Martin Edwards's Blog, page 180

Forgotten Book - Those Who Walk Away

Those Who Walk Away is a Patricia Highsmith novel from 1967, which shares some themes with her earlier book, The Blunderer. I happened to read the two novels in quick succession while away on holiday, and so the similarities were quite noticeable. I'll have more to say about The Blunderer on another day, but overall, I feel that Those Who Walk Away is slightly the stronger of the two books.

One reason is that the book gains significantly from its setting, in Venice. Venice is such a strange, beautiful, mysterious city that one can readily believe anything can happen there. That's why I chose it as the setting for "The Bookbinder's Apprentice", possibly the short story of mine that has enjoyed most success; it's not a story that could really have been set anywhere else. And the labyrinthine nature of the city makes it ideal as a backdrop for the cat and mouse game that is at the heart of Those Who Walk Away.

In fact, the story opens in Rome. Ray Garrett's wife Peggy has recently committed suicide, and her doting and sometimes doltish father Ed Coleman holds Ray responsible. We never learn very much about Peggy, and no grand surprise about her death is withheld until the end of the story - this isn't a puzzle mystery, but a book about the mysteries of human nature. Coleman shoots Ray, and although Ray survives, he doesn't report the incident to the police. Rather, he follows Coleman to Venice, and tries to reason with him.

The difficulty with Ray (and it's a difficulty I have with many of Highsmith's protagonists) is that the tendency to scream at them Don't be so stupid! is at times overwhelming .To enjoy the books, one has to accept certain premises, and to suspend disbelief - sometimes from a great height! Readers who can manage this will enjoy the book as, with some reservations, I did. However, I suspect that by the time she wrote this novel, Highsmith was coming to realise that she could not successfully play the same games with different protagonists in her novels time and time again, and I think that may help to explain the subsequent trajectory of her career, and her increasing focus on Tom Ripley and on short stories.

Magic -film review

I enjoyed catching up with Marathon Man at long last so much that it didn't take me long to watch another film written by William Goldman not long afterwards. This is Magic.Goldman really is a gifted story-teller, and it's remarkable that as well as these two screenplays (he also wrote the novels on which each film is based) he was also the man responsible for the Western that even non-fans of Westerns love, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Magic stars that compelling actor Anthony Hopkins as Corky, a rather reserved magician who finds fame and fotune when he adds Fats, a dummy, to his act, and combines magic with ventriloquism. Now, anyone who has watched that classic portmanteau movie knows that ventriloquists' dummies are exceedingly sinister characters. And Fats is as spooky as any dummy could be.

The plot starts to thicken once Corky, who is becoming increasingly troubled, heads off to the Catskills, and meets up with his old flame, Peggy (Ann-Margret). Old flames, in stories like this, certainly don't die down, and the pair quickly become lovers. The snag is that Peggy has a husband, the limited and jealous Duke, and soon Duke's suspicions are aroused. When Corky's agent comes to find what has happened to his client, things take a very dark turn indeed,

This film was directed by Richard Attenborough, and has music by Jerry Goldsmith. In other words, as with Marathon Man, the credits are really impressive, and it shows. The basic plot material could, in inferior hands, be pretty crass, but Goldman and company combine very effectively. I haven't read the book (which I gather has a dimension to its plot that could not be translated to the big screen) but if it's as good as the film, it is definitely worth reading.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - film review

I've long been interested in spy fiction - when I was a small boy,I was given as a present The Spy's Bedside Book, an anthology by Graham and Hugh Greene, and that fuelled my interest in the genre. In recent years, though, my focus has been on detective fiction. However, partly as a result of getting to know the great Len Deighton, and partly through reading several spy thrillers on behalf of the British Library, my interest has been re-kindled.

So I looked forward to watching the film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, based on the classic novel by another great of the genre, John Le Carre (who began life, let it be remembered, as an author of detective fiction.) This version has been widely acclaimed, and the cast is superb. Gary Oldman plays George Smiley, and John Hurt, Mark Strong, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ciaran Hinds and Colin Firth are there too. Plus Kathy Burke. And even Le Carre himself in a "Hitchcock" type cameo. Wow...

I suspect, though, that if you didn't know the story,you might struggle to follow what is going on. Compressing such complex material into a film inevitably requires sacrifices, but I felt that there was too much mystification for the sake of it. And I also thought that it was odd not to devote more time to the relationship between George and his wife,which does have an important bearing on the plot and theme. I can see what the writers were trying to do,but for me it didn't quite work.

