IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Shatter - Michael Robotham

For me, Michael Robotham's thrillers remain essential reading that demand some booking of 'time out' from normal life.  And so it came to pass that his latest, his fourth novel in this series, Shatter did exactly that.  I could have read this in one sitting, but one or two or more sittings had to suffice - due to some essential house moving - it all had to be done, including the reading of this novel.

Within a troupe of characters, Robotham kicks and slides the focus for his main protagonist like legs in an Argentine tango.  This, in part, provides the beauty of the series as you never know what's coming next.  Now, with book four, we return to book one: psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is the protagonist, but still with room for Vincent Ruiz (now retired).

Ritual - Mo Hayder

Jack is back!  In 2000, Mo Hayder literally swept onto the crime fiction scene, introducing detective Jack Caffery in the compelling and controversial novel Birdman.  He returned in 2001 in The Treatment.  However, since then, Hayder's fiction oeuvre has developed with the critically acclaimed Tokyo in 2004, (a.k.a. The Devil of Nanking), and Pig Island in 2006.  The power of her writing and her ability to shock would have retained her readership as she left Caffery behind and enticed others; but I've no doubt that many will be pleased to see Jack Caffery's return in Ritual.

In a nutshell: DI Jack Caffery has left London behind and is seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol.  He has not left his troubled past behind him though; the disappearance of his brother continues to haunt him as does his most recent failed relationship.  April sees police diver Flea Marley recover a human hand from the waters of Bristol's floating harbour.  No body is found and within a day the matching hand is discovered.  Caffery and Marley then learn that the victim was still alive when the hands were removed and establish that the hands belong to a young man, a drug addict, who has recently disappeared...

Sky's The Book Show on YouTube & Competition

The Book Show from skyARTS is now on YouTube.

Added this week is episode 19 which has Mo Hayder talking about her recent novel The Ritual.

And in celebrating one year of the ArtsWOM site, they have a competition to win a new Sony LCD TV which closes on Sunday 30 March.

The Book Quiz on BBC4

With episode 1 (series 2) currently available for a further 5 days on the BBC's iPlayer, The Book Quiz is well worth a look.  This episode was lively and great fun.  Presented by Kirsty Wark, episode 1 has a team composed of Miranda Sawyer and Anthony Horowitz pitched against Wendy Holden and Giles Coren.  Rounds were as follows:

1, two opening lines, who wrote them and what's the link between the authors; 2, a commonwealth author reads from their own work, who is it plus a supplementary question; 3, identify the book from a set of visual clues; 4, pick a genre for the other team's questions; 5, a crossword style clue to a book title; 6, "against the clock" such as name as many novels by a certain author within the timeframe; 7, a quick fire round.

Miranda and Anthony do an awful lot of 'storming ahead', but there's a nail biting finish in round 7.

The programme is on BBC4 on Mondays at 20:30.  Episode 2 has Daisy Goodwin and David Aaronovitch playing against A. L. Kennedy and Simon Hoggart.

The Lying Tongue - Andrew Wilson

From Canongate in the UK, a larger paperback appeared last year, which looks like this: see left.

However on May 1st, 2008 a smaller copy is published by Canongate, which you can order here and which has the cover image below.  It makes no difference which one you get your hands on, but if you love exceedingly well written, disturbing, atmospheric and fraught psychological thrillers then you may want to get a copy ASAP.

This is Andrew Wilson's first novel, but not his first book.  He previously wrote a biography of Patricia Highsmith and the inspiration is very clear.

The narrator in The Lying Tongue, one Adam Woods, when we are introduced to him, is well mannered, well spoken and eager to please and fit in.  Much like Ripley.  But his ease in fitting in satisfies his own underlying objective.

In a nutshell: Adam Woods has finished with his art history degree at university and wants to write a novel, set partly in Venice.  A student friend comes up trumps with contacts and Adam sets out to teach English to a teenager in Venice.  But his plans are thwarted on arrival; the teenager has been packed off to the US having been discovered as responsible for the pregnancy of the maid's daughter.  However, the parents know of an old reclusive English writer who is looking for a personal assistant.  Adam applies and gets the job...

