And the winner (Ngaio Marsh Award) is...

More details to follow...

Reminder: Whodunnit and Whowunnit tonight!

Here at last! Here at last!

That's right, after months of planning, and some geologically-caused delays, the presentation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel is now mere hours away. I'm about to hop in a car to take the 5hr drive to Christchurch, where the event will be held this evening.

Hope to see several of you there! Should be a great night.

Currently reading: CLUTCH OF CONSTABLES by Ngaio Marsh

I'm currently in Nelson, on my way to Christchurch tomorrow for the (yes, we're almost there at last) presentation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

The Whodunnit and Whowunnit? event should hopefully be a terrific evening, and I'm looking forward to catching up with a few NZ-based Crime Watch readers there. Make sure you come up and say hi! Like I always do when I'm travelling, I grabbed a couple of novels to take with me to read on the plane(s) etc, and given the reason for the Christchurch leg of my few days in the South Island, I thought it was only appropriate to revisit New Zealand's Grand Dame of Crime Fiction herself, so I'm currently reading CLUTCH OF CONSTABLES by Ngaio Marsh.

SURRENDER by Donna Malane reviewed in today's NZLawyer magazine

Today the print issue of NZLawyer magazine, which goes out to nearly 10,000 lawyers, judges, politicians and others in New Zealand, included a review of SURRENDER, the debut crime novel from Wellington-based author Donna Malane.

The reviewer was Sarah Gumbley, a literary fiction buff who is increasingly appreciating more crime fiction, and who has also provided several guest reviews to Crime Watch in recent times.

With the editor's permission, I am sharing Sarah's here with you all (since unless you are a Kiwi lawyer, judge or politician, you're unlikely to have access to the print version of NZLawyer magazine - and unlike the news and feature articles, the reviews aren't placed online).

Surrender
By Donna Malane (New Zealand Society of Authors, 2010)
Reviewed by Sarah Gumbley

The winner of the first NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize, an award given to the best unpublished manuscript in New Zealand, was announced in June. While over 500 entries were received, ranging from poetry and short story collections to adult fiction of varying genres, it was a crime fiction tale from a Wellingtonian that impressed the judges the most. Since the announcement the people at Pindar have been busy turning that manuscript into a book for the shelves, and the result was released in September. Donna Malane’s Surrender can now be purchased in good bookstores throughout the country, and is well worth every penny.

Surrender follows freelance researcher Diane Rowe. Her subject: missing persons. Sometimes she works for the police, sometimes for private investigators, and other times for anyone else that wants to track down someone they miss. Her latest job is for the police force, and seems to be a rather tricky one. A body was discovered, old, and mostly decayed, in the Rimutaka State Forest. But this time it’s a struggle to figure out who this John Doe is. There are no persons listed as missing on the register that match up to the JD, but how could a man go missing without a single person noticing? Worse still, storms over the years will have shifted the body around the ranges, making it almost impossible to figure out the spot where the man died.

But at the same time, Rowe is working on another investigation – however this one is personal. She finds out that Snow, the suspected killer of her sister, Niki, who was murdered a year ago, has just been discovered, dead. Snow has been stabbed in the back with a boning knife, identical to the way that Niki was killed. But who killed him, and why? The more she investigates, the more a tangled web emerges, a web that makes Niki’s life appear a lot more sinister than Diane ever imagined. Just what was her sweet baby sister getting up to that she didn’t know about? Sometimes, some truths should stay buried.

Donna Malane is already an award-winning television producer and scriptwriter, and her partner, Ian Wedde is a novelist, so it’s no surprise she has come out with a really great tale. Surrender is fast-paced and edgy. I finished it within a few days, as I just had to find out what had happened. Diane Rowe, its main character is tough and rough but she’s also very likeable, which will make her last over the series. The judges of the award, New Zealand Herald Books Editor Linda Herrick, acclaimed editor and fiction writer Graeme Lay, and Pindar Publishing’s Mia Yardley, have made a good decision in picking this story and I look forward to seeing what further excellent books this award produces in the coming years.

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So what do you think of Sarah's review? Have you read SURRENDER? If not, does it sound like the kind of book you might want to try? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Crime Wave: Ngaio Marsh Award and local crime fiction highlighted by prestigious current affairs magazine

The Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, the "flourishing" state of New Zealand crime fiction in general, and the upcoming presentation of the inaugural award at the Whodunnit and Whowunnit? event next Tuesday evening, are all featured in a great feature (pictured above) by Arts & Books Editor Guy Somerset in this week's edition of the New Zealand Listener.

Long considered one of New Zealand's premier publications, the Listener (as it's commonly known) is a popular weekly current affairs and entertainment magazine, renowned for having one of the better books sections amongst local publications. So it's terrific to see our local crime fiction, and the upcoming award, featured in its pages in this way.

Somerset canvasses the current and historic happenings in New Zealand crime fiction in the article, and gets some great comments from the likes of local crime writers Paul Thomas, Vanda Symon, Neil Cross, and the mysterious Alix Bosco, along with New Zealand Book Council chief executive Noel Murphy, and yours truly. So there are some diverse insights, which is great.

So if you're a booklover in New Zealand, go out and grab a copy of this week's Listener and have a read. For those overseas, the article will be available online from 11 December (the magazine places its articles online a couple of weeks after the issue is no longer current).

And oh, yes, that is me with the strange look on my face in the photo, down one of Auckland's 'mean streets' one evening. It's strange enough being the interviewee rather than the interviewer, let alone getting my head around being photographed for an article...

Have your read the Listener article? What do you think? Who do you think will or should win the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel? Thoughts and comments appreciated.

Review: BLOOD SAFARI by Deon Meyer

Originally for my third book in the African leg of the Extremist level for the excellent 2010 Global Reading Challenge (following crime novels set in Ancient Egypt and contemporary Botswana), I intended to read LIKE CLOCKWORD by South African author Margie Orford. However a lot of my fellow participants have been raving about Deon Meyer's books, so when I saw a copy of BLOOD SAFARI in a second-hand store a few weeks ago, I took the opportunity to grab myself a copy.

In BLOOD SAFARI, Lemmer is a freelance bodyguard for Body Armor, a personal security company in South Africa. Lean, angry, violent, he sees himself as being way down on the price list where the bargains are to be found.

Emma le Roux wants to find her missing brother, who supposedly died twenty years ago, but whom she is convinced she's seen on the news as a suspect in the recent killing of a witch doctor and four poachers. She hires Lemmer to watch her back when she goes looking for answers. Lemmer thinks they're on a wild goose chase, but still feels a need to protect Le Roux.

As Le Roux and Lemmer search for clues in the rural Lowveld, it becomes obvious someone wants to keep them in the dark. Someone who will go to any lengths to stop them asking questions. When they are attacked and almost killed, Lemmer decides to go after whoever is hunting them - against all odds.

Overall, Meyer pens an absorbing and exciting story filled with intriguing characters. I particularly enjoyed the way he threaded some interesting African themes issues, including fresh views on the enviroment, history and politics, throughout the page-turning tale. There is plenty of intrigue - just who wants Lemmer and le Roux to stop digging? - and Meyer nicely evokes a sense of the layers and complexity of both modern South Africa, and the natural environment.

