The Pix of the Week (from my desk calendar)...

For several years, I've purchased a weekly engagement calendar to prop up on my desk at work to keep up with events and to use for note taking during an occasional meeting. Typically, it would some sort of art, I love Claude Monet's work. This year, though, I purchased Jill Krementz's The Writer's Desk 2009 Calendar--it has great black and white photographs of famous authors--and this week I have photo and quote from writer Elemore Leonard. Here's a photo from the author's website.

And if I remember correctly, I did mention to my library's mystery book club that during a 2005 Time magazine interview, Leonard was described as being "the greatest living writer of crime fiction" by the New York Times. The calendar features Leonard quoting: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

A "Mystery 101" Column for All

I peeked through the newest Booklist magazine--an American Librarian Association publication--and found an enjoyable column about mystery books for the librarian and general reader alike. Joyce Saricks, adjunct faculty member of Dominican University and writer, dubs her newest column a sort of "Mystery 101 for readers."

Saricks is author of Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library and nicely nails down the popularity and wide appeal of mysteries here. This is a well-constructed, quick read for those whom may even read crime fiction all the time.

Book Club discusses "The Good Thief's Guide to Paris"

This month the book club read and discussed Chris Ewan's The Good Thief's Guide to Paris [a mystery]. The second of a new series--the first is The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam--continues the escapades of mystery writer and professional thief Charlie Howard. Here's a googled photo of writer Ewan.

The fictional roving Englishman Howard is on a book tour in France when he boldly takes a challenge to show how to break into an apartment. Rather, he takes the challenge after drinking too much wine with a new acquaintance.

Charlie pulls it off and soon he approached to break in the same apartment again--this time, to steal an oil painting. OK--Charlie is in his element--but things spin out of control when he discovers a dead body in his living room and he concludes he can't go to the police about the crime. Against the odds, he tries to clear his name while sinking deeper into art thefts.

The book was well-liked. Here are a few quick observations:

• Charlie enjoys success as a thief by working within a certain range of risk
  

• Charlie's books enjoy moderate success but it's suggested he has yet to reach his potential as a writer


• one book clubber said the writing on occasion seemed to awkward in the novel (the phrasing of sentences) while another said for English writers the sentences appear typical


• the novel takes the proper tone of not taking the story too seriously.

Fun note: with Ewan's next book, Charlie Howard will come stateside for a story set in Las Vegas.

"How Can I Keep Up With the Newest Books at the Library?"

In so many words, I was asked that question at my book club last week in regards to keeping up with new books at the library from authors that one may want to follow. Fortunately, the public library has a new convenient way to handle through your PC.

Wowbrary is a new resouce for weekly emails (or RSS) billed as providing information about "the newest stuff at your library (i.e. books, music CDs and DVDs)." On the website homepage, it also boasts of offering the advance of early notification of titles and the option to reserve bestsellers instantly. To begin, you provide your email address for the sign up page.

In the Charlotte area, go here to see our public library version of Wowbrary. The website is under the "Catalog Search" section and under the small heading "New Items." If you look closely, you will find "New Items" but this attractive resource doesn't get much promotion. Look and I think you're consider the website's layout is very user friendly too with its sections for top choices, dvds, recreation, personal growth, young people and more.

For the library user who has be up to date with new books and media this is just what the doctor ordered.

Updating "About Me"

When I started this blog, I did not think about incorporating myself as a focal fixture within the blog. The blog is about the book club, mystery books and books in general. So, I had decided to skip a photograph of myself and to have a very short "About Me" entry. And in case you've never noticed, About Me is on the right hand side of this blog page at the bottom.

However, it you look at the revised "About Me" entry--you can see I changed my mind. Recently, I read about the advantage of providing a fuller entry for readers to understand why the blog exists. Point taken. As a result, I decided to give more background about how the book club started with my involvement.

Hope it's interesting.

Now regarding the photo--that comes from playing copycat to the writer's photos which accompany their books (some are quite showy). In particularly, I'd say I roughly modelled my picture on two writer's photographs featuring Ross McDonald (in the hat) and Robert Crais (in the shades) as shown here.

Funny, clever and cute

In the book club selection this month of Chris Ewan's The Good Thief's Guide to Paris, I give credit him a good sense of wit. Late into this mystery novel, his protagist Charlie Howard describes one truly unique character as being "a good few hardbacks short of a full library, if you know what I mean."

Good line--or else I missed this joke during library school...

Book Club discusses "Death of a Cozy Writer"

This month, the book club read and discussed the first of new series Death of a Cozy Writer: a St. Just mystery.

Writer G.M. Malliet, a former journalist, won the Malice Domestic Grant for this title. The grant is awarded to unpublished writers for traditional mysteries following in the tradition of a Agatha Christie novel--that is the setting is within a confined setting of people who know each other in a novel without explicit sex or excessive gore or violence. Here's a pix of Malliet from her website.

Death of a Cozy Writer is set in Cambridgeshire, England (where Malliet also lives) with the unsettling activities of a wealth writer's planned remarriage and the negative reaction by his adult children. The writer, Sir Adrian Beauclerk Fisk, has build a successful book series with an Agatha Christie-type character. As a result, he may offer his children Ruthven, Sarah, Albert or George a wealthy inheritance upon his death. Instead, he toys with that possibility and changes his written will at whim--showing contempt to all his children. Tragically, during a major family gathering for the engagement announcement, one in the party is found dead.

With almost a third of the story told, Detective Chief Inspector St. Just enters the novel.

Here are some takes on the novel:

• DCI St. Just has an amazing gift of deduction to solve the case--he appears to shortcut the investigation process...


• the novel has its share of humor but not the sort of British humour some readers would expect (except for the laughable American character who tries too hard to fit in) and it struck me as being "catty" too often


• the "Cast of Characters" in the front of the book was nice for the reader


• the book was nicely written


• as a murder occurs in a eighteenth-century Cambridgeshire manor to bring the police to the location, the family and others remain there during the investigation and--unfortunately--another death occurs there so it was suggested the people should have been moved


• the most shadowy and seldom seem character,Violet Mildenhall was judged the most interesting because of her unique background


• the favoritism which Adrian displays to some of his children at times, and disapproval more often, raised a long discussion about favoritism in real families and how the issue is handled in fair and biased manners.

Overall, the book was judged as a OK but not noteworthy.

