crime writing Archives - Page 6 of 7

12.17.14 Shadow Counter: Kakonis Scores Again

Novelist James L. Thane, author of No Place to Die and Until Death, shares his fondness for Tom Kakonis' gambling thriller Shadow Counter. Shadow Counter is the third and final volume in Tom Kakonis’s excellent series featuring Timothy Waverly, a professional card player who has found nothing but trouble ever since Kakonis first introduced him in Michigan Roll. At the end of the second book, Double Down, he and his long-time partner Bennie Epstein had to race away from another dicey situation in Florida. It’s now 1993, and they’ve landed in Vegas, living in a pitiful house and trying to fly under the radar while they attempt to cobble together the stake that will put... more

12.15.14 Mark Smith on Writing THE DEATH OF THE DETECTIVE

Written by Mark Smith

I think it was Heywood Hale Broun who said, “When a professional man is doing the best work of his life, he will be reading only detective novels,” or words similar. I hope, even at my age, I have my best work ahead of me, but when I was writing The Death of the Detective, in my leisure hours I was exhausting the classic English who-dun-its written between the Wars, favoring Dorothy Sayers and Freeman Wills Croft, while also re-reading Raymond Chandler and re-discovering Nero Wolfe. In this regard I shared the addiction with the likes of William Butler Yeats, William Faulkner and FDR, among others. My first two novels, the companion novels, Toyland and House Across the White... more

11.03.14 Ficton That’s Ripped from the Headlines

Written by Joel Goldman

Any self-respecting fan of Law & Order knows that the popular cop show franchise often draws its inspiration from crime stories that are “ripped from the headlines.” And no matter how many disclaimers emphasize that if the characters or plot bear any resemblance to a real-life individual or event it is completely coincidental, we instinctively recognize the original source. As consumers of popular culture, as participants in everyday modern life, we encounter dark and mysterious circumstances on a daily basis. Unless you have been residing among the Amish, or have elected to forego all modern conveniences by choice, you likely have heard about the activities of Jodi Arias —... more

10.13.14 Writing Noir & Crime Fiction: It’s All In The Voice

Written by Craig Faustus Buck

I write noir. To me, noir is all about voice. A lot of noir writers go to great lengths to imitate the voices of the greats. I have neither the memory, the critical analysis skills, nor the patience to do that. So my voice is, by default, my own. I consider my work neo-noir because it adds a certain psychological and emotional realism and depth that the classics lack but today's readers have come to expect. I wrote my first novel, Go Down Hard, and am writing my novel-in-progress in first-person present tense, which gives the work a feeling of urgency. My novella and the short story that spawned it, Dead End (which was just nominated for an Anthony Award), are in third-person... more

10.10.14 Great Crime Writers Create Memorable Bad Guys

Written by Joel Goldman

Great crime writers like James Patterson, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, and even horror writers like Stephen King draw readers into their stories by creating complex villains we love to hate. In writing my crime novels, I pay just as much attention to developing the villain (or in some cases, villains) as I do when crafting the protagonist. Both characters must have strong, complex personalities and interest the reader to the point of near obsession. If a writer can do that, he or she has pulled the reader into the dark world all thriller readers want – fast, dangerous, and with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. WHAT MAKES A GREAT VILLAIN? Not too long ago, Publishers Weekly... more

09.15.14 Creating Delilah West: Can’t swim? Dive in Anyway

Written by Maxine O'Callaghan

Death is Forever by author Maxine O'Callaghan

When I began writing my first novel, I was blissfully ignorant of that sage piece of advice: Write what you know. I wasn't a cop, or a pathologist, or a special agent for the FBI. Besides a stint in the Marine Corp Reserve, I was, first, a secretary, then a stay-at-home housewife and mother who read. A lot. Mostly mysteries and suspense with an emphasis on private eye fiction. So it seemed perfectly natural to me that when one of my first short stories, A Change of Clients, appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 1974, it featured a private detective. My only concession to the write-what-you-know maxim was to make my detective a woman, because, well, I was one. It really... more

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