Author tour hits town--

Weeks ago I had written that a co-worker would share newsletters from bestseller writer Janet Evanovich and tact them up on the bulletin board in the staff lounge. As I read (and re-read) the newest one hanging in the lounge, I was genuinely surprised to see that she was coming to my home area in Charlotte for a book tour stop. WOW.

Her new book is Sizzlin' Sixteen and features the newest adventures of bounty hunter Stephanie Plum with her family and associates (and romantic interests).

I actually worked the night when Evanovich was scheduled to arrive here so I took a chance to run by the bookstore after work. And it worked out for me.

I ran in the big chain bookstore and found, ladies, ladies, ladies waiting with books for autographs the opportunity to take pictures of (and with) Evanovich. It was a festive affair with colorful balloons, a live musical performances and lapel pins for those to wear who prefer Plum's suitor Morelli or Ranger. While standing by I noticed one fellow was doing better than the other in the votes...

I only had my cell phone's camera to use but here's a shot of the author in "meet and greet (the public) mode."

***

Years ago, I purchased a paperback copy of Evanovich's first Plum novel One for the Money as a fun summer vacation read (my only Evanovich purchase). And I enjoyed and appreciated it for what it offered.

Yesterday, I felt pressed for time and didn't stand in line to see Evanovich but I'm curious of those of you reading--would you wait in line to see Ms. Evanovich???

A Favorite Branch Library Closes--

This past weekend I visited a small branch library near where I work to help (along with staff and the public) bid a fond adieu (here's a story from the local paper). Carmel branch library was a nice, little aging library loved by the locals for its convenience and staff. It has closed and I'll direct you to the library system's home page to read why and about the funding shortfall for the area public library system (it is quite a story...).

Carmel is also a library I visited years ago when I began planning to develop a mystery book club at my library and I took some time to visit the mystery book club there. I had not hosted a book club before and I was eager for ideas and a closer look at the dynamics of hosting a book club. Well, you have to get people involved--keep the ideas flowing (for titles and topics) and energy going for chatting.

It was a fun sesson from what I remember as the group was led by library patrons with a theme for each book club (i.e. settings in cold places, etc--you select your own title to read). That certainly was a way to open the the session to range of titles and personal favorites for each to discuss in a round-the-table manner. I liked that approach but wanted to have a book list to present to those coming (or considering attending).

I do not know how long the book club kept meeting after my visits (two, I guess), but I would said my long-time work with my book club certainly spring-boarded from their efforts.

Writing a good mystery...!

Following a recent book club, one attendee asked me if perhaps it seems our group is more harsh in our criticism of books than others. This came after another book discussion of book which took its share of lumps courtesy of our pointed opinions.

Sometimes I think we stick it rather hard with our critiques of the monthly mysteries but there is no true reason to meet and to gloss over a disappointing read. And we should share our opinions, some might have a completely different take on a book or an issue in it and the group as a whole benefits from that insight.

So, to get back to the question, I said I can't compare this book club to others as I only attend the one. However, another person who heard the question said she attends two other book clubs and remarked that "no" our book club is not any more harsher than those in critiques and comments.

Some common complaints include a mystery book with a minor mystery theme, a story which has trouble with continuality within the novel (or a book series), and a disappointing sense of atmosphere in the story whereas the novel could appear to take place anywhere and not where its set.

Of course there are formulas to making a successful mystery story and those formulas get slifted to degrees to mix it up and to keep things fresh. Mystery fiction can have the most unlikeliest of detectives and stories taking place half way around the world--the readers just want a worthy (if not just reasonable) and worthwhile effort for their reading investment.

So what is said at your book club?

WRITERS messages for interested fans--

Over the past years, one co-worker would post her mail correspondence from writer Janet Evanovich in the staff break room bulletin board. It was a newsletter called "Plum News" (of course, named after the writer's series protagonist Stephanie Plum) and checking the author's website, I see it is up to volume 13 now.

The newsletter is a fun product with personal family fun info (pet news, anyone?) aside from promos about the newest Evanovich book to hit the book shelves. Now, Evanovich does produce books with a cheetah's running pace so a newsletter is a good idea, however, others need to reach interested readers too and I've been the recipient in some instances. You may definitely put me in that camp but move me over to the email category as those are my only messages after shooting off an email to an author.

My most recent messages have been a series of emails--blog updates, actually--from writer Kwei Quartley ("Update from KweiQuartley.com") in Ghana doing research for an upcoming novel Children of the Street. It is a new book to feature his series protagonist Darko Dawson, who does reside in Ghana. The other writers I've received upcoming book updates include Julia Spencer-Flemming (e-newsletter "News from the Kill") and Sara Paretsky.

