Author Chris Ould is has to meeting students across Yorkshire, with a tour which includes Boroughbridge High School and Ashville College on Wednesday 22nd May and Nidderdale High School on Thursday 23rd May.

These Harrogate International Festivals events were  presented in association with Usborne Books. Each interactive session, performed for a range of key stage 3 classes, will involve Chris speaking about his Street Duty Case Books and students were able to purchase The Killing Street ahead of publication date too.

Chris ... Read More >>]]> Author Chris Ould is has to meeting students across Yorkshire, with a tour which includes Boroughbridge High School and Ashville College on Wednesday 22nd May and Nidderdale High School on Thursday 23rd May.

These Harrogate International Festivals events were  presented in association with Usborne Books. Each interactive session, performed for a range of key stage 3 classes, will involve Chris speaking about his Street Duty Case Books and students were able to purchase The Killing Street ahead of publication date too.

Chris worked with students to plot the perfect crime story, giving useful hints and tips along the way. As a scriptwriter for TV, Chris has previously written for The Bill, Hornblower and other popular series. Students were able to ask questions about being an author, writing stories or script writing at the end of the session.

To celebrate this exciting series of events, Harrogate International Festivals and Usborne are offering readers the chance to win 1 of 5 signed copies of Chris Ould’s brand new title ‘The Killing Street’.

For the chance to win, entrants simply need to answer the following question – What is the name of Chris Ould’s first Street Duty novel? Answers should be sent to crime@harrogate-festival.org.uk by no later than midnight on Friday May 31st.

Competition terms and conditions:
Closing date for entries is Friday 31 May 2013. No purchase is necessary to enter the Prize Draw and entry is by email only. Harrogate International Festival accepts no responsibility for incomplete or invalid entries. If you are under the age of 18, please gain permission from a parent or guardian before entering. The winning entries will be drawn at random; winners will be alerted within 1 week of the closing date and will be notified by email. The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or alternative books/prizes. Data submitted by entrants will only be used for the purpose of this Prize Draw. By entering this Prize Draw each entrant agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions.

American blogger and book lover Erin Faye takes a look at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2013 Longlist.

Down the road from the Yorkshire Dales in the north of England, one can find a gorgeous idyllic small town called Harrogate. Each July, Harrogate welcomes thousands of crime fiction readers, authors, publishers, and assorted other folks who are passionate about tales with a dark side to the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The festival ... Read More >>]]> American blogger and book lover Erin Faye takes a look at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2013 Longlist.

Down the road from the Yorkshire Dales in the north of England, one can find a gorgeous idyllic small town called Harrogate. Each July, Harrogate welcomes thousands of crime fiction readers, authors, publishers, and assorted other folks who are passionate about tales with a dark side to the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

The festival lasts a whole weekend, and if you have the opportunity to attend, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Coming from America, it’s a journey–and will cost you a pretty penny–but it is worth every second of a screaming kid on a plane and overpriced cup of coffee.

The festival kicks off with a bang at the opening ceremonies, where the annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is awarded. The selection process is different from most American awards, with an initial long list of eighteen books being whittled down to six finalists, who are then announced on July 1 and voted on by the public, with a final winner being decided by an illustrious committee, which this year includes one of my favorite authors (and festival chair) Val McDermid.

Of all the many award lists I’ve seen so far this year, this is my favorite by far. Because not all of the books have gotten a wide release (or, for that matter, marketing attention) over here, I wanted to share my thoughts on those I’ve read, and let you know how to get your hands on ‘em. For the ones that are published in the US, you can, of course, also get them from your local library.

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The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne

This is an exceptional first novel, an intricate tale of crimes in both the present and the past. The modern crime—the death of an eight-year-old by possibly at the hand of his eleven-year-old friend—was less interesting to me than the past of the accused’s lawyer, but both combine for a strong story.

Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Indiebound.

Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham

In a decided departure from his Tom Thorne police procedurals (which are fantastic), this stand-alone psychological thriller knocks it out of the proverbial park. Part whodunit and part whydunnit, you’ll be rooting for (and against) characters throughout.

