Hallie recommends... summer crime

HALLIE EPHRON: It's REDS ON WRITING week again... and I get to lead off.

A few months ago, just after I turned in the first draft of You'll Never Know, Dear (I'm deep into revising it now), I got a auspiciously timed request from the Boston Globe to put together a list of crime novels for summer reading. Reading other people's books is a great way NOT to obsess about the hot mess that you just turned in.

Since I no longer write a regular book review column, this required some quick research and reaching out to publishers for books. In the course of about six weeks I powered through about thirty books to find summer reads to recommend. The photo shows the tip of the iceberg.

Here's my list. There's something for everyone in here...
 

“Charcoal Joe’’ Walter Mosley (Doubleday)

Flush with cash but bereft of his main squeeze, Easy Rawlins is on the prowl again as he tries to keep a young black physics prodigy from going down for murder and ends up hip-deep in ill-gotten gains.

“Collecting the Dead’’ Spencer Kope (Minotaur)

A heart-thumping yarn from a real-life crime analyst, this features an FBI tracker with preternatural ability to “see the hidden.” He hunts down a serial killer who leaves a frowny face near each of his victims.

“Guilty Minds” by Joseph Finder (Dutton)

Nick Heller, the quintessential PI with a heart of gold, debunks scurrilous lies about the Supreme Court’s chief justice, then tries to rescue the woman who made those claims. Suspenseful, surprising, and humane.

“The Murder of Mary Russell: A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes’’ Laurie R. King (Bantam)

The very title stirs dread in the hearts of fans of Sherlock Holmes’s young wife in this pastiche series. Mrs. Hudson stars (her nefarious past catches up with her), and she manages to surprise Holmes.

“Murder on the Quai’’ Cara Black (Soho)

The Berlin wall is crumbling, and in a series prequel, Parisian medical student Aimêe Leduc finds her mêtier, detecting. She investigates the murders of old men and tries to find her mother, a reputed terrorist.

“Orphan X” by Greg Hurwitz (Minotaur)

In this perfect fix for paranoid adrenaline junkies, an orphan (a perverted version of young King Arthur) is recruited and trained as a professional assassin for the government. Soon he’s surrounded by assassins.

 “The Second Life of Nick Mason’’ Steve Hamilton (Putnam)

After serving five years of a 25-year term in maximum security, Nick strikes a Faustian bargain with a criminal mastermind. He’s out of prison, living in luxury, falling in love, but dancing to the devil’s tune.

 “Wilde Lake’’ Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Family secrets rain down like a plague of locusts on “Lu” Brant, Maryland’s first woman state’s attorney. The young widow and mother of twins prosecutes a case that strikes close to home, threatening to taint her revered father’s reputation.

“Where All the Light Tends” to Go by David Joy (Putnam)

The son of a man who places a pocket bible on the chest of every person he murders realizes he’s in danger of becoming his father. This deeply noir finalist for the Edgar Award best first novel is set in Appalachia.

“You Will Know Me” by Megan Abbott (Hachette)

Overcoming a freak accident that mutilated her foot, Devon Knox becomes a gymnastics prodigy. Her parents double down to protect her when her coach is murdered. Abbott is brilliant at dissecting the power of adolescent girls.

BONUS: Here are two more that they wouldn't allow me to pick because of the obvious conflict of interest, the REDS own:

“Crowned and Dangerous” by Rhys Bowen (Berkeley)

Lady Georgie is about to elope with Darcy! Throwing caution to the wind, nothing can deter… until the news that her future father-in-law has been arrested for murder.

 

“Air Time” by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Back in print! TV reporter Charlotte McNally enters the world of high fashion, only to discover that the purses are fake but the danger is real. She goes undercover to bring the couture counterfeiters to justice and struggles to answer a life-changing question from a certain handsome professor.

What are you reading this summer?

Kate White Dishes on the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: We are thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to host Kate White today--she's here to chat about her latest herding-cats project--editing the Mystery Writers of America cookbook. Kate, welcome! Please tell us about the book!