This is a fun practice and I'd suggest anyone really interested in a certain author or their work to sign up for email alerts if available.

Writer's messages for interested fans--

It is very nice to get a message from a writer you've been in contact with that person at some point. That occurred just last week when I heard from Mike Lawson, creator of the Joe DeMarco series.

He wrote the following to several and included me:

Although I know I've told many people recently that my new book, House Justice, is coming out June 1, I wanted to spread the word to everyone that's emailed me in the past. House Justice is about a press leak that gets a CIA agent killed and was sorta inspired by the real life Valerie Plame case. Library Journal called House Justice "a perfect political thriller" and Booklist said it was "a superb example of the post–cold war espionage novel." Personally, I doubt it's perfect - but those are great quotes. At any rate, House Justice will be stores on June 1 and the mass-market version of my fourth book, House Secrets, will be out the same day. House Secrets, by the way, was listed as one of the top thrillers of 2009 by three different publications. Also, I'll be signing my books in a lot of stores this summer. Usually I only sign in the Northwest but this year I'll be in Portland, Phoenix, Houston, and San Francisco as well. My website has the dates and places. Anyway, hope you'll consider getting the new book and telling your friends about it if you like it.

Thanks, Mike

(And thanks for writing Mike.)

Final Nights for New "Law & Order" Episodes on NBC-TV--

I was stunned when I read NBC-TV's long running series "LAW & ORDER" was cancelled from the upcoming fall season. It has hung around through cast changes and time changes over the years until I thought it could air another two or three years. Well, that was not to be.

I liked the set-up of the shows episodes split between the police detectives and the district attorneys' work on a case. And I liked the New York City sets. I became hooked on the show during the last season of the Briscoe/Curtis detective (with actors Jerry Orbach and Benjamin Bratt) era and hung in ever since. The procedural set-up won me over as good and life-like storytelling for TV crime fiction. Here's a pix of the current cast from Google.

I like the current cast and think they have done some good work. And yet, we have all favorites and my true favorite was during the Briscoe/Green detective (with actors Orbach and Jesse L. Martin) era. In any regard, I'm a bigger fan of watching the detective work for the set-up of the case although I do want to see how the case survives (and concludes) in court.

Thanks to various cable stations over the years, I've been able to see most shows going back the first episode and I have a greater appreciate for the entire body of work. Some stories stretch too hard for the famed "ripped from the headlines" theme of the show but I have found most "Law & Order" shows very watchable.

I'll miss it--or do you think 20 years was too long for this series?

Book club discusses "Paper Butterfly"

Another international setting was the target for the book club this month as the novel Paper Butterfly is set in Beijing. The second in a series of mysteries by Diane Wei Liang, the book features Mei Wang as a private investigator in modern day China.

In this googled photo of author Liang, you have the same picture as shown in the book jacket of Paper Butterfly.

Wang, formerly with the Ministry of Public Security (the police), works independently as a detective with all with the trappings of a successful businesswoman including the employment of a male secretary.

She is beginning a new case to search for an up and coming pop singer, Kaili, who has recently disappeared for several days and a record company executive, who summons Mei, concludes that Kaili is actually missing. Meanwhile, Mei's reliable assistant Gupin also appears to have oddly disappeared and she starts to wonder about him.

Paper Butterfly is divided (for a period) between Mei's investigation of the mysterious Kaili and a poor laborer, Lin, who is en routine to Beijing to meet a special person in his life which does have an impact on Mei's work.

The book club attendees had the following observations:

• the novel didn't give enough atmosphere or information about China culture's today for most
• the question of money popped up when it was asked how Mei supported herself to the extent that she did or being successful in her business
• Mei's personality was questioned too as it seemed aside from work and immediate family, she had no interests although it was noted she is finicky about her tea
• despite working in a location (Beijing) not traditionally used for mystery novels, I liked that Mei is very similar to other fictional detectives in her makeup as [for instance] being determined to close cases and as another mentioned, she has a resourceful network of associates and contacts for her work
• the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 was featured in the book as an important time in history for Mei and Lin and the same is likewise for the author but one attendee thought the book became close to a rant from the author about the protests
• one attendee said Mei's foot travels through Beijing seemed dangerous (or unlikely?) while another said the situation there is likely very different from the U.S. [and to add a related perspective, I mentioned that the author has a short video on her author web page of an actress (?) representing Mei who walks around various neighborhoods, etc., on her own]
• one book club regular wrote and shared with me as an email, "I enjoyed 'Paper Butterfly' and would like to read more books by this author. At first, I was a little confused and thrown off stride by the alternating of chapters between Mei and Lin. Then I got used to it, and at that moment, they came together. The weaving of the story with the events in Tiananmen Square, and the reality of the oppression, with Lin's imprisonment, set the background..[spoiler material omitted]..I kind of wanted Lin to come out all right, but that would have been too easy."
• still another person said this book was her least favorite of the books she had read in the book club (in two years).

