White Dog

Way back in August last year I posted about a pre-order splurge. One of the books I excitedly ordered was a copy of White Dog by Peter Temple, the fourth Jack Irish novel. The fact that the publication date was delayed meant the other books I'd ordered were delayed, so instead of getting Philip Kerr's 'If The Dead Rise Not' in early Sept, it arrived in October. Amazon have just emailed to tell me that it has been indefinitely delayed and to ask whether I want my money back. What the heck is going on here? Why did the publisher inform Amazon of a publication date if it can't deliver with a six month timeframe? It was published in Australia in Sept 2006, so it's not as if there are writing/production issues. In fact, it is even been sold in Australia as an omnibus edition! A message to Quercus the UK publisher - please get this book out soon.

Classic crime fiction curriculum challenge

Just a remindered that there's only a couple of days left to get your suggestions in for the Classic Crime Fiction Curriculum Challenge.

The challenge is to imagine a reader new to crime fiction who wants an education in the classics. A curriculum is needed - a list of ten must-read crime fiction classics, published pre-1970. Either post the list on your own blog and send me the link (rob.kitchin@nuim.ie), or post the list in a comment to this post by January 31st. I’ll then compile a curriculum based on the most popular choices (and provide link-backs to posts). Ideally, the selection of books needs to try and capture different crime fiction sub-genres and styles.

And on it goes ...

Some of my work was in the national broadsheets (here and here) and tabloids this morning and the phone has been hopping all day. Just about every local radio station has been after an interview. We had to put a media strategy in place, redirecting everything to the university press office. It's a while since I read less than 10 pages a day of a novel, but I haven't for the past two days. Expect a delay in the next review as I'm also busy trying to edit The White Gallows. I'm hoping things will calm down a little tomorrow and I can get back to catching up on other work and blogging about more crime novel related stuff. Normal service will resume, at some point ...

Rollercoaster ride ...

Well Frontline went so-so. A fascinating experience just seeing how the whole thing works. The people working on the show were very well prepped and informed about the debate, although the show itself was probably a bit to bitty, touching on things but not delving enough into them. I was moved off the panel and into the centre of the front row. I was a little disappointed about that, but was happy to live with it. Apparently it was for two reasons. First, the presenter wanted to come to me early on and he doesn't go to the panel until a few minutes into the programme, and second to try and get some debate between the audience and the panel. It took me an age to get the make-up off that they insisted I wear. I'm back in the broadsheets and on national radio tomorrow. A strange little rollercoaster that's absorbing a phenomenal amount of time.

Review of Dead Set by Kel Robertson (Text Publishing, 2009)

Chinese-Australian Inspector, Brad Chen, has seen better times. The one time Rugby League star has been crippled by a hit and run accident that’s left him on crutches, addicted to drink and painkillers, and on the sick list. When Tracey Dale, the immigration minister, is found dead in her house, strangled with a coat hanger and a plastic bag tied over her head, he's called back to help his former protégé. The minister was seeking to implement a new immigration bill that would open the door for a wave of non-white immigrants, and there seems to be no shortage of people who would be happy that she was no longer in office. Into the bargain comes a new recruit, the beautiful Kate Malone. Her job is to shepherd Chen, his to mentor her first few days on the job. Tasked with following one particular strand of the murder investigation, Chen and Malone have a knack for discovering new bodies, all with some kind of link to Dale, and various kinds of trouble as they ruffle various feathers.

I thought the first half of Dead Set was a terrific read. The characters are well introduced, the police procedural elements are well handled, and the story just flies along. Robertson’s writing has a nice balance between dialogue and description, and whilst quite functional in style, it’s engaging to read. Chen is intriguing character with his sardonic wit, selective approach to procedure and various vulnerabilities. The second half of the book tails away a little and I increasingly found myself asking why questions as holes in the plot started to appear. And the end was a bit of a letdown, despite the blockbuster climax. Overall, Dead Set is a good, solid, entertaining read and it’s certainly whetted the appetite for the second Chen book, Smoke and Mirrors, which recently won the Ned Kelly Best Fiction Award in his native Australia.

Lazy Sunday Service

Quite a strange week all-round, with one of my blog posts going a bit viral leading to a slot on the national tv news, interviews on the radio, and coverage in all the major papers. Tomorrow night I'll be appearing as one of four panelists on Frontline, a topical debate programme on the national tv channel. I also spent a couple of days in Enniskillen at a conference, I got the green light on the publication of the second McEvoy novel, The White Gallows, and I received my first invite to a Reader's Festival. I'm sure life will return to normal after the 15 minutes has passed.

My posts this week:

• Old Dogs and the adjusting of underwear
• An estimate of vacant housing in Ireland
• First festival invite
• A viral post
• Housing vacancy update
• Review of Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard
• County vacancy rates
• McEvoy rides again ...
• NAMA and ghost estates
• Lost books
• An estimation of housing oversupply 2006-09 by county

Lost books

After a ten minute search it's become apparent that I've managed to leave Kel Robertson's first novel, Dead Set, on a bedside locker in a hotel room in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. I was going to post a Saturday snippet from it today. I'm really annoyed with myself for not checking the room properly before running out the door. At least I'd finished reading it during the two days I was staying there whilst attending a conference. I'll write the review tomorrow and post on Monday. If I'd been halfway through I'd be really cheesed off right now as the book had been specially posted to me from Australia. I'm sure you've experienced a similar experience or worse ...