Before a big race, swimmer Michael Phelps listened to a playlist to amp up his energy, increase his focus, and get in the zone. Maybe you can picture him, headphones on, bopping his chin to a beat that was audible only to him. I’m exactly the same. You heard it here first. Michael Phelps and…
Crime has inspired so much music that multiple volumes could be devoted to the subject. Certainly the blues, country, punk, and hip-hop have all produced songs with crime at the center, but so have Cole Porter (“Miss Otis Regrets”), Berthold Brecht (The Threepenny Opera), folk singers, and big bands. There are whole categories of songs—“murder…
Music means everything to me. If there were ever a day that music was to inexplicitly vanish from the planet as an art form, then I would most likely never be able to write another word. The two mediums are that intertwined with me. I’ll try to lay it out for you. I’m sure at…
Join author Patrick Coleman as he shares a curated playlist of crime-related songs that he compiled with the help of singer-songwriter Nicholas Altobelli. It just might be the perfect musical cocktail to inspire a future crime novel. And be sure to leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of Coleman’s newest…
It’s difficult now to imagine watching a crime film set to the jaunty live piano playing that accompanied most early 20th Century silent movies. Without soundtrack and score music, some of our most cherished crime thrillers would be different animals altogether. Imagine Pulp Fiction’s pawn-shop S&M dungeon scene without the dirty saxophone of “Comanche” by…
Every mystery lover knows that the theme music for a TV series helps to sets the mood for the viewer. A solid theme song certainly plays an important role in the success of any series. The musical intro adds to the show, evoking a sense of expectation. The right music places you in the specific…
Alex Segura might be the nicest guy in crime fiction. He cheers on his fellow writers and enthusiastically recommends books, comics, and music. In his entertaining newsletter, Stuff & Nonsense, he chats with all sorts from the crime fiction and comic worlds. By day, he is Senior Vice President of Publicity and Marketing at Archie…
Confession time: I had Adrian McKinty in mind when I conceived of doing this column. I basically harassed his publishers about it, when I found out he would be spending some time in New York City, where I live. Of course, when you are interviewing an Irish crime writer whose series is set during “The…
The glory of the historical mystery is in recreating a time and place both familiar and new. Too often (for me, at least), I find the details in historical fiction maddening and anachronistic, a result of superficial research or the easy belief in old tropes about a period. Happily, William Shaw has avoided these…
Young Americans by Josh Stallings is a glitter rock disco heist story set in the 1970's (available November 20th). 1976 New Year's Eve, San Francisco. A Firebird transports a crew of glitter kids away from the city. Forget the trunk full of cash and illegal firearms. Forget the disco heist and sea of felonies left…
