Place for the Stolen
Like that one guy said: Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Welcome to the place where all things have been lifted, looted, and otherwise pilfered…Remember, possession is 9/10s of the law.
Category: Mysteries
Writing a Series that Can Be Read Out-of-Order
As a reader of mysteries (and, to a lesser extent, fantasies), one of the difficulties I run into is finding a series where I don’t have to start at the beginning — like if the library or bookstore doesn’t have a copy of the… Continue Reading “Writing a Series that Can Be Read Out-of-Order”
New Year, New Mentors: Tana French
Welcome 2016!! New years are for new starts and I’m gonna kick of 2016 with a brand new batch o’mentors. First up, we have Tana French! Tana French is one of my very favorite authors. Based in Dublin, Ireland, French trained as a professional… Continue Reading “New Year, New Mentors: Tana French”
Two Different Ends to Two Different Series
I just finished reading Curtain, Poirot’s last case. (I promise I won’t give away the end.) And recently I’d also read Sleeping Murder, which is Marple’s last case. In both cases the books were written years (decades) before they were published. Also in both… Continue Reading “Two Different Ends to Two Different Series”
Thursday Reviews: Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie (A Mentor Review!)
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was written waaaay before it was published in 1976. It sat in a deposit box waiting for the light of day. So there may be some inconsistancies with the rest of… Continue Reading “Thursday Reviews: Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie (A Mentor Review!)”
The Literary Portion of the Detective Novel
Strange that I should be talking about the accusations leveled against genre and literary writers when, lo, I come across an article by George Grella entitled “Murder and Manners: The Formal Detective Novel,” published in NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, which contains an example… Continue Reading “The Literary Portion of the Detective Novel”
The Observant Character
The key to Miss Marple’s sleuthing is her insight into human behavior. Regardless of the violent act that has occurred, there is a simple, human reason/motivation behind it. By observing people and comparing those observations to other observations of human behavior in her history… Continue Reading “The Observant Character”
The Character Who Got Away…Maybe
The first Miss Marple novel is Murder at the Vicarage. It’s narrated by the Vicar Leonard Clement and the entire story centers around a murder that – as the title so elegantly shows – happened at his vicarage (a.k.a his home…talk about a rough… Continue Reading “The Character Who Got Away…Maybe”
The Character Who is You
We’ve spent the last few days talking Poirot, and next week I’m gonna talk Jane Marple, but today I wanted to talk about a recurring character in Christie’s work who has been noted to mirror Agatha Christie herself: Ariadne Oliver. Ariadne Oliver is a… Continue Reading “The Character Who is You”
Working the Setting
So many of the Hercule Poirot novels (and Miss Marple too!)depend upon the setting to contain the story. Often, Christie puts her characters in a small village, brings them into a closed suite of rooms, or, most legendarily, puts them on a train. Let’s… Continue Reading “Working the Setting”
Jenny Maloney
I write dark fiction that my mother hates. I also review mysteries for criminalelement.com. When not writing fiction/reviews, I'm creating plays at Springs Ensemble Theatre in Colorado Springs.
