This 42nd entry in The Rap Sheet’s “Story Behind the Story” series reintroduces us to Canadian author J. Robert Janes. In this essay he writes about “The Hunting Ground”, his new standalone thriller set during the German occupation of France during World War II.
Schlagwort-Archive: The Rap Sheet
Klassikercheck: David Dodge: “Carambola”
Even for a largely forgotten author like David Dodge, his 12th novel, “Carambola” (1961), represents a new level of obscurity. Although it was published to positive reviews, it failed to capture the attention of contemporary readers.
Klassikercheck: Chester Himes: “A Rage in Harlem”
There are a number of aspects to “A Rage in Harlem” that some modern readers might find uncomfortable; this book is certainly not for the prudish. It is an urban police procedural like no other.
Klassikercheck: Valery Caspary: “Laura”
In the following essay, Quebec resident Jim Napier looks back at one of the 20th century’s greatest femme fatale novels, a work The New York Times called “a top-drawer mystery”: “Laura” by Valery Caspary.
Interview: Marilyn Rose
J. Kingston Pierce had the opportunity to interview Marilyn Rose, a professor in the Department of English at Ontario’s Brock University. Rose has created the online database CrimeFictionCanada.
Rezensionen: Philip Kerr, John Sandrolini
In memory of a dear friend, Pierce reviews for The Rap Sheet both Philip Kerr’s “A Man Without Breath”, a Bernie Gunther novel which is set in the 1940s, and John Sandrolini’s also historically aligned debut novel “One of our Baby”.
Rezension: Jonathan Valin: “Life’s Work”
He showed up as soon as I heard the topic, Forgotten Crime Classics: Harry Stoner, Jonathan Valin’s tough-guy detective, charging through a book called “Life’s Work”. It starts out as a missing-persons case. All-Pro nose guard Billy Parks is gone.
Rezensionen: Estleman, Gregory, Gibson & Laukkanen
J. Kingston Pierce provides an interesting look at Loren D. Estleman’s “Alive!” and Susanna Gregory’s “Murder by the Book”. He has also read “The Old Turk’s Load” by Gregory Gibson and Owen Laukkanen’s “Criminal Enterprise”.
Beitrag: Scandinavian Nights: Nordic Noir and Wallander
British editor and critic Barry Forshaw briefs us on the roots of his passion for crime fiction – Brits as Arthur Conan Doyle, Graham Greene, and Eric Ambler – as well as on his latest non-fiction work about Nordic crime fiction.
Kurzrezension: James Thompson: “Helsinki Blood”
You’ve got to wonder how Finnish homicide inspector Kari Vaara – introduced in “Snow Angels” (2009) – manages to keep going. The Kentucky-born, Finland-living Thompson knows how to pen emotionally riveting crime stories, as dark as a Nordic winter.
Interview: Robert Wilson
In “Capital Punishment”, the author debuts his third series protagonist, a British ex-homicide cop-turned-“freelance kidnap consultant” named Charles Boxer. This book finds Boxer hunting for Alyshia D’Cruz, the fetching 25-year-old daughter of a Indian businessman.
Rezension: Kem Nunn: “Tapping the Source”
In Kem Nunn’s first novel, “Tapping the Source” (1984), Huntington Beach is a greasy smear on the California seacoast. This book begins as a noir quest and a whodunit for the main character, but finishes for him as a jaded who-cares-whodunit.
Interview: Michael Koryta
Koryta’s work took a while to cross the Atlantic. This had much to do with the fact that his first four books, concluding with “The Silent Hour” (2009), were all P.I. tales, and professional investigators-for-hire have never been staples of Britain’s literary culture.
Rezension: Thomas Perry: “The Boyfriend”
“The Boyfriend” reintroduces protagonist Jack Till (“Silence”), who retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a homicide detective after almost two dozen years and now earns a living as a private investigator.
Interview: Alison Joseph
Joseph talks about her long-standing interest in composing radio dramas, her thoughts on the rise of e-books, and her next, very different book project.
Service: In Honor of Agatha
Although not everyone seems thrilled at hearing this news, organizers of the annual Malice Domestic conference have announced their nominations for the 2012 Agatha Awards. These prizes celebrate the traditional mystery, in the style of Agatha Christie.
Rezension: Robert Ryan: “Dead Man’s Land”
Robert Ryan’s publisher was shopping around for “a work of fiction featuring a ‘detective in the trenches of World War I,’” and Ryan came up with a splendid solution: Why not send Dr. John H. Watson, of Sherlock Holmes fame, to the front lines in France?
Artikel: Serial Errors: Reality and Myth in the Investigation of Serial Murders
In the traditional story arc, the heroic detective must sort through the clues to find the devious, unknown mastermind, solving whatever intricate puzzle the killer has set for him. But that’s not how actual serial-murder investigations take place. Not even close.
Artikel: The Story Behind the Story: “The Mannequin House”
R.N. Morris supplies some background about his new historical mystery, “The Mannequin House,” which has already been released in Great Britain, and is scheduled for publication this spring in the United States.
Rezension: Stuart Neville: “Ratlines”
Coming off the success of three novels set in his native Northern Ireland, Stuart Neville now transports readers south and back half a century to the Republic of Ireland, where homicide threatens to overshadow what could be one of the country’s proudest moments.