There were usual suspects in the beginning: Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone, published in 1868, and Emile Gaboriau's first Monsieur Lecoq novel L'Affaire Lerouge, released in 1866 were generally known as the first detective fictions giving birth to this great genre. Occasionally some reserachers were bringing up some records of earlier works here and there; but in…

King of Sorrow, my next novel, is nearing completion. Now I'm battling with two very serious dilemmas. 

As always I call on the advice of other, more experienced authors than myself, those autors who have walked the line, who have lived to tell the tale. Here are the two obstacles:

1) Should I have the first 3/4 chapters polished by an editor before submitting sample chapters to publishers for consideration? I've heard this is a good idea, but it costs a…

I'm a long time fan of Lisa Gardner and her recurring character, Boston PD Detective D.D. Warren, is a favourite. Gardner's latest book featuring D.D. is…

Book Title:   THE DEVIL'S EDGE

Author:  Stephen Book

ISBN:   9781847444806

Location:   Peak District

Series:  Ben Cooper & Diane Fry

Publisher:  Sphere

Year of Publication:   2011



The newspapers call them the Savages: a band of home invaders as merciless as they are stealthy. Usually they don't leave a clue. This time, they've left a body. The first victim is found sprawled on her kitchen floor, blood soaking the terracotta tiles. Before long, another…

Hey Tom, yes I lived in the same street when the murders happened, my mother still lives there today. Let me know when you've read the book and hope you make it down to Australia some day - it's only 18 hours non-stop from LA to Melbourne:)

Hey Tom, yes I lived in the street when the murders happened (I was 9 at the time), my mother still lives there. Let me know what you think once you've read it and hope you make it down to Australia some time!

The Gunfighter Chronicles Volume One-DRYFIRE will be free from 12pm. PST on February 21, 2012 (Fat Tuesday)to midnight PST on February 22, 2012 (Ash Wednesday). The two day giveaway is to allow readers to familiarize themselves with my work and I encourage those taking advantage of the Free Enterprise System to write a review.

  Except from Cover:

 Gianni Temprono grows up wanting to become a professional gunfighter after watching the movie The Fastest Gun Alive. When old enough,…

On July 2, 1970, tourists in Australia spotted a smashed car, teetering precariously on a cliff edge, overlooking the raging ocean below. It seemed the car would fall into the water at any moment, but the car lingered ... as did a mystery, revealed when police traced the license plate to the Crawford household. Here, the police discovered the shocking truth: a mother and her three children had been murdered, with the husband and father—now missing—the main suspect.

The quadruple…

Fans of Elmore Leonard will be familiar with Raylan Givens, the US Marshall who was featured in Leonard's previous books Pronto and Riding the Rap. At eighty six years old, Elmore Leonard shows no signs of slowing down. He's…

Does it really matter what political parties "stand for" any more? What if you stripped away the bumper stickers, the phony piety and hollow everymanism to expose their true essence? You'd probably end up with something similar to ninjas and pirates. Both hate each other. Why? Who cares. Let's fight.

There are similar scenes in Laura Roberts's excellent humor novella,…

Yesterday a man said to me, "My wife really likes your new book." He couldn't recall the title, but she'd said it was totally different from everything else she'd read of mine. I formed a theory from that and was just about to say the title when he said, "It's the one that takes place in Grand Rapids." Oh, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY.

Not the one I was thinking of at all. That book came out last April, and there have been so many on my mind in the time between that it seems really…

Book Title:   DEATH IN THE LATIN QUARTER

Author:  Raphael Cardetti

ISBN:   9780349122564

Publisher:   Little Brown

Year of Publication:  2010



Early one morning in Paris, the tranquillity of the Sorbonne University is shattered by a death.  But why would Albert Cadas, a quiet, crumpled professor of medieval literature, have any reason to kill himself.  Meanwhile, Valentine Savi, a talented young restorer, receives a visit from an enigmatic elderly gentleman with a…

Book Title:  OUTRAGE

Author:  Arnaldur Indridason

ISBN:   9781846554230

Location:   Iceland

Publisher:   Harvill Secker

Year of Publication:   2011



In a flat near Reykjavik city centre, a young man lies dead in a pool of blood.  There is no sign of a break-in: the only clues are a woman's purple shawl, found under the bed in the next room, and a vial of prescription drugs in the victim's pocket.



With Detective Erlendur away in a remote part of Iceland,…

Wandering through the true crime section of the library today, I noticed an entire section devoted to Jack the Ripper.  While I have seen that before in stores and libraries, the one in our local branch seems to be quite excessively large, considering that as far as I know, he has never been positively identified.

I have to wonder why the fascination.  I also have to admit that I have read quite a number of books about those particular murders and have seen quite a number of…

The world of indie author promotion is full of pitfalls. Of greatest concern are the grifters selling advertising they know goes no where. Directory listings, display ads and various boutique social networks all vie for attention - and dollars. The odds can stack up quick against an honest author in a dishonest Internet.…

My book signing at Barnes and Noble was a big success.  Aside from meeting new fans – many of whom started with more than one book – the staff a was very pleasant and helpful!  I hope to go back there soon.

 I also met with the Just Us Girls book club – ten ladies who really know their literature.  They asked the tough questions but I didn’t mind because they also were great fun to chat with and shared great food (Thanks, Josephine.)  Book club meetings are even more fun than store…

Dr. Lou Welcome is blamed when one of the doctors he was counseling at Physicians Wellness, goes on a shooting spree and kills a number of people.



Physicians Wellness counsels doctors who have anger problems or have difficulty with drugs or alcohol.

When a number of other people in the area also let their anger get the best of them and sometimes end in…