Two book reviews on library podcast--

I think this is ironic timing. I discovered at work last week while my voice had pretty much left me and I was reduced to whispering--the results of a cold--that a podcast session I recorded last year is now available. That is, I recorded a segment for a monthly podcast recording for the library system's "Reader's Club" website. One librarian hosts the sessions and invites others to participate.

My contribution are two book reviews from two previous book club meetings last year for Terry Hoover's Double Dead and Jesse Kellerman's The Genius in the month of February.

I had hoped to incorporate podcasts with this blog for months (and months) but I really haven't yet. It is still in the plans though.

You Decide: Likable Characters Needed?

I paused for a moment while listening to a radio interview with author Zoe Heller, promoting her new book The Believers. [Here's a pix of her which accompanies this National Public Radio story on the web.] She makes the point of explaining her work by saying "My hope, at least, is that I write difficult, complicated but sympathetic characters."

And to further stress this, she continues [in a forceful tone] "I'm slightly irritated by what I think is a kind of modern demand for characters you can root for, characters you would like to be friends with. Speaking as a reader, I have to say that some of my favorite characters in literature are some of the nasty ones." Those comments caught me as I hear during book club sessions about novels with unlikeable characters.

Being in a book club focusing on mysteries (i.e. crime stories), how do we reconcile this? It--frequently, it seems with my book club--comes up that a novel doesn't have any likable characters. Is it a must to have a character to at least root for (redeemable wouldn't be strong enough here) to have a good reading experience? Or should readers just accept that too many fictional characters operate from their own their own selfish, narrow or jaded interests and that's their lives?

What do you think?

Hollywood Celebrity Pens New Mystery

I'm sure I'm not just one of the 20 people in the world who browse through Google News to catch up on news but I might be. In any case, I zipped through some "Entertainment" stories recently and found one about a new mystery book co-authored comic Joan Rivers.

Writing about what ones knows is safe ground for any writer and Ms. Rivers makes that connection with her new book Murder at the Academy Awards: A Red Carpet Murder Mystery. Working with mystery writer Jerrilyn Farmer--a good match I believe, I read some of her work--Ms. Rivers broadens her writing chops with this genre fiction title. And the book has some genuine interest as it has a wait list for check-outs in library. Additionally, the library system has a few of her earlier books which are mainly biography and humor-themed.

How did the current contestant on NBC-TV's “The Celebrity Apprentice” get her mystery off the ground? She answers that during a recent interview found on "The Improper" website:

IM: Describe the writing process as you worked on “Murder at the Academy Awards: A Red Carpet Murder Mystery.”

Rivers: Well I worked with someone who is a great mystery writer named Jerrilyn Farmer, so it was great because she really brought all the mystery and showed me how to do that because I didn’t have a clue in hell. She didn’t have a clue in hell about what happens on the red carpet, what goes on backstage, what goes on at The Kodak Theatre, and what goes on in the gifting rooms, etc. We worked together.

IM: Which challenges did you come across as you wrote the story?

Rivers: I don’t know, I struggle with everything! (laughs) So many of the characters are composites of real people, and you don’t want to get in too close, but you also want to be able to tell a story that you heard about this person or saw about that person… So that was fun. It was all fun, it really was fun writing the novel- much easier than writing my other book which was such a research project!

A Visit Back to 2008 for the "Best of.."

Can you believe how quickly the year is going? Well, I thought about looking around for a "best of" list for mysteries last December then decided to let that go. Now, as it turns out, this morning I found such a list while looking at the National Public Radio website. Specifically, there's the "top five mystery and crime novels of 2008" with regular book review contributor Maureen Corrigan doing the honors (she has a great delivery for radio--I enjoy listening to her).

I like the selections although as I searched for them to my library system's collection, we only have The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson here.

Such as it is.

Book Club discusses "Christine Falls"

This month the book club discussed Benjamin Black's Christine Falls as the month's selection. The book is the first of a new series featuring Dublin pathologist Quirke, a frequent drinker with a troubled background. Here's a picture of the author from his website.

"Benjamin Black" is also a pen name for the award-winning Irish writer John Banville. The last award as noted on his website is the Man Booker Prize 2005 for The Sea.

Quirke, who is never referred to by his first name Garret, becomes suspicious when his stepbrother and physician Malachy ("Mal") Griffin alters the death record of recently deceased young maid Christine Falls. What would prompt Mal to do this Quirke wonders and--against his usual disposition--he actually becomes concerned and investigates the matter. The results are long in developing as Quirke finds few full answers until he travels to Boston to accompany a family member and the entire situation comes into focus.

The book club had mixed to negative reactions to the novel--perhaps more disappointed is correct to say. Some observations included the following:

the mystery element of the story was lacking--a few suggestions popped up about ways the novel could have turned with plot twists

Quirke was too unlikeable to have appeal (of course, the author designed the character to be complex and troubled)

one person found the changes in character narration of the novel confusing (it was mainly two but at least two others were given short passages

the same person liked the writer's use of language

Quirke finds the Catholic Church is supporting a conspiracy which bears a relation to cover-up of Christine Falls death and it appeared to be a strong slap at that institution

too much of the story was devoted to Andy Stafford and his wife Claire (they are tied into the Catholic Church conspiracy)

well-written book gives little of the book setting in the 1950s Ireland

why use the pen name "Benjamin Black"?

The paperback version of the book includes 12 "discussion questions" in the back and I shared them in the book club. This is only the second time I remember having accompanying discussion questions for a book club mystery title.

More Poe news (courtesy of a post office visit)

When I was growing up I collected commemorative postal stamps for a while and my mom even graciously purchased several of the special commemorative stamp sheets in an official binder. That said, I tend to look out for commemorative stamps even today although I slowly go through them (and the stamp postage price keeps rising before I do).

Anyway, I did have to make a trip to the post office earlier this week and I was pleasantly surprised to see a poster promoting a new Edgar Allan Poe stamp for sale in January. Of course, it came as the 200th birthday of Poe was observed (here's info about the stamp). I'll admit that the post office visit was guided by the simple need to get in and to get to mailers on the way but I look around to see if anything else is interesting.

I did not purchase any Poe stamps that day but I will likely in the near future. I guess I shouldn't pass on the "father of the mystery novel," huh? And with the increase in first class postage stamps coming in May, I feel prepared because I already have one and two cents stamps from the *last* price increase.

