Sharing Nancy Drew

nancydrewcollection
by Oline H. Cogdill

There are several mysteries that parents and their children can share.

First of all, any YA novel will work for parents and teens.

For a list to get you started, take a look at the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar finalists in the young adult category. That also goes for the children’s category.


Lighter mysteries, and many cozies, also cut across the generations.

And harder-edge mysteries often have find a common ground between adults and teens.

Fort Lauderdale’s Literary Feast sends authors into the schools. A couple of years ago Karin Slaughter gave a presentation at Fort Lauderdale High School; at least eight teens told her that they and their parents love her books.

But the Nancy Drew novels find a different commonality among parents and kids.

For many parents, these novels about Nancy Drew were their first introduction to mysteries. These stories about this intuitive high school student, her friends, and life with her single father were also novels about a girl’s independence.

The Nancy Drew novels first appeared in 1930 and have been ghostwritten by several authors under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.

Nancy Drew also has spawned a TV series, movies, board games, video games, dolls, coloring books, and puzzles. But nothing beats reading the books. And now it is even easier to find the novels in one place.

Grosset & Dunlap is publishing the Drew novels in gift boxes, starting with Nancy Drew Mystery Stories Books 1-4 ($31.96). More compilations will be coming.

The box set is beautiful and the covers are like those when the series was first published.

Experts tell parents to read with their children. This is a good place to begin.

Oline Cogdill
2015-12-23 09:55:00
New Year's Resolutions for Authors

sleuth logo copy
by Oline H. Cogdill

Now is the time of year when we make resolution after resolution for the New Year.

These promises we make to ourselves sometimes survive, and oftentimes do not. That vow to lose weight often comes up against the most perfect chocolate chip cookie…and sometimes has to give. My money is on the cookie every time.

So I would offer a few New Year’s resolutions for authors. Little bits of business that I would like to never see in a mystery novel again.

I am not saying that novels that include these situations are bad—but so many times these actions have become clichés. Our writers can do better.

And in no particular order:

A cup of joe: Sure, most people drink coffee. I didn’t start drinking coffee until about 10 years ago and now I am up to two cups a day. But too many times I have seen an author use a character’s act of pouring coffee, adding cream and sugar as a bit to give the character something to do during a conversation. I remember one novel in which the lead character must have drunk a cup of coffee per page. I kept wondering, how can he/or she solve the case with a case of caffeine jitters.

I couldn’t eat another bite: Here’s the scenario. Character A and character B are having a meal and they have just ordered a huge—often expensive—breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Words are exchanged, a new development in a case arises and suddenly character A loses his/her appetite and departs, leaving that huge meal untouched. Just think of all the characters who go hungry in books! Eat the meal…just eat the meal. Even when I have been most upset, if I have ordered a dish, I eat it. Having the character finish the meal might end up being more dramatic than having the character storm out. Solution—don’t have your characters sit down at the table unless they are willing to eat, or at least have them get a to-go bag.

Dog day afternoon, cats, too: We all know that killing an animal is a sure way to turn a reader against a book. But, don’t just introduce a dog or a cat and then never show the pet being taken care of. A character who comes home after two days and is greeted by a tag-wagging, happy, unwalked, and unfed dog is certainly living in a fantasy. Who was walking, feeding, and caring for that pet?

Child’s play: The same rules apply for characters with children. (See above note on pets.)

I have to take this call: You have a cell phone. Either you forget it or you neglected to charge it. We all do that. But if it rings, answer it. We all know the consequences of not answering it.

I’m bored, bored: Mr. Rich laments his lavish lifestyle in the song Bored in the underrated Tom Jones-Harvey Schmidt musical Celebration. But that doesn’t work in mysteries. I have read too many mysteries in which the main characters wish someone would be murdered so she could investigate the crime mainly because she is bored. That kind of ennui cheapens the genre and, well, makes me mad. Even in the lightest amateur sleuth mystery—and this is where I usually see this gimmick—the death needs to be treated with respect and the utmost of seriousness. A comic mystery doesn’t need to make fun of the death. Authors such as Elaine Viets, Donna Andrews, Julie Hyzy, Leslie Budewitz, Susan M. Boyer, Rosemary Harris, Nancy Martin, Joelle Charbonneau, Dean James/Miranda James, Terrie Farley Moran, among others, know how to integrate humor in a light mystery without sacrificing the seriousness of the genre. These authors could teach a master class on how to do it right.

Dabbling in the dark arts: I would like to ban so-called “literary” writers who decide to write a mystery because they think it will be easy, and more lucrative. As a resort, many of these “crossover” authors don’t take the genre seriously and end up producing a substandard novel. Sure, they get a lot of press for their so-called “bravery,” but that attention soon dies down when the public realizes these novels are basically junk.

I gotta go: Please, please, please, do not let your character rush out in the middle of the night—often a dark and stormy one—to go down a mean street, descend into a basement, or start digging in a graveyard because they have a hunch. And, of course, this kind of character is most likely not carrying a cell phone, a gun, or even common sense. And adding to this silliness, the character, of course, tells no one where he or she is going. Unless your character carries a badge, these midnight runs can wait until daylight.

Violence: Yes, mysteries, even the light ones, must have some form of violence. But the less is more rule works great. We don’t need every bloody detail to understand what is going on. Authors who are overly graphic are just showing off.

Girl, you'll be a woman soon: Could we call a moratorium on mysteries with the word girl in them? I am so tired of these girls whether they are on a train, gone, interrupted, in a spider’s web, waiting with a gun, in a maze, good, bad, running, walking, skating, in the woods, wrong, or right. Unfortunately, I could go on.



Oline Cogdill
2015-12-26 20:50:00
A Fond Farewell to the White House Chef


by Oline H. Cogdill

hyzyjulie foreigneclairs
We enter 2016—a year that sounds like science fiction to me—with the loss of two beloved characters.

In late 2015 Margaret Maron announced that after 23 years she was ending her series about North Carolina magistrate Deborah Knott. Long Upon the Land is the last in the series that began in in 1992 with Bootlegger’s Daughter, which went on to win the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity awards. (You can read more about Maron’s decision here.)

And late last year Julie Hyzy announced that she is ending her White House Chef series in 2016.

Foreign Eclairs, which comes out January 5, will be the final installment about the adventures of White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras—Ollie to her readers.

The series started in 2008 with State of the Onion, which won the 2009 Anthony and Barry awards for best paperback original and the Lovey Award for best amateur sleuth.

The nine-novel series also has been lauded with other awards and nominations.

Eggsecutive Orders was nominated for a 2011 Barry Award for best paperback original. Buffalo West Wing won the 2012 Anthony Award for best paperback original. Hyzy’s fifth novel, Affairs of Steak, hit No. 22 on the New York Times Bestsellers List for mass market fiction.

Hyzy’s Ollie also was featured in the excellent Cozy Cookbook that came out in 2015.

Hyzy’s series hit all the right notes—a light mystery that took the genre seriously, added a soupçon of humor and gave readers a window into a world that few people have seen. Hyzy made us care about Ollie and the behind-the-scenes White House staff.

On her blog, Hyzy states: “Nine books is a good run, isn't it? I think I've ended the series in a way that's satisfactory and yet leaves the door open for possibilities.”

Also on that blog, Hyzy discusses why she is ending the series—and it makes perfect sense to me.

Hyzy still writes the Manor House mysteries and has one private investigator novel to her credit, Playing With Matches.

Ollie may be out of the White House—after all, there also will be a new administration in the next year, so the timing is spot-on.

