The consensus pick: THE SHANGHAI MOON

As I discussed yesterday, the 2010 Bouchercon festival is about to kick off in San Francisco - four days of fantastic author events and crime fiction festivities.

At Bouchercon by the Bay, the winners of three major crime fiction awards will be announced; the Thursday night Opening Ceremonies will include the presentation of the Barry (run by Deadly Pleasures magazine) and Macavity (run by Mystery Readers International) Awards, followed by a festive reception. And of course later in the weekend the winners of the festival's own long-running awards will also be announced; the Anthony Awards (I understand the winners are based on the votes of attendees at the convention itself).

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the finalists for the three different awards, and see what sort of repetition and crossover there was between the books on each of the three lists. As you'd expect, some crime novels appear on more than one list - but when it comes to the major Best Novel award, there is one novel that is on all three finalists lists; THE SHANGHAI MOON by SJ Rozan. So, win or lose, walking away from Bouchercon with three awards or none, you could say that SJ Rozan at least has the honour and distinction of being the 'consensus finalist' of each of the three judging panels. Quite an achievement in an awards world that often throws up some pretty interesting results.

Rozan is an author I had heard of, and I've read some of her short stories in a couple of crime fiction anthologies, but never any of her novels (yet). I might have to try to get my hands on THE SHANGHAI MOON however, and see what the fuss is about.

Here is the 'blurb' for THE SHANGHAI MOON:

Estranged for months from fellow P.I. Bill Smith, Chinese-American private investigator Lydia Chin is brought in by colleague and former mentor Joel Pilarsky to help with a case that crosses continents, cultures, and decades. In Shanghai, excavation has unearthed a cache of European jewelry dating back to World War II, when Shanghai was an open city providing safe haven for thousands of Jewish refugees. The jewelry, identifed as having belonged to one such refugee - Rosalie Gilder - was immediately stolen by a Chinese official who fled to New York City. Hired by a lawyer specializing in the recovery of Holocaust assets, Chin and Pilarsky are to find any and all leads to the missing jewels.However, Lydia soon learns that there is much more to the story than they've been told: The Shanghai Moon, one of the world's most sought after missing jewels, reputed to be worth millions, is believed to have been part of the same stash. Before Lydia can act on this new information, two men are murdered, Lydia is fired from the case, and Bill Smith finally reappears on the scene. Now Lydia and Bill must unravel the truth about the Shanghai Moon and the events that surrounded its disappearance sixty years ago during the chaos of war and revolution, if they are to stop more killings and uncover the truth of what is going on today.

You can read an excerpt here.

When the book was released in 2009, Maureen Corrigan in The Washington Post called it an "ambitious and absorbing riff on the classic Nancy Drew mystery", and said that THE SHANGHAI MOON demonstrated that "there's plenty of possibility lurking in the old missing-gems plot. It just takes a master like S.J. Rozan to restore the luster of a classic".

You can read the full review here.

It certainly sounds intriguing. I'm not sure if Rozan will win many or any of the three awards - THE SHANGHAI MOON would have to be a truly exceptional book to beat out John Hart's exquisite Edgar and Dagger Award-winning THE LAST CHILD for the Barry and Anthony Best Novel Awards - but you never know with these things, and regardless of eventual results, Rozan certainly deserves hearty congratulations as the 'consensus finalist', and someone who has a claim on having the most lauded book at Bouchercon.

You can see the full list of finalists for the Macavity Awards here, the Barry Awards here, and the Anthony Awards here.

Have you read THE SHANGHAI MOON? If so, what did you think? If not, do you like the sound of it? Which of the finalists do you think should win each award? Which have you read? Does winning an award matter, one way or the other? Thoughts and comments welcome.

9mm interview with James Lee Burke

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'm fortunate enough to get to interview a lot of fantastic crime fiction authors, well-known and lesser-known - sometimes directly for Crime Watch, and sometimes for some of the various great newspapers and magazines I write for (eg the Weekend Herald, Good Reading, etc).

Since I started the 9mm series with Lee Child almost seven months ago, I've made sure that every interview I do with every author, whether in-person or over the phone or Internet, includes the nine 9mm questions, in amongst whatever else I'm interviewing them about (eg their latest book, their particular characters, their visits to New Zealand etc). I've got to say, all the authors have been incredibly generous with their time, and welcoming of the 9mm questions, so I hope that you all enjoy seeing how different authors answer the questions each time.