Marketing the novel: what media are best?

David Montgomery has prompted some debate on this topic and it's something that's been on my mind for some time having seen a James Patterson and a Michael Connelly novel trailer last year and, for the first time last year, listening to audio books.

Let's start with audio books.  The now defunct UK company "The Works" had an offer of 3 for £10.  Being well aware of Peter Robinson, but not yet managing to find the time to read his novels, I took three of his novels and handed over my tenner.  During some long journeys to and from work, I listened to two of the three novels.  I have to admit that I found listening, rather than reading, a rather strange experience.  Writers will often leave out some details for their characters, allowing the reader's imagination to fill the gap.  Here, Neil Pearson did a great job with the narration, but I did feel my imagination was stunted.  All the characters were given life, but all had Pearson's actual voice, with differing accents and timbres.  (All his female characters had me thinking of Ena Sharples, small rooms and hairnets for some reason.)  And if I took a second to imagine what they might look like: all, male and female, looked like, er well... Neil Pearson.

Neither had I any control over the pace of reading.  And as for my brain buzzing off into those almost subconscious moments, it's far more difficult to find the point where you lost track with a CD than with print.  I'd also assumed, ignorantly, that I was listening to the whole books, but they were abridged.  A major change in the relationship between two characters - we're talking from red hot poker to waters in Antartica territory here - had me Googling for the bibliography.  No, it wasn't the abridgement that was at fault, it was the fact that I'd missed a novel in between.

Conclusion?  The audio book is a good taster to the novel at hand.  I now want to read Peter Robinson's work more urgently.  But the audio book comes with risks to the author and to the reader: in a lesser version of selling rights to make a film, the characters and the novel are put in the hands of others and their interpretation.  The direct link between the author's imagination and the reader's is lost as is the control of pace and finally, the most important, the reader's own direct interpretation of the story as written in pure form.

So, what of the video trailer to promote a novel?

Ian Rankin at Cardiff University, Monday 3 March 2008 - Part 2 of 2 - the finale

So, said Rankin, when he's writing a novel he can end up with 3 to 4 bodies before he knows it, adding quickly that he didn't recommend this type of crime writing, although he has fun writing it.  He described it as 'mayhem around you in the armchair' and that themes and characters are the most interesting bits for him.

He believes that each generation of writers and readers brings something new to the crime novel.  'Why do people keep doing bad things to one another?' he asked.  He also believes that if you want to find out about 9/11 terrorism, you can find it in good crime fiction.  Thus, he described it as 'such a thrill' to be at Cardiff University that evening, as 'slowly, slowly, slowly crime fiction starts to be taken seriously'.  But when it comes to the Booker prize, he suspects that it will be the next generation and not his that might have a chance of that recognition.

Rankin faced a big problem in that he 'got rid of Rebus'; so what to write next?  More crime fiction?  A thriller?  Historical romance?  Or opera?  He acknowledged that success brings freedom and appeared to revel in the prospect.  In his mind, in Great Britain at the moment, especially Scotland there is cross-fertilisation and mixing going on across the arts, e.g. literary festivals and musicians.  Had he thought of opera?  Had he thought of comics?

Indeed, he's just handed in a one-off comic book (set in hell) to DC Comics in the US.  He's also written a series for the New York Times.  For him, there is life beyond Rebus, although he still things to say about Edinburgh and Rebus was a useful tool for unpicking Edinburgh society.  He described himself as a full time writer and 'bizarrely, getting paid well for it'.

The Current Hiatus

Sorry, but I've had very personal things to attend to, as well as with the very sudden, concerning my jaw joint.  It's bloody painful, when it comes.  And I can't control it.  Will catch up and post more on Ian Rankin in Cardiff when I can.

Ian Rankin at Cardiff University, Monday 3 March 2008, Part 1 of possibly 3?