But the end of the series won’t be the last we will hear from the talented Hyzy—I hope.  

Take care, Ollie Paras and Deborah Knott. And thanks for sharing your entertaining adventures with your readers.

 

 

Oline Cogdill
2016-01-03 10:45:00
His Right Hand
Rachel Prindle

Mette Ivie Harrison, author of The Bishop’s Wife, has crafted another interesting detective story following her Mormon protagonist Linda Wallheim in her second book, His Right Hand. Linda, the wife of a bishop in Draper, Utah, is thrust into another case when she and her husband find their ward’s second counselor, Carl Ashby, murdered. Things take further shocking turn when an autopsy reveals that Carl was born female. To Linda’s disgust, her fellow ward members show more dismay at this news than at Carl's murder. She wonders if Carl Ashby’s death had anything to do with his gender change, and so begins digging.

His Right Hand is a thoughtful and groundbreaking read that explores a Mormon culture where being homosexual or transsexual is generally frowned upon. Linda is a strong believer in her faith, but she wrestles with some views of the church, particularly those concerning sexuality and gender. Her open mind and her genuine determination to solve Carl’s murder, despite others’ attempts to deter her, will have most readers firmly on her side.

Throughout the book, Linda juggles her responsibilities as a bishop’s wife and preventing her community from being pulled apart with distrust and fear, and trying to find the killer. As hidden truths come to light the entire congregation is in an uproar fueled by rumors, spite, and surprising revelations. Tensions threaten to come to a head, and Linda isn’t certain of whom to trust. As the mystery begins to unspool, the story becomes increasingly hard to put down.

His Right Hand is well-written, honest, and an insightful look at the Mormon church through the eyes of a remarkable woman. Author Mette Ivie Harrison, herself a member of the Mormon church, has touched on the subject of sexuality, gender, and faith with sensitivity and compassion. While readers might want to read The Bishop’s Wife first in order to be introduced to Linda’s character and the setting, His Right Hand will interest readers looking for an engaging mystery in an unusual setting.

Teri Duerr
2016-01-04 17:55:20
Vendetta
Sharon Magee

Nikki Boyd is spending the day climbing in the Smoky Mountains with her friend Tyler Grant, also the husband of her best friend Katie. Their outing is in remembrance of Katie, who died a year before in a freak accident, but their trip is interrupted when Nikki, a special agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Missing Persons Task Force, receives a call. Teenager Bridget Ellison has gone missing somewhere in these very same mountains. As Nikki and Tyler rush to the command post, Nikki relives the terror of ten years previous when her own teenage sister Sarah disappeared, never to be found. The past takes on new urgency when Nikki realizes the clues in Bridget’s disappearance follow the same MO of Sarah’s kidnapper, “The Angel Abductor,” a serial murderer responsible for the deaths of several girls. Has he come back? Or is it a copycat? When the kidnapper begins showing an interest in Nikki, the question becomes one of who is hunting whom. As they delve deeper into the disappearances, Nikki finds her feelings for Tyler becoming more than that of just a friend.

In this first of a new romantic suspense series from prolific author Lisa Harris (Southern Crimes series, Love Inspired Suspense series) readers are given a strong female protagonist to cheer for. A Christy Award winner, Harris and her family live as missionaries in Mozambique, but she finds time to return to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee for research, as evidenced by her beautiful descriptions of the area. Vendetta proves without a doubt that Harris knows how to throw in a twist the reader didn’t see coming, and then twist it again.

Teri Duerr
2016-01-04 17:58:58
American Blood
Craig Sisterson

Wunderkind Ben Sanders, who topped bestseller lists in his home country of New Zealand as a 20-year-old, brings his storytelling talents to US soil for the first time in this gritty, violent, and very fine thriller.

It wasn’t Marshall Grade’s decision to shift from New York to New Mexico, but now that he’s in the Southwest, the former undercover cop is doing his best to steer clear of the authorities. His preference for laying low and off the grid is upturned by his own sense of honor, however—or perhaps his wounded conscience—when the story of a missing local woman catches his eye. Deciding to investigate alone, Marshall stumbles into a viper’s nest of drug dealing, gangs, and much worse. Meanwhile, his past hasn’t forgotten him either, with plenty of people wanting to cash in Marshall’s final chit.

American Blood is a modern thriller with a decidedly expansive feel. Crime meets Western, powered by lean prose and dry humor. Sanders vividly evokes the Southwest, delivers plenty of action and intrigue, but it may be in the creation of a new hero where the young Kiwi shines brightest. Marshall Grade is a contemporary gunslinger with plenty of layers, whose creation just screams for an ongoing series.

Teri Duerr
2016-01-04 18:02:31
Home by Nightfall
Joseph Scarpato, Jr.

This novel, set in 1876 England, is, in effect, two mysteries for the price of one— both eminently solvable by aristocratic detective and head of his own detective agency Charles Lenox. The first case, already nearly a week old when Lenox gets involved, concerns the inexplicable disappearance of a world-famous German pianist from his dressing room at London’s Cadogan Theatre. What makes this mystery so remarkable is that there was no conceivable way the pianist could have left the building without being seen by dozens of people.

As interesting as that case may be, Lenox must leave it to his associates while he is drawn away to his boyhood country home to help his older brother, Lord Edmund, cope with the recent death of his wife. While there, he is asked by a local villager to help solve a very strange series of occurrences at his cottage. Someone has apparently broken into his home twice, taking almost nothing and leaving behind an odd drawing of what appears to be a ghostly young girl on his front door. When a local official is attacked and stabbed, the case takes on added significance.

In addition to the puzzling mysteries, I thoroughly enjoyed the interplay between Charles and the other main characters, including his wife and his staff of detectives. But most of all, I enjoyed the close relationship between Charles and his brother, who, once the mysteries deepen, becomes more invested in their solutions and comes further and further away from the crushing depression created by his wife’s death.

This is the ninth novel in the Charles Lenox series and, in my opinion, one of his best.

Teri Duerr
2016-01-04 18:36:34
Joe Gannon on Kurt Vonnegut: They Say That in the Army…
Joe Gannon

gannon joeMy reading life began almost by accident one summer when I was a young corporal in the Army.

I’d avoided going to university right out of high school, and after a year drudging in a factory I’d enlisted out of ennui—maybe the Army would make a man out of me.

But my first foray into reading was decidedly trashy: deadly gunslingers, some true crime, or sexy spies. Still, for the Army it was pretty highbrow, as most of my buddies were crotch-deep in the paperback porn that dominated their reading lists.

Then, while home on leave, an old high school buddy just finishing at Boston College tossed three paperbacks my way and said, “Try these.” I packed them in my duffel, and there they lay until I was in Wisconsin later that summer training with the National Guard—the best gig I ever had as the Weekend Warriors tended to bring as much cold beer as military hardware on maneuvers.

But with plenty of time to kill, I picked up the first of my friend’s books—and right there, lying on my bunk in Wisconsin, the world turned upside down.

The books, in the order I read them, were: Dee Brown’s history Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.

How many metaphors can I conjure to describe the transformation those books had on me? A switch in my mind—that I never knew existed—was turned on. A window flew open where before there had been a wall. A map unfolded to new lands I’d never known existed, and not only were there no monsters there, space was infinite!

Brown’s history revealed that there was far more to the country I was at that moment serving than had been served up in Mr. Johnston’s history class. Grapes of Wrath, combined with Brown, was the beginning of a political consciousness in a youth who was vaguely liberal but did not know why.

