Coronavirus and Creativity, by Antony Johnston‘Self-isolate? You mean stay indoors, don’t leave the house, and don’t socialise with anyone? Why, I’ve been practising for this my whole life!’ Every author has cracked some form of this joke over th...
Ready for an Armchair Road Trip? (Not coming to a screen near you just yet!) by B E Jones‘I’d love to see a draft of the script when there is one,’ I said, trying not to get over excited as I sipped a glass of London’s alarmingly expensive red wine. I was fresh off the 10.05 train from Ca...
Mystery for Golden Age Fans from CWA Diamond Dagger Winner Martin EdwardsThe CWA’s decision to award me the Diamond Dagger for 2020 is a huge honour. I’m so thrilled; I can still hardly believe it. Among other things, it’s a massive fillip to morale, and all writers benefi...
Eating the Dead: the Parsees of India by Vaseem KhanThe fifth novel in the Baby Ganesh Agency series, Bad Day at the Vulture Club, sees my protagonist, Inspector Chopra investigating the murder of a wealthy Parsee in India’s city of dreams – Mumbai. Pa...
Tiller Thrillers by Andy GriffeeJust when you thought it was safe to go out on a canal, another Tiller-Thriller comes along. At a time of plague and pestilence it is tempting to think that a peaceful cruise to remote and isolated lo...
Judging a Book by Its Cover, by Pauline RowsonPauline is author of the DI Andy Horton crime series (14); Art Marvik mystery thrillers (3) and the 1950 set mystery Death in the Cove, the first in the Inspector Ryga series. Book covers are a...
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE! (While I take a few notes…) – tips on historical research from Karen CharltonAlthough the Internet is still the first port of call for historical crime writers who want to research an era, many of us still glean a wealth of knowledge and inspiration from the old newspapers of...
The ‘Museum Murder’ series by Jim Eldridge – a BBC scriptwriter’s journey to becoming a novelist2018 saw the publication of Murder at the Fitzwilliam, the first in my historical crime series ‘The Museum Mysteries’. Set in Cambridge in 1894, it introduced Daniel Wilson, a private investigator and...
A fond farewell to MC BeatonBarry Forshaw, author of Crime Fiction: A Reader’s Guide, on MC Beaton (aka Marion Chesney), the creator of Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth, who has died at 83. Although many crime novels fit more or...
‘The Abduction’ by A.A. ChaudhuriTHE ABDUCTION by Alex Chaudhuri Hot on the heels of serial killer whodunnit, The Scribe, Kramer & Carver are back in new twisty thriller, The Abduction, published by Endeavour Media, 20 December 2...
What Women Want – Graham Brack takes a view on the sometimes differing tastes of female readersBy Graham Brack I am writing this in the United States where I have been amusing myself by, among other things, visiting bookshops. Needless to say, I focus on the crime fiction shelves where two thou...
Domestic Noir – crime that’s close to home by Alice CastleDomestic noir is not new. Ever since the first performance of Medea in 431 BC, or Mrs Bluebeard’s first peek into that forbidden chamber, women have been confronting horrible truths close to home. The...
The Inaugural Capital Crime Event by Ali KarimIt was a brave decision for thriller writer Adam Hamdy and his partner the literary agent David Headley (and bookseller) to start a new convention (Capital Crime) showcasing the crime and thriller gen...
Bloody Scotland on a Desert Island, by Caro RamsayIt was the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival one weekend in September. The sun shone, the torchlight parade down from the castle was spectacular. The winner of the McIlvanney Prize Manda Scott s...
Morecambe and Vice Crime Writing Festival Brought Me Sunshine, by Rachel SargeantEver thought of going to a crime fiction festival but not really sure what to expect? I felt the same, and given my tendency to shyness, I couldn’t imagine plucking up the courage to attend one. That...
Back where I started – well, almost, by Pauline RowsonDeath in the Cove is my twentieth crime novel and the first historical mystery I have written. My other nineteen crime novels being contemporary with fourteen featuring my rugged and flawed detective,...
The Art of Deception by Patrick GoochIn 1990, Time magazine reported that, in his lifetime, Camille Corot painted some eight hundred canvases, four thousand of which are to be found in the United States. So, how many fake Corots are ther...
CWA Dagger Shortlists 2019 AnnouncedThe author behind one of the biggest shows on TV, a world renowned forensic anthropologist and the son of ‘the godfather of tartan noir’ have been shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Dagger awards. Th...
Farewell Andrea Camilleri and Thank You, by CWA International Dagger Judge Ruth MorseWith the inauguration of what in 2006 became the International Dagger, the CWA took great care to get things right, especially since there had been a ruckus about books in translation. This matters be...
Hiddleston, Hitchcock and The Archers, by Sean O’ConnorThe Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury is the latest book by radio, TV and film producer Sean O’Connor. He has found that his work as a producer was inspired by his interest in true crime – and vice ver...
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Case Files 43
The CRA Newsletter: March 2020
The CRA Newsletter: February 2020