criticism Archives

2022-02-212022-02-20

Edgar Award nominees for Best Novel: Reviews and My Pick

As an unpublished author, awards are dreams beyond the dream. And award winners are also opportunities to learn. In January, the Edgar nominees were announced, and since then my reading has been focused on these. I’ve now finished all five nominees for the Edgar Award for Best Novel, and (unsurprisingly) they are all great. Here are my reviews (in the order I read them), and my pick for the Edgar.

The Venice Sketchbook – Rhys Bowen – This beautifully drawn historical drama is set primarily in Venice near the start of World War II. Nazism and Fascism cloud the future, while impossible love burns both brightly and painfully. The mystery (which you might not find very mysterious) unfolds via the perspectives of both the period protagonist and a modern relative trying to piece things together.

How Lucky – Will Leitch – Quirky, funny, engaging story with an unconventional protagonist—a disabled . The inevitability of our demise is omnipresent, but life’s strident will. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing life (and death) through the eyes of this protagonist with a severe, debilitating disability who is also so very able, so alive, and so real.

No One Will Miss Her – Kat Rosenfield – City meets Country in this tale of murder with some interesting twists. It’s sometimes hard to know who to root for in this mixup, but it’s an entertaining blend.

Razorblade Tears – S.A. Crosby – This is a tale of two ex-cons, one Black and one White (the former enterprising and successful, the latter living in squalor) whose married gay sons are murdered, and of the colliding inevitability of their path. But it’s also a story of loss, of learning, of growth, of friendship found in unexpected places, of acceptance, love, and hate, all told in a compelling narrative. It’s worthy of the accolades it has received, and I look forward to reading more from S.A. Crosby.

Five Decembers – James Kestrel Don’t be fooled by the pulp fiction cover of this book (it really does the book a disservice). Though it starts with the slow burn of a seemingly conventional noir tale, the story that unfolds is an epic quest that spans the five Decembers of the title. The initial investigation into a bizarre and gruesome murder, set a few days before the attack on Pearl Harbor (and with that impending attack looming in our minds) leads to a series of events that I’m sure most readers won’t anticipate. I’m tempted to say more about the story and what it tells us, but I won’t—just read it.

And the winner is…

All five nominees are worthy, but two stand out above the others to me. I won’t be surprised if Razorblade Tears wins, and I’ll even go so far as to say it probably will. But Five Decembers drew me in the deepest, kept me guessing, and ultimately was the nominee that I was most glad to have read.

My prediction: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby

My pick: Five Decembers by James Kestrel

2022-02-202022-02-20

Wow, January went fast (and part of February). Here’s what I read.

I got a good start on my reading list in January. Also, I added to it, and it’s growing faster than I can read, though I read a lot. Writing, not so much. I know that writing every day is where I need to get, but for now reading is the daily work I’m doing. I’m learning a lot and there’s a lot to admire and model in these books.

Station Eleven: A novel — Emily St. John Mandel – I had high expectations for this novel that has been made into a series. The idea of a traveling “symphony” (really a troupe of theater and music performers) after the viral apocalypse was novel and interesting. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t enough to distinguish this book from others in the genre.

The Last Thing She Ever Did — Gregg Olsen – Engaging while I was reading it, but unfortunately it wasn’t particularly distinctive or memorable.

Welcome to Cooper — Tariq Ashkanani – So noir you can almost smell the smoke, taste the whiskey, and feel the air of Cooper, Nebraska pressing you down, down, down. This first novel by Scot (!) Tariq Askanani grabbed me from the opening page and kept me reading to the end. A couple favorite lines: “She leaned in close and her perfume leaned closer.” “I tasted blood in my mouth and it wasn’t mine.” I only caught one Britishism: “torch” for “flashlight”.

Her Name Is Knight (Nena Knight Book 1) – Yasmin Angie – This novel about a kick-ass assassin with the darkest imaginable backstory unfolds in two parallel threads: past and present, and both are compelling and (too often) disturbing. I can’t wait to see that Nena in Book 2, coming later this year.