I wasn't quite as enamoured with Meyer as I expected however, from all the praise I'd heard. For some reason I enjoyed the book, but wasn't totally caught up and engaged by it. Some of the dialogue seemed a bit clunky (that could have been the translation) and overall it seemed to fall into the 'good book, would read more of this author' category, rather than the superior 'fantastic book, want to read more of this author ASAP' category that several other authors fall into.

Overall however BLOOD SAFARI is an enjoyable and gritty mystery in an exotic setting.

3 1/2 STARS.

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Are you part of Dorte's terrific 2010 Global Reading Challenge? Do you try to read crime and mysteries from a variety of countries? Have you read any of Deon Meyer's books, or other South African crime novels? Thoughts and comments welcome.

The Lincoln Lawyer film trailer, plus exclusive comments from Michael Connelly about the film and his next book

Well, I don't know about you, but to me this is looking very, very promising. A truly terrific supporting cast (I was just going 'wow' with all those quality names - really good actors rather than vapid stars), and personally I think Matthew McConaughey will do really, really well as Mickey Haller. I know a lot of people associate him with some sappy, crappy rom-coms, but I've always liked his performances in more dramatic films like A Time to Kill, and especially Frailty, so I am really looking forward to seeing his portrayal of Haller.

I spoke to Michael Connelly about the upcoming film in our recent interview for the Weekend Herald. It was a terrific interview overall actually - 90mins of chatting about crime writing and more. Unfortunately of course only about 10-20 % of such an interview can ever make it into the eventual article, because of space constraints.

You can read the Weekend Herald feature article here.

But in terms of the upcoming film, here's what Michael Connelly had to say (direct from the interview transcript):

I understand they’re working on a film of THE LINCOLN LAWYER with Matthew McConaughey in the lead. Can you tell us more?
Yeah, we started filming in early July, and it will be done in two weeks. I’m going out this weekend to visit the set for a couple of days. I’ve already been out a couple of times in July, and the script’s really good, I’m very happy with the casting, and also I saw some of the very important scenes… and I’m just so excited. I think that McConaughey, when I wrote these books I never imagined McConaughey, but I think he’s really nailed the character, he is Mickey - and I’m not just this guy who’s trying to promote a movie that’s bad, I wouldn’t do that. I didn’t do that for Blood Work, and if this movie when it’s all put together is bad, I will [stay] away from it. But as of right now I’m riding the wave of excitement because you know it all starts with the script. And the script started out as a so-so script and it kept getting better in rewrites - and I didn’t write it so I’m not tooting my own horn here - but it’s just all come together. It’s got a fabulous cast, at least ten deep, it’s got great people in it.

… [McConaughey's] got that Haller thing [dark edge with smile and humour], and he kind of established himself and then went down that road with romantic comedies, and I think at least with this movie he’s trying to swing things back a little more towards more serious stuff. And I’m very happy he’s playing Mickey.

The film is scheduled to hit US cinemas in March 2011, and when I spoke to Connelly he mentioned that his publishers had recently moved up the release date of his next title to coincide with the movie's release - so great news for readers as well as film fans. The next Connelly book (as of when I spoke to him) has the working title of THE FIFTH WITNESS, and is another Mickey Haller book, with Harry Bosch only making a cameo appearance. It is scheduled for release at the start of April 2011. Here's what Connelly had to say about the upcoming book in our recent interview:

Are you able to tell us anything about the book you’re working on at the moment?
The working title is THE FIFTH WITNESS, which is a reference to a witness taking the fifth amendment because they don’t want to answer questions that could incriminate them. It’s a Mickey Haller book, Harry Bosch is not in it - well he’s in it for a page, he makes a cameo appearance - it’s definitely a straight Mickey Haller book. And it involves a defence - in my country because of the sliding economy there’s a national epidemic on foreclosures, and there’s all kinds of fraud involved in that on both sides of the equation, and it’s something that is fascinating to me. It’s the subject matter of the book - Mickey defends a woman who is charged with the murder of a banker who is foreclosing on her home. And through this case and the trial that ensues, I hope to examine what is a pretty epidemic size issue in the United States.

What do you think of the film trailer? Do you think you will go to see it? Have you read THE LINCOLN LAWYER? Do you like Connelly's legal thrillers as well as his Bosch books? What do you think of the sound of his next Haller novel? Thoughts and comments appreciated.

Currently reading: B-VERY FLAT by Margot Kinberg

As some of you may have gathered, things have been pretty frantic down this way lately, both on the crime fiction-related front and elsewhere. I have still been reading lots, although sometimes I'm not entirely sure where I've found the time - the good news is its become such a good habit that I'm still reading even when I'm really, really busy. It's a good way to relax and unwind. Though I am pretty behind in my reviewing (the other day I tallied up about 16-17 books I'd read fairly recently and not yet reviewed anywhere, oops).

The thing is, I've had a big run of reading-related commitments in the past couple/few months, from books that needed to be read in preparation for various Weekend Herald and Good Reading feature articles, to various reviewing commitments with new books - so I haven't been able to address some other terrific books in my TBR pile that have been sitting there for quite a while.

However this week I've managed to start reading some of those other books, and I'm very pleased to say that right now the book that's got my attention is B-VERY FLAT by California-based mystery writer Margot Kinberg. It's a pleasant change of pace after a couple of darker thrillers I've read recently, and I'm enjoying the intriguing read so far. Can't wait to see how it all comes together. Here's the backcover blurb:

"Is anyone really safe? Not necessarily. At nineteen years old, Serena Brinkman, an undergraduate violin major at Tilton University, seems to have a very secure future; she's got good looks, money, people who love her, and rare musical talent. She's also got a coveted Amati violin, a musical rival, friends whose secrets she knows, and an obsessed fan.

Serena's dreams are shattered when she suddenly dies on the night of a major music competition. Serena's partner, sure that her death was not an accident, asks for help from Dr. Joel Williams of Tilton's Department of Criminal Justice. Williams, a former detective, becomes convinced that Serena was murdered, when he learns how unsafe her world really was. As he works with the Tilton Police Department to uncover the truth, Williams finds that Serena's looks, money, and talent, far from securing her future, made her a target."

You can watch a video of the author reading a passage from this book below:



I will post a review here after I've finished the book. In the meantime, if you just can't wait to hear whether it's worth getting your hands on this book (my early indications say yes), here are some reviews:

• Mysteries in Paradise
• Petrona
• DJs Krimiblog
• Reactions to Reading
• The Thrill of it All

You can also read the author's excellent blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist, here, and my 9mm interview with the author here.

Review: SLAUGHTER FALLS by Alix Bosco

Last year ‘Alix Bosco’, the pseudonym for a ‘successful writer in other media’, burst onto the New Zealand fiction-writing scene with the acclaimed CUT & RUN, a thriller that is a finalist for the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. Bosco’s compelling debut, which introduced overworked social worker turned legal researcher turned unintentional sleuth Anna Markunas, has also been tabbed for TV adaptation, with Robyn Malcolm (Outrageous Fortune) in the lead.

Middle-aged and multi-layered Markunas is now back in SLAUGHTER FALLS, although this time instead of the mean streets of South Auckland she finds herself caught up in a puzzling death while holidaying in sunny Queensland. A weekend of revelry and rugby watching sours terribly when two members of Markunas’s tour party die sudden, violent deaths. As Markunas tries to track down the elusive family of one of the men, she finds herself entangled in the secret histories and ongoing corruption of the Sunshine State’s seedy underbelly. At the same time unexpected revelations about her own background come to light.

