156 Fall cover, Megan Abbott

Hi Everyone,

The acclaimed Megan Abbott is simultaneously a noir throwback and an innovator in this previously male-dominated genre. As Abbott notes in her interview with Teri Duerr:

As a kid I liked gangster movies, I liked crime novels, but it’s not because they were male, but because you got to do all this stuff and deal with these sort of primal, primitive feelings—and there is no reason that you can’t have that with women.

Indeed there is no reason—and the critics are going gaga over Abbott’s neo noir tales of women on the edge.

A 20-year background in business helped Andrew Gross view his writing in very practical terms, but it was his collaboration with the prolific James Patterson that kickstarted his career on the bestseller lists. Gross chats with John Valeri in this issue.

Other writers are innovating in the “domestic suspense” genre. In this issue, four top suspense writers have a no-holds-barred conversation with Hank Phillippi Ryan, herself a skilled practitioner in this field.

Oline Cogdill has her eye on a bumper crop of new mystery writers in her feature “Fresh Blood.” Don’t miss this introduction to some bright new stars and their entertaining works.

John Valeri chats with Sophie Hannah about her love of puzzle mysteries, a love that led to her newest gig writing Hercule Poirot novels, employing Agatha Christie’s iconic sleuth in brand new cases.

Jake Hinkson takes an appreciative look at Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo to mark its 60th anniversary. Now heralded as one of the best movies ever made, it initially was considered a disappointment. And don’t miss Hinkson’s list of “Hitchcock’s Greatest Hits.” How many have you seen?

For years, David Handler felt that 24-hour celebrity TV media coverage, the internet, cell phones, and social media spelled the end for his celebrity ghostwriter Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag. But an enthusiastic publisher encouraged Handler to make Hoagy a historical sleuth set in the 1990s and the series was revitalized. Katherine Hall Page gets the scoop in her interview.

And finally in this issue, Craig Sisterson talks with Stuart Turton whose genre-bending debut, The 7 1⁄2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, melds Golden Age style with 1980s pop culture and has set the mystery world abuzz.

Enjoy!

Kate Stine
Editor-in-chief

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