Ann Rule, true-crime writing pioneer, died over the weekend at age 83. From the obituary in the Seattle Times: Ms. Rule broke out with her first book, “The Stranger Beside Me,” published in 1980. In it she profiled [serial killer Ted] Bundy, whom she got to know while sharing the late shift at a Seattle…
For this Memorial Day, we offer our best wishes, deepest thanks, and a commemorative bouquet of military-related links: Author Joseph Koenig's personal list of the Best Fiction of World War II. “Afghanistan: My Green Zone Symphony,” is a 4-part feature on his deployment by military veteran Weston Ochs, author of the SEAL Team 666,…
In the future, mourners may interact with beloved deceased through virtual reality. Project Elysium is the brainchild of game designers from Australia, and proposes to use a headset like Oculus Rift or HTC Vive as the gateway to a 3-D experience of the beloved who will be “inhabited” by an AI version of themselves. From…
Over the weekend, we (and everyone else) noted the death of crime writer Ruth Rendell at the age of 85. As prolific and talented as she was, even a Labour Party member of the House of Lords as Baroness Rendell of Babergh, one could simply accept as proof of her accomplishments the scores of books…
Over what is, in the U.S., a typically festive weekend, we were saddened to learn of the recent death of novelist and reigning “queen of crime” P.D. James. Having published her first novel in her early forties, she went on to write for more than half a century, creating unforgettable characters while examining thorny questions…
With his square jaw and magnetic charm, he played soldiers, lovers, marshals, judges, a sheriff for a day, gambler Bret Maverick, Philip Marlowe, and even Wyatt Earp, switching effortlessly between television and movies well into his twilight. But I'll always recall James Garner first in his role as the iconic P.I., Jim Rockford, the wise-cracking,…
We despise these posts like we hate reaching The End on any great crime story, and recently, we've had to say goodbye to three wonderful authors, masters of their genres, who deserve (even demand) our commemoration. Click the links for more about their lives and works. Michael Palmer, doctor and writer of over…
We at CrimeHQ join the community's sadness at the passing of Matthew Shear, Executive Vice President and Publisher of St. Martin's Press, and share these thoughts from Macmillan CEO John Sargent: Yesterday we lost a great publisher, but more importantly we lost a remarkable man. Matthew worked with us for 18 years, and was always,…
Everyone in the literary world has heard about the death of the iconic and irreplaceable Elmore Leonard. However, we felt compelled to mention it, too, officially. (Even if we're also officially sick of seeing that In Memoriam tag so much recently.) From the New York Times: To his admiring peers, Mr. Leonard did more than…
She earned a Ph.D. at 23 and had too much to say to be constrained under just one name. We're sad to share the news of the passing, at age 85, of a wonderful writer who became an MWA Grandmaster in 1998. From the Post-Tribune's obituary: Mertz wrote more than 35 mysteries under the name…
