June 2010 Blog Posts (154)

Death by Explosion?

Hi,

I'm looking to put together a list of crime / mystery novels where bombs or an explosion set the scene.

I'm drawing a bit of a blank. Any ideas?

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

Death Comes for the Fat Man by Reginald Hill

Thanks

Added by Murder Mystery Librarian on June 27, 2010 at 11:20am — 5 Comments

Pariah, Whitey Bulger and the South Boston Mob over at Ransom Notes

Pariah, Whitey Bulger and the South Boston Mob are discussed over at Barnes & Nobe's Ransom Notes.

Added by Dave Zeltserman on June 27, 2010 at 5:22am — 1 Comment

New synopsis for Mongoose series

My mongoose series deals with the main character who searches for the roots of a 40 year old plot to not just take his life or the life of the blackman but to dissenfranchise every minority in America. the main character is comparable to the black agents within the FBI and CIA and the black Generals in the United States Armed Forces. As a young black male, whom is an ex-con the main character is exonerated of escape charges after being on the run from a crazed U.S. Marshall wo goes… Continue

Added by Mosi Tyrone Wells on June 27, 2010 at 4:51am — No Comments

another chapter of my novel online

Another chapter of my mystery novel DEADLY DISCRIMINATION in my online magazine http://kingsriverlife.com/06/26/deadly-discrimination-5/
Lorie Ham

Added by Lorie Ham on June 27, 2010 at 4:14am — No Comments

A novel for the testosterone-crowd, 'Ffolkes' Medicine.'

Want to meet a different kind of detective? Want to meet a character who is loud, obnoxious, vain and a certifiable narcist? Like a little history thrown into the reading? Then you might enjoy Ffolkes' Mediciene: The Adventures of Geoffery Armitage Ffolkes begin.

Seventeenth Century piracy at its best--with a character who has a mind that pre-dates Sherlock Holmes in many respects. Geoffery Armitage Ffolkes is your man. Pirate, swordsman, poet and sometimes…

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Added by B.R.Stateham on June 27, 2010 at 2:20am — No Comments

Review - Where Have You Been? Wendy James

Book Title: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Author: Wendy James

Publisher: UWA Publishing

Copyright: 2010

ISBN: 978-1-921401-46-6

No of Pages: 250

Book Synopsis:

Susan and Ed Middleton are perfectly content with their lives. Two kids, two cars, a solid brick bungalow in a respectable northern beaches suburb. They're good people, model citizens. There's barely a ripple in the surface of their happy existence. But when Susan's older sister, who vanished as a teenager,… Continue

Added by Karen from AustCrime on June 26, 2010 at 10:44pm — No Comments

Incoming Flack

I’ve been fortunate to write over a hundred reviews for New Mystery Reader over the past five years. During that time, I have been ever luckier to deal almost exclusively with NMR’s patient and long-suffering editor, Stephanie Padilla.Stephanie has made sure books got to me and interviews were set up, so I rarely had to deal with the major publishers’ publicists. For that I am eternally…

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Added by Dana King on June 26, 2010 at 11:25am — 3 Comments

A bit of sunshine came in today

Received a request for bio, synopsis, and pages. Not taking anything to the bank, but it's good to finally get a positive response (even if it is a non-NYC agency).

Added by J W Nelson on June 26, 2010 at 7:31am — No Comments

Why there are no James Bonds in Alan Furst's books

After 10 books writer Alan Furst set in the 1933-1942 time period in Europe, he discovered he was writing spy novels.

But you won’t find a James Bond or a Jason Bourne in one of them.

Furst prefers characters who struggle with huge moral questions, just as his readers would if they were there in that period just as the Germans were about to invade their country, their city.

“Those are the people who are going to say, well,… Continue

Added by Jerry Peterson on June 26, 2010 at 3:26am — No Comments

Notable crimes in the 1920s

Mention the 20s and people think Prohibition and the usual crimes associated with that. Bootlegging. Rum running. Speakeasies and blind pigs and gangsters roaring around in Model T's and Buicks blasting each other with machine guns. Bonnie and Clyde, Bugsy Seigal, The Valentine's Day massacre, Al Capone.