Oh, and as an American reader, it might be helpful for you to know that “pudding” in England means “dessert.”

Available as an ebook in the US from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or you can order it from Amazon.co.uk.

The Rage by Gene Kerrigan

Yes, I’m biased toward Irish authors, but Gene Kerrigan really is one of those who should have a lot more visibility over here. This police procedural is a must-read, particularly for noir fans, and has received nothing but stellar reviews.

Available in paperback and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Indiebound.

 “From Creative Writing, to Criminal Law, to Writing about Criminal Law”  by Elizabeth L. Silver

When you’re a writer and a lawyer, people often think that the law came first. You may be pinned “a lawyer who wrote a book,” instead of the reverse. While pursuing a career as a novelist, I spent years working in writing-related jobs, moved from New York City to Norwich, England to attend the University of East Anglia’s Creative Writing MA, returned ... Read More >>]]>  “From Creative Writing, to Criminal Law, to Writing about Criminal Law”  by Elizabeth L. Silver

When you’re a writer and a lawyer, people often think that the law came first. You may be pinned “a lawyer who wrote a book,” instead of the reverse. While pursuing a career as a novelist, I spent years working in writing-related jobs, moved from New York City to Norwich, England to attend the University of East Anglia’s Creative Writing MA, returned to teach English literature and writing in Philadelphia, and found the rare gift of an occasional publication along the way. It was only after a handful of years that I hung up the writers’ day jobs, changed directions, and in my late-twenties, enrolled in law school.

For two and a half years of law school, I still continued writing fiction, never quite feeling comfortable with the label of “lawyer,” but also failing to feel as if I’d earned the label of “writer.” I spent my days learning about criminal procedure, criminal law, and litigation, while silently penning short stories and scripts at night.

Then, in my third year of law school, I moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Austin, Texas and studied capital punishment.  As part of the course, I worked on a clemency petition, visited death row, interviewed inmates and met with a handful of victim family members with my supervising attorneys. At the end of the course, I attended a symposium at the Texas State Capitol where a priest, several lawyers, journalists, filmmakers, and a solitary victim’s rights advocate spoke about the problems with the death penalty as it related to a potentially wrongful execution. While listening to each person express a different perspective on the issue, the complicated relationship between a mourning parent trying to forgive and an admittedly guilty inmate struck me as an intricate bond ripe for exploration. It wasn’t about guilt or innocence necessarily, or even what transpired, but instead about the fragility, doubt, and unease in each of these people. I rushed home, and over the next few weeks, wrote the first and last chapters of the The Execution of Noa P. Singleton.

For two subsequent years, I worked as a judicial clerk to one of the nine judges on the highest criminal court in Texas. The first assignment handed to me as an untapped, inexperienced lawyer was to draft a death penalty judicial opinion, reviewing the appeal from trial to decision with the aid of my judge.  During the days, I read trial transcripts, reviewed appeals, researched the law, reviewed photos and evidence, and wandered into the local courthouse to watch a handful of murder trials. At night, I worked on the novel.

The two careers finally congealed, and with the power of a magical literary agent and editor, became the novel that will find its way to bookshelves this June, almost six years after first experimenting with how to try a murder case in a mock trial in Philadelphia federal court, and fifteen years after I began writing seriously. The short-lived career in criminal law serendipitously gave life to the literary career about which I’d dreamed for years.

The power of heightened narrative so excavated through criminal behavior is exquisite fuel for character development in literature. Characters require motivation, whether easily understood or repugnant, and it is oftentimes extreme decisions, such as criminal acts, that allow us to examine that human behavior. It wasn’t until five years engulfed in the law that I discovered this. So, when people ask if I’m lawyer who wrote a novel, I can finally reply and say, I’m a writer who went to law school to find her first story.

**************************************************

Elizabeth L. Silver’s debut novel, The Execution of Noa P. Singleton is out on 11 June, published by Headline.

Click here to learn more about what inspired Elizabeth to write about a prisoner on Death Row.

www.elizabethlsilver.com

Follow Elizabeth on Twitter.