SLAUGHTER FALLS has plenty of the tension (both in terms of the plotline and Markunas’s personal life), visual storytelling, and vivid action-packed moments readers loved in CUT & RUN, but is a more personal, character-based novel. While it doesn’t quite scale the thrills and mystery heights of Bosco’s debut, this sophomore effort further develops Markunas as an intriguing character worth following as the series grows. An enjoyable read.

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This review was first published in the October 2010 issue of WildTomato, the magazine of Nelson and Marlborough. You can read more about this terrific magazine here.

Crime Fiction in the news and on the 'Net: Weekly Round-up

Kia ora everyone. I hope you've all had a great week. It's been another busy one here, as we gear up to finally present the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (only ten days to go now!).

For those in or around the Canterbury region, I do urge you to come along to Whodunnit and Whowunnit? on 30 November. It will be a fun night - more low key than the festival event would have been, but very enjoyable nonetheless. If you do come along, feel free to come up and say hi. As you'll be aware, I'm more than happy to chat to anyone about crime fiction, especially the terrific and overlooked stuff we have here in New Zealand.

Once again there have been some more great crime fiction stories on the Internet this past week - from newspapers, magazines, and several of my fellow bloggers. As usual, I've listed a few that have caught my eye below. Hopefully you will all find an interesting article or post or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Onto the round-up.

• Margaret Cannon of Canada's Globe and Mail gives another great round-up of some interesting new mystery titles, including SHE FELT NO PAIN, the latest Holly Martin novel from Ngaio Marsh Award judge Lou Allin (way to go Lou!).
• The always-entertaining Ali Karim shares his second extensive post-mortem on the recent Bouchercon festivities - 'It's all about friendships' - on The Rap Sheet (part one, part two).
• Renowned writer, editor and crime fiction aficianado Maxim Jakubowski talked about the importance of setting in crime fiction, and listed his ten favourite settings and novels that evoked them most distinctively, in an intriguing article for The Guardian. You can also join the discussion about the article and other great crime fiction settings here.
• The New Jersey Star-Ledger has a Q&A with acclaimed crime writer Dennis Lehane, while Lehane's latest novel MOONLIGHT MILE is reviewed in The Philadelphia Enquirer, the Seattle Times, and the Dubluque Telegraph Herald, amongst others.
• Movie Geeks takes a look at INTERIORS, a documentary about murderess turned historical mystery writer Anne Perry, who is fairly well-known in New Zealand because of her pre-writing life, that showed at the St Louis International Film Festival this past week.
• The Mystery Writers of America names the legendary Sarah Paretsky as the deserved recipient of its next Grand Master Award.
• While it's getting sunny here in New Zealand (and for our neighbours in Australia), the winter weather is rapidly approaching for our northern hemisphere friends. Vit Wagner of The Toronto Star takes a look at ten books to curl up with by the fire, including a "short but informative biography" of Stieg Larsson by one of his closest friends.
• Gail Pennington of the St Louis Post-Dispatch takes a look at new books 'written' by fictional TV characters from a variety of popular TV shows, including the very successful Nikki Heat novels by titular crime writer 'Richard Castle' - harkening back to the days of the 'Jessica Fletcher' mysteries inspired by Murder She Wrote.

What do you think of this week's round-up? Which articles caught your eye? Have you read any of Ngaio Marsh Award judge Lou Allin's acclaimed mysteries? What do you think of the latest Lehane? Of the 'Richard Castle' books? What fictional TV characters/writers would you like to see books from (my personal fave would have to be 'Robin' from Magnum PI - how cool would it have been to have some books out by a character that was always present but never seen in such a popular and long-repeated show?) Thoughts welcome.

Whodunnit and Whowunnit?

The final details of the Whodunnit and Whowunnit? event, where the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will be presented, have now been confirmed, with some adjustments to the author panel and confirmation of the prizes the inaugural winner will receive.

You can read the full press release below.

19 NOVEMBER 2010 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime novel to be presented this month
THE PRESENTATION of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, which was postponed when The Press Christchurch Writer’s Festival was cancelled due to the Canterbury earthquake, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, 30 November.

The Award will now be presented at the conclusion of the ‘Whodunnit and Whowunnit?’ event, a cocktail function and author panel where three of New Zealand’s most outstanding crime writers will discuss storytelling, the state of modern mystery writing, and the books industry in general, to be held amongst the relaxed atmosphere of Visions on Campus Restaurant at CPIT city campus.

2010 Ngaio Marsh Award finalists Neil Cross (Burial) and Vanda Symon (Containment) will be joined by Christchurch’s own internationally best-selling crime writer Paul Cleave (The Cleaner, Blood Men) on the panel, which will be hosted by crime fiction reviewer and commentator Craig Sisterson. See below for more information on the three author panelists. The full details of the event are:

Whodunnit and Whowunnit?
with the presentation of the first-ever Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel
7:30pm, Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Visions on Campus Restaurant, CPIT, cnr Madras St & Ferry Road, Christchurch
Tickets $10, includes a glass of wine and nibbles
Drinks start at 7pm, author panel at 7:30pm
Contact: Ruth Todd 03 384 4721 or ruth.todd@xtra.co.nz

“We're really pleased that we've been able to keep the rescheduled presentation of the first-ever Ngaio Marsh Award in Christchurch," said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. "Not only because it was the birthplace and hometown of Dame Ngaio, but because of the fantastic support this new award has had from several people involved with the Christchurch Writers Festival. I really hope that booklovers in Canterbury will come along for what should be a very enjoyable evening, celebrating some of the truly world-class writers we have here in New Zealand."

The 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel is made for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident. A panel of seven local and international judges considered the best of locally written crime and thriller fiction published last year. The three finalists, who were named in the lead-up to The Press Christchurch Writer’s Festival, are:

• Cut & Run by Alix Bosco;
• Burial by Neil Cross; and
• Containment by Vanda Symon.
  

The international judges said Cut & Run was “complex and suspenseful” and had “scenes and incidents which are jaw-droppingly good”, that Burial “maintained the tension and the atmosphere from beginning to end, keeping the atmosphere creepy”, and that Containment had “an attractive series heroine (feisty but vulnerable)” while starting with a “superb” opening scene that by itself would make the judge “want to read more Vanda Symon”.

The winner of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel will receive:

• a distinctive handcrafted trophy designed and created by New Zealand sculptor and Unitec art lecturer Gina Ferguson (see photo);
• a selection of Dame Ngaio-related books courtesy of HarperCollins, her long-time publisher (being 20 Inspector Alleyn mysteries, her autobiography Black Beech & Honeydew, and the acclaimed recent biography Ngaio Marsh: Her Life in Crime by Dr Joanne Drayton); and
• a cheque for $500 courtesy of the Christchurch Writers Festival Trust.

“There were a number of high-quality crime novels published last year, and it has been a tough decision for the judges,” said Sisterson. “It is fantastic to see crime writing of this quality being produced by New Zealand writers, and great that the Award recognises both the best of our current authors, while also honouring the memory of one of our country’s true literary legends, who we have perhaps underappreciated in the past.”

The Award’s namesake, Dame Ngaio Marsh, is renowned worldwide as one of the four “Queens of Crime” of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, having published 32 novels featuring Inspector Roderick Alleyn between 1934 and her death in 1982.

