Competition, New Reviews & other updates to the Euro Crime website

This week Euro Crime blog and website visitors can enter a competition to win one of five proof copies of Fred Vargas' 'Wash this Blood Clean From My Hand'. (Geographical restrictions apply.)

New Reviews this week on the Euro Crime website are Daily Mail reviewer, Carla McKay's October roundup and Karen Chisholm's review of 'Borkmann's Point' by Hakan Nesser.

Other changes to the website include:

The 'New Releases' pages have been updated.

The 'Authors' (482 sites) page has been updated.

In 'Books' there are now bibliographies for 961 authors (5367 titles with links to 829 reviews) - I've added bibliographies for the following: Taylor Holden, Julia Navarro and Justine Picardie.

In 'Books' I've updated the bibliographies (ie added new titles) for: Richard Haley, K T McCaffrey, Keith Moray, John Paxton Sheriff and Roger Silverwood.

Sherlock Holmes series being reissued

The Guardian is replete with crime reviews today and links will appear shortly on the News page.

I also found this snippet in The Bookseller column:

The aggressively commercial publisher Headline made waves earlier this year with a swirly, girly new look for Jane Austen. Its next target is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Headline believes that despite the iconic status of Sherlock Holmes, the original stories are not really being read. So just before Christmas all nine Sherlock Holmes titles are being "beautifully repackaged for a new generation", with suitably foggy covers and a marketing and publicity campaign. Stephen Fry, who has starred as Sherlock Holmes, offers his endorsement: "[Conan Doyle] is unique in simultaneously bringing down the curtain on an era and raising one on another ... Personally, I would walk a mile in tight boots to read his letters to the milkman.

A couple of years ago there was talk of a production of Sherlock Holmes with Fry and Laurie however so far, it doesn't seem to have got off the ground. Hard to see either of them as a bumbling Dr Watson especially after Laurie's Holmes incarnation in House.

Ian Rankin's Knots & Crosses Reissue

Orion have launched Rebus 20 to celebrate next year's 20 years of Rebus and in March a special hardback edition of Knots and Crosses will be launched with "never before seen material from the original manuscript".

A whole host of promotional events are planned leading up to October 2007 when we discover (perhaps) if the last Rebus has been written.

Galaxy - the new sponsor of the British Book Awards

"GALAXY CHOCOLATE is to be the first title sponsor of the British Book Awards which will now be known as the Galaxy British Book Awards. The company already has a well-established association with the pleasure of reading, and now has plans to devote up to £1m on marketing the Awards, with the aim of promoting reading far beyond the Book Awards and encouraging mass-market footfall into bookshops and libraries.

Galaxy has conducted marketing campaigns that celebrate curling up with a good book, and has worked with Borders, where customers received free Promises bars, and HarperCollins, with which it collaborated on The Devil Wears Prada. Galaxy also supports Richard & Judy’s Summer Read and the forthcoming Christmas Books show.

“We are delighted and very excited by the link we have established between Galaxy and reading with these prestigious Awards,” said Xavi Pons, Galaxy’s Marketing Manager. “It takes our reading campaign to an entirely new level. It is not only about the Awards themselves, but also about the promotion of reading as a key female activity, associated with enjoyment and relaxation, to the mass market. It is a cause in which we are prepared to make a considerable investment.”"

Full article at Publishing News.

I'm pleased to see promotion of reading though I'm inclined to believe that men need more encouragement to read than women but maybe they don't buy as much chocolate.

'News' page updated on Euro Crime website

Last night, I managed to add a few more links to the 'News' page of the Euro Crime website. More news links, some new reviews and a competition should be added over the weekend.

Agatha Raisin website

Constable and Robinson have launched a new website for the Agatha Raisin series by M C Beaton. The site includes information on the books, a little bit about the main characters and a newsletter to sign up for.

I'm currently reading:



and Radio 4 is currently dramatising Agatha Raisin and The Terrible Tourist.

Normal service slowly being resumed...