**************************************************

Competition:

To be with a chance of winning one of ten  proof copies of the book simply email the answer to the following question, along with your name and address to crime@harrogate-festival.org.uk by Monday 3 June

Where did Elizabeth L. Silver study for an MA in Creative Writing?

Terms and  Conditions:

• Closing date for entries is Monday 3 June 2013.
• No purchase is necessary to enter the Prize Draw.
• Entry to the Prize Draw is by email only. You’re Booked accepts no responsibility for incomplete or invalid entries.
• The winning entry will be drawn at random and the winner will be alerted within 1 week of the closing date and will be notified by email.
• The prize is not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or an alternative prize.
• The Prize Draw is open to all UK residents aged 18 or over.
• Data submitted by entrants will only be used for the purpose of this Prize Draw.
• By entering this Prize Draw each entrant agrees to be bound by these terms and conditions.

2013 Festival Reader-in-Residence David Marks tells us how James Bond long been an influence in his life.

“The name’s Mark. David Mark.”

“David Mark what?”

“No, listen. The surname is Mark. The first name is David.”

“So why did you say your surname first? I mean, that’s just weird. Anyway, I know your name. We’ve been friends since nursery. And that’s not a gun, it’s a stick …”

“Do you know how many different way I could kill you? Now, come ... Read More >>]]> 2013 Festival Reader-in-Residence David Marks tells us how James Bond long been an influence in his life.

“The name’s Mark. David Mark.”

“David Mark what?”

“No, listen. The surname is Mark. The first name is David.”

“So why did you say your surname first? I mean, that’s just weird. Anyway, I know your name. We’ve been friends since nursery. And that’s not a gun, it’s a stick …”

“Do you know how many different way I could kill you? Now, come at me again. And this time, take your callipers off …”

The above conversation is a pretty much verbatim transcript of a conversation I had on a fairly regular basis in the playground of Newlaithes Junior School in Carlisle in 1986. My friends just didn’t know their roles. Stuart Wood may have had a club-foot and an eye-patch but there was no good reason he couldn’t be one of SPECTRE’S top agents. He just had to stop crying and die properly. And as for my Miss Moneypenny. This was one eight-year-old who just didn’t appreciate the importance of innuendo.

There was nothing wrong with my schoolmates’ heroes, of course. Ian Rush, Michael Jackson and Peter Duncan had a lot going for them. But I was a dyed-in-the-wool James Bond man. In my mind I was a sophisticated, dangerous and emotionally-closed-down man of mystery. I could kill an enemy in 57 different ways using only a paperclip. I could get a woman to make purring noises just by using a couple of puns and kicking a bad guy in the knackers. I was James Bond. And it was a real pain when Mam called me in for dinner.

I should point out that in the mid-eighties I was also Hercule Poirot, Philip Marlow, Horatio Hornblower and Jane Marple, but Bond was the one that Dad felt most comfortable with me channelling.

I got into Bond through the films. Everybody does, don’t they? But I started reading the books when I was about nine. The films had been good. The books better. In the movies, Bond doesn’t have a lot going on behind the eyes. He’s a little on the one-dimensional side. The books are different. He’s a rounded character. He has faults. He has some questionable ethics. He has an attitude towards women that makes cavemen and Jim Davidson seem positively liberated. He’s even a little vulnerable at time. He’s not entirely easy to like. He doesn’t sound anything like Sean Connery. But my goodness, he’s somebody that all men would like to be for a day or so.

I’m in my mid-thirties now. I’m roughly the age Bond was when Ian Fleming first brought him to the masses. I don’t think we have much in common in terms of our physical abilities. I’m not really the sort of chap who could parachute through a window, kill a dozen henchmen and switch off a nuclear bomb. My glasses would fall off. Neutralising the bomb? The last impressive technical thing I did in was spell out “Boobs” on a calculator. But I’m a bloody marvel when it comes to puns and witty rejoinders. I’m not at all averse to a vodka martini. I always check the exits when I enter a room and I know, in my heart of hearts, that if I press it often enough, my Biro will fire a dart into the necks of my attackers.

