Sunday, 11 September 2011
Littlefield, Viets, Kennett: Women of Missouri

altI am always interested in mystery fiction set in my home state of Missouri.

Not just because I like to read about Missouri, but I also recommend these novels to friends I’ve known since I was five years old who live in my hometown down in the Bootheel.

And since St. Louis is the site of the 2011 Bouchercon, it’s an even better time to look at Missouri mysteries. (See previous post here.)

Whether or not you are attending Bouchercon, these mysteries will give you insight into the Show Me State.

And today, let’s look at the Women of Missouri (mystery writers).

Sophie Littlefield
Sophie Littlefield’s three novels – A Bad Day for Sorry, A Bad Day for Pretty, and A Bad Day for Scandal – filled a void needed in the mystery genre and in Missouri novels in particular.

On the surface, A Bad Day for Sorry, her debut that won the Edgar, would seem to be a quirky, cozy tale about a middle-aged Missouri woman who dabbles in helping abused women. With wry humor and a penchant for rural sayings, Stella Hardesty exudes sassiness. The fiftysomething Stella lives in the fictional Prosper, located somewhere in western Missouri.

But Littlefield disarms the reader and quickly spins this premise into a more hard-edge look at domestic violence, vigilante justice, life’s regrets and taking control of your life.

While the author keeps a sense of humor flowing through her novel, she doesn’t sacrifice plot or realism for a joke. One could call Stella “sassy,” but it would be better to call her relentless, capable and perceptive.

She’s no super-hero, but what she does in her “justice-delivering career” is both heroic and illegal.

Littlefield and Stella will be with us for a while.

Elaine Viets
Former St. Louis newspaper columnist Elaine Viets has created three solid cozy series since leaving the Post-Dispatch. Viets sets one of her series – the Dead End Job mysteries featuring Helen Hawthorne – in Fort Lauderdale. But her Mystery Shopper series about single mother Josie Marcus is set in St. Louis.

altSt. Louis plays heavily in Viets’ novels about Josie who shops the high-end stores and the small boutiques. Viets takes the reader on a merry ride throughout the suburbs that are part of St. Louis’ complexion.

Viets is well-known for the humor she infuses in her mysteries and her Josie Marcus novels have laugh-out-loud humor that adds to the brisk action. While her stories take a light approach, Viets strengthens her plots with insightful looks at the bonds between mother and daughter, the challenges of living in a multi-generational household and the rewards of nonjudgmental friendships.

Viets launched her career as a novelist with her mysteries featuring St. Louis City Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling.

Rett MacPherson
Rett MacPherson’s 11 novels about genealogist Torie O'Shea not only give insight to the vagaries of families but also include a bit of Missouri history. Torie lives in a small town on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis.

Beginning with Family Skeletons, MacPherson’ cozies featured engrossing plots and lively characters.

Shirley Kennett/Dakota Banks
altDuring the 1990s, St. Louis author Shirley Kennett wrote the PJ Gray series, a psychological profiler who used virtual reality software to recreate crime scenes. Five novels were in this series set in St. Louis: Gray Matter, Fire Cracker, Chameleon, Act of Betrayal (written as Morgan Avery), and Time of Death. Kennett also wrote a standalone, Burning Rose, which features Hawaii-based freelance journalist Casey Washington.

Kennett’s PJ Gray series were a little ahead of their time with virtual reality software still seeming to be a fantasy. Gray’s cutting-edge techniques of virtual reality, the Computerized Homicide Investigations Project, or CHIP, recreated crimes by placing the user in the mind of the perpetrator. I found these novels to be very intriguing with realistic characters.

Kennett now writes a dark urban fantasy thriller series called the Mortal Path under the name of Dakota Banks. The latest is Sacrifice: Mortal Path Book 2.

Littlefield, Viets, Kennett: Women of Missouri
Oline Cogdill
littlefield-viets-banks-women-of-missouri

altI am always interested in mystery fiction set in my home state of Missouri.

Not just because I like to read about Missouri, but I also recommend these novels to friends I’ve known since I was five years old who live in my hometown down in the Bootheel.

