Martin Edwards's Blog, page 295

Arthur Machen

When I wrote about the CWA conference in Abergavenny recently, I mentioned that as well as locally born Ethel Lina White, another writer from South Wales came to my attention that week-end. This was, in fact, Arthur Machen, who was born not too far away in Caerleon-on-Usk (the Usk, as I discovered, is a lovely river and there are a number of very pleasant towns in its environs.)

There is a nice little museum at Abergavenny Castle, and when we visited it, I was interested to see a small...

Forgotten Book - Released for Death

My choice this week for Patti Abbott's series of Forgotten Books is Released for Death, a novel by Henry Wade which I've seldom seen discussed. It's a period piece, but of considerable interest, both historically and in its own right. I reviewed it for Geoff Bradley's marvellous magazine CADS a few years back. Here is an amended version of that review.

The rich variety of Wade's work is illustrated by this book, which traces the misadventures of a cat burglar, Toddy Shaw. The early pages of...

Plot, Pace and Information

Every now and then in this blog, I touch on an issue concerning the writing of crime fiction, and I've been interested to see how many comments some of these posts have prompted. One example was when I asked about the gruesomeness of some modern crime fiction. And another came last Monday, with my post 'Too Much Information?'

These are topics that intrigue me, though I don't think there are simple answers to the questions I have posed, and I'm glad that you seem to have found them interesting ...

Bookdagger

A short time ago, I was invited to contribute a monthly column to a new online venture known as Bookdagger. The dilemma was this. I really am rather over-worked at the moment, but on the other hand, Bookdagger looked good and I did fancy being involved with it.

So, needless to say, I succumbed to temptation. The subject I chose for my first piece was that of writing duos, and you can see what you think of my effort here.

I'm conscious, incidentally, that the photo I've used for this blog and...

Lewis: The Dead of Winter - review

The Dead of Winter kicked off the new series of Lewis on Sunday evening, and it was a very good episode, written (appropriately enough) by Russell Lewis, a highly experienced script writer. He was once mooted as a potential writer for a series based on my Harry Devlin novels; it's my loss that this never came to pass.

The Dead of Winter was in the same mould as some of the best episodes of Inspector Morse, making the most of the Oxford setting, and a grand country house. Quintessential...

Wallander - The Priest: review

I've watched another episode in the second series of the Swedish TV version of Wallander. This was The Priest, and it was based on a book by Henning Mankell which I have not read.

The opening, as so often in Wallander, is dramatic and arresting. A couple are having a secret assignation in a hostel. The man is promising to tell his wife about the affair and to make a new life with his lover. When the couple part, someone outside the building shoots the man, and although the victim does not die ...

Elections - and Libraries

Not many crime novels have been set around elections, although people like me who live in marginal constituencies are probably tempted to murder by the persistence of party campaigners and their not very illuminating leaflets, which arrive by the bucket-load. Off-hand, I can think of a couple. Robert Barnard's Political Suicide is very entertaining, and an old favourite of mine, although inevitably some of the political stuff now seems dated, almost 25 years after the book came out. Another e...

Capricorn One

Really good conspiracy thrillers are not common. One of my favourites is The Parallax View, but I also like Capricorn One, which I've just watched again, after such a long gap that I'd forgotten most of the detail of the story.

The idea is very appealing. NASA is about to send a rocket to Mars for a manned landing. But just before take-off, the astronauts are taken away to a secret hideaway, although the rocket goes off into space and the watching world is led to believe that the astronauts...

Forgotten Book - The Man Who...

I've written before about my admiration for the late, great Julian Symons. He was one of the most notable British crime writers of his time, and, in my opinion, the greatest of all critics of the genre (even though I don't agree with all of his opinions, including his rather harsh dismissal of many Golden Age writers.)

Among his many achievements, he became President of the Detection Club. In 1992, the Club published The Man Who…, edited by H.R.F. Keating, to celebrate the 80th birthday of...

Forgotten Music - On the Flip Side

In my quest to find something else of interest and great obscurity for Scott Parker's monthly series about Forgotten Music, I've tracked down some very rare footage from a genuinely forgotten musical written in 1966 for television called On the Flip Side. The musical featured former teen idol Ricky Nelson, who sought to mark his transition to entertaining a more mature audience by the cunning device of changing his name to – Rick Nelson. Joanie Somers co-starred.

The musical was written by...