Archives For Opinion

Irish Writers Setting Their Books Abroad

April 10, 2012 — 21 Comments

I read this Irish Times article a few days ago about how Irish writers are not setting their books in…Ireland. Odd. I’m a big fan of the Irish setting. Books set in or around the Troubles is even better (Adrian McKinty). I mean, any book that is set in Dublin or Galway, I automatically buy it. It saddens me to discover that *some* Irish writers don’t care to set their books in Ireland. John Connolly is quoted as saying:

“As a young writer,” Connolly wrote in his essay contribution to 2011’s Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Writing in the 21st Century, “I could think of few subjects with which I wanted to engage less than the nature of Irishness, or the Irish situation . . . Had I set my first novel, Every Dead Thing (1999), in Dublin, it would have become, by default, an Irish novel, not a crime novel.

And what is wrong with that? Apparently everything:

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Continuing a Popular Series After the Author Has Died

March 26, 2012 — 15 Comments

Continuing a popular series after the author has died is something we’ve seen before. I just read an article this morning where Ace Atkins will be continuing the Robert B. Parker’s Spencer novels. I’m not a fan of this, honestly. How about you? My first run in with this was with horror/fiction writer V.C. Andrews. After she died they hired a ghost writer. I read a couple of books and didn’t like it. It wasn’t the same to me but that might because I knew that it was a different writer. It was noted that Andrews had left outlines for future stories but the stories lacked something to me. But to this day V.C. Andrews brand continues successfully under a different writer. Continue Reading…

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Author Blurbs

March 25, 2012 — 5 Comments

Author blurbs on books are totally useless unless you’re like writer, Dennis Lehane, an author I enjoy reading and who gives author blurbs so infrequently. How are important are author blurbs to you? What prompted this quick post was an article shared on Twitter by Sarah Weinman written by Lawrence Block on why he doesn’t blurb books. Continue Reading…

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“Translation is a very undervalued skill”

October 25, 2011 — 13 Comments

Writer Quentin Bates writes an insightful post about translators. An appreciation for them and I felt like adding a piggyback off his post to say that I’ve started noticing them [translators] more and more as I discover new writers in this genre. I even look for them or if I see their name attached to a new author, I buy their books because they are the translator. How about you? Just in my brief reading experience I’ve read Don Bartlett for Jo Nesbø’s work and he is outstanding and Marlaine Delargy for Johan Theorin and the late Bernard Scudder for Arnaldur Indridason’s books, again, outstanding job.

As Bates says in his article:

A good translator is someone who wallows in words and I’ve heard it said that nobody knows and understands a writer as well as the translator. The fact is that a poor translation can easily turn a decent book sour, while a good book can be made into a great read by an inspired translator who makes an author’s words sing in another language.

The author’s work really is at the mercy of the translator. They can make or break a book. I think translators, good translators are invaluable and should be recognized with the author because it is their skill/talent that allows me, the reader, to enjoy crime fiction from different parts of the world. So, I’d like to say how much I appreciate translators because without them I’d never be able to read and enjoy some of the most awesome crime fiction that’s out there today.

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Does A Bad Ending Always Equal A Bad Book?

August 30, 2011 — 21 Comments

Let’s talk about endings because I’m curious. How much weight does an ending carry for you? For me? Eh, it depends. A bad ending doesn’t always kill the book for me. For example: In the Woods (2007) by Tana French. The ending completely and thoroughly fell apart to me. Just made no sense whatsoever but I loved the book overall. It helped that the characters were interesting. The pacing wasn’t all that great from what I remember but still, I really enjoyed reading the book. So the bad ending didn’t subtract much of anything in my total enjoyment. Just like some novels can transcend spelling errors and bad grammar, the same can be said for a bad ending don’t you think?

