In Reference to Murder

Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed

Marc Blatte's debut novel, Humpty Dumpty Was Pushed, is billed as an urban/hip hop noir, but that's something of a misconception. The plot does inlude characters from the realm of hip hop music, but the book is not so much noir as police procedural (Blatte is a protege of Evan Hunter a/k/a Ed McBain). Blatte does bring authentic dialogue and insight to the musicians via his own experience as an award-winning songwriter, Grammy Award nominee and co-founder of a hip-hop record label, but the theme has a more rich man/poor man context — the corruption of power and money both among those who have it and those who seek it.

The plot is seen primarily through the POV's of NYPD detective, Sal Messina (aka Black Sallie Blue Eyes), a young thug called Scholar (who manages the hip-hop group Proof Positive), and Vooko, a refugee from Kosovo. Messina hands his hands full investigating the murder of Vooko's cousin, a bouncer at a nightclub popular with by the hip-hop crowd. Black Sallie Blue Eyes, as Messina is known, uses his ability to "smell the gun," or "know what you were gonna do before you did it," to navigate a land-mine case of money, drugs, record producers, a kinky female wrestler, pampered Hamptonites and Messina's own ex-wife without triggering a potentially explosive situation that leads all the way up to the NYC mayor's office.

The street jargon used profusely throughout the novel tends to bring the pacing to a halt at times although it would be hard to imagine the characters without it, and there are also some POV changes which are a bit jarring, but overall it's an entertaining and quick read. Blatte brings a distinctive voice to his writing, a punchy musical lilt, not surprising given his songwriting background.

"What the men in the observation had just witnessed was profound. In the high-stakes game of hide-and-seek that Sallie and Scholar were playing, Sallie had found Scholar out quickly and effectively. Whether Scholar knew it or not didn't matter. Sallie had exposed Scholar's inner life, then left it like an open wound to be infected by his own paranoia and self-doubt. Now it was just a matter of time before Scholar succumbed. He was a dead man walking."

The characters are drawn well and Sallie Blue Eyes is a likeable protagonist with plenty of room to grow — and since Blatte is working on the next installment in the series, we won't have to wait too long to catch more of Sallie's brand of street philosophy.

You can check out a quickie look into the author's brand of satirical humor via this Q&A on Crime Always Pays.

Need Some Pain Killers?

It's book giveaway time, again! I'm happy to have a copy of Jerry Stahl's novel Pain Killers for one lucky winner to be drawn at random.  Pain Killers follows ex-cop and not-quite-reformed addict Manny Rupert who accepts a job undercover to find out if an old man locked up in a California prison is who he claims to be:  the despicable-and allegedly dead-Josef Mengele, a/k/a the Angel of Death from Auschwitz. What if, instead of drowning thirty years ago, the sadistic legend faked his own death and is now locked up in San Quentin, ranting and bitter about being denied the adulation he craves for his contribution to keeping the Master Race pure--if no longer masterful?

Jerry Stahl is author of the narcotic memoir classic Permanent Midnight, I, Fatty (film rights optioned by Johnny Depp), Perv--A Love Story; and Plainclothes Naked. He has written extensively for film and television, and his much-anthologized fiction and journalism have appeared in Esquire, Details, Playboy, Black Book, LA Weekly, and Tin House.

If you'd like to be entered in the drawing, just send a note to bvlawson.com by March 25th with the subject line PAIN KILLERS, and be sure and include your name and mailing address, in case you win.

For a YouTube interview with Stahl about the book, click below:

Mystery Melange: the (Mostly) St. Patrick's Day Edition

“He who comes with a story to you brings two away from you” --Irish Proverb

• You can start your St. Patty's Day crime fiction parade with Declan Burke over at Crime Always Pays, where the Irish author/blogger lists titles by Irish authors to watch for in 2009.
  

• Janet Rudolph with Mystery Fanfare lists some St. Patrick's Day-themed murder mysteries you can curl up with while quaffing some green beer and her recipe for chocolate Guinness cake.
  

• Like Crime Always Pays above, Gerald Brennan's Crime Scene NI takes a look at Irish crime fiction year 'round, and started off the week by interviewing author Jo Bannister.
  