Bond has been a part of my life for three decades. I’ve read all the books so many times that I’ve kind of spoiled the films for myself. I know so much Bond trivia that my local pub has stopped putting questions about him into the quiz. I’m not saying I’m obsessive, but when I smoked, I called my lighter Felix …

When I was asked to be Reader in Residence for this year’s festival and take the lead on some get-togethers about Casino Royale, I was given the opportunity to demonstrate just how cool, centred and unflappable my devotion to Bond had made me. Which is why I did a small Irish jig and became inarticulate for 20 minutes.

Come along to one of the Big Read events. I may not leave you shaken or stirred. But there will be puns. And behave, or I’ll unleash the paperclip.

David Mark will be leading the 2013 Big Read events at libraries across the North of England. Don’t miss this chance to test his knowledge of Bond trivia and learn more about 007.

2013 Big Read Events

Wed 5 June

Crosshills Library, Keighley, North Yorks – 7.30pm.
Cost £3. Tel. 0845 034 9533 or 0845 034 9402 or email crosshills.library@northyorks.gov.uk

Mon 10 June

Whitley Bay Library, North Tyneside – 2pm
FREE. Refreshments will be provided. Tel: 0191 643 5390 or email whitleybay.library@northtyneside.gov.uk

Newcastle City Library – 6pm
FREE. To book visit http://bigreadbookgroup-eorg.eventbrite.co.uk

Tue 11 June

Norton Library, Stockton-On-Tees – 2pm
FREE. Refreshments will be provided. Tel. 01642 525019

South Shields Library, South Tyneside – 6pm
Cost £1 including refreshments. Tel. 0191 428 2318

Wed 12 June

Leeds Central Library – 6pm
FREE. Tel. 0113 247 6016

Thu 13 June

Northallerton Prison – 2.30pm

Knaresborough Library, North Yorks, 7pm
£3. To book, tel. 0845 300 5112, email Knaresborough.library@northyorks.gov.uk or book in person at  Knaresborough Library, Market Place, Knaresborough HG5 8AG

The 2013 Big Read is run in partnership with Vintage Classics. With thanks to our partner library services:  Leeds Libraries, North Yorkshire County Council Libraries and Information Service, Newcastle Libraries, North Tyneside Libraries, South Tyneside Libraries and Stockton Borough Libraries.

1. Always have a pencil and paper with you, in every handbag, shopping bag, pocket, briefcase, and of course beside your bed. You never know when that wonderful idea might strike. A Dictaphone might also be useful.  Gone are the days when you got funny looks for talking into a machine or even talking to yourself walking down the road. Everybody’s at it now.

2. Travel by public transport as often as you can.  If you’ve got ... Read More >>]]> 1. Always have a pencil and paper with you, in every handbag, shopping bag, pocket, briefcase, and of course beside your bed. You never know when that wonderful idea might strike. A Dictaphone might also be useful.  Gone are the days when you got funny looks for talking into a machine or even talking to yourself walking down the road. Everybody’s at it now.

2. Travel by public transport as often as you can.  If you’ve got a bus pass so much the better, you can stay on it all day for free and save on heating bills at home.  You see and meet some great characters for novels.

3. Earwig other people’s conversations in cafes, bars, buses, trains. Hoover up their stories and anecdotes only don’t to it too overtly because you’ll either get arrested or attacked.

4. People watch for body language.  It adds colour to your characters, but ditto above.

5. Write for yourself rather than trying to write to suit a publisher, agent, or your readers.  You’ll end up with something watered down and weak that nobody loves least of all you.

6. Don’t read reviews, (or rejection letters if you’re struggling to get published) if you do, then learn to take the rough with the smooth and then carry on writing for yourself and for enjoyment, not to please the woman from Woking who claims your novels are utter tripe or the Agent or Publisher who says you will NEVER make a writer.

7. Back up everything, regularly, regularly, regularly.

8. Have a spare computer, laptop or netbook, or all three.  If one fails, and you’ve backed up, you can always continue writing.

