The CWA Dagger award shortlists are out of the bag

Sarah on Confessions has a nice summary of the nominees. Zoe Sharp has posted to DorothyL longer descriptions of the nominees and who the judges are etc so I'll start with the one I'm most interested in:

DUNCAN LAWRIE INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
£5000 prize money for the author and £1000 for the translator, sponsored by Duncan Lawrie Private Bank For crime, thriller, suspense novels or spy fiction which have been translated into English from their original language, for UK publication.

Karin Alvtegen (Sweden) - SHAME - Canongate
translated by Steven T. Murray
Judges' comments: ‘A clever psychological study of a small group of people brought together by shared experiences of abuse which they must now, finally, confront.’

Christian Jungersen (Denmark) - THE EXCEPTION - Weidenfeld & Nicolson
translated by Anna Paterson
Judges' comments: ‘Something completely out of the ordinary: a thought-provoking novel in which workers in a centre monitoring human rights abuses slide into bullying office politics.’

Yasmina Khadra (Algeria) - THE ATTACK - William Heinemann
translated by John Cullen
Judges’ comments: ‘A harrowing psychological novel which explores the motivations of a suicide bomber, and lifts the conventions of the whydunnit.’

Åsa Larsson (Sweden) - THE SAVAGE ALTAR - Viking
translated by Marlaine Delargy
Judges' comment: ‘A fine sense of Northern Sweden with a story of mayhem in a small religious community.’

Jo Nesbø (Norway) - THE REDBREAST - Harvill Secker
translated by Don Bartlett
Judges' comments: ‘Secrets from Norway’s discreditable wartime past resurface when a lone terrorist threatens an assassination.’

Fred Vargas (France) - WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND - Harvill Secker
translated by Sîan Reynolds
Judges' comments: ‘A stylish return to the shortlist for last year’s inventive winner with another unconventional police procedural.’

Judging Panel:
Adrian Muller (non-voting Chair) - freelance journalist and an events organiser specialising in crime fiction
Peter Guttridge - crime writer and the crime fiction reviewer for the Observer
Ruth Morse - has written about post-colonial crime fiction, and is a reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement
Susanna Yager - the crime fiction reviewer for The Sunday Telegraph

Well I've only read the Nesbo and Vargas so far...but I've got some of the others in the tbr. NB. Khadra was also on last year's shortlist.

Peter James on Radio 4

On last Monday's Front Row:

Mark Lawson's guest is best-selling crime writer Peter James - who balances writing with working in film and television - he was the producer of the Al Pacino film version of The Merchant of Venice and creator of the Channel 4 series Bedsitcom. As his new book Not Dead Enough is published - Peter James discusses how he came up with the character of Roy Grace - a Brighton based Detective Superintendent whose wife has gone missing.

Listen again here until next Monday.

You can also read Maxine Clarke's review for Euro Crime, of Not Dead Enough.

Jack (Parlabane)'s back

Out on 2 August, this will be the fifth in Christopher Brookmyre's Jack Parlabane series after a three year gap:

Do you believe in ghosts? Do we really live on in some conscious form after we die, and is that form capable of communicating with the world of the living? Aye, right. That was Jack Parlabane's stance on the matter, anyway. But this was before he found himself in the more compromising position of being not only dead himself, but worse: dead with an exclusive still to file. From his position on high, Parlabane relates the events leading up to his demise, largely concerning the efforts of charismatic psychic Gabriel Lafayette to reconcile the scientific with the spiritual by submitting to controlled laboratory tests. Parlabane is brought in as an observer, due to his capacities as both a sceptic and an expert on deception, but he soon finds his certainties crumbling and his assumptions turned upside down as he encounters phenomena for which he can deduce no rational explanation. Perhaps, in a world in which he can find himself elected rector of an esteemed Scottish university, anything truly is possible. One thing he knows for certain, however: Death is not the end ? it's the ultimate undercover assignment.

The Laughing Policeman

Reading matters has drawn my attention to 'Toby Litt's Cult Choice' which this month is 'The Laughing Policeman' by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. The article begins thus:

Wife and husband Maj Sjowall (1935-) and Per Wahloo (1926-1975) decided that together they would write ten crime novels, and together – over the next ten years – they wrote ten crime novels.

These were constructed with the openly Marxist intention of using the crime novel as 'a scalpel cutting open the belly of an ideologically pauperized and morally debatable so-called welfare state of the bourgeois type'.

Continue reading the article here

I've got 'Roseanna' and 'The Man Who Went Up in Smoke' in my TBR and one day I'll get to them...

Kate Ellis news

From Kate Ellis' website

NEW SERIES!

Kate is delighted to announce that she is writing a new series of crime novels (published by Piatkus) featuring Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet who operates in the picturesque and historic northern city of Eborby - a thinly disguised York (don't worry, Wesley fans - he is still going to carry on fighting crime in Tradmouth) The first book in the series is entitled 'Seeking the Dead' and is to be published in August 2008.

The twelth Wesley Peterson, 'The Blood Pit' is to be published in March 2008.

More New Tricks

Digital Spy reports that:

A fifth series of BBC One drama New Tricks has been given the go ahead following a successful fourth series, which peaked at 8.8 million viewers.

The show, made by Wall To Wall Television, has seen its audience increase week on week, and took a 38.5% audience share on its highest-rated episode.

Starring Amanda Redman, Dennis Waterman, Alun Armstrong and James Bolam, the new eight-part series will begin filming in London later this year.

Apparently the co-creator is Nigel McCrery of Silent Witness fame...

Eddie Muller in Italy

From yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle:

When my colleague Anita Monga learned that the Czar of Noir and his wife were taking a much-needed vacation in Italy, she said, "Good, you need a break -- and Italy is the least noirish place on earth." My vacation reading proved otherwise.

Muller then goes on to review 'Suffer the Little Children' by Donna Leon and also interview the author, who explains her decision to to be published in Italy.

He then moves on to Massimo Carlotto, explaining about the notorious miscarriage of justice surrounding him and what happened afterwards:

Immediately, Carlotto began transforming his life story into a series of hardboiled crime novels that feature a world-view of the most cynical and pessimistic variety. Fortunately, the books aren't bitter, and Carlotto has a lean and rock-hard style that is comparable to the best of Hammett and Cain. "The Colombian Mule" and "The Master of Knots" are terrific reads, but the depth of the philosophical undercurrent raises them to the level of art.

In the UK Orion have published the only two Alligator books translated - The Columbian Mule and The Master of Knots - and in the US Europa Editions have brought out The Goodbye Kiss and Death's Dark Abyss.

Read the whole article here.

New Reviews and June competition details

Latest Reviews:

This week's new reviews on Euro Crime are; Mike Ripley's May crime file where he reviews 'Absent Light' by Eve Isherwood, 'Mistress of the Art of Death' by Ariana Franklin, 'Hard Man' by Alan Guthrie and 'Donkey Punch' by Ray Banks; Maxine Clarke doesn't find the plot too taxing in Not Dead Enough by Peter James but is still addicted to the series; Pat Austin was enthralled by The Reckoning by Sue Walker and I review the audio version of the last entry in the award winning Nell Bray series from Gillian Linscott - which came out a few years ago - Blood on the Wood.