Final New Novels by Deceased Writers Craig and Spillane

I didn't know about the death of writer Philip R. Craig until I was flipping through book reviews in one of the library's professional magazines a few weeks back. Craig, author of the "Martha Vineyard mystery" series with private investigator Jeff Jackson, died in May 7, 2008. The last book by Craig is Vineyard Chill as mentioned on the author's still current website. I counted 22 books in the series from the website. In fact, it is mentioned there that still another "J.W.(Jackson)" novel which is partially written "may someday be completed by his family per his instructions" by another writer. So, readers are urged to just stay tuned. Here's a pix of Craig from his website.

Writer Mickey Spillane, who died in 2006, has a writing story which the late Craig may follow. Spillane's last private detective novel with Mike Hammer was completed following his death by writer--a friend and a fan as mentioned on "The Guardian" website--Max Allan Collins. The book is entitled The Goliath Bone and was published last year. With a story that is ripped from the headlines--it features Hammer confronting Islamic terrorists and Israeli extremists following an attempted robbery. Included here is a recent, googled pix of Spillane.

Notice about a new cozy mystery series--

Recently I received a reply to a post about a new book series courtesy of the author which stated "if you like pre-teen to grandmother for all ages, cozy mystery series, check out www.mrsbundle.com" and I thought mmmmm. Well, the website is for the "Mrs. Bundle Mystery Series" by author Allison Cesario Paton.

Our library system does not have any of the "Mrs. Bundle" titles (nor do any others as I checked in the WorldCat database) but that might change as the series continues. There are three titles to date. The stories involve Lettie Bundle, a senior sleuth in Vermont, her pet dog Cracker, and a teenage neighbor Angie Andersen teaming up in search for adventure. And take a look at the book covers, you'll know you're in cozy mystery territory with all the different colors and Mrs. Bundle's gentle, soft appearance.

Prolific writer Donald Westlake dies

As the new year began a few weeks ago, I missed the news story of the passing of yet another giant in the mystery-writing field. The prolific Donald Westlake died on New Year's eve while vacationing in Mexico. He was 75 years-old and here's a googled recent pix.

His writing career reached back to 1960 when his first book was published. Since then, Westlake is credited with penning more than 90 books--most set in New York City and sometimes written under the another name, usually Richard Spark. To read more about his life, check here for three obituaries and for even some more, check his website.

Edgar Allen Poe Birthday Celebration

One of my fellow librarian has been busy working on a special project during the past few weeks--developing a library celebration for the 200th birthday of writer Edgar Allen Poe. The event will be modest yet fun with cake and door prizes but our library is actually playing catch-up with a number of such events around the country. Poe's birthday is January 19th.

Of course, the literary giant--considered the inventor of detective fiction--will command much greater attention at his final resting place of Baltimore. And the website "Nevermore2009" gives the dirty on what to expect there with several big events scheduled throughout the year.

Anyone up for a trip to "Charm City"?

Book club discusses "The Seventh Sense"

This month the book club used an older title (1999) for the book discussion--T.J. MacGregor's The Seventh Sense. This is a stand-alone fiction title by MacGregor, who has written under other versions of her name, the "Tango Key" series and astrology books. And here's a pix of Trish MacGregor from her website.

The setup for the Seventh Sense is a sudden and lethal case of road rage resulting in the death of a driver and shake up of the passenger, his pregnant wife. The enraged driver, attorney Frank Benedict, panics and drives away from the scene later consoling himself with the notion that bad things happen to people (that is, that's the G-rated version of his thinking). That pregnant passenger is FBI agent Charlotte "Charlie"Calloway, who has a tragic miscarriage and quietly vows revenge against the driver.

Meanwhile, Frank enlists the aid of his wife, Anita, to get rid of the damaged
vehicle and to cover up any signs of criminal activity. The results strain the relationship and the mistrust takes its toll.

And Charlie gets assistance from a co-worker who enlists the help of an old
friend, former agent Doug Logan, to figure the case out. Logan, it turns out, possess unique psychic powers which include visions from touching another person.

Our book club discussion including the topics:

the actions of Frank Benedict and his redeeming qualities

a lawyer as a good criminal

Anita Benedict's response to Frank's actions and her family background

the possible relationship between Doug and Charlie (and her possible growing supernatural power)

a surprise ending with a violent confrontation

favorite characters from the novel (including a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease)

good pacing and writing of the book by the author (I disagreed on the pacing
and thought the book rushed the ending but no one else said so)

good tale of revenge for greatly wronged heroine Charlie (of course, Charlie is wronged but naked blood lust for Frank left me oddly cool too)

the seventh sense itself.

No had read MacGregor but a few looked up and started to read other books written by her.

Book series comes to HBO in 2009--

I have HBO at home and aside from a few destinated shows, I don't watch it too much. And yet, I had it on between shows recently and got sucked into watched a long commercial segment with the networks' upcoming shows when I was surprised to see one new show. For just a split-second, the TV screen shows that Alexander McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series is coming soon.

I'm impressed that Botswana's fictional folksy detective, Precious Ramotswe, is bound for the screen although it is not brand new entertainment news (thanks, Variety). Oh well, good news is good news.

A Good Read in Advance of the Inauguration--

After the presidential election, you'd expect a lull in the all things political scene but recent news stories dictate otherwise. And I think you regular news readers (or radio listeners for NPR) would agree with me.

In that vein with an inauguration of a new president coming soon, I noticed this new paperback mystery which should have genuine appeal with all the fanfare of the upcoming presidential inauguration. The paperback is the second of the series featuring the most unlikeliest of heroines--a White House chef. Julie Hyzy writes about ambitious chef Ollie Paras with her new adventures in Hail to the Chef (a White House Chef Mystery). In this book, Ollie is quite busy when two strange deaths occur close to her and she feels drawn to follow her suspicions about them. The first death is of a careful electrician who is electrocuted to death and the second is of the First Lady's nephew who just hours before had worked with Ollie preparing food.

Hail to the Chef, also professes to include "recipes for a complete presidential meal" on the book cover.

Hyzy does show strong creative promise with this series. The first book is State of the Onion which my library system does not have.

The Recession and book publishing

Bad news just doesn't escape most of us and the book world is not immune I heard a recent radio news story about a major book publisher cutting back its work force and looking today, I found related stories on the Web. In particular, an AP news story says book publisher Macmillian (which includes [popular mystery] writer Janet Evanovich according to the article) is reducing its work force.

And yet, the book budget is unfazed as Macmillian CEO John Sargent says there will not be a change in the budget for acquiring books. So, that's good news. Still, you have to expect this would economy impact the book industry in negative ways. You just have to hope the good stories keep finding their way into print.

