March, 2008: Thrills, romantic and otherwise...
Scottish writing festivals, Mills and Boons gets bloody, Tom Rob Smith's Supermarket Sweep and the newest British thrillers
Each month seems to come around with less and less warning in these parts. And, as ever, February has come and gone far too quickly. With Valentines day, I noticed an upsurge in bloody crime fiction sales which spoke nicely to the cynic in me and also maybe said something to the fact I was about the only section not to indulge in a special valentines day display (even the history section seemed to have a few titles especially on display, although our law buyer's idea for a display of how-to-divorce titles was nixed at the last minute).
But that's all in the past now, and March beckons us on further into the new year. So without delay, here's what's come my way during the month of February and the usual look ahead to new British thrillers available from March...
Each month seems to come around with less and less warning in these parts. And, as ever, February has come and gone far too quickly. With Valentines day, I noticed an upsurge in bloody crime fiction sales which spoke nicely to the cynic in me and also maybe said something to the fact I was about the only section not to indulge in a special valentines day display (even the history section seemed to have a few titles especially on display, although our law buyer's idea for a display of how-to-divorce titles was nixed at the last minute).
But that's all in the past now, and March beckons us on further into the new year. So without delay, here's what's come my way during the month of February and the usual look ahead to new British thrillers available from March...
WRITE ENOUGH...
Like I said, the year has started passing too quickly and before I can even blink, festival time is upon us again. Starting with the Aye, Write festival (www.ayewrite.com) in Glasgow, which is just a hop skip and jump away from my Fortress of Solitude (so I may head over to see what I can see).
This year sees a few crime fiction related events thrown into the mix with a fine and talented bunch of writers in attendance. On Saturday 10th march, we get the female perspective on crime writing in the Femmes Fatalles panel. There's a whole bevy of female crime writers in attendance, every one of them A Hell of a Woman (I'm sorry, it was too much to resist a Jim Thomson reference!), including Sophie Hannah, Alex Gray and debut author Karen Campbell among others.
And then on the twelfth, the irrepressible Val McDermid and Denise Mina combine forces to entertain and enlighten the crowds, while the double team of Chris Brookmyre and Mark Billingham get together on the fourteenth to no doubt try and out-swear an audience of Glasgow's finest.
If all that's not enough, Allan Guthrie is appearing for free on Saturday fifteenth before then taking the stage again later that day with Quintin Jardine and Stuart MacBride. And why not end the festival with twenty five years of Taggart, Scotland's finest crime telly, and resist the urge to yell out, "Sir, there's been a murder!" in your best Glaswegian accent.
There's loads of other stuff, too, but it's great to see crime fiction get a varied and entertaining coverage at the festival.
MY BLOODY VALENTINES
Some of you may be aware that I am one of those who hates valentine's day. Maybe because I never get enough cards. Maybe because I'm cynical. Or maybe because there's just not enough blood. But Mills and Boon must love it. Although its interesting to see they're trying to allay that old romantic image with new imprint, Black Star Crime.
The series will publish crime fiction at low price points in an idea that sounds similar to Random House's Chick Lit "Little Black Dress" imprint. Of course, Mills and Boon are rather keen to stay away from their parent image, that of romantic clinches and lingering glances in an old fashioned world that probably seems light years away to many crime readers. Quoted in The Bookseller, Mills and Boon managing director Oliver Rhodes said, "We have been very successful with Mira crime authors such as Alex Kava and Paul Johnston. Also we are the only publishers with the know-how to make a fiction series work. We think this has massive potential"
If it gets new authors out there at a decent price point to pick up new readers, I'm all for it. And given M&B and Mira's international reach, this should be a series that readers around the world are going to enjoy as well.
SUPERMARKET SWEEP
Tom Rob Smith's debut novel, Child 44 - a thriller set in Stalinist Russia that settles on a police investigation into a missing child - has been getting a lot of hype from UK publishers Simon & Schuster. And now its received an extra push from Supermarket Sainsbury's who will be promoting the title at their till point, a first for a novel published in Hardback. I have my own feelings about the way that books are promoted in supermarkets and how this affects traditional bookshops, but this is a huge boost for a debut author and shows that S&S are clearly backing this title all the way. Its sitting on my pile of books to read as we speak, and it certainly sounds intriguing, particularly given the insistence by the authorities in the first few chapters that can be no crime because there is no crime in the new regime. Sounds like it might go deeper than your average thriller into societal intrigue and paranoia.
MARCH(ing) ORDERS
Yes, new titles you might want to order for the month of March. And a tenuously punny title to go with them, too.
NOTHING TO LOSE by Lee Child, 9780593057025 - Jack Reacher's back, baby. More thrills, deaths and explosive violence from an author whose success seems unstoppable.
A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES by Reginald Hill, 9780007252671 - Detective Dalziel has returned from the near death experience of the previous novel in this latest surefire bestseller from Hill, whose procedural duo are every bit as popular on TV as they are in print.
RITUAL by Mo Hayder, 9780593056417 - Hayder returns to her two popular series characters, DI Jack Caffery and police diver Flea Marley for more gruesome investigations and unsettling violence.