June's competitions:

Win one of five signed copies of 'The Chemistry of Death' by Simon Beckett (UK & Europe only)

Win one of six copies of 'The House of Shadows' by The Medieval Murderers

Win one of five copies of 'How to Kill' by Kris Hollington (non-fiction)

Win one of three copies of the R2 DVD of Romanzo Criminale (UK & Ireland residents only)

Win one of five copies of the R1 DVD of Missing (US residents only)

(geographical restrictions are in brackets)


The other updates to the website, can be found here.

Interview with Ken Bruen

Over on the Mystery Readers International website, the latest of their 'at home online' interviews is Reed Farrel Coleman interviewing Ken Bruen.

Here's a snippet:

RFC: How do you determine that a series has run its course? Can you envision a series that could go on indefinitely that would still be fresh?

KB: Well, that's a tough one, my own 2 series, Brant, the very last one is AMMUNITION, OUT IN JULY FROM SMP and Jack Taylor, I'm working on no 7......... also the end......... I want them to end on a blast and a What if.

John Sandford, Larry Gough seem to be able to keep their series up to 17, 18, etc......... me, I'D GO MAD

Winners of May's competitions on Euro Crime

Here are the winners of May's Euro Crime competitions (and the correct answers):

1. Not Dead Enough by Peter James

The Roy Grace series is associated with which of the following places:
a) Brighton

Winners:

Teresa Butler
George Grieve

2. Severed by Simon Kernick

What was Simon Kernick's first book called:
b) The Business of Dying

Winners:

James Andrews, UK
Bill Barnes, Australia
Jayne Burchfield, USA
Emma Howard, UK
Sherry Sharp, USA

3. Every Breath You Take by Shelia Quigley

Which of the following authors, also has a series of books set in the North East of England:
c) Martyn Waites

Winners:

Allison Fradgley
Kim Holgate
Lucy Irving
Stuart Smale
Wendy Spridgeon

4. Proof DVDs

Winners:

Karen P Barnett, MN
Fran Chennells, OH
Jean Ells, NC
Sarah Kennedy, IL
Desmond Warzel, OH

Enter this month's competitions here.

June's competitions on Euro Crime

The new competitions are up - a bit varied this month with two crime fiction books, a non fiction book about the history of the assassin plus two DVD competitions - one for UK & Ireland residents, the other for US residents.

I haven't yet run the random number generator to select the winners of May's competitions but it won't be too long, watch this space.

The competitions are open until the end of June. Please check the geographical restrictions. Enter here!

ITW Webzine Issue 4

The International Thriller Writers fourth webzine has just gone online and in the News section of the ITW website, you can watch a slick two minute trailer for Alex Scarrow's A Thousand Suns.

Robert Hale website

The publishers Robert Hale, have spiced up their website and you can look through their hundred or so crime titles and sign up for a monthly newsletter. They've also got their own MySpace page!

As well as British crime authors like Seth Garner and Christine Poulson, Robert Hale have a good range of American authors and I'm so grateful that they publish the late Barbara Seranella's books.

K O Dahl update

I emailed Faber and Faber with my review of K O Dahl's The Fourth Man and enquired in passing as to whether they planned to translate any more. I'm pleased to report that two more are in the pipeline beginning with 'The Man in the Window' next March. Using my trusty online Norwegian-English translator and poring over K O Dahl's website, I make this the third in the Gunnarstranda and Frolich series whereas 'The Fourth Man' is the fifth...

Radio 4 - Front Row

On yesterday's Front Row amongst other arts news, including a portion on the follow up to The Graduate, Colin Bateman talks about why he's just Bateman on the cover now.

and in today's Front Row (19.15-19.45):

"...Mark reports on Dali & Film, a major exhibition which focuses on the long relationship between the controversial surrealist and the cinema. Mark also discusses the events surrounding the sudden death of Pope John Paul I with Roger Crane, writer of a new play called The Last Confession, and David Suchet, who takes the role of Cardinal Benelli."

This play is currently touring, see my earlier post.

UK based reviewers wanted!!

The Euro Crime band of reviewers doing sterling work over on the reviews page on the website could do with some help as the requests for reviews are coming thick and fast via email and the letter box. So if you're in the UK and fancy reviewing the occasional (or more!) book, do pop over to the website, have a look round and drop me an email. (NB. Euro Crime just covers British and European crime fiction.)

Last reviews of May and competition reminder

Latest Reviews:

This week's new reviews on Euro Crime; Carla McKay's May column includes reviews of 'The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction' by Barry Forshaw, 'Season of the Witch' by Natasha Mostert, 'The 50/50 Killer' by Steve Mosby, 'The Lying Tongue' by Andrew Wilson and 'The Unquiet' by John Connolly; it took me a while to get into, but I did enjoy K O Dahl's The Fourth Man, set in a wintry Oslo; Pat Austin reviews another book written by a Brit but set in the US, Michael Marshall's The Intruders, which has a touch of the woo-woo about it apparently and Maxine Clarke wished that The Sky Blue Parcel by John Nightingale had been edited down to its potential.

A final reminder of May's competitions:

Win one of two copies of 'Not Dead Enough' by Peter James*

Win one of five copies of 'Severed' by Simon Kernick

Win one of five copies of 'Every Breath You Take' by Sheila Quigley*

Win 5 sets of 'Proof: Prescription for Murder' and the box-set of Season One of 'Proof' on DVD (R1) (US residents only)

* UK & Europe only.

News page updated on Euro Crime

I've updated the News page on Euro Crime with links to reviews and articles from the last couple of weeks, in the UK papers.

New reviews will follow later today.

Agatha Raisin books special offer

The Book People are offering the first ten titles in the Agatha Raisin series for £9.99 (plus P & P). I just wish I hadn't already read them!

Go to the offer here and do visit the Euro Crime bibliography page for M C Beaton and read the reviews.

The new Sister Pelagia novel

An email from Orion has kindly reminded me that the new book from Boris Akunin has recently come out - Pelagia and the Black Monk, the second in the Sister Pelagia series.

Synopsis:
"Just as the dust from the case of the White Bulldog begins to settle in the small Russian town of Zavolzhsk, it is shaken up once again by the arrival of a stranger: this time, a desperately frightened monk from the island monastery of New Ararat, who seeks the help of the bishop, Mitrofanii. The monks have been troubled by visions of a dark, hooded figure: a figure that appears to walk on the waters of the vast Blue Lake surrounding their monastery and strikes terror into the hearts of all who encounter it. Sceptical of ghost stories and dismissive of rural superstitions, Mitrofanii dispatches Alexei Lentochkin, his clever young ward, to investigate the mystery, only for Lentochkin himself to appear to fall victim to the phantom. With sightings of the Black Monk occurring with disturbing frequency, and rumours of suspicious deaths reaching his ears, the Bishop decides to send two more of his most trusted advisors, in turn, to New Ararat, but they too meet with unexpected fates. Finally, Sister Pelagia takes matters into her own hands, and, adopting a number of ingenious disguises, she ventures across the Blue Lake in search of answers, and in pursuit of the Black Monk. But as she delves deeper into the layers of secrecy that cloak the island and its strange population, and as the body count continues to rise, Pelagia begins to realise that an encounter with a ghost may be the least of her problems."

