MEMORIES ARE MURDER - Lou Allin

Memories are Murder is the fifth book in Lou Allin's Belle Palmer Mystery series. Belle Palmer is a realtor in Sudbury, Ontario, the Nickel Capital. So, it only makes sense that Gary Myers would call on Belle when he comes to town looking to rent a house while he studies the behavior of elk in the wilds of Ontario. The clincher, though, is the fact that Gary also happens to be Belle's former high school boyfriend.

In addition to the appearance of Gary, Belle's partner Miriam is called away to care for her ex-husband Jack, and a very pregnant Yolanda "Yoyo" Hourtovenko is filling in for Miriam. So when Gary turns up dead, his partner is nearly asphyxiated and Belle has her own life threatened, Belle starts to wonder what could possibly happen next.

This is my first Belle Palmer novel, and I have to say that Allin does a great job with her characters. Belle isn't your average amateur sleuth. She's set in her ways and can be a little on the crotchety side at times. But I was grinning ear to ear when Belle told her teen-age friend after a low-life litter-bug started spewing profanity:

"'I'm sure you've heard worse, but it's so ordinary, ' Belle said. 'Shakespeare made swearing a fine art. Away, you cut-purse rascal. You mouldy rogue. You filthy bung.' She shook her fist at Joey, who scowled and squinted at a foreign language."

Yoyo is anything but stereotypical. She, too, is rather willful and at times that makes her absolutely hysterical. Yoyo is completely her own person and she doesn't feel the need to justify herself to anyone, so often Belle learns about Yoyo's extraordinary circumstances from anyone BUT Yoyo. While Belle and Yoyo can at times appear as opposites, they share a great deal of similarities, especially in their strong wills.

The rural Canadian setting was perfect for the zoological aspects inter-weaved into the plot. So, the plot and the setting naturally fit together; there was no forced feeling to the story. I actually couldn't help but think of Margaret Maron as I read. I think fans of Maron's would also enjoy the Belle Palmer series.

Even though this was the fifth book in the Belle Palmer series, and I'd not read any of the others, I didn't have any trouble following along. So you can read this series in any order and still achieve the full effect of the book.

Memories are Murder was published in 2007 by RendezVous Crimes. ISBN: 978-1-894917-33-9

A Few Thoughts for Friday

Wow! How did it get to be Friday already - and May's almost over? Gotta love these short weeks. We've had a bit of rain since Tuesday here in Northeast Ohio, and thus it's been a bit muggy. I, however, do not complain. I'm so happy for warm, I don't care how I get it!

Thanks to all who have sent the kind messages about Monday's Mystery Backlist and the 6-Word Memoir project. I'm excited to announce that I'll have a guest taking care of the Monday Mystery Backlist next week. I'm trying to make that regular post as well rounded in the mystery genre as possible. And submissions for that post are still always welcome! I'm also excited to announce that Lisa Unger will be guest blogging on Tuesday in honor of the release of her new book DIE FOR YOU. Hope you'll stop by for that.

Congratulations go out to Charlotte from Georgia. She won the copy of A CARRION DEATH.

I'm also looking forward to next weekend when I'll be participating in the Mystery Read-a-thon. If you're interested you can sign up at the website for the event. I'll be blogging a bit while I progress. Not sure yet what I'll be reading. A lot depends on what I finish this coming week. The marathon is for 12 hours. That's one I think I can handle! I will probably read 9 to 9 or 10 to 10. We'll see. But, I'm gearing up! Let me know if you're participating, too.

That's all for now. Happy Reading!

HARD EVIDENCE - John Lescroart

Dismas Hardy returns in the third book from John Lescroart's series. The opening finds Dismas and Frannie married with baby Rebecca and another baby on the way. Dismas has left bartending behind and is now working for the San Francisco Prosecutor's office as an assistant D.A.

Dismas is the low man on the totem pole in the D.A.'s office so he's dealing with the crap cases. That is until he discovers a hand in the belly of a dead shark. When the rest of the body washes ashore with bullet holes, Dismas is assigned to work with Elizabeth Poolios (sp?) to prosecute the victims call-girl girlfriend. At least that's the side of the court room Dismas starts out on. By the end of the novel, he's working from the defense table.

I listened to this Hardy novel on audio book, which was read by David Colacci. He did a fair job but his range of voices isn't quite sufficient for the number of characters in this novel. Some of the characters begin to sound alike. But otherwise he does a decent job. He narrated both novels prior to this one as well, and I've come to associate his voice with Hardy.

There isn't a great change in characters for this novel. Dismas' ex Jane and her father Andy are back. Elizabeth Poolios becomes a major player in this novel and she falls into a stereotypical female with power role. For the most part I really enjoy Dismas as a character, but as a female reader his brush with infidelity rubbed me a little the wrong way. I wonder if that differs for male readers? I guess deep down somewhere I'm just an old romantic at heart!

The plot takes on a number of twists, but I was able to figure out the end quite early. It was still an enjoyable book to listen to and I'm interested to see where Lescroart takes Hardy from here.

You Have the Right to Six Words - Part I

As part of my author interviews I always ask each author to tell me what his/her six word memoir would be. The question came from the book NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING: SIX-WORD MEMOIRS OF WRITERS FAMOUS AND OBSCURE. This question is always so much fun and I look forward to what each author is going to respond. I also noticed that I received the most comments from readers on that question. So, the little wheels started turning and I decided to make it a series.

I've been out pounding the pavement to solicit six-word memoirs from writers of crime fiction. I have to tell you that I've been overwhelmed by the response. All these folks took time out of their schedules to humor me. So, each week on Wednesday I will be posting four memoirs until I've exhausted them all. I don't know for sure how long we'll go because I'm still actively soliciting, but I can tell you that if I get no other submissions, we'll have a minimum of 9 weeks of memoirs with writers contributing from the U.S., England, Ireland and South Africa. Each week, for at least the first nine, we'll have two memoirs that are recaps from the interviews and two brand new memoirs.

O.k., I'm too excited, so let's just get to the inaugural post of YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SIX WORDS: SIX-WORD MEMOIRS FROM CRIME FICTION'S GREATEST WRITERS!

Almost one year ago I was posting my very first interviews. Some day I'll go back and re-interview these brave souls because my interview questions have surely improved in the last year! But, the interviews did include the six-word memoir question.

Michael Koryta was first, so I find it only appropriate that we remember his memoir first in this series. Michael is the author of the Lincoln Perry series, publishing the first book, TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE when he was 21. TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE went on to win the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America prize for best first PI novel. TONIGHT I SAID GOODBYE was also a Edgar Award nominee for best first novel. The fourth Lincoln Perry novel, THE SILENT HOUR, will be released from St. Martin's this August. Michael also wrote the stand alone novel, ENVY THE NIGHT, which won the 2009 L.A. Times Book Prize in the mystery/thriller category.

Can I have a seventh word?

Alafair Burke was my second interview and she's probably the female writer I hold in the highest regard, and not just because she's Duffer's Momma, either. She has two crime fiction series: Samantha Kincaid the Portland, Oregon deputy district attorney and Ellie Hatcher the New York City homicide detective. Both series feature smart, strong, realistic female protagonists. And both series epitomize the idea that "art imitates life." Next up for Alafair is 212, the third novel in the Ellie Hatcher series, which will be out this winter. Alafair is also a blogger, and if you haven't had a chance to check out her blog, you don't know what you're missing! In addition to her ability to write riveting crime fiction novels, she has a knack for finding the greatest topics to blog about!

