Podcasts about crime writers association

This week, we discuss the threat censorship poses to democracy as part of Banned Books Week, an annual event that highlights the value of free and open access to information. Presented by the American Library Association, this panel includes Heather Booth, Anna Claussen, Sara Paretsky, and Donna Seaman. The following conversation originally took place May 19, 2024 and was recorded live at the American Writers Festival.AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOMEAbout the speakers:HEATHER BOOTH is the Audiobooks Editor for Booklist and a reader's advisory librarian at the Helen Plum Library in Lombard, IL. She is also serving her third term as a trustee at the Westmont Public Library. Booth, the mother of two teens, has focused on teen services, and has been involved in facing book challenges and preserving our freedom to read.ANNA CLAUSSEN is the Policy and Outreach Coordinator – Libraries for the Illinois Secretary of State.A Chicago-based author, SARA PARETSKY is one of only four living writers to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. Her latest V. I. Warshawski novel is Pay Dirt. Paretsky is an ardent freedom of speech advocate.DONNA SEAMAN is the Editor-in-Chief for Booklist. A recipient of the Louis Shores Award for excellence in book reviewing and the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award, Seaman is a member of the Content Leadership Team for the American Writers Museum and an adjunct professor for Northwestern University's MA in Writing and MFA in Prose and Poetry Programs. Seaman's author interviews are collected in Writers on the Air and she is the author of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists. River of Books: A Life in Reading, will be out fall 2024.

We're chatting with Lisa Regan, author of the Detective Josie Quinn series, including Her Dying Secret. Join this lively conversation about her work! ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a Bachelor's degree in English and a Master of Education degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip.

Connie Berry is the author of the Amazon and USA Today best-selling Kate Hamilton Mysteries, set in the UK and featuring an American antiques dealer with a gift for solving crimes. Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers who instilled in her a passion for history, fine art, and travel. In 2019 Connie won the IPPY Gold Medal for Mystery and was a finalist for the Agatha Award's Best Debut. Her latest novel, The Shadow of Memory, was a finalist for the Edgar Award's Lilian Jackson Braun award. She's a member of Mystery Writers of America, the Crime Writers Association. She is currently president of the Guppies, an online chapter of Sisters in Crime. Besides reading and writing mysteries, Connie loves history, foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Delaware, Ohio, and northern Wisconsin with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Emmie. Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/thekatehamiltonmysteryseries/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conniecampbellberry/ Other Social Media: X @conniecampbellberry Website: www.connieberry.com (Sign up for the newsletter here.)*****************About SinCSisters in Crime (SinC) was founded in 1986 to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers. Through advocacy, programming and leadership, SinC empowers and supports all crime writers regardless of genre or place on their career trajectory.www.SistersinCrime.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincnational/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sincnational.bsky.socialThreads: https://www.threads.net/@sincnationalFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/sistersincrimeTikTok:: https://www.tiktok.com/@sincnationalThe SinC Writers' Podcast is produced by Julian Crocamo https://www.juliancrocamo.com/

Dr Kapila has extensive experience in global and public health,  international development, humanitarian affairs, conflict and security issues, human rights, diplomacy, and social entrepreneurship, with substantive leadership roles in government, United Nations system and multilateral agencies, International Red Cross and Red Crescent, civil society, and academia. His work has taken him to some 120 countries in all continents. Originally schooled in India and England, Dr Kapila graduated in medicine from the University of Oxford and received postgraduate qualifications in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.   Since 2012, Dr Kapila has been the Professor (now Emeritus) of Global Health & Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Manchester, UK, where he also founded and chaired the Manchester Global Foundation.  Since 2020, he is also Senior Adviser to the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean, the principal forum for 29 national parliaments of the Euro-Mediterranean region, deliberating on the creation of the best political, social, economic and cultural environment for fellow citizens of member states. He also serves as an adviser on several international bodies, including on the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Antimicrobial Resistance for the World Health Organization. After an initial clinical career (1980-1984) in hospitals and general practice in Cambridge,  and then in public health (1984-1990), including initiating and leading the first National UK HIV/AIDS Programme, Dr Kapila joined what is now called the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 1990 where he oversaw British aid health programmes in Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by a spell based in Central and Southern Africa.   Dr Kapila was seconded by the UK Government to the United Nations in 2002-03, initially as Special Adviser to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan and then to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.  He then became the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Sudan (2003-04), leading what was, at the time, the UN's biggest operation in the world. In 2004, he arrived at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva as Director of Emergency Response, handling major operations such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami.   In 2006, he joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,  the world's largest humanitarian and development network serving in different roles such as Special Representative of the Secretary General, Director of Policy and Planning, and finally as Undersecretary General where he oversaw several transformations and strategic interventions to scale-up programming.   Dr Kapila has also served in many policy advisory roles, conducted strategic reviews and formulated new programmes with several other international agencies such as the World Bank, UNAIDS, International Labour Organization, UN OCHA and ISDR, as well as served on the Boards of the UN Institute for Training and Research, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, and the International Peace Academy. He was an early member of the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination System.    He returned to the United Nations in 2015-2016 to serve as Special Adviser for the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, and then in 2018-2019 to found and direct the innovative Defeat-NCD Partnership at the UN.     Additionally, he has been active in several civil society groups including chairing the Council of Minority Rights Group International, and chairing the Board of Nonviolent Peaceforce that was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. He has initiated new initiatives on sexual and gender based violence and, as Special Representative of the Aegis Trust,  on the prevention of genocide and other crimes against humanity.  These came out of his personal experiences in witnessing, at first hand, the genocidal atrocities in Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Darfur. Dr Kapila has been a public motivational  and keynote speaker at numerous events including at TedX, and delivered in Nairobi in 2013, the memorial lecture in honour of Nobel Prize winning environmental activist Wangari Maathai.  He has written extensively and served on editorial boards of several publications such as Global Governance and the International Journal of Humanitarian Studies. His memoir “Against a Tide of Evil” was nominated for the 2013 Best Non-Fiction Book award by the Crime Writers Association. His latest book (2019) is entitled “No Stranger to Kindness”.  Some of his other writings can be accessed on his website.   www.mukeshkapila.org Twitter @mukeshkapila

Today I have got the honor of talking to Dr. Mukesh Kapila about the Israel-Hamas war and the wider situation within the Middle East.  Dr Kapila has extensive experience in global and public health,  international development, humanitarian affairs, conflict and security issues, human rights, diplomacy, and social entrepreneurship, with substantive leadership roles in government, United Nations system and multilateral agencies, International Red Cross and Red Crescent, civil society, and academia. His work has taken him to some 120 countries in all continents. Originally schooled in India and England, Dr Kapila graduated in medicine from the University of Oxford and received postgraduate qualifications  in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.   Since 2012, Dr Kapila has been the Professor (now Emeritus) of Global Health & Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Manchester, UK where he also founded and chaired the Manchester Global Foundation.  Since 2020, he is also Senior Adviser to the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean, the principal forum for 29 national parliaments of the Euro-Mediterranean region deliberating on the creation of the best political, social, economic and cultural environment for fellow citizens of member states. He also serves as adviser on several international bodies including on the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Antimicrobial Resistance for the World Health Organization. After an initial clinical career (1980-1984) in hospitals and general practice in Cambridge,  and then in public health (1984-1990) including initiating and leading the first National UK HIV/AIDS Programme, Dr Kapila joined what is now called the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in 1990 where he oversaw British aid health programmes in Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, followed by a spell based in Central and Southern Africa.   Dr Kapila was seconded by the UK Government to the United Nations in 2002-03 initially as Special Adviser to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General in Afghanistan and then to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.  He then became the United Nations' Resident and Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Sudan (2003-04) leading what was at the time, the UN's biggest operation in the world.  in 2004, he arrived at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva as Director for Emergency Response handling major operations such as for the Indian Ocean Tsunami.   In 2006, he joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies,  the world's largest humanitarian and development network serving in different roles such as Special Representative of the Secretary General, Director of Policy and Planning, and finally as Undersecretary General where he oversaw several transformations and strategic interventions to scale-up programming.   Dr Kapila has also served in many policy advisory roles, conducted strategic reviews and formulated new programmes with several other international agencies such as the World Bank, UNAIDS, International Labour Organization, UN OCHA and ISDR, as well as served on the Boards of the UN Institute for Training and Research, the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, and  the International Peace Academy. He was an early member of the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination System.    He returned to the United Nations in 2015-2016 to serve as Special Adviser for the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, and then in 2018-2019 to found and direct the innovative Defeat-NCD Partnership at the UN.     Additionally, he has been active in several civil society groups including chairing the Council of Minority Rights Group International, and chairing the Board of Nonviolent Peaceforce that was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. He has initiated new initiatives on sexual and gender based violence and, as Special Representative of the Aegis Trust,  on the prevention of genocide and other crimes against humanity.  These came out of his personal experiences in witnessing, at first hand, the genocidal atrocities in Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Darfur. Dr Kapila has been a public motivational  and keynote speaker at numerous events including at TedX, and delivered in Nairobi in 2013, the memorial lecture in honour of Nobel Prize winning environmental activist Wangari Maathai.  He has written extensively and served on editorial boards of several publications such as Global Governance and the International Journal of Humanitarian Studies. His memoir “Against a Tide of Evil” was nominated for the 2013 Best Non-Fiction Book award by the Crime Writers Association. His latest book (2019) is entitled “No Stranger to Kindness”.  Some of his other writings can be accessed on his website.   www.mukeshkapila.org Twitter @mukeshkapila

