A recent Publishers Weekly issue was devoted to the British mystery.
The Brits have taken a decidedly noir turn. Scottish crime writer Val McDermid says “We have the rope of Agatha around our necks … we want to write about the society we live in and the Agatha Christie formula doesn’t work anymore.”
McDermid adds that her use of gruesome subject matter stems from her desire to address the systematic problems of today’s world.
Chandler and Hammett began seeping into the British crime writing consciousness some time ago, and the earliest manifestations were seen in P.D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh series which began in 1962 and Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford series which began in 1964. There are psychological forces that far exceed the output of Hercule Poirot's “little grey cells” at work in these books.
Although most of the writers interviewed agreed that American noir fiction has had a huge influence on some of the newer authors, Peter Robinson, author of the Alan Banks series, says that the harder edge we are seeing in British crime fiction today is also due to the “changes in British society since the Thatcher era.”
If you want to take a walk on the dark side, PW recommends these four new summer debuts: Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton, The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell, Close by Martina Cole and The Shadow Walker by Michael Walters.
McDermid has launched her own independent publishing house, Bloody Brits Press, with the hope of creating a niche for British writers whose work was not being picked up by American publishers.
The one year gap between the UK and American releases seems to be closing somewhat, which is good news for fans.
Now, if publishers would only stop that confusing change of title thing that they do ...
