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

2010

I am just taking a few minutes to wish you a happy new year and all the best for 2010.  I am well aware that for some of us, 2009 was not the best of years and it presented quite a few challenges and disappointments.  Therefore I hope we all find better days in 2010 and that some of our dreams will turn into reality.

Of the positives in 2009, I am pleased to have discovered further debut authors and to have seen others reach the giddy heights of books 3, 4, 5 or even 6.  May your glorious output continue and continue to be published.  On a sadder note, I am also aware that some have lost their publishers, but the converse is also true with 2010 about to deliver more debut authors.  Good luck to all who seek to entertain me by spinning a crime fiction yarn!

To all reading this, I wish you a happy new year and a good year in 2010 with good health, peace, happiness and prosperity.  Let's hope that our crime and other tensions remain on the page, in fiction.

Dame P D James Guest Edits on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme

This morning's programme included some great stuff from P D James.  Here's the iplayer link.

• At 1:50:00 into the programme, PDJ talks about violence in crime fiction and on screen with Ian Blair and Lynda La Plante.
• At 2:15:00 and with a scalpel sharp approach, PDJ takes the BBC's Director General, Mark Thompson to task on the BBC's direction, quality of programming, job specifications, salaries and more.

Don't miss it!

The Disappeared - M R Hall

Officially published on 1 Jan 2010, The Disappeared is the second in the Jenny Cooper 'coroner series' by M R Hall, introduced in The Coroner last year.  Here, Cooper faces an unidentified 'Jane Doe' corpse and a distraught mother, Mrs Amira Jamal, as The Disappeared opens.  As with The Coroner, it's Hall's remarkably intricate plotting that keeps the pages turning as the reader has no idea what could possibly some next.  Also like The Coroner, Hall engages in a theme.  With The Coroner it was youths in custody and with The Disappeared he explores Muslim radicalism.

The Literary World in the New Year's Honours List

In comparison with previous years, the list of those in the publishing industry is shorter for 2010.  Congratulations go to:

• Ronald Gordon (Dick) King -Smith for services to children's literature.
• Ms Lauren Child, author and illustrator for services to literature.
• Ms Anthea Bell for services to literature and literary translation.
• Lemn Sissay, poet and performer for services to literature.
• Ms Helen Fraser, lately MD of Penguin UK for services to the publishing industry.

University Challenge on Twitter

Some people across the UK and Ireland are (potentially) about to make fools of themselves tonight; while having fun, of course.  We've decided to play along with University Challenge as it is broadcast live, tweeting our answers live on twitter.  A potential embarrassment of riches or simply just some good old Christmas malarkey?  But across the stately homes of the aforementioned places, it could look like this.  Hic!

[Click on pic for bigger version if you feel the need.]

Dead Tomorrow - Peter James

Following his early December interview on BBC Radio Wales and appearances in Newport and Cardiff libraries, I picked up Dead Tomorrow, the fifth in the Roy Grace series by Peter James.  And now I know why these novels sell so well.  What came across so evidently in his talk was James’s attention to detail.  Delightfully, you will find this in Dead Tomorrow which makes for one of the most realistically portrayed police investigations I have read in a few years.  With a very contemporary plot that plays out more as a chase thriller than an intricate layering of clues and red herrings, Dead Tomorrow's 532 pages move like the breeze.  And James ensures we are never far away from the impact on direct victims and those around them.  This is not crime fiction for those seeking the gratuitous; this is crime fiction to educate and make you think.

The Frugal Life – Piper Terrett (NON-CRIME)

Here’s another good (non-crime fiction) book for the festive market and one I consider an investment.  It’s also another timely tome as the UK lags behind in coming out of the recession and rumours abound that a second wave might hit our shores.  Many are feeling the pinch and many are reviewing the way they spend their money.  Thus, The Frugal Life, being packed full of tips on this topic is full of good advice.  Neither is this a book to dishearten, for as the subtitle says, this is one about “How to Spend Less and Live More”.

Happy Health and safety and welfare and equality at Christmas

I was sent this joke (or set of jokes) earlier by a friend.  I could not resist sharing so I have copied it in below.  Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Book Posts Coming Up

I was pleased that I caught up with a couple of book blog posts earlier today.  Also, I hope to get these out, in order, before we break for the festive holidays:

• The Frugal Life – Piper Terrett (non-crimefic book on watching your pennies in these times of austerity from an author who practises and does not preach)
• Dead Tomorrow – Peter James (the proof copy could double up as a door stop, but when reading this thriller those pages go flickety flick, flick, flick and faster than the cars he likes to race)
• City of Thieves – Cyrus Moore (City-based thriller that lifts the lid on insider trading and corruption)
• Blacklands – Belinda Bauer (an engaging début coming in January 2010 written from the point of view of a boy seeking resolution for his family after a tragedy).

I also have some comments to come on the 2010 Book Club TV programme in the UK: that is the follow-on for the previously successful Richard & Judy incarnation.  I believe phase two may be both missing the point and missing a trick...

Finally, there will be a post on academics seeking your help in the world of crime fiction, especially in relation to WWII and the Nazis.  I know some of you are experts in this area, so please keep your eyes peeled for this post before we see in the new year.

Comments left on 09/12 are likely to see a delay in publication as I will not have access to the internet for the most of the 24hr period.  I'll catch you later in the week. Enjoy your reading!

Complete And Utter Zebu: The Shocking Lies We're Told Every Day – Simon Rose and Steve Caplin (NON-CRIME)

I’ve noted this is not a crime book (in the usual fictional blog-throughput sense), but you may care to differ when you read the content and think about crime.  With a sub-title of “The Shocking Lies We’re Told Every Day”, Complete and Utter Zebu will leave you wondering if legal action ought to be taken.  It will also make you laugh and if it arrives in your house for Christmas, expect to hear cries of “Well, I never knew that! Did you know…” and have your attention diverted from the sprouts as someone regales a little story from within.  And if you read the zebu story on which the title is based, you may start to look at that turkey in a different light (wondering if you knew enough about where it came from).

Complete and Utter Zebu is perfect for this time of year because it’s the typical festive book of short articles with something to capture everyone’s attention and it’s also highly topical, managing to take in some very recent scandals.