Johny Pitts speaks to Megan Nolan about her new novel, Ordinary Human Failings. The book explores the demonization of an Irish family and tabloid journalism in nineties London following a shocking tragedy. Plus what is the best crime fiction out there this summer? Vaseem Khan, incoming chair of the Crime Writers Association, and critic Laura Wilson give their tips, from hot new psychological thrillers to reissued classics. And Val McDermid chooses a very modern-feeling 1940s whodunit for her Book I'd Never Lend. Book List – Sunday 16 July and Thursday 20 July Ordinary Human Failing by Megan Nolan Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan Grave Expectations by Alice Bell The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson Kill For Me Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh The Wheel of Doll by Jonathan Ames Alchemy by SJ Parris The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

Matty Dalrymple talks with Lisa Regan about HOW TO SUCCEED WITH A SUPER-LONG SERIES, including how to plan character development, building your team of characters, the plausibility pact with readers, the pros and cons of a fictional location, keeping readers engaged, and how to maintain your interest as a series author. Show notes at https://bit.ly/TIAP182 Did you find the information in this video useful? Please consider supporting The Indy Author! https://www.patreon.com/theindyauthor https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattydalrymple Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a bachelor's degree in English and a Master of Education degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. And she lives outside Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip. Lisa previously appeared on the podcast in Episode 016 - Drawing Back the Publishing Curtain with Lisa Regan

In the twelfth episode of our summer series Katherine speaks to Dervla McTiernan how her writing life began, the importance of setting in crime writing, good vs bad, and all the stuff -- from Plottr to Scrivener and Goodnotes -- she uses to write. Enjoy!    Award-winning, number one bestseller Dervla McTiernan has established herself as one of the biggest names in crime fiction. Her books have garnered critical acclaim around the world and sold over 400,000 copies in Australia and New Zealand alone.    Dervla's book include The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn (all part of the Cormac Reilly detective series). Her most recent book is The Murder Rule. Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer. Following the global financial crisis, she moved from Ireland to Australia and turned her hand to writing. Dervla is a member of the Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers Association, and lives in Perth, Australia, with her husband and two children. Check out show notes for this episode on our website www.thefirsttimepodcast.com or get in touch via Twitter (@thefirsttimepod) or Instagram (@thefirsttimepod). Don't forget you can support us and the making of Season Five via our Patreon page. Thanks for joining us!

This week I chatted to Matt Johnson, who left policing with severe PTSD and reinvented himself as a successful author. https://mattjohnsonauthor.com/ His first book, Wicked Game was long-listed by the Crime Writers Association for the 2016 John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award and at the end of 2016 it was listed by Amazon as the highest-rated debut novel of the year. His latest book, Crow 27, is a fictionalised account based on a series of incidents that took place involving the deaths in obscure circumstances of four British Army trainee soldiers at the Princess Royal Barracks in Deepcut, Surrey between 1995 and 2002.

Episode 75 - Guest Interview - Derbyshire Author - Sarah WardIn this episode, Pete and Laura chat with Derbyshire author Sarah Ward.Sarah is the author of four contemporary crime novels set in the Derbyshire Peak District. The Daily Mail described her debut novel, In Bitter Chill, as a ‘Tense, well-told story of loss and family secrets'. Sarah's published her Gothic thriller, The Quickening, using her middle name, Rhiannon Ward, and was a Radio Times book of 2020. She published the Shadowing in September 2021 and that was a Daily Express book of the year.Sarah is also the writer of the Doctor Who audio drama The Unwilling Assassin for Big Finish and The Perils of Nellie Bly, featuring the Fifth Doctor.Besides writing, Sara is an experienced Board Member of the Derby Book Festival and the Crime Writers Association. Pete and Laura ask Sarah:Tell us about yourself and your journey. How did you get started with writing?Can you tell our listener more about your novels, and your audio drama work?We've got lots of questions we'd love to ask you, but we want to start with point of view. We know point of view is important in our writing. How do you decide who should tell the story?What advice can you give to our reader to allow them to write from an authentic and consistent point of view?Sarah, we are really interested in talking about how you've found the experience of writing under a pen name. Can you talk to us about this experience and explain why you made this decision?Would you recommend writing under a pen name if your genre/ style is significantly different? Did you face any challenges?We loved seeing a glimpse of your research reading list for The Quickening. Can you tell us more about your writing process? Does this change for every book?Setting also plays a huge part in your work. How do you create such vivid settings? Is this part of your research process, too?We have lots of indie authors who listen to our podcast, and authors who are keen to learn about marketing their books. Can you talk about how much marketing you are involved with? Do you have any advice for our listener?What's next for you, and how can our listener find out more about you and your work? You can find Sarah:At her website - https://crimepieces.com or Twitter or Facebook.We want to hear from you! info@derbyshirewritingschool.comSend us a voice message.Thanks for listening!

In this episode Katherine speaks to Dervla McTiernan how her writing life began, the importance of setting in crime writing, good vs bad, and all the stuff -- from Plottr to Scrivener and Goodnotes -- she uses to write. Enjoy!  Award-winning, number one bestseller Dervla McTiernan has established herself as one of the biggest names in crime fiction. Her books have garnered critical acclaim around the world and sold over 400,000 copies in Australia and New Zealand alone. Dervla's book include The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn (all part of the Cormac Reilly detective series). Her most recent book is The Murder Rule. Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer. Following the global financial crisis, she moved from Ireland to Australia and turned her hand to writing. Dervla is a member of the Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers Association, and lives in Perth, Australia, with her husband and two children. Check out show notes for this episode on our website www.thefirsttimepodcast.com or get in touch via Twitter (@thefirsttimepod) or Instagram (@thefirsttimepod). Don't forget you can support us and the making of Season Five via our Patreon page. Thanks for joining us!

Internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed writer, Dervla McTiernan is the author of The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn. The Ruin was published in 2018 and is the first in the detective Cormac Reilly series. The Ruin was a top ten bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of July 2018. Dervla was a New Blood Panellist at Harrogate Festival. The Scholar was published in 2019 and was a top five bestseller. The Good Turn will be published in 2020. The Ruin has been optioned for TV by Hopscotch Features. Shortlisted: Barry Awards Kate O'Brien Award Australian Book Industry Awards Irish Book Awards Western Australian Premier Book Awards Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer. Following the global financial crisis, she moved from Ireland to Australia and turned her hand to writing. Dervla is a member of the Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers Association, and lives in Perth, Australia, with her husband and two children.

Internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed writer, Dervla McTiernan is the author of The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn. The Ruin was published in 2018 and is the first in the detective Cormac Reilly series. The Ruin was a top ten bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of July 2018. Dervla was a New Blood Panellist at Harrogate Festival. The Scholar was published in 2019 and was a top five bestseller. The Good Turn will be published in 2020. The Ruin has been optioned for TV by Hopscotch Features. Shortlisted: Barry Awards Kate O'Brien Award Australian Book Industry Awards Irish Book Awards Western Australian Premier Book Awards Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer. Following the global financial crisis, she moved from Ireland to Australia and turned her hand to writing. Dervla is a member of the Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers Association, and lives in Perth, Australia, with her husband and two children.

Episode 93 http://www.nancybilyeau.com/ Nancy Bilyeau was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Michigan. She studied English literature and American history at the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor's degree, before moving to New York City to work in the magazine business. She was a staff editor at Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Good Housekeeping and InStyle. In 2010 she sold her first novel, The Crown, to the Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster. A thriller set in Tudor England, it was an Oprah magazine pick and nominated for the Crime Writers Association's Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award. She wrote two more books featuring the same main character, a Dominican novice named Joanna Stafford. With her fourth novel, a standalone thriller set in the 18th century art world titled The Blue, she told a story of espionage and obsession with the most beautiful color in the world. In creating Genevieve, the Huguenot artist who goes undercover in a porcelain factor, she drew on her own background. Nancy is descended French Huguenot Pierre Billiou, who came to what was then New Amsterdam in 1665 and built a stone house on Staten Island. It's the third oldest house in New York State. Nancy is now turning her writing talent to creating novels set in the New York City of the past. For her fifth novel, Dreamland, she spent time in Coney Island and was assisted by the staff at the Coney Island Museum. She also did research at the New York Public Library, the New York Historical Society, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. Her novella, The Ghost of Madison Avenue, is also set in the New York City of the 1910s, with an Irish American widow who solves a mystery at J.P. Morgan's sumptuous private library. VOX VOMITUS: Sometimes, it's not what goes right in the writing process, it's what goes horribly wrong. Host/Literary horror novelist Jennifer Anne Gordon with help from her co-host/author Allison Martine, chat with some of the best authors of the day. www.jenniferannegordon.com www.afictionalhubbard.com #voxvomitus #voxvomituspodcast #authorswhopodcast #authors #authorlife #authorsoninstagram #authorsinterviewingauthors #livevideopodcast #livepodcast #bookstagram #liveauthorinterview #voxvomituslivevideopodcast #Jennifergordon #allisonmartine #JenniferAnneGordon #AllisonMartineHubbard #AllisonHubbard #NancyBilyeau #FugitiveColours #TheCrown #TheBlue --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/voxvomitus/support

I had a lovely chat with Dea Parkin, secretary of the Crime Writers Association about what the CWA can do for both writers and readers - as well as general crime, mystery and the all important award season.Link to Crime Readers Association https://www.patreon.com/truecrimefictionLink to Crime Writers Association https://thecwa.co.uk/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/truecrimefiction)