Nevertheless, this is a long film which is well worth following right to the end. Partly because of the story, but especially because the cast does such a good job with the material, cryptic though it is at times. Some people regard this film as a masterpiece. I'm not convinced it matches the quality of the original TV series, let alone the book, but it certainly deserves watching.

Truly Criminal - a true crime collection, and thoughts about anthologies

Anthologies have always appealed to me. When I was quite young, I came across the CWA anthology, in those days edited by Herbert Harris, and never dreamed that one day I'd edit CWA collections myself. This I have now been doing for about twenty years. But until now, I've never produced an anthology composed exclusively of true crime essays. The time felt ripe to tackle such a project, and the result is Truly Criminal, which has just been published (very attractively indeed) by The History Press.

I'm really pleased with this book. Of course, I would say that, wouldn't I? But I do think it offers much that is unusual and intriguing. The range of contributions is terrific. We have essays by several stellar names, including this year's CWA Diamond Dagger winner, Catherine Aird, Peter Lovesey, and Andrew Taylor, plus CWA Non-fiction Gold Dagger winner Paul French. The foreword has been written by Peter James.

There are notable contributions by familiar names in the true crime field, like Kate Clarke, Linda Stratmann and Diane Janes, as well as excellent pieces by novelists Quentin Bates and Peter Guttridge, and a Shetland story by Shetland-based Marsali Taylor. A couple of contributions come from foreign members.

My own effort tackles the "Blazing Car" murder of 1930, a crime that has long fascinated me. It inspired a number of Golden Age stories, as did the Brides in the Bath case, which is the subject of Peter Lovesey's highly original essay, the Maybrick case, covered admirably by Kate Ellis, and the Wallace case, the subject of a recently discovered essay by Margery Allingham (who was a CWA member as well as a member of the Detection Club.).


It's often said - especially by gloomy publishers - that the market for anthologies is very limited. I'm not sure that's right. A book with a pleasing mix of ingredients can have a very widespread appeal. For proof of this, I can't resist mentioning my first two anthologies for the British Library - Capital Crimes and Resorting to Murder. Sales figures for these newly published books are already very high, and in fact higher than those of any previous anthology I've edited. Seems extraordinary, but it's true. And I hope that Truly Criminal will also find a receptive readership. It's a different sort of collection, and the contributors have done a wonderful job in telling their tales.

Promoting a Book

Once a book is written, how does one go about promoting it? Things have changed out of all recognition since the days when authors like Anthony Berkeley, Ethel Lina White, and many others declined to allow their publishers to print biographical information or even, in some cases, to publish their photographs. Nowadays, authors - even those whose publishers boast substantial publicity departments - have to get stuck in and promote their books. But it doesn't come naturally to many writers. Most of us still value our privacy, and we're very well aware that self-promotion is, as always in life, fraught with danger. It can become tedious (and self-defeating) when an author keeps banging on endlessly about their magnum opus.

So with The Golden Age of Murder, I'm groping for a suitable balance. Mind you, I simply can't resist announcing that The Times has this morning described the book as a "richly rewarding study of the genre" - definitely a quote to cherish, and the sort of thing you dream of as an aspiring writer!

I can also report that the book has been chosen as one of Lovereading's Books of the Month for May, and that I've also written a number of articles linked to the book for a range of publications, including Oxford Today in the UK and Publishers' Weekly in the US..

In the run-up to publication, I'm also taking my first ever blog tour, contributing to some wonderful and very varied blogs. I'm truly grateful to the bloggers in question - when you read their blogs (and you should!) the generosity of spirit that is the hallmark of the best blogs and indeed the best bloggers is very evident. The plan for the tour is as follows:

28 April - Margot Kinberg's blog - Confessions of a Mystery Novelist
29 April - The SleuthSayers blog - Rob Lopresti has kindly invited me on to his fortnightly slot
30 April - Sergio Angelini's blog - Tipping My Fedora
1 May - Elaine Simpson-Long's blog - Random Jottings
2 May - Moira Redmond's blog - Clothes in Books
3 May - John Norris' blog - Pretty Sinister Books.
4 May - Patti Abbott's blog - Pattinase
5 May - B V Lawson's blog - In Reference to Murder

All these blogs appear in my blogroll, which incidentally I hope to update soon. The blog tour is timed to coincide with my trip to Malice Domestic, when, among other nice activities, I'll be taking part in a panel about the Golden Age moderated by Doug Greene, a real expert on the subject. Doug read an early version of the book and also kindly allowed the publishers to reprint some wonderful photos in his possession.