Today, for the 38th instalment of 9mm (how quickly the series has grown), I thought I would share with you the 9mm part of the interview I did with MWA Grandmaster and mystery writing maestro James Lee Burke for a feature in the Weekend Herald, in the lead-up to the release of his latest excellent Robicheaux tale, THE GLASS RAINBOW.

Getting to interview Burke was a real privilege, and a highlight of what has been a tremendous year for me, on the crime fiction reading and interviewing front. You can read my Crime Fiction Alphabet post on James Lee Burke here. And my Weekend Herald feature here.

To give you a sense of Burke, as you read his answers, here's a paragraph from my Herald feature, describing his demeanour during our interview:

• "Throughout, the 73-year-old laughs easily and often, almost explosively at times. He is unfailing polite, yet not at all stuffy or formal. He answers the phone with a jovial "Is this New Zealand calling?" then tells me to call him "Jim". Down-to-earth and humble, his soft-spoken manner and measured cadence belie some strident opinions when it comes to several things he cares deeply about, including the environment, "people of humble origin", and the purpose and importance of art."

But now, James Lee Burke stares down the barrel of 9mm.

The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: James Lee Burke

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?I don’t make much distinction between genres. I think literary art is literary art, or it’s not. I think among American crime writers over the years the best was James M. Cain. There’s no question about it in my mind, he was a very good writer.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why? The Hardy Boys - it was great to read those books. The adventure, the mystery - being able to identify with young boys who were solving great mysteries.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything); unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?Well, I’ve been a published novelist since, oh, many years ago. I finished my first published novel, I finished writing it, in 1960, HALF OF PARADISE. So I’ve been doing it for over 50 years. I’d published short stories [before that].

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?Fly fishing in Montana. We live on some property that tries to be a ranch, and that keeps me very busy. Montana is a grand place, and Louisiana is too.

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? Something the locals would recommend?Well, there are two places we identify as home. In New Iberia I think people would find it a very hospitable place, wonderful place, and the ambience is just lovely. Of course it’s on the Gulf, which is having terrible problems right now. Montana where we live in the Northern Rockies is just as good as the earth gets. It’s just absolutely as good as the earth gets. Much of it is like the earth was on the first day of creation, it’s just beautiful.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?Oh, I’d like to play a cotton bowl, or a crawfish. I’ve never thought about it (laughing). I wouldn’t visit a fate like that on my worst enemy [playing Jim Burke]

--- Maybe Tommy Lee Jones?

I don’t think anybody is going to be lining up to play me in a film (laughing).

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?Well, I’ve always felt that about every book I wrote, but the one that obviously, at least in my mind, that’s most important, would be RAIN GODS. RAIN GODS is the best book I’ve written.

And the book that allowed me to write full-time, BLACK CHERRY BLUES - it won the Edgar in 1989, and it marked the first large commercial success that I had, and it allowed me to work fulltime as a novelist. I wrote for many years and held other jobs at the same time. It’s not easy to do sometimes.

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?Oh, elation, because it took me four years for it [HALF OF PARADISE] to find a publisher. I always wrote more easily than I published, but when I published that book, it was a glorious moment. And my first review was a six-column banner review in the New York Times Review of Books, and so it’s been downhill ever since (laughing). But it was a great review, and the man who reviewed me was Wirt Williams, he wrote the book ADA DALLAS [one of three of his books nominated for a Pulitzer Prize], he’s from Louisiana, and he was a very nice gentleman. I didn’t know him them, but I came to know him later. He compared my work to, get this, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Camus, and Sartra. I thought, hey, that’s pretty nice (laughing).

I thought all my reviews would be like that, and then right after that review, the New York Herald-Tribune gave me maybe the second worst review I ever received, the guy just tore it apart. I tried to remember a lesson that Ernest Hemingway imparted to young writers, when he said ‘If you believe the critics when they say you’re good, you have to believe them when they say you’re bad’.

What is the strangest or most unusual or memorable experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?Well, it’s always been a great experience. The great benefit of being a professional writer - and I’m sure you have this experience yourself as a professional writer, I was a newspaper man myself - is that you are always around intelligent people. And it’s always an enormous pleasure to go, say, to a book convention or a book festival. And to have people came to, in effect, praise your work, and to want to hear you read aloud to them, and talk about how you wrote the book, it’s just an enormous compliment.

After many years of working hard at it, it is of course a great sense of accomplishment to feel that maybe you’ve brought some degree of pleasure to others. Not many people have the chance to experience that reciprocity in their work. I mean, most people fight with their job, but to me writing is just the perfect life, always has been. I can’t think of a better life - I never wanted to be anything else other than a writer.

Thank you James (Jim) Lee Burke. We really appreciate you taking the time to answer the 9mm questions.

