B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 64

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Through a Glass Darkly

Helen McCloy (1904-1994) was the pseudonym of American Golden Age author Helen Clarkson, born in New York City. Her mother was writer Helen Worrell McCloy and her father, William McCloy, longtime managing editor of the New York Evening Sun. She was educated at a Quaker school before heading off to France in 1923 to study at the Sorbonne, then finally working in journalism for Hearst's Universal News Service and as a freelancer and art critic.



McCloy began to write mysteries in the 1930s, with her first novel, Dance of Death, published in 1938. In 1946 she married Davis Dresser, famous for his Mike Shayne novels written under the pseudonym Brett Halliday. The couple founded the Torquil Publishing Company and the literary agency Halliday and McCloy prior to their divorce in 1961. In 1950 she became the first woman to serve as president of Mystery Writers of America, and her contributions to the genre are recognized today by the annual Helen McCloy/MWA Scholarship for Mystery Writing.



Her most famous series character, Dr. Basil Willing, debuted in Dance of Death and appeared in 12 novels and several short stories. Willing became interested in psychiatry upon seeing the shell-shocked soldiers during his World War I service, then studied psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, followed by Paris and Vienna, where he acquired his knowledge of Freudian psychoanalysis and his belief that "every criminal leaves psychic fingerprints, and he can't wear gloves to hide them."



Willing's actual literary debut was in the short story "Through a Glass Darkly," published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in September 1948 and later expanded into the 1950 novel by the same title. It's a quasi-locked-room a la John Dickson Carr, with a seemingly supernatural twist involving a Doppelganger in which art teacher Faustina Crayle is fired from Brereton School for Girls mid-term but not given a reason why. Faustina's friend and fellow teacher, Gisela von Weber, also happens to be the fiancée of Basil Willing, who draws him into the case, fearing an injustice has been done.



Willing soon learns that students have seen Faustina appear in places she couldn't have been and when the drama catch has a fatal accident, Faustina is suspected—before Willing discovers that she was the only woman who could never have an alibi.



Author, editor and columnist Nicholas Fuller feels that Through a Glass Darkly is among the top twenty best detective stories ever written, "both for the way in which its horror arises almost entirely from Jamesian understatement (suggestion and the incongruous presence of the normal create the feeling of something terribly wrong) and for the ambiguous solution."



McCloy spins the Doppleganger theme effectively through her characterizations and prose:

"You enter a room, a street, a country road. You see a figure ahead of you, solid, three-dimensional, brightly coloured. Moving and obeying all the laws of optics. Its clothing and posture is vaguely familiar. You hurry toward the figure for a closer view. It turns its head and - you are looking at yourself. Or rather a perfect mirror-image of yourself only - there is no mirror. So, you know it is your double. And that frightens you, for tradition tells you that he who sees his own double is about to die . . ."

In 1959, writer John Hopkins adapted the story into a teleplay as part of the Saturday Playhouse series that aired on the BBC from 1958 to 1961.

          

Mystery Melange

The winners of the McIlvanney Prize 2022 and the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize were announced at the annual conference following a torchlit procession of all the finalists from Stirling Castle to the Albert Halls. The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize was won by Tariq Ashkanani for Welcome to Cooper, and the McIlvanney Prize went to Alan Parks for May God Forgive. Both awards recognize excellence in Scottish crime writing and are judged first by booksellers, bloggers, librarians and festival-goers and then a panel of esteemed judges.

At a special WORD Christchurch ceremony, Jacqueline Bublitz’s first novel, Before You Knew My Name, was revealed as the winner of both the Best First Novel and Best Novel categories of the 2022 Ngaio Marsh Awards, which celebrate excellence by New Zealand crime writers. Ngaio Marsh Awards founder Craig Sisterson noted that while a few excellent debuts have been shortlisted for both categories over the past several years, Before You Knew My Name is the first book to ever win two Ngaio Marsh Awards. Bublitz also joins Christchurch author and international bestseller Paul Cleave, a three-time Best Novel winner, as the only Kiwi storytellers with multiple Ngaios.

Dragon Con, a North American multi-genre convention that takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend, handed out its 2022 Dragon Awards in various categories of science fiction, fantasy, horror novels, movies, television, and games. Crime-related crossovers include a Best Fantasy Novel nod to Book of Night by Holly Black, set in a world where shadows can be altered to increase power and influence, and follows a low-level con artist who it thrown into a maelstrom of secrets and murder from people desperate to control the shadows. Another finalist in that category was Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham, set in the ancient city of Kithamar, in which a petty thief sets out to discover who killed her brother and why.

American Christian Fiction Writers also recently handed out the annual Carol Awards. The winner of the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category was Dark Intercept by Andrews & Wilson, which follows a soon-to-be-retired Navy SEAL who receives a frantic call from his estranged childhood best friend when the man's daughter has been kidnapped off the streets of Nashville in broad daylight. Other finalists include Right Cross by Andrew Huff and Manna Reign by Neena Roth.