KATE WHITE: Because I was both a mystery author and have had experience as an editor—I ran Cosmopolitan magazine for 14 years, and four other magazines before that—MWA asked me to edit the cookbook for them. I loved doing it. True, at moments it was a bit like herding cats to get some of those successful authors to send me their recipes, but I enjoyed having contact with famous writers I’d never met and I also got a kick out of seeing what recipes they submitted. There are also some fun sidebars in the book, which I enjoyed researching and writing, like: What Exactly Is a Red Herring? And “Pretty Poisons Right in Your Garden.” The latter got me thinking about using poison again in a mystery. Only a few toxins are routinely tested for in autopsies, so poison can be a good way to kill someone and never be caught.


LUCY BURDETTE: Were you surprised at which writers chose what recipes? (Was there a pattern, like hard-boiled=appetizers, cozy=dessert?) What were some of your favorites?

KATE WHITE: Oh, that’s a great question about patterns. I didn’t see any. For instance, Joseph Finder, the author of such strong, gritty suspense novels, offered a yummy apple crumble recipe. And James Patterson gave me a delicious chocolate cake recipe. (Conclusion: many male suspense writers are real sweeties!)

      There were some wonderful surprises. Gillian Flynn writes such fabulously dark stuff so it took me aback to see her recipe for the very All American-seeming “Beef Skillet Fiesta.” And Nelson DeMille’s funny “Male Chauvinist Pigs in the Blanket” almost made me fall off my chair laughing. 

     Other recipes were like little gifts. For instance, I still remember reading my first J.A.Jance novel year ago (Edge of Evil) and practically smelling the Sugarloaf Café sweet rolls she describes, and lo and behold, she sent in the recipe for them. And thanks to Lorenzo Carcaterra, I finally have my go-to marinara sauce.

     I’ve actually added a few of the wonderful recipes to my regular repertoire, like Kathy Reich’s “Shrimp Scampi” and Hank Phillippi Ryan’s “Worth-the-Effort Turkey Tetrazzini” (I always wanted to know how to use leftover turkey!).

LUCY BURDETTE: Do you like to cook? What menu might you serve at a dinner party?

KATE WHITE: I do love to cook and I do it a lot for friends and family. I’m not imaginative but I’m a cookbook addict, and I’m decent at following recipes. I have all the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, for instance, as well as those by Nigella Lawson and Giada De Laurentiis. We live in Uruguay part of each winter, and my favorite chef is Francis Mallmann, who has a restaurant not far from us. His cookbooks—Seven Fires and On Fire—are fantastic. He believes that charring both meats and vegetables brings out unusual flavors. And he’s right! What I’ve also learned from him is that simple is so often best. Don’t overthink things, use just a handful of ingredients (but be sure they are the best you can find), and don’t fuss with food that’s grilling (let it char!!!). One of my favorite Mallmann dishes is a salad with thinly sliced raw zucchini, almonds, fresh mint, and parmesan cheese, dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. For a summer dinner party, I might serve that first and then do a main course of grilled chicken, which I’ve marinated to death in lemon and oregano for two days, fresh sliced tomatoes, and Tuscan beans.

LUCY BURDETTE: Your suspense novel, THE WRONG MAN, will hit bookshelves in June. Tell us a little about that. And is it true that part of the book is set in the Florida Keys? 

KATE WHITE: The Wrong Man comes out in June, and yes it’s about Islamorada, which I discovered after being invited to a wedding there. In the book, a woman named Kit Finn takes her vacation in Islamorada and ends up having a very brief but thrilling fling with a man who is staying at the same hotel. He’s from New York City, as she is, and he asks her to dinner at his apartment in the city the week they both get back. But when she arrives, the man who opens the door has the same name as the man she met in Florida, but it isn’t him. That begins a nightmare that doesn’t want to quit.

LUCY: Kate thanks so much for visiting. Reds, we have a giveaway today--a copy of the MWA cookbook! To be entered in the drawing, leave a comment with your email.