I'm back at home now, with access to my pc. I've been away for a few days holiday to the Isle of Man. However just before we set off, I broke out in spots on torso and head and thinking uh-oh decided I'd better get them checked out. Sure enough...chickenpox. I'd not had it as a child and the doctor was full of gloom, saying it can be quite nasty in adults. However he said it was okay to go away and just keep away from young children etc. So I've been looking like the invisible man with a hat (to cover spots) and scarf obscuring mouth and nose. Fortunately it appears to be quite a mild dose and apart from looking unsightly I feel/felt ok and should be able to go back to work tomorrow as planned. I didn't get much reading done though, not even of my beloved Agatha Raisin...

What I'm listening to..

I've been neglecting my audio book listening recently but I'm back in the swing of it with 'Captain Alatriste' by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

Synopsis: "In Madrid in the 1620s a man must live by his wits, and often by his sword. For this is a time when court intrigue is high, when the decadent young king has dragged the country into a series of disastrous wars, and citizens live in fear of the infamous Spanish Inquisition. In this political hotbed of hired assassins, court players, political moles, smugglers, and pirates, Captain Alatriste hires out his skills as a dashing swordsman with a mind as sharp as his blade. He is approached by two masked men to fake an attack on a pair of travellers who are stealing into Madrid in the dead of night. But things take a different turn when the Captain realises that this is no ordinary job, but is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels..."

I am struggling a bit with the long Spanish names as there are a lot of characters. It might be set in 1620 but the bad language is C21st! You can listen to a sample at the Clipper website.

Romanzo Criminale - out 3rd Nov

I spotted this in the weekend's papers and the film is released tomorrow.

Synopsis:

"Rome, 1960s. Three young criminals, Lebanese (Pierfrancesco Favino), Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart) and Dandy (Claudio Santamaria), decide to take a step up from the streets of Rome into the world of organized crime.

It’s the birth of a smart and ruthless organization which soon crushes all its rivals assuming total control of the drugs trade, whilst imposing brutal criminal laws on Rome. Their progress and changes in leadership take place over twenty-five years, from the 1970s into the '90s, and are inseparably intertwined with the dark history of modern Italy: terrorism, kidnappings and corruption at the highest levels of government.

As the three friends head to the end of an era where all vendettas are executed and scores are settled only one question remains, who will be left standing."

At the official UK website you can search to see which cinemas will be showing it.

Martin Shaw to play another policeman

Not content with Doyle, Judge John Deed and Adam Dalgleish it seems Martin Shaw's law enforcement career is to continue with the filming of the 'Gently' series by Alan Hunter.

There's an article in Media Guardian which seems to require registration so I've borrowed the pertinent details:

Martin Shaw, star of the BBC1 series Judge John Deed, may be preparing to hang up his wig and take on a major new BBC drama role - that of 1950s East Anglian copper, George Gently.

The BBC has commissioned drama specialist Company Pictures to develop a series based on the books by Alan Hunter, who died in February last year.

The series has not yet been commissioned, but is almost certain soon to be given the go-ahead on BBC1.

A senior BBC source said: "Martin Shaw is very keen to do this new drama, and if it gets the green light, which is very likely, Judge John Deed will undoubtedly come to an end."

Judge John Deed is made by the corporation's in-house drama department.

Shaw has been optioned to play the chief inspector, who featured in 48 novels Hunter wrote between 1955 and 1999.

The character's name was used in 32 of the books' titles, such as Gently Does it and Landed Gently.

The character of Gently has been likened to that of George Simenon's Inspector Maigret, who was the subject of an ITV adaptation in the early 1990s starring Michael Gambon.

Most of Hunter's novels were inspired by, and set in, his native East Anglia, which is also Shaw's home. In the 1977 novel Gently Instrumental, for example, the chief inspector is called to a music festival, modelled on the Benjamin Britten festival of Aldeburgh in Suffolk, where a clarinettist is found murdered after flouncing out of a rehearsal.

Gently is also said to resemble the author. Both smoked a pipe.

I'd better get my bibliography ready on the Euro Crime website!

In addition, Brian Cooper writes a series (9 so far) about two policeman in 1940s East Anglia. I reviewed The Norfolk Triangle a few years ago but wasn't terribly impressed.

