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

BBC's The Culture Show seeks bookworms & reading enthusiasts

Via my ever-alert bookworm mates on twitter, earlier today I became aware of a call for help from the BBC's The Culture Show.  I have no doubt that book and reading enthusiasts will be drawn to this.

I'll admit to a slight chuckle though.  They say 'We want to hear from fans of a broad range of books and authors...' and then add '...from Jeffrey Archer to Patricia Cornwell, Stephen King to Agatha Christie'.  So, that broad range varies from thriller/blockbuster to crime/thriller to thriller/horror to crime.  Obviously, all share one particular aspect: immense commercial success.  But how good it is to read examples all in my favourite neck of the woods.

I have decided to submit.  I'll let you guess which author and expect some of you will get it spot on.

Do consider doing the same.  I think it's fabulous that The Culture Show is doing a special programme that focuses on reader input.  This is something that the C4 TV Book Club should have continued from the Richard & Judy Book Club.  If you want to encourage reading, who better to consult than existing avid readers?

Competition winner for Jenn Ashworth's A Kind of Intimacy

Thank you all for your excellent entries in the competition and please accept my apologies for the late announcement of the winner.  This was a hard decision and I regret that there is only one prize on this occasion.  The winner is... Charles Budd.

Using poetry for the commentary was certainly original, but the words do reflect one dimension in Annie's disordered mind where perception and reality make uneasy partners.

Congratulations Charlie! I will be in touch shortly.

Crime in Translation - French

I repeat a comment received here on a previous post:

Talk at the French Institute in London 7.30pm, 17 March 2010.  Dominique Manotti and Joan Smith on the Political Crime Novel Dominique Manotti's latest translation, 'Affairs of State', tells of foreign workers in a landscape where murder has a political meaning.  Joan Smith's recent thriller, 'What Will Survive' is political in a broader sense.  Both writers see the world as something far removed from the cosy village life of traditional crime fiction, more in common with Nordic authors such as Stieg Larsson than Agatha Christie.  The pair will discuss their influences, their aims, and why the crime novel is pre-eminently a political form.

Prices: £5, conc £3

Venue: Institut français, 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT

Advance booking recommended as places limited, box office: 020 7073 1350 / www.institut-francais.org.uk/book

A Dog at Sea – J. F. Englert

Randolph, our sentient, literary loving and Holmes-like black Labrador Retriever and his owner Harry are back.  A Dog at Sea opens with exactly that: Randolph and Harry are on a cruise ship, the Nordic Bliss, sailing from New York to Curaçao where they hope to find the missing lady of the house, Imogen.  (This is the third in the series and in book one, A Dog About Town, Imogen left to buy a loaf of bread and never returned home; they’ve been on her trail since.)

They now realise that Imogen is on the run, for she is under threat from people who wish to gain from the massive inheritance coming her way in respect of uranium.  So, as Imogen hides, Harry and Randolph do their best to ensure that they don’t lead the criminals to her. How best to travel “under cover”?  A pet lovers’ cruise.  The Nordic Bliss is jam-packed with heavy product placement and marketing, canine “experts”, frighteningly hard core animal trainers and, of course, animals.  And where the cruise is no different to any other, there is plenty of delicious food on offer.  Alas, Randolph is very quickly spotted for what he is: an overweight dog with under active thyroid and his penchant for Chinese takeaways and pigs in blankets (his personal cruise special) is severely put to the test.

Eye of the Red Tsar – Sam Eastland

Following the success of Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44, it’s not surprising that 2010 brings a batch of novels that appear a tad copycat.  With the cover of Eye of the Red Tsar, you can be forgiven for thinking this, but whatever you do, don’t let cynicism stop you reading this novel.  On the surface, the similarities may appear rife: Stalin’s Russia and a plot involving brothers.  However, the styles are quite different and Eye of the Red Tsar is stronger on plot, delivering a dénouement that is both credible and satisfying.  So what’s it all about?

Inspector Pekkala is living in a gulag, working as a tree-marker, and has outlived the average life of a tree-marker through determination and ingenuity in extreme conditions.  Previously, he had been the Tsar’s right hand man and given considerable powers, frightening to many.  When the revolution came he was sidelined, thought by those fearful many to be dead.  But one day, in that gulag, Pekkala is called upon, given a task and offered a reward.  Stalin wants Pekkala to determine which men killed the Tsar and his family, and to locate the Tsar’s treasure.  The task re-unites Pekkala with his long-estranged brother and trust, or the lack of, remains a question hanging over both in their renewed relationship.