Today, September 15, is the anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth (1890), which makes it appropriate that a new anthology of stories featuring Miss Marple was just published by William Morrow. Marking the first time anyone other than Christie has written "official" (as recognized by the Christie estate) Miss Marple stories, Marple includes twelve different contemporary female authors with their own take on the beloved Christie character. Those participating are Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Natalie Haynes, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say Mitchell, Kate Mosse, and Ruth Ware.

Indiana University Bloomington's Lilly Library is the latest host of the "Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects" exhibition (originally hosted by the Grolier Club in New York City earlier this year). The exhibit features memorabilia, manuscripts, books and some first editions, artwork, and other items related to the Great Detective. The exhibition will be on view in its new location until December 16, 2022. (HT to The Bunburyist.)

The Texas Book Festival unveiled the full literary lineup for the 2022 event, its first fully in-person return post-Covid. Taking place November 5-6 in Austin, the 27th annual Texas Book Festival will feature nearly 300 national and Texas authors. The crime/mystery/thriller lineup includes thirty authors this year, including Jeff Abbott, Janet Evanovich, Sandra Brown, Gary Phillips, Nelson DeMille, and more.

Writing for The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik profiled Georges Simenon and "The Mysterious Case of Inspector Maigret." He concluded that the Maigret books, seventy-five in all, seem more likely to be remembered than the romans durs, the "hard books" often set outside Paris and meant "as works of more self-conscious art."

Now here's a fun idea: SacRT teamed up with the Sacramento Public Library to launch Sacramento’s first Rolling Library Train, with a brightly decorated train car that promotes riding and reading. When you step onboard, you will feel like you have been transported into a library as the walls and seatbacks resemble books on shelves. Riders can find hidden gems on those bookshelves featuring QR codes to free downloadable materials from the Sacramento Public Library.

Glass Onion, the sequel to 2019's Knives Out, may not be out yet, but on September 9, Netflix released a link to a website where you can play puzzles to unlock clips from Rian Johnson's upcoming whodunnit. Once you go to the website, you're greeted by a wooden box that unfolds to reveal four panels, each containing a separate puzzle. It's the same kind of box that Glass Onion's ensemble cast receives in the first teaser for the film. The next game in the box will unlock on September 24.

An idea for something in a comedic mystery novel, perhaps? An Uber Eats delivery robot recently crashed a crime scene.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Diese Zeit" by Suzanne Ondrus.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, author of the popular Morland Dynasty novels and the contemporary Bill Slider mystery series, applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Secrets of Ashmore Castle.

In the Q&A roundup, Author Interviews spoke with Annelise Ryan, a pseudonym for the author of the new Monster Hunter Mystery series, with the first installment, A Death in Door County, out this month; Let's Talk Books had a Q&A with Canadian author Judy Penz Sheluk; and Lisa Haselton spoke with mystery author Gillespie Lamb about The Junkyard Dick.

         Related StoriesMystery Melange 

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new, late summer roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

The first teaser trailer was released for Rian Johnson's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, introducing a new cast of potential murder victims (or murderers) played by Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista. The one holdover from the Knives Out cast is Daniel Craig as Detective Benoit Blanc, who has joined the ensemble on a Greek island in order to solve a mystery. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery had its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, and is scheduled to be released in select cinemas in November before its streaming release on December 23 by Netflix.

Patricia Highsmith, the celebrated mid-20th century American author known for novels like Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, lived a troubled life and held controversial views while struggling with her own identity. A new documentary, Loving Highsmith, is screening at Film Forum this month and is based on Highsmith's journal entries and accounts by friends, lovers and family. Director Eva Vitija was interviewed by WNYC about the film.

Oscar nominee Catherine Keener has landed a major role opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in Todd Phillips’s Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, for Warner Bros. and DC Films. Deadline recently reported that Brendan Gleeson would be joining the ensemble as well as Zazie Beetz. Phillips is returning to direct and also co-wrote the script with Scott Silver, who penned the original pic. Not much is known about the sequel, though insiders believe it will have musical elements and will be set in Arkham Asylum, which is where the first film leaves off after Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) has been sent there. It is also unknown who Keener will be playing. The Batman series from which "The Joker" character evolved was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book, Detective Comics, on March 30, 1939.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

In a competitive situation, Peacock has landed The Show Must Go On, an hour-long murder mystery anthology, which would mark the first time Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera musical is used as part of a TV series. Written by Austin Winsberg, The Show Must Go On is a darkly comedic murder mystery anthology series, with each season taking place in the days leading up to a big, live, televised event and tackling a new murder with a refreshed cast. Season 1 is set behind the scenes during the making of a fictitious version of Lloyd Webber’s worldwide mega-hit, The Phantom of The Opera Live!, with endless production problems, warring stars, mounting network pressures—and the gruesome and untimely death of one of the leads. The original The Phantom of the Opera (French: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) was a novel by French author, Gaston Leroux, first published as a serial in 1909-1910.