Then it's back to the UK, and more events, including festivals in Carlisle, Cheshire and London. Believe it or not,I'm also a keynote speaker at a conference about James Ellroy in Liverpool in July, and again my subject will be the Golden Age. Preaching to the unconverted, perhaps, but I'm sure it will be fun.

Before that, in mid-May, there is Crimefest at Bristol. On the first afternoon of the convention, I'll be moderating a panel focused on (yes!) The Golden Age of Murder, with a terrific group of panellists including this year's CWA Diamond Dagger winner, Catherine Aird. Lots to look forward to...

Forgotten Book - Who is Simon Warwick?

Who is Simon Warwick? is another Forgotten Book that I've chosen by Patricia Moyes, whose memory is being honoured this year at Malice Domestic. This is a book first published in 1978, and whilst I have not read every book that Moyes ever wrote, suffice to say that if she ever wrote a more ingenious whodunit than this one, I would be as surprised as I'd be impressed. Yes, you'll have gathered that I'm very enthusiastic about this one - it's my favourite Moyes.

The starting point is a search for a missing heir - a topic that has driven varied and interesting novels by Josephine Tey (the splendid Brat Farrar) and Julian Symons,(whose novels are nowadays sadly under-estimated, although The Belting Inheritance is enjoyable rather than brilliant) among other crime writers.

A rich man who does not have long to live summons his solicitor, who rejoices in the name Ambrose Quince, and asks him to draw up a new will, disinheriting various hopefuls in favour of his nephew,who was born during the war, and later adopted. This is the very mysterious Simon Warwick of the title.

Despite various well-founded reservations, Ambrose does as he is told, and when his client dies, he advertises for Simon Warwick - but two potentially credible claimants come forward  One of them - at least - is an impostor. But which one? When one of them is murdered, the plot thickens further. Did one of those who were disinherited commit the crime?

Henry Tibbett investigates, and as usual his wife Emmy gets in on the act. There are some splendid plot twists, and a neat solution to the various mysteries that Moyes has constructed with real cunning. She was, really, working in Golden Age territory long after the Golden Age - and using some of the freedom given by changes within society to come up with new ideas. A very entertaining puzzle.

A Simple Plan - film review

A Simple Plan is a 1998 film directed by Sam Raimi and based on the book of the same name by Scott Smith. I haven't read the novel, though it was a big, big best-seller, but if it's as good as the film, then there' s no doubt that it deserves its success. The film is gripping pretty much from start to finish, with good acting, moral dilemmas to think about, and several decent twists.

Hank (Bill Paxton) is a well-educated married man living in a snowy and remote rural community; his wife (Bridget Fonda) is a librarian who is expecting a baby. He has a brother, Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton) who isn't bright, but the siblings have a close relationship. One day, they go on a trip with a pal called Lou, and come across a plane, buried in the snow. When Hank climbs inside, he finds that the pilot is long dead. He also discovers that the cargo is a load of money - not far short of five million dollars. So what should they do?

What they don't do, needless to say, is report their find to the proper authorities. After some hesitation, Hank takes control of the money, and the trio agree to wait to see what happens about the plane before spending any of it. To his surprise, Hank finds that his wife soon agrees that they should keep their share of the money. The way in which the film shows essentially decent people making very questionable choices is a real strength.

As you might imagine, things do not go as the three amateur thieves would hope, and before long, innocent blood is shed. Hank and Jacob don't behave admirably, and yet I didn't lose sympathy for them. (Perhaps some viewers will take a harsher view of them, but I felt that Paxton and Thornton did a brilliant job of conveying the way that human beings so often rationalise self-serving decisions.) I'm glad I watched this film. It's one of the best thrillers I've seen recently.

Ann Cleeves, Malice Domestic,and Thin Air

Ann Cleeves is this year's international guest of honour at Malice Domestic, and given the great support she always gives to other writers, it provides a welcome opportunity for fellow novelists as well as fans to express their appreciation of her achievements. I'm delighted that I've been asked to interview Ann at Malice, and given that I've followed her career since she published her very first novel, way back in 1986, I might just be able to manage without any notes!

A few years after that first book appeared, I met Ann at a northern chapter meeting of the CWA, and we have been friends ever since. In discussing her books, therefore, I will not suggest that I'm totally impartial, but I am as sure as I can be that her latest novel in the wildly successful Shetland series, Thin Air, will be regarded by any objective judge as a very enjoyable whodunit.

