BEST OF CRIME with Kristen Lepionka

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

KRISTEN LEPIONKA

to share her BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS

Richard Price. The brilliant characterization in his police novels is nothing short of infuriatingly good. Read Lush Life for the most vivid fictional portrayal of New York City possible.

... FILMS/MOVIES

A Few Good Men. I saw this military courtroom drama when I was a kid and liked it so much I recorded it onto a VHS tape (ah, remember those?) for frequent re-watching. Luckily, it’s a bit of a syndicated classic and pops up on TV regularly even still. 

... TV DRAMAS

The original Law & Order will always be my favorite, especially the first five or six seasons. The show took a formula—literally half the show is about cops and the other half about lawyers -and turned it into an art form. I also adored The Wire and Sons of Anarchy, for the quality of the writing. (It’s no surprise that Richard Price was a writer for The Wire!)

... FICTIONAL KILLERS

John Wick. The body count in this recent series of thriller films is probably the highest of anything I’ve ever seen on the screen. Wick is a retired hitman who’s forced back into the life after an act of violence against his dog. His is a story of vengeance, not cold-blooded murder, but I love the way he lives by his “code.” 

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 

Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt—the self-appointed “world’s greatest detective” - is a ray of cocaine-fueled light. I love the unique approach in that series, which blends a present-day mystery with an old “girl detective” comic book series. Claire has an unforgettable cynicism, and she sees through everything and everyone except herself.

... MURDER WEAPONS

I like my murder straightforward, for the most part—you won’t find any unusual murder weapons in my books (yet). I’m very intrigued by poisons though, especially the world of plant medicine and how it can quickly turn deadly…

... DEATH SCENE

This isn’t from crime fiction, but I’m still not over the final sequence of Six Feet Under, in which the audience gets to see how each main character will die in the future. A beautiful and haunting way to end a show about the fact that everybody dies…

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

For no-nonsense writing advice, I like to read Chuck Wendig’s blog, Terrible Minds. I tend to do research in a lot of different places (until someone invents crime-google.com, this is the only way) but I find myself collecting interesting tidbits from Vice.com articles a lot.

... WRITING TIPS

I always say the best piece of writing advice is just to write. Annoying, but true. Beyond that, here are two practical tips that have helped me a lot:

1. Don’t worry about chapters when you’re drafting a novel. Just write the story, and figure out the chapters later. 

2. If you’re stumped about something, be it a detail, a plot point, whatever: just type “TK” and move on. It’s an old proofreading shorthand for “to come,” meaning, to be written later and probably on deadline. But it’s handy because the letters TK don’t appear in that order in any English words, so a find-and-replace will easily help you find them all before you turn the piece in to your editor. If you write linearly (like I do), you might find it scary to leave a detail just hanging around unfinished like that—the horror!—but it’s actually quite liberating once you try it a few times. 

... WRITING SNACKS

I can’t stand getting gunk on my keyboard so I rarely eat while writing, but I am never without a drink - usually coffee, sometimes tea or whiskey.

About KRISTEN LEPIONKA

Kristen Lepionka is the author of the Roxane Weary mystery series. Her debut, The Last Place You Look, won the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. novel and was also nominated for Anthony and Macavity Awards. She grew up mostly in a public library and could often be found in the adult mystery section well before she was out of middle school. She is a co-host of the feminist podcast Unlikeable Female Characters, and she lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her partner and two cats.

Find Kristen Lepionka on her website and on Twitter - @KMLwrites

About THE STORIES YOU TELL

Publisher's description

A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother, Andrew, whose evening was interrupted by an urgent visit from Addison, a hip young DJ and one-time fling, who turns up at his apartment scared and begging to use his phone. She leaves as quickly as she appeared, but now Andrew is worried – especially when Addison never makes it home and her friends and family demand to know where she is. As the police begin to suspect that something may have happened to her, and that Andrew is involved, Roxane tracks Addison’s digital footprint as she goes deeper and deeper into the events preceding her disappearance. Meanwhile, a cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff – which includes Addison – has suddenly gone AWOL. As Roxane struggles to distinguish the truth from the stories people tell about themselves online, it’s clear that the mystery of Addison’s whereabouts is just the beginning.

