Entries from Westport Public Library BOOK blog tagged with 'noir'
A less lethal Dexter
Matthew Dicks’ debut novel Something Missing introduces Martin Railsback, a professional criminal with OCD tendencies. Booklist’s review asks “A loopier Bernie Rhodenbarr? A less lethal Dexter?” and concludes that “… he could be the next big thing.” Connecticut author Dicks will be appearing at the Library on Monday evening, September 21st at 7:30, along with Margaret Berwin, another new author. Come learn more about their writing and first-time publishing experiences.The long and short of it
Raymond Chandler’s Edgar Award winning 1953 novel, The Long Goodbye, was the sixth of his Philip Marlowe mysteries. It has been said that the self-pitying author Roger Wade, whom Marlowe has been hired to save from alcohol-fueled self destruction, is an autobiographical character. This is just one of the topics that the Usual Suspects Mystery Reading Group will discuss next Sunday, September 13th, at 2 pm.Playing Clue in Bollywood
Vikas Swarup, the author of Q&A, the novel that became the critically acclaimed film Slumdog Millionaire, has turned to writing crime fiction. Janet Maslin of the New York Times calls his second novel, Six Suspects, "a Bollywood version of the board game Clue with a strain of screwball comedy thrown in" and adds “the whole thing feels handily confined to the kind of isolated, air-tight setting that Agatha Christie’s readers love.” In a starred review Booklist said “If Agatha Christie wrote a mystery about modern India, it might be something like this.”Shocking news
There are any number of novels based on true crimes. Dominick Dunne has written a number of these. A Season in Purgatory, based on the murder of Martha Moxley in Greenwich comes first to mind. Edgar-winning author Megan Abbott has a new novel, Bury Me Deep, inspired by the Infamous "Trunk Murderess" Winnie Ruth Judd. Abbott’s protagonist Marion Seeley, a young woman abandoned in Phoenix by her doctor husband, finds a job at a medical clinic. She becomes fast friends with Louise, a vivacious nurse, and her roommate, Ginny. Marion is swept up in the exuberant life of the girls, who supplement their scant income by entertaining the town's most powerful men with wild parties. She becomes involved with a local rogue, Joe Lanigan, and when the other women confront Marion about her relationship with Joe, a heated argument leads to murder. Publishers Weekly promises us a “shocking ending.”Noir and then
The seminal American noir writer was James M. Cain, who began writing in the early 1930s, and the noir novel has traditionally been set in its own time period – or the same century, at least! Author Jeri Westerson has penned a medieval noir. In Veil of Lies, disgraced knight Crispin Guest, stripped of his rank and honor for plotting against Richard II, uses his wits to eke out a living in fourteenth-century London. He is hired to determine who killed a wealthy merchant rumored to be in possession of the Mandyllon, a cloth bearing the face of Jesus and possessing magical powers.Veil of Lies has been nominated for the 2009 Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery, along with Kelli Stanley’s Nox Dormienda, which is also an “historical noir,” this time set even further back in history in first-century Londinium.Hardboiled Connecticut?
The noir form will be more than adequately represented at the upcoming Murder 203 event by authors Reed Farrel Coleman, Peter Spiegelman and Jason Starr.
The New York Times Book Review reported that "Among the undying conventions of detective fiction is the one that requires every retired cop to have a case that still haunts him. Reed Farrel Coleman blows the dust off that cliche." Publisher’s Weekly called Peter Spiegelman “one of today's best practitioners of neo-noir." Jason Starr has eight non-series novels to his credit, including the award winning Twisted City, and he collaborates with writer Ken Bruen on a series for Hard Case Crime. His book The Follower was dubbed “this generation's Looking for Mr. Goodbar.” So don’t let the name Murder 203 fool you. We’re not just about suburban mysteries! There will be lots of talk about crime in the big city and one of our panels will address how urban crime differs from suburban crime. Check the Murder 203 website for registration information.Tartan Noir
Prolific bestselling author Val McDermid comes from Fife in the coal-mining region of eastern Scotland. On her website she explains “I had always wanted to write, ever since I realised that real people actually produced all those books in the library.” After a career in journalism she began her first crime novel in 1984. She recalls that reading a Sara Paretsky mystery a "defining moment" because it was "a mystery with an urban setting that dealt with contemporary women's lives, that didn't shy away from engaging with the politics of the society it reflected, and that was fun."Le bonton roulez
It will be an early Mardi Gras tomorrow in New Orleans, the unforgettable city of mystery and intrigue. Even if you can’t make it to the party this year you can bring a taste of it home. Julie Smith’s protagonist is Skip Langdon, a former debutante and carnival queen who has traded in her crown for a badge. The first book in her series is New Orleans Mourning takes place during Mardi Gras. When the King of Carnival is gunned down by a party-goer dressed as Dolly Parton, Langdon scours the French Quarter and beyond for clues, interviewing revelers and street people with names like Jo Jo, Hinky and Cookie, and using her contacts from her white glove days.Making a killing in the ratings
The Showtime television series Dexter, which is based on Jeff Lindsay's books, was such a hit in its first season that it has been renewed for a second. Lindsay's protagonist, Dexter Morgan, is a blood-splatter analyst for the Miami-Dade Police Department who is a serial killer in his spare time. The good news is that he only kills criminals who have managed to escape justice.Location, location, location!
Although there is a certain appeal in exotic locales, I truly enjoy a story set in a place that I know well.
There are many mysteries set in popular summer travel destinations.
Martha’s Vineyard is home to Cynthia Riggs’s character Victoria Trumbull, an astute 92-year old Vineyard native and deputy police officer as well as Philip R. Craig’s Jefferson “J. W.” Jackson, a 30-something ex-Boston cop.
Red, Black, and Blue
Leonardo Padura is the internationally acclaimed author of several novels including the Havana Quartet, a series of detective stories featuring police inspector Mario Conde, who has been called “a tropical Marlowe.”
Havana Red, Havana Black, and, most recently, Havana Blue, have made their way onto our shelves. The fourth title, Havana Yellow, is expected next year.
Padura describes his books as detective stories with “social character” growing out of his need to “leave behind a mark of an historical moment that we lived through in Cuba and, more specifically, the feeling of disillusionment when the ideal world which they spoke of began to disappear.” Therefore, “they are also sad.”
Write what you know
One of the most common pieces of advice that fledgling writers are given is to always “write what you know.”
If you were Ed Lynskey and your curriculum vitae included 18 years working on the development and production of Stinger missiles that would certainly provide you with some interesting ideas.
In Lynskey’s newest book, The Blue Cheer, instead of finding the rest and tranquility he seeks in the mountains of West Virginia, what P.I. Frank Johnson finds is a Stinger exploding over his backyard. Johnson’s investigation into where the missile came from leads him to a murderous racist cult.
John March roars in like a lion
John March is back in his third gritty mystery, Red Cat.
Hard Case Crime
From World War II through the 1960s, paperback hard-boiled crime novels were one of the best-selling book publishing genres.
They were written by well-known authors such as Erle Stanley Gardner and Mickey Spillane as well as by promising young writers including Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, and Donald Westlake.
This literary form has been resurrected by the Hard Case Crime series, which includes lost masterpieces as well as new novels by today's hot new writers, all complete with stunning original cover art in the grand pulp style.
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