Loved, was loved. Appreciated both. (one word short)

Oh, that's O.K. Alafair, I have a feeling that another author's going to need one down the road. We'll just save your extra word! :)

So, those are the recaps. Now for the two new memoirs in this week's post. I decided to make this post a family affair. Alafair's father, James Lee Burke is also a contributor to the Six-Word Memoir Project.

James Lee Burke is one of crime fiction's all-time greats. And you've heard me mention before that I view him as one of America's greatest living writers, period. He is a model of determination, having his novel THE LOST GET-BACK BOOGIE rejected 111 times before finally having it published and then nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. In addition to the Pulitzer nomination, Jim has been awarded the Edgar twice for Best Crime Novel of the Year, and just this past May he was named Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. SWAN PEAK, published last year, marked the 17th novel in Jim's amazing Dave Robicheaux series. This summer Jim is resurrecting Hackberry Holland, who first appeared almost 30 years ago in LAY DOWN MY SWORD AND SHIELD, for his 29th novel RAIN GODS. So, how appropriate is this memoir?

I never ran out of stories.

And the final memoir for the first post comes from Les Roberts who was the winner of the initial St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America Best First PI novel! Les has penned two crime fiction series: the Saxon Series and the Milan Jacovich Series (which, like Koryta's Lincoln Perry series is set in Cleveland), the Saxon and the Milan Jacovich series had nominees for the Shamus and Anthony Awards. Last year, after a short hiatus from Milan, Les published THE KING OF THE HOLLY HOP. Among Les' other accomplishments is writing screen plays; he was also the first producer of THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES. What initially brought him to the Northeast Ohio area was a job creating a lottery game show. That game show ultimately became CASH EXPLOSION DOUBLE PLAY. During Les' hiatus from Milan, he wrote a full-length memoir, WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE CLEVELAND. When he scaled it down to six words, it became:

Writer, father, lover, friend, occasional louse.

I hope you have enjoyed the first four memoirs and that you will come back next week to see who is included in Part II of YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SIX WORDS!

Happy Reading!

BAD TRAFFIC - Simon Lewis

When Inspector Jian, a Chinese cop, receives a cryptic call for help from his daughter in England, he drops everything and heads out to find her, despite not knowing how to read or speak English. Meanwhile Ding Ming and his wife Little Ye have been illegally transported to England to work for a Chinese gang in hopes of one day providing a better life for their family back home in China.

When Jian and Ding Ming's paths cross in rural England, sparks start flying. They can help each other but are both ignorant to that fact. Somehow, though, fate keeps bringing them back together and each encounter brings more action and adventure.

It certainly wasn't hard to figure out why BAD TRAFFIC was nominated for the L.A. Times Book Prize in the mystery/thriller category. BAD TRAFFIC is a complex novel populated by complex characters dealing with complex themes. And just when you think it can't possibly get any darker, it does. This gritty, action-packed thriller keeps the reader mesmerized page after page.

While the novel takes place in rural England, it could be placed in almost any developed nation in the world, as illegal immigration and class distinction are common issues around the globe.

I found every aspect of this novel gripping, but I'm sure you won't find it surprising that I was most taken with the characters. There are no white hats in this book. At first glance one might assume Ding Ming to be a white-hatted character, but he's broken the law from the onset by illegally traveling to England. Jian is a crooked Chinese cop, but also has an ethical code that he seems to follow. The lack of white hats contributes to the severe darkness of the tone.

There were many elements of the novel that I thought Lewis did an exceptional job with, but one that stuck out stronger than most for me was his depiction of Jian's alienation in England. Jian is in a strange land and does not understand the language. He cannot read the street signs, billboards, even the paper with his daughter's address:

"Jian looked gloomily at a billboard across the street. The giant image of a pretty Asian girl flanked by a black man and a white man seemed to be taunting him. It was impossible to tell what it was advertising.

"The student had called a taxi for him. When it came he showed the driver a print-out teacher Delaware had made, lines of squiggles which apparently showed the address his daughter had given when she enrolled."

Not only can he not comprehend the written language, but the spoken language is also beyond his comprehension, Jian often hears flutters instead of comprehensible words. Even other Chinese people are foreign to him, as they speak a completely different dialect. The only thing Jian wants more than to return to the safety of his country is to avenge his daughter's murder. Ding Ming has the benefit of understanding the language because he studied English, but Ding Ming is a peasant and he's amazed by things as common as a automobile:

"'This is a car,' said the peasant. 'Will you look at this? There's a button here to change the angle of the wing mirror. That's a CD player. I think this is air con. It's like a spaceship.'"

Ding Ming simply wants to return to his "bosses." He fears for his family back in China who will have to pay his debut if he is assumed dead. And he wants more than anything to be reunited with his wife. Ding Ming's simplicity continues to convince him that he can only prosper if he returns to the ugliness of his new life, the evil bosses are the only people who will protect him and give him a chance to succeed.

Both men are lost in this foreign land. Instead of helping one another, they end up battling each other in addition to their enemies. The complexity of the two men and their relationship to one another challenged me as a reader to see all the dimensions of these characters. Lewis did an outstanding job developing them.

This is most definitely a book that is in contention for a top read of 2009 for me. Absolutely astounding effort by Simon Lewis.

Monday Mystery Backlist - THE COLD DISH

Today's backlist title is Craig Johnson's THE COLD DISH. Since his fifth book in the Walt Longmire series is officially releasing this Thursday, I thought it fitting that we remember the beginning!

Walt Longmire is the sheriff in Absaroka County, Wyoming. Life doesn't tend to veer much from the ordinary in rural Wyoming, so when Cody Pritchard is found dead everyone's inclined to write it off as a hunting accident. But when subsequent events start to make it look as though Cody's death may actually be a revenge murder - for Cody's part in the gang rape of Melissa Little Bird, a Cheyenne girl with fetal alcohol syndrome - Absaroke County is turned on its head.

While trying to sort out the death of Pritchard, Walt is also trying to sort out his own personal life. He's sunk into a bit of a depression after the death of his wife, and all of his friends are trying to dig him out of the depression.

THE COLD DISH introduces the world to the cast of Absaroka County, including Walt Longmire, his deputy Vic Moretti, Walt's best friend Henry Standing Bear, the former sheriff of Absaroka Lucian Connelly, and yes, it is so...Lonnie Little Bird.

THE COLD DISH was published in 2005 by Viking/the Penguin Group. It was also released by Penguin in trade paper in 2006.

The Six-Word Series is Coming!

If you've read my interviews, you know I end each one with the same question, "What is your six-word memoir?" And yes, I "borrowed" the concept from the book NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS EXPECTING: SIX-WORD MEMOIRS OF WRITERS FAMOUS AND OBSCURE. But, it is a popular question with each interview. I have been wanting to do something special with these responses, and I decided that I'm going to make a scrapbook with them. In addition, I'm going to do something fun on the blog.