9. If you get to the stage in your novel where you’re bored with the story, then your reader will almost certainly be bored too. Chuck it out and start again. Or as Chandler once said, bring in a man with a gun.

10. Marry someone rich. It helps.  If you can’t then accept that writing is hard work.  You don’t get a pension plan, and you don’t get a regular salary cheque. Nobody is forcing you to do this, so don’t moan, enjoy it and if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it.

PS And don’t spend too much time drawing up lists otherwise you’ll never get any work done.

Pauline Rowson is the author of the DI Andy Horton mystery series set in the Solent area on the South Coast of England. Her crime novels have received critical acclaim in both the UK and the USA.

Undercurrent, the ninth in the DI Andy Horton series, was published by Severn House in the UK and Commonwealth in January and in the USA in May 2013.

For further information visit Pauline Rowson’s Official Website  

You can also follow Pauline Rowson on Twitter http://twitter.com/PaulineRowson

‘Surround yourself with human beings, my dear James. They are easier to fight for than principles’

In Casino Royale, the first of Ian Fleming’s 007 adventures, a game of cards is James Bond’s only chance to bring down the desperate SMERSH agent Le Chiffre. But Bond soon discovers that there is far more at stake than money.

From Guns and Girls to Cocktails and Cards we all think we know James Bond, but whether you are a diehard ... Read More >>]]>

As an enthusiastic crime fiction reader I always relish the opportunity of reading a crime novel written by someone who has actually walked the walk and talked the talk in law enforcement , drawing on their personal experience to construct an authentic story- as long as they have the propensity to spin a good yarn as well! As an ex-London Met detective with many years service under his belt, Luke Delaney not only exhibits this complete ... Read More >>]]> As an enthusiastic crime fiction reader I always relish the opportunity of reading a crime novel written by someone who has actually walked the walk and talked the talk in law enforcement , drawing on their personal experience to construct an authentic story- as long as they have the propensity to spin a good yarn as well! As an ex-London Met detective with many years service under his belt, Luke Delaney not only exhibits this complete authenticity in terms of the police procedural, but more than demonstrates his finesse as an author in this gripping and well-constructed novel. Delaney has personal experience of policing in tough inner city areas, and as a CID detective he encountered everything from fledgling serial killers to violent gang crime and gangland assasinations, and all this is brought to bear in this impressive debut thriller.

Sean Corrigan is an exemplary creation in terms of a detective with just the right balance of good cop/disturbed cop having overcome the traumas of his childhood experiences, the experience of which give him a unique perspective on the motivations and psyche of a killer. In Corrigan we observe a man who could easily teeter over the precipice emotionally due to the horrendous events in his own life, but who fights every day to use these experiences to become a perceptive and astute detective, with an inate ability to tap into the mind of the killer at large in this investigation. He is a terrier of a man, unrelenting in his pursuance of the man he believes is guilty of these brutal killings, and like all good detectives more than willing to challenge the dictates of his largely inept paper-pushing superiors to catch a killer. I found him an entirely empathetic character and wholly believable in his characterisation, which is absolutely essential if this is to be the first of a projected series. Likewise, his nemesis in the shape of slimy financier James Hellier, the object of Corrigan’s investigation, is a perfectly realised character combining charm with an undercurrent of wolfishness in his interactions with Corrigan, but has Corrigan got the right man in his sights?

The plot is perfectly paced as the police team grapple with a forensically aware, and ultimately psychopathic killer, capturing the tenseness and frustrations of a multiple murder investigation. This is where Delaney’s experience as a police officer kicks in, with a true depiction of the nitty gritty procedures that the police are bound by, and a continual feeling of them racing against the clock. There are a couple of nicely placed barbs directed towards crime fiction writers and film-makers at the liberties they take in their own depiction of police work, which again added to the sense of realism in Delaney’s own presentation of a police investigation. There is a nice balance in the plot between Corrigan’s professional and personal life, and I thought this added an extra dimension to our perception of Corrigan as a husband, father and cop, with an effective drawing back from the violence of the main plot.