As part of the Cardiff Humanities Research Institute's "Crime Narratives in Context" series (see here for more detail and mission statement), Ian Rankin delighted a packed lecture theatre with his presence last night.  Billed as a public lecture entitled "Why Crime Fiction is Good for You", a mixed audience was present with ages ranging from undergraduates through to the more mature; academics and those who simply love crime fiction; men and women of equal representation.

The scene was set: after walking the lengths of spotlessly clean wood panelled corridors and down a set of stairs, the doors opened into a steep lecture theatre with the usual blackboards at the front.  One board had not been cleaned and accompanying a spidery delivered diagram were words such as Eurotropic, DNA, parasitic and the expression "Fast reproduction - must have sex".

Following introductions, Rankin took up the baton, walked briskly to the diagram, laid his fingers on one part and boomed out "Gentlemen, if your penis looks like that, please seek medical attention immediately."  This was clearly Rankin on a roll.

He'd had lunch in Cardiff earlier that day and seen the reviews of the opera he'd been involved in, which opened last weekend.  The reviews were "awful".  They seemed to say "Stick to the day job, Ian Rankin".  But Rankin was not about to hide in shame and dwell on that.  Next, he announced that he didn't do lectures, much like Mariah Carey doesn't do stairs.  He said he would "burble" for a while and then take questions.

And if the ground hadn't disappeared from under the feet the audience yet, he then declared that all were there under false pretenses:

• The audience because the title of the lecture had been determined on the hoof - it was something he'd prepared a few years before - and even though he had a bundle of A4 paper, he also had a small piece of paper representing the few lines he'd saved and commandeered for the night.  (Neither were referred to during the course of proceedings; all words came from the moment and heart.)
• Rankin himself was there under that false pretense as he never set out to be a crime writer.  To explain, he set out his background...

Having graduated, Rankin was not too impressed with the real world out there.  He liked university life, wanted to stick around and do a PhD.  Thomas Pynchon was his subject of choice.  Funding for such a PhD in Edinburgh was not an option, he was told.

"Well, who'd I get finding on?"  he asked.

"Muriel Spark."

"Who?"

The last thing he wanted to do was a PhD on the novels of Muriel Spark, said Rankin.  He wanted to write poems, short stories and books.  But the PhD fulfilled one of his objectives...

St David's Day in Wales and a crime fiction VIP event in Cardiff

Today is St David's Day in Wales.  It's the day when the Welsh pin a mini daffodil or leek to their chest, so here are some fine examples of Welsh produce:

The daffodils picture comes from reallywelsh.com, supplier of daffs to Tesco, Waitrose and Wyevale.

Daffodils are considered a sign of spring and after some lousy drizzle yesterday, I am pleased to report that south east Wales is sitting under an enormous ray of sunshine today.  (I had to dust my screen.)

Here are some beautiful leeks, also courtesy of reallywelsh.com .  They are out and about on Queen Street in Cardiff today celebrating the day and bringing their locally grown produce to local attention.

Here's something you can do with your leeks; a very simple but delicious recipe:

Chicken in a Cream & Leek Sauce (and perfect for a low-carb diet)

Skinned and boned chicken breast(s); leeks cut into rounds; double cream; black pepper; olive or groundnut oil.

Fry your leeks until tender in the oil, add pepper and set to one side.  Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and also fry in oil.  When cooked, add the leeks and enough double cream to make a sauce.  Mix through and serve with other vegetables of your choice (steamed cauliflower and/or broccoli, roasted butternut squash make good companions).

And now for some crime fiction related stuff.  The evening of Monday the 3rd of March will see Cardiff University hosting a smallish gathering as Ian Rankin delivers a paper on crime fiction.  No surprises here: it's full to capacity.  Luckily, I will be there and will report on the event later in the forthcoming week.

Rankin, don't forget, is an advocate of crime fiction in the arena of literary academic study.  He's also someone who can't understand why all those heavy-weighted literary prizes appear to exclude crime fiction.  It will be very interesting to hear what he has to say on Monday.

Meanwhile, enjoy your daffs and leeks and your latest crime fiction read and have a good weekend!