Norwegian Wood — Haruki Murakami – I’m not sure entirely why I picked up this book—something about the title and a picture of a Japanese wood gave me a sense of intrigue and, at the same time, peace. Unfortunately, though often told beautifully, I didn’t really care about the characters, their angst, or their sex lives (and there wasn’t much else there). Maybe it was ground-breaking in 1987, but I think maybe this was a literary moment that I just missed, or that missed me (this was, after all, the same era as Less Than Zero, another book filled with self-loathing characters I didn’t care about when I read it back then). To be honest, I did something I very rarely do: I skipped ahead to find that the inevitable conclusion was reached, and half the book was enough (too much, really) for me.

Edgar Nominees – Best Novel

In January, the Edgar nominees were announced. I started reading the five nominees for Best Novel and finished these three before the end of January. I’ll give a more complete report in a later post when I rate the nominees and pick my winner.

The Venice Sketchbook – Rhys Bowen – Beautifully drawn historical drama set in Venice with the backdrop of Nazism and Fascism and the start of the second World War, with a modern protagonist trying to piece things together.

How Lucky – Will Leitch – Quirky, engaging story with an unconventional protagonist.

No One Will Miss Her – Kat Rosenfield – City meets Country in this tale of murder with some interesting twists.

2022-01-062022-01-05

My Thoughts on the 2021 Six-word Mystery Winners

I’ve obviously spent too much time thinking about the 6-word Mystery contest run by the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. But that’s not going to stop me from sharing some of these thoughts with you for each of the 2021 winners and finalists.

Overall, I think this year’s finalists and winners were great. I think the voters valued puns over stories, and some read a bit more like headlines than I’d prefer, but the finalists and winners are all worthy. I wonder if puns should have their own category? Probably not.

I’ve also included my own entries with some thoughts on how I tried to craft them as stories. Next year I’ll definitely work on my wordplay for at least some of my entries.

I’d love to hear what you think in the comments!

Cozy

Chimney sweep murdered. Shot through hearth. (ZJ Czupor)

This was the category winner. A little headline-y, but does tell a story. Has a pun(ch) line, which the voters apparently like. But does the pun make sense? While I’m sure it’s possible for someone to be shot through a hearth, it’s awkward to picture? Is this a mystery, or just a stretch?

A pie so good, it killed. (Cynthia Kuhn)

Solid entry. Tells a story that unfolds in a surprising way. Mysterious. This is my vote for winner among the finalists here.

Baker battered over muffin top comment. (Lori Lacefield)

Bit of a story, bit of a pun. Leans toward headline more than story, though.

She died to hide her roots. (Jean Garrison)

The overall winner gets another finalist here. There’s a double-pun here (dyed/died, roots/roots), which is hard to pull off in six words, so props to Jean.

Wanted: botanicals expert (nightshades). Confidentiality required. (Robert Miller)

Paints a picture, and I see murder in it. Extra points for doing it in just five words. Solid.

My entry (not a finalist): Shattered teacup. Bloody pawprint trail… murder!

You can see here that I’ve tried to paint a visual picture. We see the broken cup first, then we learn that a cat (probably) has walked through puddled blood. Next, we learn the worst—the victim is dead.

Hard-boiled/Noir

Detective follows hunch back to Notre-Dame. (Jennie MacDonald)

This category winner is another punny entry. There’s the beginning of a mystery, but it is cut off before the bells toll.

A badge makes vengeance murders easier. (Pat Remick)

I’m not sure what to make of this one. It’s more of a rhetorical statement than a story.

Disappearance of dame derails detective’s denouement. (William Frank)

An alliterative headline. “Dame’s disappearance” might have been stronger, and left room for another word of story.

Embezzling mob accountant’s days were numbered. (Jean Garrison)

Again our overall winner has another finalist. Here we see another pun, and it could be a headline, but it does provide a story: We meet the accountant and learn they’re an embezzler who works for the mob, before finding out their unsurprising fate. Overall a solid entry and my pick as winner of the finalists in this category.

Lifeless eyes glisten in the streetlamp. (Darynda Jones)

This one is visual, which I like (especially for noir), but the story ends too soon and doesn’t draw me in. It’s just too wide open to be engaging.