BBC Three is to adapt Holly Jackson’s New York Times bestselling teen crime thriller, A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. Poppy Cogan, who has also written the BBC Three horror project, Red Rose, will pen the adaptation. A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder follows the murder of schoolgirl, Andie Bell, a crime that everyone in the quintessentially English town decided was carried out by Sal Singh five years ago. But Pippa Fitz-Amobi—the smart, slightly square heroine—isn’t so sure, and she’s determined to prove it, with many trying to prevent her from finding the truth.

Paramount+’s upcoming Criminal Minds revival now has an official title, Criminal Minds: Evolution, and is set to premiere this fall exclusively on the streamer. Zach Gilford also has been tapped to recur in a season-long arc. CBS’s original Criminal Minds series, which ran from 2005-2020, followed the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the best of the best who profiled the worst of the worst. In Criminal Minds: Evolution, the FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers come up against their greatest threat yet, an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. Original cast members reprising their roles include Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez, and Paget Brewster.

Margo Martindale (The Americans), Molly Parker (House of Cards), Rachel Bilson (The O.C.), and Jack Davenport (The Morning Show) are among the new cast members that have been added to Fox’s upcoming anthology drama series, Accused, from Howard Gordon, the co-creator of 24 and Homeland. Accused is described by the network as a "fast-paced provocative thriller, exploring a different crime, in a different city, with an entirely original cast" in each episode. Based on the BBC’s BAFTA-winning crime anthology, Accused opens in a courtroom on the defendant, with viewers knowing nothing about their crime or how they ended up on trial.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with screenwriter and documentarian, Eva Vitija, whose latest film is a documentary of the life of crime writer Patricia Highsmith.

Speaking of Mysteries featured Deanna Raybourn and her new thriller, Killers of a Certain Age. Four women, who happen to be sixty-something professional assassins, are celebrating their recent retirement—except when they board a luxury ship for a celebratory cruise, they realize that someone wants to "retire" them...permanently.

My Favorite Detective Stories chatted with Boston-based author, Dave Zeltserman, whose novel, Small Crimes, was made into a Netflix film starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Molly Parker, Gary Cole, Robert Forster, and Jacki Weaver. His Julius Katz mystery stories have won a Shamus, Derringer, and two Ellery Queen Readers Choice awards.

Freelance writer, editor, author, and all around storyteller, Troy Lambert, stopped by Meet the Thriller Author, to talk about writing mysteries, history, and dogs of all kinds. His latest novel, Teaching Moments, is the second book in the Max Boucher Mystery Series.

On Queer Writers of Crime, Philip discussed Greg Herren's latest, Murder in the Rue Chartres.

On Book Riot's Read or Dead podcast, Katie McClain and new co-host, Kendra Winchester, discussed some of their recent favorites.

David Lagercrantz spoke with Craig Sisterson for Crime Time FM about Dark Music (translated by Ian Giles); the influence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic; a contemporary Holmes and Watson; the social novel; what is genius; and not having the luxury to be weak (class and privilege).

On the latest Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine podcast, we enter the world of crime, Oklahoma-style, as author Bret Jones reads his story "Not My First Rodeo," from the March/April 2022 issue.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club featured On A Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass.

         Related StoriesMedia Murder for Monday 

Anthony Accolades

 

At this weekend's Bouchercon 2022 Conference in Minneapolis, the annual Anthony Awards were handed out at the gala banquet Saturday night. The honors are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America, and have been given since 1986. They're voted on by members attending the conference. Congrats to all of the winners and finalists!



Lifetime Achievement Award: Ellen Hart



International Lifetime Achievement Award: Alexander McCall Smith

Best Novel: Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)



Also nominated:

Runner, by Tracy Clark (Kensington); The Collective, by Alison Gaylin (Morrow); Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime); and These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)



Best First Novel: Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley Prime Crime)



Also nominated:

Her Name Is Knight, by Yasmin Angoe (Thomas & Mercer); The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Atria); Walking Through Needles, by Heather Levy (Polis); and All Her Little Secrets, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)



Best Short Story: “Not My Cross to Bear,” by S.A. Cosby (from Trouble No More: Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues, edited by Mark Westmoreland; Down & Out)



Also nominated:

“The Search for Eric Garcia,” by E.A. Aymar (from Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color, edited by Abby L. Vandiver; Crooked Lane); “The Vermeer Conspiracy,” by V.M. Burns (from Midnight Hour); “Lucky Thirteen,” by Tracy Clark (from Midnight Hour); “Doc’s at Midnight,” by Richie Narvaez (from Midnight Hour); “The Locked Room Library,” by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021); and “Burnt Ends,” by Gabriel Valjan (from This Time for Sure: Bouchercon Anthology 2021, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan; Down & Out)