And since St. Louis is the site of the 2011 Bouchercon, it’s an even better time to look at Missouri mysteries. (See previous post here.)

Whether or not you are attending Bouchercon, these mysteries will give you insight into the Show Me State.

And today, let’s look at the Women of Missouri (mystery writers).

Sophie Littlefield
Sophie Littlefield’s three novels – A Bad Day for Sorry, A Bad Day for Pretty, and A Bad Day for Scandal – filled a void needed in the mystery genre and in Missouri novels in particular.

On the surface, A Bad Day for Sorry, her debut that won the Edgar, would seem to be a quirky, cozy tale about a middle-aged Missouri woman who dabbles in helping abused women. With wry humor and a penchant for rural sayings, Stella Hardesty exudes sassiness. The fiftysomething Stella lives in the fictional Prosper, located somewhere in western Missouri.

But Littlefield disarms the reader and quickly spins this premise into a more hard-edge look at domestic violence, vigilante justice, life’s regrets and taking control of your life.

While the author keeps a sense of humor flowing through her novel, she doesn’t sacrifice plot or realism for a joke. One could call Stella “sassy,” but it would be better to call her relentless, capable and perceptive.

She’s no super-hero, but what she does in her “justice-delivering career” is both heroic and illegal.

Littlefield and Stella will be with us for a while.

Elaine Viets
Former St. Louis newspaper columnist Elaine Viets has created three solid cozy series since leaving the Post-Dispatch. Viets sets one of her series – the Dead End Job mysteries featuring Helen Hawthorne – in Fort Lauderdale. But her Mystery Shopper series about single mother Josie Marcus is set in St. Louis.

altSt. Louis plays heavily in Viets’ novels about Josie who shops the high-end stores and the small boutiques. Viets takes the reader on a merry ride throughout the suburbs that are part of St. Louis’ complexion.

Viets is well-known for the humor she infuses in her mysteries and her Josie Marcus novels have laugh-out-loud humor that adds to the brisk action. While her stories take a light approach, Viets strengthens her plots with insightful looks at the bonds between mother and daughter, the challenges of living in a multi-generational household and the rewards of nonjudgmental friendships.

Viets launched her career as a novelist with her mysteries featuring St. Louis City Gazette columnist Francesca Vierling.

Rett MacPherson
Rett MacPherson’s 11 novels about genealogist Torie O'Shea not only give insight to the vagaries of families but also include a bit of Missouri history. Torie lives in a small town on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis.

Beginning with Family Skeletons, MacPherson’ cozies featured engrossing plots and lively characters.

Shirley Kennett/Dakota Banks
altDuring the 1990s, St. Louis author Shirley Kennett wrote the PJ Gray series, a psychological profiler who used virtual reality software to recreate crime scenes. Five novels were in this series set in St. Louis: Gray Matter, Fire Cracker, Chameleon, Act of Betrayal (written as Morgan Avery), and Time of Death. Kennett also wrote a standalone, Burning Rose, which features Hawaii-based freelance journalist Casey Washington.

Kennett’s PJ Gray series were a little ahead of their time with virtual reality software still seeming to be a fantasy. Gray’s cutting-edge techniques of virtual reality, the Computerized Homicide Investigations Project, or CHIP, recreated crimes by placing the user in the mind of the perpetrator. I found these novels to be very intriguing with realistic characters.

Kennett now writes a dark urban fantasy thriller series called the Mortal Path under the name of Dakota Banks. The latest is Sacrifice: Mortal Path Book 2.

Wednesday, 07 September 2011
Michael Baron, Andrew Klavan, St. Louis

altEach state in this country can boast its share of mystery writers who give the readers not only involving stories but also personal looks at myriad regions.

The genre is better for these stories that take us from the streets of New York City to small Idaho towns.

Last year, San Francisco was the site of Bouchercon and that gave me a chance to talk about the wonderful mysteries set there.