This is a Jimmy Perez story, of course, and Jimmy is still coming to terms with a bereavement suffered earlier in the series. Whereas I think that Ann's books about Vera Stanhope can probably be read in any order, it may be that some readers would prefer to start the Shetland series at the beginning, with Raven Black, which was Ann's breakthrough book. Whether or not you begin with Thin Air, though, I'm confident you'll find it an appealing story in the traditional pattern, with plenty of the deft touches and shrewd observations about humanity that Ann does so well. Her writing is authentic, but not in such a way that the narrative becomes bogged down. She says in a prefatory note: "I do know that it's impossible to send an email by iPhone from Unst, but this is a story",and this reflects a sensible approach to a writer's priorities - the story must come first.

There are two plot strands. which may or may not be connected - the murder of an attractive woman, and the strange appearance of a local ghost of a young girl, "Peerie Lizzie". There's a mix of suspects, who are nicely contrasted. And the setting is, as always, very well done. All in all, an enjoyable read from a very popular author. Thin Air will be just one of the books of Ann's that we'll be discussing at Malice Domestic.

Forgotten Book - Death on the Agenda

I'll shortly be attending that excellent convention, Malice Domestic, and one of the treats that lie in store will be the chance to talk to fellow writer Katherine Hall Page about the late Patricia Moyes, whose life and work are to be celebrated in the annual Malice Remembers slot. I have dutifully undertaken my preparation, which has included the enjoyable task of reading some books by Patricia Moyes that I'd missed in the past. One is Death on the Agenda, first published in 1962.

The setting is Geneva, a lovely city well evoked, and in particular an international conference about narcotics. Among the attendees is Chief Inspector Henry Tibbett, who is, as usual in Moyes' books, accompanied by his wife Emmy. The conference and the main characters are introduced in rather painstaking fashion, but this otherwise crisp story revs up when the Tibbetts visit a wealthy couple called Paul and Natasha Hampton. Natasha is having an affair with a man called John Trapp, and isn't being very discreet about it.

Henry has already been told that someone is leaking secrets from the conference when he discovers the body of young Trapp, who has been stabbed with a dagger taken from the Hamptons' home. Because very few other people seem to have had the opportunity to commit the crime, Henry soon becomes the improbable prime suspect. Naturally, he sets about trying to find the real culprit. Emmy aids and abets him, but their relationship comes under strain when Henry succumbs to the charms of a glamorous young woman who is working at the conference.

The whodunit mystery turns on a plot device similar to one which Dorothy L. Sayers complained about decades earlier, but I thought Moyes skated over thin ice rather skilfully -and let's face it, that's a knack that crime writers definitely need! Overall, the story is lively and entertaining, and makes for a quick and easy read. This was only Moyes' third book, and she was still finding her feet as a crime writer, but already her craftsmanship is very apparent. Her second husband was an accomplished linguist,, and evidently she gained her insight into the world of translators and of international business conferences while travelling with him. There's a cosmopolitan flavour about her books that makes them quite distinctive, even though they are most notable for their adept updating of the conventions of the traditional murder mystery.

Ted Lewis, the "Get Carter" man

This blog tends to focus rather more on whodunits and novels of psychological suspense than it does on gritty, violent thrillers, but there are plenty of books in the latter category that I enjoy. And one of the most interesting of all British writers of tough and rather dark thrillers was the late Ted Lewis. I'm therefore very pleased that his work is enjoying a renaissance, thanks to Soho Press.

Lewis is best known for Jack's Return Home, a very good book in itself, which was brilliantly filmed by Mike Hodges as Get Carter. Along with The Long Good Friday, and possibly Layer Cake, it's one of my favourite non-American thriller films of the "gritty" variety (I'm not sure I really like describing books as "gritty", but in a blog post, this rather tired and often misused and overused adjective is at least useful shorthand.) The novel is just being reissued by Soho Press, under the title Get Carter, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
Lewis dies at the age of 42, after a colourful life which, like so many colourful lives, ended sadly and all too soon as a result of heavy drinking. The publicity material accompanying the Soho Press reissues includes an extract from an as yet unpublished biography of Lewis by Nick Triplow, which I found very interesting. I do hope it finds its way into print before long. Suffice to say that I've been told a bit about Lewis' life by a friend of his whom I know, and his account very much corroborates what Nick Triplow has to say.
Among Lewis' other books is Plender. I haven't read this one, but I did discuss the French film version, in my early days as a blogger. The other Soho Press titles coming out just now are GBH, Jack Carter's Law,and Jack Carter and the Mafia Pigeon. I gather that GBH in particular is a notable book (written towards the end of Lewis's life, when his powers as a novelist had seemed to be in decline) and I look forward to reading it.