Martin Edwards's Blog, page 184
February 13, 2015
Forgotten Book - The Great Impersonation
The British Library has been very active on the publishing front over the past year or so. Quite apart from its Crime Classics series, it has also republished a couple of espionage thrillers by E. Phillips Oppenheim, The Spy Paramount, and The Great Impersonation in another series, British Library Spy Classics. The latter novel is my choice for today's Forgotten Book.
Although I haven't written much about them on this blog, I've always had a soft spot for spy stories. As a schoolboy, I received as a present The Spy's Bedside Book by Hugh and Graham Greene, a wonderful anthology which really fired my interest n the genre. A while later, I became a huge fan of Len Deighton's books, and also had the pleasure of discovering the likes of Eric Ambler and John Le Carre.
I must confess, though, that until this pair of books came out last year, I'd never read E. Phillips Oppenheim. He was, in his day, highly successful, and known as "the Prince of Storytellers", but I doubted whether his work would appeal to me, despite the fact that he evidently led a colourful life. But I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised by The Great Impersonation.
This edition benefits from an introduction by Professor Tim Crook, who gives an insightful overview of the author's life and career. He also confirms that the book was originally published in 1920 (the copyright page suggests 1935). The essence of the story is conveyed by the book's title. This is a tale about two men who are lookalikes. One is an English aristocrat, the other is a German baron. When Edward Dominey arrives back in the UK after time spent in Africa, the question arises - is he the man he claims to be, or the agent of a foreign power? Tales of duality always exert a considerable appeal, and this is no exception. This is a story which sold over a million copies, and thanks to the British Library's initiative, I now have a much better understanding of why Oppenheim was so popular in his hey-day.
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Although I haven't written much about them on this blog, I've always had a soft spot for spy stories. As a schoolboy, I received as a present The Spy's Bedside Book by Hugh and Graham Greene, a wonderful anthology which really fired my interest n the genre. A while later, I became a huge fan of Len Deighton's books, and also had the pleasure of discovering the likes of Eric Ambler and John Le Carre.
I must confess, though, that until this pair of books came out last year, I'd never read E. Phillips Oppenheim. He was, in his day, highly successful, and known as "the Prince of Storytellers", but I doubted whether his work would appeal to me, despite the fact that he evidently led a colourful life. But I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised by The Great Impersonation.
This edition benefits from an introduction by Professor Tim Crook, who gives an insightful overview of the author's life and career. He also confirms that the book was originally published in 1920 (the copyright page suggests 1935). The essence of the story is conveyed by the book's title. This is a tale about two men who are lookalikes. One is an English aristocrat, the other is a German baron. When Edward Dominey arrives back in the UK after time spent in Africa, the question arises - is he the man he claims to be, or the agent of a foreign power? Tales of duality always exert a considerable appeal, and this is no exception. This is a story which sold over a million copies, and thanks to the British Library's initiative, I now have a much better understanding of why Oppenheim was so popular in his hey-day.
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Forgotten Book - The Noose
My forgotten book for today is one of Philip MacDonald's stories about Colonel Anthony Gethryn. The Noose is notable as the novel that launched the legendary Collins Crime Club in 1930, by which time MacDonald was establishing himself as one of the most entertaining detective novelists to have emerged since the First World War - a conflict of which Gethryn was a veteran. The war also proves to be central to the murder mystery plot.
Gethryn is summoned back to England from Spain by his wife Lucia. She has been persuaded by a striking woman that the woman's husband (whose name, Bronson, has connotations today that nobody would have dreamed of in 1930) is innocent of the murder of which he has been convicted. Unfortunately, an appeal has failed and the Home Secretary is not inclined to show clemency So Bronson will hang in five days' time unless someone else can be shown to be guilty. Yep, this is a classic clock-race story.