Agatha Christie - The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd - Episode 1 - Meet The Author That Made The Whodunit What It Is Today!   I'm Christy Shriver, and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us.    And I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.  For the next two episodes, we are going to discuss an author who for me flies under the radar when we think of literary icons.  When you look at the lists of the world's greatest writers and/or novels, she's never on then.  Yet, she has sold more books than any other novelist in the world- bar none.  Her books collectively in terms of sales rank only after The Holy Bible and the works of William Shakespeare, totally over 2.3 billion copies sold.  Those kinds of numbers we only talk about when we're talking about Amazon, Google or the National Debt of entire countries.      HA! So true.    She is also the author of the single longest running play ever to play in London's West End.  The name of that play, The Mousetrap,  opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when all stage performances were discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Performances of The Mousetrap restarted on March 17, 2021, as soon as state restrictions were lifted.  In case, you haven't figured out who we're talking about yet, today we're discussing the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie.    It really and truly is impressive how enormous of a body of work that Mrs. Christie has AND how influential her work has become.  For clarification, why do we say Dame Agatha Christie.     Of course, Dame is the feminine equivalent of Sir, it's a honorific title, in her case, she received an Order of Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1971 from Queen Elizabeth II.   Oh wow, that sounds very impressive however, at the same time, people, far less successful- non-recipients of Commander titles from Queen Elizabeth I might add, scoff at her and her work.  Many claim she's not to be taken seriously, her work isn't sophisticated, it's clichéd, yada-yada-yada…They say this in spite of all the big numbers.  Garry, beyond the big 2.3 billion in sales, quantify for us in other ways what the data reveals about Dame Christie.     Sure, first there's the amount of works she produced.  She famously wrote 66 detective novels, 14 collections of short stories (that's 150 short stories) as well as over 30 plays.  The most famous, we already mentioned, The Mousetrap.  But there are other numbers to consider, beyond just how much she produced.  Because of the long running status of The Mousetrap, her name has been in the newspapers of the West End every day without fail with the exception of 2020 since 1952 (btw, just in case you are doing the math on the performances, that number is over 25,000 of the Mousetrap- and that is just in London's West End). .   She tried to retire at the age of 75, but her books were selling so well, she said she'd give it five more years.  She actually wrote until one year before her death at age 86.   Less famously she wrote six semi-autobiographical, bitter-sweet novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.   Interestingly enough, it took 20 years for the world to uncover the identity of Mary Westmacott as being the detective icon Agatha Christie.      That is a funny fact to me, I guess she thought it would ruin her reputation to write sappy books?.  I haven't read them, but her daughter Rosalind Hicks had this to say about her mother's romantic books. "They are not ‘love stories' in the general sense of the term, and they certainly have no happy endings. They are, I believe, about love in some of its most powerful and destructive forms."  They were moderately successful in their own right , even without her name of the cover, and Christie was said to be proud of that accomplishment, but obviously romance wasn't her forte.   Beyond just the quantity of work she produced, the amount of it we've consumed as a planet is also incredible.  Today her books are translated in over 100 languages, 48 million, at least have watched her movies, including I might add the one that is out right now, Death on the Nile Here's a. numbers fun-fact, in 1948 she became. the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of ten of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in what is called - A Penguin Million   Oh wow- I guess that's like going platinum of something in the music industry.   I'd say that's a platinum in a day- usually the term going platinum refers to selling a million over the course of a life time- a single day is crazy..  In terms of dollars, I tried to find a good figure, but I don't really know.  At the time of her death, it's estimated she was worth $600 million, but she had incorporated her work in a business, of course, which of course lives on chaired and managed by Agatha Christie's great grandson James Prichard.    To me, it's an amazing resume, and I'm not a literary person, so obviously I'm looking at this differently, but I don't see how anyone could realistically contest that she's a good writer.  It sounds laughable in the face of so much success- if that's not good writing, how could we possibly measure it?  HA!  It shows how much you know- you'd make a perfectly horrible literary snob.  Everyone who's anyone knows, you can't go by the views of the lowly general population aka, the box-office!!!    Oh, well there is that.  But, just for those of us, who don't know, in all seriousness how can you explain her success away?  Well, no one is going to do that.  Obviously, but it does boil down to how you define your fiction.  In one sense, we can divide fiction into two broad categories- there's literary fiction and commercial fiction.  Obviously, commercial fiction is written to be sold.  It's the reason there are more Marvel movies than I can count on both my hands and toes.  They sell well and are enjoyable to consue.  It's why there are multiple versions of basically the same Spiderman movie, or double-digit sequels to Star Wars.  Now, there is nothing wrong with any of that that- we love it.  Every bit of that is fun and defines the culture of the world in some sense.   But there is a sense, and this is the English teacher nerd, that some of us find those pieces unsatisfying over the long term- and not worth teaching as a work of art in school.  There are many books we just don't care to read more than once.  There are many movies and songs we feel the same way about.  They are good but not considered of literary merit because there is no enduring quality to them.  On the flip side, there are other books that speak to man's condition., that expresses universal truths, that reflect something about the world that resonates inside of us- which is why we can read, watch or listen to them over and over again and still love it.  I would suggest that The Scarlet Letter or Hamlet are examples of that.  When we read them agin, we find something else that perhaps we didn't see before, of even if we did see it beflre, it satisfies something eternal inside of us to hear it once again.  The knock on Agatha Christie is that they say she's full-on commercial fiction and there is just nothing universally true about what she has to say.  The critique is that her characters are flat and underdeveloped, even the main ones.   The main character in our book is Hercule Poirot but her other main reoccurring character is a woman named Miss Marple – both are sort of shallow, honestly, featureless except for maybe being kind of annoying.  Christie investigates crime, but she doesn't really seem all that interested in any of the existential or moral questions surrounding crime-  like what social causes lead people to these actions.  She doesn't explore any social, psychological or moral issues of any kind in any real obvious way?   And do you agree with that?  Well, honestly, a little.  You can't deny that the characters are flat, and, it's absolutely true, she doesn't get into any deep discussions about the nature of man.  But having acknowledged that, I cannot discount the numbers, and so I feel compelled to think about it more deeply.   Well, and just to add to the confusion, we've been poking fun at the hoi polloi here, but from what I read, Christie is popular primarily with higher educated audiences.  She is a preferred writer of the world's academic elites.    I know, and she has been since she started writing a far more accomplished litearary critic than myself was a ardent fan of Agatha Christie, the Nobel Prize winner, TS Eliot.  Eliot actually loved all crime fiction, especially Agatha Christie.  He even wrote about it from a critical standpoint.  For TS Eliot, good crime fiction had to follow five basic rules.  Let me read these to you:  (1) The story must not rely upon elaborate and incredible disguises.  (2) The character and motives of the criminal should be normal. In the ideal detective story we should feel that we have a sporting chance to solve the mystery ourselves; if the criminal is highly abnormal an irrational element is introduced which offends us.  (3) The story must not rely either upon occult phenomena, or, what comes to the same thing, upon mysterious and preposterous discoveries made by lonely scientists.  (4) Elaborate and bizarre machinery is an irrelevance.  (5) The detective should be highly intelligent but not superhuman. We should be able to follow his inferences and almost, but not quite, make them with him.    I think I must agree with the Nobel- prize winner.  We do intuitively feel that way about a good crime novel.  So, taking Elliot's list as the standard or rubric for crime novels, should that have different standards than other books or rather- No insight to life or theme necessary?  Oh, I don't know about that.  I think anything that lasts 100 years, as does the book we're going to discuss- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,  it turns 100 in June of 2026, - anything people are reading for that long-  must be saying something.  So the mystery the mystery novel is what resonates with our souls in these works?  HA!  A little irony.   Yes, but before we get into the nitty, gritty about what makes this book great, oh and make no mistake, it IS considered great. The 2013  The Crime Writers Association claimed The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to be the greatest crime novel of all times- so there you go for a shout out- I haven't read enough crime novels to contest them.- but before we talk about this particular book- let's talk about Christie' life, for just a bit, and bring us up to speed on how this book came about.  She has a bit of a mystery embedded in her life story as well.  Indeed- but I will say, one thing I do enjoy about the books is that, at least the ones I've read, are often set in this very English very Victorian setting.  There's some fun in that.  True, you can't say that Christie didn't write about what she knew.  She was born in Torquay in 1890..  Torquay is a seaside town on the Southeastern side of the UIK.  I saw one article that called it the. English Riviera.  It's a resort town, and once even Elizabeth Barrett Browning was sent there to help recover her health.  Her family was an upper-middle class family,  In other words, they were financially well-enough but not limitlessly wealthy.  One interesting to note is that that family did not approve of her learning and didn't want her to read until she was eight.  It seems the general attitude of the time is that smart girls had trouble finding reliable husbands that wanted them (I'm not going to speak to that thought).  Oh dear, I would like to say that I find smart women immeasurably attractive.    Well, thank you, darling.  In her case, there was no holding even little Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller (that's her maiden name), back.  Apparently, she just picked it up on her own, and eventually her nurse had to confess that Agatha had taught herself to read.  HA!  Oh my, there's a rebel.  Well, did they relinquish ahd let her go to school at that point.  Well, it depends on what you mean by school.  When she turned 15, they sent her to Paris to attend finishing school.  I probably could have used that kind of support myself, honestly.  At Mrs. Dryden's finishing school she studied singing and piano playing.  This is what Christie herself said about it years later, “I am hazy now as to how long I remained at Miss Dryden's – a year, perhaps eighteen months, I do not think as long as two years.”    So, not reading Voltaire or Flaubert.   Well, maybe she did, but not because she was forced to.  But, reading was not her only rebellious streak.  In 1914, Agatha met, fell in love with and became engaged  on Christmas Eve to the man of her dreams,  A very handsome war pilot named Archie Christie.  Unfortunately, this was not the match her mother had in mind for her.    What was wrong with him?  Well, not his looks or personality,  He seemed to have that covered.  His problem was that He had no money.  But they married and a few months later Rosalind, her only daughter was born.  During WW1 Archie went off to war.  Agatha stayed home, trained and worked as a nurse at the local Red Cross hospital in Torquay- and let me add here, this is where she got her start learning so much about drugs- something she became very knowledgeable of and used successfully during her entire career.  In 56 of her novels there are over 200 references to specific, individual drugs.    So, can we expect that a large number of her characters will get poisoned?  No, not necessarily,although that IS a thing.  The most commonly dispensed drugs by Mrs. Christie were sedatives.  As you might expect, if someone is always being murdered, you may need to have a supply on hand to calm down or even put to sleep your cast of suspects.  But there are pain relievers, stimulants, blood pressure medicines, barbituates and even antidotes to other poisons.      Of course, our book, The Murder of Roger Ackrod has three drugs: liniment for a knee problem, tonic as a stimulant and of course, veronal which is the cause of a lethal overdose early in the story.    Yes, so after the war,  In 1920, after six rejections, her first real novel finally got published for $25 (pounds),- not a big risk on the part of the publisher. The title of that book was The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and it introduced the world to a 5'4 Belgian refugee who would charm and annoy readers for over 100 years, Hercule Poirot.  It did well, but her breakthrough novel would be her third novel.  It came out in the summer of 1926.  It became a best seller and launched her into a stardom from which she would never return, which is remarkable, but honestly, it's not the most interesting to happen to her that year.   I'm not sure how you top becoming a best seller.  I know, right, but it can be bested!  So, the story goes that the year 1926, in general, starts out a little rough.  Agatha's mother, who was very dependent on her daughter, died in April- and this was devastating for Agatha.  But, while she was at her mother's estate with their seven year old daughter, Rosalind, Archie revealed that he had fallen in love with another woman by the name of Nancy Neele, and he wanted a divorce.  Agatha said no.  She was deeply in love with him, and she wasn't willing to give him up.  Well on December 3 of that same year, Archie informed Agatha that he did not want to be married to her and he wasn't going to be married to her.  To somewhat reinforce this idea, he told her he was going off for the weekend with Ms. Neele.- which he did.  Apparently, Agatha did not receive this news well..and this is where the mystery begins…..and it does sound quite a bit like a story she would write.  So at 9:45pm, we know that Agatha left the house in her car after having written three letters- one to her secretary Charlotte Fisher, one to Archie and one to Archie's brother Campbell.   So far, I feel like I listening to an explanation by Piorot.    Exactly, and here is where it gets very strange.  Agatha does not return home.  In fact, she will be missing for 11 days.  The next day they find her car crashed in a tree above a local quarry with the head lights still on.  Her fur coat was in the car as well as  a small suitcase and an expired driver's license.  There was no blood anywhere in the car.   There were no skid marks on the road like you might have expected if she had been driving too fast and there had been an accident.  Finally the gearshift was in neutral, the way it would be if you had been pushing the car and not driving it.   It makes no sense, but Agatha was gone.    Well, the world went nuts.  Numbers very but possibly up to a 1000 police officers were dispatched on four countinents looking for her.  15,000 volunteers, fans, amateur detectives and so forth, joined the hunt. They used airplanes and diving equipment.  Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle joined in- remember that's Sherlock Holmes.  He took Christie's glove to his medium for a consultation to see if she could find her.    I'm guessing no.  No.  She wasn't in the afterlife. Everyone around the world was looking for this mystery writer.  When Archie got back from his weekend activity- which quite likely was an engagement party a friend threw for him and Nancy, he found a very different world- than just the unpleasantness of fighting again with Agatha; , now he was a potential murder suspect.  He also found his letter, which curiously he and burned immediately- to this day,  no one has any idea what she wrote in that letter.  His brother, Campbell, got his later, and strangely again, his letter was postmarked on Saturday AFTER Agatha went missing,  This does sound like Hercule Poirot and I'm starting to need to employ my little gray cells just to keep up.    Exactly, what secret did Campbell carry that also caused him to dispose of his letter as well.  Everything seemed to indicate that Archie had murdered her.  The police dragged the ponds, searched everywhere, it was in every newspaper on earth… until on December 14th, two musicians report seeing Mrs. Christie at a luxury spa called the Harrogate Hydro.  She had checked into the hotel days before under the name, get this- Mrs. Theresa Neele (Archie's girlfriend's last name).  This honestly sounds exactly like something she would right.  Was she play-acting?.  We will never know, this mystery, I'm sorry to say, is unsolved.  Christie had told the people at the spa that she had arrived from South Africa. She played pool, she danced, she read mystery novels in the hotel library.  She seemed undisturbed.  And here's an even stranger turn of events, Archie covered for his wife afer she was busted.  She was immediately accused of abusing an entire country's police resources over a publicity stunt, but Archie helped dispel this criticism.   He called in two doctors, they interview Agatha, and arrived at the conclusion that Agatha Christie suffered an episode of temporary amnesia.  She stress of her mother's death, the success of new book and the divorce from her husband led to a nervous breakdown.  The only thing she ever admitted to was havin been in a car crash, but even that is suspect since although she said she bruised her head, no one ever saw any bruises.  Well, after the bitterness of paying all those police overtime, can we say, all's well that ends well.?  For Agatha, yes, but not Archie.  The scandal sold gobs of books, and basically cemented her celebrity, but it also portrayed Archie as a terrible person.  How terrible for a man to do such a thing to his wife and cause the Queen of Crime to have a nervous breakdown.  He got to be the world's biggest schmuck.  Nancy Neele's family were so embarrassed they sent her on an around the world trip for ten months trying to get her away from Archie.  It didn't work though.  Archie and Nancy did get married two years later.  But so did, Agatha.  And her second marriage was to a man who adored her.  They were amazingly compatible and had a wonderful marriage.  He was an archeologist, and they spent time all over the world- hence the setting of several of her books including Murder on the Orient Express.    So, do you buy Agatha had amnesia.  Personally, not at all.  I think she got angry, ran off and then things got crazy.  I did read that she was shocked at how the story blew up.  She never imagined that that many police would come looking for her. Do you think it was legit?  