Book Club discusses "Still Life"

In November, the book club read and discussed the first Louise Penny book of the "Three Pines" mysteries Still Life. A few in the group had already read this book and moved through the three books of the series while the fourth book, A Rule Against Murder (an Armand Gamache Novel) arrives on bookshelves in January according to Amazon.

Here's a photo of Ms. Penny from her website. I also marveled at her busy schedule for her book tour including America (she lives in Canada). At the same day and time our book club met, she had a book signing scheduled for the Royal St. George's College in Toronto.

One book attendee said the series can read like a 900-page novel with the first three books running together. It certainly appears to make good sense as the same characters (mostly) appear in book after book. The series features Chief Inspector Armand Gamache from Quebec with a team of investigators called to handle homicide cases in the Three Pines village. In this story, Armand visits Three Pines for the first time to investigate the death of an old resident shot and killed by a hunting bow and arrow.

Some of the discussion focused on the following:

one character named "Ruth" who's a notable resident--a poet--and very blunt and harsh

the even temperament of Chief Inspector Gamache with his squad and the public in a noisy investigation

an expected climax when the police confront the murderer

how the relationship between one central couple in the story changes and sours

how Gamache works with a difficult young investigator on his squad (another very blunt-speaking character)

the appeal of the Three Pines village to the reader, the sense of community and humor.

The book was well-received and the group (all who attended began and finished the book) and some expressed interest in going through the series. I added additional information about the writer's background (working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and the multiple awards that Still Life received (including the New Blood Dagger for best first Mystery by the Crime Writers Association in Great Britain and the Arthur Ellis for best first Mystery by the Crime Writers of Canada).

Those cutesy book titles--

When moving the library's paperback mystery books collection recently, I noticed a book with a title that made me smile and shake my head. That book, Deader Than Disco by David Hiltbrand, was sitting at the end of the shelf and I had to smile while I caught myself (disco is fine with me--except the silly stuff). Oh well, if you can't catch the potential reader by the cover--at least go for the title, huh?

Looking over those paperbacks (and some others), I noticed a few other titles like Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley, Monkey See, Monkey Die by Cynthia Baxter and Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned by Kinky Friedman. You have to know that a good murder mystery can use good humor to keep the reader going.

In fact, during some book club discussions I ask "why does the book have its title?" Some titles are self-evident while many are a mystery saved til the last chapters of the book (or the results of the book publisher and marketing one attendee said once).

In any case, you have to sell your goods to succeed.

If you want a genre bender title, then maybe--

Writer and college professor Justin Gustainis has a new paperback series which may dovetail in the hot popularity of the supernatural and fantasy (no vampires to my knowledge though). His titles feature supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner white witch Libby Chastain. The first book is Black Magic Woman and I spied it in the new fiction book area of the library a few days ago.

Black Magic Woman tells of the investigative duo helping a family plagued by a curse which may date back to the Salem Witch Trials. They follow a trial through hazardous occult communities across the country--including San Francisco, New York and New Orleans--to resolve their case.

Although these works are a genre bender more as fantasy and thriller with all the action, Woman and the follow-up title (Evil Ways according to the author's website), I suspect it could have some strong appeal for those looking a bizarre sort of mystery.

Book Club discusses "The Blood Detective"

Last month the book club discussed the first novel by writer Dan Waddell,
The Blood Detective. In this novel, a surprising alliance is formed to solve a murder case between the two London police officials in charge and a local genealogist. Nigel Barnes is the family historian brought into the police case headed by Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster and Detective Superintendent Heather Jenkins. And Barnes' sharp eye and familiarity with the subject matter--genealogy information--keep him around as a consultant (and employed) for the immediate future.

This is Waddell's first novel after working a journalist and writer of 10 nonfiction books. The concept for the Barnes character came to Waddell following his book adaptation of a popular BBC TV series about genealolgy called Who Do You Think You Are? That is shared with other information by Waddell in a queston and answer session in an audio interview which Waddell discusses The Blood Detective and more. Here's a photo of Waddell from Google.

The novel treated the reader to interesting surprises as Barnes and Foster both
have background issues which they'd rather keep quiet. And the killer does murder more than one with gruesome methods as a message to the police.

Our discussion targeted several issues:
* a clever title for a book about an amateur sleuth working in the genealogy field
* the detail involved in genealogy study and the appeal for Barnes
* Foster and Jenkin's dilemma when handling the murder case of vagrant
* Foster's quiet background situation of possibly assisting in the death
of his ill father (he is acquitted of wrongdoing in the novel and that
is a fair decision--ultimately)
* Barnes leaves a university job after an affair with a student (a situation much less sordid than it seems)
* the messages left by the murders and the surprising reason for the murders
* English slang (this is a London story)

We have a good discussion about the book and there was interest in reading the next book of the series Blood Atonement due next year.

Paretsky Visits Charlotte for Author Festival

Last Wednesday and Thursday, my library system hosted mystery novelist Sara Paretsky for back-to-back evening events and I was able to attend both.

It was the end of the library's "Novello: festival of reading" and I worked as a volunteer, ushering the first night and helping to man the wine bar on the second. The first night consisted of an author talk with questions from the audience and book signings. The second night was a clued-filled mystery program with food, drink and music--Chicago themed.

I enjoyed the events and was glad I had attended. And I was able to speak Ms. Paretsky the second evening. Looking fashionably stylish in her black hat, here's a pix of Ms. Paretsky with the volunteer I worked with when pouring drinks at the mystery-dinner event (a new professional in Charlotte, she said just call her by her nickname "Kiki").

Now, the first evening when she spoke (and I ushered), I jotted down a few notes while sitting in the back. They included the following:
* as a youngster, girl detective Nancy Drew didn't appeal to her (particularly with "no siblings and domestic responsibilities")
* she moved to New York City to become a writer at 23 but later moved to Chicago to work as a secretary ("Chicago became the city that shaped my voice and view of the world.")
* as a devoted reader of crime novels, she became determined to write a private eye novel but that was only a dream for her for a eight-year period (afterwards, "V.I. Warshawski" was created)
* Paretsky wanted to create a female private eye who didn't fit the role of the standard role of women in noir fiction (i.e. victim or temptress)
* writing a story set in Chicago was a hard sell years ago
* "Fiction gives us the heroes we wish we could be."

Paretsky's newest "V.I. Warshawski novel" is entitled Hardball and is in the editors hands after several drafts, she said. Her website has an excerpt.