Best Children’s/YA: I Play One on TV, by Alan Orloff (Down & Out)



Also nominated:

Cold-Blooded Myrtle, by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers); Bury Me in Shadows, by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes); The Forest of Stolen Girls, by June Hur (Feiwel & Friends); and Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, by Nancy Springer (Wednesday)



Best Anthology: This Time for Sure: Bouchercon Anthology 2021, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Down & Out)



Also nominated:

Under the Thumb: Stories of Police Oppression, edited by S.A. Cosby (Rock & A Hard Place Press); Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color, edited by Abby L. Vandiver (Crooked Lane); Trouble No More: Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues, edited by Mark Westmoreland (Down & Out); and When a Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta (Hanover Square Press)



Best Paperback/EBook/AudioBook: Bloodline, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)



Also nominated:

The Ninja Betrayed, by Tori Eldridge (Agora); Warn Me When It’s Time, by Cheryl A. Head (Bywater); Bury Me in Shadows, by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes); and The Mother Next Door, by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)



Best Critical/Non-fiction: How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)



Also nominated:

The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice, by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press); Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession, by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (Andrews McMeel); Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York, by Elon Green (Celadon); and The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story, by Kate Summerscale (Penguin Press)

          

Barry Award Honorees

Deadly Pleasures magazine announced winners of the annual Barry Awards at the Opening Ceremonies at the Minneapolis Bouchercon on last evening.  Congrats to all the finalists and winners!

Best Mystery/Crime Novel:  RAZORBLADE TEARS, S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Other finalists:

THE DARK HOURS, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

LAST REDEMPTION, Matt Coyle (Oceanview)

CLARK AND DIVISION, Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)

BILLY SUMMERS, Stephen King (Scribner)

WE BEGIN AT THE END, Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

Best First Mystery/Crime Novel: SLEEPING BEAR, Connor Sullivan (Emily Bestler/Atria)

Other finalists:

WHO IS MAUDE DIXON?, Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)

GIRL A, Abigail Dean (Viking)

DOWN RANGE, Taylor Moore (William Morrow)

FALLING, T. J. Newman (Simon & Schuster)

STEEL FEAR, Brandon Webb & John David Mann (Bantam)

Best Paperback Original:  THE GOOD TURN, Dervla McTiernan (Blackstone)

Other finalists:

THE HUNTED, Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)

ARSENIC AND ADOBO, Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)

BLACK CORAL, Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)

SEARCH FOR HER, Rick Mofina (MIRA)

BOUND, Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

Best Thriller:  FIVE DECEMBERS, James Kestrel (HardCase Crime)

Other finalists:

THE DEVIL’S HAND, Jack Carr (Emily Bestler/Atria)

THE NAMELESS ONES, John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria)

DEAD BY DAWN, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)

RELENTLESS, Mark Greaney (Berkley)

SLOUGH HOUSE, Mick Herron (Soho Crime)

          

Macavity Magic

 

The winners of this year's Macavity Awards were handed out yesterday during the opening festivities of the annual Bouchercon Mystery Convention. The award is voted on by members of Mystery Readers International and subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!

Best Mystery Novel:  Razorblade Tears, by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron)



Other finalists:



• The Dark Hours, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

• 1979, by Val McDermid (Atlantic Monthly Press)

• Bobby March Will Live Forever, by Alan Parks (World Noir)

• We Begin at the End, by Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

• Harlem Shuffle, by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)



Best First Mystery Novel:  Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)



Other finalists:



• Who is Maude Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)

• Girl A, by Abigail Dean (Viking)

• Deer Season, by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)

• All Her Little Secrets, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)



Best Mystery Short Story:  “Sweeps Week,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], July/August 2021)



Other finalists:



• “Lucky Thirteen,” by Tracy Clark (from Midnight Hour, edited by Abby L. Vandiver; Crooked Lane)

• “Curious Incidents,” by Steve Hockensmith (EQMM, January/February 2021)

• “The Road to Hana,” by R.T. Lawton (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May/June 2021)

• “The White Star,” by G.M. Malliet (EQMM, July/August 2021)

• “The Locked Room Library,” by Gigi Pandian (EQMM,

July/August 2021)

• “Julius Katz and the Two Cousins,” by Dave Zeltserman (EQMM, July/August 2021)



Best Non-fiction/Critical:  How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child with Laurie R. King (Scribner)



Other finalists:



• Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World, by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins)

• The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History, by Margalit Fox (Random House)

• The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene,

by Richard Greene (Norton)

• Tony Hillerman: A Life, by James McGrath Morris

(University of Oklahoma)

• The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, by John Tresch (Farrar, Straus

and Giroux)

