Isn’t it interesting how one event, simple in its origin, will lead to another? One might say it sets up a chain reaction. So it was that while researching a project, I came across a typewritten letter that led me on the road to write An Affair of Spies. In 1939, A. Einstein, of Old…
Good crime-fiction writers don’t learn their craft in school or via online programs. We learn from other good crime-fiction writers—that is, from their books and public comments. We learn to write fiction the way we learned to tie our shoes: by watching and then doing. It’s always more difficult than we expect, but there’s no…
What a pleasure to finally have the words of Seishi Yokomizo translated into English! Louise Heal Kawai does a wonderful job of translating classic mystery novels, opening up an entirely new collection of books for non-Japanese-speaking fans of Golden Age traditional mysteries to enjoy. Death On Gokumon Island opens as Japanese soldiers—including our hero Kosuke…
Part of why Philip K. Dick’s novels are so effective is how the daring, game-changing sci-fi author juxtaposed the extraordinary with the relatable. Take his 1970 novel A Maze of Death, for instance. The main thrust of that story involves fourteen humans who come to inhabit a mysterious space colony which proves to be treacherous…
What a delightfully meta-textual examination of writing in the 21st century! With The Woman In The Library, Sulari Gentill has written a truly thought-provoking modern crime fiction novel—one that entertains and enthralls at a high level while still keeping at least one foot grounded in reality. The book’s core is the story of four people…