The Stories You Tell was published by Faber & Faber on 16 July 2019.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

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BEST OF CRIME with Brad Parks

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

BRAD PARKS

to share his BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS

This is brutal. Just one? There are so many talented people working in the business today, with such starkly disparate voices, it’s almost impossible to compare them (Megan Abbott versus Lee Child? Linwood Barclay versus Val McDermid?). But if I had to pick one I’d go with a person who, in the last fourteen years, has written one of the most ambitious, sweeping, epic crime stories ever in the trilogy that began with Power of the Dog; and a novel and a prequel (Savages and Kings of Cool) that were almost the exact opposite in both scope (much smaller) and tone (hilariously irreverent); and, just to show even more range, an unforgettable character study about a crooked cop—call it an anti-police procedural—called The Force. That’s why I’ll say the Best of Crime authors working today is . . . Don Winslow.

... FILMS/MOVIES

When I bump across this movie on TV, I can somehow never turn it off, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. Great characters. Gritty setting. Terrific twists. Also, if I could pick one person to narrate the story of my life, it would be Morgan Freeman. That’s why the Best of Crime movie is . . . Shawshank Redemption.

... TV DRAMAS

I was a newspaper reporter in an economically depressed American city for many years. I watched the ravages of the drug trade, and the dysfunction of the institutions that attempted to curtail it. Therefore, pity my wife, with whom I watched the bulk of this five-season classic, because I was constantly pausing it, saying, “No, honey, you don’t understand. That’s actually real! That really happens!” That’s why the Best of Crime TV drama is . . . The Wire.

... FICTIONAL KILLERS

As long as we’re talking about The Wire, there’s nothing better than a gay, scar-faced vigilante who only kills drug dealers and walks around in a trench coat, with a shotgun, saying things like, “You come at the king you best not miss.” That’s why the Best of Crime fictional killer is . . . Omar Little.

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 

You can have all the action heroes you want. I’ll take a guy who tends orchids, almost never leaves his house, and is mostly concerned about what’s for dinner. He weighs a seventh of a ton, so he’s not going to run down any criminals, yet he always seems to get the killer. That’s why the Best of Crime fictional detective is . . . Nero Wolfe.

... MURDER WEAPONS

An eleven-inch long twig, made of holly, with a feather at the core. Snaps easily. Doesn’t have a single sharp edge. Couldn’t shoot a bullet if it wanted to. And yet it takes down the most notorious badass off all-time with a simple disarming spell. That’s why the Best of Crime murder weapon is . . . Harry Potter’s wand.

    

... DEATH SCENES

It’s difficult to talk about this scene without spoiling, y’know, the entire book. I’ll just say it is jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching, utterly shocking and yet—when you go back over everything in your mind—also completely justified. That’s why the Best of Crime death scene can be found on the final page of  . . . Defending Jacob.

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

I have to be honest, I’m pretty lazy as a writer. I go for ease every time. And I don’t really remember how I researched anything before this ingenious little algorithm came along. That’s why the Best of Crime website is . . . www.Google.com.

... WRITING TIPS

Writing is like a muscle. The harder you work it, the stronger it gets.

... WRITING SNACKS

All the caffeine and none of the calories. And I haven’t written a word over the past decade-plus that wasn’t fueled by its influence. That’s why the Best of Crime writing snacks is . . . Coke Zero Sugar.

About BRAD PARKS

International bestselling author Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards, three of crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. His novels have been translated into fifteen languages and won critical acclaim across the globe. A former journalist, he lives in Virginia with his wife and two children.

Find Brad Parks on his website and on Twitter - @Brad_Parks

About THE LAST ACT

Publisher's description

Former Broadway star Tommy Jump isn’t getting the roles he once did. As his final run as Sancho Ponza draws to a close, Tommy is getting ready to give up the stage, find a steady paycheck, and settle down with his fiancée.

Cue Special Agent Danny Ruiz. An old school friend of Tommy’s, now with the FBI, Ruiz makes Tommy an offer that sounds too good to refuse. All Tommy has to do is spend six months in prison, acting as failed bank robber ’Pete Goodrich’.

Inside, he must find and befriend Mitchell Dupree, who has hidden a secret cache of documents incriminating enough to take down New Colima, one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels. If Tommy can get Dupree and reveal where the documents are hidden, the FBI will give him $300,000, more than enough to jumpstart a new life. But does he have what it takes to pull off this one final role?