WHODUNNIT AND WHOWUNNIT? PANEL

Christchurch’s Paul Cleave is one of New Zealand’s most successful authors internationally, with his dark thrillers already being published in 14 countries and translated into 10 languages. His debut, The Cleaner, was the number one best-selling crime novel on Amazon Germany for 2007, and was one of the biggest and fastest selling debuts to ever come out of New Zealand. Both The Cleaner and Cemetery Lake have featured in The New Zealand Listener’s annual 100 Best Books list, and his latest thriller Blood Men was signed up by a large US publisher and launched in the United States this year.

Wellington-based Neil Cross has written several acclaimed novels, including the Booker Prize long-listed Always the Sun, Burial (finalist for the 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award), and his latest, Captured, as well as the best-selling memoir, Heartland. He was also lead scriptwriter for series six and seven of the BBC spy drama series, Spooks, and is the creator of the new BBC crime thriller series, Luther, which has screened in Britain and the United States this year.

Vanda Symon is the author of an acclaimed home-grown mystery series set in Otago and Southland featuring feisty detective heroine Sam Shephard, including Overkill, The Ringmaster (one of the New Zealand Listener’s 100 Best Books of 2008), and Containment (finalist for the 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award). A former pharmacist, Symon also hosts Write On, a local radio show in Dunedin focused on writers and the world of books. Her fourth Sam Shephard novel, Bound, will be released early next year.

For more information, please contact:

Craig Sisterson: craigsisterson@hotmail.com or (021) 184 1206

Sara Paretsky joins the MWA Grand Master roll of honour

News has recently come in that legendary crime writer Sara Paretsky (pictured right), creator of the acclaimed and influential VI Warshawski series set in Chicago, will be presented with the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award at the Edgar Awards ceremony next year.

According to the MWA press release, "MWA's Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality."

So it's the United States equivalent of the British CWA's Diamond Dagger - the two awards could collectively could be termed 'lifetime achievement' awards, or perhaps represent an unofficial 'Hall of Fame' of crime and mystery writing. Paretsky has also won the Diamond Dagger (2002) - interesting that although she is an American author, she was recognised by the British association first, in this way.

Paretsky will be presented with her award at The Edgar Awards Banquet, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on Thursday, April 28, 2011. She will join an illustrious list of legends of the genre, including the likes of Agatha Christie (the inaugural recipient in 1955), Georges Simenon (1966), Alfred Hitchcock (1973), our very own Dame Ngaio Marsh (1978), Elmore Leonard (1992), PD James (1999), and James Lee Burke (2009).

When told of being named Grand Master, Paretsky said, "I'm so glad to win this. I'm glad to have this for my very own." Here's more from the MWA Press Release:

"Paretsky revolutionized the mystery world in 1982 with her novel Indemnity. The book introduced detective V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator who used her wits and fists, challenging a genre in which women typically played minor or passive roles. Paretsky, who lives in Chicago, has written twelve best-selling Warshawski novels. She has also penned a memoir, two stand-alone novels, a collection of short stories, and has edited four anthologies. In 1986 Paretsky founded Sisters in Crime, an organization that supports women crime writers, earning her MS Magazine's 1987 Woman of the Year Award. The British Crime Writers awarded Paretsky both the Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement and the Gold Dagger for best novel of 2004. Her books are currently published in thirty countries.

"The mystery genre took a seven-league stride thanks to Sara Paretsky, whose gutsy and dauntless protagonist showed that women can be tough guys, too," said Larry Light, Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America. "Before, in Sara's words, women in mysteries were either vamps or victims. Her heroine, private eye V.I. Warshawski, is whip-smart and two-fisted, capable of slugging back whiskey and wrecking cars, and afire to redress social injustice."

Congratulations to Sara Paretsky. I don't think any crime fiction reader could quibble with her being honoured in this way. She fully deserves her place amongst the greats.

Have you read Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawki novels? Which was your favourite? What do you think of her MWA Grand Master Award? What other authors do you think should join her on the list in future years? Thoughts and comments welcome.

The top 10 crime fiction locations?

In an interesting article in today's (NZT) The Guardian that could spark some fun and interesting debate, preeminent crime fiction critic, commentator and anthology editor Maxim Jakubowski, who was The Guardian's crime fiction critic for ten years, and has played a huge part in crime fiction worldwide, discusses the importance of place in writing. "I have always felt that one of literature's virtues and attractions is that it can powerfully evoke places and times and bring them to life alongside plot and characters," he says.

He then goes on to list the ten crime fiction locations, as evoked by specific novels and novelists, that he finds "most distinctive", being:

1. Los Angeles in Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep (1939)
2. London in Derek Raymond's I was Dora Suarez (1990)
3. New Orleans in James Lee Burke's The Neon Rain (1987)
4. Paris in Fred Vargas's Have Mercy On Us All (2001)
5. Bologna in Barbara Baraldi's The Girl With the Crystal Eyes (2008)
6. Brighton in Peter James's Dead Simple (2005)
7. Miami in Charles Willeford's Miami Blues (1984)
8. San Francisco in Joe Gores's Spade and Archer (2009)
9. Oxford in Colin Dexter's The Dead Of Jericho (1981)
10. New York in Lawrence Block's Small Town (2003)

You can read the full article, including Jakubowski's explanation for each choice, here.

How important is setting in crime writing? What other authors/locations do you particularly enjoy? Do you agree with Jakubowski's top ten? Who else should be there? Is Chandler's LA the best-evoked, or Connelly's? Or another LA writer? What about the original Sam Spade creator, Dashiell Hammett, for San Francisco? What are the other distinctive crime locations out there?

Currently reading: MIRROR IMAGE by Dennis Palumbo

Earlier this year a terrific article by Hollywood screenwriter turned licensed psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo in the Huffington Post sparked one of my longest-ever blog posts, looking at how crime fiction is perhaps one of the very best literary formats for examining society.

You can read Palumbo's article "Through a Glass Darkly: Crime Fiction as a Window on American Culture" here, and my lengthy post, which included some great comments and insights garnered from a variety of authors I'd interviewed in recent times (at the time), here. It's a topic I've returned to in interviews with several authors since, including the likes of James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, and PD James - it seems to be something that is bubbling away in the minds of many people who write or read crime fiction.

Anyway, Palumbo has now released his own debut crime novel, MIRROR IMAGE, which is touted as the first in a series starring clinical psychologist and former boxer Daniel Rinaldi. After it had sat in my TBR pile for a while (I was distracted by the Ngaio Marsh Award and several books I had to review for various interviews, articles, and other commitments), I started reading it this morning, and immediately kicked myself for not getting around to it sooner. I was hooked within a couple of pages, and I've found myself reading it here and there throughout the day as mini-breaks from work. If it keeps going in this form, then it could very well end up being one of the best debut thrillers/crime novels I've read in the past few years.

The blurb for MIRROR IMAGE says, "Dr. Daniel Rinaldi [is] a psychologist who consults with the Pittsburgh Police. His specialty is treating victims of violent crime—those who’ve survived an armed robbery or kidnapping, but whose traumatic experience still haunts them. Kevin Merrick, a college student and victim of an armed assault, is one of these people. A fragile, troubled kid desperate for a role model, a sense of identity, Kevin has begun dressing like Rinaldi, acting like him, mirroring his appearance. Before Daniel has a chance to work this through with his patient, he finds Kevin brutally murdered. Stunned, he and the police suspect that he, not Kevin, had been the intended target.

