Wednesday, 13 July 2011
titleI’ve been on a kick lately to muck out my office and get rid of ..oh…a couple of thousand books or so.

It has to be done.
 
While it's easy to part with some books, others I have to put aside because I remember what joy the authors brought me and wonder what ever happened to them.
 
For me, and I think most mystery fiction readers, the authors' characters become friends we invite into our home and whose company we enjoy. And wouldn't it be nice if we could connect with those characters again on Facebook?
 
In each issue of Mystery Scene, Brian Skupin writes the column “What’s Happening With . . .” In this column, Brian, who is one of Mystery Scene’s co-publishers, writes about an author we haven't heard from in a while.  

The purging of my office and Brian’s column has had me also going down my own memory lane.

One author I wondered about was Michael Nava.
 
Nava published seven award-winning novels about Henry Rios, a gay Latino criminal defense lawyer. His first The Little Death was published in 1986 and Rag and Bone, his last, came out in 2000. Nava’s novels easily crossed over to a wide readership because of his skill at creating characters and plots.
 
Nava’s novels earned six Lambda Literary Awards.
 
Nava also is a lawyer who has served as a judge for years in California.

During 2010, he ran for San Francisco Superior Court, Seat 15. While he was the top recipient of votes in the June primary, he did not receive a majority of the votes. In a run-off with the incumbent judge, Nava lost by just under 12,000 votes.
 
Nava, who is of Mexican descent, is rumored to be working on an historical novel set around the time of the Mexican Revolution  in Mexico and Arizona. 
Remember Michael Nava?
Oline Cogdill
where-is-michael-nava
titleI’ve been on a kick lately to muck out my office and get rid of ..oh…a couple of thousand books or so.

It has to be done.
 
While it's easy to part with some books, others I have to put aside because I remember what joy the authors brought me and wonder what ever happened to them.
 
For me, and I think most mystery fiction readers, the authors' characters become friends we invite into our home and whose company we enjoy. And wouldn't it be nice if we could connect with those characters again on Facebook?
 
In each issue of Mystery Scene, Brian Skupin writes the column “What’s Happening With . . .” In this column, Brian, who is one of Mystery Scene’s co-publishers, writes about an author we haven't heard from in a while.  

The purging of my office and Brian’s column has had me also going down my own memory lane.

One author I wondered about was Michael Nava.
 
Nava published seven award-winning novels about Henry Rios, a gay Latino criminal defense lawyer. His first The Little Death was published in 1986 and Rag and Bone, his last, came out in 2000. Nava’s novels easily crossed over to a wide readership because of his skill at creating characters and plots.
 
Nava’s novels earned six Lambda Literary Awards.
 
Nava also is a lawyer who has served as a judge for years in California.

During 2010, he ran for San Francisco Superior Court, Seat 15. While he was the top recipient of votes in the June primary, he did not receive a majority of the votes. In a run-off with the incumbent judge, Nava lost by just under 12,000 votes.
 
Nava, who is of Mexican descent, is rumored to be working on an historical novel set around the time of the Mexican Revolution  in Mexico and Arizona. 
Sunday, 10 July 2011

altLong-time readers of this blog know that I love to find the little inside jokes that pop up in mystery fiction. Authors often will give a nod to another's work or pay homage to a writer or slip in a reference that astute readers can pick up.

But it's important that these little asides don't call attention to themselves or take away from the seriousness of the plot.

Such is the case with Steve Hamilton's latest novel Misery Bay.

In Misery Bay, Hamilton, left, brings back his reluctant private investigator Alex McKnight, who last appeared in 2006's A Stolen Season. Hamilton recently won the Edgar Award for best novel for his stand-alone novel The Lock Artist.

altWithout giving away any of Misery Bay's plot twists, Alex McKnight has a very serious conversation with two cops -- Reed Coleman and Jim Fusilli -- while conducting an investigation into a young man's suicide. The encounter lasts only a couple of pages and never once does it take away from the dark plot or even hint at a wink-wink at the reader.

Still, I couldn't help but smile just a little bit knowing who the cops Coleman and Fusilli were named after.

altReed Farrel Coleman has published 12 novels, including the Moe Prager series (Innocent Monster is the latest) and two novels under his pen name Tony Spinosa.

Coleman's awards include the Macavity, Barry and the Anthony. He has won the Shamus for best novel three times, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar Award. Coleman is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America.

altJames "Jim" Fusilli, whose day job is the rock and pop critic for the Wall Street Journal, wrote four well-received novels about novice PI Terry Orr, the last one was Hard, Hard City in 2004.

Last year, Fusilli became the first writer to sell a book to Audible without the novel first appearing in print.

The result is the excellent Narrows Gate, a sweeping tale about the Italian-American community set in the early part of the 20th century in Hoboken, N.J., where Fusilli grew up.

In Narrows Gate, gangsters rule the streets but the plot includes a singer, soldiers, businessmen and two young friends trying to survive. Comparisons to Mario Puzo would not be out of line.

I'd say Alex McKnight was in good company.

Steve Hamilton's Inside Joke
Oline Cogdill
steve-hamiltons-inside-joke

altLong-time readers of this blog know that I love to find the little inside jokes that pop up in mystery fiction. Authors often will give a nod to another's work or pay homage to a writer or slip in a reference that astute readers can pick up.