Over the last couple months I've been trying to contact other authors to inquire after THEIR six-word memoirs as well. The response has been wonderful and I'm excited to tell you that I will have a series of posts throughout the summer of six-word memoirs from crime fiction writers! Each week on Wednesday - starting this Wednesday - I'll have four memoirs. Two will be from authors I've interviewed, so those will be recaps. Then two NEW memoirs will be added to the mix as well.

I'm very excited about this series, and I hope you are too. I absolutely love these memoirs. They're a lot of fun, and I think you're going to enjoy the round-up of authors who have contributed to this project. So, check back on Wednesday and see who starts all this fun!

REMINDER: Today is the LAST DAY TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR A COPY OF A CARRION DEATH. Check here for details on how to enter. Don't miss your chance to win this awesome debut by the fabulous writing team of Michael Stanley!

And don't forget that tomorrow is Monday Mystery Backlist day. Even though it is Memorial Day, I'll still be posting the backlist title. Hope you'll stop by to check it out!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend and Happy Reading!

SILENT COUNSEL - Ken Isaacson

Ken Isaacson's debut legal thriller SILENT COUNSEL centers around the attorney client priviledge. When a man driving recklessly simply for the thrill runs down and kills an innocent six-year-old boy, no one is around to witness. The driver takes off but later has an attack of guilty conscience, but not so guilty that he wants to pay a high penalty. So, he hires an attorney to negotiate a plea for him. The catch is this: the attorney can't reveal the driver's name - attorney client priviledge.

The plot of SILENT COUNSEL mimics Vince's BMW Z4: sleak, fast, powerful. You needn't even bother trying to figure this one out because as soon as you think you have it pegged, Isaacson will pull the rug out from under you, leaving you to wonder what the heck just happened. Which is not to say that Isaacson pulls things out of the air. All the pieces parts are there, they're just weaved together ingeniously so you don't always see them there. Kind of like an Escher piece. It doesn't seem like it would be possible, but you're looking at it right there, so it must be.

The characters in this novel will cause your emotions to run the gamet. You want to feel sympathy but at the same time if they don't scare the be-geebers out of you, something's wrong. I would wring my hands and say out loud, "WHAT are you thinking?" And at the same time wonder exactly what I would do under the same circumstances. Isaacson interjects many viable ethical situations, and while they are at the extreme (or let's hope they're the extreme) of the possible circumstances, they are still viable.

The themes are infused with contraversy, many of the same contraversies that arise in our legal system on a daily basis. Exactly how far should our laws go, the laws that are in place to protect the innocent? The same laws that often end up freeing the guilty.

This is definitely NOT a thoughtless read. You're going to tax your own beliefs as you race through the events that compose SILENT COUNSEL. And at the end, you may have more questions than when you started. I challenge you not to think about them after you've closed the book!

Mystery's Man of Comedy - Jeff Cohen!

For my vacation to Southern California, I packed quite a few books, but most importantly I pulled some down off my shelf that I had purchased - you know, those books that were repeatedly being pushed to the back of the line for library books, borrowed books, and books I'd been given. Obviously, if I'd purchased them, I wanted to read them, but I'd been doing a far better job of collecting dust with them than reading them. So my vacation was my vacation in more than one way. And all of that jabber was so I could tell you that one of the books I took with me on vacation was SOME LIKE IT HOT BUTTERED. And you know if you read my review, I absolutely loved it. So, off I went to have a chat with the guy who brought Elliot Freed to life in SOME LIKE IT HOT BUTTERED and then continued to delight fans with IT HAPPENED ONE KNIFE and most recently added to bookshelves A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION.

I am absolutely tickled to host the very wonderful, very funny Jeff Cohen!

Q: Jeff, you have two series of fiction books: the Aaron Tucker Mysteries and the Double Feature Mysteries. In addition to this, you work as a freelance writer, blog, wrote screenplays for many years, and published two non-fiction books. Whew! Did you always want to write? What inspired you to take up the pen…or word processor…or computer?

Jeff: Oh, go remember. I’ve been writing since I was ten or so, probably. I think I’ve always had an internal story going on, and at some point, it has to come out. But after college, I was working in a daily newspaper’s newsroom and trying to sell screenplays to Hollywood. That didn’t work out so well, and eventually, I ended up freelancing for a number of publications, including the New York Times, USA Weekend, TV Guide and a lot of others. And one thing really does lead to another, so in 2002 my first novel was published. I’m still trying to figure out what happened.

Q: When you decided to try your hand at novel-writing, what drew you to the mystery genre?

Jeff: To be perfectly honest, I didn’t set out to be a mystery author. I was trying to write my nine-millionth screenplay, and the story wouldn’t cooperate, because it was intent on being told in the first person. So I decided to take a shot and write a few chapters as if it were going to be a novel (knowing full well that I couldn’t write a real novel), and that would give me the outline for the screenplay. It just so happened that the story was a murder mystery about a suburban town. About eighty thousand words later, the screenplay was a novel, and it ended up being published, with the understanding that I’d continue to write about those characters. So it was a three-book (so far) mystery series, the Aaron Tucker series.

Q: Do you find that any of the writing platforms comes easier than the others? Or do you have a preference for any of them?

Jeff: Well, I can churn out a newspaper piece if you wake me up at three in the morning and give me forty five minutes, but that’s just through sheer repetition. I’ve been writing pretty much on a daily deadline since college, where I learned to compose on the keyboard for the Rutgers Daily Targum, the finest student newspaper in the country, in my opinion. But easier? What’s easy got to do with writing? When you know what comes next, it’s easy. The other ninety percent of the time, it’s creating something from nothing. That’s hard.

Q: I read in another interview that, like me, you love character. That definitely comes through in your books. The depth of the characters, their relationships to one another, those elements really drive your stories. So how do the characters come to life in your imagination – do you plan them out or get to know them a lot before you even start writing? Have they ever done anything that really surprised you?

Jeff: I don’t think any story can be really memorable unless the characters are interesting. I truly don’t. How many people remember who the murderer was in The Thin Man? And how many people remember Nick and Nora Charles? Your characters ARE your story, no matter what the plot might dictate. But I don’t do a tremendous amount of planning ahead of time. I have a pretty good idea of who the main character is in a flash when the idea comes, and then I populate his/her world with people who will make a difference to that character, one way or another. And yes, they surprise me all the time. The little devils. I suppose that speaks to my utter lack of responsibility in planning. I never outline.

Q: And of course, your books are wonderfully funny. You’re able to find the humor in simple everyday events and activities. Does that humor come naturally for you or is it something you’ve had to work at and practice?

Jeff: Both. I’ve always been trying for the joke—my wife says that even when we’re arguing, she has to give me a certain leeway because “you’re incapable of not going for the joke.” So it’s natural in me. I look for the humor in any situation, because that’s my strength and that’s what I find interesting, anyway. So the books will reflect that. I won’t change the plot to fit a joke, but I will let a really good joke take me places I might not otherwise have gone. And thank you for saying the books are funny—it’s what I like hearing most.

Q: On the DorothyL list serve, you posed a question to the members, so I’ll ask it of you, “What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read?”