If you fancy sampling it, a 30 page PDF extract can be downloaded here.

Short break (from the blog)

The new reviews went up a bit early this week as later today I'm off to the Isle of Wight for a few days. The cats have been rounded up and taken to the cattery where the ladies have fallen for the kitten, currently known as Ginger, pending a better name. 'Morse' was in the running but has fallen out of favour.

After finishing 'Corn Dolls' by Patrick Lennon last night, it took me the usual ages to choose the one book to take on holiday - we're taking the bikes again so luggage/weight restrictions apply - and though I fancied something fairly light(!) I decided to go with 'Calling Out For You' by Karin Fossum, as once I've read that I can go onto the arc of 'Black Seconds' which is out in July. This is the first one of hers I've actually read, as opposed to listen to. I can faintly hear the voice of narrator David Rintoul in my head as I read.

I should be back blogging on Friday night after calming the cats down.

New Reviews & Competition Reminder

Latest Reviews:

This week's new reviews on Euro Crime; Sunnie Gill reviews the eighth in the Charlie Peace series by Robert Barnard, A Fall from Grace, and finds it lacking in the detecting and closure departments; Diana Bane calls Good Night, My Darling by Inger Frimansson, one of her best reads of 2007; Maxine Clarke reviews the newly released paperback of Borkmann's Point by Hakan Nesser and like myself finds the ending a bit disappointing and Terry Halligan praises the psychological thriller All She Ever Wanted by Patrick Redmond.

A reminder of May's competitions:

Win one of two copies of 'Not Dead Enough' by Peter James*

Win one of five copies of 'Severed' by Simon Kernick

Win one of five copies of 'Every Breath You Take' by Sheila Quigley*

Win 5 sets of 'Proof: Prescription for Murder' and the box-set of Season One of 'Proof' on DVD (R1) (US residents only)

* UK & Europe only.

Adamsberg's back in January

I've just seen on amazon.co.uk that the next offering from the 'incomparable' Fred Vargas is 'The Eternal Forest' out in January 2008.

Synopsis:
On the edge of Paris, two men have had their throats cut. Adamsberg's investigation brings him into contract with the pathologist Amane Lagarde, someone he had come up against twenty-five years previously. A new lieutenant appears hostile to him, and what is more, he is from a neighbouring village in the Pyrenees. He helps out Camille by babysitting their son, but fears she may have found someone else. "The Eternal Forest" is the finest novel yet from the wonderful Fred Vargas.

For once, the English title is similar to the original French title - 'Dans les Bois Éternels' (and is mercifully shorter to type than this year's Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand). You can read more about 'The Eternal Forest' (in French) here and you can check out the order of the earlier books and the English/French titles on the Euro Crime website.

Fingers crossed for Guy Ritchie's new film

Guy Ritchie's film career hasn't been too hot of late so let's hope that his next offering, RocknRolla, sees a return to form. According to Empire Movies:

The low-budget project, which Ritchie wrote, is said to be in the same vein as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. In the movie, a Russian mobster orchestrates a crooked land deal, putting millions of dollars up for grabs and attracting all of London's criminal underworld. A dangerous crime lord, a sexy accountant, a corrupt politician and a band of petty thieves are among those double-crossing one another. Casting is currently underway. Shooting is expected to begin this summer.

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year - Longlist Announced!

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year - Longlist

(from the press release)

Dead Place - Stephen Booth
All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses and Eye - Christopher Brookmyre
Death of a Chancellor - David Dickinson
Never Go Back - Robert Goddard
Two Way Split - Allan Guthrie
Little Face - Sophie Hannah
Ash & Bone - John Harvey
The Stranger House - Reginald Hill
The Pure in Heart - Susan Hill
Blood and Honey - Graham Hurley
The Lighthouse - PD James
The Death Ship of Dartmouth - Michael Jecks
Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride
The Excursion Train - Edward Marston
Ratcatcher - James McGee
After the Armistice Ball - Catriona McPherson
Dance With Death - Barbara Nadel
Jacquot and the Angel - Martin O'Brien
End in Tears - Ruth Rendell
Mr Clarinet - Nick Stone

Won by Mark Billingham in 2005 and Val McDermid in 2006, the award longlist once again features an eclectic mix of big names such as PD James and Ruth Rendell as well as aspiring new writers, spanning crime novels across the genre, from historical and police procedural to psychological. Look out for profiles on all books in the coming weeks but if you've already decided your favourite - don't forget to vote now!

this year's new Dick Francis book

I was web browsing on Tuesday night trying to find out if there was a new Dick Francis novel out this year. I found it on both Amazons - Dead Heat out in September, co-written with son Felix - but so far I've not found anything more about it other than a reference to it in on a racing page.

New Tricks - Series 3 on DVD

Series 3 of New Tricks was released on DVD on Monday. The current online price is around £15. This series, like Waking the Dead, looks at cold cases but this time the investigators are retired policeman. The cast includes James Bolam and Dennis Waterman.

The fourth series is currently showing on BBC1 on Monday evenings.

Find out more about the show on the BBC's website.

Publishing Deal

From Publishers Lunch:

One-time muse to fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, Sara Stockbridge's HAMMER, set in 1880s Whitechapel, the story of a matriarch and jewel thief, who is forced to go on the run when an early crime finally catches up with her, to Jill Bialosky at Norton, in a two-book deal, by Jane Gelfman at Gelfman Schneider, and to Clara Farmer at Chatto & Windus, by Vivienne Schuster at Curtis Brown. Translation rights are represented by Curtis Brown UK.

Looking up Sara Stockbridge in Wikipedia it seems she's a model and actress as well as a writer.

Dalziel and Pascoe (tv show)

I've been remiss is mentioning that the eleventh(?) tv series of Dalziel and Pascoe briefly returned to our screens. The two parter, Demons on our Shoulders, was screened on the 6th and 13th May.

I'm half way through watching George Gently which was shown last month so when I'll get to this Dalziel and Pascoe, who knows!

The latest book by Dalziel and Pascoe creator, Reginald Hill, was reviewed recently on Euro Crime.

Damian Lewis to star in 'Life'

Digital Spy have rounded up the new shows from NBC:

New dramas for 2007-08 on the NBC schedule are Journeyman, a new Monday night series which NBC's Reilly said received some of the highest scores in internal testing the network has seen "in years"; Chuck, a comedic spy-thriller from The O.C.'s Josh Schwartz; Bionic Woman, a remake of the classic 1970s series starring ex-EastEnder Michelle Ryan; Life, a new crime drama starring Damian Lewis as a "complex" and "offbeat" detective; and Lipstick Jungle, a dramedy following the story of fashion magazine editor Nico, played by 24's Kim Raver.