And she posts to a blog supported by Chicago six other crime writers called "The Outfit." She also read from her most recent blog post in the author talk "What happens to the novel in the Age of Fragmentation?"

Best-selling author Tony Hillerman dies

When I heard Monday morning that writer Tony Hillerman had died, I thought that the mystery fiction world lost a favorite son. He was 83. And here's a recent pix of Hillerman from Google.

The prolific writer of the Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels left a stored collection of culture and creativity, most prominently with his long-running mystery series with Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. A quick check of my library system's catalog finds 64 Hillerman titles includes books on CD or tape, edited collections and a memoir Seldom Disappointed.

The Associated Press reported Hillerman developed an appreciation for Indian culture as a student in a school for Potawatomie Indian girls in Oklahoma. As an adult, he become a journalist, later a journalism instructor and began writing novels.

Leading a life that was varied and enriching, Hillerman has a unique life story as shared recently in the New York Times.

Hillerman's last book The Shape Shifter, from 2006, is summarized as being retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn's last case--an unsolved crime which troubles him and returns him to active police work.

Eye Catching Book Title--

When one of co-workers opened a box of new fiction books recently, I noticed a new paperback with Charleston (SC) in the title and I gave it a long glance. I really like Charleston. The full title of the book is The Charleston Ripper by Steve Brown and the cover includes the description: A modern-day Jack the Ripper stalks his victims in Old Charleston. The book's website (www.chicksprings.com) says the book features detective Susan Chase.

Looking this book over I found it has a very strong local connection with the publisher, Chick Springs Publishing, in Taylors, South Carolina. And, that writer Steve Brown has a sizable body of writings with "The Myrtle Beach Mysteries" (six books) and four others. The book's website says Brown writes historical fiction in addition to mysteries and claims he is "one of South Carolina's most versatile writers." I'll say this: I credit him with developing a series of titles in locations where you get crime and trouble instead of sand and suds.

Book Club discusses "The Genius"

In September, the book club discussed Jesse Kellerman's newest book The Genius. The son of writers Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, Jesse (the accompanying photo comes from Google) has released his third novel set in the fast-paced New York City contemporary art scene with its demanding artists and competitive lifestyle.
Art dealer Ethan Muller is a member of this environment and when a unique art piece (consisting of multiple drawings for a single design) set falls in his possession--he appears to have found gold. The artist is an older man named Victor Cracke but he is missing. After a search for the man, Ethan forges ahead and opens a show with the newly-found art. The attention-grabbing work is good for business but draws unexpected attention. It rises the curiosity of a retired police detective, Lee McGrath, who recognizes in the art the identities of actual murder victims from years earlier. So, then, how is the absent artist involved? Muller and McGrath began a tenuous relationship to investigate.

We liked the story and found the layered story entertaining. The novel bounces from present-day NYC to "Interlude" chapters beginning 1847 with a family tree story of immigrants setting in the city with ties to the present day. One unique story involves a deformed family member hidden from the public and one attendee remembered how visited a family with that situation (that person could be hear but was not seen).

The Ethan Muller and Lee McGrath team later switch to Muller and Samantha McGrath (Lee's DA daughter) as the investigation continues and a romantic begins. That was a troublesome aspect for some as that relationship seemed unlikely and forced (I didn't agree as the writer seemed to make it appear plausible--my take). While working with Samantha--Ethan does his own legwork though--he is able to use the *cover* of working with the DA when interviewing others.

Otherwise, Ethan does actually have a girl-friend, Marilyn, who is also in his field so that Ethan does have a messy personal life by his doing. Those actions and attitudes create conflict with results throughout the novel.

Victor Cracke is the other major player in this novel as the "genius" with artiistic talent. Is he a genius though? Ethan mulls over the concept of "genius" and the skill with which Victor created art. One attendee suggested however, Victor may have a medical disorder--autism--which guides his talents. At times during Victor's growth into adulthood, he is placed in institutionized settings for convenince, but not treatment.

A well-written book, most said they would recommend this title to others.

God bless you, Paul Newman

I enjoyed going to Paul Newman movies over the years (Slap Shot, Fort Apache the Bronx and The Verdict anyone?) and I was saddened to hear of his recent death. I still find it a little odd to see his pix on salad dressing bottles but he was blessed to have mulitple careers and ventures.

I do give him partial credit to directing me to mysteries as a genre when I discovered his version of writer Ross McDonald's private eye Lew Archer in the films Harper and years later The Drowning Pool. In the Newman movies, a character's name was changed to Harper--and I've read two different accounts why that is the case--and Harper is based on the novel, The Moving Target while The Drowning Pool is the same title of the book. As it happened, the movies lead me to reading the books and I enjoyed McDonald's strong narrative of the lone wolf California PI.

The two Harper movies are in the new Newman collection DVD set and the photo on the cover case (shown here) is from the first movie.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (6)

Fortunately, our library doesn't skimp on finding new mysteries--here are three more new ones.

First is Soul Patch: a Moe Prager mystery by Reed Farrel Coleman. This paperback features the New York private investigator, Prager, returning to his cop roots in Coney Island as he is drawn into a murder investigation and the recent death of a NYPD detective. Prager's assignment is additionally hampered by the mistrust between the police and him when delving into police criminal activity which occurred up to 30 years earlier. Prager also has his emotions further churned up as his marriage has troubles and his attention drifts to an attractive Latina detective. Coleman's new novel is 233 pages and the fourth of the "Prager mystery" series.

The next book is Roux Morgue by Claire M. Johnson, a second entry of the Mary Ryan series. Ryan, a San Francisco pastry chef, returns to her old alma mater to teach and lands in an annoying turf war between her original mentors and her contemporaries. That may not be so surprising but additional job pressures from the dean and two unexpected deaths of fellow faculty lead to a decidedly dicey environment. This story is on the cozy side too with a possible romance for Ryan and humor for the reader. The book is 223 pages.

Last is In the Night of the Heat: a Tennyson Hardwick novel, a new title with the writing collaboration of actor Blair Underwood with Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes. In this second Hollywood mystery with African-American private detective/actor Hardwick, he is requested to help a football star facing threats after his acquittal in a murder case. Preoccupied with a good, new TV job,Hardwick declines but events change so that he reverses his decision. The acting job suddenly appears and the football star suffers a sudden death from questionable suicide. Again, the offer comes to help--this time in the investigation of the football player's death from his family (with a sizable money offer)--and Hardwick agrees. The case jumps from location (the governor's mansion) to time period (the 1960s) with the detective facing dangers from the work and juicy dangers from a steamy background. The book is 447 pages.