Lucia's intuition tells her to believe Mrs Bronson that her husband is innocent. Gethryn's intuition - and it's no more than that - points him in the same direction. Such is his reputation,as a Great Detective that his pals at Scotland Yard are by no means unsympathetic. One of them actually takes some holiday (his first in two years) in order to lend a hand. What it is to have friends in high places...
This is a lively story with a good solution, and it deserves the praise that Harry Keating heaped on it when he introduced a reprint in the "Disappearing Detectives" series in the mid-Eighties. I agree with Harry that MacDonald wrote enjoyable books, even if their quality was admittedly uneven. This one has a sound plot, but its greatest merit is the fast-paced narrative style and crisp writing. MacDonald tended to favour short, snappy sentences, and there's usually a sense of energy in his books, as there is in this one. He can create vivid scenes - as when Gethryn comes face to face with the murderer- and it's no surprise that, not long after this book first appeared, he went on to enjoy success in Hollywood. Re-reading this one revived my enthusiasm for Gethryn, and I'll be covering at least one more of his cases in this blog before long.
Gethryn is summoned back to England from Spain by his wife Lucia. She has been persuaded by a striking woman that the woman's husband (whose name, Bronson, has connotations today that nobody would have dreamed of in 1930) is innocent of the murder of which he has been convicted. Unfortunately, an appeal has failed and the Home Secretary is not inclined to show clemency So Bronson will hang in five days' time unless someone else can be shown to be guilty. Yep, this is a classic clock-race story.
Lucia's intuition tells her to believe Mrs Bronson that her husband is innocent. Gethryn's intuition - and it's no more than that - points him in the same direction. Such is his reputation,as a Great Detective that his pals at Scotland Yard are by no means unsympathetic. One of them actually takes some holiday (his first in two years) in order to lend a hand. What it is to have friends in high places...
This is a lively story with a good solution, and it deserves the praise that Harry Keating heaped on it when he introduced a reprint in the "Disappearing Detectives" series in the mid-Eighties. I agree with Harry that MacDonald wrote enjoyable books, even if their quality was admittedly uneven. This one has a sound plot, but its greatest merit is the fast-paced narrative style and crisp writing. MacDonald tended to favour short, snappy sentences, and there's usually a sense of energy in his books, as there is in this one. He can create vivid scenes - as when Gethryn comes face to face with the murderer- and it's no surprise that, not long after this book first appeared, he went on to enjoy success in Hollywood. Re-reading this one revived my enthusiasm for Gethryn, and I'll be covering at least one more of his cases in this blog before long.
February 11, 2015
Reasonable Doubt (2014) - movie review
Reasonable Doubt is a recent movie, and the fact that it reached the television screen very quickly is, I'm afraid, easily explained. It begins with an intriguing situation slightly reminiscent of that brilliant Kenneth Fearing novel The Big Clock (splendidly filmed twice), but an attempt to ring the changes on the basic storyline descends into bathos long before the end. The director, Peter Howitt, once an actor in Bread, and later director of that truly excellent film Sliding Doors, apparently decided to direct this film under a pseudonym, and you don't need to be Inspector Morse to figure out why.
The film begins in a Chicago courtroom. We're introduced to Mitch, a young hot-shot lawyer played by Dominic Cooper. I'm afraid I took an instant dislike to Mitch, and his "brilliant" closing speech, which seemed to me madly unprofessional. But what do I know? After all, lucky old Mitch, has never lost a case. He is married with a baby, but his family life never becomes interesting to the viewer, and this failure to encourage us to empathise with Mitch is fatal to enjoyment.
Mitch goes out and gets drunk with his pals, and then knocks someone down. He calls for help before fleeing the scene, but the victim dies. Before long Mitch finds himself prosecuting a chap (Samuel L. Jackson, who is less compelling than usual) accused of murdering the victim, and has to find a way to exculpate the falsely accused defendant. From there, the plot thickens...
