Warm but not red hot

A couple of weeks ago I got the results of Jason Duke's 'red hot writing contest', but forgot to pass on the news.  I submitted a Harry and Pete piece - Stakeout.  Got down to the last four, but didn't make top spot or runner-up.  More than happy with that - getting down to the final handful was a nice pat on the back.  The winner was "My Asshole Brother" by Eric Beetner; runner up: "A Long Fall Into Nothing" by John Mantooth.  The other finalist was "Seventy Two Hours or Less" by Michael Solender.  My personal favourite was John Mantooth's piece.  The stories will be published in issue #6 of Crimefactory in November.  Thanks for Jason Duke for running the competition and Paul Brazill for hosting it.

TBR panic (abated)

My TBR pile is getting quite low and a visit to the local bookstore did not turn up anything I fancied that much so I've splashed out and ordered ten new books to quell my rising panic at the thought of running out of reading material I'm in the mood for.  Six of these are authors new to me and the others are 'bankers'.  Hopefully they will arrive shortly so I can get tucked in - can't wait.

Day After Day, Carlo Lucarelli
Raven Black, Ann Cleeves
Devil's Peak, Deon Meyer
Blood of the Wicked, Leighton Gage
The Samaritan's Secret, Matt Rees
Hard Man, Allan Guthrie
Saturday's Child, Ray Banks
The Coroner's Lunch, Colin Cotterill
Small Crimes, Dave Zeltserman
Needle in a Haystack, Ernesto Mallo

Lazy Sunday Service

Things that make you go 'argggh!' - (1) spending an age trying to get online - I could connect to the ISP for some of today, but not actually do anything - very frustrating.  (2) a promising book unravelling as it proceeds - I posted yesterday about Bangkok Tattoo.  It was all going well until about the halfway mark, then it started to lose focus and by the time the 747s hit the World Trade Centre (a glaring factual error) the story had lost direction and dwindled except for the occassion fizz and interesting insight.  I'm 30 odd pages from the end which means I'll finish it, but it's going to need something special to rescue it from a damp squib of an ending.  We'll see.  I hope something is pulled out of the bag as I thought the first half was excellent.

My posts this week:

Review of The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst
Digging for Gold - short synopsis
The data deficit in Ireland
Opening lines
Value engineering going to lead to urban squalor?
Review of The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block
When the cover does its job

When the cover does its job

I picked up John Burdett's 'Bangkok Tattoo' simply because of its cover - a simple three colour, but striking art work (that wraps round the book).  The back cover blurb then did its job.  I'm about halfway through and so far it's living up to expectations and I'm thoroughly enjoying.  The cover art certainly did its job (and it does have a job to do, though you wouldn't think it given the generic, non-statements of many books). 

Review of The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block (No Exit Press, 1980)

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a skilled thief and safe breaker who has semi-retired and runs a rare and secondhand bookstore.  Two doors down, Carolyn Kaiser runs the Poodle Factory dog grooming parlour.  Kaiser is Rhodenbarr’s apprentice, but neither are career criminals, undertaking recreational burglary for the thrill and to pick up a bit of spending money. When Carolyn hears that the rich Colcannon’s are going to be away for a night, the pair decide to visit their swish Manhattan town house.  Only somebody got their first and has trashed the place.  The only pickings left are a semi-valuable print and whatever is in the safe.  What they find are a couple of pieces of jewellery and a single coin.  The next stop is Abel Crowe, holocaust survivor and fence, who identifies the coin as a valuable 1913 nickel, of which only six exist.  The true value is unknown, but a conservative estimate is at least $250,000.  They leave the coin with Crowe, but a short while later he’s murdered.  The question is, who killed him and who has the coin?

Block writes in a confident, easy style.  The premise is interesting in that Rhodenbarr doesn’t consider himself a ‘real’ criminal, but something of an honest rogue who has standards and ethics, and he invites the reader to identify with him and imagine playing a similar role.  The story is well structured and paced, but it feels formulaic and writing by numbers.  As such, I found it a little tired, with the story lacking bite; it all feels a little comfortable and cozy with no edge or tension.  Whilst there is reference to Spinoza and some flirting with philosophy this is a straight-up slice of entertainment.  Perhaps most frustrating plot-wise is a resolution that rests on a marginal coincidence, which is okay, but a little clunky.  What makes the book enjoyable are the characters, the gentle humour and the premise.  Rhodenbarr, Kaiser and Crowe work well together, and the other characters well penned.  Overall, entertaining enough to pass a couple of evenings, but doesn’t set one’s pulse racing.

Opening lines

To continue an occassional series of interesting opening lines, these are from some comic crime novels.

"I was hungry enough to eat the ass end of a skunk."  Out of Time, Katy Munger


"Peace had settled over the city like the skin on a rancid custard." Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men, Colin Batemen

"Paranoia doesn't sleep; a guilty conscience looks over its shoulder forever."  Virgin Heat, Laurence Shames

"I've been a poet and novelist for almost a week now and I am really getting the hang of it."  Dead Organised, Audrey Corr


"The minotaur had been causing trouble far in excess of its literary importance."  Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde

Short synopsis - Digging for Gold

I've been trying to draft a short synopsis (less then 150 words) for the next McEvoy book, Digging for Gold.  I'm not sure about the title or the synopsis.  I'm trying to get something reasonably snappy, that'll make people want to read on.  I don't know how long I've spent drafting and tweaking it, but I'm at the stage where I'm too close and need some independent feedback.  What do you think?  Okay?  Any suggested edits (or back to the drawing board)?


Detective Superintendent Colm McEvoy has got himself ensnared in a tangle of work and women.  Marianne Haas, a Dutch national and estate agent, is found hanging in a client’s house.  Nearby, the remains of a young woman are discovered in a bog.  Along the Irish border, rivalry between fuel smuggling gangs has led to murder and collaboration with a fiery superintendent.  None of the three cases are straightforward and are little helped by the attention of an ambitious journalist and the resistance of local officers to outside help.  To add spice to the mix, McEvoy finds himself flirting with one of his subordinates whilst relying on his lodger to look after his increasingly distant daughter.  Undertaking one case is stressful, managing three and an evermore complex personal life is a potential nightmare.  Rural Ireland is proving to be anything but an idyll.