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

L C Tyler recommends Talking About Detective Fiction by P D James

One of the problems with crime fiction, in my humble opinion, is that there is so much of it.  Crime writers are expected to be fairly omniscient concerning their genre; most of us (with the possible exception of Martin Edwards) aren’t.  Before I started writing, I would probably have regarded myself as being reasonably well-read – but there were gaps that, even then, I was dimly aware of.  For example (and I’m only telling you this because I know you won’t tell anybody else) I have never knowingly read anything by Ngaio Marsh.   And of course the deeper I have delved into the subject, the vaster the chasms in my knowledge that have been revealed.

Talking about Detective Fiction is, if nothing else, at least a marvellous way of mapping your ignorance of the subject and provides a great introduction to writers you may have missed up until now.  It is also an excellent overview of themes and sub-genres.

PD James’ book takes us from detective fiction’s murky beginnings, through the Golden Age and the origins of the hard-boiled novel, and up to the present day.  It is an easy read – both because it is well-written and because the length (just over 150 pages) leaves no scope for getting bogged down in unnecessary detail.  Nor is this just an adulatory homage to the Golden Age – of Christie, for example, James writes “she wasn’t an innovative writer and had no interest in exploring the possibilities of the genre”.  So much for some reputations, then.  But I defy you to read the book and not develop a sudden enthusiasm for (say) EC Bentley, Edmund Crispin or GK Chesterton.

Darkside – Belinda Bauer

CWA Gold Dagger Winner Bauer is certainly carving out her niche in the realm of dark themes and psychology within the crime genre.  Could she be an early contender for taking the mantle of ‘Queen of Psychological Crime’ from the esteemed Minette Walters?

Darkside is what is it says on the label and it opens with a harrowing scene, in effect the second chapter, where one of society’s most vulnerable is murdered.  Following an accident with a horse, the elderly Margaret Priddy was left paralysed from the neck down.  For what remains of her life, she lies immobile in bed, unable to communicate with any efficacy at all, and her body is the subject of 24/7 nursing care at home (for as long as the family funds will last).  One day she wakes to a strong light and believes her time is up, that she is dying.  But the light is a torch and the sensation of pressing that follows its appearance alerts her that she is actually having the life taken from her.

In the closed Exmoor village of Shipcott, first encountered in Blacklands, the local bobby Jonas Holly is shocked by the death of Priddy.  Knowing such a case is beyond his remit, Holly calls in the top guns and we observe the arrival of DCI Marvel from Taunton: a man who proves to be an extreme irritant to Holly’s well meaning efforts, rendering them hapless at every opportunity and sucking away at Holly’s self esteem.

Soon, it becomes apparent that someone aims to remove from Shipcott all of its most vulnerable and dependent: the elderly and the ailing, or a combination of the both.  Within this, Holly’s wife Lucy, a housebound sufferer of MS, seems a prime target.

Darkside, with the staccato nature of its prose will quickly scoop up any reader into the journey of the story and not let go.  It is vibrancy with vibrato.  Bauer’s characters are portrayed from under the skin, with an electric feel of dependable reliance; but for some more than others.  Her ability to draw you into the depths of darkness while adding humour is commendable.  As with Blacklands, Bauer’s massive strength lies in characterisation.

However, even though I feel this second novel, Darkside is superior to Blacklands, again the denouement suffers due to plotting.  In Darkside it is too abrupt and would have benefited from a more subtle build and with more exploration of certain characters’ backstories.  Bauer remains one to watch.

UK first edition, signed, lined and dated copies are available from Goldsboro Books for collectors.  Or there’s Waterstone’s for the hardback published on 6 Jan 2011.

More on the author here.

Topping Books in Bath: Crimetime, crime fiction reading group

 

Topping & Co, Booksellers of Bath and Ely are starting 'Crimetime', a crime fiction reading group on Thursday, 3 March at 18:30.  The series kicks off with Sam Hawken's The Dead Women of Juarez.  If you are in or near Bath, you might want to pop along...

Zen from Left Bank Pictures not recommissioned by the BBC

Both Broadcast and Media Guardian reported today that the BBC has decided not to recommission its Zen TV series following what appeared to be a successful launch in January.  Broadcast reported:

…Producer Andy Harries has approached a number of groups after channel controller Danny Cohen and head of drama Ben Stephenson declined to order any further series following a pitch last week…

…Zen, which starred Rufus Sewell as the eponymous detective, had averaged roughly 5.7m viewers across three episodes during its run at the start of this year. It is understood to have garnered relatively high audience appreciation, with an AI of 87…

I’d admit to difficulty with the first episode when it aired, but by the third episode I loved it and was hooked; I now have the DVD.  It’s a classy production and an example of TV drama at its best.

It’s good to hear that producer Andy Harries is already speaking to alternative channels.  Let’s hope that one of these has the sense to take it on so we can have more.

If you agree and would like to see more Zen on the TV, please indicate your support by leaving a comment here.  Thank you.

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Frestival 2011

The programme for 2011 was announced at last week's launch party and you can download it from their site, or here.  [Download 2011-TOPCWF-Programme]

For more on the party and the programme, including pics, see the blog of Keith B Walters here.  Keith is one of two 'official bloggers' this year, organised by The Culture Vulture site in association with the festival.  You can also keep up with Keith's commentary on twitter @keithbwalters.

#savelibraries

Please.  Indulge me for a moment.  I’d like to tell you a story.

A couple of years ago I met up with someone who’d been a school friend; someone I hadn’t seen in about thirty years. We spent the next hour and fifteen minutes at the end of the check-out in the M&S food hall having a catch up.  Within that conversation she said to me ‘I remember, you always had a book in your hands and I was always the gobby one.’

‘Always having a book’ is probably true of me and it started young.  It also started at home in my local library.

An earlier friend – a play mate from nursery days – was the grand-daughter of the Editor of the local newspaper.  We both read a lot.  We both had our own shelves and we were both big library users.  Now, I have to admit to being quietly competitive; I did not like the potential that she could read more than me.  So we both devoured from cover to cover, book after book.  And this would not have been possible without the wonderful stocks at our local library. 

The library was a place of enjoyment for this child, an ongoing source of books and stories.  The shelves seemed purpose-built for me as I browsed and picked.  It was a place of competition and ambition: moving onto the next age group as soon as possible (even better if the age was not yet achieved) and eventually graduating into the adult section (now we have arrived).  Library visits were a way of life, a continuous activity: we went to change our books, not simply to return them.  Growing up in a family where education was important, the provision of the library’s facilities was an essential factor in that and in growth.

Libraries also promote a sense of community.  Surely this is something that should be promoted for this (to me alien) concept of the ‘big society’?  My current local library runs some excellent author events at which I have seen the same faces, as well on my visits to the reference section.  And am I the only one to find the proposal that librarians can be made redundant with their roles taken oven by volunteers insulting and ludicrous?

Sadly, I couldn’t make it to my local library yesterday, the day of protest across the country.  But the message is clear and it’s not for one day only: use it or lose it.  So use your library and then use it more.  Encourage others to do the same and introduce newbies.

Libraries are an essential part of education. 

Monitor the campaign on twitter by following #savelibraries.