Finally, actor Blair Underwood (currently in ABC-TV's Dirty Sexy Money) is a big draw for the book as he is on the book cover (unlike the first Tennyson Hardwick book) and the cover says "Blair Underwood presents... [book title]" (again, unlike the first book.) Interesting move, book editors.

Crime writer James Crumley dies

Browsing through the New York Times online Sunday, I found that writer James Crumley had died last week at age 68. According the news stories, Crumley was an influential crime novelist with his violent private eye novels set in the American West of Montana (Crumley's home state as an adult). Here's a somewhat recent photo of Crumley from Google.

A specialist in hard-boiled private detective fiction, Crumley is credited with moving the genre pass the Raymond Chandler era to its then present day of post-Vietnam stories. His best-known is The Last Good Kiss (a title that one fellow librarian remembers reading years ago) published in 1978.

That book features the dubious private eye C.W. Sughrue, "a former Vietnam War criminal and hard-drinking, cocaine-snorting womanizer." The other PI series Crumley started earlier featured Milton Chester "Milo" Milodragovitch, a multiple divorced man who's also (like Sughre) [a] "hard-drinking, cocaine-snorting womanizer."

In fact, I looked on the library shelves and found one book The Right Madness available by Crumley. The cover shows a man sitting quietly in a darken bar, lighting up a smoke--certainly a fitting image for Crumley's fictional world.

Although not a big-name seller with his books with stories that lose some logistics, Crumley has notable fans including writers George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly according to the Washington Post obituary.

Wall Street Fiction (fun stuff)--

If you are fearing the worse with all the new troublesome news stories coming out about Wall Street this week, then grab a fiction book about the financial world and see if things might be better. Wall Street Noir is another of the Akashic's noir anthology series of short mystery fiction. This one features (mostly) writers with financial backgrounds in 17 stories.

I was surprised to find this title but pleased with the creativity that is out there to focus on this American institution ripe with possible pitfalls. As written in Publishers Weekly these fictional stories find actions of "greed, volatility and desperation often lead to crime." Well, maybe this might let you focus on the troubles of others for a bit.

Wall Street is edited by the Shamus Award-winning author Peter Spiegelman.

Book Club discusses "Death of a Writer"

Last month, the book club discussed Michael Collins's Death of a Writer and after a delay, here's an abbreviated post of the book discussion. Collins is an Irish born writer and international ultra-distance runner--Death is his eighth and newest book. Here's a Googled pix of Collins.

This novel has a college setting when a severely-ill professor's hidden work is discovered and becomes a publishing sensation when promoted by a friendly graduate student and a rival writer. The professor's work documents the acts of a murder which, upon closer examination, appear to match the circumstances of a local unsolved murder. Is it remotely possible that the professor was involved in the actual murder? The book is largely split with the Professor Pendleton's story and the investigation by a cold case detective.

Our attitude about the book was *somewhat* mixed. Two of us somewhat liked the book. Two people didn't choose to finish it and the rest didn't care for the book. And one cleverly summarized the book was repetitive and pretentious (plus other term I forgot).

The mystery story was fine but the extra storyline with some characters led to sordid paths that appeared to just dead-end. In fact, none of the characters had a truly cheerful life although there was one--the graduate student, Adi--you would hope to see succeed.

The story of Pendleton and his hardships give the novel a good start but the longer it goes, the more it appears to drag on. As one asked if the novel had any humor (well, dark humor then as promised in the book jacket), we found very little in the story.

Ultimately, when asked if we could recommend the book to any one--none of us could say "yes."

Yestersday's News Become New Fiction Books (Hurricane Katrina)

With the recent Hurricane Gustav headlines, the three-year old Hurricane Katrina is back in the American consciousness. Since that time, of course, books about the tragedy have swept up in bookstores and libraries with its share of fiction books. Our library system has at least three adult titles in the mystery genre.

First is James Lee Burke's Tin Roof Blowdown from the long-running series with Iberia Parish Sheriff's Detective Dave Robicheaux. He travels to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help restore civil order which includes dealing with violent and desperate lawbreakers roaming the streets.

I have a copy of this book at home (a Christmas gift).

Second, I noticed in our new book section months ago, First the Dead by Tim Downs. This book marks the third of the series with forensic entomologist Nick "Bug Man"Polchak, so nicknamed because he is an expert in using bugs to deduce the time and circumstances of death. A member of DMORT, the disaster mortuary operational response team, used by FEMA to assist with mass casualties, Polchak goes to New Orleans when Katrina hits. Some corpses, however, show signs of death before the storm and Polchak's investigation takes a much different turn. First the Dead is also under the Christian fiction genre.

Last is New Orleans Noir, a collection of 18 unpublished short stories edited by Julie Smith. This is the twelfth book of the recent city noir short story series with two sections for the pre-and post-Katrina entries. Well-known writers such as Laura Lippman contribute to this project along with those on the rise.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (5)

Looking at the new mysteries downstairs (with the newest fiction books) I ran across two titles with political themes but in very different places and times. And it is a presidential election year so if you can not get enough politics from the newspaper, TV, etc.--then there is more...

The first is Broken Heartland: a Mad Dog & Englishman mystery by J. M. Hayes. It is set in the present day U.S. midwest with a sheriff's election as the focus. Running for re-election, Sheriff English of Benteen County, Kansas, has a tough contest with a born-again Christian candidate using his family against him as a political issue. Matters nosedive for English, however, with a series of sensation events. First, a deputy crashes into a school bus of area teenagers with the Benteen teen choir during a vehicle chase. After the accident, the bus driver mysteriously vanishes. Meanwhile, Benteen would have to play catch-up with all those issues later as he investigates a shooting at a local school. This is the fourth novel of the "English mystery" series. The book is 229 pages.

The next book is a historical mystery set in Egypt after World War I. The Mark of the Pasha : a Mamur Zapt Mystery by Michael Pearce is the sixteenth of this long-running series. Gareth Cadwallader Owen (known as "Mamur Zapt" or head of the secret police) is busy confronting possible bomb threats in Egypt as relaid by his operatives. This police work also proceeds his big safety detail assignment of a visiting major European delegation to the capital. The book is 200 pages.

From the (U.S.) print to (Foreign) screens--

Following the good suggestion to read a Harlan Coben title years ago, the book club had Tell No One as its June selection for 2003. I recall at the time when we discussed the book, I had read that this 2001 novel was slated to make it to the big screen with a film adaptation sometime in the
future.

