Hi all! Here’s what I’m reading now.
Now on-sale:
Beachdaze by TW Lawless. (Who’ll be on the Crime Cafe podcast in early May.)
Extreme Vetting by Roxana Arama.
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger.
Who Killed Jerusalem by George Brown. I’m still reading this, but I have to say I already love it! Here’s another review of the book! So far, it’s every bit as good as the review says it is.
And in nonfiction:
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell. This is a must-read for everyone. I pick it up and read it while I wait for things to upload/update/reboot/etc. Makes great weekend reading, for sure.
Available for pre-order:
Double or Nothing: A Double O Novel by Kim Sherwood. (Who’ll be on my podcast in April.) And here’s how Kim Sherwood wrote a killer James Bond novel without Bond!
The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear.
Working my way through these (which means I like ‘em, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t read them or tell you about it):
Nonfiction:
Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators by Martin Edwards.
Murder at Teal’s Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks by David Bushman and Mark T. Givens. The authors are scheduled to appear on the podcast in late October 2023.
Short Fiction:
Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by Naomi Alderman, Leigh Bardugo, et al.
Finished and waiting to be reviewed. These are all top-drawer!
Dark Deeds Down Under edited by Craig Sisterson.
The Hunter by Jennifer Herrera.
Racing the Light by Robert Crais.
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn.
Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head.
The Vicious Circle by Katherine St. John.
In the queue:
The Storyteller's Death by Ann Dávila Cardinal.
Bindle Pink Bruja by Desideria Mesa.
And more to come! Many more!
Bits and Bobs!
A review of I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War against Reconstruction.
‘Rat-a-tat!!!’ Go the ‘Sleuths.’ Pulp Fiction? Nope. It’s a Police Blotter.
Stray Bullets: Best Noir Fiction To Read This Year [March 2023].
From The Neglected Books Page: The Hospital, by Kenneth Fearing (1939).
Perry Mason’s back for a second season! Looking hopeful. I do not object. :)
But I’m still fond of the original show!
From my archives!
‘The Big Clock’ Ticks Along
(review originally posted on November 22, 2008)
THE BIG CLOCK has been called a "brilliant study in noir" (by The Globe and Mail) that has a plot "stretched tight as a drum" (according to the NY Times). I'll second those thoughts and add that in this short, well-crafted novel, Kenneth Fearing skillfully combines elements of the thriller, noir and social satire into a story that moves at a good clip and keeps you hooked--once the hook catches you, which really doesn't happen until nearly halfway through.
I'm not sure exactly what kept me reading up until that point. Maybe it was the arch observations of the protagonist, George Stroud--not a terribly likeable man. Drinks like a fish, cheats on his wife and seems to hold everyone and everything in disdain (himself included--which earns points for him, I guess). He's married to a woman named Georgette and their daughter's named Georgia, but they all call each other George, which is, um, unusual (and made me wonder if George Foreman had ever read this book) and, strangely enough, not as confusing as you'd think--but hardly so interesting as to pull me into the story. There are some amusing and entertaining moments early on, but not amusing or entertaining enough to make the story a page-turner. Even the milieu in which Stroud works--as executive editor for one of many periodicals owned by a publishing magnate named Earl Janoth--while providing Fearing a way of exploring the whole "faceless modern corporate world" thing, is not so compelling (in fact, at times, the plethora of names and publications can get a bit confusing) that I just couldn't stop reading.
I couldn't say for sure, but I may have simply been biding my time during those first few chapters in anticipation of what I knew (based on reading about the book) was to come--that George Stroud has a fling with Janoth's girlfriend, then witnesses her and Janoth going into her apartment building together. The next day, she's found murdered in that apartment. And, given the time of death, Stroud is pretty sure (barring the unlikely intervention of a third party) he knows who-dunnit. Janoth knows someone--a person he can't identify--saw him going into his girlfriend's building right before the murder. Janoth then (wait for it) puts Stroud in charge of the investigation to find--himself! Yes, this is where things get interesting.
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