Hollywood Reporter noted back in December:

Damian Lewis has been tapped to play the lead on NBC's drama pilot "Life."

Sarah Shahi also has been cast in the project, from writer/executive producer Rand Ravich and NBC Universal TV Studio.

"Life" is a quirky drama about a former cop (Lewis) who rejoins the force after having spent years wrongly imprisoned. Shahi will play his partner with a checkered past.

David Semel is directing the pilot and is executive producing with Ravich and Far Shariat.

The Damian Lewis website has even more about the series including a photo of the actor in uniform.

Lewis joins the list of British actors playing American characters on tv, he's already used the accent in Band of Brothers and the (dreadful) film Dreamcatcher.

Ian Rankin's Serial Novel

Ian Rankin's serial novel, 'Doors Open' begins today in the New York Times. (NYT registration is free). You can also listen to Ian Rankin reading the first chapter.

A collated and expanded version of 'Doors Open' will be published in October 2008 - from The Evening News in March:

"But for Rankin fans, there will be a novel published in 2008. "In January, I wrote a novella about a heist in Edinburgh for the New York Times - I wanted to call it Ocean's Terminal 11 - but they didn't see the joke. It was great fun - a new character, lighter crime. Luckily this novella can be published in the UK next year so I'll flesh it out and publish it then."

New reviews, Updates and Competition reminder

Latest Reviews:

This week's new reviews on Euro Crime; Maxine Clarke now knows what all the fuss about Andrea Camilleri is after reading The Shape of Water; Geoff Jones continues his appreciation of Natasha Cooper's Trish Maguire series as he reviews her eighth outing in A Greater Evil; Yvonne Klein is charmed by the sternly named Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie (the UK edition title is the more friendly 'Medicus and the Disappearing Dancing Girls') and I was amused and entertained by The Last Resort by Carmen Posadas.

Other Updates:

The Authors (561 homepages) page has been updated.

The New Releases pages have been updated.

In Books there are now bibliographies for 1089 authors. I've added bibliographies for the following: Simon Buck, John Galvin and Serena Mackesy and updated the bibliographies for: Pauline Bell, Barbara Cleverly, Carol Anne Davis, David Dickinson, Bill James, Claire Lorrimer, Pat McIntosh and R T Raichev.

May's competitions:

Win one of two copies of 'Not Dead Enough' by Peter James*

Win one of five copies of 'Severed' by Simon Kernick

Win one of five copies of 'Every Breath You Take' by Sheila Quigley*

Win 5 sets of 'Proof: Prescription for Murder' and the box-set of Season One of 'Proof' on DVD (R1) (US residents only)

* UK & Europe only.

Euro Crime 'news' page updated

The News page on the website has been updated with links to the last ten days worth of (euro) crime fiction related headlines in the UK papers.

John Harvey gets his Dagger

Yesterday I received the following press release:

JOHN HARVEY AWARDED 2007 CWA CARTIER DIAMOND DAGGER

Veteran British crime writer John Harvey has been awarded the 2007 Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger. The award was presented by M. Arnaud Bamberger, Managing Director of Cartier UK, at a ceremony which took place at the Savoy Hotel on May 9th.

The CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger is awarded for sustained excellence in the genre of crime writing, with the recipient being selected by crime writers on the CWA Committee. John joins an illustrious list of previous winners, including PD James, Ruth Rendell, John Le Carré, Ed McBain, Elmore Leonard, Dick Francis, Colin Dexter and Ian Rankin.

Robert Richardson, former Chair of the CWA, said ‘John Harvey continues a line that began in 1985 with the great Eric Ambler, and is another glittering name among winners of the Cartier Diamond Dagger, representing the very best of crime writing both in Britain and America. The Crime Writers’ Association, in whose gift the Dagger is, has again recognised an outstanding talent.’

John Harvey said ‘It is obviously a great honour to accept this award, particularly as it comes from my fellow writers. I had been dreaming of retirement, and a small holding in Cornwall, but I fear this award might serve to delay that move for that much longer.’

JOHN HARVEY has been described as ‘one of the masters of British crime fiction’ by the Sunday Telegraph, and ‘one of the leading writers of crime fiction alive today’ by Le Monde. He was born in 1938 in north London, where, after several lengthy sojourns in Nottingham, he continues to live. Like many successful writers, he learned his trade writing pulp fiction – including many westerns. He has close to one hundred published titles to his credit and his latest, Gone to Ground was published by William Heinemann in February 2007.

Ash and Bone by John Harvey has been long-listed for the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel Of The Year 2007. Short-listed titles will be decided by a public vote, via voting forms available in stores and online at www.waterstones.com

The last paragraph is of particular interest as I haven't seen any mention before to this year's Crime Novel of the Year and wasn't sure it was actually going ahead given it was driven by Ottakars. Looks like it is though.

OT: Feline Acquisition

We found this little fellow in a country lane yesterday as we were out cycling. Having checked at the infrequent houses nearby and later with the vets, it seems nobody is missing him. We conclude, that sadly, he's been abandoned. He's housetrained, rather vocal and about 3 months old. We're currently fostering him but I imagine he'll be added to our existing complement of four mature cats :-). Currently un-named, here are some bad photos of this little cutie:

Lovereading's top ten downloads (last week)

I'm pleased to see UK crime writers, Ariana Franklin, Simon Kernick and Mark Billingham at nos 2, 4 and 8 respectively:

Last Week's Lovereading.co.uk Top Ten Downloads
------------------------------------------------------------
1. The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris
2. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
3. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
4. Relentless by Simon Kernick
5. Four Play by Fiona Walker
6. More Than Love Letters by Rosy Thornton
7. When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson
8. Buried by Mark Billingham
9. The Hat Shop on the Corner by Marita Conlon-McKenna
10. Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk

From http://www.booktrade.info/bestsellers/

Competition for an Anne Perry book (on her website)

Stumbling around on the web as you do, I came across a competition on Anne Perry's website. You have to identify the source of the passage quoted to be in with a chance of winning the book it came from.

It appears to be open to all, six copies up for grabs and closing date is 31st May.

Click here to view all the details.

Anne Perry's bibliography can be found on this page of the Euro Crime website.

Publishing Deal

Joining Fiona Mountain in using a genealogist as sleuth:

Dan Waddell's THE BLOOD DETECTIVE, the first in a new mystery series featuring a genealogist as part of the investigative team of a series of murders in London, linked to a another set of murders committed more than 100 year prior, and BLOOD ATONEMENT, to Daniela Rapp at Minotaur.

According to the Guardian's mini profile - "Dan Waddell is the author of Who Do You Think You Are?, the book accompanying the BBC TV series of the same name. His crime novel about genealogy is to be published by Penguin."