KateWhite, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, is the New York Times bestselling author of six Bailey Weggins mysteries and four stand-alone suspense novels, including Eyes on You, and the upcoming The Wrong Man (June). She is also the editor of The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. Connect with Kate at katewhite.com

Finder finds another way with SUSPICION

HALLIE EPHRON: Joseph Finder’s new suspense novel SUSPICION has literally exploded in the press here in Boston -- stellar book review, feature articles -- and along with it a great back story about how Joe took hold of his own career to set a new direction.

There he was, a brand-name New York Times best selling author with ten thrillers under his belt, one of which was made into a Hollywood movie. Seven-figure multi-book deal and fans galore.  When his last book came out not as strong as the one before, he made a brave decision. He decided to make a change. New publisher, new agent... So he bought out his contract (!), cut his ties with his agent, and took his time writing a new novel.

Sure he was grateful to his publisher. As he told the Boston Globe, “If not for [St. Martin’s] I would not be a New York Times best-selling author, period. We just disagreed. They wanted me to be the CEO of Suspense. And I felt that was too constricting.”

His new publisher, Dutton, has just brought out his new novel SUSPICION to much fanfare. It's a taut thriller with a great main character Danny Goodman (single dad, widower…) who is a historian working on a book about Jay Gould, a 19th century robber baron. In dire financial straits, Danny accepts a loan that he shouldn’t and from that one bad decision it's downhill:  he’s between a rock (DEA investigators) and a hard place (Mexican cartel.)

BREAKING NEWS: 

SUSPICION just debuted #12 on the NY Times Bestseller List! WHOOT WHOOT!

 

I resonated to Joe's story - I didn't do quite the same thing, but when my last multiple-book contract with St. Martin's was fulfilled, I embarked on something new, writing on spec. The standalone suspense novel (NEVER TELL A LIE) took two years (not like one year for a series novel) to write.

I am so in awe of him - what courage it took to buy out his contract and rethink his image.

Here are some questions I'd love Joe to answer:

- How is this book different from what you’ve done before. Because one of the things I’ve always loved about your book is that you write about having kids and you’re doing that again here. It really humanizes the protagonist.

- Do you think the extra time makes a better book?

- Were you tempted to go the self-publishing route, which some authors are taking these days, or did you want to set your sites on the "right" traditional publisher?

- Where can we find you talking about your new book and signing copies?

Red readers, pile on with questions for Joe. He'll be visiting Jungle Red today. I have a copy of his new book ready to go to one lucky commenter.

New England Crime Bake Rocks!

Hallie Ephron: Today we bring you tidbits from this weekend's 11th annual New England Crime Bake and I've been to every one of them! It's a 3-day conference held every year on the weekend before Veteran's Day at the Dedham Hilton, within easy striking distance of Boston. It's intimate (about 350 people), fabulous fun, and the always a hoot. Lucy and Jan and I are on the planning board right now.

We're in the thick of it, recovering from last night's blowout banquet (costume conga line and Everybody Dance Now! ...and they did!), heading back this morning to moderate a panel of "Plot Conjurers" and listen to two forensics expert before we pack it in until next year.

Here are two of my favorite quotes from Saturday's panels:

• On what it's like writing a character that's not fully formed: "Like showering wearing a raincoat." -- Archer Mayor
• On what a main character needs: "A goal and a gap" -- Joseph Finder

 And here are some photos of the highlights.

The BIG GUNS panel featured Joseph Finder and Hank Phillippi Ryan and Bill Landay -- here signing books after. They really are having fun!

 Our own Lucy Burdette with James Tabor after their panel on writing short stories.

 Dressed to kill for the banquet: Literary Agent Paula Munier and author / MWA/NE President Margaret McLean (with 80s hair about to cook the bunny.)

 Death investigator Michelle Clarke who looks adorable as Medusa (but don't look!).

 Michelle Dorsey and her main squeeze (who took second prize!) as Whitey Bulger with his main squeeze and Catherine Grieg

 A pair of AVENGERS (Nikki MADE these costumes -- which you'd have had to be there to appreciate), Nikki Bonanni and Jocelyn Kondrotas.

And I know you're all wondering what Hank and Jonathan came as... Sam Spade and Miss Wonderly, of course.

So come on down (up?) next year and be part of the fun! This is a conference that just keeps getting better!