UNTIL ITS OVER by Nicci French, 9780718147846 - Another psychological thriller from the popular husband and wife writing duo.
STILL WATERS by Judith Cutler, 9780749080587 - A mysterious suicide provides an unusual case for DCS Fran Harman in this latest procedural from Cutler.
And once more, my friends, we've reached the end. Until next time...
Russel McLean
Contributing
editor Russel D McLean is a Scottish bookseller working for a national
chain. He has run webzines, agonized over reviews for various
publications both in print and online, and written several short
stories, several of which have been published in Alfred Hitchcock's
Mystery Magazine as well as various other crime and noir markets.
Like I said, the year has started passing too quickly and before I can even blink, festival time is upon us again. Starting with the Aye, Write festival (www.ayewrite.com) in Glasgow, which is just a hop skip and jump away from my Fortress of Solitude (so I may head over to see what I can see).This year sees a few crime fiction related events thrown into the mix with a fine and talented bunch of writers in attendance. On Saturday 10th march, we get the female perspective on crime writing in the Femmes Fatalles panel. There's a whole bevy of female crime writers in attendance, every one of them A Hell of a Woman (I'm sorry, it was too much to resist a Jim Thomson reference!), including Sophie Hannah, Alex Gray and debut author Karen Campbell among others.
And then on the twelfth, the irrepressible Val McDermid and Denise Mina combine forces to entertain and enlighten the crowds, while the double team of Chris Brookmyre and Mark Billingham get together on the fourteenth to no doubt try and out-swear an audience of Glasgow's finest.
If all that's not enough, Allan Guthrie is appearing for free on Saturday fifteenth before then taking the stage again later that day with Quintin Jardine and Stuart MacBride. And why not end the festival with twenty five years of Taggart, Scotland's finest crime telly, and resist the urge to yell out, "Sir, there's been a murder!" in your best Glaswegian accent.
There's loads of other stuff, too, but it's great to see crime fiction get a varied and entertaining coverage at the festival.
MY BLOODY VALENTINES
Some of you may be aware that I am one of those who hates valentine's day. Maybe because I never get enough cards. Maybe because I'm cynical. Or maybe because there's just not enough blood. But Mills and Boon must love it. Although its interesting to see they're trying to allay that old romantic image with new imprint, Black Star Crime.
The series will publish crime fiction at low price points in an idea that sounds similar to Random House's Chick Lit "Little Black Dress" imprint. Of course, Mills and Boon are rather keen to stay away from their parent image, that of romantic clinches and lingering glances in an old fashioned world that probably seems light years away to many crime readers. Quoted in The Bookseller, Mills and Boon managing director Oliver Rhodes said, "We have been very successful with Mira crime authors such as Alex Kava and Paul Johnston. Also we are the only publishers with the know-how to make a fiction series work. We think this has massive potential"
If it gets new authors out there at a decent price point to pick up new readers, I'm all for it. And given M&B and Mira's international reach, this should be a series that readers around the world are going to enjoy as well.
SUPERMARKET SWEEP
Tom Rob Smith's debut novel, Child 44 - a thriller set in Stalinist Russia that settles on a police investigation into a missing child - has been getting a lot of hype from UK publishers Simon & Schuster. And now its received an extra push from Supermarket Sainsbury's who will be promoting the title at their till point, a first for a novel published in Hardback. I have my own feelings about the way that books are promoted in supermarkets and how this affects traditional bookshops, but this is a huge boost for a debut author and shows that S&S are clearly backing this title all the way. Its sitting on my pile of books to read as we speak, and it certainly sounds intriguing, particularly given the insistence by the authorities in the first few chapters that can be no crime because there is no crime in the new regime. Sounds like it might go deeper than your average thriller into societal intrigue and paranoia.MARCH(ing) ORDERS
Yes, new titles you might want to order for the month of March. And a tenuously punny title to go with them, too.
NOTHING TO LOSE by Lee Child, 9780593057025 - Jack Reacher's back, baby. More thrills, deaths and explosive violence from an author whose success seems unstoppable.
A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES by Reginald Hill, 9780007252671 - Detective Dalziel has returned from the near death experience of the previous novel in this latest surefire bestseller from Hill, whose procedural duo are every bit as popular on TV as they are in print.
RITUAL by Mo Hayder, 9780593056417 - Hayder returns to her two popular series characters, DI Jack Caffery and police diver Flea Marley for more gruesome investigations and unsettling violence.
UNTIL ITS OVER by Nicci French, 9780718147846 - Another psychological thriller from the popular husband and wife writing duo.
STILL WATERS by Judith Cutler, 9780749080587 - A mysterious suicide provides an unusual case for DCS Fran Harman in this latest procedural from Cutler.
And once more, my friends, we've reached the end. Until next time...
Russel McLean
Contributing
editor Russel D McLean is a Scottish bookseller working for a national
chain. He has run webzines, agonized over reviews for various
publications both in print and online, and written several short
stories, several of which have been published in Alfred Hitchcock's
Mystery Magazine as well as various other crime and noir markets.Subscription
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