Unfortunately, we don't really care about any of the characters, and the twists in the plot seem contrived and unsatisfactory. With the basic premise, a decent screenplay could have produced better results, but although I very much prefer to avoid giving negative reviews,, Reasonable Doubt has to rank as a very weak effort. I don't always agree with the verdicts of the Rotten Tomatoes site, but in this case an approval rating of 13% seems about right. However, my next film review will return to positivity, and will be of something I can safely recommend.
The film begins in a Chicago courtroom. We're introduced to Mitch, a young hot-shot lawyer played by Dominic Cooper. I'm afraid I took an instant dislike to Mitch, and his "brilliant" closing speech, which seemed to me madly unprofessional. But what do I know? After all, lucky old Mitch, has never lost a case. He is married with a baby, but his family life never becomes interesting to the viewer, and this failure to encourage us to empathise with Mitch is fatal to enjoyment.
Mitch goes out and gets drunk with his pals, and then knocks someone down. He calls for help before fleeing the scene, but the victim dies. Before long Mitch finds himself prosecuting a chap (Samuel L. Jackson, who is less compelling than usual) accused of murdering the victim, and has to find a way to exculpate the falsely accused defendant. From there, the plot thickens...
Unfortunately, we don't really care about any of the characters, and the twists in the plot seem contrived and unsatisfactory. With the basic premise, a decent screenplay could have produced better results, but although I very much prefer to avoid giving negative reviews,, Reasonable Doubt has to rank as a very weak effort. I don't always agree with the verdicts of the Rotten Tomatoes site, but in this case an approval rating of 13% seems about right. However, my next film review will return to positivity, and will be of something I can safely recommend.
February 9, 2015
Charles Spencer - guest blog
Today, I'm pleased to host a guest blog post by Charles Spencer, sometime Daily Telegraph theatre critic and occasional crime novelist. I was pleased to hear that the Will Benson books are to have a fresh life under the Bello imprint, partly because I enjoyed them when they first appeared, and partly because Charlie and I go back a long way. All the way to student days, in fact. We attended the same college, though he was reading English, whereas I was grappling with the law (academically speaking, I hasten to add.)
Charlie was in the year above me, and was the publicity manager for the Oxford Students' Arts Council, a post which I took over from him. Those distant days were a great deal of fun, and it's curious to think that we both later became published crime writers. The last time I saw Charlie was, in fact, at the Dead on Deansgate conference that he mentions very frankly below.. So I am all the more delighted that things have taken such a turn for the better in the intervening years, and I hope that one day we'll see a new Will Benson book. Over to Charlie...
"I have been a fan of crime fiction for much of my life, with a special fondness for thrillers that combine a galloping plot with humour. Back in the 1990s I had a shot at writing such novels myself, with Edmund Crispin ( the pen name of Bruce Montgomery who was a close friend of Philip Larkin’s at Oxford) and Kyril Bonfiglioli’s Mortdecai Trilogy among my influences. Like the books of Raymond Chandler and Dick Francis, they are first person narratives - though I would never dream of claiming a place in such august company
I was working as the Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic when I wrote them, but the books were inspired by the happy couple of years I spent on the theatrical trade paper The Stage in the 1980s when I delightedly discovered a world of talent contests, strip shows and filthy comedians. The books are, I hope, bawdy, funny, fast paced and at times touching, and they received some good reviews when first published though they never became the bestsellers I had fondly hoped for.
The hero, Will Benson, is a braver and more reckless version of myself, and there is a lot of booze and I hope laughter in the books.
The drink caught up with me in the end. When the third novel, Under the Influence was about to come out in 2000 I attended the Dead on Deansgate crime convention in Manchesterand spent three days in a reckless blur of alcohol. If anyone reading this blog encountered me then, please accept my apologies.
I didn’t quite make it home on the day the convention ended, spending much of the night crashed out under a bush in a neighbour’s garden in the pouring rain. My poor wife was worried sick until I was discovered in the early hours and drenched to the skin. With her help and a fistful Valium I just about made it to the official book launch in London the following night and the day after that I checked into rehab at The Priory, Roehampton. With God’s grace, one day at a time, have not had a drink since then.
