an on-line journal devoted to crime (fiction)...
May 01, 2008
I have finished and posted a review of A Deadly Little List, a book I really enjoyed. I went to the Arthur Ellis Awards last night and will have some coverage and photos in the next few days. In the mean, let me extend my congratulations to all the nominees and in particular local author Sharon Rowse whose The Silk Train Murder was nominated for Best First Novel.
April 28, 2008
I took a break and went to see a movie last night, 88 Minutes, so there is a new review.
April 27, 2008
This won't be much of an update, as I spent the week reading two excellent novels by local authors, Kay Stewart and Chris Bullock's A Deadly Little List and Stan Evans' Seaweed on the Street. I am almost finished List and hope to have a review up in a couple of days and Seaweed by the end of the week. Both of these authors place the action on the West Coast, on Saltspring Island and here in my hometown of Victoria respectively which makes the process of reading all the more fun, particularly the mention of Swan's Pub where Mr. Evans joined us for a beer last Friday.
I am grearing up for my trip to Vancouver to cover the Arthur Ellis Awards and am looking forward to meeting many of the authors I have only know through the pages of their books. I am going to see if I can come up with a sense of the Canadian Crime Scene and what it is like to be a writer here in a country that gets ignored by most of the world and has to suffer due to it's closeness with the cultural super power of the south of us. The next issue will be my reflections on the Awards and the scene in general.
It explains why Hammett's vision is more complex than that of his near-contemporary Raymond Chandler. Chandler wrote the man he wanted to be - gallant and with a lively satirist's wit. Hammett wrote the man he feared he might be - tenuous and sceptical in all human dealings, corruptible and addicted to violent intrigue. James Ellroy
I am going to keep this link to this wonderful essay by James Ellroy (because I want more people to read it!), a retrospective on the works of Dashiell Hammett entitled The poet of collision and for any of you who are wondering if Ellroy can still deliver the goods after the annoying excesses of The Cold Six Thousand, this will do much to restore your faith. It's a really beautiful essay and should make you want to run to your bookshelf and re-read Red Harvest or The Glass Key. this is worth reading twice! God, when Ellroy is on he is one of our finest writers!
crime: news & events
Peter Abrahams has a new novel out entitled Delusion
"Twenty years ago Nell Jarreau witnessed the murder of her boyfriend. Her testimony put a man behind bars—and led her to her husband, Clay, the gentle detective who solved the case. They've been happy ever since—and have raised a daughter together—but then one phone call changes everything."
Other news & stuff:
archives:
current reviews:
I will be posting links as I find them. If you have a particular crime/mystery site you like, please email me and I will list and link the best ones!
Author Spotlight:
Local author, Stan Evans' novel Seaweed on the Street will be reviewed
here soon!
site designed for Firefox