Wanted! European Ellroy suggestions...

I've had an email asking if I know of a European equivalent to James Ellroy. Specifically authors "that like Ellroy seem to have a real feel for disturbed states of mind".

I've suggested Friedrich Glauser as he spent a lot of his short life in institutions. I'm also wondering if Massimo Carlotto's 'The Goodbye Kiss' would count as the 'hero' believes the world owes him a living and he doesn't see the things he does, to get the good life, as wrong (rape, murder, betrayal etc).

Anyone any other thoughts?

New Reviews on the Euro Crime website

New reviews just added to the Euro Crime website are 'One Good Turn' by Kate Atkinson and 'Silence of the Grave' by Arnaldur Indridason, reviewed by Yvonne Klein and Karen Chisholm respectively.

The update's a bit early this week as I'm away for a few days. Hope to be blogging again Monday or Tuesday :-).

Kate Atkinson books competition

I'll be uploading a review of Kate Atkinson's newest book, 'One Good Turn' at the weekend and I stumbled over this competition for both Jackson Brodie books at bookloons.com. Only open to residents of US and Canada (exc. Quebec) and closes on the 31st.

What I'm Reading - The Torso by Helene Tursten

Soho Press bring out natty and classy editions of books by big name authors including Cara Black and Rebecca Pawel who set their stories in France and Spain respectively. They are also responsible for bringing two books (so far) by Swedish author Helene Tursten into English. Tursten's series features Crime Inspector Irene Huss of the Violent Crimes Unit in Gothenburg (I don't know if she's met Eric Winter, from Ake Edwardson's work :-)).

I'm about 1/3rd through 'The Torso' which is the third in the series (I believe) and the second to be translated. The first in the series and to be translated was 'Detective Inspector Huss'. It's a bit graphic in parts but I'm enjoying it enormously . What's quite unusual as Peter on Detectives Beyond Borders mentioned a while ago (apologies if I'm mis-remembering) is that she has a normal homelife. Her husband works evenings as a chef and they share their car, they have well balanced twin daughters and a dog and so far no complaints about her working long hours etc. So far so very good.

Synopsis from Soho Press website: Part of a human torso washes up on a beach near Göteborg, Sweden. It is so mutilated that gender is only established by DNA testing. A similar crime, now several years old, remains unsolved in Denmark. Detective Inspector Irene Huss is dispatched to Copenhagen to liaise with police there in pursuing the killer. Then a third corpse is discovered. This time it’s identified. She is a girl Detective Huss knew; she was asked by the girl’s mother to help her locate her missing daughter. A fourth victim, the son of the woman heading the Copenhagen crime squad, is also known to Huss. She fears the killer is tracking her, killing people with whom she is connected. There is even a chilling suggestion that he or she is one of her colleagues.

(Incidentally mine's a library copy so maybe worth checking with your local library :-))

Bitter Lemon Press

Just had an email from Bitter Lemon Press to say they've revamped their website.

If you've not come across them before BLP are a small publisher of high quality authors, mostly in translation. They aim to bring you "the best crime and roman noirs from faraway places".

Their continental European authors include Gianrico Carofiglio, Friedrich Glauser and Tonino Benacquista and from Cuba, Leonardo Padura.

The website has infomation on all their authors, book extracts as well as reviews (Euro Crime website gets a mention under Involuntary Witness reviews :-)).

Basically if the book's published by BLP you're in for a great read.

New Reviews and Updates to Euro Crime Website

The new reviews added to the Euro Crime website are 'The Silver Pigs' (Audio) by Lindsey Davis and 'Hidden' by Katy Gardner.

The 'Authors' (480 sites) page has been updated.

The 'New Releases' pages have been updated.

In 'Books' the bibliographies for: Andrea Camilleri, Judith Cutler, Nicci French, Pavel Kohout, Michael Marshall, Edward Marston and Pat McIntosh have been updated and new bibliographies have been added for: Mikhail Chernenok, Vil Lipatov, Alexei Malashenko, Frank Parrish and Marietta Shaginian.

