This Storm by James Ellroy is a massive novel of World War II Los Angeles—when torrential rainstorms hit the city, a body is unearthed in Griffith Park. The cops rate it a routine dead-man job. They’re grievously wrong. I’ve been reading the Demon Dog of American Literature since I stumbled across The Black Dahlia in…
Although reading is a largely visual task (albeit in practice and not in the sense of a picture), what makes it so enjoyable is the imaginative task of creating a world with all of your senses from what is being described through words. And, as often is the case, music is the perfect accompaniment to reading—the…
Once a year, the mystery writing community reaches critical mass in a place filled with the greatest living purveyors of the genre. The moment occurs at the Edgar Allan Poe Awards Dinner hosted by the Mystery Writers of America. This year, it took place on April 29 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.…
The Quais Du Polar is the largest crime fiction festival in France, and that’s saying a lot, because the French love crime fiction. Sure, mysteries (and to a lesser extent, noir) are big in the U.S., but crime fiction in France is a cultural phenomenon reaching back decades. The French, god love them, are obsessed…
I’m not sure why there are so many noirs set around the holidays, but maybe it has something to do with seasonal depression. We all know that this time of year can be especially hard on people, when our usual American propensity toward surface cheer becomes something of a national obligation. After all, we quite…
Mystery Writers of America has just announced its new Grand Masters for 2015, and authors Lois Duncan and James Ellroy will be honored at the Edgar Awards banquet next April 29th. In addition, Ruth and Jon Jordan from Crimespree Magazine and Kathryn Kennison, the founder of Magna Cum Murder, will be awarded Ravens for outstanding…
You know you’re officially a mystery fanatic when you start reading books about books. Luckily, over the years many studies of hardboiled and noir crime fiction have been published to meet the needs of just these kind of fanatics. Here’s a short guide to some of the best. 1. “The Simple Art of Murder” by…
You don’t see the term “hardboiled” much any more. “Noir” has supplanted it, co-opted from the French film critics who intended it for the American crime films made during and shortly after World War II. Those critics had co-opted the term from Serie Noire, the black-covered paperbacks from publisher Gallimard that reprinted the likes of…
I’ve never downloaded an electronic book. My book has sold a number of Kindle copies, which leads me to feel a strange imbalance—what does it mean that I produce material for a media I don’t engage in? I am not one of the people who insist that all books must be printed matter, and can…
Until the Rampart trailer hit the ’Net, Woody Harrelson seemed an unlikely choice for the super-corrupt, super-violent lead cop (despite the rave reviews he’s garnered at festivals). The movie, written by James Ellroy, has a stellar cast; Harrelson is supported by Ben Foster, Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Ice Cube, Anne Heche, Ned Beatty, Cynthia Nixon…