But it was Slaughterhouse-Five that set me on the road to a writer’s life. As I write this, I recall clearly lying back on my bunk as the pages flew by toward thevonnegut slaughterhouse five end of the novel. And when finished, I just lay there—thrilled yet baffled by the idea that something else beyond story was going on in that book. I didn’t know what, but I knew I’d discovered something vital to me, something I had not been searching for. A mystery, really: What was this alchemy that stirred something in my soul beyond plot and character?

It took many years—too many!—to uncover all that. But the next day I was writing to admissions offices back in Massachusetts. And I read all of Vonnegut while waiting to hear back. And all of Steinbeck before I got to UMass Amherst for my first semester.

I’d known right away that the Army was no life I wanted, and it never did make a man out of me.

But Kurt Vonnegut did.

Teri Duerr
2016-01-04 21:10:34

gannon joe"My first foray into reading was decidedly trashy: deadly gunslingers, some true crime, or sexy spies. Still, for the Army it was pretty highbrow..."

"Hap and Leonard" on Sundance

by Oline H. Cogdill

hapandleonard2 lansdale
On the kind-of-long list of my favorite movies, Bubba Ho-Tep lands solidly in the middle.

This 2002 movie imagines Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy both still alive and in a nursing home, fighting an Egyptian mummy trying to capture the souls of the other residents.

Yes, a lot of suspension of disbelief is needed.

And it is further needed because Bruce Campbell, one of my favorite actors, plays Elvis while Ossie Davis is JFK.

The film is based on a short story by Joe Lansdale, who may be best known among mystery readers for his Hap and Leonard crime fiction series.

Hap and Leonard are an unlikely pairing—Hap Collins has a blue-collar background and Leonard Pine is a gay African American and they live in East Texas. One reviewer called them “investigators with a difference.” In addition to their dark stories about racism and abuse, the novels also have a wide swath of humor.

Hap and Leonard are now teaming up onscreen. The six-episode TV series Hap and Leonard is set to debut on the Sundance Channel on March 2, 10 p.m. EST, 9 p.m. CST. You can see the first trailer of the series here.

lansdalejoe honkytonk
While the trailer seems to indicate the series is a close cousin of The Dukes of Hazard, I think only the rural setting will be the commonality with Hap and Leonard.

Hap and Leonard have a much deeper backstory. Hap spent time in a federal prison and now barely makes a living picking roses on a plantation. Raised by an uncle who disowned him when he came out as a gay man, Leonard is a veteran with anger issues.

Hap and Leonard are lifelong friends who couldn’t be more different, but who offer each other unconditional friendship. The series is set in the 1980s.

I have high hopes for this series.

First, the source material works. Lansdale has been writing his series since 1990. The ninth novel in the series, Honky Tonk Samurai, comes out in February.

Second, the cast has some major players. And the two leads are personal favorites.

Hap is played by James Purefoy, a classically trained actor who joined London’s Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988. American audiences might recognize him as Joe Carroll on Fox’s The Following and Mark Antony on the award-winning HBO series Rome.

Michael K. Williams will probably always be remembered as Omar Little, the drug dealer and killer with a code on HBO’s The Wire. Williams nuanced performance gave Omar a depth that lasted throughout the series. Williams also brought that same care to his role as Chalky White, a 1920s bootlegger and impeccably dressed mayor of Atlantic City's African-American community, in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. In addition to several movies and TV series to his credit, Williams also will be featured in the HBO limited series Crime.

Christina Hendricks, late of AMC’s Mad Men, will play Hap’s ex-wife Trudy.

 

Photo: Michael K. Williams, left, and James Purefoy. Sundance Channel photo

Oline Cogdill
2016-01-16 17:21:09
2016 Edgar Nominations

Edgar Statues
The awards season for the mystery genre kicks off with the announcement of the Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA).

And that is today, which happens to be the 207th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe.

The 70th Annual Edgar Awards Banquet will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

For more information on Mystery Writers of America (MWA), visit the MWA site.

Here are the nominations for  the 2016 Edgar Allan Poe Awards. And congratulations to all the nominees.

BEST NOVEL
The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
The Lady From Zagreb by Philip Kerr (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Life or Death by Michael Robotham (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland Books)
Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy (Penguin Random House - Dutton)
Canary by Duane Swierczynski (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland Books)
Night Life by David C. Taylor (Forge Books)
 

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Past Crimes by Glen Erik Hamilton (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Where All Light Tends to Go by David Joy (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll (Simon & Schuster)
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Grove Atlantic – Grove Press)
Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm (Penguin Random House - Viking)
 

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland Books
What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Woman With a Blue Pencil by Gordon McAlpine (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)
Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)
The Daughter by Jane Shemilt (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
 
BEST FACT CRIME
Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide by Eric Bogosian (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
Where the Bodies Were Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World That Made Him by T.J. English (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Whipping Boy: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully by Allen Kurzweil (HarperCollins Publishers - Harper)
Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime by Val McDermid (Grove Atlantic – Grove Press)
American Pain: How a Young Felon and His Ring of Doctors Unleashed America's Deadliest Drug Epidemic by John Temple (Rowman & Littlefield – Lyons Press)
 
 
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins Publishers - HarperCollins)
The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue by Frederick Forsyth (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald by Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan (Arcade Publishing)
Goldeneye: Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming's Jamaica by Matthew Parker (Pegasus Books)
The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett by Nathan Ward (Bloomsbury Publishing – Bloomsbury USA)
 
BEST SHORT STORY
“The Little Men” by Megan AbbottMysterious Bookshop (Mysterious Bookshop)
“On Borrowed Time” by Mat Coward – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines)
“The Saturday Night Before Easter Sunday” by Peter Farrelly – Providence Noir (Akashic Books)
“Family Treasures” by Shirley Jackson – Let Me Tell You (Random House)
“Obits” by Stephen King – Bazaar of Bad Dreams (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
“Every Seven Years” by Denise Mina – Mysterious Bookshop (Mysterious Bookshop)
 
BEST JUVENILE
Catch You Later, Traitor by Avi (Algonquin Young Readers - Workman)
If You Find This by Matthew Baker (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver & H.C. Chester (HarperCollins Publishers – HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands (Simon & Schuster - Aladdin)
Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy by Susan Vaught (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
 
BEST YOUNG ADULT
Endangered by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Children’s Books - HarperTeen)
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (HarperCollins Publishers – Katherine Tegen Books)
The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (Algonquin Young Readers - Workman)
Ask the Dark by Henry Turner (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Clarion Books)
 
BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Episode 7,” - Broadchurch, Teleplay by Chris Chibnall (BBC America)
“Gently with the Women” - George Gently, Teleplay by Peter Flannery (Acorn TV)
“Elise - The Final Mystery” - Foyle's War, Teleplay by Anthony Horowitz (Acorn TV)
“Terra Incognita” - Person of Interest, Teleplay by Erik Mountain & Melissa Scrivner Love (CBS/Warner Brothers)
“The Beating of her Wings” - Ripper Street, Teleplay by Richard Warlow (BBC America)
 
ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
“Chung Ling Soo’s Greatest Trick” by Russell W. Johnson – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines)

THE GRAND MASTER
Walter Mosley

THE RAVEN AWARD
Margaret Kinsman and Sisters in Crime

THE ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Janet A. Rudolph

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(which is given during Edgar Week but is not an MWA award)
A Woman Unknown by Frances Brody (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)
The Masque of a Murderer by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur Books)
Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Child Garden by Catriona McPherson (Llewellyn Worldwide – Midnight Ink)
Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)

 

Oline Cogdill
2016-01-19 14:03:52
Serge May Storm TV

dorsey tim
by Oline H. Cogdill

In the annals of mystery fiction, Serge A. Storms may be the oddest.