But it's important that these little asides don't call attention to themselves or take away from the seriousness of the plot.

Such is the case with Steve Hamilton's latest novel Misery Bay.

In Misery Bay, Hamilton, left, brings back his reluctant private investigator Alex McKnight, who last appeared in 2006's A Stolen Season. Hamilton recently won the Edgar Award for best novel for his stand-alone novel The Lock Artist.

altWithout giving away any of Misery Bay's plot twists, Alex McKnight has a very serious conversation with two cops -- Reed Coleman and Jim Fusilli -- while conducting an investigation into a young man's suicide. The encounter lasts only a couple of pages and never once does it take away from the dark plot or even hint at a wink-wink at the reader.

Still, I couldn't help but smile just a little bit knowing who the cops Coleman and Fusilli were named after.

altReed Farrel Coleman has published 12 novels, including the Moe Prager series (Innocent Monster is the latest) and two novels under his pen name Tony Spinosa.

Coleman's awards include the Macavity, Barry and the Anthony. He has won the Shamus for best novel three times, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar Award. Coleman is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America.

altJames "Jim" Fusilli, whose day job is the rock and pop critic for the Wall Street Journal, wrote four well-received novels about novice PI Terry Orr, the last one was Hard, Hard City in 2004.

Last year, Fusilli became the first writer to sell a book to Audible without the novel first appearing in print.

The result is the excellent Narrows Gate, a sweeping tale about the Italian-American community set in the early part of the 20th century in Hoboken, N.J., where Fusilli grew up.

In Narrows Gate, gangsters rule the streets but the plot includes a singer, soldiers, businessmen and two young friends trying to survive. Comparisons to Mario Puzo would not be out of line.

I'd say Alex McKnight was in good company.

Thursday, 07 July 2011

Get your motors running Saturday, July 9, in Sharon, Connecticut, with Darren Winston Bookseller, Lime Rock Park racetrack, and Mystery Scene for a reading and signing to celebrate the launch of Tammy Kaehler's Dead Man's Switch, the first in a new American Le Mans Mystery series set at Connecticut's real Lime Rock Park raceway.

Readers can pick up an advance copy of this debut mystery due out later this August from Poisoned Pen Press, which features the competitive female Corvette racer Kate Reilly who takes pole position on a list of murder suspects when she gets a dead driver's place in the big race. The first 100 visitors will also receive gift bags including a free issue of Mystery Scene's Summer #120 Issue just out.

"I tell people I'm genetically predisposed to be a sports fan (thanks, dad)," says Kaehler on her site. "By marriage, I'm disposed to like cars. And then I fell into the racing world because I was interested in learning something new. Then I met a woman who used to race cars. It all clicked."

Mystery Scene publishers Kate Stine and Brian Skupin will be on hand, as will Skip Barber, the owner of Lime Rock Park, along with several Corvettes, which will be parked up and down Sharon's Main Street.

See you at the races!

darrenwinstonbooksDead Man's Switch Official Book Launch
5:30-7:30 pm, Saturday, July 9, 2011
Darren Winston Bookseller
81 Main Street
Sharon, Connecticut 06069
Tel: 860-364-1890 | MAP

kaehler_deadmansswitch

Dead Man's Switch
by Tammy Kaehler
Poisoned Pen Press, August 2011, $22.95

{youtubejw width="430"}OKpqCBFyu8Y{/youtubejw}

Tammy Kaehler's "Dead Man's Switch" Revs Up
Oline Cogdill
mystery-scene-takes-part-in-the-darren-winston-bookseller-launch-of-qdead-mans-switchq-a-news-racing-mystery-series-from-tammy-kaehler

Get your motors running Saturday, July 9, in Sharon, Connecticut, with Darren Winston Bookseller, Lime Rock Park racetrack, and Mystery Scene for a reading and signing to celebrate the launch of Tammy Kaehler's Dead Man's Switch, the first in a new American Le Mans Mystery series set at Connecticut's real Lime Rock Park raceway.

Readers can pick up an advance copy of this debut mystery due out later this August from Poisoned Pen Press, which features the competitive female Corvette racer Kate Reilly who takes pole position on a list of murder suspects when she gets a dead driver's place in the big race. The first 100 visitors will also receive gift bags including a free issue of Mystery Scene's Summer #120 Issue just out.

"I tell people I'm genetically predisposed to be a sports fan (thanks, dad)," says Kaehler on her site. "By marriage, I'm disposed to like cars. And then I fell into the racing world because I was interested in learning something new. Then I met a woman who used to race cars. It all clicked."

Mystery Scene publishers Kate Stine and Brian Skupin will be on hand, as will Skip Barber, the owner of Lime Rock Park, along with several Corvettes, which will be parked up and down Sharon's Main Street.

See you at the races!

darrenwinstonbooksDead Man's Switch Official Book Launch
5:30-7:30 pm, Saturday, July 9, 2011
Darren Winston Bookseller
81 Main Street
Sharon, Connecticut 06069
Tel: 860-364-1890 | MAP

kaehler_deadmansswitch

Dead Man's Switch
by Tammy Kaehler
Poisoned Pen Press, August 2011, $22.95

{youtubejw width="430"}OKpqCBFyu8Y{/youtubejw}