It does seem a little far-fetched.  And to be the world's most famous detective novelist- I'd say, there's room to doubt.  But I'm keeping an open-mind- isn't that what Hercule Poirot would tell us to do.  The question I have is what were in those letters she left Archie and Campbell.  We need Hercule Poirot, as he would remind us, nothing is ever concealed to him..  He would have gotten to the bottom of it..    Oh, no doubt- so are we ready to meet Hercule Poirot and open the Murder of Roger Ackroyd?.   I think so, so let me make an important disclaimer- we are NOT going to spoil the book this episode by telling you who the murderer is, but we will next episode.  So, if you are starting the book now and are listening to this in real time, you have one week…. But you do have a week.  This week we are going to look at the book from the perspective of understanding how Christie was adhering very cleverly to the conventions of what we call a “formal detective. Novel” - otherwise known as the “whodunit”.  Edgar Alan Poe is credited of creating the detective story,  but of course most of us think of Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and his side-kick Watson as being kind of the iconic example of what this looks like. Agatha Christie basically follows their pattern but takes it from the short story to the longer novel form.  As we might expert per the conventions of the trade, we are going to open up our story in an English country house- think of every clue like movie you have ever seen.   But in this case, there has already been a murder, but not the one from the title.  Let's read the opening couple of paragraphs.  Page 1  We also meet the narrator who is going to walk us through the story, Dr. James Shepperd and his meddling sister Caroline (Caroline, by the way is going to by the prototype for Mrs. Marple, Christie's other detective.). But since the opening murder isn't the murder from the title of the book, so we know this isn't the right murder.  I want to say that another characteristic of these formal detective stories is that we don't have emotional connections to any of the characters of the story.  We are not made to feel upset in the least that there has been a murder.  At no point in the story at all are we to feel sad about anything- not when victims die,or get falsely accused or anything.  We don't feel angry either, in fact, there are no negative emotions at all.  We aren't even led to find the perpetrator necessarily an evil person.    You know, I think that may be one of the appeals.  We feel enough anger, guilt or sadness in real life. These books may be relaxing  BECAUSE we don't have to be emotionally stressed out about anything.  We can just enjoy the process of the puzzle..  We know the murder will get solved, and all will be set aright in the world.  So, it's just a matter of watching everything unfold.  True, and although there is fun in trying to guess who did it and following the clues, but I'll be honest, I didn't figure out who the murderer was, and I basically never do when I read these thing. I barely even try.  And I don't think most people do either, or even care to try.    I know, kind of like when someone tells you a riddle, you're likely to give it about 30 seconds, then you want them to tell you what the riddle is.  Exactly.    Funny, by chapter 2, we meet the man who will be murdered, Roger Ackroyd. King's Abbot, which is the name of this village, apparently has several very wealthy people- one of which is already dead, Mrs. Ferrars; the other is getting ready to die, Roger Ackroyd- and the crime scene will be Mr. Ackroyd's house, Fernly Park, of course.  For me, one of the hardest parts of this book is keeping straight in. my mind all of the characters that will necessarily become the suspects.  That IS the hard part, but that's one of the most important elements of the entire game.  We have to know who each of these suspects will be, so we can focus not only on whether they have opportunity and means, but if they also have motive.    And we meet the cast of suspects here at the beginning.  There's Mrs. Russell, the housekeeper.  There's the two female relatives, a sister-in-law and her beautiful daughter, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd and Flora.  We don't meet but we find out about Ralph Paton, Mr. Ackroyd's adopted son who seems to have a reputation for being irresponsible with money and women but who will be the heir to the fortune.  When our narrator, Dr. Shepperd, meets Roger Ackroyd on the road, Ackroyd is extremely upset.    Let's read that encounter.  Page 11  And that is an example of Christie's writing style that I find so charming.  The narrator takes us into his confidences and these little aside comments to us, as readers, are charming and endearing.  We find ourselves as we read the story trusting Dr. Shepperd's understanding of the murder, for one reason precisely because he takes us into his confidence   True, although I will say, another reason we trust him is because the detective Hercule Poirot takes him so often into his confidence.  Dr. Shepperd goes everywhere and helps with the investigation from start to finish.  He's kind of like Watson to Sherlock Holmes.    True, and we see that this cast of characters looks remarkably like a lot of them from this Golden Age and in fact, they are the stock characters from many a Clue game.  We will have the damsel in distress, (who we have already met with Flora).  We'll have the house staff who are always keeping secrets thus making them suspicious. Besides Miss Russell, who we've met there's also Geofrey Raymond, who is Roger Ackroyd's secretary, Ursula Bourne who is a house maid, and John Parker, the Butler.  Of course- the Butler in the library with the Candle-sticks.  HA!! To which we say, is that your guess.  For those of you who don't know, that's how you play the game of Clue.  So true.  And so when we get to chapter five and Dr. Shepperd gets the call to come over to the house go inspect the body because there has been a murder, we already have all of suspects lined up and ready to go.  Well, and although this next feature isn't in a game of Clue, We can't overlook the buffoon policemen who will be foils to our eccentric but brilliant detective.  Inspector Davis who comes over initially and then later on Inspector Raglan our of members of the law enforcement community..    Oh, and let's not fail to mention the silent almost brooding Major Hector Blunt- our visiting military man, who although never is a suspect in this particular murder, has an important role in the story, none the less, because he's secretly in love with Flora, and this would not be a classic detective story without a romantic interest somewhere.  You know, it's almost like we're not reading a drama at all.  In some ways these books feel like sit-coms.    That is it exactly.  And I want to make this point, a formal detective novel of this tradition, is not a tragedy at all, but in fact, meets the criteria of what we would call a comedy.  If you remember from our series on Romeo and Juliet, we talked about the difference between a comedy and a tragedy. A comedy ends in marriage and a tragedy in death.  From a literary stand point, an Agatha Christie novel, and those that are modeled after hers, are popular precisely because they are comedies of manners cloaked as tragedies (it's a trick).  The characters serve comedic purposes- not thematic ones.  That's why it's okay that they are pretty much the same stock characters in every story.  The story would be totally different and if fact would be a completely different genre, if we did not have every assurance, life would end well.  Let me explain what I mean,  Recently, Lizzy and I watched together the Netflix movie, The Woman in the. Window.  Lizzy had just finished reading the book  by AJ Finn and had really liked it.  It's also a murder mystery, but totally different in purpose and genre.  In The Woman in the Window,, the characters are serious, They struggle with anxiety and depression.  The characters themselves are meant to be deeply analyzed- that's the entire point of it.  Finn is commenting on issues regarding mental health.  That is not Christie's purpose at all.   It would take away from the fun really if she went that direction.  In comedies, only the unlikeable characters ever really suffer anything terrible.  And Roger Ackroyd,, although we don't get to know him very well, is not a likeable person.  He's selfish, stingy and is forcing his son Ralph and Flora to get married against their wills (in fact, we find out towards the end, that Ralph is actually already secretly married to the parlormaid) and this makes Ackroyd lose his mind.  In chapter six, Dr. Shepperd describes Ackroyd of having a “choleric temper”- and although it's never good to murder people because they are disagreeable, it's worth pointing out that Christie doesn't go to any trouble to make Ackroyd likeable in any way.  The point being, we don't really care that Ackroyd's been murdered really.  There's nothing tragic about it.    And so the fun of every chapter is following Hercule Poirot around, interviewing all the witnesses and seeing if we can figure out before he does who the murderer is.  Who has the most compelling reason to do it, and it will turn out that almost everyone stands to gain something from his death.  Exactly, except we don't figure it out- and if Christie's success is any indication I don't think almost anyone in the last 100 years figured it out before Poirot.  During my second reading of the book, the one where I read it after already knowing who killed Roger Ackrod, I realized that Poirot had the murder solved well before- well, at least before chapter 17.    I want to revisit that, but before we do, let's flesh out a little our heroic detective.  This isn't the first book where she introduces Poirot, but I was surprised to see that he was retired.  I didn't expect that precisely because I knew she wrote 66 novels, and I had heard of this funny little man, as he is described.    And he IS a funny little man- obnoxious and ridiculous.  And the way Christie introduces him is funny too.  Hercule moves into the house next door to Dr. Shepperd and his sister Caroline live.  They are both unmarried.  James is a doctor, and Caroline's main occupation is local purveyor of gossip- something she seems to conduct through a very sophisticated network of servants and friends.  Dr. Shepperd acts annoyed by it, but he also seems very impressed with her mad-dog skills.  Before we meet Poirot, we are led to believe by Dr. Shepperd that the mysterious neighbor next door must a hairdresser as evidenced by his perfectly groomed mustache.    That mustache is what he is most famous for- that and his egg-shaped head- whatever that is.  According to Christie, he was inspired by a Belgian refugee she saw coming off of a bus after the first World War.  Of course, all of the inspiration was external, and she never met the gentleman personally, but she took that inspiration and created a short man, with a distinguished mustache, a solid head of black hair and an egg-shaped head.  She wanted him to have as she called it a “grandiloquent name”- hence Hercule and she wanted him to be very orderly, brilliant but vain.  After a while, she says she came to be resentful that she was stuck with him since she didn't like him very much.  Well, and funny enough, at one point in her career, she killed him off, but her publishers didn't let her publish that book.  What, she killed Hercule? Did it ever get published?  Oh, it eventually did, of course, we'll save that story for next week.    Oh okay, something to look forward to, but back to our book, if you are a Christie fan, you'll know immediately that the mysterious hairdresser is none other than our sleuth.  If this is your first Christie book, you may not but it doesn't matter.  By chapter 8, he's in the mix having been hired by Flora to figure out who killed her uncle.   By chapter 6, we've also introduced a rogue stranger with a mysterious accent, who we know from years of experience with other detective novels and movies, cannot possibly be the murderer- he's too much of a ruffian.  We all know that our criminal, although technically a criminal by virtue of having murdered someonw, will have no actual noticeable criminal behaviors.  In fact, he likely will have impeccable manners, just like everyone else in the story.We won't experience any bloody murder scenes; there will no harsh language, the investigation will be polite and the world “unpleasantness” will be the euphemism of choice to describe anything from the dagger in the neck to the awkward questioning   Well, speaking of the daggar to the neck, I'm assuming that a spectacular weapon of choice is also a characteristic of the formal detective story.  OH, it absolutely is.  And ours, does not disappoint- we have a Tunisian one of a kind dagger.  Let's read about it.   Page 64-65  And of course, the details are the glorious part.  In fact, that's one reason I never even attempt to solve these murders.  It tires me out to weed through all of the details.  There is a diagram of the study, the specifics of when Dr. Shepperd left, when he was called back, when Flora last heard from her uncle, where everyone was at exactly the time of the murder, the phone call, the foot print, the in and out of the garden house over and over again- all of it laid out before us with consummate British precision.  The pieces of the puzzle are completely spread on the table ready to be ordered again.  The universe that Christie creates, some have called claustrophobic because it's small and contained, but that's what's great about it.  It's knowable, ordered, and most importantly benevolent.  These people are good- likely even the murderer.  Of course, they are trying to get away with little lies and deceptions because Victorian society is very demanding, but even the murderer is not going to want to leave willingly.  He or she will only leave as a final resort.  This world is rational and sensible and one where even we as readers find comfort.    Well, from a historical perspective, I find that extremely important.  If you recall, England or rather Europe in general was nothing ljke what you described.  It was not predictable or benevolent.  People were being exiled; wars were raging, governments were in upheaval; poverty was rampant- what a wonderful escape and promise of possibility- a well ordered upper class environment where the rules apply and if you break them- you get exiled.  I would say the rigid formality came across as comforting and peaceful- not boring and predictable.    I guess you're right.  The book is really best read twice, if you want my opinion.  At least it was for me.    It's a very carefully crafted puzzle, so when you read it the first time, you can enjoy it as a it's a straightforward whodunnit- but when you read it the second time knowing who the murderer is, it's even more interesting to watch how she deceived you.  Nothing is every hidden, but her duplicitous way of writing deceives us from start to finish, and it's delightful to watch her do it.    So, Christy, getting us back to the difference between commercial fiction versus literary fiction, you said you think there is a theme in her work?  Without giving away the murderer can we speak to it this episode?  Yeah, I think we can- there are several, but one I think does speak to this idea of finding value in a well-ordered world.   One of the most memorable scenes in the entire book is chapter 16.  When I read it the first time, I had no idea why it was included.  For most of the book, we're following Poirot around, looking at clues, interrogating witnesses, but chapter 16 is different. Also, it's pretty much the center physically of the book.  Sheppard and his sister Caroline and spend an evening playing Mah jong with local friends (a retired Army officer, Colonel Carter and a Mrs. Gannett)- neither of which have anything to do with anything, at least as far as I can tell.  They enjoy coffee, cake, sandwiches and tea and then sit down to play. The main purpose of the evening really is to collect gossip, but sitting around and doing that would be vulgar.  And no one in King's Abbot is vulgar, so an exotic game from the Far East is a wonderful excuse.  As they go through the hand, we realize in some ways playing this game is a lot like living life.  They talk about how each person expresses something about themselves by how they play.  They can express weakness or strength, an ability to perceive, an ability to make decisions.  Sometimes the hand you are giving is a wreck; sometimes you get a winning hand effortlessly.  At one point, Caroline very astutely yet unconsciously comments that Miss Gannett isn't playing like she thinks she should.   “   Garry, do you know how to play mah jong?  NO, I really don't.  It looks fascinating and of course I've seen it featured in several movies, just from looking at the external features it appears to be a little bit like rummy except with tiles.  I don't know either.  But at this point in the game, Caroline points out that Miss Gannett's hand wasn't worth going mah Jong over.  Miss. Gannett responds to Caroline's criticism by saying, “Yes, dear, I know what you mean, but it rather depends on what kind of hand you have to start with, doesn't it? Caroline replies, “You'll never get the big hands if you don't go for them.”  To which Miss Gannet replies, “Well, we must all play our own way, mustn't we? After all, I'm up so far.”   This goes on and on for an entire chapter- the women gossiping, attention going in and out.  Let's read the part where the finally get to the end of the game and someone wins.   The situation became more strained. It was annoyance at Miss Gannett's going Mah Jong for the third time running which prompted Caroline to say to me as we built a fresh wall: ‘You are too tiresome, James. You sit there like a deadhead, and say nothing at all!' ‘But, my dear,' I protested, ‘I have really nothing to say that is, of the kind you mean.' ‘Nonsense,' said Caroline, as she sorted her hand. ‘You must know something interesting.' I did not answer for a moment. I was overwhelmed and intoxicated. I had read of there being such a thing as The Perfect Winning – going Mah Jong on one's original hand. I had never hoped to hold the hand myself. With suppressed triumph I laid my hand face upwards on the table. ‘As they say in the Shanghai Club,' I remarked – Tin-ho – the Perfect Winning!' The colonel's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.  And so there you have it, Dr. Shepperd has been tight-lipped the entire book which for us as his partners sometimes can get frustrating.  He always knows more than he says, but he's a medical man and feels compelled to keep people's confidences until this night.  Right after his big win, he is so exhilarated, he blurts out to everyone everything Poirot had told him the previous day about the ring- a specific ring Poirot had kept entirely out of the sight but had revealed only to Dr. Sheppherd now Dr. Shepperd is getting the world's biggest gossips and the news will for sure spread all over town.      And so, where's the theme?  I don't see it.    Well, I'm not English, so I'm going to make a disclaimer that this could be a very American interpretation, but it seems to me that Christie is making a commentary on how society functions best- Mah Jong is a communal game with strict rules- but it is indeed about community- very much like the society she has built for us her readers.  Although Shepperd claims all they do in King's Abbot is gossip, we see through every chapter that that is not true.  There is a very active local pub that everyone goes to.  They garden; they visit.  They have true community.  And yet there are indeed winners and losers, Miss Gannett isn't good at mah jong because she's too independent or impulsive. Shepperd has a bit of good luck, but he also lets  it get to his head and blurts things out at the end that he probably shouldn't have.  At least he regrets it at the beginning of the next chapter.   I don't know, I just think she may be advocating to the rest of us who may find rules stifling, the traditional ways boring, or the conventions cumbersome, that there just might be something of value in the vintage- something comforting and enjoyable in a well-ordered and fair universe.   But like I said, that's just one thought.  And it is most definitely arguable.   Okay- thanks for listening…