I have no qualms at all in comparing this with some of the best exponents of the psychological police procedual- I’m thinking Mark Billingham, Stuart MacBride, Adam Creed et al- so would definitely rate Delaney as an author to discover for yourselves. You will not be disappointed.

This post was submitted by Raven.

Following the successful Dark Winter, this is the second outing for the freckled, flame-haired warrior DS Aector McAvoy, and this sequel lacks none of the punch of the first- I would dare to say that I actually enjoyed this one more. This is an altogether darker and seedier affair from the outset, beginning with a particularly brutal murder that sparks a complicated and taxing investigation for McAvoy. When the investigation diverges into the world of local ... Read More >>]]> Following the successful Dark Winter, this is the second outing for the freckled, flame-haired warrior DS Aector McAvoy, and this sequel lacks none of the punch of the first- I would dare to say that I actually enjoyed this one more. This is an altogether darker and seedier affair from the outset, beginning with a particularly brutal murder that sparks a complicated and taxing investigation for McAvoy. When the investigation diverges into the world of local politics and police monitoring, it soon becomes clear that all is not as it would appear, causing McAvoy and his superior officer DI Pharoah to navigate their way through a world of secrets and lies. Despite the thrust of the main investigation there is also ample time for McAvoy’s horse-whispering skills and bare knuckle fighting as you will discover…

I’ve really taken to the character of the slightly lumbering but incredibly thoughtful and moral McAvoy and as I’ve said before it’s nice to see a police character not totally encumbered by the stresses of their private lives or less savoury habits. Despite the small blips caused by his marriage to Roisin who hails from a traveller background, McAvoy has the luxury of being able to pursue his police career relatively painlessly. He is a ruminator to the highest degree, much to the chagrin of his impulsive boss Pharaoh, and has an inherent compassion for people that leads him to not falling prey to snap judgements. He is what is known in the trade as a nice bloke, that consequently makes him an altogether nicer police officer if at times slightly too ponderous. His boss Pharoah, who I have compared in a previous review to a watered down DI Steele from Stuart MacBride’s series, lacks none of this hesitation. She is bold, impulsive, brash and completely brilliant! Her interplay with the diametrically opposite McAvoy is a joy, and transmits a sense of fun from Mark in the way they bounce off each other, but never losing sight of the fact of the effectiveness of their teamwork and this was one of my favourite aspects of the book.

As I referred to in my review of Dark Winter, the setting of Hull is perfectly rendered throughout the book. Like other Northern based crime novels, this book reads as a twisted appreciation of a city down on its luck through years of urban degeneration, but still carrying at its heart an indominitable spirit. McAvoy is used as a mouthpiece for this obviously encountering the worst aspects of life that this formerly prosperous city has to offer, but appreciating the essential heart and soul of the city. In reflection of its setting, this is a particularly dark tale drawing on the more unusual activities of people’s sexual behaviour, and I must confess I did enjoy the bloody outcome of a misjudged night of dogging- see now you’re intrigued! As the plot unfolds there are dark revelations indeed emanating from those in positions of responsibility and the unwitting victims of their personal depravations, all hedged by Mark’s firm control of the novel as an entirely satisfying police procedural. Overall a good read and I’m looking forward to the next foray into McAvoy’s world.

This post was submitted by Raven.

You’re Booked speaks to C&R Crime editorial director Krystyna Green

How long have you been looking after the crime list at Constable & Robinson?

I’ve been editorial director of the Constable & Robinson crime list for fifteen years now but in fact it’s been going for as long as I have – both of us started out in 1964!  So we both have big birthdays coming up and to celebrate fifty years of Constable Crime we’ve ... Read More >>]]> You’re Booked speaks to C&R Crime editorial director Krystyna Green

How long have you been looking after the crime list at Constable & Robinson?

I’ve been editorial director of the Constable & Robinson crime list for fifteen years now but in fact it’s been going for as long as I have – both of us started out in 1964!  So we both have big birthdays coming up and to celebrate fifty years of Constable Crime we’ve already rebranded the crime list as it was high time it got its own dedicated imprint!