Has anyone else read Paper Butterfly or the first Mei Wang mystery The Eye of Jade? What did you think?

Remember that book we (the book club) read about--

Do you remember when? Well, sometimes you just don't and that's why I'm writing about a growingly frequent situation in our book club sessions.

The question comes up about a book read earlier--a month ago, several months ago or even years ago now (think of how long you have been meeting as a book club)--and you have a pregnant pause trying to remember the book.

That happened last time when as we discussed our new book set in Beijing , China this month and one attendee mentioned another book set in China we had read. I could not remember the title--nor anyone else for that matter--but I did finally remember the author's name, Peter May, and mentioned it.

Checking later, I found that the book we read was The Firemaker by May and it was the first of his "China thriller" series (he has another series too). The book club read that book back in October 2007.

I'm guessing for the future I ought to keep with me a copy of the book list of the book club going forward during the book club sessions. I suppose it would give us at least a fightin' chance when remembering book titles...

Popular Female Crime Investigators Hit the Big Screen--

It has seemed a big mystery to me why Hollywood does not have more women in leads of detective stories when the fiction world has its share (although it still has a way to go no doubt). And there certainly has to be a number of actresses who would love to bring these characters to the screen.

I suspect that too many think that women do not fill the bill as a tough authority type and when it comes to physical confrontations. Also there may be a desire to spice up a movie story with a car chase or foot chase and with a female detective that is less likely. And perhaps the female detective story loses something in the transition to the big screen. Just a few thoughts here.

So I was pleased to read about two new upcoming film projects featuring two of Hollywood's talented, familiar faces.

A real surprise to me was the recent announcement of actress Katherine Heigl of TV's "Grey's Anatomy" fame set to portray New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum of the Janet Evanovich number series (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, etc.). I would not imagine a normally very blond-haired Heigl playing that role but recent photos show otherwise (see here from Google).

Also actress Angelina Jolie as is pursuing the opportunity to portray medical examiner Kay Scarpetta from the Patricia Cornwell novels.

So with the rich number of novels featuring these two characters alone (Evanovich is up to book number 15 in the number series with Plum for instance) the public has reasonable hopes for good films. I certainly do anyway.

Book Club discusses "Wife of the Gods"

The book club selection for March, Wife of the Gods, is debut novel and first of a series from writer Kwei Quartey. Set in west Africa, Detective Inspector Darko Dawson travels from Accra, his home and the capital of Ghana, to the nearby small community of Ketanu to investigate the murder of a medical student.

Here is a googled photo of Quartey, which is the same as in his book jacket.

In addition to the investigation, Dawson is reacquainted with a seldom seen aunt and also reflects upon the disappearance of his mother near that area when he was a young child.

And while working, the investigation takes several uncomfortable turns for the inspector as his arrival is a surprise to the local law enforcement and he is repelled by the old, local custom of trokosi where teenage girls are offered to the fetish priest as a "wife of the gods." Furthermore, the assignment also takes Dawson away from his young family for a period of time.

Here are some observations from the book:

• the book invites some comparisons to Alexander McCall Smith series of "the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" but the tone for Quarteys' book is tough-minded
• Dawson has his set of flaws in the story but they don't overshadow the mystery and he works through them
• as the mystery builds and later unravels, it can be shown that a small community is accepting of certain people's behavior and events which should be scrutinized
• it was suggested the book's might be better served by a different title which is closer to the story's core
• the dress shown on the cover of the book should be blue (not white) according to the novel regarding the trokosi ceremony
• the author did a good job keeping the various characters unique and distinct
• the glossary for the book was appreciated although one could read the book without its use
• all book club attendees said they enjoyed the book and two said they would not have selected the book to read if not for the book club selection.

Some asked and I mentioned that Quartey has a new book "Darko Dawson mystery" Children of the Street scheduled for release this year as promoted on his website.

The late Peter Graves as a fictional PI--

As I flipped through the new Time magazine, I ran across a brief article about the recent passing of journeyman actor Peter Graves. A star of the hit "Mission Impossible" TV series, Graves did have a long and successful career which includes one role I'm mention here. Here's a googled pix of the actor.