• Detectives Beyond Borders tips its hat to Irish fiction from time to time, but also posts like this one with a little rundown of Irish history.

• Declan Hughes has a couple of Irish events over the next while to mark the publication of the fourth Ed Loy novel, All The Dead Voices.

• The Library Journal invites you to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the second annual Irish Book Awards. Finalists this year in the Irish Novel of the Year category include Ronan Bennet's historical thriller set in 1914 St. Petersberg, Zugwang, and Benjamin Black's The Silver Swan. The Ireland AM Crime Fiction Award shortlist won't be announced until April.

• Although not related exclusively to Irish novels, the Guardian's Tobias Jones takes a look at why detective stories set in "exotic" locations are becoming ever more popular.
  

• Mike Ripley's column at Shots Magazine includes also includes a piece on four Irish novels coming out shortly after St. Patrick's Day, including a debut thriller from Ava McCarthy.
  

• Definitely not Irish, but intriguing all the same, is a new thriller anthology with a release date of June, titled Thiller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down. Sponsored by the International Thriller Writers, the book is edited by Clive Cussler and includes stories by the likes of Sean Shercover, Jeffrey Deaver, Barry Eisler, Brad Meltzer, et al.
  

• Vanity Fair takes a fun look at Sir John Mortimer's "finest arguments, both in and out of court."
  

• Booklist offers up its Best Adult Genre Fiction awards in the Adrenaline and and Mystery categories. Winner of the former is Blue Heaven by C. J. Box and the latter, The Garden of Evil by David Hewson (who also contributes a story for the Thriller 2 anthology above).
  

• Getting back to our St. Patty's Parade, here's a site for, well, parades. This link will let you know where any St. Pat's parade in the world is taking place.
  

• And, at long last, it's what you've been thirsting for -- "green" green beer.

IMBA Bestsellers for Februrary

Here's the listing of the top dog novels sold during the month of February at member bookstores of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association:

Hardcovers

1 -  Jacqueline Winspear, Among the Mad, Holt
2 -  S.J. Rozan, The Shanghai Moon, St. Martin 's
3 -  Dana Stabenow, Whisper in the Blood, St. Martin ’s
3 -  Peter Robinson, All the Colors of Darkness, Morrow
5 -  Louise Penny, A Rule Against Murder, St. Martin's
6 -  Val McDermid, A Darker Domain, Harper
7 -  Robert B. Parker, Night and Day, Putnam
8 - Jedediah Berry, The Manual of Detection, Penguin
9 – Josh Bazell, Beat the Ripper, Little Brown
9 - T. Jefferson Parker, The Renegades, Dutton
9 - Linda Fairstein, Lethal Legacy, Random House

Softcovers

1 - Kate Carlisle, Homicide in Hardcover, Signet
2 - Lorna Barrett, Bookmarked for Death, Berkeley
3 - Rosemary Harris, Pushing Up Daisies, St. Martin's
4 - Deanna Raybourn, Silent on the Moor, Mira
5 – Benjamin Black, Silver Swan, Picador
6 – Emilie Richards, A Lie for a Lie, Berkeley
6 - Kate Collins, Evil in Carnations, Signet
8 - Nancy Atherton, Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter, Penguin
9 – G.M. Ford, Nameless Nights, Harper
9 - Melinda Wells, Death Takes the Cake, Berkeley

Cons and More Cons

A couple of reminders regarding upcoming cons -- Tomorrow is the last day to early register for the Give Me a Clue! Mystery Symposium to be held April 25th. It's co-hosted by Sisters in Crime-CJ and New Jersey Press Women.  Panels include: Twists and Red Herrings; How to Get a Publisher/Agent; Unreliable Eyewitness; Publicity (What's Required in Today's Market); Did We Get It Right? (Diversity/Writing accurately from a cultural perspective). Panelists are Shobhan Bantwal, Jeff Cohen, Peggy Ehrhart, Jack Getze, Shirley Hailstock, Carlotta Holton, Evan Marshall, Steve Rigolosi, Lily Tang, Ann Waldron, Eileen Watkins. Several authors will also be introducing newest releases.