Wow, so with all your years of experience, you must have some idea as to what makes a good editor then?

I’ve come to realise that the qualities of a good commissioning editor are probably also those that a good midwife possesses – patience (masses of that) prior to the book’s delivery, calmness under pressure, encouragement when your author feels like giving up and, above all, enthusiasm and joy when the book is finally published.

It takes years to hone these skills – especially the patience.  But you have to be intuitive too and truly believe in your author and their work when they come to you; half-heartedness in this business is a fast track to failure.

My job also involves watching out for authors who are creating a buzz in the US and about once year I visit the various US editors and agents I already have links with, to see whether they have anything new and exciting. This year we publish two great new American talents, Paul Doiron and Elizabeth Hand.  Liz, primarily as a fantasy/YA writer, has has written two extraordinarily original crime novels, while Doiron follows the tradition of C J Box in setting his crime thrillers in the wilderness of the Maine countryside.

Tell us a bit about how the crime list at C & R has changed over the years…

When I took over the running of the crime list in 1997 we were publishing twenty-two hardbacks a year, primarily for the libraries.  There were very few trade sales and certainly no supermarket or non-traditional sales deals.  Indeed, there was no paperback publishing arm and paperback rights to Constable’s most notable crime authors – Peter Robinson and R D Wingfield – were sold out of house.

Today’s crime list is a very different beast, we publish about sixty-five titles a year in a variety of formats.  We do outstandingly well with series crime and have found our own niche in the marketplace with ‘cosy’ crime, spearheaded by our star author M.C. Beaton, who writes the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series.

So now, in 2013, it’s an excellent time to relaunch the list when we’re at our strongest. Having a consolidated crime list at Constable makes perfect sense; putting all our crime fiction under one imprint should end any ambiguity as to where a book sits, regardless of whether we publish in hardback first or as a paperback original.

So what are your plans for the new C&R Crime imprint?

We relaunch as C&R Crime with the publication of ebook-bestseller James Craig’s fourth novel in the Inspector Carlyle series, The Circus, and new talent including Paul Doiron, A D Garrett and highly-regarded US dark thriller writer Elizabeth Hand. British crime also has a strong showing with the latest in the new-look Hamish Macbeth series from M.C. Beaton, Death of Yesterday, and from award-winning author Cath Staincliffe with Blink of an Eye in April.

C&R Crime will incorporate a variety of authors, from US series crime authors, homegrown authors with an established backlist, and also new authors, such as Lynn Shepherd (author of the widely reviewed Tom-All- Alone’s and the recent A Treacherous Likeness) and Danny Miller (author of 2011 CWA John Creasy Award runner-up Kiss Me Quick and forthcoming The Gilded Edge) who we have worked hard to break through into the UK marketplace.

We wanted to launch in style and so we’ve also got a fantastic new dedicated website to the crime list, www.crcrime.co.uk, which we hope to grow into a hub for all the latest crime news. We currently have a competition to win a weekend break to Harrogate for the festival running so do go check out the website and enter!

All sounds very exciting! So what would you say are the hot books to come this year from C&R Crime?

It’s a big year for us! We have Paul Doiron’s follow up to The Poacher’s Son, his critically-acclaimed debut novel, Trespasser is coming in May and the latest in Alison Bruce’s DC Gary Goodhew series The Backs out in July. Excitingly we also have a new Inspector Carlisle from James Craig in August, Then We Die, so that’s summer sorted!

And, of course, we can’t talk about what’s to come without mentioning the inimitable M.C. Beaton. After being named the 3rd most borrowed library author, writing 24 Agatha Raisins and 28 Hamish Macbeth’s, and with over a million copies of her books currently in print she’s showing no signs of stopping. This Autumn will see us publish her next Agatha book, Something Borrowed, Someone Dead, and we can’t wait to share it with her fans.

We also have an exciting new addition to our list in the terrific Brian McGilloway, with a sequel to his number one bestseller Little Girl Lost. Brian’s smash hit featuring the complex DS Lucy Black was originally published as a standalone, but proved so successful a follow-up was called for.  We’re thrilled to welcome Brian to C&R and hope everyone is as excited as we are at the arrival of Hurt in November.