A former superintendent with Thames Valley Police, David Hodges is a prolific crime writer and author of fourteen crime novels plus an autobiography on his life in the police service. His debut crime novel received critical media acclaim and a welcome accolade from Inspector Morse's creator, the late great Colin Dexter, and since then he has become the author of several successful stand-alone thrillers, including BLAST and TARGET (formerly Endeavour Media, now Lume Books).In particular, his Somerset Murder Series (Joffe Books), set on the mist-shrouded Somerset Levels in England and featuring the exploits of feisty detective, Kate, and her easy-going partner, Hayden, has gone from strength to strength, attracting keen interest in Europe, the USA and Australia as well as in Britain, with the latest novel in the series, STALKER ON THE LEVELS, being published by Joffe Books in November 2021 in time for Christmas. Six of his previous novels are available on Audible for the sight challenged and those who prefer to listen rather than read, and most of his books can also be obtained in paperback and digital format on Kindle.David has two married daughters and four grandchildren and lives in the UK with his wife, Elizabeth, where he continues to indulge his passion for thriller writing and to pursue his keen interest in the countryside.He is a member of the Crime Writers Association, The Crime Readers Association, The Society of Authors and International Thriller Writers Inc.Today's episode is brought to you by John's full series of crime thrillers available right now. You can get them through Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/John-A.-Hoda/e/B00BGPXBMM%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share  You can also sign up for the newsletter at http://www.JohnHoda.com to get a free copy of John's new novella Liberty City Nights. Thank you for listening. If you have a moment to spare please leave a rating or comment on Apple Podcasts as that will help us expand the circle around our campfire. If you have any questions please feel to reach out to me via my website http://www.johnhoda.com