Feeling responsible, Rinaldi is determined to help find the killer, who’s begun leaving death threats for the psychologist. His journey takes him through a labyrinth of friends and colleagues, any one of whom may be the killer. It also includes an affair with a beautiful, free-spirited Assistant DA with secrets of her own. And when Kevin’s identity as the estranged son of a Bill Gates-like biotech giant is revealed, the investigation of his murder turns into a national story…even as another person turns up dead. A page-turning novel of suspense, MIRROR IMAGE weaves together a puzzling mystery, full of unexpected twists, with an intense, erotic love story."

Perhaps due to his screenwriting background, I've already found that Palumbo has a terrific touch for pithy yet vivid description, and good, layered characterisation. I'm really looking forward to reading more (in fact I'm picking it up again as soon as I upload this blog post).

You can read my 9mm interview with Dennis Palumbo here.

Have you read MIRROR IMAGE? Do you like the sound of the book? What are some of the best debut crime novels you've read in the past few years? Who are some of the newer, lesser-known authors that you think are 'on the rise'? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Liam McIlvanney and Maurice Gee make IMPAC longlist

Since the announcement earlier this week of the longlist for the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, touted as "the largest and most international prize of its kind", reviewers and books commentators around the world have been taking a closer look at the variety of titles that made the list. Which books from their country made it? Which books from authors or genres they prefer or rate? etc. Click on the image above to check out the IMPAC website and full list.

Ngaio Marsh Award judge and renowned book expert Graham Beattie has noted the six New Zealand books that made the list (see here), while J.Kingston Pierce of the always-excellent The Rap Sheet states that at least the crime fiction genre has been represented in this literary-leaning award, with several titles "that can be properly classified as crime fiction or thrillers" on the 162-book long list - including books by Anne Cleeves, Giles Blunt, William Boyd, and Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (see here).

One of the New Zealand books Beattie mentions is Maurice Gee's ACCESS ROAD, which is often shelved in the crime section in many bookstores, and probably sits in that literary fiction/crime fiction overlap - it's not blatantly a detective, cop, or crime novel, so doesn't "sit neatly" or obviously within the genre, but it is a brooding mystery that is centred on crime and violence (historic and current). You can read my review of ACCESS ROAD for WildTomato magazine here.

The book was also strongly praised by some of the judges for the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. "The tension was thick throughout," said one international judge. "I loved the central character, and the subplots of love and ageing and death were gripping and moving. The prose was simply beautiful without being distracting and the landscape was clearly evoked. The last third, in which the true villain of the book was revealed, was terrifiying."

Along with the New Zealand books noted by Graham Beattie, and the crime and thriller titles mentioned by The Rap Sheet, there was another long-listee that I think is well worth highlighting for fans of great crime and thriller fiction, antipodean and otherwise; ALL THE COLOURS OF THE TOWN by Dunedin-based author Liam McIlvanney.

It's great to see ALL THE COLOURS OF THE TOWN on the long list - I think it's a terrific novel, and one of the best crime/thriller debuts I've read in the past few years. As such, I'm very much looking forward to the next novel from McIlvanney (the son of famed Scottish writer William McIlvanney, who penned the influential Laidlaw series).

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE TOWN is a literary thriller centred on Glasgow political journalist Gerry Conway, who receives a tip-off about the unsavoury past of the Scottish Justice Minister, one of his best sources. Initially unimpressed, Conway is eventually drawn into a journey from Glasgow to Belfast, attempting to uncover a shocking story laced with sectarian violence and dangerous secrets.

You can read a review of the novel by Sarah Gumbley here, and my interview with McIlvanney for the Weekend Herald newspaper late last year, here.

So congratulations to Maurice Gee and Liam McIlvanney, authors at the opposite ends of the experience spectrum when it comes to their novel-writing careers - but both flying the flag well for crime and thriller fiction, if leaning literary, penned by New Zealand-based writers.

The IMPAC is the world’s richest literary award, with a prize pot of €100,000; it is open to novels published in any language as long as they have also been published in English translation. Nominations come from libraries around the world, with libraries in 126 cities in 43 countries taking part this year.The shortlist will be announced April 2011 and the winner will be revealed in June next year. The award, managed by Dublin City Libraries, is sponsored by IMPAC, an international management consultancy with offices in Dublin. You can read more here.

Book Trailer for Cat Connor's second Ellie Conway thriller

Upper Hutt-based writer Cat Connor is the author of a technology-based thriller series starring FBI Agent Ellie Conway that is now also available in paperback form from Amazon.com.

Connor's first two Ellie Conway novels, KILLERBYTE and TERRORBYTE were originally published as e-books, and both have received some very good reviews and featured in the Top Ten bestsellers on the Mobipocket website. So for you international readers of Crime Watch, Cat Connor is one of the Kiwi authors whose books you can actually get hold of, relatively easily. I'm looking forward to reading them myself.

You can read the first chapter of KILLERBYTE, which was a finalist in the 2010 EPIC Awards (electronic publishing awards), here.

Back in September I published a 9mm interview with Connor (read here), and now a YouTube book trailer for the second Conway novel, TERRORBYTE, is available (see below):

9mm: An interview with Yvonne E. Walus

Welcome to the latest instalment in Crime Watch's ongoing series of author interviews; 9mm - 9 Murder Mystery questions put to a variety of New Zealand and international crime, thriller, and mystery authors.

After a run of international authors in the 9mm series recently, I thought I’d introduce you to another New Zealand-based crime writer. So today, for the 43rd instalment of 9mm, we are talking to Yvonne E. Walus, who was born in Poland, spent her teenage years in South Africa, travelled extensively, and now has spent the past several years living in New Zealand. Just like her diverse geographic ‘homes’, Walus also has many literary homes; she writes in several genres, including crime, romance, short stories, poetry, and more. She also has several blogs, covering her different writings and interests, and writes articles for the likes of Mystery Readers’ Journal.

Her most recent crime novel is MURDER @ PLAY, a prequel to her debut MURDER @ WORK, which was shortlisted for the South African Writers’ Circle Novel Award. Although she now lives in New Zealand, Walus’s murder mysteries have thusfar been set in her teenage home of South Africa, particularly dealing with the period around the end of Apartheid in the 1990s. You can see a book trailer for MURDER @ PLAY courtesy of YouTube below:

You can read more about Yvonne E. Walus here, and see the full list of blogs she contributes to here. MURDER @ PLAY is now also available on Kindle (see here) for a very reasonable price.

But for now, Yvonne E. Walus stares down the barrel of 9mm.

The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: Yvonne E. Walus

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?
My childhood hero was, predictably, Hercule Poirot. I've changed my mind several times since, and am currently into Harlan Coben's Windsor Horne Lockwood.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?
"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" had me hooked before I was 10. I loved all the misdirection and the relentless logic of the solution.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything;) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?
Science fiction short stories, literary short fiction, poetry and travel articles. For some bizarre reason, I didn't know how to write short crime fiction for years.

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?
I spend a lot of time parenting my children, and I actually enjoy it... mostly. This leaves very little time for things I'd like to do more of: sleep, travel, sleep, scuba diving, sleep, reading, wine tasting, beach walks... did I mention sleep?

