Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 488

City Of Peculiar Murders

At Reading Crime Festival this weekend, I appeared on a panel with Malcolm Pryce, Mike Ripley, MC Beaton and Peter Guttridge, and we turned to talking about just how far-fetched murders can be.

Well, at the moment in real-life London there's the strange mystery of the GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams, found dead in a padlocked North [...:]

Rebranding London 2

Well, the piece about rebranding London areas clearly touched a nerve, and guess what, it turns out to be an initiative supported by London's most aggressively inept council, Camden! What a surprise!

Camden divides King's Cross with Islington Council, and clearly feels inferior to its rival; Islington's reputation for improving the neighbourhood is impeccable. As [...:]

The Sounds Of Crime

Audio books, aren't they versions of paper books? Not any more, because legendary crime editor Maxim Jakubowski has created 'The Sounds Of Crime' an anthology specifically designed to exploit the audio possibilities of crime, and it's available only in audio form.

I'm there with a new story, along with Lawrence Block, Mark Billingham, Peter James and [...:]

The Rebranding Of London

Estate agents have long been trying to foist New York names onto London properties, in the hope that people will pay more for a small box if it's called a Manhattan Loft.

Possibly the most stupid new wave of branding began when in 2008, the Candy Brothers were criticised by angry Fitzrovia residents for rebranding [...:]

Sondheim At 80 In London

London seems to have a special relationship with Stephen Sondheim. Right since the beginning his shows have sold out here wherever they've been performed around the country, his reviews and masterclasses on writing have been sought-after events. I think there's an appreciation of the rhythm in his language that appeals to a literary mentality, but [...:]

London Lingo

Standing next to me at the traffic lights, the businessman is asking his mobile; 'Would it be major if we rearranged?' meaning 'I don't want to see you.'

On the phone to a woman about an undelivered parcel I'm told 'We're currently experiencing scheduling issues' meaning 'We screwed up and you won't get it today.' [...:]

Nobody Hurt In Small Earthquake

London could be hit any time soon by a massive earthquake! warn scientists. Er, actually no. The biggest it's liable to be is a 5.5 – which I've experienced a couple of times now (in France and California). Dr Roger Musson of the British Geological Survey says that a sub-sea fault under the Straits of [...:]

Great Place For A Murder

To the restaurants of Bleeding Heart Yard last night for a celebration dinner given in honour of Laura Wilson, whose excellent new thriller 'A Capital Crime' takes a fictional spin on one of the city's most contentious and problematic criminal cases.

Controversy still surrounds the responsibility for the deaths of Beryl Evans and her daughter Geraldine, [...:]

London-By-The-Sea

Every week brings an absurd number of events and festivals to London (somehow I managed to entirely miss last weekend's Thames Pageant as I was at the Soho Sunday festival) but this one seemed pretty odd. The King's Cross Oyster Festival is running over the next fortnight, even though London is far inland.

20 restaurants and [...:]

Stop Falling Apart!

Like most writers, although my brain is working overtime, my body has to be prevented from atrophying. I spend a staggering amount of my life wedged behind a desk staring into electrons – not a good idea in the coming months, when it will get too cold to even think about moving around much, unless [...:]