Romanzo Criminale on DVD

Those of us who missed this Italian crime film on its limited release last autumn can now buy/rent the DVD which came out yesterday.

Full details of the film can be found on my earlier post.

New Reviews & May competition details

A bit early this week as I'm away for a few days.

Latest Reviews:

This week's new reviews on Euro Crime are; Mike Ripley's April crime file where he reviews 'Don't Cry For Me Aberystwyth' by Malcolm Pryce, 'Rules, Regs and Rotten Eggs' by H R F Keating, 'A Coin For The Ferryman' by Rosemary Rowe and 'The Poisoner of Ptah' by Paul Doherty; Maxine Clarke has mixed views on Strangers by Carla Banks; Pat Austin explains why she shouldn't like Lee Child's The Hard Way but does and I review the audio version of the Gumshoe award winning When the Devil Holds the Candle by Karin Fossum.


May's competitions:

Win one of two copies of 'Not Dead Enough' by Peter James*

Win one of five copies of 'Severed' by Simon Kernick

Win one of five copies of 'Every Breath You Take' by Sheila Quigley*

Win 5 sets of 'Proof: Prescription for Murder' and the box-set of Season One of 'Proof' on DVD (R1) (US residents only)

* UK & Europe only.

My Lady Judge

'My Lady Judge' by Cora Harrison was released yesterday.
According to Cora Harrison's website it is:

"Introducing a wonderful new heroine, judge and investigator Mara, and an enchanting Tudor mystery series."

PanMacmillan have published an interview, an extract and also a competition to win a copy of the book.

Unshelved Cartoon from Sunday

Regular blog visitors will know I love reading the daily Unshelved cartoon strip. The latest one to make me laugh was Sunday's, called 'The Seven Stages of Falling in Love with an Author'.

I especially identified with 'worry' and 'denial'.

Does anyone else hoard the last few books/last book of their favourite author? I'm almost as bad with tv programmes. I finally watched the last Life on Mars episode the other night but I haven't brought myself to watch the final Stargate episodes (even though there are two tv films being made at the moment).

Books & DVD Competition - this month

I've put up the new competitions for May on the Euro Crime website. There are some geographical restrictions but there is also a special DVD competition for US residents. Some time ago I ran a contest for a box set of Proof, an Irish drama. This month we're giving away five copies of the newly released Proof: Prescription for Murder and throwing in a copy of the original Series 1 box set to go with it.

Go to the competitions page here and good luck!

Best European Crime Novel

In case you missed it, the Gumshoe awards were announced yesterday and the winner of The Best European Crime Novel (published in the US in 2006) is 'When the Devil Holds the Candle' by Karin Fossum.

The full list of nominees and winners is here.

I plan to upload my review of the audio version at the weekend but in the meantime you can listen here to a sample of David Rintoul's narration.

Winners of Euro Crime's April Competitions

Here are the winners of April's Euro Crime competitions (and the correct answers):

1. Strangers by Carla Banks

Carla Banks is a member of which crime writers group:
a) The Ladykillers

Winners:
Gill Abrahams
Caroline Norton
Rachel Tassell


2. Relentless by Simon Kernick

What is Simon Kernick's next book called:
c) Severed

Winners:
Iain Coull
Terry Griffith, USA
Martha Hopkins, USA
Tim Hughes
Amanda Lewis


3. Go to Helena Handbasket by Donna Moore

'Go to Helena Handbasket' won which one of the following awards, earlier this year:
c) The Lefty

Winner:
Claire Woods

4. What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn

'What Was Lost' was recently longlisted for which one of the following:
c) Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction

Winners:
Simon Collinge
Annette Finney
Neil Graham

Enter this month's competitions here.

Minette Walters Event - 11 May, London

I've had an email from the promoter of the event and the talk is likely to include Minette Walters speaking about "how she became interested in murder and violence, where she gets inspiration for her books and why she is intrigued by 'ordinary' characters facing situations of trauma that lead to responses that surprise not only the readers but the characters themselves."

Event details from the Connecting Conversations website:

Friday 11th May 2007 at 7-8.30pm at The Henry Thomas Room, 166-220 Holloway Road, London N7 (nearest tube Holloway Road, Picadilly Line)

Crime Writer Minette Walters talks to Psychoanalyst and Forensic Psychiatrist Cleo Van Velson.

Minette has been described as the Queen of British Crime Fiction and her work has been translated into 26 languages. Her first novel THE ICE HOUSE won the CWA John Creasey Award in 1992, her second THE SCULPTRESS won the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the third THE SCOLD'S BRIDLE the CWA Gold Dagger Award.

Dr Cleo Van Velsen is a Consultant Psychiatrist in Forensic Psychotherapy. She is also an Adult Psychoanalyst. She works fulltime in the NHS being based in a medium secure unit in inner-city London . She is interested in the understanding and treatment of men and women who commit acts of violence. Linked to this is her interest in the way that violence can be understood through film, novels, etc. She is a co-editor of a textbook on Forensic Psychotherapy and contributing editor to the recent Edinburgh International Encyclopaedia of Psychoanalysis.

Bookings Tickets £12/ £6 concessions (inc glass of wine).

Tel 020 7388 8822 or via www.thebloomsbury.com. Booking fee applies.

Minette Walters' next book is 'The Chameleon's Shadow' out in September. A full list of her titles and links to reviews and her website can be found on her Euro Crime bibliography page.

Ridley Scott to direct 'Child 44'.

It's not due out until 2008 but Tom Rob Smith's, 'Child 44', is already set to hit the big screen. 'Child 44' is set in the Soviet Union on the eve of Stalin's death, and based in part on real events. According to cinematical:

Ridley Scott is to direct an adaptation of Child 44, British television writer Tom Rob Smith's debut novel.

Full details of Scott's upcoming projects can be found on the cinematical site.

New Reviews, final April competition reminder

Latest Reviews:

This week's new reviews are; a second review of Cross by Ken Bruen; Sunnie Gill continues to be pleased with her recent discovery of Ann Cleeves as she reviews Hidden Depths; likewise Karen Chisholm is impressed with Stuart MacBride's Broken Skin and Maxine Clarke reviews the paperback of the haunting Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner.

Other Updates:

The News page has been updated with last week's UK newspaper links..

The Authors (now 558 sites) page has been updated.

The New Releases pages have been updated.

In Books there are now bibliographies for 1086 authors - I've added bibliographies for the following: Gerry Byrne, Claude Izner, Ray Loriga, J C Masterman and Jean-Francois Parot and and updated the bibliographies for: Ken Bruen and Lee Child.

a final reminder of the current competitions, which close at the end of the 30th. NB They are open world-wide:

Win one of three copies of 'Strangers' by Carla Banks

Win one of five copies of 'Relentless' by Simon Kernick

Win a copy of 'Go to Helena Handbasket' by Donna Moore

Win one of three copies of 'What Was Lost' by Catherine O'Flynn

The Oscar Wilde Murders

The Scotsman has an interview with Gyles Brandreth who has just had published, 'Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders'. The interview explains his connection to Oscar Wilde, how he came to write the book and the fact that he intends nine volumes:

There will be nine books in the series Brandreth is planning to write about Wilde, and if they're all as enjoyable as his first, they'll all be surefire best-sellers.