Jeff: Honestly, the funniest book I’ve ever read is a non-fiction book, Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo—A History of the Marx Brothers and a Satire on the Rest of the World by Joe Adamson. That book always cracks me up, and I re-read it regularly. And its facts are all true, too. I’m in awe of that book. Fiction? I have no idea. Sometimes, I’m so “inside baseball” on humor that I’m more interested in how an author makes a joke work than whether or not I’m actually laughing at it. So I could mention some names, and they’re all wonderfully funny writers, but since Jean Shepherd’s In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, I really don’t remember one book that I considered hilarious. There are other authors, like Lisa Lutz, whom I think handle humor very well. But I’m enough of an egomaniac that I can’t read those books objectively—I’m always wondering if I’m funnier than them.

Q: If your fans have exhausted all of your books, and they’re looking for something to fill their reading time until your next book comes out, what would you recommend they read (in addition to your answer from above)?

Jeff: Again, Lisa Lutz’s Spellmans books are very good. I never let one get by without reading it. I love the Chris Grabenstein Ceepak mysteries as well as his YA books (in the interest of full disclosure, Chris is a good friend, but I liked his books before I met him). I still read Robert B. Parker, because he got me reading mysteries a long time ago. I like a lot of mystery writers, and I’m not going to name any more for fear of leaving out someone I shouldn’t. Read James Thurber. Read Jean Shepherd. Read Joe Adamson.

Q: Elliot Freed is your central character in the Double Feature Mysteries, and he has a job that you’ve always wanted but knew wasn’t economically realistic – he owns and runs an all comedy movie theater. So what was it that originally hooked you on comedy movies, and what defines a classic comedy by your standards?

Jeff: I can’t imagine someone not being hooked on comedy. I mean, life is hard enough; what could be better than a good laugh when you need it? I guess I started at a very young age (Rocky and Bullwinkle?), but the real light-bulb moment for me was when I was in high school and late one night (in those days, you had to watch things on television when they were on) WNEW in New York decided to run Horse Feathers. Now, I’d heard of Groucho Marx and was aware he had brothers, but this was my first glimpse of the real thing in action, and it’s not at all an overstatement to say it changed my life. This was comedy that would absolutely be with me forever.

How do I define classic comedy? Anything I like well enough to watch over and over again. Comedy might be the most subjective of art forms—what I think is hilarious could be absolutely awful to you. So I can’t make judgments. Elliot gets to run the movies I’d want to program in a movie theatre if I were in charge. If you don’t like those, plug in your own.

Q: Are there any up-and-coming comedy writers, actors, etc. that you feel will be tomorrow’s “classics”?

Jeff: I’m really bad at predicting such things. Will the Judd Apatow school of comedy endure into the 22nd Century? I have no idea. I don’t find it especially hilarious, but then, I’m not the target audience there—I actually think that while sex is hilarious, there are occasionally other things that are funny, too. Right now, I think the best comedy is being done on television, to be frank. Something like 30 Rock or The Daily Show appeals much more to my brain than most of the comedies about mall cops coming out in theatres now.

Q: You’ve said that the similarities between you and Elliot end at his having this job you would love to have. So where did the ideas for Elliot come from? Why decide that he wouldn’t own a car and instead rides a bicycle to work?

Jeff: I wanted Elliot to be the anti-Aaron Tucker. So he wouldn’t be married. But just being single seemed a little flat, so he became divorced, from a woman he sill has feelings for, and without children, because the Aaron series was all about raising the kids. Aaron used to take his children with him on interrogations. And Elliot is not really as connected to society as Aaron was—he has this weird movie theatre that only he thinks is a good idea, and he lives by himself in a townhouse that has no furniture because he never really goes there except to sleep. Why no car? Because in New Jersey, people use a car pretty much to go from room to room, and I wanted Elliot to stand out. And I liked the idea of the bicycle to show that he’s taking the action he thinks other people should take to help the planet. But not to the point that he won’t borrow a car when he needs to go somewhere. Elliot’s committed, but he’s not crazy.

Q: You newest novel in the Double Feature Mystery series is called A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION, which came out this year. Tell us a little about this novel. Who should we expect to see returning?

Jeff: A Night at the Operation is a more personal story for Elliot. I always think the third book in a series—after you’ve established the characters and their relationships—is where you can start turning the screws. So Elliot’s world is about to go a little haywire: His ex-wife Sharon, for whom he’s still carrying a large torch, vanishes, and she’s wanted for questioning by the police in the death of one of her patients. And Elliot, despite his wanting to help the cops find his ex, can’t just sit around and wait—he has to do something. I thought it was interesting to see how this one incident could bring certain issues home to Elliot. And pretty much all the characters (aside from the ones in jail from previous books) are back, as are a few who have never appeared “on screen” before, like Elliot’s mother and Sharon’s soon-to-be-second-ex-husband, Gregory. They’ve been discussed before, but now they get to have the stage to themselves a little.

Q: A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION is book number three in the Double Feature Mystery series; there are presently three books in the Aaron Turner Mystery series. Do you know where you’re going from here? Is either series gearing up for a book four? Or is there a brand new project on the horizon?

Jeff: I’m currently writing (or should be) the first book in a new series, which I can’t talk about yet. As for Aaron and Elliot—well, if there’s tremendous demand for either, I can certainly tell you I’d love to see them again. It’s not always up to the author (it’s almost NEVER up to the author).

Q: Do you have any plans for Aaron and Elliot to team up?

Jeff: They’re from different publishers, so it might be a little like the unbelievable machinations that went on to get both Disney and Warner Brothers characters to appear in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, only without the consumer demand. Although readers who look closely enough might see Aaron around the fringes of an Elliot book or two.

Q: When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do for fun? What hobbies or interests fill your free time?

Jeff: I’m almost never not doing something related to writing, marketing, promoting books or other work. And then there’s this 100-year-old house to maintain. But I do play guitar—I made a YouTube music video about mystery genres that you can find on my web site http://jeffcohenbooks.com/ and on YouTube—and I’m a big fan of the New York Yankees, so I try to watch a lot of games. And now, I’m starting on a project more difficult than anything I’ve tackled before—I need to lose about 40 pounds.

Q: There is a book out called NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING: SIX-WORD MEMOIRS OF WRITERS FAMOUS AND OBSCURE, tell me what Elliot’s six-word memoir would be. (Note to readers: Jeff's six-word memoir will be revealed in the very near future. Stay tuned!)

Jeff: Bringing the Marx Brothers to Jersey.

Thank you, Jeff, for hangin' out with us today. It has been a great pleasure. And I know I personally have to thank Jeff for the laugh therapy he's provided with his books. It's absolutely the best medicine!

And I also highly recommend that you head over to Jeff's website and check out the great video about mysteries. You can learn more about Jeff and both of his fiction series after you finish laughing. Finally, I haven't had a chance yet to read the latest Elliot Freed novel, A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION, but you can check out what Oline Cogdill had to say here.

A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND - Don Winslow

Neal Carey is a graduate student who simply wants to be left alone to finish up his Masters in literature. But, Neal also happens to be a P.I. A P.I. who works for "The Family." They took him in as a "friend" of the "Family" when his drug addict mother failed to follow through on her duties. Then the "Family" paid for Neal to go to college. So, when the "Family" comes knocking on Neal's door to put his P.I. skills to work finding Allie Chase, the missing daughter of Senator Chase, Neal doesn't have much choice but to comply.

Senator Chase is in contention for the vice presidency and he needs his missing, drug-addict daughter home and clean for a wholesome family appearance before the Democratic Convention. Allie was spotted in London and that's where Neal heads and finds more adventure than he had planned.