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?
Define my hometown. If it's where I live, and it's North Shore City (not Super City), they should sit on a bench at the Tui Park beach in Beach Haven, look at the water and listen to the silence. My original hometown is Warsaw, Poland, and there I would invite the visitors to take the first mode of transport out of the city and head south until you hit a tiny spot called Wieliczka, where you go underground to tour a salt mine.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?
Sophia Loren

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?
Always the one I'm currently writing. Of the published ones, I prefer "Murder @ Play".

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?
When I got the contract, I thought I must have made a mistake and sent the manuscript to a vanity press! I almost chucked it in the bin....

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?
I remember a particular book signing in downtown Auckland, where one Kiwi reader told me "Murder @ Play" wasn't South African enough. It felt strangely gratifying. I consider my setting an integral part of the novels, and to hear people say they loved it and wanted more... it confirmed that my instinct was right.

In contrast, many Americans feel uncomfortable with books set in foreign countries. I understand and respect that, but I'm so very glad New Zealanders can embrace New Zealand fiction set elsewhere.


Thank you Yvonne E. Walus. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch.

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So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read any of Yvonne E. Walus’s crime novels, or her other stories and articles? Do you like the idea of South African murder mysteries set during the late Apartheid/transition era? What do you think of crime writers setting their novels somewhere other than the country they live in (eg Irishman John Connelly setting his books in the USA rather than Ireland, etc)? What about book trailers? I'd love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.

Crime Fiction in the news and on the 'Net: Weekly Round-up

There have been some more great crime fiction stories on the Web this past week - from newspapers, magazines, and fellow bloggers. Hopefully you will all find an interesting article or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Just a quick reminder that those in and around the Canterbury region in New Zealand's South Island should strongly consider heading along to the "Whodunnit and Whowunnit" event in a couple of weeks time (Tuesday 30 November). I will be MC-ing a crime fiction panel discussion with finalists Neil Cross and Vanda Symon, and Christchurch-based international bestseller Paul Cleave, followed by the presentation of the first-ever Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. It should be a great night. You can read more about the evening here. Contact Ruth Todd on 03 384 4721 or ruth.todd@xtra.co.nz for tickets ($10, includes a glass of wine and nibbles).

Onto the round-up.

Crime Watch Weekly Round-Up: In the News and on the 'Net

• Bruce Ward of The Ottawa Citizen asks whether Canadian writers need to set their books south of the border to get well-deserved attention as he takes a look at the latest mystery novel from the Citizen's own poltical columnist Randall Denley, ONE DEAD SISTER, "a beguiling tale of a powerful political family and an unsolved murder that happened 30 years ago in a town in the Adirondacks".
• Bestselling British crime writer Peter James shares insights from his personal battle with Type 2 diabetes - causes and effective management - in an article for the Mail Online.
• The Southwest Riverside News Network profiles author Jeri Westerson, who lives in a small Southern California town but sets her Shamus Award-winning mystery series in medieval England, with a former knight as the whodunnit hero. Westerson talks about the power of persistence and following your heart rather than publishing trends.
• Norman at Crime Scraps revisits one of the most influential and all-time great crime fiction series, the Martin Beck books by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, to see if the novels are still as good as he remembers.
• Jonathan Segura profiles legendary US crime writer and "the coolest man in America", 85-year-old Elmore Leonard, in an interesting feature for Publishers Weekly.
• While reviewing John Banville's latest novel under his well-known Benjamin Black semi-pseudonym, Rosemary Goring of Herald Scotland asks what pushes an author to write under a pen name? An interesting question, as one of the finalists for the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel is the unknown writer who goes by Alix Bosco.
• Diane Makovsky of Fredericksburg.com takes a look at COLLUSION, the sophmore effort from Irish thriller writer Stuart Neville, whose debut THE TWELVE (aka THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST in the United States) received widespread raves all around the world.
• Joe Nimmo of the Portsmouth News reports on the mysteries of crime fiction and the realities of crime-fighting were revealed during Portsmouth BookFest's recent Crime and the City event, where internationally-acclaimed crime writers were joined by police and forensic experts to uncover the facts behind the fiction.

Have you read Elmore Leonard? Is he the coolest guy in America? Do Canadian writers need to consider US settings to get more attention? What are your thoughts on pseudonyms? Have you read Stuart Neville? Do you enjoy historical mysteries? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Forgotten Kiwi Fiction: MUSSOLINI'S MILLIONS

I've been scouring the secondhand bookshops and dealers again recently, and have stumbled across some more intriguing out-of-print and hard-to-find Kiwi novels that seem to perhaps fall within the crime, mystery, or thriller fiction categories.

A book I thought I'd highlight today was written by someone who was quite a well-known New Zealander in the early-mid 20th century, for activities away from the page as well: MUSSOLINI'S MILLIONS by John A. Lee.

Lee (1891–1982) seems like he was an interesting character who lived a long and very full life - he was awarded the DCM for gallantry in the First World War, joined the Labour Party on his return, was a Member of Parliment from 1922-1928 and 1931-1943, and from 1936 to 1939 he was Under-Secretary to the Minister of Finance and responsible for the introduction of state housing in New Zealand. While an MP in the 1930s he became famous as a novelist and writer on socialism, and then was expelled from the Labour Party for attacking the Prime Minister in a pamphlet (as an aside, in one of those funny coincidences of history, we've just had another Labour Party MP here in New Zealand expelled from the party for attacking the leader in word form).

He went onto become a well-known left-wing socialist, founding another political party, and disseminating his views through John A. Lee's Weekly in the 1940s, and then from the 1950s he was a successful writer and bookseller in Auckland. As the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature states, "although he miscalculated politically in 1940, he never lost the legendary status he had achieved by that time, a status owed in large part to his writings and gift of oratory".

Lee wrote several non-fiction political books, including one that had an introduction by British Labour Party leader Clem Atlee, as well as 'autobiographical fictions' and "potboilers he wrote originally as serials to boost the circulation of his Weekly" - the latter included MUSSOLINI'S MILLIONS, which was published in novel form in 1970.

In MUSSOLINI'S MILLIONS, "James Burns returned from incarceration in a Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp more injured in mind than body. He went to recuperate at the New Zealand sheep ranch of Kevin McArthur and his lovely daughter Jean. It was there he stumbled on two kinds of treasure - the sinister and mysterious hoard with which Mussolini had intended fleeing his defeated country; and the love and affection he had not known he craved.

Isolated and immobilised on a lonely New Zealand sheep farm, Jimmy Burns and Jean McArthur found that their discovering of a fantastic treasure placed them in deadly danger. A few desperate men guarded the secret of Mussolini's millions. It was a secret they were determined would never be shared."

I'm looking forward to seeing how Lee's famous skills of writing and oratory translate into this mid 20th-century 'potboiler'.

You can read more about John A. Lee at the New Zealand Book Council website here, New Zealand History Online here, the Te Ara Encyclopaedia of New Zealand here, and Wikipedia here.

Crime real and fictional at Takapuna Library this month

As regular readers of this blog will know, one of the best and most popular spots for visiting crime fiction authors here in Auckland is the Takapuna Library, where a fantastic team led by Helen Woodhouse put on some terrific events. I've been to several over the past year or two, including Linwood Barclay, Tom Rob Smith, Gregg Hurwitz, Peter James, and Simon Kernick - with the latter I even ended up 'onstage' myself, interviewing Kernick in front of an audience.

The Takapuna Library is also great at supporting local authors, and this month there are a couple of terrific-sounding lunchtime events - one crime fiction, one true crime.