In author Tim Dorsey’s (at left) 19 novels, Serge has emerged as a kind of Florida folk hero.

A serial killer, yes, but one who targets people who disrespect Florida or are just downright jerks.

Now Dorsey’s dark comic novels may be fodder for the TV series Florida Roadkill, named for the first novel in the series and produced by Sonar Entertainment. Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard are set to write the adaptation and executive produce. The pair created the Amazon comedy series Betas and are currently writers and producers on MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles.

Knowing the nature of Dorsey’s series, I doubt we will see the series on network or cable TV. HBO, Showtime or Netflix seems a better fit, I think.

No date has been set for the series to launch.

Unlike Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter, another serial killer who also is the main character of a series, Serge really has no compunction to kill. Dexter is a monster, who learned to channel his urges toward those much worse than he. The Dexter novels and especially the Showtime series with Michael C. Hall almost became a kind of social commentary on the need for justice.

Serge has no such social issues. And Dorsey plays the series strictly for the humor, exploring every odd bit of Florida behavior that makes it to the news and has people shaking their heads and commenting, “Only in Florida...”

dorseytim coconutcowboyDorsey never has to look far for those stories, either. Like the woman who commandeered a scooter and drove around a big-box store, drinking wine and eating sushi.

Or the senior citizens who are arrested for taking home buckets of food from a buffet.

Not to mention the countless incidents of bad drivers, bad neighbors and just plain rudeness.

And, please, I know what I am talking about. I live in the Sunshine State.

While Carl Hiaasen, another Floridian crime writer, uses a lot of social satire in his novels, much like a modern-day Jonathan Swift, Dorsey goes for the buffoonery, the banana peel on the sidewalk, the pie in the face.

In each of the 19 reviews I have done on Dorsey’s 19 novels, I have likened his series to the literary equivalent of the Three Stooges. And I say that with much affection.

Dorsey’s latest trek across Florida with Serge is Coconut Cowboy.

Dorsey’s Serge is quite popular. His book events bring out the crowds  in Florida—see his photos on his website—so I imagine his fans will follow him to the small screen.

One thing for sure, there is no dearth of ideas about bad behavior in Florida.

Oline Cogdill
2016-01-31 04:17:52
2015 Agatha Nominations

by Oline H. Cogdill

malice domestic
The second most important mystery award nominations are now out—the 2015 Agatha nominees.

The Agathas will be presented during the 2015 Malice Domestic conference, which will take place April 29 to May 1, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland.

This is the 28th year that Malice Domestic has been celebrating the traditional mystery. It is one of my favorite conferences.

Mystery Scene congratulates all of the nominees, who are already winners in the minds of readers.

The 2015 Agatha Nominees:

Best Contemporary Novel
Annette Dashofy, Bridges Burned (Henery Press)
Margaret Maron,  Long Upon the Land (Grand Central Publishing)
Catriona McPherson, The Child Garden (Midnight Ink)
Louise Penny, Nature of the Beast (Minotaur Books)
Hank Phillipi Ryan, What You See (Forge Books)

Best Historical Novel
Rhys Bowen, Malice at the Palace (Berkley)
Susanna Calkins, The Masque of a Murderer (Minotaur Books)
Laurie R. King, Dreaming Spies (Bantam)
Susan Elia Macneal, Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante (Banntam)
Victoria Thompson, Murder on Amsterdam Avenue (Berkley)

Best First Novel
Tessa Arlen, Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman (Minotaur Books)
Cindy Brown, Macdeath (Henery Press)
Ellen Byron, Plantation Shudders (Crooked Lane Books)
Julianne Holmes, Just Killing Time (Berkley)
Art Taylor, On the Road with Del and Louise (Henery Press)

Best Non-Fiction
Zack Dundas, The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Martin Edwards,  (HarperCollins) The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story
Kathryn Harkup, A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie (Bloomsbury USA)
Jane Ann Turzillo, Unsolved Murders and Disappearances in Northeast Ohio (Arcadia Publishing)
Kate White (Editor), Mystery Writers of America, The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For (Quirk Books)

Best Short Story
Barb Goffman, “A Year Without Santa Claus?” (AHMM)
Edith Maxwell, “A Questionable Death” History& Mystery, Oh My (Mystery & Horror, LLC)
Terri Farley Moran, “A Killing at the Beausoleil” (EQMM)
Harriette Sackler, “Suffer the Poor” History& Mystery, Oh My (Mystery & Horror, LLC)
B.K. Stevens, “A Joy Forever” (AHMM)

Best Children’s/Young Adult
Blue Balliett, Pieces and Players (Scholastic Press)
Joelle Charbonneau, Need (HMH Books for Young Readers)
Amanda Flower, Andi Unstoppable (Zonderkidz)
Spencer Quinn, Woof (Scholastic Press)
B.K. Stevens, Fighting Chance: A Martial Arts Mystery (Poisoned Pen Press)

Oline Cogdill
2016-02-03 14:26:40
Guest Blogger: Michael Sears
Michael Sears

sears michaelxxx
Michael Sears’ novels about disgraced Wall Street trader Jason Stafford give us a window into the world of high finance. His novels succeed because he infuses his complex plots with enough background about the stock market and money managing that anyone can understand without dumbing down these stories for those readers savvy about the intricacies of Wall Street.

Jason, who went to prison for two years for financial fraud, is on a mission to redeem himself and gain back his self-respect. But the heart of Sears’ novels is Jason’s work as a single father to an autistic son, who, to say the least, is a handful. But Jason loves his son unconditionally and through this Sears shows the challenges and rewards of this relationship.

Sears’ novels quickly found their readership. His debut Black Fridays tied for the most award nods—five—the year it was published. (The other author with five award nominations that year was Hank Phillippi Ryan.)

Black Fridays was nominated for an Edgar, the Thriller, Anthony, the Barry and the Shamus. The only award Sears’ novel was not nominated for is the Macavity.

Jason makes his fourth appearance in Sears’ Saving Jason, which was just published.

Before he began his book tour, Sears wrote this blog for Mystery Scene.




I Don’t Listen to Amy Winehouse When I Write

 searsmichael savingjason
Because if I did, I wouldn’t ever get anything done.

I enjoy a wide range in music.

Like Jason Stafford, I like the Grateful Dead. I can put on a Dick’s Picks and write with no problem.

I also like jazz. And classical. Blues. World. New Age. Classic R&B. Alt.  

Not that I like everything, far from it.

I admit to being one of the few Long Islanders who would be content to never hear Captain Jack or Piano Man EVER again. Yes to Cyndi Lauper, no to Madonna.

I like Larry Carlton, John Scofield, and Larry Coryell, but George Benson never satisfies. Most of Miles Davis, but very little of Ornette Coleman.

And while I admit that 90 percent of the music I listen to was written and performed by someone who is now 50 or older (or no longer with us), I also like Snoop and Lady Gaga.  

But what do I listen to when I’m writing?

It could be any of the above. The music is more than a backdrop, but I don’t “actively” listen.

If the music demands too much of me, emotionally or intellectually (or physically—it’s hard not to get up and dance to Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, or George Clinton), then I find myself drifting away from the story.

Sometimes it’s an artist, or a piece of music, or, especially in the classical music genre, a phrase that reaches out and grabs me and won’t let go.