So the three novels – I Nearly Died, Full Personal Service and Under The Influence now seem to me to belong to a distant and more troubled past. But re-reading them before their reissue on Pan MacMillian’s Belloimprint of e-books and print on demand novels, I found that I enjoyed them. There were moments that made me wince, others that made me laugh, and some that moved me. And I hope that will be the experience of readers discovering the Will Benson stories for the first time."
Charlie was in the year above me, and was the publicity manager for the Oxford Students' Arts Council, a post which I took over from him. Those distant days were a great deal of fun, and it's curious to think that we both later became published crime writers. The last time I saw Charlie was, in fact, at the Dead on Deansgate conference that he mentions very frankly below.. So I am all the more delighted that things have taken such a turn for the better in the intervening years, and I hope that one day we'll see a new Will Benson book. Over to Charlie...
"I have been a fan of crime fiction for much of my life, with a special fondness for thrillers that combine a galloping plot with humour. Back in the 1990s I had a shot at writing such novels myself, with Edmund Crispin ( the pen name of Bruce Montgomery who was a close friend of Philip Larkin’s at Oxford) and Kyril Bonfiglioli’s Mortdecai Trilogy among my influences. Like the books of Raymond Chandler and Dick Francis, they are first person narratives - though I would never dream of claiming a place in such august company
I was working as the Daily Telegraph’s theatre critic when I wrote them, but the books were inspired by the happy couple of years I spent on the theatrical trade paper The Stage in the 1980s when I delightedly discovered a world of talent contests, strip shows and filthy comedians. The books are, I hope, bawdy, funny, fast paced and at times touching, and they received some good reviews when first published though they never became the bestsellers I had fondly hoped for.
The hero, Will Benson, is a braver and more reckless version of myself, and there is a lot of booze and I hope laughter in the books.
The drink caught up with me in the end. When the third novel, Under the Influence was about to come out in 2000 I attended the Dead on Deansgate crime convention in Manchesterand spent three days in a reckless blur of alcohol. If anyone reading this blog encountered me then, please accept my apologies.
I didn’t quite make it home on the day the convention ended, spending much of the night crashed out under a bush in a neighbour’s garden in the pouring rain. My poor wife was worried sick until I was discovered in the early hours and drenched to the skin. With her help and a fistful Valium I just about made it to the official book launch in London the following night and the day after that I checked into rehab at The Priory, Roehampton. With God’s grace, one day at a time, have not had a drink since then.
So the three novels – I Nearly Died, Full Personal Service and Under The Influence now seem to me to belong to a distant and more troubled past. But re-reading them before their reissue on Pan MacMillian’s Belloimprint of e-books and print on demand novels, I found that I enjoyed them. There were moments that made me wince, others that made me laugh, and some that moved me. And I hope that will be the experience of readers discovering the Will Benson stories for the first time."
February 7, 2015
Catherine Aird - CWA Diamond Dagger winner
I could not be more pleased that the CWA has announced the award of the CWA Diamond Dagger to Catherine Aird in recognition of the sustained excellence of her work. I've known Catherine for a long time, and I've enjoyed her books for even longer. She is a truly delightful person, and while the award is of course for her writing, it is all the more pleasing to see someone so popular in the crime fiction community receive such recognition. She is beyond doubt a worthy winner.
Because of my own membership of the CWA committee, I've been aware that this announcement was to be made for some time, and I did notice that, as soon as the news came out, many of Catherine's fans took to social media to express their delight. I'm not a bit surprised. Her plots are clever, her characters and situations are entertaining,, and her humour a real bonus..
I've written about Catherine
One item of trivia that may be unfamiliar to many fans of traditional detective fiction is that Catherine has a family connection with Josephine Tey, one of the great figures of Golden Age mystery writing. I share Catherine's enthusiasm for Tey, and I continue to hope that one of these she will write more about her. Tey and Catherine belong to different generations, but in both cases, their books will be read for many years to come.