Why? Because although he takes some liberties with Wilde - most obviously by turning him into an equally observant, if even more flamboyant, version of Sherlock Holmes - he doesn't take too many. The master's vintage Champagne wit still sparkles, even when mixed with the more modest Cava of Brandreth's own dialogue. That sumptuous solidity of late Victorian London is conjured up with fabulous effortlessness. The plot races along like a carriage pulled by thoroughbreds, with Oscar at the murder scene - a 16-year-old rentboy, his throat cut from ear to ear - within the space of three paragraphs.

Jeu d'esprit it may be, but the idea has substantial foundations in fact. Introducing Arthur Conan Doyle to the plot might seem far-fetched, but it is not: he and Wilde were friends, and met on several occasions. In Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders, Wilde has his own version of the "Baker Street irregulars" - the street urchins who often provided the clues that helped Holmes crack his cases - in the network of rentboys, waiters and doormen whom Wilde tipped with legendary generosity. So far, so enjoyably plausible.

Tom Cain and The Accident Man

Book2Book interview 'Tom Cain' about his sure to be controversial book, 'The Accident Man'.

What's The Accident Man about?

I'm trying to write a story based on a premise, which the whole world understands. The concept is that the hero is the man who killed Princess Diana - how can her killer be a hero?

It's about a man who finds himself unwittingly in a position to do something appalling and then discovers that people are out to get him, but he doesn't know for a while what he has done.

Did you time its publication with the 10-year anniversary of the Princess of Wales's death?

If I could have got the book out sooner I would have done. I had the idea nearly three years ago but I couldn't make it – to make the hero and get the tone of voice and make it work. A year ago all I had to show the publisher was 30,000 words.

The book kicks off after the death of Diana but you barely mention her name...

I don't need to tell the reader who is in the car because you know. I wanted to make it perfectly clear that it is a fictional universe; the book is entirely hypothetical.

There is something grubby about trying to put words into real people's mouths. It is very important people don't think it's an exploitative story. Essentially the only characters named are fictional, which freed me as a writer. Otherwise it would be too close to comfort. Millions of people have speculated and this is a fresh spin.

Read the rest of the interview here.

For once Amazon recommends - gets it right

I was very impressed by 'The Prone Gunman', reviewed here on Euro Crime and I am looking forward to reading Michael Walters' Mongolian series of which, 'The Shadow Walker', is the first. So I was stunned when amazon.co.uk, read my mind, sort of:

Greetings from Amazon.co.uk
We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in "Prone Gunman" by Jean-Patrick Manchette have also ordered "The Shadow Walker" by Michael Walters. For this reason, you might like to know that this book will be released on 3 May 2007.

You can read more about Michael Walters and 'The Shadow Walker' on his new(ish) website. He is published by Quercus and you can see from this list of new Autumn titles that the second in the series, 'The Adversary', will be out in October.

The Janissary Tree wins an Edgar

Congratulations to Jason Goodwin for his Edgar win for 'Best Novel'. The full list of nominees and awards can be found here.

The sequel to 'The Janissary Tree', 'The Snake Stone', will be in the US in June and the UK in July.

'The Janissary Tree' was one of three recent historical crime novels published by Faber. See my earlier post.

Also, everyone's favourite tv programme - Life on Mars - won an Edgar for 'Best Television Episode Teleplay' for its first episode.

David Suchet in The Last Confession

David Suchet is taking time away from Poirot to play another sort of detective, this time on the stage. He will play Cardinal Benelli in 'The Last Confession' which is about the death of Pope John Paul I.

The Vatican 1978: a little-known Cardinal from Venice is elected to succeed Pope Paul VI. A compromise candidate, he takes the name Pope John Paul I, and quickly shows himself to be the liberal the reactionaries within the Catholic Church most feared.

Just thirty-three days later, he is dead. No official investigation is conducted, no autopsy is performed, and the Vatican’s press release about the cause of death is later found to be, in large part, false. And just the evening before his death, John Paul had warned three of his most influential but hostile Cardinals that they would be replaced.

His death marks the climax of fifteen troubled years of controversy and machination within the Church; schisms threaten its unity and the shadow of the Mafia hovers over its financial affairs. Only Cardinal Benelli has the power to challenge the dead Pope's enemies.

This incisive new thriller tracks the dramatic tensions, crises of faith and political manoeuvrings inside the Vatican surrounding the death of the man known as ‘the Smiling Pope’.

I can't find a complete tour listing but 'The Last Confession' will be on at the following: Chichester 27 April - 19 May, Malvern 11 - 16 June, Milton Keynes 18 - 23 June and Plymouth 29 May - 2 June.

Wikipedia has a page on conspiracy theories about Pope Jean Paul I.

The Return - Hakan Nesser

I'm currently reading a proof copy of the UK edition of 'The Return' which is due out next month. The US edition came out in March.

On the Random House website you can read an extract from Chapter One.

If you live on the West Coast of the US you night like to check out Hakan Nesser's tour schedule which has four events in CA and one in Seattle.

'The Return' is the third in the Van Veeteren series following on from last year's CWA International Dagger nominee, 'Borkmann's Point'.

Forthcoming Quercus Titles

I picked up Quercus' Autumn catalogue at the LBF and some of the highlights by British authors include:

July

Elena Forbes - Die With Me (see this post)

Aug

Philip Kerr - The One From the Other (previously published in the US, the fourth in the Bernie Gunther series)

Sep

Nigel McCrery - Still Waters (author of the Sam Ryan/Silent Witness books, this is the first in a new series)

Oct

Phil Rickman - The Fabric of Sin (next in the Merrily Watkins series)

Michael Walters - The Adversary (follow-up to 'The Shadow Walker', set in Mongolia)

Dec

Colin Cotterill - Thirty-Three Teeth (previously published in the US, second in this series set in Laos. 'The Coroner's Lunch' is out in June.)

Not forgetting new titles from Australian authors - Peter Temple, Matt Rubinstein and Adrian Hyland.

Gallic Books redux

Following on from my earlier post, The Rap Sheet wonders if Gallic Books will distribute their books in the US. I commented there and it's worth repeating here that http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/ offer free delivery to anywhere in the world. I haven't used them myself (yet) but I've had good feedback from a number of successful purchasers.

More French authors, whose books have been translated into English, can be found on the Euro Crime website.

Listen to Ian Rankin

Thanks to posters on the DorothyL list, who have alerted me to the fact that you can listen to an interview with Ian Rankin and read an excerpt from 'The Naming of the Dead' on the National Public Radio website.

[Read Sunnie Gill's review of The Naming of the Dead on Euro Crime.]