One afternoon, I was struggling to edit an almost-due manuscript. My speakers were on low playing a collection of Puccini operas. Tosca came and went. Turandot followed.

I was fully engaged with my book, cutting, pasting, adding, or altering. Suddenly I found my eyes welling up with tears, my throat tightening and choking every breath. The Prince’s aria had snuck up on me and done it again.

Obviously, you say.

Nessun Dorma demands your attention.

OK, but why can Eric Clapton noodle away while I compose, but Jeff Beck insists that I put everything down and just listen? B.B. King is OK, but Albert King is not. I like them both. I like Dusty Springfield and Amy Winehouse, but only Amy interferes with my train of thought. Ella Fitzgerald is fine. Billie Holiday? Not a chance. Clannad? Fine.The Chieftans? Fine. De Danann? Sorry, no. I love their music, but it gets in the way.

Eclectic, yes.

But why does one artist let me focus on Jason Stafford and his son while another is like the cat on the keyboard.

If I am not giving my full attention, I will be barred from doing anything else anyway.

You can always lock the cat out of the room, or take the dog for a walk so he settles down.  

But what do you do when Amy Winehouse begins Back to Black?

I surrender.

Oline Cogdill
2016-02-06 09:10:00
A Cup of Tea, A Slice of Murder
Mary Kennedy

mary 26 6x4  

 

 

What is it about cozy mystery lovers and tea?

 

Whether you are a devoted reader or a world-class novelist, you probably enjoy a good “cuppa” from time to time. And if you enjoy British cozies, the odds are spot on that you’ll recognize your favorite brew (everything from Ceylon to Darjeeling) in your reading.  

The passion for tea and mysteries goes back to Agatha Christie. Remember how Hercule Poirot loved his “tisanes”? He would often try to unravel a crime while sipping from a steaming cup of herbal tea and urging Captain Hastings to “use his brain cells.”  

Dame Agatha loved her tea, and since she hailed from Devon, her characters have been known to indulge in a Devonshire Tea, complete with clotted cream. In the opening pages of Nemesis, Agatha sets the scene by picturing Miss Jane Marple drinking tea and reading the paper. In A Pocket Full of Rye, the author uses tea in the narrative. Rex Fortescue meets his end after drinking his morning tea. It’s not surprising that Ms. Christie would refer to tea again and again in her novels. She once admitted that she did her best thinking while “eating apples and drinking tea.”  

agatha with teaTelevision detectives have continued the trend. In the Inspector Morse mysteries, Detective Inspector Robert Lewis says to his sergeant, “I need a drink.” Detective Sergeant James Hathaway reminds him, “You just had a cup of tea.” DI Lewis replies, “It was herbal.” DI Hathaway gets the message and says sympathetically, “Oh, you do need a drink!”  

Mystery writer Alexander McCall Smith (The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency) admits to being addicted to tea, and his protagonist, Precious Ramotswe, enjoys a pot of rooibos tea while struggling with a case. Smith reveals that “there has always been tea” in his life and black tea was served several times a day at home during his years in southern Rhodesia. He believes that tea offers a sense of comfort in times of crisis.  

The next time you open a cozy mystery, be sure to pour yourself a nice cuppa to enjoy with it.

And for those of you who appreciate a sweet treat with your drink, try a Yorkshire scone (recipe, care of Tea Time With the Cozy Chicks, below).

 

Mary Kennedy is the author of two mystery series, The Dream Club Mysteries and the Talk Radio Mysteries. She has written over 40 novels, including a young-adult fiction series called The Hollywood Nights. She is also a tea cup carrying member of the group of cozy mystery writers the Cozy Chicks, which has published a Tea Time With the Cozy Chicks (2015) cookbook full of favorite recipes, tea-time memories, and suggestions for themed tea parties, along with fun facts and fascinating articles.  

 

teatimewithcozychicksThe Cozy Chicks Recipe for Yorkshire Scones

(makes one dozen)

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups flour (regular, all-purpose flour)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup sultanas (I use a mix of raisins, craisins, and chopped dates, or whatever I happen to have.)

 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. (If you don't have a sifter, use a mesh strainer and tap it.)

In a separate bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar, beating until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the flour mixture and the milk. Sprinkle the raisins/dates, etc., over the dough and gently fold them in. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on the top.

Drop by “mounds” on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. 

 

NOTES

Mary Kennedy says, "I actually use a little more than 1/3 cup of milk. I start with 1/3 cup and then add a tablespoon more at a time. No more than 1/2 cup of milk total. I couldn’t get the dough to hold together with the 1/3 cup amount."

The original “drop” recipe is all you need. If you handle the dough too much, they can become tough. 

Teri Duerr
2016-02-09 16:56:35

mary 26 6x4Whether you are a devoted reader or a world-class novelist, you probably enjoy a good “cuppa” from time to time. And if you enjoy British cozies, the odds are spot on that you’ll recognize your favorite brew (everything from Ceylon to Darjeeling) in your reading.

Carter & Lovecraft
Hank Wagner

When homicide cop-turned-PI Daniel Carter unexpectedly inherits a property in Providence, Rhode Island, it literally transforms his life. Initially, he learns that the property houses a used bookstore, specializing in arcane tomes. Then, he meets the proprietor of that bookstore, the alluring Emily Lovecraft, the last descendant of legendary horror scribe H. P. Lovecraft. Pursuing a case in Providence, he discerns that our reality coexists with another, that the stories of the Great Old Ones which Emily's ancestor told were not just stories. Finally, he discovers that that reality is seeking to exert its evil influence on ours, effectively ending life as we know it.

In Carter & Lovecraft, Howard not only embraces both the tropes of the PI novel and Lovecraft's infamous Cthulhu mythos, he also breathes new life into both. The book evokes Philip Marlowe, but a Marlowe who walks the mean streets of...Providence. It utilizes elements of Lovecraft, but in highly original and surprisingly humorous ways. Romance, banter, horror, noir—it's probably easier to list elements the book doesn't successfully exploit, rather than name the myriad ones it does. Sure to please horror geeks (think of the best of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the original Night Stalker series, and The X-Files), it should also work for those who prefer the PI genre, as knight errant Carter works to solve the case like any good gumshoe would, by doggedly pursuing the truth and shaking whatever trees he must to see what falls (or, in this case, slithers) out.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-09 17:21:19
Karen Rose on "Little Women"
Karen Rose

rose karen

 

“Reading was an adventure then: pirate ships, mad scientists, shipwreck survivors, andmy very favoritea family of four sisters becoming women in the 1860s... ”

 

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love to read. When I was six or seven years old, I preferred the biographies, but I was small and they were on the high shelf in the school library so the librarians would always bring me a step stool. I daydreamed of being Annie Oakley or Dolley Madison (I loved the kick-ass ladies even then).

Something wonderful happened the summer I turned eight years old. An elderly neighbor retired and moved away, gifting me her entire collection of classics. I was in heaven! Reading was an adventure then: pirate ships, mad scientists, shipwreck survivors, andmy very favoritea family of four sisters becoming women in the 1860s, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. I read it over and over and cried every single time that Beth died. My dad couldn’t really understand my obsession with this bookespecially the repeated crying at Beth’s death because he said that I already knew it would happen since I’d read the book a dozen times already!

I tried to tell him how very real these characters were to me, but I don’t think he ever understood. I thought at the time it was because he was a grown-up and was too busy to live inside a book. That made me sad for him. Now that I’m a grown-up (most of the time), I know that’s not true. I like to live inside books because I’m so busy. My fictional friends are rejuvenating. And still so very real. Poor Dad. I guess his brain just wasn’t wired for fiction.