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So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read any of James Lee Burke's books - the Robicheaux series or others? Which do you think is his best? Have you seen the films that have been made from his Robicheuax series (Alec Baldwin as Robicheaux in Heaven's Prisoners, Tommy Lee Jones in Into the Electric Mist)? I'd love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.

Tick, tick, tick... Bouchercon!

Well, it's almost upon us. This week the 2010 edition of the fantastic (I've heard) Bouchercon crime writing festival will kick off. From a look at the lineup and the building excitement on blogs and elsewhere amongst the crime fiction community, Bouchercon by the Bay is going to be absolutely huge.

I've got to say, I'm pretty envious of everyone heading along. Scratch that, really envious. Incredible Hulk green with envy. I was quite tempted to hop on a plane from New Zealand, especially as San Francisco, the location of this year's 'Con is one of my favourite US cities, and also a fairly accessible/affordable flight from New Zealand (one of the most geographically isolated countries in the world, apparently). Unfortunately finances and timing hampered my Bouchercon 2010 dreams. But maybe next time.

For all of you heading along this year, I hope you have a magnificent time. For those, like me, who can only look on, our faces pressed up against a faraway window, hopefully there will be all sorts of fantastic articles and blog posts coming out about the events, from those lucky enought to be on the ground there in San Francisco. I'm talking to you Peter Rozovsky (Detectives Beyond Borders), Jon and Ruth Jordan (Crimespree magazine), Janet Rudolph (Mystery Readers International), J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet), and others... make sure you share it all with us.

Lee Child, who I was fortunate enough to interview and meet in New Zealand earlier this year (read NZLawyer feature, read 9mm interview) is 'Distinguished Contribution to the Genre' in 2010, and Scottish author Denise Mina, who's Gold Dagger-shortlisted novel STILL MIDNIGHT I recently read, is the International Guest of Honour, at Bouchercon by the Bay.

Skimming the programme, there are so many cool events on offer. I'd certainly have some pretty full days there. Watching the San Francisco-set crime movies The Maltese Falcon, Bullitt, and Murder by Death on Wednesday night (6pm onwards) would be a great start to what is going to be a really terrific few days. In amongst all the authors events, there is also the announcement/presentation of several prestigious crime/mystery writing awards, ie the Macavitys, the Barrys, and the Anthonys. And the Dashiell Hammett-inspired walking tours also sound great - San Francisco is such a great strolling city.

You can check out the line-up of events here:

• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

I hope that everyone heading to the festival has a truly terrific time, and I look forward to reading about all the festivities.
What do you think about the Bouchercon by the Bay lineup? Are you heading along? What events/authors would you most like to attend, if you were going? Who should win some of the awards? Do you enjoy author events and mystery writing festivals? Thoughts and comments welcome.

90-year old Baroness James scoops journalism award

Earlier this year I had the honour and privilege of interviewing, by phone, crime writing living legend Phyllis Dorothy "PD" James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL, in the lead-up to her 90th birthday on 3 August.

I must confess to a few nerves prior to picking up the phone (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 the Attorney-General, to authors who've sold tens of millions of novels), but Baroness James was an absolute delight to interview - polite yet opinionated, open and honest, incredibly intelligent, not afraid to talk about all sorts of issues, and absolutely 'as sharp as a tack'.

During our interview we briefly discussed her somewhat famous interview, as guest editor of the Today programme on Radio 4, with with BBC director general Mark Thompson in December last year. Where this 'old granny' completely skewered the head of British public television.

Now news has come through that Baroness James has in fact won the BBC’s Nick Clarke Award for journalism for her interview with Thompson. Reportedly, the Judges praised her for her "polite tone, sharpness and competence". The award is given in memory of Nick Clarke, former presenter of The World at One, who died in 2006.

Baroness James was reported as saying, "The broadcast interview is one of the most effective ways in which the major issues of today’s world can be discussed, and I am greatly honoured to be the recipient of this important prize established in memory of a distinguished broadcaster".

You can access the broadcasts from the day Baroness James was guest editor here.

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

My review of DARK BLOOD on EuroCrime

Further to my post back in August about the excellent crime fiction website EuroCrime, and how the hundreds of reviews there can now also be searched and listed by reviewer, in recent days my review of the latest thriller from Scottish crime writer Stuart MacBride, DARK BLOOD, was published on EuroCrime.

DARK BLOOD is the latest in MacBride's enjoyable Aberdeen-set DS Logan McRae series. The publisher's blurb states: Richard Knox has served his time, so why shouldn't he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, in the past he was a violent rapist, but he's seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle behind him and make a new start. Or so he says.

Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn't exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He's even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police -- the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years -- supposedly here to 'keep an eye on things'. Only things are about to go very, very wrong. Edinburgh gangster Malk the Knife wants a slice of the development boom Donald Trump's golf course is bringing to the Granite City, whether local crime lord Wee Hamish Mowat likes it or not. Three heavies from Newcastle want a 'quiet word' with DSI Danby about a missing mob accountant. And Richard Knox's dark past isn't done with him yet!

"There is plenty to like about DARK BLOOD, which although still very gritty and grim takes a bit of a step back from the full-on brutality (even gore) of the last two McRae novels, FLESH HOUSE and BLIND EYE, where unintentional cannibalism and very-intentional ocular mutilation were on MacBride’s murderous menu," I said in the review.

You can read my full review of DARK BLOOD here. You can see my full list of previous reviews for the excellent EuroCrime website, here.

And the winner is...

Entries closed for the fifth ever Crime Watch giveaway at 5pm on Friday night, and I made the random draw this afternoon.

As I said when this competition was launched, the prize for the lucky winner is a brand new copy of Donna Malane's very good debut crime novel SURRENDER, which was the winning manuscript for the inaugural NZSA-Pindar Publishing Prize, and was released in New Zealand last month. The competition was open globally, with the prize shipped to the winner wherever they are around the world.

We received a good number of entries for this giveaway - enough not only for me to keep running such competitions now and then, but also to give away THREE copies of the book as prizes (the publisher was impressed with all your enthusiasm, so sent me two more copies to give away here on Crime Watch in addition to the one I'd purchased to give away).

So thank you very much to everyone who entered. If you keep entering them, I will keep running such competitions. So, without further ado, the winner(s) are...

• Fred Runk of Tucson, Arizona;
• Zulema Seligsohn of Bronx, New York; and
• Margot Kinberg of San Diego, California.

Congratulations to Fred, Zulema, and Margot. I hope you enjoy the book!

To everyone else, thanks so much for entering. I really appreciate all the entries. Keep your eyes peeled for more chances to win - the next competition will give away some more great New Zealand or international crime/thriller titles.

Which Whodunnit Won It?

The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2010
Winners Unmasked…

London, Friday 8th October, 2010 — Cactus TV and ITV3 in partnership with the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) are pleased to announce the winners of the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2010, a celebration of all things criminal in literature, TV and film.

The gala awards welcomed an assortment of famous faces, plucked from the world of publishing and screens both big and small, with comedian Marcus Brigstocke presiding over the “Daggers” at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. The culmination of a six-week season of ITV3 crime and drama programming, the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2010 will be televised on ITV3 on Tuesday, 12th October at 9pm.

Keeping nominees and viewers alike on the edge of their seats, the thrilling climax saw the coveted CWA Gold Dagger award go to Belinda Bauer’s international best seller BLACKLANDS as Best Crime Novel of the Year, beating S J Bolton’s Blood Harvest, Karen Campbell’s Shadowplay and George Pelecanos’ The Way Home to the post.

Belinda Bauer said: "It was a thrill just to be shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for my first novel, let alone to win. Blacklands is a small, simple book and I'm still stunned and delighted that it seems to have struck a chord with so many people."

In the only award voted for by ITV3 viewers, the People’s Detective, honouring the most popular fictional detective of all time, was revealed as Foyle. The winner fought off competition from fellow crime fighters who included Inspector Morse, Poirot and Jane Tennison (Prime Suspect). The nominees had been profiled over a six week series on ITV3.

TV super sleuth Sherlock meanwhile took home two awards, firstly scooping the TV Dagger award over rival detective dramas Ashes to Ashes and Wallander and Luther, and later seeing its title star Benedict Cumberbatch land a Best Actor Award. Cumberbatch emerged victorious over a prestigious category of nominees that included international star Idris Elba, stage and screen stalwart Kenneth Branagh and Ashes to Ashes legend Philip Glenister.

Maxine Peake won the Best Actress Dagger (for the female star of a crime thriller drama) for her role in Criminal Justice while her co-star Matthew McFadyen won the Best Supporting Actor prize for his portrayal of Joe Miller in the BBC show. The Best Supporting Actress award went to Dervla Kirwan for her performance in The Silence.

Movie-of-the-moment Inception (Warner Brothers) was unveiled as the Film Dagger 2010, representing the best big-screen crime thriller story of the year, while the International TV Dagger went to Yellow Bird Films’ Wallander (Series 2).