Donna Leon website

An email from Random House has pointed me to Donna Leon's UK website. It's not huge and they only list the books published by Random House eg Acqua Alta isn't on there as it was published by Macmillan.

There is a map under 'Donna's Venice' and you can zoom in and click to read excerpts from her books.

There is another website here, which has alternative information including a tour schedule for the US in June.

Gallic Books

I've just read about this new publisher on Susan Hill's blog. Gallic Books is bringing 'the best of French into English'.

From their website:

Gallic Books is a new publishing house dedicated to bringing contemporary French authors to the UK market.

At Gallic we feel there’s a lot of good French writing that deserves a British audience and our aim is to showcase the best.

Our launch list focuses on best-selling historical crime, a very popular genre on both sides of the Channel. The first two titles appearing in May 2007 are "The Chatelet Apprentice" by Jean-François Parot and "Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner. Further crime and mystery follow in the autumn and early next year.

Gallic Books was founded by Managing Director, Jane Aitken, working with Editorial Director, Pilar Webb. Colleagues for many years at Random House UK, they are both committed francophiles.

The following two titles are out on the 15th May:

The brand-new Eiffel Tower is the glory of the 1889 Universal Exposition. But one day a woman collapses and dies on its second floor. Can a bee-sting really be the cause of death? Enter young bookseller, Victor Legris, who is determined to find out what really happened.

Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters, both booksellers on the banks of the Seine, who are experts on nineteenth-century Paris.


Paris, February 1761. A police officer disappears and Nicolas Le Floch, a young Breton police recruit, is instructed to find him. When unidentified human remains are found it becomes a murder investigation. As Paris descends into Carnival debauchery it is Le Floch’s skill, courage and integrity that will help him unravel a mystery which threatens to implicate the highest in the land.

Jean-François Parot is a diplomat and historian who lives in the Loire. The Châtelet Apprentice is his first novel, and the first in a series of Nicolas Le Floch mysteries which have been published to much acclaim in French.

Roberta Kray - The Pact

Roberta Kray is the widow of the notorious gangster, Reggie Kray, whom she married in prison in 1997.

After writing the non fiction, 'Reggie Kray: A Man Apart', she has more recently turned to crime fiction in the Martina Cole vein.

In 2006, 'The Debt' was published, followed up in 2007 by 'The Pact'. The paperback of 'The Pact' came out at the end of March and you can watch a short promotional video of Mrs Kray discussing the book on the Constable and Robinson blog.

Synopsis from amazon.co.uk: Eve, the 34 year old daughter of recently deceased conman Alexander Weston, knows a good deal when she sees it - and this one doesn't even come close. However, with vulnerable brother Terry being beaten in jail, she can't afford to be fussy. She needs to organise protection for him, and fast. The intimidating and powerful con Cavelli seems the perfect solution, but how high a price is he going to exact? She may as well be forming a pact with the Devil. A break-in, followed by a vicious assault, soon makes Eve question the wisdom of her choice. Cavelli is leading her straight into Hell. Suddenly, her own life is in jeopardy; there's a psychopath lurking in the shadows and he's prepared to kill to get what he wants. With two men dead already Eve is forced to turn to the past to find the answers she so desperately needs. There's only one problem. Time is running out.

You can read the first chapter (in pdf format) here.

New Reviews & Updates

Latest Reviews:

This week, Terry Halligan runs out of superlatives for Simon Beckett's The Chemistry of Death. Geoff Jones enjoys Gagged and Bound by Natasha Cooper with just a couple of caveats. My eyes struggled a little with the size of the font but I did enjoy Mark Lalbeharry's The Simian Curve and Maxine Clarke was very impressed with The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney.

Other Updates:

The Authors (now 555 sites) page has been updated.

The New Releases pages have been updated.

In Books there are now bibliographies for 1081 authors - I've added bibliographies for the following: Tapani Bagge, Martin Baker, Jimmy Boyle, Heimo Lampi, Andrei Rubanov, Mauri Sariola, Gerald Seymour, Vladimir Sorokin and Michael White and updated the bibliographies for: Ken Bruen, Clare Curzon, Kjell Eriksson, Gillian Galbraith, Jason Goodwin, Michael Gregorio, Nigel McCrery, Phil Rickman, Stella Rimington, Catherine Shaw and Felicity Young.

and finally, a reminder of the current competitions and the fact that they are open world-wide:

Win one of three copies of 'Strangers' by Carla Banks

Win one of five copies of 'Relentless' by Simon Kernick

Win a copy of 'Go to Helena Handbasket' by Donna Moore

Win one of three copies of 'What Was Lost' by Catherine O'Flynn

A few items of interest

From the Jill McGown website:

There will be a celebration of Jill McGown's life at Kettering Crematorium on Wednesday 25th April at 3.45pm. All are welcome.

Also see my previous blog post which has a link to tribute from a fellow author.

On a happier note, those of us who had read with distress that the next Jack Taylor book from Ken Bruen, 'Benediction', was going to be the last in that series, can rest easy. There are now plans for another outing, called 'Amen'.

From Val McDermid's newsletter:

Val will be participating on BBC's Radio 4 Current Affairs programme 'Broadcasting House' this Sunday (22 April) at 9am BST.

If you usually have a lie-in on Sundays and miss the 9am start, or you can't listen via your radio where you are, you can always catch the programme later via the BBC's listen again feature - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/bh/.

Friday's strip from the ever excellent 'Unshelved' made me chuckle.

And finally, something completely OT and cute! When a cat and a rat become friends.

News page updated on Euro Crime

I've now updated the News page, over on the Euro Crime website, with links to recent reviews and articles in the UK papers.

Recent Publishing Deals

Today's Publishers Lunch roundup contained a few deals for British authors:

Elena Forbes' DIE WITH ME (the opening chapter of which was shortlisted for the 2005 Debut Dagger Award), the first in a series introducing Detective Mark Tartaglia and the rest of Homicide West Team Five as they investigate a rash of apparent suicides involving young girls plunging to their deaths from church naves around London, to David Adams at MacAdam/Cage, in a two-book deal, by David Forrer at Inkwell Management, on behalf of Sarah Lutyens at Luytens & Rubinstein (US).

NB. In the UK, 'Die With Me' will be out in July, published by Quercus.

Tom Rob Smith's debut thriller CHILD 44 and a second novel, to Mitch Hoffman at Grand Central, in a pre-empt, by Jim Rutman at Sterling Lord Literistic on behalf of James Gill at PFD.

Teacher of classical history at Lincoln College, Oxford Harry Sidebottom's FIRE IN THE EAST, KINGS OF KINGS and LION OF THE SUN, a trilogy of adventure novels of ancient Rome pitched as in the tradition of Mary Renault and Patrick O'Brian, featuring espionage, treachery and desperate, last-gasp, bloody warfare, and centering around a soldier who has risen to be a Roman General despite his northern barbarian origins, sent to the Eastern edge of the Empire to defend against the looming Persian threat, to Alex Clarke at Michael Joseph, for publication in summer 2008, by James Gill at PFD.