A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND is Don Winslow's first book in the Neal Carey series. I listened to this one on audio. It was read by Joe Barrett who did a very nice job with voicing the various characters. He didn't grow overly dramatic and his inflections were well-placed and timed. I enjoyed his reading of this book.

Winslow's characters are superb. He did make use of the damsel in distress, which I'm not especially fond of, but he saved himself from my bigger pet peeve at the conclusion of the novel, but to avoid spoilers, I'll let you find that one out for yourself.

I absolutely loved "Dad." Joe Graham is the man who taught Neal everything he knows about P.I. work. And Neal refers to him as "Dad." Joe has an artificial arm, which amusingly plays a role in how Neal and Joe end up meeting. Throughout the book Winslow flashes back to various events in Neal's P.I. "education." The relationship between Neal and Graham is humorous and vital to understanding both characters.

COOL BREEZE's plot is a mover, filled with plenty of twists, as Neal explains, the life of a P.I. is lies.

A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND is a fast, funny, enjoyable beginning to the Neal Carey series. I look forward to reading more.

KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED - Craig Johnson

In KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED, the third book from Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire series, Walt and Henry Standing Bear are traveling to Philadelphia. Henry is going to display his photo collection in an art show and Walt goes along to visit his daughter, Cady. Before Walt even sees Cady in Philadephia, she is viciously attacked and left for dead. While Walt and his friends rotate a vigil watching over Cady in the hospital, the investigation into who harmed Cady and why ensues. Despite being a "stranger in a strange land" Walt is determined to find justice for Cady.

Craig Johnson is one of those authors who writes a book that leaves me thinking, "wow! This is amazing. But, now there's nowhere for him to go from here. You can't get better than perfection." KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED topped perfection. I'm reading the series in order, so I've now read books one through three. I love each and every one of them, but KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED is definitely my favorite. Walt has always been an extraordinarily REAL character. It would not surprise me in the least to run into this man on the street. But in his third adventure Walt's relationship with his daughter added another amazing dimension to his already life-like existence. A large part of Walt's existence is defined by his relationships with his friends and family. Because of the strength of those relationships, Walt is also left vulnerable when it comes to them - they are his Achilles heel, and no where has that been more evident than in KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED when someone harms Walt's only child:

"There was no change, and I could feel my heart cannon-balling into my bowls, taking my lungs along for the ride. I took a deep breath and listened to it clatter in my throat like a rattler in shedding season when it is blind, pissed and strikes out at everything."

But, rest assured. Even though a major trauma has occurred, Walt did not lose his sense of humor. So just when Johnson brings you to the brink of tears, you'll read the scene where Henry asks Walt to find some eagle feathers so he can perform a ritual at Cady's hospital bed. Walt walks in and

"I handed the Bear the [Philadelphia Eagles] football helmet. 'Good thing you didn't need a tomahawk or I would've had to go to Atlanta."

So, the tears that had started welling in your eyes will be streaming down your cheeks from laughing.

KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED introduces us to Vic's family who all live in Philadelphia. While Vic doesn't initially travel with Walt and Henry to the City of Brotherly Love, she does ride in when Sheriff Walt is in need of his deputy. And her presence in the midst of her family adds another dimension to her character as well. The dysfunction of the Moretti family creates a sharp contrast to the relationships of the Absaroka County family.

As with the two books before this, Johnson takes his characters through a plot of amazing proportions that changes each of them in significant ways. I can't imagine a reader traveling alongside the characters and not changing him/herself as well. I know I was a different person as a result.

KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED is nothing short of spectacular.

Congratulations...

...to the 2009 Anthony Award nominees announced today:

Best Novel

Trigger City by Sean Chercover [William Morrow]
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly [Little, Brown and Company]
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger [Atria]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny [Minotaur]

Best First Novel

Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris [Minotaur]
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer [Doubleday]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith [Grand Central]

Best Paperback Original

The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
Money Shot by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy [Berkley]
In a Dark Season by Vicki Lane [Dell]
South of Hell by P.J. Parrish [Pocket Star]

Best Short Story

"The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron from Wolfsbane and Mistletoe [Ace]
"A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover from Hardcore Hardboiled [Kensington]
"Killing Time" by Jane K. Cleland from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (November)
"Skull and Cross Examination" by Toni L. P. Kelner from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (February)
"Scratch a Woman" by Laura Lippman from Hardly Knew Her [William Morrow]
"The Secret Lives of Cats" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (July)

Best Critical Nonfiction Work

African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey [McFarland]
How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson [Perseverance Press]
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeffrey Marks [McFarland]
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale [Walker & Company]

Best Children's/Young Adult Novel

The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein [Random House]
Paper Towns by John Green [Dutton Juvenile]
Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson [Delacorte]
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart [Little, Brown]
Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash by Wendelin Van Draanen [Knopf]

Best Cover ArtDeath

Was the Other Woman designed by David Rotstein and written by Linda L. Richards [Minotaur]
Death Will Get You Sober designed by David Rotstein and written by Elizabeth Zelvin [Minotaur]
The Fault Tree designed by David Rotstein and written by Louise Ure [Minotaur]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo designed by Peter Mendelsund and written by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Money Shot designed by Steve Cooley and written by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]

Special Service Award

Jon and Ruth Jordan
Ali Karim
David Montgomery
Gary Warren Niebuhr
Sarah Weinman

A Superb Evening with a Superb Writer!

I would have thought that Monday night would never arrive. I was so excited to have the chance to meet Rosemary Harris, and meet her I did. Last evening at Barnes and Noble in Crocker Park (Westlake), I had a rare opportunity to spend some quality time with Rosemary Harris, the author of the Dirty Business Mystery series. I would have liked for more folks to come out and meet this fine writer, but on a selfish note, I was able to horde her time to myself. I was joined by my friend Theresa and her husband Joe and the four of us had a wonderful time talking about everything from mysteries to sports.

We discussed how the term "cozy" is just so inappropriate for the majority of books that fall into that classification. This is not a wide chasm between the old granny with the cat in her lap and the hardboiled P.I., yet we want to dump every mystery into one of those two classifications. What adequately describes that part of the continuum that lies in the middle? Rosemary has challenged me to coin a term more appropriate, so I'm hard at work now on that task.

Rosemary talked a bit about how her book jackets came into being. St. Martins has really been generous as far as Rosemary's art for the jackets. And while she wasn't especially keen on the look of THE BIG DIRT NAP at first, it has definitely grown on her, especially since a male fan told her it had a "Miami" look.

Book number three in the Dirty Mysteries series has been safely delivered to the publisher and Rosemary is enjoying a semblance of calm now that the manuscript is off her desk. But, book number four will soon be landing square in the middle of her "to do" list. For those of us who enjoy her books, this is wonderful news.

Rosemary had quite the busy day. She recorded some readings of poems for the Cuyahoga County Library system, participated in a radio show with some other gardeners, and had an event back at the library before even getting to the Barnes and Noble. I'm so glad she had time to make this stop and chat with us. It is definitely a night I will cherish always. Rosemary is a smart, witty, charming, fun woman. We will have an opportunity to meet up again in October at Bouchercon, and I'm so looking forward to it. Maybe by October I can get a camera that handles indoor lighting a bit better than mine!