"he went on to be the Robespierre of the Russian Revolution"

Mit seinem dritten Roman "We begin at the End" hat Chris Whitaker die weltweite Aufmerksamkeit auf sich gezogen. Der Autor lebt in Großbritannien, siedelt seine Romane aber mit präziser Genauigkeit in den ländlichen Vereinigten Staaten an. Oft genug ist es ja gerade andersherum. Er gewann in diesem Jahr nicht nur den Gold Dagger der Crime Writers Association, sondern wurde von vielen Fachmagazinen als bester Thriller des Jahres ausgezeichnet. Und heute schließe ich mich dem an. Erschienen ist das Buch bei Piper. Folge direkt herunterladen

Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. Her books have sold over two million copies. Lisa has a bachelor's degree in English and a Master of Education, both from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, daughter, and a Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip.

Did Adam have a good birthday? When is he going to organise a bbq? And are the rumours about Bob doing some actual work true?   To find out the answers, plus some other stuff, just listen to the latest episode of Partners in Crime with Robert Daws and Adam Croft.    Adam reveals who won the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award, we hear that The Crime Writers Association has appointed Elly Griffiths to the role of booksellers champion and Bob tells us all about BBC crime drama Time.   Our hosts have clearly been doing a fair bit of reading, as they recommend a good number of books (see below), while Patreon members get an exclusive look at Adam's jazzy shirt, which Bob seems to be rather jealous of.    ~ Moriarty ~     RECOMMENDATIONS   The Forever Home by Sue Watson https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/the-forever-home   The Ghost of Frédéric Chopin by Éric Faye https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/the-ghost-of-frederic-chopin-1   Down by the Water by Elle Connel Audiobook narrated by Natalie Pela https://www.kobo.com/en/audiobook/down-by-the-water-4   Left You Dead by Peter James https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/left-you-dead-1   June's Patreon FREE book of the month from Kobo is Death of a Painter by Matthew Ross https://www.kobo.com/en/ebook/death-of-a-painter To get this book and a different one every month for free, become a patron at patreon.com/partnersincrimepodcast   Buy Partners In Crime merchandise here https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/52592091 Buy a 'Partners In Time' clock by clicking below! https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/52592683   Don't forget your exclusive Partners in Crime discounts through Kobo. Get 90% off your first purchase using the code CRIME at checkout. And you can also get 40% off all books using the code PARTNERS when you shop using this link: bit.ly/PartnersKobo If you'd like to support Partners in Crime and get early access to every episode — on video — plus lots of other goodies, head over to patreon.com/partnersincrimepodcast   CONTACT US Email: hello@partnersincrime.online Facebook: facebook.com/groups/crimefictionpodcast/ Twitter: twitter.com/crimeficpodcast Instagram: instagram.com/crimefictionpodcast/ Website: partnersincrime.online Patreon: patreon.com/partnersincrimepodcast  

I'm so excited to introduce y'all to Lisa Regan, the author of the Detective Josie Quinn Thriller Series (Adult Fiction, Crime). Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series, as well as several other crime fiction titles. Her novels have been translated into several other languages. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives just outside of Philadelphia with her husband, daughter, and her Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Crime Writers Association. She is currently under contract to write a total of twenty Detective Josie Quinn novels. Book number ten in the series, BREATHE YOUR LAST, released on December 9, 2020 and debuted at number 1 on the Wall Street Journal’s Fiction eBook bestseller list. Book eleven in the series releases in April of 2021. Here's a link to Lisa's Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Regan/e/B...​ Thanks for listening to the podcast! If you'd like to stay up with my author life SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER: https://forms.gle/1m6tSmfeCcDWhpWa7​ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jen-lowry-writes/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jen-lowry-writes/support

Kris Hollington discusses with Ivan six things which he thinks should be better known. Kris Hollington is a bestselling non-fiction author and ghost-writer of over twenty books, mostly covering crime, several of which have been adapted for TV dramas and documentaries and nominated for various awards. In 2017 he won the People’s Book Prize for non-fiction and his latest book, Corrupt Bodies, written with Peter Everett, is currently long-listed for the Crime Writers’ Association prize for non-fiction. Kris is also a dedicated street photographer (www.shootitagain.com and @krishollington) and freestyle BMX-er. The Essays of David Foster Wallace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI and https://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/HarpersMagazine-1996-01-0007859.pdf The joy of extreme sports in middle age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m28nJEevCZw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NcOSK6q8Oc The assassinations of Alfred Herrhausen and Detlev Rohwedder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Herrhausen and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detlev_Karsten_Rohwedder The Anti-snore backpack https://www.independent.co.uk/news/silent-night-ordered-as-army-attacks-snorers-1120249.html Hawksley Workman http://hawksleyworkman.com/ Harold Feinstein https://www.haroldfeinstein.com/documentary/ This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