• The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense, by Edward White (Norton)



Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:  Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)



Other finalists:



• The Venice Sketchbook, by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union)

• The Hollywood Spy, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)

• The Bombay Prince, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)

• Velvet Was the Night, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)

• Death at Greenway, by Lori Rader-Day (Morrow)

          

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Yellow Turban

Charlotte Jay was the pen name of Australian mystery author Geraldine Halls (1919-1996). Her marriage to Albert Halls of UNESCO enabled her to travel the world to exotic locations like Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, England, Lebanon, India, Papua New Guinea, and the Trobriand Islands, many of which she used in her books. Jay penned nine standalone crime fiction novels (as well as other works under her married name), and although largely forgotten today, she was in fact the very first winner of the Mystery Writers' Association of America's Edgar Award of the for Best Novel of the Year, Beat Not the Bones, in 1954. Another of her books, The Fugitive Eye, was adapted for television in 1961 as an episode starring Charlton Heston of the also largely-forgotten TV series Alcoa Premiere, hosted by Fred Astaire with music by John Williams.



Jay was something of a late bloomer as a writer, working as a shorthand typist in Australia and England and then as a court stenographer in New Guinea, before turning her hand to novels. Her first was published in 1951, when Jay was in her early 30s. She wrote crime novels until around 1970, when she switched to writing romantic suspense and mainstream novels, for reasons which aren't very clear.



Jay uses a first-person male narrative for The Yellow Turban, something not all that common for women authors when the book was written in 1955. The central character is William Brooke, a vagabond Englishman who is lulled by a high fee (only a third of which is paid in advance) to find and retrieve an old friend, Roy Finlay, from Karachi and bring him back to England. Brooke's instructions include cryptic warnings about "secrecy" and "trouble," which Brooke largely ignores as he checks in at a seedy hotel and starts to work.



When Brooke tries to find Finlay, who has disappeared, he begins to realize his missing friend's job wasn't exactly what Brooke had thought, while every step of his investigation is dogged by a sinister man in a yellow turban. Misgivings and confusion turn to outright terror when he climbs into bed one night and finds a blood-drenched corpse. He ends up on the run from the police, who think he's the murderer, and shadowy men who want to kill him for reasons unknown to Brooke, in a journey that takes him to the Kurat mountains and into the heart of Pakistan.



The 1950s Pakistani settings of The Yellow Turban are particularly relevant to current events of our day, and it's fascinating to catch a glimpse of the country's culture that Jay would surely have witnessed first-hand on her own travels. No doubt, some of the villages and cultures have changed little during the intervening half-century. There are hints of the Pakistani people, of various faiths, political views, classes and backgrounds, that Jay manages to convey through her descriptive writing:

On a kong seat covered by red plastic, a thin, dirty young man, wearing baggy white trousers and a buttoned-up gray coat, lay curled up with his eyes closed and his naked toes twiching like a dreaming dog.



Conversation in Pakistan, I was to learn, was frequently only a means of self-expression. The idea of communication between man and man gets lost somehow.



I suppose you can get used to bribing people. Maybe you get an exaggerated idea in your had that money will corupt anyone, and maybe, after you've lived in the East ong enough, it will. Customs are like diseaases, you can breathe them in from the air, soak them through your skin. 



And still the great crowd merged on, a white boiling mass speckled with black dots like grains of dust blown onto a bowl of foam. The flagellants moved on and a group of drummers approached, heralding a tower made from green and crimson tinsel paper. It stopped directly in front of us, the crowd formed a circle around it and a group of ragged little boys danced forward, each with a knife in his hand.



This landscape was disordered, certainly, but without force or intension, like a disordered room when clothes are left lying around. The objects on it appeared to have some prescribed place to stand or go, some sense of prupose and direction, and had just dropped in their tracks out of lassitude of frustration before they took up their positions.

Ultimately, the plot and setting of The Yellow Turban end up merging age-old themes of man's war with himself and others into the insanity mankind has created with 20th (and 21st) century technological evils. The novel's denouement near a crumbling monastery proves to be a fitting symbol for the crumbling worlds of William Brooke, Roy Finlay, and the people of Pakistan in the 1950s.

          

Mystery Melange

 

As Bloody Scotland continues to celebrate its 10th Anniversary year, the judges revealed the finalists for The McIlvanney Prize 2022: Liam McIlvanney's The Heretic; Alan Parks's May God Forgive; Ambrose Parry's A Corruption of Blood; and Louise Welsh's The Second Cut. The McIlvanney Prize recognizes excellence in Scottish crime writing and includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. The winner will be revealed in Stirling on Thursday, September 15.

The 2022 Hugo Awards were handed out this past weekend. The awards, first presented in 1953 and presented annually since 1955, are science fiction’s most prestigious award and are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Convention. There are always some crossover titles of interest to crime fiction fans that are among the finalists, including this year's A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, nominated for Best Novel, in which Agent Fatma investigates the murder of a member of a secret brotherhood.