Well, now, the once-Chicago based story (I seem to remember the setting being in Chicago) is in France as produced in part by EuropaCorp, M6 Films and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing and Music Box Film. Starting with a limited release date on July 2nd, the film quietly crept in my movie-viewing area this weekend.

The plot is the same as I remember--here's the info from Yahoo! Movies (including the movie poster): Pediatrician Alexandre Beck still grieves the murder of his beloved wife, Margot, eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the crime, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest Margot is somehow still alive and a message to "Tell No One."

Good to see the film is finally out for the public to enjoy--it is the type to translate well as a good story from the novel to the movie screen. And the results had been be successful as the film has won 4 Cesar Awards (the national film award for France) including best actor and best director in 2007.

The French title is Ne le dis a personne. And double-checking Harlan Coben's website to read about the film, I see it will be available on DVD on October 15th.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (4)

I've missed promoting the new books recently on the blog but here it comes another posting with new mystery books--this time three paperbacks.

The first book is Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man by Claudia Mair Burney. Listed under the African American fiction category in the library's system, it is the first of a new series and identified as "an Amanda Bell Brown mystery" on the book cover. Ms. Brown is a forensic psychologist who uses her professional expertise to investigate a mystery involving an underground cult with a pattern of abuse. Along the way, she meets a good-looking detective. This 291 page book is also under the Christian fiction genre.

A vastly different mystery setting from the present day is in 18th century England for the next book, The Crimson Cavalier by Mary Andrea Clarke. This book is named for a local highwayman--a colorful character--presumed of a London murder of magistrate. The Cavalier has an unlikely defender in gentlewoman, Miss Georgiana Grey and her associates in this cause. Attempting to find the likely murderer, Grey amasses a list of suspects and puts her own life in jeopardy. This 288 page book is the first of a new series.

The last book is Thugs and Kisses : an Odelia Grey mystery. This series features a plump and lively paralegal ameatur sleuth. In this outing, Odelia attends her 30-year high school reunion with a friendly homicide detective when--it's hard to imagine here--a person turns up dead. The decedent is a (deserving?) class bully who still is mercilessly cruel to Odelia. Despite it all, she starts an investigation and finds several individuals with reasons to kill the guy and Odelia has another challenge too as her boss vanishes. The book is 329 pages and is tagged as "chick lit fiction."

Good in small doses--

I just finished reading the new Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich and after a long break between books in the series found it a good read. The Stephanie Plum novel of the New Jersey bounty hunter has a breathless quality of piling action, upon twist, upon humor throughout. I do like the funny quips and the characters grew on me. And the murder mystery itself is decent as the story picks up steam.

Truth be told though, this is only the second book of the wildly, popular series that I've read--I did start with the first of the series One for the Money, at least. I haven't read the others and that is mainly due to looking at other works and writers.

Should I have jumped forward in this series and not read a few of the others? I guess so but with the frequency of this series--the first book was published in 1994--I don't feel that I've missed that much. So how should I gauge the other "Stephanie Plum" books? Well, I hear comments from people at work when the new titles are released and "word of mouth" lets me know to pay attention to the series but beware of repeat episodes (Stephanie's mishaps that is) in a long-running series.

Book club discusses "Person of Interest"

Back in June, the book club read and discussed Theresa Schwegel's Person of Interest for its monthly book selection. Schwegel is a 2005 Edgar award winner for her novel Officer Down and Person of Interest (from 2007) is her newest work. Here's a pix of Schwegel that also appears in back of the book.

This novel is twist on the standard crime novel of sorts in that it focuses nearly equally on the wife of police detective as much as the detective. Leslie McHugh is a detective's wife and mother of a nearly out-of-control teenage daughter. Feeling the pressures of life more, she does feel lonely while her husband, Craig is a dedicated uncover cop in a difficult assignment and nearly absent from home. Craig is currently trying to pose as an easy mark in a series of gambling games in the Chinese community of Chicago.

Alternating chapters in the book--I liked this technique--the story is told from Leslie and Craig's perspective of Craig's big case and related events.

As I recalled with those of us gathered, I preferred the book much more than others. A couple gave up on the book after reading for a while--with one wanting more of a mystery story and another not caring for the characters. And granted this book is not a standard mystery as such with a lot of time devoted to Leslie who is outside of Craig's work environment. However, she does begin to suspect him of adultery and begins an investigation, of sorts, on her own.

I guess I was OK with a hybrid novel of sorts. One attendee, though, found that tact a disappointment. I suspect I should have checked closer on the content of the book...

Some didn't care for a twist in the novel (a quite violent one) and found the victim's response unlikely. It also appeared to invite an sort of grand white knight ("male savior") situation as the resolution which left one person cold.

As the case in many novels, characters actions are a back breaker for following a novel's appeal and some questionable judgments with these characters were turn-offs.

Bad news on the book review beat--

I walked into the family room earlier this week to catch the news on the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS-TV and heard a discussion about book reviews. Listening closer, I found the participants were talking about the shrinking space for book review sections in today's newspapers.

One speaker lamented the situation and soberly discussed the cutback of book review sections in newspapers. Another guest had a different take and noted the benefit of blogs with book reviews which are available now.

Walking in the middle of the discussion, I asked myself, "OK, what's this all about?" Double checking the PBS website, I found that the Los Angeles Times had ceased its weekly stand alone book review section following this Sunday's issue. That led to the the discussion about the shrinking of the book section in papers nationwide. That would also include our local daily paper in town.

Yuck. We all benefit from a good and strong book review newspaper section in the newspapers--particularly for local talent. However, it is not that good blogs don't fill a great need too especially being somewhat interactive in nature.

Yet, you be a judge on the matter yourself and read more about it here if interested about the TV interviews.

Work or leisure...?

Lemme see, if you see a local novelist in your library what would you think: work or leisure? I mused over that thought when I recently saw two mystery writers at two different times in the library. One writer was in the check-out line whereas the other was heading down the stairs to the first floor.

Now a trip to the library for a writer may entail just the standard type of library visit as for most of us--that is books and reading. Reading the work of others has to inspire and to entertain the writer as much as anyone else. Of course, see what else good work is around.

Otherwise, a library trip might mean a research assignment for a writer. As helpful as the internet is for all, sometimes a book or reference book series is the ideal assistant.

Now, what was the case for the two I saw a few weeks ago? I don't know but I'm sure they're writing and reading as much as their day and schedule permits. I certainly believe they have *fun* jobs (most days).