The Last Act was published by Faber & Faber on 14 March 2019.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

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BEST OF CRIME with Julia Dahl

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

JULIA DAHL

to share her BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS

It feels impossible to pick a favorite among so many, but I suppose if I had to take the books of just one crime author to a deserted island it would probably be Patricia Highsmith. She is an absolute master of menace. The sun is shining in paradise, everyone dresses for dinner, but the ugliness beneath the surface casts a pall over everything.

... FILMS/MOVIES

My lifelong love affair with the Coen Brothers began in 1996 with Fargo. It’s a wickedly funny, twisted drama about a kidnapping gone wrong in the frozen tundra of America’s upper Midwest. Joel and Ethan Coen have an uncanny ability to inhabit and illuminate subcultures that has you rooting for everyone, even the most depraved career criminal.

... TV DRAMAS

Soon after I moved to New York the HBO series Six Feet Under premiered. It’s the story of a family in Los Angeles that runs a funeral home and at the beginning of each episode, we watch someone (whom the family will later bury) die. It wasn’t a crime show, per se, but death was an integral part of the fabric of the character’s lives. That darkness permeated their psyches and affected them in endlessly fascinating ways.

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES

Jessica Fletcher of Murder, She Wrote. I started watching this television show as a pre-teen and decided my life goal was to be Jessica: a crime novelist/amateur sleuth. I haven’t solved any murders yet, but maybe it’s just a matter of time. Jessica (otherwise known by her nom de plume, J.B. Fletcher) was a feminist hero. She was a widow with a booming career (an apartment in Manhattan and a house in Maine? Unheard of!), a generous heart, and a spot-on bullshit detector. The first gift my husband gave me when we started dating was a book in the Murder, She Wrote series – I knew I’d found “the one.”

... DEATH SCENE 

I have to go back to Fargo for this, too. At the end of the film, the character played by Steve Buscemi meets his end…inside a wood chipper.

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

Local newspapers are where I go to learn about contemporary crime. These days, there are around 17,000 homicides in the U.S. each year, and much as I love the New York Times, the paper of record doesn’t cover more than a handful. If you want to know who is killing who and how justice is – or isn’t – meted out, you need to read the Fresno Bee, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Arizona Sun. 

... WRITING TIPS

I’ve read that there are two kinds of writers: those who plan, and those who run to the end. I am the latter. I want to get the skeleton of the book as fast as I can so that I have a solid structure to work with. If I’m writing a scene that I know needs details I don’t have at the moment, I use the journalistic notation “TK” (meaning, to come) and skip ahead. Getting caught up on small things can slow your progress.

About JULIA DAHL

Julia Dahl is the author of three novels about a New York City crime reporter: INVISIBLE CITY, RUN YOU DOWN, and CONVICTION. After 20 years as a reporter and editor, she now teaches journalism at NYU.

Find Julia Dahl on Twitter - @juliadahl

About RUN YOU DOWN

Publisher's description

Aviva Kagan was just a teenager when she left her Hasidic Jewish life in Brooklyn for a fling with a smiling college boy from Florida. A few months later she was pregnant, engaged to be married and trapped in a life she never imagined. So, shortly after the birth of her daughter she disappeared.

Twenty-three years later, the child she walked away from, NYC tabloid reporter Rebekah Roberts, wants nothing to do with her. But when a man from the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Roseville, NY contacts Rebekah about his young wife’s mysterious death, she is drawn into Aviva’s old world, and a hidden culture full of dangerous secrets and frustrations.

Run You Down was published in paperback by Faber & Faber on 1 January 2019

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

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BEST OF CRIME with Stav Sherez

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

STAV SHEREZ

to share his BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS

My current favourite is Sara Gran. Her third Claire DeWitt novel (The Infinite Blacktop) is out this month and it's stunning. James Ellroy is the author I keep coming back to - there's such an intensity of focus and history in his best novels, an electric underpulse running through his language.

... FILMS/MOVIES

Zodiac by David Fincher. I came out of the cinema wanting to give up my job as a writer and become a detective after watching this! Perhaps the best police procedural movie ever, Zodiac slowly winds you in only to leave you hanging at the brink of a solution.

... TV DRAMAS

The Shield. One of the most-underrated shows out there. One of the few where, each week, I had no idea in which direction it would twist. Jaw-dropping reversals and revelations and truly Shakespearean characters arcs.

