Nightmare is a novel by Anne Blaisdell, but the author - who went on to enjoy a highly prolific career - is better known as Dell Shannon (n...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
I've discussed several books by Charlotte Armstrong on this blog over the past eight years or so. Armstrong (1905-69) was an Edgar-winning suspense novelist whose books often had strongly visual ingredients, making them popular sources for film and TV adaptation. My favourite of her books is Mischief, which is relatively straightforward, but genuinely gripping.| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
When Claus von Bulow died six years ago, the BBC report about his passing carried the headline: 'Socialite cleared of trying to murder his wife dies aged 92'. Well, 92 is a good innings in terms of longevity, but that isn't the greatest of epitaphs. The term 'socialite' (a common description of von Bulow) seems to me to be freighted with negative implications, and there's no doubt that his trial is what almost everyone, including me, remembers about him.Only now, though, have I caught up with...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
I'm not absolutely sure what to make of Strange Darling - a 2023 film that has received excellent reviews - although I do think the title is quite appropriate. To some extent, this is because it's a film which uses non-linear chronology, and I'm tempted to take another look at to see if I missed something the first time around (although, given that I anticipated the key plot twist, perhaps I didn't...)| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
John Sladek's brief but brilliant career as a writer of locked room mysteries came to an end with InvisibleGreen (1977). in which his Great Detective, an American living in London called Thackeray Phin, made a triumphant return after his successes in Black Aura. Apparently Sladek didn't make enough money for writing more books of this kind to be worthwhile - a real shame.With this book, he moved publisher from Jonathan Cape, who published Black Aura, to Victor Gollancz. The front cover of th...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
A Most Wanted Man is a film from 2014 based on a novel published by John le Carre eight years earlier. I haven't read the book, but apparently it is at least in part a critique of the American policy of 'extraordinary rendition'. This aspect of the story is present in the film but somewhat downplayed, and in fact it is overall quite a low-key movie, although one that has won quite a few admirers as well as one or two less favourable reactions.The stand-out element of the film is undoubtedly t...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Last year I spent a few days at the cottage of my old school friend Stephen in Monreith, which is in the Machars, a peninsula in Dumfries and Galloway and I'm just back from another trip there. One of several highlights was an evening spent in conversation with Ruth Anderson of Well Read Books in Wigtown, a sell-out event in the book town's delightful community pub, The Wigtown Ploughman. Given that pubs everywhere seem to be under threat, this kind of enterprising venture is one that I hope ...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
It's an exciting time as I look forward to my puzzle mystery Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife coming out in hardback on 11 September in the UK and appearing a few weeks later in the US. I very much enjoyed my experience recording some of the audiobook and here are one or two photos taken in the studio by the lovely Head of Zeus publicity team.| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Last year, I acquired a book called Body Blow by Kenneth Hopkins inscribed to John Arlott. Readers of a certain vintage may recall John Arl...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
I've met Phil Lecomber, with whom I share an agent, a number of times over the past year or so. I enjoy his company, and asked him to talk about the background to his books. Here's his guest post: | 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
If you've read The Life of Crime, you'll know that the lives of crime writers are full of ups and downs, but it's fair to say that, in my experience, the ups far outweigh the downs. You simply never know what is around the corner. For instance, I had a brand new experience just last Tuesday. I recorded part of my own audiobook...Some time ago, my editor Bethan suggested that I might like to record some parts of Miss Winter in theLibrary with a Knife for the audiobook version. Given that we'd ...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Desmond Lowden is a writer who interests me more as I find out more about the man and his work. He was far from prolific, publishing just eight novels between 1969 and 1990, as well as several screenplays. He achieved considerable success, and today's Forgotten Book, published in 1989, won the CWA Silver Dagger (an award that no longer exists). In other words, it was judged to be the second best crime novel of the year. When you consider that the winner was Colin Dexter (with The Wench is Dea...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
I'm absolutely delighted to say that Joffe Books have agreed to republish my Lake District Mysteries, and the first title in the series, The Coffin Trail, appears tomorrow, 31 July. The other titles will come out, I gather, month by month. I'm excited by this development, not least by the new artwork and the prospect of an infusion of energetic marketing and sales savvy.I'm also very glad to say that this move reunites me with Kate Lyall Grant, who was the editor at Hodder who acquired my six...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