My recollection for an old TV movie clicked when I thought of Graves. He did star as a fictional private investigator from a successful book series in a 1974 movie which I remember watching way back then. "The Underground Man" which was based on a book by the same name featured writer Ross MacDonald's PI Lew Archer. A Wikipedia article says the movie was a pilot for a TV series.

And although MacDonald's work was written and published mainly in the 50s and 60s, it has been resurrected recently in paperbacks including some titles in our local library system.

Author responses to post

The recent blog post about Michael Lawson's House Rules marks the first time the blog has received a direct author response to a blog post. He wrote and replied to the post message about the book club's discussion about his book from December (the photo included here comes from his website).

This is a nice treat as I did not attempt to contact him until after he wrote and I emailed his website to ask how he found the blog. He soon replied and--as one would expect--he said he periodically googles his name and books to get reaction to his work and found the blog that way. Cool.

Book Club discusses "Gallows Lane" [February]

The new year started with a police mystery set in Ireland featuring Inspector Benedict Devlin. Devlin is a police official working the location which is the borderlands between North and South Ireland.

Writer Brian McGilloway's second book of the Devlin series, Gallows Lane was the month's selection. His picture (as shown in the back of the book) is to the right.

The beating death of a young woman after a visit to a night club is the new assignment for Devlin and his partner, Caroline Williams, but he was also previously asked by his supervisor to keep tabs on a newly-released convict, James Kerr. But Kerr gives Devlin the slip and is later found viciously murdered.

In the meanwhile, Devlin's attention is directed to inter-department affairs with important promotion opportunities and coping with fellow police and their prickly personalities. That has some ramification beyond the job as DI Devlin does have a young family to consider.

Some observations included the following:

• the book stays focused on a telling a straightforward crime story--it doesn't include any humor or much about description about Ireland (a couple of suggestions)
• the novel's atmospheric nature is mainly only in reference to weather on occasion but slang and Irish expressions pop up regularly in the dialogue
• the book includes a surprise in the end with its promotion storyline
• the practice of smoking is carried on frequently (much more so than the U.S.) and that was a little surprise [I added the author says in an interview that he used to be a smoker]
• those who read McGilloway's first book Borderlands preferred it to Gallows Lane.

A Close Call for Participating in This Month's Book Club--

This month I was facing the dilemma of not owning a copy of the book club selection in time for the book club. Looking at the title's library wait list, I was third of the list to get a copy so I guessed I would not be able to get a copy of The Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey in time.

Working at the library reference desk from time to time I speak to people in immediate need of their book club selection from the library and I know sometimes it is too late to get a desired book in time. And I almost forgot to place my request for this book until it seemed too late.

But I lucked out.

I checked the internet and found a preview for the novel in Google Books and plowed through the first 80 pages so pages--with omitted pages here and there, I guessed a few juicy bits got shaved off. Now that is tough for a mystery but with this arrangement, you just have to roll with it. Fortunately, my copy of Wife came with two days to spare and I zipped through the rest.

I was lucky this time and thankful for the leg up from the web site. Anyone else out there have similar luck with an interest site offering books to read?

Book club discusses "House Rules" [December]

In December the book club ended the year with a book discussion of a topical thriller set largely in Washington, D.C. with fictional character Joe DeMarco. A lawyer by profession, DeMarco works secretly for the Speaker of the House as a troubleshooter--or "bag man" depending on how one would explain his work--and gets involved in some hair-raising adventures.

House Rules by Mike Lawson was the book club's selection with DeMarco running down the possible reasons for a certain family's involvement in a Muslim-based terrorist attack in the United States. Here's a photo of Lawson from his website.

Speaker of the House John Mahoney has long-time ties to that Muslim family and he dispatches DeMarco to investigate their connection to the incident. And his work also coincides with an ambitious senator pushing for legislation to have extensive background checks on all Muslims in the United States.

DeMarco's legwork stretches to cover a series of attempted Muslim terrorist attacks. Along the way, DeMarco begins a new long distance relationship and enlists the aid of one very resourceful ally while also getting the services of a unlikely (and much undesired) ally .

Some observations included:

• rounding up all Muslims would be a logistical nightmare when attempting to determine if each person actually is a Muslim
• the novel had some nice touches with the set-up with a hidden meth lab and surprising murders
• another nice touch--tough women characters on both sides of the law
• the novel ends with a satisfying resolution for a long running subplot throughout the book
• one attendee enjoyed this book more than the past three previous novels
• some attendees expected more suspense in the story
• one attendee who read all books in the series said the newest book House Secrets is the best of the series.

