Hi everyone,

If an average picture is worth a thousand words, then Ichiro Okada’s portraits of Lawrence Block in the Summer Issue of Mystery Scene add up to a magnum opus. We asked Ichiro to give us images that reflected both the man and the writer and, as you can see, the results are stunning. For more of Ichiro’s work, visit his website at <www.ichirookada.com>.

Larry himself likes to supplement the written word with pictures and other interesting items. Be sure to read about the “Philatelic Edition” of the latest Keller novel, Hit and Run, in our interview; an example of the specially-printed U.S. stamp is is shown here.

In Stanley Ellin’s classic short story “The Day of the Bullet,” a young boy’s future—and eventual death—is determined the day he sees his idolized father humiliated by a local mobster.

A similar—albeit more positive—turning point in the life of a young Florida boy came the day he turned on the TV and found Police Story, Joseph Wambaugh’s groundbreaking anthology series.

That day sent Jim Born into law enforcement, then into a career writing about cops, and eventually into this issue with a heartfelt tribute to his literary hero.

Other highlights of this issue include a chat with southern cozy writer Mary Saums; an appreciation of Thomas B. Dewey; and a look at what happens when lawyers go to the movies.

In the intriguing “Music, Murder & Mayhem,” Kevin Burton Smith considers “The Long Black Veil”— a song which has become something of an obsession of mine. Kevin calls it “timeless backwoods noir” and plumps for The Band’s 1968 cover as the best ever. Well, he’s right about the song but so wrong about the singer. After listening to dozens of versions—my iPod playlists are a strange brew—I’m here to tell you that nothing beats the Dave Matthews duet with Emmylou Harris. Unfortunately it hasn’t been released for sale and the only way to hear it is in a TV video clip from the 1999 All Star Tribute to Johnny Cash. Check it out on YouTube, it will give you shivers.

Best wishes,
Kate Stine
Editor-in-chief

P.S. What’s your favorite crime song? Let us know and we’ll create a Mystery Scene Playlist for the Fall Issue.

Is it the snappy red coat? That nerdy but winning Dudley Do-Rightish vibe? Whatever their secret, these Canadian cuties have a truly timeless appeal.

Fans will enjoy the outstanding collection of Royal Canadian Mounted Police artwork at The Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota.

The Tweed’s collection derives from advertisements of a local Minnesota paper company. Here’s what their website says:

“Beginning in 1931, Northwest Paper Company commissioned nearly 400 paintings and illustrations, in watercolor, oil and line drawings, which were used to merchandise the company’s printing papers. The illustrations of the RCMP in their distinctive red surge uniforms were an instant advertising success.

In all, 16 artists painted Mountie illustrations for Northwest Paper from 1931 until 1970, when it was determined the collection was large enough to meet the company’s future marketing needs.
Hal Foster, who went on to create the Prince Valiant cartoon strip, was the first Mountie artist. As Foster devoted more time to cartooning and Northwest Paper’s marketing efforts expanded from illustrations in printing trade magazines to calendars, memo pads and broadsides, other artists were called upon to contribute.
The most prolific and best known of this group is Arnold Friberg. Although most of his works were in oil, Friberg’s first work for the company in 1937 was in watercolor. Over the next 33 years, he sold paintings or reproduction rights on 208 Mountie subjects to Northwest Paper….

There’s lots more of the history at The Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota. Their online store offers everything from fine art prints to calendars to T-shirts featuring the classic Arnold Friberg painting of a stalwart Mountie saluting under the corps’ motto: “Maintain the Right.”

Honor (um, I mean, honour) our northern neighbors with a tasteful display in your home or office.

Cheers!
Kate Stine
(happily married to a very nice Canadian fellow)

Artwork Caption: “M.P. with Husky” Notecard by Arnold Friberg. The Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota.

by Mystery Scene contributing editor Jeff Marks

In honor of a rather dour old Scottish woman’s birthday (my grandmother’s 88th), I thought I’d list 5 of my favorite Scottish mysteries.

