Edgars symposium

If you’re interested in crime, or writing, or crime writing—and especially if you’re anywhere near New York the end of this month—you should seriously consider the MWA Edgar symposium. This year is a particularly strong set of offerings, including Jeff Deaver, Alafair Burke, Megan Abbott, Reed Farrell Coleman, Lyndsay Faye, Charles Todd–oh, and that Laurie…

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Takeback Tuesday: social workers and other heroes

[NOTE: corrections below, after my information was corrected. Thank heavens for copyeditors and experts…] Mystery Writers of America, NorCal, had a fascinating program on Saturday with the owners of the house in which serial killer Dorothea Puente lived and did her awful work.  We were joined by the homicide detective, the assistant DA, and the…

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Pub Day the Second!

That’s right, I have TWO books out today, books that are about as far apart as a reader can get. In addition to Anatomy of Innocence (below) today’s the publication of the trade paperback of The Murder of Mary Russell! Enjoy! From Bookshop Santa Cruz, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

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Takeback Tuesday: taking back justice

Today is pub day for a book I’ve been involved with for the past year or more: Anatomy of Innocence is the brainchild of Laura Caldwell and Leslie S.Klinger, both lawyers, both friends of mine. Laura is the director and founder of the Life After Innocence clinic at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, which…

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One writer’s travails

Left Coast Crime is an annual conference that moves around the left coast, generally of the US. This year LCC was in Honolulu. Like the other moveable crime conferences, location is a prime consideration, since fans and readers use this as a holiday as well as a chance to meet their favorite writers. So, the…

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Lockdown: the proof is in the reading

Despite being theoretically on holiday on the island of Hawaii, I’ve spent most of the past three days working on the proof pages of Lockdown, which the publishers would like back on Friday, thank you, despite being toastmaster at a crime conference or working on various projects for my many overlords. I finished today, although my…

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Takeback Tuesday: fiction edition

I’ve been in Honolulu this past week with crime writers, and it’s been interesting how often politics has been the unspoken presence on a panel. Some of us are outright in our opinions, while others feel that they need to keep their opinions to themselves. Whichever way you feel, there’s no doubt that books carry…

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Trumpets & Confetti; Russell & Holmes

Got your trumpets polished? Champagne on ice? Confetti on hand?         Good—because it’s time to announce that…. coming to a screen near you… will be (all fingers crossed)… The MARY RUSSELL SERIES featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes ! Well, no, it’s not real yet. Don’t get our your popcorn quite this…

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The other LRK: TOUCHSTONE

Leading up to the publication of Lockdown, in June, I’ve been thinking about the nature of my other writing, that not set in the rather whimsical world of Russell & Holmes. Such as Touchstone, which began the Stuyvesant & Grey series. This week’s proposed women’s strike wasn’t quite as much of a Thing as England’s…

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Takeback Tuesday: a nation of bush mechanics

There’s an entire series of videos on YouTube (thanks, BoingBoing) about the Bush Mechanics of the Australian outback, Aboriginal gents who work miracles on heaps of junk and rust and turn them into… well, I’m not sure I’d agree that they’re cars, but they are mobile. More or less. America is now a nation of political and…

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