What a fabulously wonderful evening. Hope you made some wonderful memories in your day as well. Happy Reading all!

Monday Mystery Backlist - CLOSE CASE

Well, I made it to two consecutive weeks! We're on a roll with this backlist post! Last week I started out with a male crime fiction writer. So, this week, we're going to give the female writers some face time.

This week's backlist title is CLOSE CASE by Alafair Burke. CLOSE CASE is the third book in Burke's Samantha Kincaid series. Samantha is a Deputy District Attorney in Portland, Oregon. And when she begins to investigate the murder of a star reporter she finds that it may have connections to a police shooting from the previous week. The police shooting caused a huge community stir - an unarmed mother was shot and killed - and at first the reporter's shooting appears to be committed by two individuals who were reacting to that stir. But as it turns out, it simply can't be that straightforward. Samantha's investigating doesn't make her the most popular gal with the police department when she begins to find connections between the city's drug trade and the police precinct, which is a double whammy considering that's exactly where her boyfriend Chuck works. Suspense, politics, controversy. Burke doing what she does best.

CLOSE CASE was published in hardcover by Henry Holt in 2005 and by St. Martin's Paperbacks in 2006.



**a couple of reminders to start out the week. First: don't forget to register for your chance to win a copy of Michael Stanley's A CARRION DEATH. That contest runs through Sunday, so make sure you get your entry in. Details can be found here.

And for those of you in the Cleveland area, Rosemary Harris is at Barnes and Noble at Westlake's Crocker Park TONIGHT at 7p.m. Hope you'll join us and welcome Rosemary! Hope to see you there.

More Fun Book Events

This past week found me at two more great book-related events. The first event was work-related. My employer, The National Association of College Stores (NACS) helps sponsor the Lorain County Young Authors program. This is the same program I participated in myself about 25 years ago - yee gads! Realizing that made me feel a little old this week!

Anyway, let's not harp on THAT point. This year's Lorain County Young Authors program hosted 900 students from throughout the county in grades two through six. The books the students wrote were displayed throughout the lobby of the Lorain County Community College Stocker Center. There was an array of topics and covers and genres. It was simply amazing. I took a special liking to Avon Lake's display. These students all wrote mysteries!



And I was thrilled to see students writing about literary devices, expressions, poetry. There were some books with heavy topics like leukemia and 9/11. Books about sports and pets and music. Just such an amazing selection. A couple titles that really jumped out at me...and tickled my funny bone were: THROW LIKE A GIRL...IF YOU CAN (a book about softball) and a mystery titled THE EVERLASTING DETENTION.



The covers and bindings were just as diverse. There were pre-made books, spiral bound books, books in three-ring binders, scrapbook style books, books covered in fabric. A particular favorite of mine was this book that made use of an old pair of jeans as the cover:



And these writers were all about details. They had publisher names, dedication pages, bio pages, hand drawn illustrations, computer crafted illustrations, photographs...It was such a nice feeling to be surrounded by this project that encourages children from an early age to appreciate books. No e-books were present at this affair!

The students were rewarded with a presentation first from author Louise Borden and then they were entertained with an opera performance of GREEN EGGS AND HAM. It was very cute, and this is a wonderful program for the students of Lorain County.

Saturday I was lucky enough to have the chance to meet Edgar-nominated author Craig McDonald. Corey over at The Drowning Machine has raved about McDonald's work so his books are on my TBR list. Then when I saw that he would be attending the Rocky River Library book festival, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go.




We chatted a little but as is par for the course with me, I was pretty awe-struck and at a loss for words. But Craig is very nice, and I found out that he, too, will be attending Bouchercon in October. So maybe I'll do better talking then! But regardless, I'm so happy I had the chance to meet him and have my books signed. As you can see from the photo, I was able to get both HEAD GAMES and TOROS AND TORSOS. I can't wait to dive in!

I hope you had an equally wonderful week and that the new week brings you more fun and lots of great reading!

Not an Interview - An Adventure!

Last year, along with many other people, I was introduced to Detective David “Kubu” Bengu. In A CARRION DEATH, Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears took me on an amazing adventure into the depths of Botswana with the convivial and brilliant Kubu. Subsequently, A CARRION DEATH made my list of top reads in 2008. This year Kubu returns in THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU, and I am just walking on Cloud Nine because Stanley and Michael took some time out to chat with me! I won't bog you down with all the details about how incredible this is to me or how utterly fascinating I found them to be because I know you want to hear from them as much as I do. Not to mention, you know I was very nosey - this interview is going to take time! So let me stop wasting time and introduce my special guests for today; HOLY COW can you believe it's Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears?!?

Q: Since you aren’t both necessarily in the same geographical location all the time, do you save the writing for when you are together or do you create “long distance”? Can you talk a little about your collaborative writing process? How do you end up blending each of your unique styles?

Michael Stanley: There are several benefits to working together in the same room, car, or tent. We are always having fun, no matter how serious the work at hand. Generally it’s plotting that we do together and writing that takes place long distance. We try to have a good idea of how the plot works and how the threads will develop and eventually be resolved. Then both of us will write, choosing different chapters or parts of chapters. Sometimes we do this on the basis of expertise, for example, Michael for mining, Stan for flying. After we’ve written a draft we swap efforts and await the extensive feedback that inevitably ensues. Since we are often in different time zones, the other’s reply is often awaiting as we wake up, which is very exciting. We then get online via Skype or something similar and talk through the areas of disagreement. It usually ends up that every sentence has some part of both of us. We are very careful about descriptions and wording; it’s important to us that Botswana itself comes alive for the readers as well as the characters.

Q: Kubu was not the original protagonist when you first started work on A Carrion Death. Your focus was going to be on the professor, Bongani Sibisi. Was there something specific that caused you to change your focus to Kubu?

Michael Stanley: We realized that in the African context, the police would be the ones who got to the heart of the matter rather than an outsider, no matter how bright. So one morning Assistant Superintendent David Bengu clambered into his Land Rover and set off to solve the murder, collecting his nickname along the way. He pretty much took over after that, and we didn’t have a lot of say in the matter!

Q: Kubu is quite a complex character. A good family man, enjoys good food, wine and music, especially food. A very intelligent and observant man. How did Kubu develop? Is there any person or persons that you “borrowed” characteristics from to create Kubu? And how did you decide on a hippopotamus for Kubu’s nickname instead of say, an elephant or some other large creature?

Michael Stanley: It’s very difficult to answer that. There are many people we know or have read about who have lent features of themselves to Kubu. He’s not based on any one person. His different facets developed during the story. He seemed to require them. As for his nickname, as we said he had it by the time he was a few pages old. Certainly we could have used other names, but Hippo seemed right and Kubu is easy for people to say and remember. Elephant would have been Tiou and Rhino Tshukudu. The case rests… But actually we didn’t consider any other names for him. Kubu immediately seemed to fit.

Q: One of the many amazing elements of A Carrion Death for me as a reader is the setting. Do you find that creating the setting comes naturally in your writing process? Or do you end up fine tuning it a lot before publication?