I had a couple of epiphanies while reading Little Women. First, I realized that the story had come out of somebody’s head. My little eight-year-old brain was blown away. I never really thought about where books came from before that. Library fairies maybe? But no, someone had made that story up with her very own imagination. And, hey, if Louisa May Alcott could do it, so could I!

alcott littlewomenI also realized that I didn’t actually want to be any of the March sisters, not like I’d wanted to be Dolley Madison. I wanted to be the March sisters’ neighbor. I wanted to be invited to their Pickwick Club and write stories with Jo in the garret by candlelight. I wanted to hear Beth play the piano and watch Amy paint. I didn’t know it then, but I’d discovered the secret to creating amazing charactersmake them people with whom I’d want to hang out. (Except for the serial killers. Only crazy prison groupies want to hang with them.)

I spent most of my childhood with my nose in a book, and those were happy, magical hours. I still never leave my house without a book, just in case I get caught in a traffic jam or the doctor’s running late. (Sometimes I even choose the longest line at the grocery store, just so I can read for a few more minutes.)

I still love the characters that seem so very real and I still want to be their neighbor. And one of the bright spots of my day is talking to other readers about a book we’ve both enjoyed and discussing the characters like they were old friends. Because they are.

 

Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. Her debut suspense novel, Don't Tell, was released in July 2003. Since then, she has published more than a dozen more novels and two novellas. To date, her books have been translated into 24 languages. A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than 20 years, her two daughters, two dogs, and a cat.

This “Writers on Reading” essay was originally published in At the Scene” enews February 2016 as a first-look exclusive to our enewsletter subscribers. For more special content available first to our enewsletter subscribers, sign up here.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-10 03:13:47

rose karenReading was an adventure then: pirate ships, mad scientists, shipwreck survivors, andmy very favoritea family of four sisters becoming women in the 1860s, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

House of the Rising Sun
Betty Webb

From its opening page to its last, James Lee Burke’s new work reads more like poetry than prose, and its richness, wealth of character, and plot combine to create a stunning historical novel. Former Texas Ranger Hackberry “Hack” Holland is a man out of time. A true-grit cowboy straight out of the Old West, he is disturbed by the changes in the world—from the mustard gas attacks in World War I, to the rising popularity of automobiles. He just wants to be left alone to tend his small cattle ranch, but Arnold Beckman, an Austrian arms dealer, has kidnapped Ishmael, his only son. And because of Hack’s unique skill set, he knows he is the only person who can rescue him. The rescue of his son isn’t Hack’s only quest in this book. Once, while spending time in Mexico, he came into the ownership of an ancient, jewel-encrusted cup that could conceivably be the legendary Holy Grail. In between gunfights and beatdowns, he attempts to find its rightful owner.

This convoluted but breathtaking novel is rich in history. Some of its heroes, villains, and events include Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, the Sundance Kid, the Johnson County War, Cattle Kate, the Mexican Revolution, the Battle of the Marne, the Harlem Hellfighters, union organizer Joe Hill, John D. Rockefeller, and a notorious turn-of-the-century brothel. Burke’s fictional characters, especially the females, are as unforgettable as the real ones. There is Beatrice DeMolay, whorehouse madam, who once saved Hack’s life; Ruby Dansen, who moves in with him, then leaves him; and the manipulative Maggie Bassett, a former prostitute who helps Arnold Beckman kidnap Ishmael.

This is the fifth Hackberry Holland novel (after Wayfaring Stranger, Feast Day of Fools, Rain Gods, and Lay Down My Sword and Shield), and through them all, Hack has evolved from young idealist to bitter realist. Along the way, he has also picked up (besides the Holy Grail) a serious drinking problem that fuels his already violent nature. Much of the reading here is tough, especially the sections set during Ishmael’s participation in the Battle of the Marne. But despite the violence carried out by people who are so busy surviving that they no longer know how to live, House of the Rising Sun is also filled with light and hope. Miracles happen in these pages.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-10 04:49:26
The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish
Joseph Scarpato, Jr.

After returning from a five-year stint on the fictitious Venus Island where he lived among the natives there, young anthropologist Archie Meek returns to Australia and the Sydney Museum in 1932 with a marvelous collection of artifacts, hoping for a promotion to curator and a reunion with the young woman he hopes to make his bride. Unfortunately, things don’t seem to be working out.

Worse yet, something mysterious and possibly deadly seems to be going on at the museum. Several of the museum’s older curators have died or gone missing, and some of the 32 human skulls on the famous Venus Island Fetish mask seem to be somewhat discolored, including one with a decayed tooth that closely resembles the tooth of one of the missing curators. Is it Archie’s imagination, or is something sinister going on?

While Archie attempts to solve the mystery and regain the affection of his intended bride, the reader is taken on an extended tour of the museum, its exhibits, and the key people who keep it going and growing. We learn about the politics of museums, how museums around the world trade artifacts to keep things new, and how the Australian government interacts with them. We also learn about the indigenous people of the continent and the bloody history of how the British took control of that continent.

While the mystery itself is resolved at the end, it primarily plays second fiddle to all of the above. Not surprisingly, the author is a former museum curator who served as director of the South Australian Museum.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-11 17:05:58
Dark Reservations
Eileen Brady

This mystery set on the Navajo Nation is a worthy winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize, given for the best debut mystery set in the American Southwest. John Fortunato’s police procedural centers on the disappearance of Congressman Arlen Edgerton, his driver, and a young female aide almost 20 years ago. Theories surrounding the mystery at the time included the congressman taking off with millions in embezzled money, and skipping town with his aide/mistress and living it up in the Caribbean. Now, his bullet-ridden car has shown up on the Navajo reservation, just as his widow makes a run for governor of New Mexico.

The case is turned over to Joe Evers, a special agent at the Bureau of Indian Affairs with only three months left to go before his forced retirement. Why the poor timing? Perhaps someone is hoping the case won’t be solved? Evers has a drinking problem, and plenty of baggage, including an inability to move beyond the death of his wife. Though widely looked down upon by his fellow team members, he has enough smarts to know something stinks about the whole Edgerton disappearance.

Assigned a rookie Navajo tribal officer, Randall Bluehorse, as his partner, Joe proceeds to anger almost everyone he interviews. But as they go back over the decades-old police files on the original case, they uncover a messy investigation that raises more questions than answers. Was Congressman Edgerton’s disappearance tied to his politics? Or perhaps the black-market trade in Native American artifacts?

All the characters are well-drawn, especially Bluehorse, Congresswoman Grace Edgerton, and the ruthless art collector Arthur Othmann. And Furtunato’s protagonist Evers is a solidly written character who will grow on readers as the book progresses. The details of life and death on the rez ring true. All in all, a very impressive debut novel.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-11 17:16:11
Ace Atkins' Graphic Novel Series
Oline H. Cogdill

atkins ace5
Before he started the multi-Edgar-nominated Quinn Colson series and took over the late Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series, Ace Atkins launched his first series about Nick Travers, a music historian at Tulane University and sometime sleuth.

In this series, Atkins delivered insightful plots that explored the history of music, looking at the singers who may have been forgotten but whose legacy endured. For example, in Dark End of the Street, Nick Travers searches for the old-style singers who could sing the blues so deep and mournful they wrenched your heart.  