Because of my own membership of the CWA committee, I've been aware that this announcement was to be made for some time, and I did notice that, as soon as the news came out, many of Catherine's fans took to social media to express their delight. I'm not a bit surprised. Her plots are clever, her characters and situations are entertaining,, and her humour a real bonus..
I've written about Catherine
One item of trivia that may be unfamiliar to many fans of traditional detective fiction is that Catherine has a family connection with Josephine Tey, one of the great figures of Golden Age mystery writing. I share Catherine's enthusiasm for Tey, and I continue to hope that one of these she will write more about her. Tey and Catherine belong to different generations, but in both cases, their books will be read for many years to come.
February 6, 2015
Forgotten Book - Scarweather
Scarweather, first published in 1934, is the third book by Anthony Rolls (real name C.E. Vulliamy) that I've covered in this blog, and it's a distinctive and interesting novel, with pleasing touches of satiric wit, especially at the expense of archaeologists. One of the unusual features of the novel is that the events described take place over an extended period - a decade and a half. The action kicks off just before the start of the First World War, but the final drama is enacted much later.
The story is told by a young barrister called John Farringdale, who has to be one of the most naive fictional lawyers I've encountered in a long time. The detective work - unhurried, to say the least - is done by Farringdale's mentor, a gifted all-rounder called Ellingham, who is presented in such a way that I did wonder if Vulliamy had thought of using him in more than one story.
Much of the action takes place at a lonely spot on the northern coast called Scarweather. Apparently there is somewhere called Scarweather Sands in the author's native Wales, but his fictional version is located in England - presumably on the east coast, rather than the west, though I couldn't identify it with any resort that I know; certainly not with Scarborough. Farringdale, his friend Eric, and Ellingham, get to know Professor Reisby and his gorgeous wife Hilda, who live at Scarweather, and a sinister sequence of events begins to unfold.
I found the style of writing enjoyable; Scarweather's a good read. The plot has a pleasing central idea, but the main flaw of the book, in my opinion, is that the final revelation is obvious long, long before the end. I was hoping for an unexpected twist, but no luck. This seems to me to be Vulliamy's weakness as a crime writer; he had a gift for coming up with terrific ideas, but struggled to sustain plot development and narrative tension to the end of his books. This may explain why his work has faded from view, but his merits are such that he deserves rediscovery.
Golden Age commentators have had mixed views about him over the years. There is a good essay about him in Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers by the very knowledgeable Charles Shibuk, and Barry Pike is another admirer, but Barzun and Taylor were not keen, and Julian Symons expressed some reservations in Bloody Murder. As ever, Curt Evan's blog is informative and includes a review of this novel; he also published an article about Vulliamy in CADS a couple of issues back.
Incidentally, when I wrote about Vulliamy on this blog five and a half years ago (blimey, can it be that long?) I mentioned that I have a signed copy of his late book Floral Tribute, but had never read it. Alas and alack, I still haven't got round to it. But I really, really, intend to make the effort now....
The story is told by a young barrister called John Farringdale, who has to be one of the most naive fictional lawyers I've encountered in a long time. The detective work - unhurried, to say the least - is done by Farringdale's mentor, a gifted all-rounder called Ellingham, who is presented in such a way that I did wonder if Vulliamy had thought of using him in more than one story.
Much of the action takes place at a lonely spot on the northern coast called Scarweather. Apparently there is somewhere called Scarweather Sands in the author's native Wales, but his fictional version is located in England - presumably on the east coast, rather than the west, though I couldn't identify it with any resort that I know; certainly not with Scarborough. Farringdale, his friend Eric, and Ellingham, get to know Professor Reisby and his gorgeous wife Hilda, who live at Scarweather, and a sinister sequence of events begins to unfold.