... FICTIONAL KILLERS

I'm sure everyone says this but Dexter is a brilliant creation. A serial-killer who's managed to sublimate his compulsions into killing other serial killers. He's also funny, wry and self-perceptive; things we don't often see in fictional serial killers. Otherwise, Patrick Bateman from Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho – the alpha-male stripped to the bare forked thing he really is.

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 

Harry Bosch and Jack Reacher and Claire DeWitt. Each uses deductive logic with an alacrity that William of Ockham would be proud of.

... MURDER WEAPONS

Guilt is the most deadly weapon.

    

... DEATH SCENES

Not a book, but the moment in the Coen Brothers' Barton Fink where Barton wakes up next to the woman he's slept with, swats a mosquito on her skin, only to realise she's dead. It totally blew my mind when I first saw it, and is the moment where the film begins its true descent into hell.

  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

Twitter is where I go for sanity (and, unfortunately, insanity). The crime writing community is well represented on there and everyone chats about books and movies and you can almost avoid the outside world.

... WRITING TIPS

Write what you don't know you know. Let your subconscious find new ways to tell old stories. 

... WRITING SNACKS

Used to be coffee and cigarettes. Now, being older and (hopefully) wiser, it's coffee and vape.

About STAV SHEREZ

Stav Sherez is the author of two standalone novels, "The Devil's Playground" and "The Black Monastery", as well as the Carrigan and Miller series, the most recent of which, "The Intrusions" won the 2018 Theakston's Old Peculier crime Novel of the Year. He is also co-author, with Mark Bllingham, Martyn Waites and David Quantick, of "Great Lost Albums". He is published by Faber and Faber.

Find Stav Sherez on Twitter - @stavsherez

About THE INTRUSIONS

Publisher's description

Detectives Carrigan and Miller are thrust into the terrifying world of stalking and obsession when a drugged and distressed young woman arrives at their station claiming her friend has been abducted. Taking them from a backpackers' hostel in west London, to the world of online intimidation, hacking and control, The Intrusions explores themes of dark psychology as Carrigan and Miller hunt for the shadowy figure behind a frightening and spiralling campaign of intrusion . . .

The Intrusions was published by Faber & Faber on 1 February 2018.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

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Cold Desert Sky by Rod Reynolds

I am delighted to be today's stop on the blog tour for Cold Desert Sky by Rod Reynolds. Cold Desert Sky is being published by Faber & Faber on 5th July 2018.

Cold Desert Sky
By Rod Reynolds
Published by Faber & Faber (5 July 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. 

 

Publisher's description

No one wanted to say it to me, that the girls were dead. But I knew.

Late 1946 and Charlie Yates and his wife Lizzie have returned to Los Angeles, trying to stay anonymous in the city of angels. 

But when Yates, back in his old job at the Pacific Journal, becomes obsessed by the disappearance of two aspiring Hollywood starlets, Nancy Hill and Julie Desjardins, he finds it leads him right back to his worst fear: legendary Mob boss Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, a man he once crossed, and whose shadow he can't shake.

As events move from LA to the burgeoning Palace of Sin in the desert, Las Vegas - where Siegel is preparing to open his new Hotel Casino, The Flamingo - Rod Reynolds once again shows his skill at evoking time and place. With Charlie caught between the FBI and the mob, can he possibly see who is playing who, and find out what really happened to the two girls?

My verdict
I can't believe that it's nearly two years since I last spent time in the company of Charlie Yates and his wife Lizzie. But I've just checked and it is! A few pages into Cold Desert Sky and I don't feel like I've been away from them at all. I also realise how much I've missed them.

Rod Reynolds is a master at creating authentic crime fiction steeped in American noir. His books are set not only in the US, but also in the 1940s. So it's no mean feat to make them feel very real, and he certainly does just that. His descriptions are evocative and atmospheric, his dialogue sharp and spot on.

Charlie Yates is an experienced journalist trying to find two women who have disappeared in the glamorous, glitzy world of Hollywood. He certainly isn't a pushover and isn't afraid to take risks, but he also has plenty of heart. Lizzie is far more than Charlie's wife, or 'sidekick' - she's an equal partner, feisty and opinionated, and his voice of reason. They have a loving relationship, independent when they're apart but also reliant on one another when they're together.

Cold Desert Sky takes us on a rollercoaster journey as Charlie and Lizzie go in search of the truth, looking for these two young women. They've managed to put their lives in danger and it's going to take a lot for them to wriggle their way out of it, with a mobster on their trail. But who can they trust along the way? Paranoia seeps through the pages, and the stakes are high.