ALSO:  Speaking of affordable conferences...A new one added this year is the Mad Anthony Writers Conference and Writers Police Academy, April 16-17 in Hamilton, Ohio. The early bird rate has been extended a few weeks to help those who're worrying about the economy. The academy will offer tours of the morgue and police department in addition to the hands-on classes on fingerprinting, handcuffing, arrest techniques, interview and interrogation, weapons, spy toys, and much, much more. Workshop instructors are all active duty or retired police experts from ATF, local police, sheriff's offices, California Highway Patrol, state police, K-9 officers, etc., and all the police instructors are also published authors. If you'd like more information please contact Lee Lofland (Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide For Writers).

A First!

Tucson's first annual Festival of the Book is coming up this weekend on the University of Arizona campus, March 14 and 15.  It's sponsored by the Arizona Daily Star with net proceeds promoting literacy in Southern Arizona through the Tucson Festival of Books Foundation. Highlights include "A Conversation with a Literary Family - Elmore, Chris and Peter Leonard," and Mysterious Galaxy will be on hand to sell books. Other crime fiction authors on hand for panels and book signings are Sandi Ault, Jennifer Lee Carrell, Margaret Coel, Brent Ghelfi, J.A. Jance, Michael McGarrity, Dennis McKiernan, Jennifer Roberson, Neal Shusterman, S.M. Stirling among many others.

Heading Down South, Waaaay South

Recently I mentioned an upcoming anthology titled Bad Company, edited by Joanne Hichens, of stories by some South Africa’s best crime fiction writers. Also coming up is a crime fiction track at the 12th International Writers Festival in Durban, headlined by Deon Meyer, whose crime novels originally penned in Afrikaans have been translated into more than 15 languages and won prizes such as Deutsche Krimi Preis (the German literary award for crime fiction) and the French Le prix Mystère de la critique.

The Crime Beat blog at Book South Africa recently provided a helpful listing of other South African authors with its listing of a "Who's Who of SA Crime Writers," which you can find here, along with an update, located here. Unfortunately, not all are available in English, but if Meyer's success is any indication, perhaps we'll see more of those books coming through the pipeline in the not-too-distant future.

Media Murder

MOVIES

• Currently in pre-production is the film Night Train, based on the novel by Martin Amis, with Steven Soderbergh as executive producer and starring Sigourney Weaver and Michael Madsen (hat tip to Shelf Awareness).

• The film based on the first book in Stieg Larsson's crime novel trilogy, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, hit Swedish cinemas this weekend, featuring Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist in the lead role of reporter Mikael Blomkvist.
  
  
• The Independent Crime blog wonders if Victor Gischler is taking over Hollywood, with three screenplays optioned recently, including Go-Go Girls of The Apocalypse, Pulp Boy, co-written with Anthony Neil Smith, and Gun Monkeys.
  
  
• Guy Richie's Sherlock finally gets its release date (Christmas 2009) after some controversy and delays.
  
  
• Here's the trailer for Public Enemies, a film which follows notorious gangsters John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), and the feds who try to take them down during the 1930s. Other stars include Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, and Marion Cotillard.
  

• A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Clive Cussler to pay $13.9 million in legal fees to the production company that turned his novel Sahara into a box-office flop.

• Director Marcel Langenegger will develop the Phoenix Pictures thriller Mile Zero as a possible starring vehicle for Milla Jovovich.
  
  
• Michael Brandt and Derek Haas have signed on to adapt upcoming Richard Doetsch supernatural thriller novel The Thirteenth Hour for New Line Cinema.
  
  
• Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan will star in the Warner Brother detective comedy A Couple of Cops, about a pair of cops who track down a stolen baseball card, rescue a Mexican beauty and deal with gangsters and laundered drug money.

TV

• Central Partnership's $12 million, 24-part TV adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories has been delayed six months because of scripting problems and Russia's acute economic crisis.

• A pilot, written by Graham Yost and based on the short story "Fire in the Hole" by Elmore Leonard and centered around Kentucky-based U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, has been given the greenlight by FX.

• Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) was interviewed about his new role in Law and Order: UK. And if you want to get a "closer look" at Bamber, you can check this out.
  
  
• The season finale of Burn Notice topped the cable ratings charts.
  

• William Peterson, best known as Gil Grisson in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, will attend the Cannes Mip TV trade fair this month to celebrate the series' 200th episode. The show and spinoff series CSI: Miami and CSI: New York are the best-rated dramas on many market-dominant broadcast networks worldwide, such as France's TF1 and Spain's Telecinco.

• TV Guide interviewed Tom Selleck about his latest Jesse Stone outing, which proved to be a "rare sighting" of a TV movie in the Nielsen Top 10.
  

• Although ITV is cancelling some of its high-profile dramas, when asked about the channel's future direction, Laura Mackie, head of ITV drama, said: "Crime thrillers and 20th century are things that ITV does very well."

• Although Life on Mars was unfortunately cancelled, it had the rare opportunity to go out on its own terms by wrapping up the story line and not leaving fans hanging.
  
  
• Murdock Mysteries began its second season in the UK.
  

• The Telegraph interviewed Robert Vaughn (Man From Uncle) about his current role in the British TV series Hustle, the sole American in a cast playing a group of con artists.

• Oscar Nominee Mellisa Leo has signed on to play an unnamed civil rights lawyer in the post-Katrina New Orleans drama created by David Simon (The Wire).

PODCASTS/WEB

• Podcast site CrimeWAV.com received permission from Dashiell Hammett’s grandson to record "The Barber and His Wife," the first short story Hammett wrote, which you can hear on the web site this week.

• Brian Gruley, Chicago bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, is (not surprisingly) featured in a video interview on the WSJ web site about his debut thriller, Starvation Lake.

• You can catch and interview here with Ed Brubaker and Zoe Bell about their crime fiction web show Angel of Death.

• Radio New Zealand has an interview with former DI Jackie Malton, the inpiration for Lynda La Plante's Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect.

• Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe appear this week in Bones and Silence on BBC Radio 7.

Time For Some Bahama Burnout

Don Bruns was a songwriter, musician, and advertising executive long before he got the itch to write crime fiction.  But itch he did, and in 2000 he purchased Sue Grafton's critiquing services for his first book manuscript as part of a charity auction during a mystery convention. Her advice? Throw it away and try again. Mostly undaunted, he did just that, and after Grafton read this second effort, she stood up in front of a Bouchercon meeting and made the announcement that someone should publish his book. That piqued the interest of Charles Spicer from St. Martin's Press and in September 2002, Bruns had his first published novel, Jamaica Blue, in stores.

For that novel and the sequels, Bruns relies on his rock music background and takes a look at the seamy side of the music business with his protagonist Mick Sever, a journalist who chronicles the history of rock and roll and uncovers murder. "There's enough crime, corruption, drugs, and slimy people in the music business to keep Mick Sever busy for a long time," Bruns says.

Bruns's latest in his Caribbean mystery series (he also has another series with two 24 year old college grads reminiscent of the Hardy Boys), is Bahama Burnout, released this month. In this outing, Sever is covering a story for Newsweek magazine in Nassau about a famous recording studio rebuilt on the same site where the old studio had burned down. But the new studio seems to be cursed — a mysterious smashed guitar and erased tracks, for starters, and then there's the still-unanswered question of just whose body was discovered in the fiery ruins.

Bruns graciously took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for "In Reference to Murder."

IRTM:  Pity poor Don Bruns. He has to travel to all those Caribbean islands to get research for his novels. What an ordeal (especially this time of year). But seriously, do you visit all the various areas where the books are set, or seek out certain places and people for inspiration in getting the flavor of these locales?

DB: The research is intense.  I know, I know, you think it's nothing but fun, but after the initial excitement of being on the island, I have to find someone to become my best friend and guide for five days.  A bartender, a taxi driver, in the case of Bahama Burnout, a nun.  And I have to take copious notes, pictures, figure out all the questions I need to ask and make sure I do everything my protagonist would do. Like visit all the bars, stay out till four in the morning. Still...it's not bad.