In my review of Dark End of the Street, I said, “Atkins plots the origins of soul music as well as the presence of organized crime and the infiltration of casinos in the Mississippi Delta in his highly entertaining, solidly plotted novel. After two well-received mysteries featuring blues tracker Nick Travers, Atkins proves his skill at creating realistic characters, evil villains, and an atmosphere so rich you can smell the Delta countryside and hear the bottleneck guitars.”

In the Nick Travers series, Atkins showed that for some, music is a cultural link.

“Motown was black music for white teens. Southern soul, Memphis soul was black music for blacks. This was grit. Funky, marinated, and deep-fried in gospel roots, with the intensity of a church revival.”—Dark End of the Street  

For others, music is a balm for a troubled city in the late 1960s. “The music soaked into red shag carpet walls of the old movie theater that served as their studio and out through the newly barred windows and into the emerging ghetto. He played as if somehow dance music could solve Memphis’ problems. But Memphis kept boiling. Soul kept dying.”—Dark End of the Street  

I liked this series a lot and was sad when it ended, though Im delighted that Atkins has gone on to create even better novels with his series about Quinn Colson, a former Army Ranger who is now the sheriff of his small, corrupt Mississippi hometown.

atkinsace nickgraphic
Nick is about to return with a series of graphic novels based on Atkins’ series.

Nick Travers Vol 1: Last Fair Deal Gone Down is set to come out at the end of April from 12 Gauge Comics LLC. Atkins’ story is accompanied by artist Marco Finnegan’s illustrations and Chris Brunner’s cover.

Since part of its title is Vol. 1, we can look forward to more adaptations via graphic novel.

The synopsis for Last Fair Deal Gone Down is, according the publisher: “It's Christmas in New Orleans. For many, it's the best season of the year. But instead of spending time with the people he cares about, Nick Travers is investigating the death of his friend, Fats. At first it appears that Fats took his own life, but Nick quickly discovers that the saxophone is missing from Fats' apartment. He soon learns that there is more to the story than a simple suicide, and the woman who Fats had been paying to keep him company may hold the answers.”

And judging from the sneak peak of the graphic novel, it looks great. A glimpse of the graphic novel debut is at newsarama.com.

Atkins’ novels have been a longtime personal favorite—from his Nick Travers novels, his historical fiction such as Infamous based on the life of Machine Gun Kelly and Devil’s Garden that looked at the scandal of silent-screen comedy star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, as well as his Quinn Colson series and his continuation of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series.

Atkins’ next Quinn Colson novel is The Innocents, which comes out July 216; his next Spenser novel is Slow Burn, which comes out in May. Atkins also will have stories in the new collections Mississippi Noir and New Orleans Noir.

Oline Cogdill
2016-02-13 23:00:15
"Major Crimes," "Better Call Saul"
Oline H. Cogdill


Monday night television just got more fun—and intelligent—with the return of two of my favorite series, Major Crimes and Better Call Saul.

While different in many ways, both these shows make a good pairing.

And here’s why.

 

MAJOR CRIMES
majorcrimes squad
TNT’s Major Crimes is back for a five-episode finale of its fourth season and, for the first time, is concentrating on only one crime.

Major Crimes, for those just getting around to this series, began as a spin-off of The Closer, which starred Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson.

I loved The Closer and especially Sedgwick’s performance as the prickly, righteous, and compelling Johnson. And I am an avid fan of Major Crimes.

While The Closer concentrated on Johnson and her team, Major Crimes is more of an ensemble piece. Major Crimes emphasized arrests; Major Crimes is more about finding justice and the art of the deal. In Major Crimes, the cases often are settled before a trial as the guilty parties know cutting a deal really can be a better deal in the long run.

Major Crimes stars Mary McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor, the head of its Major Crimes Division. But Raydor leads a team and makes the investigations a true team effort.

majorcrimes amy
Hindsight, the title of Major Crimes’ fourth season finale that began last Monday, is showing how one crime is affecting a community, the officers, prosecutor, and medical examiner, as well as how this new crime echoes back to another crime.

It’s a bold move, and, judging from the first two episodes, will play out beautifully.

Without giving away any spoilers, the story arc begins with the murder of a young mother and her three-year-old son, who were killed while driving through gang-infested territory. The detectives believe that the killers mistook the victims’ car for the automobile an enemy would be driving.

But is it just a case of mistaken identity?

Soon the squad learns that the gun used in the murder is linked to another murder committed 12 years before. The gun has been missing all these years. And that former investigation involved the murders of several people, including an off-duty LAPD cop and a deputy district attorney.

Lt. Michael Tao’s former partner, Mark Hickman, perjured himself on the stand in an attempt to close the case, and was fired. Tao (played by Michael Paul Chan) still holds a grudge against Hickman (played by Jason Gedrick), who, in turn, also despises his former partner and the entire police force.

Detective Amy Sykes (played by Kearran Giovanni) becomes even more involved than her fellow officers when she speaks with Hickman, who also tries to insinuate himself in the new investigation.

Major Crimes often focuses on different members of the squad and, apparently, it is Sykes’ turn.

Giovanni is a compelling actress, who made her career on Broadway before appearing as Dr. Vivian Wright on ABC’s One Life to Live from 2009 to series finale in 2012.

Since Giovanni has shown Sykes’ maturation from a cop, who had to prove herself immediately to her fellow officers when she first joined the squad, to the thoughtful, intelligent detective she is now. One of the ironies is that Sykes may have been new but she wasn’t a rookie, and came with a lot of investigative skills. A running joke is how tech savvy she is as opposed to a couple of her colleagues.

Major Crimes’ season finale is proving to be a nuanced miniseries.

Major Crimes airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on TNT, with frequent encores, and is available on demand.

 

BETTER CALL SAUL

bettercallsaul odenkirk
Like Major Crimes, Better Call Saul also is a spin-off, of a sorts, from a previous series, the brilliant Breaking Bad.

In Breaking Bad, attorney Saul Goodman was a bit of a buffoon, handling the legal matters of meth maker Walter White and a few other unsavory clients. He often added a bit of dark humor to Breaking Bad.

It would have been easy to make Better Call Saul a comedy with Saul having a different outlandish client each week.

But thankfully, the creators went the serious route, and this has made all the difference in the nuanced Better Call Saul, which airs at 10 p.m. Mondays on AMC.

Better Call Saul has that perfect marriage between series creator Vince Gilligan and a multi-layered performance by Bob Odenkirk.

At the end of Breaking Bad, Saul was getting on a bus to escape the criminal enterprises that were about to blow up in Albuquerque. As he leaves, Saul comments, “The best-case scenario, I’ll end up managing a Cinnabon in Omaha.”

And that is where we find Saul, with a dark moustache and dark hair, minding his own business, managing that snack place in a mall, taking out the trash, cleaning out the machines.

bettercallsaul odenkirk2Saul’s new life was the opening for the first season and also for the second season.

But Better Call Saul is not about his new life.

The AMC series is about his old life—taking place six years in Albuquerque before Walter White came on the scene—and shows how Saul started his metamorphosis from a sleazy lawyer, born Jimmy McGill, to the flashy Saul.

As Jimmy McGill, he was known as “Slippin Jimmy,” a Chicago hustler making a nice living collecting money for his pain and suffering because of his penchant for falling on ice patches on Michigan Avenue and State Street.

Better Call Saul shows how Jimmy became Saul and along the way became not just a criminal lawyer but a criminal lawyer.

Season One was a kind of Cain-and-Abel look at Jimmy and his reclusive brother, Chuck (the wonderful Michael McKean) who bring sibling rivalry to a different level.

In Season Two, Jimmy joins a high-profile law firm. But the man is still a con man at heart, and while he well knows the law he can’t help but try to bend it a bit.