COMPETITION: Jenn Ashworth's A Kind of Intimacy

One of last year’s finds in the début category was Jenn Ashworth’s A Kind of Intimacy, a psychological thriller much in the vein of early Minette Walters.  See this post for more details on this wonderful book.  Now, in 2010, February 25th sees the publication of the paperback and Jenn has kindly offered a signed and dedicated copy.  To win it, leave a comment telling me how you feel you might relate to the protagonist, Annie.  I will pick the one I feel captures her character best.

As usual, a few rules apply (and I draw your attention to the last two in particular):

This is open to residents in the UK only.

Closing date is midnight (British time) on Sunday 14 Feb.

I will pick the winner and contact them for their full name & address and dedication request in the following week.  This will be passed to the author for despatch of the book.

If you win and don’t respond by the same time on Sunday 21 Feb, I will offer the book to the next person.

Your method of leaving a comment below must include easy access to your email address (absence will mean your entry is overlooked).  Please note that using a Typepad log-in for leaving a comment does not provide this.

All that remains to be said is: good luck!

We will have an interview with Jenn on February 25th! (Edit on 23/2: or thereabouts.  Sorry, but other things raised their heads along the way.)

Crime & Thriller Fiction Authors at this year’s Oxford Literary Festival

There will be some 270 events this year, with 207 currently online.  Here’s the selection of crime and thriller authors thus far.  I will start with the biggest names:

Wednesday 24th March
Event 588 @19:30 – John Le Carré at the Sheldonian Theatre (Tickets £12 to £50)
Event 503 @10:00 – Ruth Rendell interviewed by David Grylls at Christ Church (£10).  They will be discussing the latest edition of the Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes and Rendell’s detective Chief Inspector Wexford.

Saturday 27th March
Event 822 @12:00 – P D James will be talking about Barbara Pym at Christ Church. (£10)

Sunday 28th March
Event 906 @10:00 – Joanne Harris will be launching her new novel (psychological thriller) Blueeyedboy at Christ Church (£10).

Monday 22nd March
Event 384 @18:00 – Ariana Franklin, Giles Kristian, M C Scott will be considering law and disorder in historical fiction at Christ Church (£10).

Thursday 25th March
For the young adult audience:
Event 688 @19:00 – Anthony Horowitz interviewed by Paul Blezard at the Sheldonian Theatre (tickets £6 to £10).

Finally, I can’t help but mention another event.  I know he has a cookery book out – who’d have imagined that? – but on Saturday 27th March @16:00 Norman Tebbit will be on the stage at Christ Church in discussion with Sophie Grigson.  They will be considering whether recipes change anything.

For more information and to book your tickets go here.

TV Book Club – Episode 3

Obviously we love a mystery here at It’s a Crime!  This week’s biggest seems to be ‘Where was Gok?’  For yes, this week’s TV Book Club suffered its first casualty, with the absence of Gok Wan.  We hope that he was not seriously indisposed and simply had to perform a major emergency makeover on some poor soul about to suffer from a right old pelleting of paparazzi snapping.  (It was certainly a one-off, as with Specsavers as the sponsor of both the TV Book Club and his recent show, a ‘Drop-the-Gok’ cannot possibly be permanent.)

On first viewing, this week’s show flew by.  And for the first time it was (almost completely) absent of cringe and quite enjoyable.  Among the bibliophile brigade, Tweets were appearing with intense voracity during the broadcasting of last night’s show and the consensus was: this is better.  Let’s examine why.

Sabra Zoo – Mischa Hiller

‘It is the summer of 1982 and Beirut is under siege…’

This is the world that Ivan inhabits.  A mere eighteen years old, his parents were recently evacuated from the city with other cadres of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).  Ivan remains behind, for reasons we do not know, but he has a role as an interpreter for the various international medical volunteers within the Sabra refugee camp.  When not performing that duty, Ivan works undercover for the PLO, delivering false ID documents.

At eighteen, Ivan is embarking on the adult world.  And for a novel with a potentially depressing and dark storyline, Ivan’s age proves uplifting and the source of unexpected humour.  With hormones raging and a virginity he looks forward to shedding, he knows where he wants to look but still has the nuances of the social subtleties to learn.  The older Eli, a Norwegian physiotherapist is the subject of his immediate focus.  He is drawn to her both emotionally and physically, as well as working alongside her at the hospital.