Opening Salvos from James W. Ziskin

Creating mood through setting is important in crime fiction. Can you give examples from books that have inspired or moved you? Also, please share an evocative paragraph from your own work and tell us how you came to write it.

Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy series has some of the most compelling openings I’ve ever read. They’re visual, gritty, and poetic. The writing is beautiful, and I confess to being envious. I love all seven of the Sean Duffy books, set in 1980s Belfast and Carrickfergus in North...