Saturday, 01 October 2016

 

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A couple of weeks ago, I had a mad craving for Chinese food. And it had to be Chinese—not Thai or Japanese or Indian. Chinese.

Now, I love Chinese food—as I do just about any kind of food, to be frank—but this was a real craving.

It was only when I was halfway through my lunch that I realized where my craving came from. I was reading—and enjoying—The White Mirror by Elsa Hart.

Hart’s excellent second novel looks at the politics and culture of China during the 1700s.

In my Associated Press review of The White Mirror, I wrote, “Hart’s precise research makes 18th century China seem fresh and relevant as she steeps The White Mirror with vivid scenery and believable characters. Hart manages to find the commonalities between centuries while keeping the sensibilities of historical China.”

This isn’t the first time my reading has merged into my meals. In fact, it happens quite often.

Naomi Hirahara’s Sayonara Slam had me rushing to my favorite sushi restaurant to bond, no doubt, with her character Mas Arai, an eightysomething Japanese-American gardener.

Elaine Viets’ Brain Storm had me wanting gooey butter cake, a specialty of St. Louis, where the novel is set. Of course, being from Missouri, I am quite familiar with this regional dessert.

Charles Todd’s The Shattered Tree had me thinking about the big English breakfasts I had several years ago at an inn near Salisbury, England.

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vietselaine brainstorm
Down the Darkest Street
by Alex Segura encouraged me to have dinner at John Martin’s Pub in Coral Gables, Florida, one of the many Miami spots the author references in his Miami-based novel.

Boston cuisine played heavy in my mind while I read Ingrid Thoft’s Brutality and Pamela Wechsler’s Mission Hill, both of which take place there.

I was ready for some blue crab, crab cakes, and pit beef after reading Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman, even though none of those dishes are even mentioned in this Baltimore-based novel.

Linda Fairstein’s Killer Look had me longing for New York City and the wonderful restaurants set there. Of course, I feel that way every time I read one of Fairstein’s novels about Alex Cooper.

A recent interview with Joanne Fluke, which will appear in the winter issue of Mystery Scene, made me dream of pastries and those famous chocolate chip crunch cookies that are the specialty of her baker and sleuth Hannah Swensen. Fluke also brings those chocolate chip crunch cookies to each of her book signings for her fans. Another reason to attend one of her events—buy a book and enjoy a cookie.

Ace Atkins’ The Innocents had me longing for fried catfish and shrimp and grits, which I’ve enjoyed many times in Mississippi, where the author’s Quinn Colson novels are set. Again, food isn’t mentioned Atkins’ series—except when Quinn’s mother is cooking—but the subliminal message was there nevertheless.

And my food memories were strong when I read Jason Miller’s Red Dog, which takes place in the Little Egypt area of Illinois. This area includes Cairo, Illinois, which is located seven miles from my family farm and where I was born. Red Dog had me longing for Shemwell’s Barbeque, where my parents and I used to go a lot. I would love to have one of Shemwell’s bbq sandwiches with its hot bbq sauce.

So, readers, do you have food cravings when you read a mystery?

By the way, I just started the latest Randy Wayne White novel, Seduced, and I really want some orange juice. (If you read the novel, you’ll understand why.)

Eating With Mystery Writers
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Wednesday, 28 September 2016


girlonthetrain emilyblunt
I am not a fan of process stories—those statistics-laden stories meant to tell us how things work. Usually, they just make my eyes glaze over.

But when it comes to books and reading habits, I am happy to hear statistics that show good news.

According to The New York Times, paperback book sales are up. Independent bookstores are thriving again, and e-book sales have tumbled.

The Times reports: “Sales of adult books fell by 10.3 percent in the first three months of 2016, and children’s books dropped by 2.1 percent. E-book sales fell by 21.8 percent, and hardcover sales were down 8.5 percent. The strongest categories were digital audiobooks, which rose by 35.3 percent, and paperback sales, which were up by 6.1 percent.”