Journalist and former investment editor at the International Herald Tribune Martin Baker's MELTDOWN, with creative input (and contract negotiation) from his wife, City fund manager Nicola Horlick, a thriller set in Paris dealing with high finance, murder, jurisprudence, sex and politics and the biggest conspiracy theory imaginable, to Jeremy Trevathan at Pan Macmillan, in a pre-empt, for publication in January 2008 (world).

Martin Baker's website is here.

Spanish blog - The Skull Under the Skin

Many thanks for the lovely comments on Euro Crime making it onto the Library Journal's blog list. While I'm in trumpet blowing mode, I'll mention that a few days ago I discovered a reference to this blog on http://lacalaverabajolapiel.blogspot.com/ (which according to Babel Fish is "The skull under the skin") and in a post about Rebus, (http://lacalaverabajolapiel.blogspot.com/2007/04/john-rebus-se-retira.html) it mentions "el estupendo blog Euro Crime" :-) (estupendo translates as 'wonderful' but I prefer the original!).

I'm very humbled that there are so many people who can read blogs in other languages and that some of them pop over to mine.

Any Spanish speakers/readers do drop in to the blog which looks fascinating. The current post is about Massimo Carlotto.

(Do let me know if the translated blog name is wrong and/or I've got the language completely wrong!)

Thanks Library Journal!

Yesterday was a full day, setting off at the crack of dawn to get to London to have a peek at the London Book Fair for my first time. I left the show several hours later laden with catalogues and a few proofs. I'd bumped into Ali Karim (Rapsheet, Shots etc) in the 'Noir' seminar which featured John Banville aka Benjamin Black.

I met up with Petrona at the British Library for a drink before we repaired to the nearby Pizza Express which was out of both asparagus and fudge pieces. The company more than made up for these disappointments.

Checking my blog this morning I'm very chuffed to see that Euro Crime has been named one of Library Journal's top eight mystery blogs. See the full list here!

New reviews this week & mid month competition reminder

A reminder of the current competitions and the fact that they are open world-wide:

Win one of three copies of 'Strangers' by Carla Banks

Win one of five copies of 'Relentless' by Simon Kernick

Win a copy of 'Go to Helena Handbasket' by Donna Moore

Win one of three copies of 'What Was Lost' by Catherine O'Flynn


Latest Reviews:

Maxine of Petrona fame enjoyed the new Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, 'Bad Luck and Trouble'. Robert Goddard's 'Never Go Back' dealt with a similar theme (members of old army units being bumped off) but Pat Austin was not terribly impressed. Terry relished Seth Garner's 'Broken Surface' and I was captivated as usual by Tim Goodman's narration of the Bryant and May series by Christopher Fowler. This time he read, 'The Seventy-Seven Clocks'.

Donna Leon at Waterstone's Piccadilly

You can catch Donna Leon at Waterstone's Piccadilly on Tuesday 17th April 2007 at 7:00pm:

Join crime writer Donna Leon for a thrilling talk about her latest mystery 'Suffer the Little Children'


Tickets £3 available from store and redeemable against the purchase of the book on the night


Waterstone's 203/206 Piccadilly, London, SW1Y 6WW, (020 7851 2400)

Jill McGown RIP

It's not been a good week. Sadly the Jill McGown newsletter reports the following:

Sadly, after a long period of illness which she handled with unfailing good humour and fortitude, Jill died on Friday April 6.

We are in discussion with Una Adams, Jill’s sister, regarding the future of the site, and over the next few weeks we hope to let you know where we are going with this. In the meantime no doubt your thoughts will be with Jill’s family at this sad time.

Jill McGown was the author of the Lloyd and Hill police procedural series set around a fictionalised Corby. There was a one-off tv show starring Life on Mars' Philip Glenister as Lloyd a few years ago on ITV.

There's lots of information about her books and settings on her website, hopefully this will be maintained for a while.

UPDATE: Read Julia Buckley's tribute to Jill McGown.

Soho Crime newsletter

The latest crime newsletter from Soho Press has just been released and you can read the .pdf here.

The main focus is on Helene Tursten's latest book featuring Detective Irene Huss, 'The Glass Devil', and there's also details of her tour of the US with several other Swedish crime writers.

Peter at Detectives Beyond Borders has recently reviewed The Glass Devil and I reviewed The Torso for Euro Crime last year.

The UK edition of 'The Glass Devil' will be available in May.

Donna Leon on Radio 4

Last night's Front Row programme on Radio 4 contained an interview with Donna Leon amongst other entertainments matters.

Listen to the whole programme here for the next 6 days (you get the end of The Archers as well).

(Donna Leon is an American author who lives in Venice and writes the Commissario Brunetti series set there. There is a website here.)

Puss in Bus

It sounds like an April 1st story but in today's Daily Mail:

Bus drivers have nicknamed a white cat Macavity after it has started using the No 331 several mornings a week.

The feline, which has a purple collar, gets onto the busy Walsall to Wolverhampton bus at the same stop most mornings - he then jumps off at the next stop 400m down the road, near a fish and chip shop.

Full article and photos here!

BBC1's George Gently

I've recorded tonight's George Gently which starred regular authoritative figure Martin Shaw. I've mentioned this show on the blog a couple of times.

The BBC has an interview with Martin Shaw about playing George Gently. There are several other links off that page about the filming, cast etc.

I'm not sure which, if any, book the pilot is based on but Alan Hunter did write 46 novels so plenty more to have a go at. The full list is here.

I'd heard some rumours that it was very slow but perhaps anyone who's seen it, would leave a comment on how good it was.

Easter Sunday Updates to the website

A reminder that the current competitions are open world-wide:

Win one of three copies of 'Strangers' by Carla Banks

Win one of five copies of 'Relentless' by Simon Kernick

Win a copy of 'Go to Helena Handbasket' by Donna Moore

Win one of three copies of 'What Was Lost' by Catherine O'Flynn


Latest Reviews:

Euro Crime's first review of last month's prize, Cross by Ken Bruen, comes from Karen Chisholm (look out for more reviews over the next few weeks). Also uploaded this week are The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri reviewed by me, The Murder Bird by Joanna Hines, reviewed by Geoff Jones and lastly, an author who's getting a lot of praise at the moment for his debut novel, Borderlands by Brian McGilloway, reviewed by Lady Petrona (Maxine Clarke).


Other Updates:

The Authors page of author websites has been updated.

The New Releases pages have been updated.

In Books there are now bibliographies for 1072 authors. I've added bibliographies for the following: Daniel Boyle, Ottavio Cappellani, Gillian Galbraith, Frode Grytten, W F Hermans, Elfriede Jelinek, Damien Lewis, Francisco Garcia Pavon, Owen Sheers and Andrzej Stasiuk and updated the bibliographies for: Maxine Barry, Robert Goddard, Clio Gray, Andrew Holmes, Mari Jungstedt, Alex Scarrow, Nick Stone and James Twining.