It's in the walk--!

Well, I'm guessing it may be in the walk of many people but apparently there's a surer way to watch out for crime.

At the last book club I looked over and noticed a regular with the book entitled Crime Signals : how to spot a criminal before you become a victim by David Givens. I also noticed it was a new book so it caught my curiosity.

Personal safety is always a concern for anyone and noticing unsavory characters or behavior is just important to navigate in many settings. In fact, I'd like to think I venture around without much fear of others but too often I realize that's not quite the case.

A glance of the book's chapters include the topics of the tell-tale signs of a swindler, anticipating an assault and "reading the gang signs."

This book may be a good read for many but particularly aspirating mystery writers like my friend at the book club. She may have a really good non-fiction title to add to her usual mystery novels to read.

How's your summer reading...?

It's officially summer now--so, how's your pleasure reading? Need any help? On our library downstairs display book cart labeled "Check Out--these just returned materials" I blinked and Margaret Truman's Murder on K Street disappeared from the available books for quick browsing.

In the new issue of the weekly alternative newspaper in town Janet Evanovich's newest Fearless Fourteen is second in the tops of books of "Charlotte Bestsellers List." No surprise there, huh?

And the July O: the Orpah Magazine has a nice cover story about summer reading with its article "Not Your Typical Murder Mystery." Those to make the cut are Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser, Shelter Half by Carol Bly, Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell and Careless in Red by Elizabeth George.

I'll admit I only tend to look at O Magazine and think cute, colorful covers but I don't open them to read. I am glad I noticed this story about summer books though--good tips.

The Best Hollywood film mysteries--

Last week, CBS-TV aired the American Film Institute's list its top 10 lists in 10 film genres. I missed the show but thanks to the Associated Press story, I saw that there was (thankfully) a "Mystery" entry.

The number one mystery film is right at 50-years-old now, the eerie and dramatic Alfred Hitchcock classic "Vertigo" from 1958. [I count it as a fun treat that I did see the movie on the big screen years ago. I think most good films deserve a movie theatre viewing.] I didn't know until I looked it up in Patrick McGilligan's biography Alfred Hitchcock: a life in darkness and light that the movie plot evolved from screenwriters adaptation of a French novel by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. The story was also set during World War II (unlike present-day San Francisco in the movie). I googled the original film poster which I think is a masterpiece in itself. It is a great choice for the category although the second selection "Chinatown" is my long-time personal favorite from 1974.

The list continues with "Rear Window" from 1954, "Laura" from 1944, "The Third Man" from 1949, "The Maltese Falcon" from 1941, "North by Northwest" from 1959, "Blue Velvet," from 1986, "Dial M for Murder" from 1954, and "The Usual Suspects" in 1995.

Thank goodness for DVDs and microwave popcorn!

Book Club discusses "Bangkok Tattoo"

Bangkok Tattoo was the book selection for the book club for May (as mentioned in the previous post) and it was a first this respect: an explanation about the writer and his work was emailed before the book club. Author John Burdett was featured in an original essay entry for "Powells.com" as a writer about Thailand who decided to base a detective series there. (Here's a pix of John that matches the one in the back of the book lap.)

Entitled "The Power of Difference," Burdett's essay details Thailand culture and environment through the narrow perspective of Theravada Buddhism (in Southeast Asia) and women sex workers in the bar scenes.

I suspected the essay would be helpful to put the book in perspective or understand it and some book clubbers agreed.

Here are some other points made regarding the book: two had visited Thailand years ago and didn't recognize it from the novel (of course, Burdett writes about a small community of Thailand), the wry humor (mainly as told by narrator Sonchai Detective Jitpleecheep with his observations of life) was appreciated and one person skipped the book after reading a number of pages while another went on to read the first "Jitpleecheep" novel, Bangkok 8. Additionally, it was pointed out that frequently used term for foreigners farang seemed to be a derogatory (maybe on the sly side?) code name for Americans and Europeans. One book clubber said she never heard that expression in Thailand.

Finally, the author's writing was considered good (although unduly graphic at times as one pointed out and I read a graphic scene that jumped out at me) and crafty with the story broken into sections that relay the entire novel. And the writing style of long (elaborate) sentences caught my eye as, for instance, the detective prepares for breakfast out and considers: I'm pretty hungry, so I choose kuay jap, a thick broth of Chinese mushrooms and pork lumps streaming with nutrition as the hawker dips and raises his ladle, a great writhing knot of kuaytiaw phat khii mao (literally "drunkard's fried noodles"; a stir-fry of rice noodles, basil, chicken, and crimson tide of fresh sliced childes), a single fried trout with naam plaa (a transcendentally sauce made of fermented anchovy__an acquired taste, farang), a glass of cold, clear nongaseous water from the world-famous Krung Tep Faucets, a 7-Up--and I'm all set.

OK, now there's a sentence that tries to say it all.

More with Arthur Rosenfeld--

Here's an additional message about Mr. Rosenfeld (see the previous post for more), if you look at his website on the ABOUT webpage then you'll see his "Favorite Books" list. Included is the John Burdett title Bangkok Tattoo, which ironically, the book club read in May for its book selection.

This book is a murder mystery set in Bangkok, Thailand with the police investigating the death of an CIA agent in the company of a prostitute. It is the second of a series with Royal Thai Police detective Sonchia Jitpleecheep in a novel with mystery, world politics, Buddhism and (steeped in) Eastern culture. This book would certainly appeal to Mr. Rosenfeld. Now as for the book club, here goes...

Another Genre to Mention...

Flipping through a recent Rolling Stone magazine I ran across an ad that really caught my eye. Check this out--(in red, large print) "Kung Fu Noir (Martial Art Fiction Comes of Age)" the ad proclaims.

Well, read further and the author of book promotion (The Cutting Season and Crocodile and the Crane, that is) explains all on his website. Of course, first you may go to the "kung fu noir" website and notice "Arthur Rosenfeld" in red at the bottom. This genre is (as of 2008) primarily: [a] unique blend of traditional martial arts tales (wuxia) with contemporary American crime fiction.

Different, huh? Rosenfeld says so and with a background in Asian culture and philosophy, a martial arts expert and writer of books and magazine articles, he appears to have "the right stuff" to proclaim this new genre. Here's a pix of the talented guy from his website. Our library system has his Crocodile book and would likely get more if these titles keep gaining interest.

Is he is on the start of a big new series for crime fiction? We'll have to see.