Jacqueline Auld won the £2,500 Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction, which "celebrates the outstanding crime and thriller storytelling of those who are from, or whose work celebrates, north-east England," for her story "The Children of Gaia." In addition to cash, the prize is designed to support the completion of her work, and funding towards a year's membership of the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors. Now in its fourth year, the prize was founded by author L.J. Ross and is sponsored by her publishing imprint Dark Skies Publishing, in association with the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival and Newcastle Libraries.

HarperCollins Australia has announced the shortlist for the 2022 Banjo Prize for an unpublished work of commercial fiction. The shortlisted manuscripts include a couple of crime fiction titles, namely Pine River Falls, an "atmospheric, twisty crime novel" by Christine Gregory; Next of Kin by Inessa Jackson, a thriller about a young doctor trying to prove her brother innocent of murder; and Ocean Drive by Mitch Jennings, a mystery with an unlikely partnership and a "wonderfully original voice." Last year’s winner was Veronica Lando for her mystery, The Whispering, published in July 2022.

There's still time to register for the online WriteNOW! conference, to be held September 16 and 17th. Every year, Desert Sleuths, the Phoenix chapter of Sisters in Crime, hosts a fun line-up of bestselling authors, experienced editors, qualified agents, and publishing experts. Some highlights include the PitchNOW! sessions, where authors can pitch their completed manuscript to a literary agent or professional editor; EditNOW! to get a critique of your work in progress; and MarketNOW! for assistance analyzing your online presence from a marketing and publicity expert.

Over at The Rap Sheet blog, Jeff Pierce reported on the news that Angry Robot is launching Datura Books, a new crime fiction imprint, noting that this is the publisher's second attempt in the genre after its Exhibit A line folded. It is said to be "a new crime fiction imprint focused on titles with a strong sense of voice and place that push the boundaries of the genre while still playing with readers' favorite tropes." Bryon Quertermous, who had worked previously with Exhibit A, will join the brand-new Datura team with a "new approach that is smaller and more focused on voice, while also gaining a larger reach with the [distribution] support of Penguin Random House." Half a dozen new titles are already expected from Datura over the next year.

Uncle Hugo's has reopened in Minneapolis, Minnesota after it burned down following the unrest after the murder of George Floyd. Store owner, Don Blyly, almost decided to quit the business altogether, but the fans of the bookstore encouraged him to rebuild. The new location is across the street from Minneapolis indie Moon Palace Books and roughly two miles from the building that burned in May 2020. Blyly lost 200,000 books in the fire and has slowly worked to restock half that amount. Uncle Hugo's opened as a science fiction bookstore in 1974, and then in 1980 started a "store within a store," Uncle Edgar's, which focuses on mystery books. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

Author Nora Roberts, a/k/a J.D. Robb (pen name for the In Death crime series), donated $50,000 to the Patmos Library in Jamestown, Michigan, which has been at risk of shutting down after residents defunded it over librarians’ refusal to remove LGBTQ books.

Psychology Today wrote about the role of Forensic Psychology in crime fiction, noting that despite the many things psychologists can do, they mostly wind up as profilers.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Unpunished" by Roberta Gibson. Editor Gerald So also posted a poll for readers to help him pick poems for Best of the Net 2023 consideration.

In the Q&A roundup, Indie Crime Scene interviewed Jon Armour, whose debut novel, Branded, was published on August 15; Crime Fiction Lover spoke with novelist David E. Feldman about his mystery series featuring private investigator Dora Ellison; and Writer Who Kill's E.B. Davis chatted with Allison Brook about the sixth installment of her Agatha Award nominee Haunted Library mysteries.

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Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new, late summer/Labor Day roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Russell Crowe will play a former homicide detective tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past in Sleeping Dogs. The film marks the directorial debut of Adam Cooper, who wrote the script with Bill Collage based on E.O. Chirovici’s acclaimed novel, The Book of Mirrors. The story centers on Roy Freeman (Crowe), who is undergoing a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment. He is forced to grapple with the impact of an investigation from his former life, after a death-row inmate Freeman arrested ten years ago starts to proclaim his innocence. Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Freeman enlists his former partner to help him revive the case and discover the truth. Together, they set off to unravel a tangled web of secrets, forcing Freeman to make some horrific discoveries.

William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) will direct, and Kiefer Sutherland will star (as Lt. Commander Queeg), in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial using a 50-year-old play script written by Herman Wouk from his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Friedkin noted that the original novel, the 1954 film with Humphrey Bogart, and the Robert Altman-directed 1988 TV adaptation of the play, were all set during World War II, but he decided it "could be a very timely and important piece, as well as being great drama." He added therefore, "I've made it contemporary, involving the Gulf of Hormuz and the Straits of Hormuz, leading to Iran." Production is scheduled to get underway in January.