1972 New English Library paperback ed.

1. THE FIVE RED HERRINGS (1931) by Dorothy L. Sayers. Of course, this Lord Peter Wimsey novel is number one. Not only is it by one of the best of the Golden Age British authors, the dialect is so thick that I had to read it aloud in order to understand the dialog. It was responsible for a rather odd Midwestern version of a Scottish burr for weeks.

2. MACBETH by William Shakespeare (1603-1606). It’s so cursed that you’re not even supposed to say its name. How are you ever supposed to market that today? The ultimate story of greed and desire, it makes Machiavelli look like a saint.

3. DEATH OF AN OUTSIDER (1988) by MC Beaton featuring Constable Hamish Macbeth of the sleepy Scottish town of Lochdubh. I love all of Beaton’s books including the Agatha Raisin series, but the Hamish Macbeth books set in Scotland are by far my favorites.

Ian Rankin claimed the 2004 Edgar for Best Novel with his Resurrection Men. Photo by Barry Zeman.

4. Anything Inspector Rebus. Having started with NAMING OF THE DEAD (2007), I’m a latecomer to the sizable fan club for Ian Rankin’s dour Edinborough detective. But by now I’m several books into the series and waiting anxiously to see what Rankin will do with Rebus post-retirement. Start with KNOTS & CROSSES (1987), the first Rebus nove.

5. PAYING THE PIPER (1988) by Sharyn McCrumb in which American and British archaeologists gather for a dig at a prehistoric burial site on a small Scottish island. The author pokes a little fun at those who make lists like this of all things Scottish.

Jeffrey Marks is an award-winning biographer and novelist as well as a Contributing Editor to Mystery Scene. His next book is a biography of Anthony Boucher, due out spring 2008. www.jeffreymarks.com

One of the most enjoyable facets of editing a magazine like Mystery Scene is the research. Finding photos, writing captions, tweaking articles and reviews, all this requires a lot of rooting about in the history of the genre.

Which is why I recently re-read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

There’s no doubt that this tale of racial and class injustice in the Deep South of the 1930s qualifies as an important book. First published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. It is taught in the majority of American schools, and is regularly chosen for “One Book, One City” programs. Recently, librarians voted it the best novel of the 20th century.

Impressive credentials, but dry, very dry. These kind of descriptions don’t convey the sheer pleasure of reading Harper Lee’s novel. Here’s a typical comment from Scout Finch, the book’s narrator, discussing her brother Jem. Atticus Finch is their father.

“The sixth grade seemed to please him from the beginning: he went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me - he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other.  He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didn’t see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadn’t?  Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.” 

This excerpt isn’t a vital part of the narrative but that’s the point. Lee doesn’t skimp on any aspect of writing. The narrative voice, characterizations, setting, plot, and moral vision of this novel are all equally important and equally well-done. This isn’t a dry sermon, it’s a living, breathing slice of life.

Be good to yourself, read, or re-read, To Kill a Mockingbird.

The upcoming Fall Issue #101 of Mystery Scene has an interesting article on Harper Lee by Art Taylor which we think you’ll enjoy. It includes opinions from Carolyn Hart, Margaret Maron and Michael Malone — three writers who know about about Southern literature.

–Kate Stine, Editor

In case you think that discrimination in the crime writing world is a thing of the past, here’s a recent incident recounted by the Scottish writer Val McDermid. It appeared in The Scotsman, August 15th.

Excerpted from The Scotsman, August 15, 2007:

McDermid said she was sitting next to the thriller-buyer for a major chain at a trade dinner: “He was … talking about his new job, and he said, ‘I had no idea of how much reading was going to be involved in this’.

“Then he said, ‘Of course, I don’t read books by women’. And this is one of the most powerful purchasers in the country. And he doesn’t read books by women.

“What I wanted to do was to grab him by the throat, smack him against the wall and say, ‘You stupid a***hole!’ But what I actually said was, ‘Perhaps you might like to try one of mine?’”

Congratulations to Val on her restraint!