The 'News' page has been further updated today.

The Act of Roger Murgatroyd

Here's another title which I'm looking forward to getting. The reviewer in today's Scotland on Sunday calls it a 'bally hoot'.

Synopsis from amazon.co.uk: "It is Boxing Day circa 1935. The place is a snowed-in manor on the very edge of Dartmoor. It is a Christmas house-party. And overhead, in the attic, the dead body of Raymond Gentry, gossip columnist and blackmailer, shot through the heart. But the attic door is locked from the inside, its sole window is traversed by thick iron bars and, naturally, there is no sign of a murderer or a murder weapon. Fortunately (though, for the murderer, unfortunately), one of the guests is the formidable Evadne Mount, the bestselling author of countless classic whodunits. In fact, were she not its presiding sleuth, "The Act of Roger Murgatroyd" is exactly the type of whodunit she herself might have written."

'News items' added to Euro Crime website

Links to reviews and articles from this week's UK papers have been added to the 'News' page of the Euro Crime website.

CWA Short Story Award 2006 - Winner...

From the CWA website:

"The winner of this year’s CWA Short Story Awards was announced at a dinner as part of the Off The Shelf festival in Sheffield on October 18.

Robert Barnard beat the competition to take the £1500 prize for his story Sins of Scarlet in the CWA anthology edited by Martin Edwards, ID: Crimes of Identity, published by Comma Press. The story was commended by the judges as: “The ultimate in locked room murders, set in the Sistine Chapel during an election of a Pope.”

The shortlisted authors, chosen from more than 100 entries, were Robert Barnard, Ken Bruen, Stuart Pawson and Martyn Waites. The judges were chaired by Peter Lovesey, winner of both the CWA Gold Dagger (twice), the Silver Dagger, and the prestigious CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger. He said that the final list demonstrated that: “The crime short story can still thrill, chill and entertain in a variety of styles and settings.” The other judges were crime fiction reviewers Ayo Onatade and Ali Karim.

Robert Richardson, Chair of the CWA, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the Off The Shelf festival. Many of our events take place in London, so it’s good to come to another city and underline the fact that there are outstanding crime writers working all over Britain.”

Receiving his award, Robert Barnard said: “This is utterly delightful. I’ve had nominations in the US – and won – but they’ve never had any money attached . . . (Sins of Scarlet) was intended as a full-length novel but I don’t like novels that have only one sex in them and thought it came better as a short story.” He also revealed that the story had been turned down by a leading US short story magazine. “They loved it, but wouldn’t publish it - it was too offensive to too many people . . . which was very sad. It’s a very nice story and I did enjoy writing it.”"

Certainly an anthology worth seeking out!

What I've just read...

The other day I finished Paul Magrs - 'Never the Bride', which I mentioned on the blog a couple of weeks ago and I ordered myself a copy. It's more horror than crime as our heroines deal with aliens and demons and a reformed vampire (but he doesn't have a soul unlike Angel), but in a gentle way. I enjoyed it, but it felt like several episodes linked together rather than a seamless story. The ending does leave it open for a follow up and if there was one I'd like to revisit Brenda & Effy, a B & B owner and a junk shop owner respectively as they save the world or at least Whitby. As you can maybe guess there's more than a nod to the Buffy-verse in this book.

Joolz Denby reviewed it in the Guardian last weekend and I agree with most of her summing up:

"Never the Bride should be extensively stocked in Whitby; it's a fun holiday book. There are some poetic descriptions ("the shot silk of the perplexing sea", "a fine clinging mist ... inching its way in thick scarves"), and the damp charms of an English seaside town are nicely evoked. But though the characters are amusing, they're not well constructed enough to be as truly engaging or as darkly terrifying as they should be. The dialogue and storyline are often clunky and the book suffers very badly from repetition, giving the impression of an over-extended, unedited short story; though presumably pitched at adults, it would better suit a younger audience. None the less, Magrs should do an event at the next Whitby goth fest; without doubt, Never the Bride will be a gothic smash."