IRTM: You've expressed admiration for John D. MacDonald, a fellow Florida writer. Do you find any parallels in your styles or writing philosophy?

DB: I live about five minutes from where MacDonald lived and wrote.  I've visited the house and it's on this spit of land called Point Crisp Road on Siesta Key.  He was surrounded by water as he looked out of his loft.  I am taken with the idea that he popularized the Florida mystery genre, and I play semi-regularly in a liars poker group that he started in the 50s. Other than that, I don't think there's much similarity.  We both write about men who are loners, but that may be as close as it gets.

IRTM: In one of your postings on the Little Blog of Murder, you mentioned how much most writers hate the "where do you get your ideas?" question. Yet the idea for this latest book, Bahama Burnout, had an interesting genesis in an otherwise ordinary conversation. Can you tell us just a little bit about that?

DB: I was introduced to a sound engineer from L.A who told me he was intrigued by my books since I wrote about the rock and roll entertainment scene.  Then he asked me if I had heard the story about a studio in Teluride back in the 70s. The Eagles, America, Crosby Stills and Nash all recorded there. It seems this very popular recording location mysteriously burned down.  When it was rebuilt, all the major acts booked sessions, but the first band found that their tapes were all erased.  Then a group came in to find their equipment smashed.  So people quit booking the studio and it went out of business.  Now I was hooked and asked the guy what had happened.  He shrugged his shoulders and said he had no idea.  But since I was a writer, I could probably figure out an ending. So, I moved the studio to Nassau in the Bahamas, put Mick Sever on the case, and solved the crime.  Fiction writers can do that.

IRTM: You've talked about how we're a nation mired in the cult of celebrity and how celebrities often get away literally with murder, in addition to lesser crimes, yet they seem to get a free pass. How many of the characters in your book are based on real-life individuals and are you concerned about painting anyone you've worked with in a bad light that might entice lawsuits?

DB: Jamiaca Blue was loosely based on a Bob Marley type character.  South Beach Shakedown was about a celebrity rock star who was being blackmailed.  I borrowed the story of 60's star Jackie Wilson.  St. Bart's Breakdown is a close look at a Phil Spector character.  So yes, I do use real life celebrities, but more of the 'ripped from the headlines' than making the stories targets for lawsuits.

IRTM: As a former musician myself who hasn't touched a piano in years, I think I'm jealous — it sounds like you still find time to play guitar (and perhaps other instruments?), which makes you a lucky boy. Of course, you've also worked with acts like Ricky Nelson, the Platters, Ray Charles and Eric Carmen, so there's that, too. I've read you decided against having a musician protagonist because a performer solving crimes "was almost comical." How much research therefore did you have to do to feel comfortable writing Mick Sever as a journalist?

DB: Well now, you've done a good job of having a musician as your protagonist so maybe I should have tried it.  I didn't have to stretch much to find Sever's voice and profession.  He's a guy who does a much better job of writing about the entertainment business than being a performer himself.  He got his start writing concert reviews for the Chicago Tribune when he was about 15. Since then he's had columns, books, and two movies made about his work.  I was a journalist at one time and just go with that.

IRTM: Mick Sever's been spending a lot of time in Florida and the Caribbean. What's in store for the future for Mick — more sunshine or will we ever see him heading off to other parts of the world?

DB: Right now I'm working on the fourth book of my second series.  Mick is off vacationing somewhere, but I'm certain he'll be back.  I think he might go to L.A. and find a sleezy paparazzi group that is killing celebrities. Yeah.  I like that.

IRTM: It's hard to stand out in this day and age, so finding new ways of marketing is more important than ever. I was interested in your book trailer produced, written, cast and directed by four grad students from the University of Miami which appeared in 20 theaters in the Miami area. Do you find that your background in marketing has helped with your own book PR? And what advice would you give to other authors out there?

DB: Wasn't that good?  And those kids were perfect.  The book, Stuff To Die For, won two national awards and a starred review in Booklist, so I've got to think the trailer helped.  My background in marketing just lets me know that I've got to market.  The real work is done by our publicist.  She is fabulous and has an unbelievable list of contacts.  In December we had a full page interview in Sky Magazine, Delta's in-flight mag, and in February I had a full page story in The Rotarian, Rotary Club's magazine.  I think a writer has to explore every single opportunity.  The one thing I don't have patience for is all the social pages on the internet.  I still don't Twitter.