But like today, there were other crimes, more heinous in many ways because they victimized ordinary families and could just as easily be taken from the headlines in today's… Continue

Added by Pat Brown on June 26, 2010 at 2:58am — No Comments

THE NEW FRENCH COVER

You may recall how horrified I was when my French publisher chose the photo of a geisha to put on my fourth novel THE ISLAND OF EXILES. This is number five, THE HELL SCREEN. They tried harder, because I was so unhappy, and this one is much better and fits the story. In fact, I like it a lot. What I still don't understand is that they think historical mysteries will sell better with modern…

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Added by I. J. Parker on June 25, 2010 at 6:26am — 2 Comments

A series that never moves on

Alan Furst has written 11 novels set in the beginning years of World War II.

Eleven novels.

Most of us who write series work a period for a couple years, a couple books, and move on. We let our characters age because either we’ve mined out the stories of that period or we’ve become bored with the period.

Says Furst he doesn’t write anything after 1942 because then the story becomes how can we survive until the end of this… Continue

Added by Jerry Peterson on June 25, 2010 at 1:40am — No Comments

My award-winning mystery novella, Julius Katz, now available for Kindle

My award winning novella, Julius Katz, is now available as an Amazon Kindle download for $0.99. Originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, this charming and humor-filled mystery received a Readers Choice award from…

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Added by Dave Zeltserman on June 25, 2010 at 1:09am — 1 Comment

Writers Find What you Need

I found an extensive list of search engines that every writer should see & wrote about it on my main blog - http://ascamacho.blogspot.com - Check it…

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Added by Austin S. Camacho on June 24, 2010 at 9:40pm — No Comments

SLICK TIME by O'Neil De Noux

… a sexy caper novel with a kidnapping, an extortion, the filming of an erotic movie, bungling FBI agents, a savvy NOPD detective, a private-eye known as the most dangerous man in New Orleans, as well as the Lusca – a sea monster inhabiting the Atlantis Blue Hole outside Kemps Bay, The

Bahamas. There is a ruthless criminal who calls himself Hardacre, a sly mastermind who calls himself Slick, a host of pretty women and an alluring special agent with long…

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Added by O'Neil De Noux on June 24, 2010 at 1:34pm — No Comments

We Know Bad Men - The Killer Inside Me 2010 Movie Review

Alright, brawlers, bindlestiffs and bottle blondes, here's a recent review of a raw-knuckle movie made about the master of noirest-noir, Jim Thompson's psychopathic classic, "The Killer Inside Me"

If sociopaths, Central Texas or unflinching glimpses of human sickness draw your eye, then give a look.

The Killer…

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Added by M C Funk on June 24, 2010 at 7:43am — No Comments

Catching up ...

I'm still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing and completely forgot to update here on CrimeSpace.

Since my last post, I learned ...

A woman can have too much luggage. It was thirteen bags that landed 28-year-old Lisette Lee in jail.

Airline travel can be deadly for pets, especially those short-nosed dog breeds.

Also, a Bengal tiger and two dromedary camels were stolen and then recovered in Canada.

Read about these stories on my blog:… Continue

Added by Melissa Emerald on June 24, 2010 at 6:48am — No Comments

A master of description

I admire craft.

A lot of books you and I have read are just not very good, and often the failure can be chalked up to the writer having failed to master the craft of writing.

So when we read a good one, we say, wow, this story sings . . . it’s a real page turner . . . I wish I could write like this, she/he makes it look so easy.

Gerry Spence is a master of our craft of writing. When he describes a character, whether… Continue

Added by Jerry Peterson on June 24, 2010 at 4:42am — No Comments

Soggy sheep at breakfast

I was under the impression that the English weren’t allowed into Wales any more, now that Tony Blair persuaded us we ought to have at least half a government of our own and let Westminster pay for it. I assume Colin Cotterill managed to make it through the border undercover on his Australian passport. Which is a good thing, because his blog post of this week was a lovely appreciations of my homeland, even down to the 28 yards of…

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Added by Matt Rees on June 24, 2010 at 1:52am — No Comments

An Old Friend You've Never Met

Surprisingly, sometimes you open a book and find a friend. It's not anyone you've met before, but right away you recognize the connection. You like the guy. You want to know more about him. You wouldn't mind having a cup of coffee and just listening to him talk.

I just met Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr, (yeah, I know. I'm decades behind the rest of the world) and that is what happened. He's a crook, but I like him. I'm on page 16, so I've got lots of pages left to learn…

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Added by Peg Herring on June 23, 2010 at 10:20pm — 1 Comment