There have been black writers writing black detectives since the beginning of the 20th century. There were black Holmes’ and black Marlowes and black Marples, policemen, amateur sleuths, and private eyes, coexisting with their “mainstream” counterparts almost since the beginning of modern crime fiction, but they were ignored, unseen, unpublished. These black writers, these pioneers,…
Here’s a spectacular setup for a historical crime novel: There’s this emperor, see. We’ll call him C. But C is only one of four emperors because a while back the empire got divided into four parts. Emperors being what they are, all four are madly ambitious and jockeying for control, aiming to be the last…
In the old days before streaming video, the only place you could reliably see a Chinese martial arts movie was on your local TV station’s Saturday afternoon broadcast of Kung Fu Theater, or some similarly named program. Chances are it would a double feature—Shaolin Executioners followed by Dirty Ho, perhaps—featuring guys in bad wigs and…
Who are the real Baker Street Irregulars? Are they a gang of street kids who worked for Sherlock Holmes, appearing in only three stories but nevertheless spawning at least three major TV shows in the last 30 years; or are they the US’s first and most famous Sherlockian society? Or are they actually Winston Churchill’s…
When a writer gets the details wrong, readers let us know. Why? Readers bring their own experiences and knowledge to a book, and they expect authors to have done their homework when writing about subjects they know and may have lived. I remember my father, bestselling medical suspense writer Michael Palmer, recounting the mountains of…
When the pandemic started, my suggested movie stream was filled with films about deadly viruses. Contagion. World War Z. Children of Men. Knowing that I enjoy thrillers, the algorithm behind my entertainment choices apparently decided to select several from the genre steeped in my current circumstances. I couldn’t watch any of them. For me, stories…
When you write mystery/thriller novels like I do, one of the questions frequently asked by editors, reviewers, and readers is: “But is this story really believable?” It’s a tough balance to maintain in a fiction book. If the story is totally “believable,” it might also be boring, But you don’t want to push the envelope…
During this strange, pandemic-induced homebound year, my reading habits have changed. I still love mysteries, crime fiction, and thrillers, especially those that incorporate a political motive or occur against a political background. But I have a new appreciation for authors able to transport me to distant places across the globe, through their vibrant prose and…
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, one of the most glamorous and fiercely private women of the twentieth century, spent more than thirty years as a regular visitor to the small village of Middleburg, Virginia because she loved foxhunting and horseback riding—but mostly because no one fussed over her or made a big deal when she was there.…
Theories abound as to the ideal writing environment. A rustic cabin, a Central Park bench, a room in the upper reaches of a grand hotel. A Brooklyn cafe with erratic wifi and ornery baristas does not rank high on this list. Yet there my wife and I sat, night after night, forcing down gallons of…