IRTM: Speaking of marketing,you recently released a CD of original songs called Last Flight Out, and performed two original songs at the 2004 Edgar Awards ceremonies. Have you ever thought about a CD tie-in with one of your books? Any singing at signings?

DB: I sing and entertain at a lot of signings. I love it. Carrying a guitar is pretty easy. You on the other hand would have to carry a piano. And author Claudia Bishop and I did an anthology with Jeff Deaver, Rupert Holmes, John Lescroart, Peter Robinson, Rhys Bowen and a bunch of other talented writers/musicians. We had each of them write a story and song, and then record the song. The CD appears in the back of the book. Poisoned Pen published A Merry Band Of Murderers two years ago.

IRTM: As if you weren't busy enough, you opened up a used book store with some friends. Used book stores are apparently doing very well in this economy, by the way, so good timing on your part. Have you ever had any unsuspecting customers stop by wanting to sell or buy Don Bruns books only to discover he's one of the proprietors?

DB: The book store is in my hometown and most of the people there know who I am.

IRTM: Let's see. A little over seven years ago, you were an unpublished author, and now you have six published books under your belt (with the seventh released this month), and the likes of Sue Grafton, Lee Child, and Stuart Kaminsky blurbing your books, you've been featured in Sky Magazine, you won a 2008 National Indie Excellence Award for best novel in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category and ForeWord Magazine's Book Of The Year award for Best Mystery, as well as the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion award for Best Novel. But what would you say is the highlight thus far of your writing career?

DB: I think I tell a good story and I think my characters and place are well done.  But I don't take myself too seriously.  The highlight of my career is when someone Comes up and says "I just read your book and I want to ask you a couple of questions."  Seriously.  That's the coolest part of the job. Except maybe when Booklist compared my Stuff series to Mark Twain's narrative style in Huck Finn.  That was pretty cool too.

Don Bruns is giving away a free signed copy of his book, Bahama Burnout. Go to Don's book tour page, enter your name, e-mail address, and this 4-digit PIN, 9764, for your chance to win. Entries from "In Reference to Murder" will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. The winner (first name only) will be announced on Don's book tour page next week.

Let's Hear It For The Grrrls

"Murder She Writes" might be a good crime fiction-themed subtitle for Women's History Month. Although it took awhile for female authors to be accepted in the genre, they've made up for it with a vengeance. One organization which led the way in supporting women in their writing endeavors was Sisters in Crime, thought up by Sara Paretsky after she noted the dearth of books by women writers being reviewed and nominated for awards, and formed at the annual Edgars Week in 1987. The group currently has 3600 members in 48 chapters world-wide, providing networking, mentoring, resources, and support for both published and unpublished authors.

Although women writers are most often associated with the mystery subgenres "cozies" and/or "traditional" works, recent years have seen an increasing number writing hardboiled and noir fiction to acclaim, led by the likes of Christa Faust, Megan Abbot, Val McDermid, Zoë Sharp, Chelsea Cain, Marcia Muller, and Sara Paretsky herself, among many others.

If you're looking for suggestions for finding women authors in the various subgenres of crime fiction, perhaps these resources will get you started:

• Feminist Mystery Corner has a listing of authors and books which fall more into the hardboiled vein.
• The Mystery List has a bibliography of "Old Maids and Private Eyes."
• Women Who Wonder Whodunit's listing includes ways of searching by author, title, character, and even subject.
• The Springfield City Library lists Religious Women as Amateur Sleuths.
• The Thrilling Detective categorizes hardboiled dames, or " You're a Mean Man with a Typewriter, Sister."
• And the ever-helpful Readers Advice resource has lists of Housewife Amateur Sleuths, Lesbian Mysteries, Spunky Women Sleuths, and Sweet Old Ladies (noting that these lists include works by male authors, too, who feature women protagonists).

So, three cheers for the grrrls and long may they reign.