Photo source: “LOLcat’s ‘n’ Funny Pictures

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Underrated Writer- John Brady

August 25, 2011 — 14 Comments

This is my last guest post highlighting “underrated or unappreciated writers” and one of Darlynne’s favorite mystery writers is Irish writer, John Brady. Only five of his books are digitized as I write this and no, the first book isn’t one of them but there seems to be plenty of used paper copies. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Darlynne, Trisha and Sarah for providing guest posts on the mystery writers they enjoy reading and thank all you for reading as well. Her guest post starts after the break Continue Reading…

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Guest Post: Underrated Writer – Deon Meyer

August 9, 2011 — 5 Comments

Introduction: I’m a reader who loves discovering new writers and discussing how great these writers are with the rest of the reading community. We all know that not every good writer out there gets the attention that they deserve. Such is life. It’s up to us as readers to spread the word about these great writers. I asked three readers to profile an author they enjoyed reading in the mystery genre who they think is “underrated” or “unappreciated.” Trisha from the YA YA YAs, a blog that primarily focuses on YA literature (worth checking out) is also a big mystery reader. She introduced me to Jo Nesbo’s work several years ago. Her guest post on writer Deon Meyer is below. If you have a favorite mystery writer that you’d like to profile, please contact me using the contact form. Thanks! Continue Reading…

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In Norway, the Past Is a Foreign Country – NYTimes.com.

So if there is no road back to how things used to be, to the naïve fearlessness of what was untouched, there is a road forward. To be brave. To keep on as before. To turn the other cheek as we ask: “Is that all you’ve got?” To refuse to let fear change the way we build our society.

-Jo Nesbø

In Norway, the Past Is a Foreign Country – NYTimes.com

Posted on July 27, 2011 In Opinion
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Maj Sjowall Interview at Fourth Estate

July 23, 2011 — 9 Comments

Maj Sjowall – The Godmother of Scandinavian Crime Fiction | Fourth Estate.

Seems that Fourth Estate (an imprint of HarperCollins) is re-issuing the Martin Beck books with pretty new covers. There’s a quickie interview with the author at the link above for those interested. Not sure what to think of the new covers sporting quotes from both Jo Nesbø and Henning Mankell. To me they aren’t all that flattering especially the part about Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, being the “godparents of Scandinavian crime fiction.” I would have preferred something like: “the ones who started it all” or something. No? well, that’s why I don’t work in marketing.

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Dark Days Ahead For Inspector Harry Hole?

May 13, 2011 — 5 Comments

Found yet another Jo Nesbo article (yeah, yeah, yeah). Anyway, the author is promoting his new book, The Snowman, here in the US. Of course I don’t see that he’s coming anywhere close to where I live. I’ll try not to take that personally. I do actually own the hardcover of his anticipated “break out novel.” You should GO GET IT because it’s available RIGHT NOW. It’s good even though it’s not his best work. Yes, that is my opinion and I’m not crazy about the cover either. Moving on – I read this interview at the WSJ Speakeasy Blog (May 2011) and had a moment of WTF when I read this part:

How far into the future have you plotted Harry Hole’s story?

I know exactly what is going to happen. He’s not going to have eternal life.

What does this actually mean…? Seriously. What does this mean? Is he planning to kill off Harry or what?

and this:

Can you tell me how many more books are planned?

No.

Just a flat out “no.” Hey, if the series continues to get darker, I’m down with that. I just hope Harry survives it all. That’s all.

P.S. I did add that photo of him to my collection.

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Writer Laura Lippman on the depiction of dead women in fiction

May 11, 2011 — 5 Comments

This is an ongoing discussion and one that fascinates me. Mystery writer, Laura Lippman weighs in with her thoughts and here are a few brief excerpts of Writer Request: Is It Just Me?:

Sometimes, I feel that the primary position for women in crime fiction is prone

and this:

But there is still a lot of crime fiction where women show up only to die, although preferably after having sex with the protagonist. It happens in a lot of bad books, but it happens in some otherwise good books, too.

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