the time - to find a video of the series. I called in the BBC's shop. But, no, it wasn't available on video. Then, I eventually gave up. But now, (very, many) thanks to Sharon...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/takin-over-the-asylum.html 2008 Dagger Winners, some thoughts- July 10, 2008 I was really pleased to see Matt Rees winning the Debut Dagger for The Bethlehem Murders. I haven't written about that novel on here yet - I'll be writing about the series to date when I've read the second - but The Bethlehem Murders really is a superb novel. When I read it, I thought it "a cut above" and made a note to watch out for this author. Many will be pleased to see Frances Fyfield winning the Duncan Lawrie Dagger. (ScotKris will be one of them, so I hope he'll have some...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/2008-dagger-winners-some-tho... CWA Daggers 2008 - the winners- July 10, 2008 Duncan Lawrie Dagger - Frances Fyfield, Blood from Stone Duncan Lawrie International Dagger - Dominique Manotti, Lorraine Connection Ian Fleming Steel Dagger - Tom Rob Smith, Child 44 John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger - Matt Rees, The Bethlehem Murders Debut Dagger - Amer Anwar, Western Fringes Dagger in the Library - Craig Russell Short Story Award - Martin Edwards, The Bookbinder's Apprentice Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction - Kester Aspden, Nationality: Wog - The Hounding of David Oluwale List and..http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/cwa-daggers-2008---the-winne... CWA Awards - live blogging...- July 10, 2008 Now for a bit of fun. If all goes well, I'll have the CWA UK awards hitting my mobile by text, real time, later this evening. So do drop back, just in case...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/cwa-awards---live-blogging.h... Chris Ewan at the National Geographic...- July 10, 2008 When not writing about his protag Charlie picking locks and various other things burglary, Chris Ewan writes about Amsterdam, the setting for his first novel in Charlie's series, at the National Geographic, no less. (The article came about because someone from NG found Chris here and left a comment. I notified Chris and the rest is history.) Chris has also started blogging. Well, the Good Thief's Guide to... can take you anywhere, so this is another blog to watch and bookmark. Charlie's next...http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/chris-ewan-at-the-national-g... Book reviews and lit-crit- July 9, 2008 In a link from Dec's blog Crime Always Pays, I found my way to Adrian McKinty's blog yesterday. He wasn't happy with a review of his latest novel in The Irish Times and decided to say so. Having read the "review", I felt the need to make some comments on McKinty's blog. The reason I have employed inverted commas is that I don't think it's a review; it's more of an academic essay. It certainly does not serve to effectively notify the potential readership of the novel's story and merits.http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/07/book-reviews-and-lit-crit.ht... |