Following a competitive auction, Sony Pictures has landed rights to an adaptation of the novel, The Registration, by Madison Lawson, with Sydney Sweeney and Brad Fuller producing and Sweeney attached to star. In the book, it's legal to commit one murder in your lifetime if you Register the victim and accomplish the kill within fourteen days. So when Lynell Mize stands in line to Register the man who abused her as a child, she’s shocked to hear a stranger as he Registers her to be killed. Why would anyone who doesn't know her squander his one legal murder on her? Desperate to survive the next two weeks, Lynell soon discovers that multiple strangers have used their Registration on her. Along the way, she reunites with her estranged husband who is determined to dig up a past Lynell prefers to keep buried. With only days left to live, Lynell is determined to uncover the truth and survive a destiny not of her choosing.

Netflix has unveiled a first-look image and announced the release date for director Scott Cooper’s new film, The Pale Blue Eye, starring Christian Bale. The Pale Blue Eye, adapted from the novel by Louis Bayard, is a Gothic thriller set in 1830, where veteran detective Augustus Landor (Bale) investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He is aided by Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), a young cadet at the academy. The film’s all-star ensemble cast also includes Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, Hadley Robinson, Joey Brooks, Brennan Cook, Gideon Glick, Fred Hechinger, and Matt Helm.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Bill Camp will reunite with his American Rust and The Looming Tower co-star Jeff Daniels in A Man in Full, Netflix's limited series from David E. Kelley and Regina King that's based on Tom Wolfe's 1998 novel. The story centers around Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Daniels), who faces sudden bankruptcy as his political and business interests collide and he has to defend his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. Camp will play Harry Zale, known in business circles as "The Workout Artiste," a term to describe the "bootcamps" he puts debtors through. Zale stands between any hope Charlie (Daniels) has of saving his business empire. The cast also includes Diane Lane, William Jackson Harper, Tom Pelphrey, Aml Ameen, Sarah Jones, Jon Michael Hill, and Chanté Adams.

Netflix has revealed the cast and released a first-look image of its upcoming Australian original drama series, Boy Swallows Universe, based on Trent Dalton’s bestselling book. An all-Aussie production, the eight-part limited series stars Travis Fimmel (Vikings), Simon Baker (The Mentalist), and Phoebe Tonkin (H₂O: Just Add Water). The publisher’s synopsis reads: "A lost father, a mute brother, a junkie mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crime [sic] for a babysitter. It’s not as if Eli Bell’s life isn’t complicated enough already. He’s just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to be a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way — not the least of which is Tytus Broz, a legendary Brisbane drug dealer." The cast also includes Felix Cameron, Lee Tiger Halley, Bryan Brown, Anthony LaPaglia, and Sophie Wilde.

French private broadcaster TF1 has picked up the crime thriller series, Syndrome E, the first TV series adapted from the work of international best-selling thriller writer, Franck Thilliez. Distributor Newen Connect also has plans to showcase the series at Unifrance Rendez-Vous, the international sales event for French programs. The series is an edgy dark thriller centered on 45-year-old Franck Sharko, a surly, loner cop haunted by the death of his daughter Eugenie, who appears to him in taunting visions. It’s gotten even worse with his latest investigation, a mysterious case of missing children and a disturbing 1960s movie that spurs people who watch it to commit bizarre and dangerous acts. Detective Lucie Hennebelle is a 35-year-old single mom who joins forces with Sharko after realizing events in her own past could be tied to the case. The two beleaguered inspectors form an electrifying duo as they conduct an investigation that leads them from Morocco to Canada, shedding light on dark and troubling scientific experiments.

LevelK has boarded the Icelandic crime drama, Cold, directed by Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen and based on the bestselling book, The Undesired (Kuldi) by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir. The story centers on Óðinn, living alone with his daughter Rún. As he investigates decades-old deaths at a juvenile treatment center, he begins to suspect that the sinister secrets are connected to his ex-wife’s mysterious suicide as well as his daughter’s strange behavior.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The latest episode of the Crime Cafe podcast featured Debbi Mack's interview with crime writer, Kimberly McCreight, discussing her latest novel, Friends Like These, as well her other books, some of which are being adapted for the screen.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club welcomed Bill and Teresa Peschel. Bill is the Pulitzer-prize winning editor behind annotations of the novels of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, the revivals of three books about Victorian poisoner William Palmer, and eight books of annotated fan fiction about Sherlock Holmes, including short stories about Mark Twain’s encounters with Holmes, Watson, Mycroft, and Irene Adler. He's also co-owner of Peschel Press with his wife, Teresa (who also writes science fiction under the pen name, Odessa Moon).

My Favorite Detective Stories chatted with Matt Cost, a former owner of a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, as well as serving as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he turned his hand to writing mysteries, including the Mainely Mystery series and Port Essex series, and his latest novel, Love in a Time of Hate.

