Entries from Westport Public Library BOOK blog tagged with 'shortstory'
True confessions
It has been said that G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was a prolific writer who devoted his entire career to journalism because as a journalist he could not avoid being a controversialist. He wrote essays, often 1500 words in length to fill a page, on a variety of subjects and these appeared in the Illustrated London News for 30 years. Next Sunday, June 21st, at 2 pm, the Usual Suspects Mystery Reading Group will discuss Father Brown: The Essential Tales, a fifteen story collection released by Modern Library in 2005. P. D. James writes in her introduction, “We read the Father Brown stories for a variety pleasures, including their ingenuity, their wit and intelligence, and for the brilliance of the writing. But they provide more. Chesterton was concerned with the greatest of all problems, the vagaries of the human heart.”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.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.Sisters on the case
Sisters in Crime is an organization of 3400 members in 48 chapters world-wide, offering networking, advice and support to mystery authors. The organization was founded by Sara Paretsky and a group of women at the 1986 Bouchercon mystery conference in Baltimore. Members include authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians, who are, as their website states, “bound by our affection for the mystery genre and our support of women who write mysteries.” In honor of its twenty-year anniversary, a new twenty story anthology, Sisters on the Case, has been released, edited, appropriately enough, by Paretsky herself. She has contributed a story featuring an eleven-year-old V.I. Warshawki who is searching for her missing father during the Chicago race riots of the summer of 1966. This eclectic collection also includes stories by Margaret Maron, Barbara D'Amato, and Carolyn Hart, as well as the late Charlotte MacLeod.Hooray for Hollywood!
Dewey, Cheatum and Howe? Moe Howard of the Three Stooges plays detective in Murdelized, one of 14 stories contained in Hollywood and Crime: An Anthology of Hollywood Crime Stories. The stories are scattered through time from the 1930s to the present but all intersect at Hollywood and Vine.Truth is stranger than fiction
According to Mark Twain, “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
Two non-fiction true crime books passed through my hands recently that gave me reason to reflect upon this.
One is Stealing Lincoln’s Body by Thomas J. Craughwell, which is about an incident in 1876 involving several Chicago counterfeiters who attempted to steal Lincoln’s remains from his Springfield tomb. As a result, our 16th president now rests below several feet of cement.
New material (more or less) from two notable women authors
From a pioneer of the medieval mystery:
The Trinity Cat and Other Mysteries is a collection of fifteen tales of mystery by Ellis Peters (1913-1995) most of which were written before a certain Benedictine made her rich and famous and one story of which is published here for the first time anywhere.
The cat, alas, does not belong to our beloved Brother Cadfael
Killing me with your song
We know that Val McDermid can really write, but can she sing?
McDermid, along with John Lescroart, Jeffery Deaver, and ten other popular mystery writers have combined their writing and musical talents to create A Merry Band of Murderers.
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