A new year, more reading to be done, and – in turn – more time to find: Challenges in the latter, of course, but numerous pleasures to be found in the former. The to-be-read pile is tottering still – ’twas ever thus – and so the remaining dark days of January on into ever-lightening February and beyond will be spent chipping away, manfully, at the pleasures it contains. Many of which will, it is to be hoped, feature herein as the blog develops through 2016. Amongst numerous others, new books by Peter May, Chris Brookmyre and Stuart MacBride are in there, as are several not-so-new books, including – in a disgracefully late showing on my part – Caro Ramsay’s latest Anderson & Costello volume, and the most recent novel by the estimable Ray Banks, Angels of the North, published by Glasgow’s Blasted Heath, has been winking at me for far longer than is fashionable. I only hope sufficient time can, indeed, be found…
In the meantime, a wee bit of housekeeping: I was able recently to meet with the splendid Mason Cross – author of the Carter Blake series – and extracts from a subsequent short interview will feature in the next few days, ahead of my new review of the first two books in the sequence: The Killing Season (2014) and The Samaritan (2015). Like all crime writers, Mason was a delight to speak with and generous with his time. It was great to hear that the third novel, Winterlong, is in gestation and scheduled for a summer release. Since we met, and as you’re all no doubt aware, The Samaritan has been included in the Richard & Judy Book Club for Spring 2016. Congratulations, man: hugely deserved. A tremendous commercial achievement, and one hopes to see an associated sales boost! For more information on the Spring Book Club, please click the link below.
http://blog.whsmith.co.uk/the-richard-and-judy-book-club-spring-2016-welcome/
Ahead of these posts, allow me to draw your attention to the recent emergence of Crime Uncovered: Detective, an academic-lite publication released by Intellect and edited by the ever-industrious Barry Forshaw. It is part of Intellect’s programme of books focused upon crime in film, books and television, and this volume features case studies by several academics on some of our most popular fictional detectives. Its focus is global: Montalbano, Wallander, Maigret, Dalgliesh, Beck, Morse and Adamsberg, amongst others, feature. There is a fine contribution on the Scottish genre by Erin MacDonald, in her piece on Rankin’s Rebus, and – full disclosure – my essay on Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch is also on the menu. Further details on this volume, and the wider range of Intellect’s Crime Uncovered series, can be found by clicking on the cover image beneath.
Anyway, back to the tottering pile and the business of reading. The Tottering Pile: surely the title of a golden-age crime novel, right…?
Brutal Mosaic 