Michael Stanley: When we travel on research trips to Botswana, our friends think we are just going game watching, but the reality is that we work very hard while we are away. Not only do we spend time ensuring that our settings are accurate, but we find that being in the actual setting energizes us. So we usually get a lot of writing done too. Of course, the fact that we have to write knowledgeably about the wine Kubu drinks may also contribute to the productivity and enjoyment! I think both of us “feel” Botswana, have a sense of it in our blood, and hopefully that shows in the books.

Q: You’ve talked about the fact that you were fortunate to spend a full afternoon with the director of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department (CID), but how about the native culture that is reflected in A Carrion Death? What was involved in your research for things like the witchdoctor who revealed the finger?

Michael Stanley: The witchdoctor is something of an enigma, even to us. He is there to parallel the story with Bongani, and to provide a source of tension. Witchdoctors are deeply set in African cultures, and it is sometimes difficult for Western readers to appreciate what an important and pervasive role witchdoctors play in countries like Botswana. An anthropologist told us he found the scenes convincing; he just didn’t like the term witchdoctor itself preferring the term sangoma.

Q: Kubu’s second novel, THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU will be out here in the United States June 2nd and Kubu finds himself in a very different part of Botswana. What prompted the change for this novel? And as a writing team, how do you go about deciding what your backdrop will be for each novel?

Michael Stanley: Actually, when you read the book you will discover that the setting is determined by the plot, and the plot is to some extent determined by the setting. Beyond that we wanted to show a completely different aspect of Botswana – a world of water and riverine forest teeming with animals and birds – in contrast to the arid regions of the south. The third book is back in the dry country, but also in a quite different region, around the Transfrontier park with South Africa.

Q: Now you are starting work on Kubu novel number three. Any little teasing tidbits you can share?

Michael Stanley: Hmmm. Just did that! As far as the plot is concerned, we try to bring some deeper aspect of the African scene into our stories. In A Carrion Death it was diamonds; in The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu it is Zimbabwe; in the third book we will explore the clash between diverse cultures, specifically looking at how Bushmen or Basarwa fit into a rapidly developing country. If you want to depict Botswana accurately you can’t ignore issues like that. But we do not want our books to act as a soapbox from which we preach, but rather be a medium for raising complex issues seen from different local perspectives.

Q: Did either of you have early ambitions to write fiction, specifically crime fiction?

Michael had a go at writing Science Fiction stories as a student. Fortunately none of them were ever published!

Stanley only wrote non-fiction.

Q: Who, if anyone, would you say influenced your writing styles? And what about their writing drew you in?

Michael is a great fan of John Le Carre. He is a great weaver of stories and characters and a very skilled craftsman. Read his books several times if you want to understand how he does it. (Unfortunately that doesn’t necessarily mean you can do it yourself!).
Stanley is a fan of P D James and Fred Vargas in the mystery genre and Sebastian Faulks for historical novels.

Q: Are you reading anything now that you would recommend to your readers who enjoy Kubu?

Michael is reading one of Deon Meyer’s books – Blood Safari. It’s excellent! And don’t miss his other books, especially Devil’s Peak.

Stanley is reading Fred Vargas’ The Chalk Circle Man and Jason Goodwin’s The Janissary Tree.

Q: Stanley, you were involved in the anti-apartheid movement in Johannesburg. Can you share a little about your experiences with that movement? Will any of those experiences make their way into a novel?

Stanley: When I was a student in the ‘60s, the apartheid government was cracking down more and more on human rights, as well as creating a country that had a moral basis that was total anathema to how I was raised. As white students, mainly English speaking, became more vocal in their opposition, the government decided to put an end to such dissention. It started arresting students, detaining them without trial, placing them under house arrest, all to support a philosophy of inequality and inequity. I was just one of many students who participated in the protests. I also edited a student newspaper that opposed apartheid.

Q: Stanley, you were born and raised in Johannesburg, but then you came to the United States to work on your PhD. Had you been in the States before that time? Did it take a lot of adjusting or did the change come fairly easy?

Stanley: When I arrived in the States in December 1970, that was my first trip outside South Africa, other than to visit neighboring Swaziland. The greatest shock was the temperature! When I left Rio de Janeiro for New York, the temperature was around 100 degrees. When I arrived it was about 10 degrees, with snow and wind.

The second shock followed almost immediately. I hailed a cab and waited for him to put my luggage in the trunk of his car. I soon learned that was a service not offered by NY cabbies on a cold day.

I always found the people in the States very kind and friendly, although sometimes difficult to get really close to. The US has been very generous to me and countless others, for which I am very thankful indeed. In general I don’t remember anything too difficult, other than some language and pronunciation differences.

Q: And Stanley, you do a lot with flying. You are a pilot yourself, you instruct others in safety. In your safety classes do you talk at all about what to do when your navigation maps end up spread all over the desert? In all seriousness, I’m intrigued by the fact that you’re learning to paraglide. What prompted your interest in this pastime?

Stanley: I took up paragliding because it looked so serene to be gliding in the updrafts with the birds, no engine to disturb the peace. It was everything I hoped for. It is still amazing to me that one can spend several hours aloft with no help from anything other than nature. I recommend it highly.

Q: Michael, you worked at Anglo American and your experiences played into the plot of A Carrion Death. Was there a situation you encountered or that happened while you were with the Anglo American where diamonds were being smuggled and certificates were not legit? Is this a rampant problem in Botswana?

Michael: NO! Botswana is one of the most tightly controlled and managed diamond exporting countries the world. And yet there are always loopholes. The diamond laundering idea seemed original when we wrote it, but subsequently it has been proposed as the reason for a sudden spate of high quality diamonds at a marginal mine in another southern African country. And one of the mine’s owners was murdered assassination-style! There is a rumor that police seek a red-bearded man with a Portuguese accent…

Q: [uh huh! chuckle, chuckle] And Michael, you were involved with radio tracking hunting lions! Wow! Can you tell us a little about that? Were you the one who had to get the tracking devices on the lions? Why were you tracking the lions?

Michael: It was a research project on lion behavior. I was one of the tame applied mathematicians on the project. Part of the research was concerned with lion population dynamics. Controlling that by trying to remove predators from one area is like trying to empty one part of a bowl of soup. Lions without territory just move in to fill the gap. We were darting, checking and then releasing the lions.

The only time I was ever scared was when my professor, of a rather nervous disposition, was given the rifle to hold because all the biologists were busy with the sedated lions!

Q: Michael, you said you were involved in a system model for the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. What is a system model? Can you explain that experience a little for us?

Michael: A system model is where you try to create a mathematical description of what happens in an ecology – vegetation, animals, rainfall, everything – and use it to develop a computer simulation. There was a time when we thought it would be possible to understand ecological systems that way. Most of the researchers involved are older and wiser now; a few are just older.

Q: It sounds like you’ve had some pretty exciting experiences on your safaris. Being rushed by an elephant? What exactly is the protocol for such an event?

Michael Stanley: One doesn’t usually have time to think about protocol! Having 5 tons of flesh coming at you, ears flapping, trumpeting loudly, instantly invokes the instinct to flee. In our case we were so scared that jumping into the mighty Zambezi, hippos and crocs and all, seemed a reasonable alternative. Fortunately a game ranger who was with us jumped in front of the elephant, waved his arms and shouted back. The elephant skidded (literally) to a halt, looked quizzically at the ranger, turned and wandered off quite happily.

