Kuratierte Notizen & Neuigkeiten zur Kriminalliteratur | A sheet of notes & news about crime fiction
»Whatever the reason, if Scots are so “chirpy,” as Edinburgh’s Scotsman newspaper put it, why is there such grisly violence and deep psychological distress in their crime fiction? And why is crime fiction this bonnie land’s favorite genre to begin with?«
Lloyd Sachs
Answers to this questions are coming from four of the top practitioners of Tartan Noir. Lloyd Sachs talked with Denise Mina, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride about the dark side of Scotland. His essay you will find at the Printers Row at the Chicago Tribune.
»But we should take Iain Banks’s work seriously because it enlightens us as well as lightening the load. I can’t help raging against the dying of this light. The only good thing about knowing it’s coming is that we can all make bloody sure the man knows how much he means to us all by the time three becomes two.«
Val McDermid
Writer Val McDermid celebrates her ‘Fife friendship’ with Iain Banks, who has announced he is dying of cancer. Read her appreciation at The Guardian.
Review | The Vanishing Point by Val McDermid, rev. by Brandon Robshaw. At The Independent.
»I take it Stephen Leather will not be invited to speak at Harrogate again this year, as Val McDermid is chairing the programming committee this time and as she is one of the signatories of a letter to the Telegraph condemning fake reviews I doubt he will be, but it would be nice if Jeremy Duns was, perhaps in a panel titled ‘Wanted for Fraud: Unmasking the authors who write fake reviews of their own work online’.«
Steve Powell
Steve Powell is looking back to the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate last year, and remembering the strange case of Stephen Leather. More about the Sock Puppet Affair at his blog The Venetian Vase.
»McDermid continues to provide compelling, page-turning, spine-tingling (both these novels have scenes that will, as my grandmother used to say, “curl your hair”), vividly realistic and suspenseful tales of what happens when people are left to their own devices and desires.«
Victoria Brownworth
Victoria Brownworth about the two novels The Retribution and The Vanishing Poin by Val McDermid. Her review you will find at the Lambda Literary Review.
Elke Heid-Paulus, Petra Querfurth, Nicole Ludwig und Biggi Friedrichs sorgen beim Krimikiosk für Lektürenachschub. Die ersten Krimibesprechungen des Jahres gibt es dort zu lesen.
»Crime fiction has transformed itself in the past twenty years or so and discerning readers have noticed that. Readers who know their stuff know that there is some terrific writing in this genre, books that shine a light on the society we live in, stories that make us confront the less appealing side of human behaviour.«
Val McDermid
Scottish crime writer, Val McDermid, recently visited South Africa. Naomi Meyer asked her about her new book (The Vanishing Point) and South African crime fiction. Read the interview at litnet.co.za.
Adam Woog rounds up three splendid new examples of “tartan noir,” mysteries by Scottish authors Brian May, Val McDermid and A.D. Scott. At The Seattle Times.
Scottish author Val McDermid about new crime writing talents. Her recommendations at Crime Fiction Lover.
Cultural Life: Val McDermid, Crime writer. At independent.co.uk.