I found the style of writing enjoyable; Scarweather's a good read. The plot has a pleasing central idea, but the main flaw of the book, in my opinion, is that the final revelation is obvious long, long before the end. I was hoping for an unexpected twist, but no luck. This seems to me to be Vulliamy's weakness as a crime writer; he had a gift for coming up with terrific ideas, but struggled to sustain plot development and narrative tension to the end of his books. This may explain why his work has faded from view, but his merits are such that he deserves rediscovery.
Golden Age commentators have had mixed views about him over the years. There is a good essay about him in Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers by the very knowledgeable Charles Shibuk, and Barry Pike is another admirer, but Barzun and Taylor were not keen, and Julian Symons expressed some reservations in Bloody Murder. As ever, Curt Evan's blog is informative and includes a review of this novel; he also published an article about Vulliamy in CADS a couple of issues back.
Incidentally, when I wrote about Vulliamy on this blog five and a half years ago (blimey, can it be that long?) I mentioned that I have a signed copy of his late book Floral Tribute, but had never read it. Alas and alack, I still haven't got round to it. But I really, really, intend to make the effort now....
February 4, 2015
Antidote to Venom - another Crime Classic
It's less than two years since I wrote on this blog about Freeman Wills Crofts' novel Antidote to Venom, and expressed the view that it was a book definitely worth seeking out. Well, anyone who likes the sound of the book will now find it much more easily, as it has just been republished as part of the British Library's Crime Classics series.
I mentioned on Monday that the publication of my British Library anthology Capital Crimes has been brought forward because of the scale of advance sales, and the same is true of Antidote to Venom. I've supplied this edition with an intro which outlines why I like the book, but it's perhaps worth adding a few words here.
One of the things I admire most in a writer is a willingness to abandon one's literary comfort zone, and try something different, and ambitious. I've often given the example of Anthony Berkeley, who in his Francis Iles novels in particular was trying to write a crime story of a new sort. A book like Before the Fact is deeply flawed, but for me, it's still worth ten pedestrian detective stories, because it was such a daring story idea.
The same is true here - and not only because of the very intriguing zoo setting. Crofts was being very ambitious with this book, and I don't regard it is a total success. But I found it a gripping read, and I am impressed that such a successful author was prepared to try to write about complex issues of good and evil in the context of an elaborate murder mystery. This is the reason why I was so keen for the British Library to republish the book.
I should say that in my role as Series Consultant, I come up with many book and author suggestions that aren't viable for one reason or another, and the Library also keeps digging into the vaults and finding books I wasn't aware of. But although Crofts was, in his day, a bigger name than Charles Kingston, say, or Mavis Doriel Hay, I'm glad that this book (and soon, The Hog's Back Mystery) are enjoying a new life. He was an interesting writer who deserves to be remembered.
February 3, 2015
Deal Noir
Susan Moody is not only an author of varied and accomplished crime novels but also excellent company, and when she gets involved with a project, you can be confident that it will be of interest. So when she asked if I'd be willing to feature Deal Noir on this blog, I was happy to oblige, although alas, it clashes with the annual CWA conference, this year to be held at Lincoln, so I won't be in Deal myself. Anyway, here's what Susan has to say about Deal Noir:
"So there I was, sitting in the Nordic House in Reykjavik, toying with a glass of Icelandic vodka and staring at the chilly grey lake outside the window. I was attending one of the smallest and best of the crime fiction conventions – Iceland Noir – and enjoying the chance to talk to everyone there, something not always possible in the larger gatherings. Iceland Noir was mooted in May of 2013 and by November was alive and kicking.
"There should be more Crime Fests like this," I said to the man seated beside me, Mike Linane, a noted crime buff and attendee at many of the crime festivals taking place in England.
"Why don't you organize one yourself, then?" he asked.
Why not indeed? Back in the historic town of Deal, in south-east Kent, I thought about it. Yes, why not? Although Reykjavik is small and Deal is even smaller, with help of the indefatigable Mike, we set about doing just that. Having settled on a date of March 28th, we had even less time to organize it than the Iceland Noir organizers: Quentin Bates, Ragnar Jónasson.and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. And yet here it is, DEAL NOIR, a reality!