This year, Bouchercon is in St. Louis so that naturally leads to a discussion about the authors that Missouri has produced. I also have a personal connection as Missouri is my home state. I grew up in a small town in an area of Missouri called The Bootheel. I also graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia as did my husband. We found each other at Mizzou but we two journalism majors met in theater. Long story, but a good one.

So to get everyone in the mood for Bouchercon, we’ll start to look at those mysteries with a Missouri connection. Whether or not you are attending Bouchercon, this will give you insight into the Show Me State.

Some of the best known mystery writers either who either are from Missouri, live there or set there novels there include Sophie Littlefield, Robert Randisi, Elaine Viets, John Lutz, Joel Goodman, Michael A. Kahn, Michael Baron, Eileen Dreyer, Laurell K. Hamilton, Rett MacPherson, Jean Hager, Lise McClendon, Larry Karp, Janis Harrison, Dakota Banks, Shirley Kennett. I am sure I have missed a few, so please, add your favorites to the comments list.

Here’s a glimpse at a couple of St. Louis-based novels.

altMichael Kahn is best known for his novels about St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold, the latest of which is Trophy Widow (2002). After nearly decade, Kahn, a St. Louis attorney himself, has written another Rachel Gold novel that may be published in 2012. More about that from Brian at this post.

But Kahn also wrote the novel The Mourning Sexton (2005) under the pen name Michael Baron. This was my personal favorite from Kahn/Baron.

In The Mourning Sexton, David Hirsch, a once powerful St. Louis attorney who spent seven years in prison for embezzlement, tries to make amends by immersing himself in his Jewish faith. Every day, Hirsch, the mourning sexton, is among the first to arrive at the small, storefront synagogue in St. Louis. He has made his participation in services mandatory; his duties are to make sure there will be at least 10 men there, the minimum required for the daily prayers.

The Mourning Sexton is a heartfelt character study of a man on the rebound who has to fight temptation every day to reclaim his soul.

TRUE CRIME STILL TRUE

altScreenwriter and author Andrew Klavan isn’t normally associated with St. Louis but his 1995 novel True Crime is set in St. Louis. I remember being engrossed in this story about journalist Steve Everett, a foul wretch of a man who ruins just about everything in his life. But in one shining moment, Steve tries to do the right thing – save an innocent man wrongly convicted and do that in the 11th hour before the man’s execution.

A reporter for the fictional St. Louis News, Steve is despised by his colleagues. He lost his last job because he had sex in the supply room with the daughter of the newspaper's owner. He may lose his current job because he is sleeping with his boss' wife.

No one believes Everett's "hunch" that a young man on Missouri’s Death Row is innocent of killing a convenience store clerk. Everett’s editor calls his idea "A desperate attempt to cover the shabbiness of ... personal behavior with a show of professional skill."

Granted, the crusading reporter saving a wrongly convicted man has been done too many times but Klavan had me totally involved with True Crime. The film version starring Clint Eastwood was all right but never captured the novel’s intensity.

Klavan’s view of St. Louis was spot on, including his use of the huge Amoco sign that became kind of a talisman for Everett.

Michael Baron, Andrew Klavan, St. Louis
Oline Cogdill
michael-baron-andrew-klavin-st-louis

altEach state in this country can boast its share of mystery writers who give the readers not only involving stories but also personal looks at myriad regions.

The genre is better for these stories that take us from the streets of New York City to small Idaho towns.

Last year, San Francisco was the site of Bouchercon and that gave me a chance to talk about the wonderful mysteries set there.

This year, Bouchercon is in St. Louis so that naturally leads to a discussion about the authors that Missouri has produced. I also have a personal connection as Missouri is my home state. I grew up in a small town in an area of Missouri called The Bootheel. I also graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia as did my husband. We found each other at Mizzou but we two journalism majors met in theater. Long story, but a good one.

So to get everyone in the mood for Bouchercon, we’ll start to look at those mysteries with a Missouri connection. Whether or not you are attending Bouchercon, this will give you insight into the Show Me State.