“How did you know it would stop?” we gasped.
“Young bull elephants usually make a mock charge,” he replied. “They’re just showing off or strutting their stuff!”

Since then we have often discussed the potential flaw in the ranger’s explanation – the word “usually!”

Q: And my final question is one I ask everyone. There is a book out called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. What would be each of YOUR six-word memoirs?

Michael: What have we here? Carrion Death…
Stanley: I have been lucky, lucky, lucky.

Ah, Stan, it is I who feel lucky, lucky, lucky today. So many thanks for this wonderful interview! If anyone needs me today, remember you can find me on Cloud 9; I may be there for the rest of the weekend, actually!

If you haven't read A CARRION DEATH, you have a couple weeks to do that before the release of THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU, and guess what? The fine folks at Harper are going to help me help one lucky reader out with that task! I have a beautiful, brand spankin' new copy of A CARRION DEATH that has just come out in trade paperback. So, if you'd like to be included in the drawing for this amazing book - which, by the way, is presently a finalist for the Macavity award for Best First Novel - you'll need to send me an e-mail (forbyone [at] yahoo [dot] com) with "KUBU" in the subject line and your snail mail address in the body of the e-mail. I'll take entries through May 24th. I'll pick the winner on Memorial Day! You can earn two additional entries if you either tweet about this giveaway (be sure to include @jenforbus and a link here in your tweet) or send an e-mail to at least five friends about the giveaway and cc: me on it.

In the meantime, you can find all sorts of fun information on the Detective Kubu website. And remember, June 2nd for THE SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU!

A Couple Odds and Ends

I want to write a quick post to share a few tidbits with you, but then I have to skedaddle and get some research done for an interview.

First, I wanted to give you this link. I've signed up to do a 12-hour mystery reading marathon. If you're interested, you can go here to sign up as well. I'm hoping the day is nice and then I'll read outside. But, if not, reading inside is fine too. Having a reason to dedicate 12 hours to reading is a good thing regardless of the weather. I'm going to neglect all house work, all yard work, all requests to go out, everything. I shouldn't have any trouble finding great material to fill my 12 hours either! I'll blog and Twitter throughout that day to let you know about my progress. And if you're participating, leave some comments here while you read to let us all know about YOUR progress!

Next up, if you haven't been over to St. Martin's Moments in Crime blog this week, GET THE LEAD OUT!!! Ken Bruen is blogging this week and I'm crazy about this guy. He ROCKS! I don't care if I have to turn into stalker-woman, I'm meeting him at Bouchercon!! ;)

Monday I posted the very first Monday Mystery Backlist column. I'm going to make it a regular column/post/whatever you want to call it. But, I want there to be a lot of diversity to it, not just the kind of mystery I like. So, I'm asking other mystery lovers, whether they be readers, writers, book sellers, who ever, to submit for this column. So if you have a mystery book that was published at least one year ago that you'd like to see on the Monday Mystery Backlist post, write up a summary of the book (no spoilers please), include the publication information, e-mail it to me and I'll work it into the schedule. You'll, obviously get the credit for the post. The only stipulation is that if you're an author, it can't be your own book. It has to be something you've read by someone else that you don't want folks to forget about. I'll definitely be knocking on some virtual doors to solicit submissions, so if you don't volunteer, don't be surprised when I come calling! ;)

And finally my biggest news of the day...big, big, big!!! Tomorrow there's a new interview. Are you ready for this? OH MY LANDS!!! The writing team of Michael Stanley will be here!!!! Can you believe it? It's so awesome. I can't wait for you to meet these two creators of Detective Kubu. AND, it gets better. What, you say, could possibly make it any better? WELL! Harper so kindly donated a brand new trade paper copy of A CARRION DEATH for me to give away to a lucky reader! Is this cause for celebration or what? I really hope that you'll stop back by tomorrow and say "hi," enter the contest and then tell your friends!

In the mean time, let me get back to work so I can continue to bring you fun interviews! See ya tomorrow...don't forget!

DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY - Craig Johnson

Walt Longmire and gang return in the second book of Craig Johnson's Absaroka County series. DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY finds Walt investigating the death of Mari Baroja. Baroja's death appears to be of natural causes, but Lucien Connally insists that there is foul play in the death of his...wife? Walt begins investigating to find out that there is indeed foul play and a whole lot of money at stake; the question then becomes just how deep does this foul run?

When I finished THE COLD DISH, I recall hoping Lucien would be back playing a more prominent role. It was as if Johnson heard my request. However, DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY was written before I read THE COLD DISH, please pay no attention the reviewer with a ridiculous sense of self-aggrandizement. Regardless, I was happy to see Lucien not only back, but at the center of all the hoopla. Johnson brings Lucien's back story out in grand fashion, which is only befitting a character as spectacular as the one-legged, former sheriff of Absaroka County.

Also in this installment, Johnson introduces a couple new characters; one of whom is Santiago Saizarbitoria, a.k.a. "Sancho." He's come to town to apply for the deputy's position with Walt and Vic. Also joining the tight-knit community is Lana Baroja, the young town baker and granddaughter of Mari Baroja. Craig Johnson truly has a gift with characters. I don't think stereotype is in his vocabulary. Instead he has extra helpings of "depth," "dimension," "dynamics," and of course "humor."

But as great as Johnson is with his characters, there's one element he's even better with - I guess it's technically related to character, but - Johnson knocks the ball out of the park with his relationships between characters. Lucien and Walt could be playing chess for the entire duration of the novel and you'd be glued to the book simply because the interaction between these two characters is so magnificent:

"We looked at each other like we had for decades, a blind man talking to a deaf one. There was a line that neither of us was able to cross; his sneering at my supposed weakness and my righteous indignation at his immortality."

And each of these men would give his life for the other. As a reader I want to be a part of all that, so Johnson rolls out the red carpet and invites you in. It's hard not to feel like you're riding in Walt's truck, sitting at the counter in the Bee, or observing a hot game of chess in Room 32 at the Durant Home for Assisted Living.

As with THE COLD DISH, the setting also becomes a prominent character in DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY. Mother Nature can be beautiful and devastating, but she's still a major character; Johnson depicts Nature's relationships with the human characters as vividly and grand as with any other. Johnson does for Wyoming what Burke does for Louisiana:

"The sweeping current of Clear Creek yanked me below as my one eye looked for the surface by following the bubbles as they swirled away from me and began a stately rise to the air above. Paisleys of plum and electric green and the stark white of the moon reflected in the world I had come from....I was bleeding adrenaline, and the areas of unprotected skin were now absolutely numb. There were shadowy, echoing sounds that approached from all directions. With a sudden exertion, I slapped my hands against the smooth facade of the underside of the ice as part of my remaining air escaped with a faint rumbling noise that matched the thumping of my hands against the hard surface."

My heart raced; I shivered with cold; and I didn't notice any of it until after it was already happening. The plot of DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY has a great mystery, but the even greater mystery is how anyone could read it and not simply drift away into Johnson's beloved Wyoming and Walt's beloved Absaroka. The poetry of Johnson's prose envelope's the reader, blocking the rest of the world out. And when the reader turns that last page, and Johnson releases him/her, a small part of that world goes along in their head until the reader can return once again.

I think it goes without saying that DEATH WITHOUT COMPANY receives my highest recommendation. Another astounding effort by Craig Johnson.