Writer (and TV producer) Stephen J. Cannell--

I've run across a recent entertainment news story about NBC-TV lining up new dramas and one show, in particular, makes me smile if it manages to make it the screen. The 70s hit TV show "The Rockford Files" may get a reboot from NBC and I'm reminded of the talented Stephen J. Cannell's handiwork with the show. Cannell was a writer, producer and creator of the series and worked on others over the years.

The trademark ending of the show with Cannell banging out a page on a typewriter and throwing it in the air was an excellent way to relate to his continuing writing career (the resulting paper would turn into his company logo [take a look here from YouTube]). And as it turns out, he has kept the creative juices flowing by writing novels in recent years.

I have seen his books but haven't read any yet--although I think I would enjoy his work. Mainly, he writes a series with a Los Angeles police detective Shane Scully. The next book in the series is The Pallbearers and is due next month.

Writer Dick Francis dies--

I enjoy sports but horse racing was not one that greatly holds my interest. Former champion steeplechase jockey and sports writer Dick Francis was able to wisely and craftfully continue his love of the sport into another career by writing mysteries set with horse racing themes.

The author blurb in Francis' books jackets say that the author rode as a jockey until he couldn't physically and switched to writing a weekly racing column for the London Sunday Express. From the newspaper writing came the foray into crime fiction and Francis was off and running with titles such as High Stakes and Flying Finish.

Lucky Francis struck paydirt with his books and penned 42 novels until his death at 89. Here's a googled pix of Francis as shared on his book jackets from several years back.

I never read any of Francis's work (I did like the sylist book covers for his series though) but one co-worker liked his novels and wondered aloud if his son Felix would continue the crime writing work. Felix worked with his father on the three most recent Dick Francis titles in our library system. So if the son continues to follow the father's lead, we'll all know in due time.

Mystery reading on the go--

At this time, I'm content to listen to music on my (inherited, so to speak) iPod but after browsing through the weekly neighborhood newspaper insert last week--a version of "Parade" magazine--I ought to consider stepping up my game. I read a mini-profile of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and it included that on her iPod, she listens to thrillers and mysteries aside from music.

I prefer to read books but sometime in the future I ought to try my iPod with a mystery. My big drawback is for book clubs (or writing a book review), I want the item in print to review.

Here's a googled pix of Rachel.

The *Best* of 2009--

The new year is not quite a month old so I'll assume it's a-OK to look back for good books to read which were missed. Hence, I found on the web the (Fort Worth TX) Star-Telegram touting the top mysteries of 2009 in an appealing list of thirteen.A few titles and writers jumped off the page to me as the first pick The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly which I really enjoyed reading and number twelve by a personal favorite author George Pelecanos ' The Way Home. And there are more familiar names for me and my book club regulars, I know.

Click here for the entire list. What do you think?

Book club discusses "Cold in Hand" [November]

In November, the book club had the interesting project of reading and discussing a book that was identified as being the last book of a series featuring an English police detective. Writer John Harvey created Charlie Resnick a number of years ago and his first novel to be published in 1989 was Lonely Hearts. Here is a googled recent photo of Harvey.

In 2008, Cold in Hand was released with DI Resnick preparing to end his police career with retirement when a case with personal ties pulls him into a major investigation. A shooting and murder involving rival gangs takes place when DI Lynn Kellogg--Resnick's live-in girl-friend--plunges into the fray to settle things down without success. The murdered person, a young woman named Kelly Brent, has a vocal critic of the police in her father, Howard of the circumstances leading to that death. And yet, Howard, due to his shadowy activities draws the interest of the police in his daughter's death.

The high profile murder case for Resnick and Kellogg is only part of the professional issues they encounter as another murder case Kellogg has handled resurfaces with an interdepartmental investigation and tints of police corruption.

The book was well-received and here are a few observations:

• the novel caught some of us off guard with a sudden murder nearly midway in the story of an important character
• the murder investigation of Kelly focuses in one direction and--oddly--doesn't look at the gang fight for suspects
• the author plays with the reader's attitude towards Howard Brett as he is an angry parent after the death of a child but also pictured as an angry militant black man
• when a major character is introduced midway through the story, Harvey uses a telling example of personal judgment to represent her character early on
• the novel is well-written to share character background and scenes of threat and menace.

In closing, I looked to find a library music CD with singer Bessie Smith performing "Cold in Hand Blues" (hence, the book title) but I could not check it in time for the book club. So, I settled for the available Bessie Smith music CD I could check out and played it before the book club started.