So… to conclude: the key to commissioning a successful crime fiction list is variety. The job is certainly never dull and I hope that among this list of rich pickings there must be someone to suit everybody’s tastes!

Being led by the hand through the sinister gas-lit streets of Victorian London by the marvellous Sarah Pinborough, this is masterful genre-defying thriller that will endlessly feed your curiosity and mess with your mind…in a good way! Blending together all the atmosphere of a city gripped by fear in the shadow of Jack The Ripper, Pinborough draws on another unsolved series of murders from the same period, the Thames Torso murders, and melds and manipulates aspects ... Read More >>]]> Being led by the hand through the sinister gas-lit streets of Victorian London by the marvellous Sarah Pinborough, this is masterful genre-defying thriller that will endlessly feed your curiosity and mess with your mind…in a good way! Blending together all the atmosphere of a city gripped by fear in the shadow of Jack The Ripper, Pinborough draws on another unsolved series of murders from the same period, the Thames Torso murders, and melds and manipulates aspects of both investigations with an intriguing dose of the supernatural, in this the first of a projected series. So why was it so good, I hear you cry. Read on…

Mayhem introduces us to Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, a seemingly respectable and professional fellow who harbours more than a few demons of his own, suffering sleepless nights and not averse to trips to the seedy underbelly of the city to sate his desire for opium. With his involvement in the first grim discovery in the confines of Scotland Yard, he embarks on an investigation of his own into this heinous murder, joining forces with a mysterious priest and the real life figure of Aaron Kominski, a man deemed insane in the Ripper investigation and a chief suspect in the original case. Pinborough’s assured craft of characterisation shines through in this unlikely trinity, with the dour Dr Bond immersed in a world of supernatural influence so readily embraced by the beliefs and experiences of his two cohorts. The priest and Kominski have an unwavering belief in otherworldly forces, which sets them against Bond’s position of a man of science, but Bond’s belief in the tangible is unsettled by the priest’s tales of the curse of the Upir- a folkloric spirit who inhabits a man body baying for blood- and the strength and veracity of Kominski’s visions of the future. I thought the charaterisation of all three protagonists was extremely well-executed throughout with the variances between their physical and mental characters seeming absolutely authentic, without resorting to the melodramatic characters of the penny dreadful, a trap that too many authors fall into when attempting to capture the spirit of this age. Kominski, in particular, I found most affecting and I admired the way that Pinborough drew so closely on the factual sources of this tormented man’s life to create such a credible character cleverly exposing the humanity that lay beyond his tortured soul. Equally the bringer of tales, the wild-eyed priest, was an extremely effective foil to Dr Bond, and toyed with our reactions to him having a largely quite sinister air throughout. Although I was not immediately enamoured with Dr Bond, who is to be the recurring figure of the series, I was converted by the end to the nuances of his character, and look forward to how the experience of this investigation will colour his actions in the next books.

I must confess to having a slight aversion to ostensibly crime thrillers set in this period, having been tainted by reading a right couple of groaners recently- probably the fault laying in the fact that they were chockful of Americanisms and badly edited- but my fears were assuaged instantly. The atmosphere is tangible throughout, capturing the sounds, sights and smells of this iconic period in London’s history. The portrayal of the professional and social world of Dr Bond was perfectly balanced with the poverty and criminality of the world of Kominski, with the barriers of two men in completely different classes falling by the wayside in the hunt to capture a killer. As the storyline unfolded with a sojourn to the world of the Grand Tour and an ill-judged (for one character certainly) stopover in Eastern Europe, the reader is consistently entertained and wrongfooted throughout with the changing locales and a nicely terrifying search for a killer.

As you have probably ascertained, I really quite liked Mayhem, and if you enjoy your crime with a twist this will be a good read for you too. Packed full of attention to historical detail and with a marvellous band of characters, I think this marks the start of a great series.

This post was submitted by Raven.