Man as Monster and the Milgram Experiment by Bryony PearceI’ve always been intrigued by man-as-monster; equally frightened and fascinated by the idea that someone who could help an elderly neighbour with their shopping, let local kids play in their garden an...
‘Sodden boxershorts: Charles Willeford and modern-day publishing’ by John BarlowI’ve just finished reading Charles Willeford’s Hoke Moseley series. The four books, all set in 1980s Miami, are wildly, brilliantly idiosyncratic. As Elmore Leonard said, nobody writes a better crime...
The Adventures of Maud West by Susannah StapletonMaud West ran her detective agency in London for more than thirty years, having started sleuthing on behalf of society’s finest in 1905. Her exploits grabbed headlines throughout the world but, beneat...
Changing Genres by Leigh RussellWriters are wordsmiths. We spend our time playing with words, seeing how we can use them to communicate. But ideas as well as language inspire the books we write, and these ideas can pop up unbidden f...
“Not so much Dun-Roamin’ as having discovered a whole new genre to roam.” – by Simon ScarrowI was on a panel of ‘Roman’ writers at a festival in Harrogate some years ago when a member of the audience asked us if we’d ever contemplate writing outside that historical period. I was quite surpri...
When Covid 19 clips your wings, why not plan a crime festival?By Beverley Jones, author of The Beach House. Remember last summer, when we were all staying home, protecting the NHS and clapping for carers? Little did we know how thoroughly Covid 19 would affect u...
‘The Challenges of Writing a Series’ by Pauline RowsonDead Sea, number four in the Marvik mystery thriller series, was a difficult book to write, not because there was any lack of ideas for the storyline but because it needed to pick up the threads of an...
Martina Cole Awarded the 2021 CWA Diamond DaggerMartina Cole is the recipient of the highest honour in British crime writing, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Diamond Dagger. The long-reigning Queen of Crime Drama is a publishing powerhouse. Ma...
‘Edge of the Grave’ by Robbie MorrisonEdge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison is a dark historical crime novel set in 1930s Glasgow. A city still recovering from the Great War; split by religious division and swarming with razor gangs. For f...
‘Karloff, the 60’s, and the First Truly Modern Crime Story’ by Joseph Schneider“Mr. Boogey Man,” “King of Blood” they used to call me. Marx Brothers make you laugh, Garbo makes you weep, Orlock makes you scream. – Boris Karloff as Byron Orlock, Targets It’s 1967, and Peter Bogda...
THE VISITORS by Miranda RijksShe offered them a place to stay. They wanted so much more. Hannah’s life is almost perfect. She’s a full-time mother to two young children and married to successful cardiologist Daniel. The only thin...
Mortmain Hall by Martin EdwardsA superb Golden Age mystery packed with twists, from the winner of the Diamond Dagger 2020 ENGLAND, 1930. Grieving widows are a familiar sight on London’s Necropolis Railway. So when an elegant...
CWA Daggers on the BBC – and YouTubeThe CWA Daggers were recently featured on BBC Look North, focused on CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger winner Trevor Wood and his work at The People’s Kitchen in Newcastle, inspiration for his debut...
Mr Dickens and Me, by J C BriggsClaire Tomalin observed that: ‘everyone finds their own version of Charles Dickens.’ Mine is Detective Dickens, the amateur sleuth who teams up with the Superintendent from Bow Street to investigate...
Why reviews are so important (although not for the reasons you might think), by Dougie BrimsonOver the last decade, it cannot have escaped your attention that ebooks have changed the world of publishing significantly. This is especially true for mid-list authors such as myself. No longer alway...
TRUTH GAMES by Caroline EnglandFamily is everything to Ellie Wilson. She tries hard to be the perfect mother, the perfect partner, the perfect daughter – but she can’t always seem to get it right. When an old friend from uni...
Dagger Winners Announced OnlineCWA Dagger Awards 2020 Winners Announced – Michael Robotham, Lou Berney, Trevor Wood, Casey Cep, and Abir Mukherjee win 2020 CWA Dagger awards. The winners of the 2020 CWA Daggers, which honour the ve...
Location, location, location by Candy DenmanWhen I was working on the long-running drama series, Heartbeat, we were often told that the biggest character we wrote for was the setting. How true that was. Whenever I tell people that I used to be...
Research – So Much More Than Just The Facts, by Jay FormanI did more research for No Return than I’ve ever had to do before for a book. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. What I didn’t know was how ignorant I was. The basic spark of an idea for the story was...
The Man on the Street, by Trevor WoodAn environmental campaigner disappears on the eve of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The only witness, Jimmy, a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, doesn’t want to get involved. It’s not h...
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Case Files 50
The CRA Newsletter: May 2021