We have a logo, a web-site (www.dealnoir.wordpress.com with details of the programme and speakers, where you can buy tickets on-line), and an email address (dealnoir@gmail.com). We have posters and fliers. We have a venue. We are about to launch a Flash Fiction competition (write a crime story in 100 words). We have a full all-day programme of panels and debates with many of the stars of current crime writers attending, from Robert Goddard to Simon Brett to Michael Ridpath, from Mark Billingham to M J McGrath to David Donachie, from Erin Kelly and Laura Wilson to Tania Carver and Ruth Dudley Edwards.
Date: March 28th. Venue: The Landmark Centre (6 minutes walk from the station). Ticket cost: £12:50 (an absolute bargain!)
"So there I was, sitting in the Nordic House in Reykjavik, toying with a glass of Icelandic vodka and staring at the chilly grey lake outside the window. I was attending one of the smallest and best of the crime fiction conventions – Iceland Noir – and enjoying the chance to talk to everyone there, something not always possible in the larger gatherings. Iceland Noir was mooted in May of 2013 and by November was alive and kicking.
"There should be more Crime Fests like this," I said to the man seated beside me, Mike Linane, a noted crime buff and attendee at many of the crime festivals taking place in England.
"Why don't you organize one yourself, then?" he asked.
Why not indeed? Back in the historic town of Deal, in south-east Kent, I thought about it. Yes, why not? Although Reykjavik is small and Deal is even smaller, with help of the indefatigable Mike, we set about doing just that. Having settled on a date of March 28th, we had even less time to organize it than the Iceland Noir organizers: Quentin Bates, Ragnar Jónasson.and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. And yet here it is, DEAL NOIR, a reality!
We have a logo, a web-site (www.dealnoir.wordpress.com with details of the programme and speakers, where you can buy tickets on-line), and an email address (dealnoir@gmail.com). We have posters and fliers. We have a venue. We are about to launch a Flash Fiction competition (write a crime story in 100 words). We have a full all-day programme of panels and debates with many of the stars of current crime writers attending, from Robert Goddard to Simon Brett to Michael Ridpath, from Mark Billingham to M J McGrath to David Donachie, from Erin Kelly and Laura Wilson to Tania Carver and Ruth Dudley Edwards.
Date: March 28th. Venue: The Landmark Centre (6 minutes walk from the station). Ticket cost: £12:50 (an absolute bargain!)
February 2, 2015
Capital Crimes - publication day!
Today sees the official publication of Capital Crimes, my anthology of London Mysteries for the British Library's series of Crime Classics. The book was scheduled for publication in March, but the amazing success of the Crime Classics series has led to...early release by popular demand! As I understand it, getting towards 5000 copies of the print edition had been bought already in advance of publication. Having edited more than 20 anthologies over the past twenty-odd years, books featuring some of the world's great contemporary writers (Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, P.D. James, Colin Dexter, Lawrence Block et al) I can only say that I've never encountered pre-publication sales figures like this for an anthology previously.
If you define "the Golden Age of Murder" as the period between the two world wars, then the timespan of this collection extends beyond the Golden Age, in both directions. We begin with Conan Doyle (but his entry is not a Sherlock Holmes story) and continue until reaching a post-war story by Anthony Gilbert.
The connecting theme is the London setting of the stories, but my aim has been to go for variety. There is an obvious difficulty with putting together a collection of short stories from the past. Some if not all of the contents will be familiar to die-hard fans. It would be wildly optimistic to hope for over a dozen completely forgotten gems. And the need to trace copyright owners for stories that are still in copyright adds a further level of complexity.