My July newsletter is now available. It includes links to more information and the first part of an interview with Gold Dagger winner John Cornwell. Please do sign up if you're interested - it's free of charge. Here is the link (which can be pasted into your browser): https://substack.com/@martinedwardsbooks/| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Friday was a fun day at the Ilkley Book Fair. A couple of years ago, friends in the PBFA (Provincial Booksellers' Fairs Association) kindly invited me to have a stand at the bi-annual crime and detection book fair at Harrogate. I had a lovely time and they invited me back this year, but I was already committed elsewhere. So as an alternative Louise Harrison of TP Books generously offered me the chance to take part in Ilkley Book Fair, which I enjoyed visiting on a quite memorable day more tha...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
As he has shown in Slow Horses , Jack Lowden is a terrific actor and his presence in the cast prompted me to take a look at one of his early...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
Emily the Criminal is a fairly recent film which tells a pretty good story while also making some interesting points about modern society. It's all the more effective because those points, although made with clarity, aren't hammered home in a crude and tedious way. Emily is played, exceptionally well, by Aubrey Plaza (the inspiration for whose first name apparently came from a song by Bread). She is a flawed character, to say the least, but Plaza manages to enlist our sympathy for her.| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Ray Liotta was a compelling actor and he makes his presence felt in the later scenes of Dangerous Waters, a thriller which was the last movie he made before his sudden death in 2022. In many ways, though, the performance of Eric Dane is equally impressive. And so is that of a young Israeli actor, Odeya Rush, who has the central role in the story. She plays Rose, whose mother Alma (Saffron Burrows) has recently begun a new relationship with a man called Derek (Dane).Derek has invited them to j...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Ring of Terror was the last book by Michael Gilbert to be published by Hodder, who had published his novels since his debut, Close Quarters, in 1947. The novel appeared in 1995, and introduced a new character, the likeable Luke Pagan, but when Gilbert wrote another Pagan book, Hodder turned it down. Eventually, the book was taken by Robert Hale, essentially a library publisher; they also published the third Pagan novel, which was Gilbert's last. Quite a come-down, to be honest, although I mea...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Long before there was Casino Royale, there was Charteris Royal. First published by Gollancz in 1941, this is an obscure book that I'd probably have remained unaware of if it hadn't been for Jamie Sturgeon, who drew my attention to the work of the author, Hubert Phillips. I hadn't heard of Phillips (though I'd come across one or two of his pseudonymous short stories) but the front cover of the dustjacket proclaims that he 'has been famous for many years as one of the most ingenious of men, as ...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
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I'm back home after a delightful, and highly nostalgic, birthday trip to Aberdyfi in mid-Wales. This was the seaside resort where we stayed ...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
All Good Things is a film based on a truly astonishing real life case in the United States with which - until I watched the movie - I was completely unfamiliar. The story is, when you know about the case, very obviously based on the life of the real estate heir Robert Durst, although in the film he is called David Marks, and is played (very well) by the versatile Ryan Gosling. In this review, I'll concentrate on the film rather than the man who inspired it (and, amazingly, approved it).Much o...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Anthony Webb is a fairly obscure Golden Age author who earned some good reviews in his day, especially for his series featuring an amiable amateur sleuth, getting on in years, called George Pendlebury. Webb's real name was Norman Scarlyn Wilson (1901-96) and he also wrote titles for the 'Teach Yourself' series of educational books (I'm pretty sure I recall his name from reading a couple of the books about modern languages many moons ago). I came across him in his Webb incarnation when I had t...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
I was unfamiliar with the work of Mary Collins unless Stark House Press reprinted her novels, but now I've read The Sister of Cain , I can s...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
Mulholland Falls is a very good thriller dating from 1996. I liked the script, acting, camera work, and music, and I'm rather surprised that critical reaction seems to have been mixed, although that eminent film critic Roger Ebert was a fan of the movie, which was set in the early 1950s, a period captured with verve and style.Nick Nolte, as Maxwell Hoover, leads a four-man squad of the LAPD, apparently based on a real life team, which takes a ruthless approach to law enforcement. The title of...| 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?'
Virgil Markham (1899-1973) was an American author who produced eight crime novels between 1928 and 1936, in other words at the height of the...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
Martin Edwards' Crime Writing Blog| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com
For my last forgotten book of 2021, something a little out of the ordinary. I imagine the name of Fiona Sinclair will be unknown to most rea...| doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.com