First up, Donna Malane (pictured above right) will be speaking about her NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize-winning debut thriller SURRENDER next Friday, the 19th November.

Then the following Tuesday (23 November) Scott Bainbridge will talk about his true crime book SHOT IN THE DARK, which looks at unsolved murders from 1920s-1930s New Zealand. Each event starts at 12pm, light refreshments will be served. $2 public admission, or free for 'Friends of the Library'.

RSVP Helen Woodhouse, phone 486 8469 or email helenw@shorelibraries.govt.nz

Both events sound terrific, and I recommend any booklovers in the area to head along.

No ordinary Granny: PD James blasts away

Earlier this year I had the distinct privilege of being the only New Zealand journalist to interview legendary crime writer Phyllis Dorothy "PD" James (Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL) in the lead-up to her 90th birthday on 3 August. In a year filled with many highlights, talking to Baroness James about her life, crime writing, and other related things, was a true 'treat' that will

stick in my memory.

I must confess to a few nerves prior to picking up the phone to call the Baroness (which is very unlike me - and I've interviewed a range of people, from All Blacks and former Prime Ministers, to Super Bowl winning former NFL stars to top businesspeople, to authors who've sold tens of millions of novels), but she was an absolute delight to interview - polite yet opinionated, open and honest, incredibly intelligent, 'sharp as a tack' and not afraid to talk about all sorts of issues. It was an hour full of insights and anecdotes - an absolute goldmine for any interviewer, with the only disappointment being that there was way too much 'good stuff' to fit in the 1200wd feature I was writing for the September issue of Good Reading magazine.

You can also read the 9mm part of my interview with PD James here.

I will still try to share some more of the Baroness's other insights and comments at some point, but in the meantime I thought I'd direct your attention to a lengthy and very good feature article by Jan Moir in the Mail Online from this week, where PD James talks about her future writing plans, her thoughts on many social and other issues, and much more. It's interesting stuff.

You can read Moir's article, "Both barrels from the Baroness: PD James rails against overpaid BBC bosses and at 90 accepts that she may have written her last novel", here.

Comments welcome.

9mm: An interview with Michael Connelly

Welcome to the latest instalment in Crime Watch's ongoing series of author interviews; 9mm - 9 Murder Mystery questions put to a variety of New Zealand and international crime, thriller, and mystery authors.

I am hoping to share some more 9mm interviews with New Zealand-based authors with you soon, but today, for the 42nd instalment in our ongoing series, I have another fantastic international author for you; one of the true giants of the genre worldwide, and the modern maestro of contemporary LA crime fiction, Michael Connelly.

I was fortunate enough to interview Connelly by phone recently for an article in the Weekend Herald, New Zealand's biggest newspaper (read "King of crime offers clues to success" here), and it was an absolute pleasure to talk to him for more than an hour about all manner of things. Along with being a top-drawer storyteller, he is a very intelligent and humble guy, generous with his time and insights. Another highlight in a year of highlights, for me.

You can read more about Michael Connelly in my lengthy Crime Fiction Alphabet post (he was my 'C' author in Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise's fantastic series) here, and at his own website here. But for now, he stares down the barrel of 9mm.

The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: Michael Connelly

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?
I would have to say Phillip Marlowe. Not only the writing involved, but it was also reading the Marlowe books that made me want to become a writer, so I guess that’s what you’d call, I don’t know, a sentimental connection. If I hadn’t read the Marlowe books I might not have become a writer, so there’s that. But also I write about Los Angeles and Marlowe is a denizen of Los Angeles, and his hopeful cynicism ... I think is akin to what I’m trying to do with Harry Bosch. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but just hopeful cynicism for a place that has everything, all these possibilities, but most often falls short. That was captured in Philip Marlowe’s view, and hopefully I’m getting close to that, or every now and then I hit that, with Harry Bosch.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?
I read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD when I was 13, so it wasn’t an easy read because I wasn’t a great reader, but it was one that I was not assigned at school - I’d gone to a library and a librarian told me I should read it. It was a library I would visit almost every day in the summer, so I’d read it and put it back on the shelf, and then come back [the next day] and find my spot and read it again, and not only is it a tremendous story that has echoed in my work, especially the Mickey Haller stuff, but it was the start of me reading for myself, which you know is a key thing in any writer’s evolution. When you start reading for yourself and you start looking for the stuff that inspires you, you’re on the road, and for me my road started with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything); unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?
No short stories, but I had written two novels that were never sent out, and they shouldn’t have been sent out - you know, they were learning processes and you know the second one was much better than the first one, and then the third one was the BLACK ECHO, which I felt should be sent out. In a way I look at it all as the process of my first book, but I did write two full novels before I wrote the one that got published.

Bosch wasn’t in them. They were private detective novels. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, which is pretty much a tourist destination, and it was a place that at least in the ‘70s when I was growing up that a lot of runaways went to, it was like Spring Break, and anyway, it was a place that lured runaways. And I worked in beach restaurants as dishwashers and all these menial jobs and I knew many people who worked these same sorts of jobs who didn’t go home - they had no home, they were runaways, they lived on the street, or lived in daily motels or weekly motels. And that was where that influence came from, and both of those first two novels were about a private detective who specialised in finding runaway teenagers.

They were very helpful to me, they helped me to learn how to write a novel, and so I don’t look at them as failures in any regard. They were things that I needed to do. In that process is where I learned that, at least for me, the books I write were going to live and die with character. The protagonist was going to be what they were about, not a nice plot or a [tricky] plot, they were going to be about the protagonist. And these books didn’t have that, it wasn’t there yet. They were strong on plot, short on character, and that was the real learning process there. So therefore I wouldn’t want to put them out there, they’re not what I do - they were things that I learned from and like I said, they’re in a box somewhere, and that’s where they belong.

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?
Well I live in Florida, I live by the water, I like to fish, but I look at fishing as a form of writing because once you get the line in the water there’s not a whole lot to do, and what I find is that if I’m in a difficult spot with writing, or I’m trying to build up my inspiration and energy and thinking about what I want to write, then fishing is really good. So it’s a leisure activity, and it’s a part of my process. I have found the thing that really takes me out of writing - that I can just go and not think about writing - is the sport of golf, because there’s just so many things going on that if I really feel like not thinking about writing, I’ll go out and play golf.

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?
I would pick LA, and to me, something I do, I go out there a lot, and I’m still on Eastern Time so I wake up early, and one thing I do is go out on the boardwalk, the strand that runs along all the beach cities for some 20-something miles. I don’t walk the whole 20 miles, but I take long walks in the morning before the city wakes up, and it’s very dark and you see a lot of homeless people sleeping and encampments and all that, and you see the city from a different angle from what most people ever see it, and I’ve always enjoyed that.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?
You know what, you’ve finally asked me a question that’s never been asked before… let me think about that for a second. I tempted to say Steve McQueen, but he wouldn’t take the part. I’d say James Gandolfini. Not because he looks like me or anything, but because - and maybe it’s because I like Tony Soprano or something - but he has a certain overconfidence and lack of confidence in certain things. And I’ve watched The Sopranos over the years, and I kind of recognise something about that in me - and also I’m on the spot here and I’m trying not to pick a pretty boy actor, because I don’t think that would be the proper way to go.