OK, so it is not all good news.

But any increase of books, no matter the platform, is good news.

The Times acknowledges that several factors might have made book sales at the beginning of this year slightly worse than those in the same period last year.

The Times states that “like the movie business, publishing depends heavily on a few outsize hits each season to drive profits. In the early part of this year, there wasn’t a huge, breakout bestseller, certainly nothing like 2015’s The Girl on the Train, which came out in January and sold two million copies in just over four months.”

But I am sure that we’ll see an increase in the sale of the paperback version of The Girl on the Train when the movie version comes out in a few weeks.

The advance clips of the film version, starring Emily Blunt (pictured), look great.

And I hope that inspires more people to buy Paula Hawkins’ book, as well as other mystery novels.

If you are looking for a list of mysteries written by women that are equal to or even better than The Girl on the Train, let me suggest a few: Laura Lippman, Alison Gaylin, Alex Marwood, Megan Abbott, Julia Keller, Clare Mackintosh, Jennifer McMahon, Val McDermid, Alafair Burke, Allison Brennan, Lisa Unger, Karin Slaughter, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Elizabeth Hand, and a slew of others.

And yes, there are an equal number of wonderful mystery writers who are men, but I am making the comparison to The Girl on the Train, not Boy on the Train.

Bottom line: read, buy books, buy audiobooks, buy paperbacks.

Just read.

Photo: Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train. Photo courtesy DreamWorks Pictures and Reliance Entertainment

Paperback and Audiobook Sales Are Up
Oline H. Cogdill
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Wednesday, 21 September 2016

 

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One of the hot topics to come out of the Emmy Awards last Sunday was actress Sarah Paulson’s win for lead actress in a limited series for her role playing prosecutor Marcia Clark in The People v. O.J. Simpson, which aired on FX.

It wasn’t her well-deserved win, but what Paulson said about the person whom she was portraying on-screen.

Paulson has been widely quoted in a variety of publications saying that it wasn’t just a win for herself, but also a win for Clark.

In her acceptance speech, Paulson offered an apology to Clark, whom the actress brought along as her date for the ceremony.

“I, along with the rest of the world, had been superficial in my judgment, and I’m glad that I’m able to stand here in front of everyone today and say, ‘I’m sorry’,” said Paulson in her speech.

Paulson was referring to how Clark was ridiculed in the news during the trial. Clark often was accused of blowing the prosecution, which resulted in Simpson going free.

Everything from her clothes to her hairstyle was targeted.
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But in many ways, Paulson’s sympathetic portrayal of Clark—and the series’ popularity—made people see the former prosecutor in a different light.

In an interview with Variety, Paulson said, “The thing I kept coming back to was I wanted to cut to the quick of how abandoned I felt she was by women, almost as a collective. It just felt like everyone wanted to drop the hot potato that was Marcia Clark. I so felt for her, having only played it. Multiply that by a million, and also have it be your actual life,” Paulson told Variety.

Clark not only was Paulson’s date, but the trophy was engraved with both of their names: “Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark.”

I think everyone should applaud Paulson’s insight about Clark. I well remember that trial and felt, at the time, that Clark was being unfairly singled out.

For some years now, the mystery community has proudly called Marcia Clark one of our own.

Her four novels about LA district attorney Rachel Clark and her two novels about defense attorney Samantha Brinkman are terrific legal thrillers. In both series, Clark delivers well-rounded, realistic characters and insight into the legal system.

Her second Samantha Brinkman novel, Moral Defense, comes out in November.

Clark also was featured in a profile in Mystery Scene’s summer issue (Summer 2016, #145).

I have met Marcia Clark several times at mystery writers’ conferences and found her to be gracious, witty, and very interested in her fans.

And now she has an Emmy.

Author photo: Claudia Kunin

Marcia Clark’s Reinvention
Oline H. Cogdill
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