The latest Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured author collaborators Michael Bracken and Sandra Murphy and their story, "Sit. Stay. Die."

On Queer Writers of Crime, authors Rob Osler, Brad Shreve, Dea Poirier, and Neil Plakcy recommended novels they think you will love.

Crime Time FM hosts, Victoria Selman and Paul Burke, chatted with Bloody Scotland Festival Director Bob McDevitt and Scottish crime writers, Sarah Smith (Hear No Evil) and Abir Mukherjee (the Wyndham and Banerjee series), about what makes Bloody Scotland so special; the McIlvanney Prize and Scottish Debut Novel Awards; and what it takes to put on a successful hybrid festival.

The latest episode of The Red Hot Chili Writers featured Rev. Richard Coles, former rock star and vicar turned crime author, who discussed his novel, Murder at Evensong; St. Guinefort the greyhound; and the meaning of modern faith.

NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday "Books We Love" feature asked staff members to choose some of their favorite mysteries and thrillers.

THEATRE

Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, Murder on the Orient Express, arrives at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, from now through October 23. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The next morning, an American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed, his door locked from the inside. Isolated with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on famed detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer before they strike again.

Chicago's Idle Muse Theatre Company will perform The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, from September 22 through October 23. The new adaptation by Michael Dalberg uses a gender twist: Dr. Henri Jekyll (Brandi Jiminez Lee) struggles to endure in Victorian England, but finds the cards heavily stacked against her: with her father gone and professional prospects sabotaged, she finds herself isolated and trapped. Forced to look inward for reprieve, she manifests her own savior in Mr. Edward Hyde (Jack Sharkey) but finds the road to salvation is paved with ruin.

Miss Holmes Returns is being staged at the Lifeline Theatre in Chicago through October 16. In another gender-bending take, Miss Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson are back on the case. After a string of successes in assisting Scotland Yard, a seemingly clear-cut murder case finds itself at the detective’s feet. The powers that be know for certain the murderer was a young woman of immigrant heritage, but Holmes and Watson aren’t as sure. Can they find the truth before the authorities catch and convict their suspect?

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Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Exeunt Murderers

Author, editor, and reviewer Anthony Boucher (1911-1968) seemed headed into the sciences until he was bitten by the literature bug, selling his first story when he was 15, "Ye Goode Olde Ghoste Stories," published in Weird Tales in January 1927. He would later add that in retrospect the story was so bad, the editor must have had a "sadistic grudge against the readers."



After his college career, he turned his hand to detective fiction in 1937, with a standalone followed by one series with amateur criminologist Fergus O'Breen and the other Sister Ursula of the Order of Martha of Bethany (published under the pen name H.H. Holmes). Although a moderate success as a novelist, he found his true calling when he started reviewing mysteries and science fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle (another node of connection with this year's conference), followed by editing anthologies and translating other books. He landed a job as the regular mystery fiction critic for the New York Times in 1951, a job he held for close to 17 years.



His contributions to the genre didn't end there—he was a founding member of the Mystery Writers of America, a charter member of the Baker Street Irregulars in San Francisco and wrote scripts for Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen radio programs, co-edited the True Crime Detective magazine, wrote a monthly review column for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and created a regular mystery-review show for the public radio station KPFA.



His dozens of short stories reflect his multi-faceted interests outside literature, with one of the editors to the Boucher collection Exeunt Murderers, Francis M. Nevins, Jr., adding that Boucher wrote mysteries delving into "religion, opera, football, politics, movies, true crime, record collecting and an abundance of good food and wine along with clues and puzzles and detection." (Nevin's co-editor for this collection was the prolific Martin H. Greenberg.)



Many Boucher stories pivot around talented and brilliant amateur sleuths, although the first third of Exeunt consists of nine stories featuring former police Lieutenant Nick Noble, once a rising star in the force until he took the rap for a bad cop. The second part is a series of Sister Ursula stories grouped under the title "Conundrums for the Cloister." Although technically an amateur, Sister Ursula is the daughter of a police chief who'd once planned on entering the field herself until poor health changed her plans. These stories mirror Boucher's own life in two ways—he was a devout Catholic who also struggled with poor health his entire life, ultimately dying of lung cancer at the age of 57. Part Three of Exunt is "Jeux de Meurtre," narrated by both cops and amateurs, and in one case, the murderer.



These are thoroughly enjoyable stories, and it's almost a shame that he spent so much of his time on other projects (in a poll in 1981, Boucher's novel Nine Times Nine was voted in the top ten "best locked room mysteries" of all time). But it is that very legacy of support to the crime fiction community that his namesake annual Bouchercon convention celebrates, and so we'll just have to be content with the body of work we have from someone who managed to pack more into a half-century than most people do with decades more.