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?
I would probably say THE LAST COYOTE, and it was probably wasn’t my best book because it was like my fourth book and I’ve written like 15 since then, but it’s probably my favourite because of a few reasons. One is that in my life it was the first book I wrote as a fulltime novelist, I was able in the months before I started writing it to retire from journalism, and so the year I was writing THE LAST COYOTE I was just amazed that I was a fulltime novelist, and I kind of revelled in that. And I also saw, I could quite clearly see, that the writing had improved because it was my only focus, and I wasn’t writing at night and then going to the newspaper during the day. It had my undivided attention and I could see improvements almost every day. That was very exciting to me. And the last part was that it’s the case of Harry’s life, it’s about his mother, and so it’s very meaningful on a character level to write that story. Obviously it was my fourth book and I had no idea that Harry Bosch would be around for at least another 15 years, but I was getting the idea that he had some longevity, and that I was going to be writing more about him. And to write more about him I had to kind of … this is a kind of foundation story of what he’s about.

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?
I’m not very outwardly demonstrative, but it was a very solemn and fulfilling moment, because I was 36 years old, and I was 20 when I said I wanted to write crime novels. And it wasn’t a hard 16 years, it was a fun 16 years, working a great job at a newspaper, different newspapers, so it wasn’t like a brutal and difficult journey, but it was a journey, and a long journey, to hold the book. You know it comes in the mail, you open it up and hold it, and it’s just very hard to describe. And you know, here you are, I’m a writer and supposed to be a master of words, but you know that was one of the times in my life that I had no words to describe it. You know there were other things going in my life - my father had passed away before, he knew I was going to be published but he passed away before I actually could show him a book, so there’s like a bittersweetness in that because my father was very influential in helping me to get on that journey, and he was the one who had the idea of ‘why don’t you become a journalist, and you can treat it as research for the books you want to write’, and he really kind of came up with what appears now to be like a master plan, but was really like ‘well, maybe this will work - what can we do to get you in position to be able to write these novels that you feel you want to do’. So it was sad because he was very much a part of that. It was good that he knew, and I was able to tell him when he was sick, ‘hey, I just sold the book and it’s going to be published in a year’, and he didn’t make it that year, but he knew and he was proud, and so there’s that little kind of sadness mixed in with such a fulfilling and proud moment.

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have ever had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?
Um, one time I was doing an event at a bookstore in Charlotte and there was a guy dressed up as Davey Crockett, with the hat, and he would not stop asking questions, and I soon realised there was something a little off about him, and he would not stop following me, and eventually two people in the store had to hold him while I left in my car, without him being able to follow me. And that was quite strange.

Thank you Michael Connelly. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch.

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So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read THE REVERSAL, or any of Michael Connelly's other books? Have you met Connelly at any author events? What do you think? Are you looking forward to the film adaptation of THE LINCOLN LAWYER? Who should play Harry Bosch if those stories ever make it to the big screen? I'd love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.

Kiwi crime queen Vanda Symon reviews Donna Malane's SURRENDER for Radio New Zealand

This afternoon, as part of its regular book reviews slot on Jim Mora's Afternoons programme, Radio New Zealand addressed award-winning New Zealand thriller novel SURRENDER, written by Wellington-based TV screenwriter and producer Donna Malane.

The reviewer was someone who knows more than a fair bit about crime fiction - Kiwi crime writer and Ngaio Marsh Award finalist Vanda Symon, the creator of the excellent Sam Shephard series set in the southern part of the South Island. Symon regularly reviews a variety of books for Mora's Afternoons programme (eg listen to Symon's recent reviews of Val McDermid's TRICK OF THE DARK and Peter Robinson's BAD BOY here).

Despite SURRENDER being "her competition" (as Mora jokes), Symon gives a very positive review of Malane's debut adult thriller - "a cracker" - particularly praising the main character Diane Rowe. "I loved this character," says Symon. "She's tough, funny... and most importantly for crime fiction not afraid of going the extra mile and getting herself into serious trouble, which she does plenty of." You can listen to Symon's full review of SURRENDER here.

For those that are interested, the second book Symon reviewed today wasn't crime fiction, but was also very intriguing (and is staring at me now from my bookshelf), STORYTELLER, the biography of that wonderful writer, Roald Dahl.

You can read my Weekend Herald review of SURRENDER here, and Mira Bradshaw's review of the novel on TVNZ.co.nz here. The book has been getting plenty of praise from those that have read it thusfar, so it will be interesting to see whether it'll be in the mix for the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

Have you read SURRENDER? If so, what do you think? If not, does it sound like a book you'd like to try? What did you think of Vanda Symon's review? Are you a Roald Dahl fan? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Crime Fiction in the news and on the 'Net: Weekly Round-up

There have been some more great crime fiction stories on the Web this past week - from newspapers, magazines, and fellow bloggers. Hopefully you will all find an interesting article or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Of course down this way the big crime fiction news of the week is that a new date has at last been set for the presentation of the first-ever Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, after the Canterbury earthquake (which happened a few days before the Christchurch Writers' Festival was due to start) put the kibosh on the original plans. The Award will now be presented on Tuesday 30 November, following an author panel discussion. I heartily recommend anyone in the Canterbury region or nearby to head along for what should be a great night. You can read more about the evening here. Contact Ruth Todd on 03 384 4721 or ruth.todd@xtra.co.nz for tickets ($10, includes a glass of wine and nibbles).

Onto the round-up.

Crime Watch Weekly Round-Up: In the News and on the 'Net

• In The Independent, crime fiction afficianado Barry Forshaw takes a look at the latest Swedish thriller to be getting wider international attention, THREE SECONDS by Roslund and Hellström, an "ill-assorted" writing partnership that includes both sides of the real crime world.
• The Sydney Morning Herald examines a new work of scholarship that might be of interest to crime fiction fans - Women Writers and Detectives in 19th-Century Crime Fiction by Lucy Sussex, which reportedly upends some of the conventional thinking about the development of the genre over the past two hundred years.
• In a review of Elena Forbes's EVIL IN RETURN for the London Free Press, reviewer Joan Barfoot makes the interesting claim that the standard of crime fiction in Britain is "unusually high", and that British crime novels that are merely above average would be considered "stellar" in some other countries.
• While reviewing some recent mysteries and thrillers in the New York Times, Marilyn Stasio notes that the troubles caused by the economic recession are starting to come through in crime fiction - a comment that reiterates Crime Watch's long-held belief that crime fiction has, at times, become the modern social or sociological novel, dealing with contemporary realities, issues, and places (through the prism of a page-turning story) as well, if not better, than many other types of writing.
• Andrew Shaw of the Melbourne Community Voice interviews Australian crime writer Lindy Cameron (the Melbourne-set Kit O'Malley series), who has also recently started her own publishing company, Clan Destine Press, to better promote genre writing in Australia.
• The Examiner.com previews Sarah Paretsky's appearance on TV show Hardcover Mysteries on this coming Monday night (the series features some of America's most popular writers of thrillers and whodunits, exploring the crossover from fact to fiction), where Paretsky will talk about homicide of a faculty wife that made headlines near her childhood hometown of Lawrence, Kansas.
• Sue Freeman Culverhouse of Clarksville Online takes a look at the writing of Dame Ngaio Marsh for the "Writers You Should Know" series.

What do you think of this week's round-up? Have you heard of/read Roslund and Hellstrom? Is the standard of British crime writing notably superior to that from other countries? What are your thoughts on the historic roots of crime/detective fiction? Does (some) crime fiction do a good job at examining contemporary issues?