Odenkirk has always been a terrific character actor and to see him take the reins here is nothing short of inspiring. Odenkirk started as a comedian—check out his series Mr. Show—but his transition to drama is credible. We never get the hint that Odenkirk is treating the show as a sitcom but as a serious look at a very flawed man who has sunk so low. Gallows humor, which plays a big part in the series, must be treated as serious as possible or it won’t work.

In a review, The New York Times posed this question: “Is Jimmy a good guy overcoming bad tendencies, or a bad guy who’s fooling himself?”

And that is the anchor of Better Call Saul. Who is Jimmy who will become Saul who will become a low-level manager?

It will be fun to explore just who Jimmy is.


A BIT OF TRIVIA

For Breaking Bad fans—look for little Easter eggs throughout Better Call Saul as there will be several references. Here are two from the second season’s first episode which I found referenced by other reviewers.

Zafiro Añejo, the ultra-expensive tequila that the foul-mouthed stockbroker buys for Saul and his guest, doesn’t exist. It is a fictional brand that showed up a couple of times in Breaking Bad. Gus Fring used Zafiro Añejo poison Don Eladio and the members of the Mexican cartel in the season four Breaking Bad episode “Salud.”

And Ken, that nasty stockbroker who is obviously conning others, as Saul will do to him, was played by Kyle Bornheimer. Ken appeared in the season three episode “Cancer Man” episode of Breaking Bad. Even more obnoxious, Ken with the license plate “KEN WINS” pulls into a gas station and angers Walter White with his attitude. In turn, Walter sabotages Ken’s car, which soon explodes.

Major Crimes airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on TNT.
Better Call Saul airs at 10 p.m. Mondays on AMC.

 

PHOTOS: TOP: Major Crimes squad, Kearran Giovanni. Photos courtesy TNT. BOTTOM: Better Call Saul with Bob Odenkirk; last photo Odenkirk with Kim Wexler, played by Rhea Seehorn. Photos courtesy AMC

Oline Cogdill
2016-02-21 17:34:26
Humber Boy B
Betty Webb

Ruth Dugdall’s stunning novel follows Ben, a young man known to the British media only as “Humber Boy B.” Ben has just been released from prison after serving eight years for murdering a child. Considering the crime, the sentence seems inadequate—until we realize that Ben was only ten when he forced ten-year-old Noah off a high bridge to certain death. The years in a reformatory aren’t Ben’s only punishment. He has been placed under heavily monitored lifetime parole. Ben’s every action is watched by the police and a team of social workers, some of whom are sympathetic, some not. To ensure his safety from a wrathful public, the parole board places him in an apartment in a city far distant from the original crime. They give Ben a new name, and forbid him to contact his dysfunctional family. In his government-imposed isolation, Ben’s sense of alienation from society quickly becomes overwhelming. Compassionate social worker Cate Austin is helping him learn to lead a “normal” life, but isn’t always successful. Imprisoned since he was a child, Ben doesn’t even know how to shop for food. In one anguished passage, he experiences a minor meltdown at a grocery store: “I don’t know if I want sunflower or olive oil or butter, or skimmed or full fat milk. I push the trolley, still mostly empty, round to the checkout because I’m worn out.” Still, all appears to be going fairly well for him until Jessica, Noah’s grieving mother, mounts a Facebook campaign asking the public to help her find her son’s killer and demand vengeance. Silent Friend, one of Jessica’s Facebook followers, joins the hunt. Given the seriousness of Ben’s crime, author Dugdall pulls off a minor miracle by making the young killer a sympathetic character in this extraordinarily humane novel. Thus, as Silent Friend helps narrow Jessica’s search, we fear for Ben’s welfare. When he was ten, he did something horrible, but he is a different person now. Or is he? Dugdall never takes the easy way out when writing about the heinous crimes young children can commit. The story line of Humber Boy B is reminiscent of the real-life murder of James Bulger, the British toddler who was tortured and killed by two other children. As in that case, we learn that Ben had an accomplice, Adam, his older half-brother, who has somehow escaped the public’s bloodlust. Expertly told from various points of view by the major players Ben, Cate, Adam, Cheryl (a witness to Noah’s murder), and the ever-grieving Jessica, Humber Boy B can be an excruciating read. It is also an enlightening one. This stirring, heartfelt novel teaches us to beware of quick judgments—even when it comes to killers.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-22 19:35:35
A Stairway to the Sea
Betty Webb

Jeff Newberry’s A Stairway to the Sea is an excellent mystery where bad men may not be as villainous as they first appear. Rough redneck Donnie Ray Miles, a bully who made everyone’s lives miserable during high school, has drowned while partying with friends on a houseboat. Few residents of St. Vincent, a tiny Florida town, shed tears at his passing, especially not deputy sheriff Justin Everson, one of Donnie Ray’s former victims. A fair man, Everson attempts to find out how Donnie Ray drowned without anyone at the party noticing. When Sheriff Mack Weston orders Everson to drop the case, the deputy defies the sheriff’s orders and learns that after the attacks of 9/11, Donnie Ray enlisted in the service: the villain had a heroic side. As Everson digs into Donnie Ray’s messy life, the reader learns more about Everson himself. Emotionally unhinged after the death of his ex-wife, the deputy is experiencing blackouts and hallucinations. Often, Donnie Ray’s ghost appears, seeming to beg for justice. As Everson’s own behavior spins out of control, lifelong friends desert him and he is on the verge of losing his job. One of the beauties of this moody, atmospheric mystery is author Newberry’s depiction of St. Vincent. The author convincingly makes the case that small towns aren’t always safer than big cities, and that their residents aren’t always kinder or nicer than city folk. In fact, the neighbors you have always trusted may be the very people you should approach with the greatest caution—and a loaded gun.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-22 19:40:54
Passenger 19
Betty Webb

Suspense writer Ward Larsen continues to be on a roll with Passenger 19, his latest Jammer Davis aviation thriller. This time around, the action hits close to home when the air crash investigator’s daughter, Jennifer, is a passenger on an airliner that goes down in the Amazon jungle. Heartbroken to learn that there were no survivors, Jammer travels to the scene of the crash. But after searching through the rubble, he cannot find his daughter’s body. He does, however, find the passport of passenger No. 19, a mysterious young woman who resembles Jen, and who was seated next to her when the crash occurred. Who was Kristin Marie Stewart, and why was her body also missing from the wreckage? Why have people at the highest levels of the US government suddenly involved themselves in the search for Kristin Marie? Author Larsen has always delivered first-class thrillers, but he outdoes himself here with an emotional payoff that is every bit as breathtaking as the action. Since part of Passenger 19 is told from Jen’s point of view, we learn that in this case, the apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree. Jen Davis is every bit as courageous as her father. Readers seeking a thriller with heart won’t do better than Passenger 19. It hits all the right notes and gives us a heroine as well as a hero.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-22 19:48:50
The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Bill Crider

Otto Penzler’s The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories more than lives up to its name, with 83 stories contained in 789 pages. The book is divided into sections that present stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, parodies, pastiches, stories without Holmes in them, and a lot more. The authors range from those you might expect to find in such a book (Daniel Stashower, Leslie Klinger, Loren D. Estleman) to those who might surprise you (Davis Grubb), and from the well known (Neil Gaiman, Kenneth Millar/Ross Macdonald) to the obscure (me). Penzler provides an insightful introduction, along with separate introductions to each story. This is a top-notch anthology.

Teri Duerr
2016-02-22 19:53:11