In this spellbinding collection, Paretsky showcases her extraordinary talents in a new V.I. Warshawski story, along with fourteen additional short stories, eight of those featuring the indomitable detective. As Publishers Weekly praised, ““The love that really comes through in each story is the love and empathy Paretsky has for her all-too-human characters.” Paretsky is the master of twisting suspense and pacey plot. She is one of only four living writers to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. She has been hailed by the crime community as "a legend" (Harlan Coben) and "one of the all-time greats" (Karin Slaughter). Her acclaimed novels featuring detective V.I. Warshawski rank among the most celebrated crime series in modern fiction. For longtime fans of V.I. Warshawski, new readers discovering her for the first time, or any lover of crime and suspense, LOVE & OTHER CRIMES is a celebration of Paretsky’s exceptional storytelling skill and a searing exploration of the dark conspiracies and desperate human acts hiding in plain sight. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/steve-richards/support

Jeffery Deaver knows how to write for an audience. By listening to comments, critiques, and making smart compromises, Deaver crafts the story he wants while appealing to his readers. As an international bestseller, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Novel of the Year, and Edgar Award, and author of over thirty-five novels, he is a respected member of the writing community. He is well-known for his Colter Shaw and Lincoln Rhyme novels, two chilling mystery series. Jeffery’s next novel, The Goodbye Man, will be available this May.From Amazon.com:The author of thirty-four novels, Deaver has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony award, a Gumshoe Award, and is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year. In 2001, he won the W.H. Smith Thumping Good Read Award for his Lincoln Rhyme novel The Empty Chair. In 2004, he was awarded the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Garden Of Beasts and the Short Story Dagger for "The Weekender." Translated into 35 languages, his novels have appeared on a number of bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the London Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington as Lincoln Rhyme. A Maiden's Grave was made into an HBO film retitled Dead Silence, starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin.Whether you’re traditionally published or indie, writing a good book is only the first step in becoming a successful author. The days of just turning a manuscript into your editor and walking away are gone. If you want to succeed in today’s publishing world, you need to understand every aspect of the business - editing, formatting, marketing, contracts. It all starts with a good book, then the real work begins.Join international bestselling author J.D. Barker and indie powerhouse, J. Thorn, as they gain unique insight and valuable advice from the most prolific and accomplished authors in the business.In this episode, you’ll discover:How to utilize the “Mint Toothpaste” testHow to reuse old charactersWhy to outline a bookHow to keep a reader engagedHow to grow in today’s writing climateLinks:J. D. Barker - http://jdbarker.com/J. Thorn - https://theauthorlife.com/Jeffery Deaver - https://www.jefferydeaver.com/The Goodbye Man by Jeffery Deaver - https://www.jefferydeaver.com/novel/the-goodbye-man/The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver - https://books2read.com/thenevergame Three Story Method by J. Thorn and Zack Bohannon - https://books2read.com/threestorymethodThree Story Method Workbook by J. Thorn and Zack Bohannon - https://amzn.to/37SAR1aMusic by Nicorus - https://cctrax.com/nicorus/dust-to-dust-ep Voice Over by Rick Ganley - http://www.nhpr.com and recorded at Mill Pond Studio - http://www.millpondstudio.comContact - https://writersinkpodcast.com/contact/ “Muggable” quote by Harley Christensen - https://www.mischievousmalamute.com/*Full disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We would like to wish all of our listeners a very Happy New Year full of reading and discovering new authors. As we take a well deserved rest and time to spend with our family and friends. We wanted to share our favorite episode to date. Our September, 2018 interview with Alan Bradley. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.Alan Bradley was born in Toronto, Ont. and grew up in the pleasant lakeside town of Cobourg, Ont. After a long career in television broadcasting, he took early retirement from the University of Saskatchewan to write full-time. He has published many children’s stories as well as lifestyle and arts columns in Canadian newspapers. His adult stories have been broadcast on CBC radio and published in various literary journals. He has also written several screenplays and taught university-level courses in screenwriting. He was the recipient of the first Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award for Children’s Literature. After writing for several years on the Maltese island of Gozo, Alan Bradley now lives on the Isle of Man.The first book of his Flavia de Luce series, “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” won the 2007 Debut Dagger Award of the Crime Writers Association in the UK; the 2009 Agatha Award for Best First Novel; the 2010 Dilys, awarded by the International Mystery Booksellers Association; the Spotted Owl Award, given by the Friends of Mystery, and the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award, given by the Crime Writers of Canada for Best First Novel. “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” has also been nominated for an Anthony Award, a Barry Award, and a Macavity Award. Besides appearing on the New York Times bestsellers list as a Favorite Mystery of 2009, “Sweetness” was also, among other honours, an American Library Association nominee as Best Book For Young Adults; a Barnes and Noble Bestseller, and was named to the 2009 Bloomer List. The audiobook version of “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” was voted Best AudioBook by iTunes.

Chatting With Sherri Welcomes back author; Mitzi Szereto! Mitzi is an author and anthology editor whose books encompass true crime and crime fiction, gothic fiction, cozy mystery, satire, parody, horror, sci-fi/fantasy, paranormal romance, erotic fiction, and general fiction and non-fiction. Her novels, short stories and anthologies have been translated into several languages. She has appeared at major international literature festivals and taught creative writing around the world, including several universities in the United Kingdom. A story from her British crime anthology Getting Even: Revenge Stories received a Highly Commended from the Crime Writers Association’s Silver Dagger Awards. She has the added distinction of having the first anthology of erotica to include a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Mitzi is the creator and presenter of the London-based web TV channel Mitzi TV, and also plays herself in the pseudo-documentary British film Lint: The Movie. Her blog of personal essays can be found at Errant Ramblings. The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers;  They make the headlines. They give you nightmares. They make you afraid to leave your house. Yet according to statistics, you’re more likely to be murdered by someone you know than by a complete stranger. When a murder is committed by a stranger, it’s usually in connection with a burglary or robbery. But serial killers are a different entity. They’re the wildcard you never see coming.”—Mitzi Szereto 

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller Lisa Regan steps into the Interrogation Room to clear up a few things about her writing and craft. Lisa writes the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Education degree from Bloomsburg University, and Lisa's a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. Her first Josie Quinn novel, entitled VANISHING GIRLS, is set for re-release on November 26th. For this episode, Lisa and Writers On The Beat host Gavin Reese discuss conflict and tension; researching cop characters; realities of big-city police agencies; and who Lisa prefers to work her own homicide. Lisa's works: www.amazon.com/Lisa-Regan/e/B009YY091I/ Lisa's site: www.lisaregan.com Gavin's works: www.amazon.com/Gavin-Reese/e/B072W5PPGS/ Gavin's site: gavinreese.com THIS EPISODE SPONSORED BY *BREAKTHROUGH PROMOTIONS* www.breakthroughpromotions.net #writersbeat #writerslife #writerscraft #craftofwriting #writersblock #writingcoach #writingmentor #writer #author #vanishinggirls #lisaregan #josiequinn #breakthroughpromos #breakthrough #bestseller #gavinthecop #gavinreese #detectivefiction #amwritingfiction #amwriting #nanowrimo #murdermystery #missing #thevanished #kidnapped #itw #sistersincrime --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/writersbeatpodcast/support

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller Lisa Regan steps into the Interrogation Room to clear up a few things about her writing and craft. Lisa writes the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Education degree from Bloomsburg University, and Lisa's a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers Association, and Mystery Writers of America. Her first Josie Quinn novel, entitled VANISHING GIRLS, is set for re-release on November 26th. For this episode, Lisa and Writers On The Beat host Gavin Reese discuss conflict and tension; researching cop characters; realities of big-city police agencies; and who Lisa prefers to work her own homicide. Lisa's works: https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Regan/e/B009YY091I/ Lisa's site: https://www.lisaregan.com Gavin's works: https://www.amazon.com/Gavin-Reese/e/B072W5PPGS/ Gavin's site: https://gavinreese.com THIS EPISODE SPONSORED BY *BREAKTHROUGH PROMOTIONS* https://www.breakthroughpromotions.net

It's award time! Looking for some new crime books to read? Well join Philippa as she talks through last night’s CWA Award Ceremony - an annual event for the Crime Writers Association. Philippa celebrates the winners, talks through their books and joins in with some much needed drinks and snacks.  

Deaver wrote his first book ' which consisted of two entire chapters ' when he was eleven, and he's been writing ever since. An award-winning poet and journalist, he has also written and performed his own songs around the country. After receiving a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri, Deaver worked as a magazine writer, then, to gain the background needed to become a legal correspondent for The New York Times or Wall Street Journal, he enrolled at Fordham Law School. After graduation he decided to practice law for a time and worked for several years as an attorney for a large Wall Street firm. It was during his long commute to and from the office that he began writing the type of fiction he enjoyed reading: suspense novels. In 1990 he started to write full time. The author of thirty-four novels, Deaver has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony award, a Gumshoe Award, and is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year. In 2001, he won the W.H. Smith Thumping Good Read Award for his Lincoln Rhyme novel The Empty Chair. In 2004, he was awarded the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Garden Of Beasts and the Short Story Dagger for "The Weekender." Translated into 35 languages, his novels have appeared on a number of bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the London Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington as Lincoln Rhyme. A Maiden's Grave was made into an HBO film retitled Dead Silence, starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin. Jeff has also released three collections of his short stories, called Twisted, More Twisted and Trouble In Mind.