Suspense gripped the room as A LOCAL SPY, by author Simon Conway, celebrated victory in the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award, which recognises the Thriller of the Year. The title saw off competition from The Dying Light by Henry Porter, Scott Turow’s Innocent and The Gentlemen’s Hour by Don Winslow. Simon Conway commented: “To have won The Steel Dagger against such stiff competition is both unexpected and deeply satisfying. My book's reluctant hero Jonah would probably celebrate by getting roaring drunk, beaten up, abducted, thrown out a chopper and inadvertantly saving several thousand lives. I may try some of these at home.”

Ryan David Jahn’s ACTS OF VIOLENCE (Macmillan New Writing) won the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2010, as a first book by a previously unpublished writer, awarded in memory of CWA founder John Creasey. Ryan David Jahn said: “Simply being listed alongside such talents as the other finalists was an honour. To win, and be brought into the company of writers such as Walter Mosley and Minette Walters, who have gone on to such fine careers, is unbelievable -- an indescribable thrill.”

In recognition of their outstanding careers, Frederick Forsyth and George Pelecanos collected trophies to commemorate their inaguration into the Hall of Fame sponsored by Specsavers. In honour of its mammouth 26 years on screen, 14 cast members of The Bill members were in attendance to collect a Special Recognition Award.

The 2010 black carpet attracted citation readers including Emilia Fox, Amanda Redman, Amanda Donohoe and nominees present on the night included Benedict Cumberbatch, Hermione Norris, Philip Glenister, Julia McKenzie, Dervla Kirwin and Colin Dexter.

Amanda Ross, Managing Director Cactus TV, said “With pretty much the entire collective force of Britain’s fictional constabulary under one roof, the Crime Thrillers once again proved to be suspense filled right up to the climax. The breadth and calibre of nominees proved that crime thriller really is the genre of the moment!”

Crime Fiction 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 like finding an interesting article or two linked here, that you enjoy reading.

Before we dive in however, I'll just quickly mention that those of you who don't live in the North Island of New Zealand, and so couldn't get the print version of the Weekend Herald last weekend, can now read the full version of my feature article on award-winning Australian crime writer Michael Robotham here. I had a lot of fun interviewing Robotham, whose most recent book BLEED FOR ME I really enjoyed when I read it earlier this year, and was looking forward to meeting him at the Ngaio Marsh Award evening (since postponed). Hopefully we will now be able to get him over this side of the Tasman next year.

Onto the round-up.

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

• Award-winning Australian crime writer Kathryn Fox launched her latest book, DEATH MASK ("a chilling novel about sexual violence in a US football team") on Monday. She is interviewed by Judith Kerr of the Bayside Bulletin.
• Publishers Weekly reported on the results of a new Harris Poll that showed, among its other findings, "that mysteries, thrillers, and crime novels beat out chick-lit and romance novels by a large margin; and that more women than men read mysteries, thrillers, and crime novels".
• In sad news, legendary US screenwriter, TV producer and novelist Stephen J. Cannell, a recurring guest star on the crime novelist-centric TV cop show Castle, passed away earlier in the week. There were many articles and tribute pieces, including from Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times, The Rap Sheet has a good list of other tributes here.
• Ulrike Sárkány talks to Scottish crime writer Stuart MacBride for the Inspired Minds show. You can access the broadcast from the Deutsche Welle website here.
• Steve Rogerson at Suite101.com takes a look behind the scenes at the production of the new Thorne TV series, based on the excellent crime novels by award-winning British author Mark Billingham.
• Gail Kerr of The Tennessean talks about the allure of crime fiction, and takes a look at what's happening at this weekend's Southern Festival of Books.
• Acclaimed blogger Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts had a lengthy and very interesting two-part interview with award-winning crime writer Reed Farrel Coleman, whose latest Moe Prager novel, INNOCENT MONSTER, was released this week. PART ONE. PART TWO.
• 2010 Global Reading Challenge creator Dorte Jakobsen of DJ's Krimiblog reviews WHO KILLED PALOMINO MOLERO?, a Peruvian crime novel from Nobel Prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa.

What do you think of this week's round-up? Which articles or posts did you find most interesting? Have you read any Michael Robotham novels? What did you think of my feature? Do you like the sound of fellow Australian crime writer Kathryn Fox's thrillers? Why do you think mystery, crime, and thriller fiction is enjoyed by so many readers (even if it's looked down upon by some in the books world)? Do you like seeing some of your favourite crime fiction characters adapted for the screen? Have you read any South American crime fiction? Thoughts and comments welcome.