Yet again, Rod Reynolds has written a fast-paced read. And with that ending, I hope there will be more Charlie Yates to come.

Follow the Blog Tour

BEST OF CRIME with Peter Swanson

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

PETER SWANSON

to share his BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS
John D. MacDonald. I’ve been reading his brilliantly written pulp thrillers since I was twelve years old. He was a great plotter, even better at writing characters, and the absolute best at atmosphere.

... FILMS/MOVIES
Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious is the perfect synthesis of suspense, romance, incredible acting, and impeccable film making. I went to see it on the big screen this past New Year’s Eve and its better than any champagne.

... TV DRAMAS
I think Breaking Bad is the best television series ever, but I’m picking the show I loved more. And that would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith’s four Ripley novels. I’m always drawn to accidental killers. 

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 
The Spenser series by Robert B. Parker was the first detective series I fell in love with as a young reader (besides Nancy Drew). And Spenser gets points for being from my hometown of Boston.

... MURDER WEAPONS
Knitting needles. So innocent in one person’s hands and so nasty in another. There is a Highsmith book that ends with a death by knitting needles, I believe, but I can’t remember the name right now.

    

... DEATH SCENES
The death of Marion Crane (Mary in the book) in both Robert Bloch’s perfect short thriller, and Hitchcock’s game changing film. The very brief description in the book is more horrifying even than the movie.

  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES
Wikipedia. Because everything is there, even if you can’t always trust it.

... WRITING TIPS
The best writing tip is to read a ton of books.

... WRITING SNACKS
Is coffee a snack?

About PETER SWANSON

Peter Swanson is the author of four novels: The Girl With a Clock For a Heart, an LA Times Book Award finalist; The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and his most recent, All the Beautiful Lies. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.

A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat. 

Find Peter Swanson on his website, on his Facebook page and on Twitter - @PeterSwanson3

About ALL THE BEAUTIFUL LIES

Publisher's description

A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What is more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him. Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists.
With a nod to Fargo and the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a page-turning thriller brimming with the blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a stunning new departure for the King of Helsinki Noir.

All the Beautiful Lies was published by Faber & Faber on 3 April 2018.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

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Lullaby by Leïla Slimani

Lullaby
By Leïla Slimani
Published by Faber & Faber (4 January 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher.

Publisher's description

When Myriam, a French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband look for the perfect caretaker for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite and devoted woman who sings to their children, cleans the family's chic apartment in Paris's upscale tenth arrondissement, stays late without complaint and is able to host enviable birthday parties.

The couple and nanny become more dependent on each other. But as jealousy, resentment and suspicions increase, Myriam and Paul's idyllic tableau is shattered...

My verdict
I had read a lot of mixed views about Lullaby on social media before I started reading it. This is certainly a book that provokes a lot of discussion. I dived in without reading the blurb or any other reviews, determined to read it with an open mind.

Lullaby is an uncomfortable read about an ambitious couple's fragile relationship with their seemingly-perfect nanny. Myriam and Paul rely on Louise to not only look after their young children but also to keep their whole household flowing smoothly. Louise relies on them for her wages. She makes herself indispensable to make sure the family are unlikely to ever let her go - after all, how would they cope without her?

Yet despite spending so much time together, there is a distance between the adults - fuelled by the class divide, poverty versus privilege and the 'us and them' approach. You know from the start that there's no happy ending. In fact quite the opposite. But what makes a conscientious nanny turn on the children in her care?

Lullaby is a short book at only 207 pages but packs a serious punch with its taut sparse prose. The translation is brilliant and the writing flows so smoothly that I found myself reading passages out loud to myself, savouring the natural rhythm of the words. Yet while the style is chatty, the narrative is distanced from the characters, as if the reader is watching their lives through a camera lens. This creates a chilling, disturbing account of a household in crisis, spiralling all the way to disaster.

Lullaby plays on parents' darkest fears and I felt that it read like 'true crime/non-fiction' in places, making it seem very real. The book left me cold, with so many thoughts bounding around in my head and goosebumps up my arms.

Did I enjoy it? Yes, even though I don't feel I should have enjoyed it at all, due to the subject matter. Would I recommend it? Definitely. But maybe not to stressed working parents who rely heavily on their nanny.