Ann Cleeves is a crime writer best known for two series of novels, both of which have been adapted for television. Vera, for ITV, features her detective Vera Stanhope, and Shetland, for the BBC, focuses on DI Jimmy Perez, who works for the Shetland police. Born in 1954, Ann grew up in Herefordshire and Devon. After secondary school she spent a year providing childcare for a family in London before reading English at the University of Sussex. She dropped out of her degree course, and by chance, was offered a job as assistant cook at the bird observatory in Fair Isle, despite not knowing how to cook, nor anything about birds. She met her husband Tim there, who came as a visiting bird watcher. They spent four years on the tiny tidal island of Hilbre off the Wirral peninsula, where Ann started to write. Her debut novel was published in 1986 and she has published a book a year since then. Her first Shetland novel, Raven Black, appeared in 2006 and won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger, at the time the richest crime-writing prize in the world. Her second breakthrough came when a TV producer picked up a second-hand copy of one her novels featuring her dishevelled detective Vera Stanhope and decided it would make perfect prime-time viewing. In October 2017, Ann received the Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association, the highest honour in British crime writing, awarded by fellow crime authors. In 2018, she published the final of eight Shetland novels, and this autumn will see the publication of the first of a new Vera series set in Devon. Her husband Tim died in December 2017. Ann lives in Whitley Bay, with her two daughters and six grandchildren nearby. BOOK CHOICE: The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning LUXURY: Pen and paper CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Suzanne by Leonard Cohen Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Cathy Drysdale

In this episode, Mark interviews Rachel Amplett, the author of the successful Dan Taylor and Kay Hunter police procedural thrillers as well as stand alone thrillers and mystery novels. The interview includes a lot of information related to this episode's sponsor, Findaway Voices . . .Mark shares a bit of an update about the the new Authors Direct option that Findaway Voices is beta testing. In their chat, Mark and Rachel talk about: What compelled Rachel to writing in the first place. The confusing and conflicting messages she received from different publishers when shopping her first Dan Taylor novel around. How Rachel started out in indie publishing a stand alone novel, WHITE GOLD, seven years ago after a suggestion from a friend (and how it all started with a Goodreads page and an author account at Smashwords). The emails from readers around the world that prompted Rachel to write a sequel to her first novel; something she hadn't planned in the first place. How the experience of being approached by a publisher in Italy interested in publishing an Italian version of her novel WHITE GOLD (having found her "by accident") prompted her to see what could be done by applying her experince as a project administrator into a business plan with marketing efforts, which she started at 2015. The fact that Kobo was the first retail platform where her sales really started to take off after a 99 cent BookBub deal. Being so successful that she was able to go full time as writer without having actually "broken out" in the US, the one market that seems to be the easiest for authors to break into. Getting into the audiobook market relatively early as part of a strategic business plan. Investing some of the money that was coming in from Rachel's Kay Hunter novels into the creation of the audiobooks and the stacked-up rapid release of the first several books in the series within a couple of months. The producer and narrator Rachel found in the UK for the audiobooks. How the narrator, Alison Campbell, has become the voice of Kay Hunter for Rachel and many of her listening readership. The challenge of staying on the exhausting "hamster wheel" that a writer can find themselves on working on steady releases and how Rachel is avoiding burn-out by strategic scheduling and the inclusion of passion projects. How success can come from sitting down at the end of a project and engaging in an exercise of "lessons learned." The early success Rachel has seen via Findaway Voices sales at Playster. How you can never know where in the world the sales of your books can come from. What happens when you try something a little bit different and focus on the niche markets that are working for you. How Rachel Findaway Voices Authors Direct program was a Godsend. How a large portion of Rachel's print books sell to libraries around the world - a great way for readers to read their favorite authors for free in eBook, print and audio. The things Rachel thinks will be the most important for authors to think about in the next year. After the interview, Mark shares his thoughts on the success Rachel had outside of Amazon as well as her systematic project management process that helps keep her on track and balanced in her writing life. He then shares a few appearances he had recently on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast as well as in a Reedsy live webinar about selling more on Kobo.   Links of Interest: Rachel Amplett's Website Facebook Twitter Instagram Rachel's Novels Kay Hunter Series English Spy Mysteries Dan Taylor Series Standalone Thrillers Rachel's Shop Direct Audiobook link (via Authors Direct) Mark's Shop Direct Audiobook link (via Authors Direct) Findaway Voices Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast - EP 210: Selling More at Kobo and Relying Less on Amazon Reedsy Webinar (Video Replay) - Getting Your Book Featured on Kobo The 7 P's of Publishing Success Killing It On Kobo Patreon for Stark Reflections Stark Reflections Survey   Before turning to writing, Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant. She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter series. After living in Brisbane, Australia for 13 years, Rachel has now returned to the UK. She's a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore's TIMECrime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany's Luzifer Verlag. Her novels are available in eBook, paperback and audiobook formats from worldwide retailers including Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, and Google Play. A keen traveller, Rachel holds both EU and Australian passports and can usually be found plotting her next trip two years in advance! The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

James P. Sumner writes a series of action thrillers about a former soldier-turned-hitman named Adrian Hell. He's worked in every type of office environment you can think of – insurance, banking, mobile phones, telesales … you name it, he's done it. In July 2013, he began work on his first novel and eventually self-published his debut thriller, True Conviction, on Amazon, where it has now been downloaded over 300,000 times. He is a member of the Crime Writers Association, and saw his fifth novel, A Necessary Kill, selected as a winner in the 2015 Kindle Scout Program, winning him a publishing contract with one of Amazon's imprints. Find Out More: Website: http://www.jamespsumner.com/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/James-P.-Sumner/e/B00ICL7TIK Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamespsumner/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefirsthellion Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7833853.James_P_Sumner Instafreebie: https://www.instafreebie.com/discover/author/801/james_p_sumner Interview with James: http://thisiswriting.com/author-interviews-james-p-sumner-and-a-necessary-kill/ Interview Talking Points: 1) Calibre e-book software: https://calibre-ebook.com/ 2) Scivener writing software: https://paulteague.com/scrivener [My affiliate link] 3) Nick Stephenson's website: http://www.blog.yourfirst10kreaders.com/ 4) Joanna Penn's website: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/ 5) Bookfunnel: https://bookfunnel.com/  [Makes it really easy to deliver free e-books to readers] 6) Instafreebie: 7) Jimmy Gibbs on Fiverr.com: https://www.fiverr.com/jimmygibbs [Jimmy designs James' covers] 8) Find out more about Mark Dawson: https://selfpublishingformula.com/ 9) The Crime Writer's Association: https://thecwa.co.uk/ 10) Kindle Scout: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/

James P. Sumner writes a series of action thrillers about a former soldier-turned-hitman named Adrian Hell. He's worked in every type of office environment you can think of – insurance, banking, mobile phones, telesales … you name it, he's done it. In July 2013, he began work on his first novel and eventually self-published his debut thriller, True Conviction, on Amazon, where it has now been downloaded over 300,000 times. He is a member of the Crime Writers Association, and saw his fifth novel, A Necessary Kill, selected as a winner in the 2015 Kindle Scout Program, winning him a publishing contract with one of Amazon's imprints. Find Out More: Website: http://www.jamespsumner.com/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/James-P.-Sumner/e/B00ICL7TIK Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamespsumner/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefirsthellion Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7833853.James_P_Sumner Instafreebie: https://www.instafreebie.com/discover/author/801/james_p_sumner Interview with James: http://thisiswriting.com/author-interviews-james-p-sumner-and-a-necessary-kill/ Interview Talking Points: 1) Calibre e-book software: https://calibre-ebook.com/ 2) Scivener writing software: https://paulteague.com/scrivener [My affiliate link] 3) Nick Stephenson's website: http://www.blog.yourfirst10kreaders.com/ 4) Joanna Penn's website: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/ 5) Bookfunnel: https://bookfunnel.com/  [Makes it really easy to deliver free e-books to readers] 6) Instafreebie: 7) Jimmy Gibbs on Fiverr.com: https://www.fiverr.com/jimmygibbs [Jimmy designs James' covers] 8) Find out more about Mark Dawson: https://selfpublishingformula.com/ 9) The Crime Writer's Association: https://thecwa.co.uk/ 10) Kindle Scout: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/self-publishing-journeys/message

In EQMM’s June 2015 issue, Helena Edwards made her fiction debut with a story that had previously been short-listed for the Margery Allingham Short Story Competition, sponsored by Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association. Here she is reading that memorable first story, “If Anything Happens to Me.”

Music journalist Laura Snapes reflects on the Manchester attacks. Matt Thorne on the return of cult TV drama Twin Peaks; after a twenty six year break, will the surreal world of its creator and director David Lynch please new audiences and super fans alike?American crime writer Bill Beverly on the success of his debut novel Dodgers which won a string of awards including a Gold Dagger from the Crime Writers Association. Described as The Wire meets JD Salinger, Dodgers is a coming of age story which raises issues about race, class and youth whilst providing a new take on the classic American road novel. Bond director John Glen and TV and film writer Andrew Collins on Sir Roger Moore, who has died.

The first winner of the Crime Writers Association’s Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, Ann Cleeves, joins us this month for a reading of her February 1995 EQMM story “The Harmless Pursuits of Archibald Stamp.” Many crime-fiction fans will know her work not only through her celebrated novels but through the two televisions series based on them: Shetland (from the BBC) and Vera (from ITV). www.anncleeves.com

Tanya Byrne's first book is a young adult crime novel about a teenager who is out to get the girl who stabbed her criminal father. It's written in the form of a diary and is the first young adult novel to be shortlisted for a Crime Writers Association prize Read Tanya Byrne's crime fiction choices