All the same, with this anthology, and with others I've been working on for the British Library, I've endeavoured to include at least a couple of stories that I don't think will be familiar to most connoisseurs. In this book, I felt it would be folly to resist the temptation to include such classics as "The Tea Leaf" and "The Avenging Chance", even though they have been anthologised numerous times, because many enthusiastic fans of the Crime Classics series have come quite fresh to traditional detective fiction.
But hands up how many people have read such stories as "They Don't Wear Labels", "Cheese", and "You Can't Hang Twice"...I'm hoping that even many of the well-read followers of this blog will not have come across some or all of this trio of stories before. I've also included a Victorian serial killer story by John Oxenham, and abridged it slightly so that it could be fitted in - a slightly different version of the story has been anthologised in the past, but it's still quite obscure. All in all, I hope that this is a book which will entertain readers who, like me, are fascinated by London life -and by mysterious crimes.
January 30, 2015
Forgotten Book - Criminal Sentences
Next week, I will revert to my usual Friday pattern of a Forgotten Book which is a crime novel (and the author I have in mind is a very good exponent of Golden Age fiction.) Today, though, as a further tribute to the late Bob Adey, whose funeral took place this week, I'd like to talk about another "book about the books". This time it's a title from 1997, Criminal Sentences, by Steve Haste.
I've mentioned this book once or twice before, but I've yet to find anyone else who has read it. Surely there must be someone out there who shares my enthusiasm for it? The sub-title is self-explanatory: "True crime in fiction in drama." This is a book about real life cases that inspired crime fiction, a subject which, I would argue, is of great importance to any understanding of the genre's history and development. Because, from Poe, Collins and Conan Doyle onwards, crime writers have made great use of "true crime" in their fiction.
I don't claim that Haste's book is totally comprehensive. There are some notable novels inspired by fiction which are not mentioned, along with a number of rather obscure titles that have been overlooked. And there are a number of significant murder cases that are not covered either. But that is inevitable in a pioneering work of this kind. It's not possible to cover everything, and it would be futile to pretend otherwise.
Haste does a great job of summarising the cases, and then listing works of fiction derived from them. Many are Golden Age titles, but there are many others. He writes in a concise style, and that's a strength in this sort of reference book. The particular joy that comes from reading this book is the chance to seek out books of which one was previously unaware, where they fictionalise interesting crimes. If I read a "book about books", I like to be pointed to unfamiliar titles that I might enjoy reading (this is part of the reason why I've always admired Julian Symons' Bloody Murder.) Steve Haste's book does this, in an unfussy and enjoyable way. Will there ever be a second, updated edition? I have never met or had any contact with Mr Haste, but I would love to think he is contemplating a new edition.
I've mentioned this book once or twice before, but I've yet to find anyone else who has read it. Surely there must be someone out there who shares my enthusiasm for it? The sub-title is self-explanatory: "True crime in fiction in drama." This is a book about real life cases that inspired crime fiction, a subject which, I would argue, is of great importance to any understanding of the genre's history and development. Because, from Poe, Collins and Conan Doyle onwards, crime writers have made great use of "true crime" in their fiction.
I don't claim that Haste's book is totally comprehensive. There are some notable novels inspired by fiction which are not mentioned, along with a number of rather obscure titles that have been overlooked. And there are a number of significant murder cases that are not covered either. But that is inevitable in a pioneering work of this kind. It's not possible to cover everything, and it would be futile to pretend otherwise.
Haste does a great job of summarising the cases, and then listing works of fiction derived from them. Many are Golden Age titles, but there are many others. He writes in a concise style, and that's a strength in this sort of reference book. The particular joy that comes from reading this book is the chance to seek out books of which one was previously unaware, where they fictionalise interesting crimes. If I read a "book about books", I like to be pointed to unfamiliar titles that I might enjoy reading (this is part of the reason why I've always admired Julian Symons' Bloody Murder.) Steve Haste's book does this, in an unfussy and enjoyable way. Will there ever be a second, updated edition? I have never met or had any contact with Mr Haste, but I would love to think he is contemplating a new edition.