Some of the best known mystery writers either who either are from Missouri, live there or set there novels there include Sophie Littlefield, Robert Randisi, Elaine Viets, John Lutz, Joel Goodman, Michael A. Kahn, Michael Baron, Eileen Dreyer, Laurell K. Hamilton, Rett MacPherson, Jean Hager, Lise McClendon, Larry Karp, Janis Harrison, Dakota Banks, Shirley Kennett. I am sure I have missed a few, so please, add your favorites to the comments list.

Here’s a glimpse at a couple of St. Louis-based novels.

altMichael Kahn is best known for his novels about St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold, the latest of which is Trophy Widow (2002). After nearly decade, Kahn, a St. Louis attorney himself, has written another Rachel Gold novel that may be published in 2012. More about that from Brian at this post.

But Kahn also wrote the novel The Mourning Sexton (2005) under the pen name Michael Baron. This was my personal favorite from Kahn/Baron.

In The Mourning Sexton, David Hirsch, a once powerful St. Louis attorney who spent seven years in prison for embezzlement, tries to make amends by immersing himself in his Jewish faith. Every day, Hirsch, the mourning sexton, is among the first to arrive at the small, storefront synagogue in St. Louis. He has made his participation in services mandatory; his duties are to make sure there will be at least 10 men there, the minimum required for the daily prayers.

The Mourning Sexton is a heartfelt character study of a man on the rebound who has to fight temptation every day to reclaim his soul.

TRUE CRIME STILL TRUE

altScreenwriter and author Andrew Klavan isn’t normally associated with St. Louis but his 1995 novel True Crime is set in St. Louis. I remember being engrossed in this story about journalist Steve Everett, a foul wretch of a man who ruins just about everything in his life. But in one shining moment, Steve tries to do the right thing – save an innocent man wrongly convicted and do that in the 11th hour before the man’s execution.

A reporter for the fictional St. Louis News, Steve is despised by his colleagues. He lost his last job because he had sex in the supply room with the daughter of the newspaper's owner. He may lose his current job because he is sleeping with his boss' wife.

No one believes Everett's "hunch" that a young man on Missouri’s Death Row is innocent of killing a convenience store clerk. Everett’s editor calls his idea "A desperate attempt to cover the shabbiness of ... personal behavior with a show of professional skill."

Granted, the crusading reporter saving a wrongly convicted man has been done too many times but Klavan had me totally involved with True Crime. The film version starring Clint Eastwood was all right but never captured the novel’s intensity.

Klavan’s view of St. Louis was spot on, including his use of the huge Amoco sign that became kind of a talisman for Everett.

Sunday, 04 September 2011
What Would Jack Reacher Do?

altThis story was forwarded to me by at least two friends and it is just too amusing to pass up.

Next time you're in a situation that's uncomfortable or face a problem you can't solve, just ask yourself: What would Jack Reacher do?

That's what Desmond Bishop of the Green Bay Packers did when he and his team were to visit the White House recently to celebrate the team's Super Bowl title.

Bishop had forgotten his identification on the team's charter plane and couldn't get past White House security.

But while his team was at a reception with President Obama, Bishop was reflective and philosophical in his tweets: "Tho dissapointed, i ll live vicariously thru my fellow Teammates.. Nap time.. As jack reacher wud say "sleep wen u can.."

Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher novels, should be proud. This just shows how popular Jack Reacher is.
 

What Would Jack Reacher Do?
Oline Cogdill
what-would-jack-reacher-do

altThis story was forwarded to me by at least two friends and it is just too amusing to pass up.

Next time you're in a situation that's uncomfortable or face a problem you can't solve, just ask yourself: What would Jack Reacher do?

That's what Desmond Bishop of the Green Bay Packers did when he and his team were to visit the White House recently to celebrate the team's Super Bowl title.

Bishop had forgotten his identification on the team's charter plane and couldn't get past White House security.

But while his team was at a reception with President Obama, Bishop was reflective and philosophical in his tweets: "Tho dissapointed, i ll live vicariously thru my fellow Teammates.. Nap time.. As jack reacher wud say "sleep wen u can.."

Lee Child, the author of the Jack Reacher novels, should be proud. This just shows how popular Jack Reacher is.