Weekly Crime Column

  • Crime: Inside Korea, North and South with James Church and Martin Limón.

    Last year Adam Johnson, author of the tremendous novel The Orphan Master’s Son wrote us a great post on his experiences in North Korea, including a peek at what passes for a library there. If you’re among the growing number of people watching the startling developments with this mysterious nation with concerned fascination, you owe it… Continue reading

  • Crime Out of Africa: beyond Precious Ramotswe.

    Is Africa becoming the next Scandinavia? Making up a fifth of the world’s landmass, the continent has accounted for only a tiny fraction of crime publishing, but that seems to be changing. Perhaps under cover of Alexander McCall-Smith’s hugely popular and immensely charming Precious Ramotswe books set in Botswana, and certainly thanks to a growing interest by mystery… Continue reading

  • Crime: Papal Intrigue!

    I confess: I miss the papal conclave. I miss the pomp and the costumes, but most of all I miss the accents. My favorite part of pope season is how all these men in vestments or Armani suits suddenly appear on the news giving color commentary in these just terrific Roman accents, kind of like Father Guido Sarducci used to… Continue reading

  • Thrillers for every taste, part 2.

    In last week’s post featuring ninety diverse suspense writers, I made the point that there are many different kinds of thrillers out there. Here are eighty more of today’s best and most thrilling writers grouped for various tastes, and still we’ve only scratched the surface: Sophie Hannah writes contemporary British crime stories suffused with taut psychological suspense and a haunting mood. Also try:… Continue reading

  • Thrillers for every taste, part 1

    A thriller’s a thriller, right? Wrong! Very different things set each reader’s pulse racing. Here are some of our favorite writers in a wide array of suspenseful fiction, with suggestions for further reading; tune in next week for part 2. Jeff Abbott writes relentless, high octane intrigue with action on every page. Also try: Robert Ludlum, James Patterson, Thomas… Continue reading

  • Crime: Inappropriate morality tales – Mysteries for teens

    “Do you have something inappropriate?” asked a teen patron at the Beacon Hill library. “Lots,” I countered and pulled out Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan. What can be more horrific than plotting to kill your teacher? “No,” he whispered violently, “I mean like sex.” Oh, that kind of inappropriate, I chortled inside. Continue reading

  • Richard III, part deux: Return of the Return of the King!

    My friends and colleagues will tell you I’m a bit of a bone nut – osteophile? – witness the lifelike replica of a Roman Gladiator’s skull that grins on my desk. Plus I’m a Shakespeare fan, so I was totally jazzed over the recent revelation that a skeleton found under a Leicester car park had… Continue reading

  • Crime: Philip Kerr – Back to Berlin.

    Way back in 1989, British author Philip Kerr published March Violets, a hardboiled mystery in which tough, tarnished private investigator Bernhard Gunther plunged into the depthless iniquities of Nazi Berlin in search of some small sliver of justice. This was followed up by two other moody period novels featuring Gunther – The Pale Criminal and… Continue reading

  • Crime: 2013 Edgar Award nominees

    It’s that time of year, and the Mystery Writers of America have announced their nominees for the 2013 Edgar Awards. However you feel about awards – winners, losers, what all that means – if you read crime fiction, the following titles/series are all worthy of your notice. Continue reading

  • Crime Thursday: When history and mystery mix

    Being a pacifist, I’m not sure why I find it so relaxing to read a good murder mystery. English crime writer P.D. James, in her autobiography Time to Be in Earnest, offers the following explanation for why mystery aficionados enjoy the genre: “…the catharsis of carefully controlled terror, the bringing of order out of disorder,… Continue reading

  • Occasional Mysteries: Reading Retro

    I’ve recently been reading some classic historical mysteries. That’s classic not in the sense of “set in older times,” but as in foundations of the genre, written in the vernacular of older times. First published in 1903, The Riddle of the Sands, by Erskine Childers could in some ways be thought of as rather more… Continue reading

  • Thrilling Chilling Winter Stories, Live!

    This Winter, Thrilling Tales (the Library’s storytime for grownups) has got some great tales of crime and suspense lined up by masterful storytellers of today and yesteryear. We’ll have arctic adventure, unspeakable terror, hitmen, con-men, stick-up artists and librarians! Yes, that’s right – on Monday January 28 we will be having a special storytime dedicated to libraries and librarians, and coinciding with the… Continue reading

  • Black Friday Specials at the Library!

    As you’re heading for the stores or mall this Black Friday, don’t forget to stop by your local library for the best door-busting deals of all! All books, music and dvds are free free free. Where else can you find such deals on Black Sunday, Black Monday, Black Tuesday,     Black Thursday, and Black Friday (sorry – we’re… Continue reading

  • Crime, Seattle Style: A Reading List.

    Some of our favorite mysteries set in the rainy streets of Seattle. Third & Forever, by Lowen Clausen Grace Stevens investigates a series of rapes involving college athletes, including one dating the daughter of her former partner, in this final chapter of a gripping trilogy by a former Seattle police officer. Queer Street, by Curt Colbert.… Continue reading

  • SPL Discoveries: Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

    I’m a big fan of the Hardcase Crime imprint, which has been publishing a succession of luridly jacketed vintage pulp fiction alternated with contemporary noir ever since their premiere title – Grifter’s Game by Lawrence Block – in the sultry summer of 2004. I also love Stark House, a small press publishing a steady stream of vintage crime fiction by… Continue reading

  • Crime: Presidential Thrills

    As if this election season wasn’t thrilling enough, we’ve compiled a little list of Presidential Thrillers for your reading delight. Can fiction possibly be stranger than truth? Continue reading

  • Crime: Murder can be scary!

    Hallowe’en is the time for dipping into ghost and horror stories, but there is plenty of spooky crime fiction out there too. Continue reading

  • SPL Discoveries: Craig Holden.

    Okay, maybe we didn’t discover them, but here are writers, old and new, that we wish more readers knew about.  Librarians have been known to carry concealed weapons; Craig Holden’s 1999 crime novel Four Corners of Night is one of mine.  Continue reading