Flashes of Talent

HALLIE EPHRON: You'll have to wait until next year to compete in the Flash Words competition at the New England Crime Bake (NEXT year it's Nov. 9-11, 2013 with guest of honor Joseph Finder), but at this year's Bake, the competition was fierce and the winners awesome.

The challenge: To write a compelling crime story in 150 words or less, using at least ten of twenty title words from novels by our Guests of Honor, Nancy Pickard and Barry Eisler.

Title Words: Assassin, Bitch, Body, Coast, Confession, Detachment, Die, Fall, Fault, Ingredient, Killing, Marriage, Murder, Rain, Requiem, Scent, Secret, Storm, Truth, Virgin.

This is even harder than it sounds, and I'm quite sure I couldn't have done it at all, never mind create a coherent tale. Congratulations to the three not lucky so much as talented winners who have graciously agreed to let us run their winning entries.

Just Desserts
By Betsy Bitner

I’ve cooked up a storm every fall for twenty years, determined to get a compliment out of my mother-in-law or die trying. But in truth, getting her to say something nice would be a miracle akin to the virgin birth. Each Thanksgiving she manages to find plenty to bitch about: lumpy gravy, dry turkey, sour cranberry sauce.

I’m done killing myself for her approval when all she does is rain on my parade. And I’m done with my husband defending his mother by saying, “It’s not her fault she has refined tastes. You should try harder.”

This year my efforts will yield more than a sink full of dirty dishes. I’m making a special dessert for the two of them: apple tarts – heavy on the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Oh, and a secret ingredient. Let’s see if her tastes are refined enough to detect the scent of bitter almonds.

A former public defender and professionally trained chef, Betsy Bitner turned to mystery writing for the fame and big bucks. She researches her novel, which is set in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, by trying a variety of outdoor activities from a polar plunge to field dressing game. You can read about her adventures at http://www.lostintheadirondacks.com.

@stormyweather
By Brenda Buchanan

For forty of her forty-one years, Luella Remington was a bashful virgin with a secret. She made a killing writing steamy romantic novels despite an utter lack of first-hand carnal knowledge.

Then she met Storm Bernardsson, whose lessons about a body’s capacity for pleasure left her purring like a contented cat. They had their first fight when Luella demanded he leave his 20-year marriage. She complained about his equivocation on Twitter, oblivious to a certain new follower.

She anticipated hot make up sex when a tweet from @stormyweather lured her to Confessional Point, clad in a raincoat, stilettos and nothing else.

No one will ever be able to prove it, but Luella didn’t slip and fall from that rain-slick coastal cliff. Mrs. Bernardsson was discrete, strolling back to her idling car, inhaling the sweet scent of salt, humming a tune of her own composition: Requiem for a Bitch.

Brenda Buchanan lives in Portland, Maine, where she practices law by day and sits in front of the keyboard nights and weekends. Her just-completed mystery, tentatively titled The Quick Pivot, features a newspaper reporter investigating murder and well-kept secrets in a Maine mill town.

Confessional
By Lorrie Lee O’Neill

“Dead,” he thinks.

Rain peppers the church’s windows. The requiem drones in Latin. Ethel leans in, her hand like softly-plied leather on his.

“It’s not your fault.” She whispers. The storm picks up.

“I am an assassin,” he feels, but nods instead.

That priest waves a thurible over the body. There is the scent of incense.

At confession, he had told that priest he wanted her dead. This was his truth.

“She willed her entire estate to the church,” he confessed.

He drove home embittered. He argued, but her heart was as set as it was ardently failing. She called for that priest. She took communion. He endured it all with a sense of detachment.

Guilt consumed him, both then and now.

At the church he had given his secret to that priest. That priest arrived and administered her last rites, but with an added ingredient to her communion wafer.

Lorrie Lee O’Neill is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, MA, with a BFA in Creative Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has written articles for magazines, radio scripts, poetry and more recently, ventured into the genre of short stories and pulp fiction.

Betsy, Lorrie Lee, and Brenda will be checking in today and pleased to accept praise and answer questions.