My entry (not a finalist): Whiskey. Seeing double. Waidaminit… two murderers!

We see a glass (or bottle?) of whiskey, then learn the narrator is drunk. Ironically, it’s his cross-eyed drunkenness that leads to the realization at the end. What’s more noir than that? I admittedly took some liberties here with “waidaminit” as one word, but that, too, sounded noir to me.

Police Procedural

Librarian booked for murder, justice overdue. (Angela Henry)

Another punny category winner. Starts to tell a story, then turns into a joke.

Gregor’s dead. Father suspected of insecticide. (Jeffrey Lockwood)

Another joke, but this one is more literary (it’s a Kafka reference). Bit of a story, but the payoff is more shaggy dog than police procedural.

“I’m no flight risk!” insisted emu. (Jean Garrison)

Yet another finalist from Jean Garrison (congrats, Jean!). It’s funny and the punchline on the last word is good, but is it a police procedural or just a joke?

Success? The murder made the news. (Dru Ann Love)

This one is interesting. We get the ending, then the story. It’s the only entry that isn’t trying to be a joke, and my vote for winner among this category’s finalists.

White collar thief nabbed for laundering. (Brooke Terpening)

Not much going on here beyond the pun. Perhaps more headline than story.

My entry (not a finalist): Lifted the prints. They were mine.

None of the finalists above described any police procedures, but this one does. It sounds like a routine job, until we learn that the prints are the narrator’s! Don’t you want to know more?

Romance/Lust

He gaslighted her. She candlesticked him. (Jean Garrison) (Over-all contest winner)

Jean Garrison’s fourth finalist in our list is the strongest, and it’s a good choice for the overall winner. It’s got an intriguing story and it’s topical.

Exhibitionist murdered. Rounded up usual voyeurs. (Ryan Garms)

This one’s a little funny, but doesn’t tell a story that draws me in.

Florist arranged knotted noose for Bridezilla. (Kristin Horton)

I gather the florist was at the end of their rope after dealing with Bridezilla, but “knotted noose” is awkward and it’s headline-y.

Promised his heart. Kept his promise. (Julie Kerr Daly)

This one is good because it makes me stop and think. It only makes sense if the narrator is the who kept “his” (not the narrator’s) promise. I.e., the person who kept the promise is not the person who made it. It’s intriguing but would have benefitted from a couple more words. “He promised his heart; I kept his promise.” Or I’m completely misunderstanding.

Silk stockings, a new neck accessory. (Barb Bathrick)

Ah, here we have a murder and it’s a story. Second best to the overall winner, which is not bad.

My entry (not a finalist): My sweat glistens. He’s stiff—rigor.

Okay, I’m guilty of a bit of wordplay here, but it’s in service of story, I think. It starts out sounding like something from a romance novel, then we learn that the lover is dead. Perhaps my least favorite of my entries and, but still a story.

Thriller

3 people, 2 parachutes, 1 dilemma. (Sage Naumann)

This one is clever. It’s only weakness is it’s a situation more than a story, but it’s a solid choice for winner in this category (though not my choice).

In every mirror, I’m someone else. (Kristin Horton)

I don’t really get the story here, but I see the scene and it’s intriguing.

Serial killer periodically opens BBQ stand. (Mary Stojak)

Gross. Okay, funny, but more of a headline or blurb than a story.

The wildfire raged. Grinning, he spit. (Mike Chiropolos)

The grammatical error here is disqualifying for me (“spat”). It does paint a picture with some potential intrigue.

They almost escaped. Then he sneezed. (Lissa Marie Redmond)

This is my choice for the winner among these finalists. We get a story, and a complicating event—what’s the next installment?

My entry (not a finalist): Filled stadium. 00:02 on clock. Snip

The scene is set. We see two seconds left, but is that the game clock or a detonator clock—or both? Then we hear a wire snipped… Did it work?

I hope you’ve enjoyed my reviews here; they’re as much practice for me as a writer as anything. The 6-word Mystery Contest is fun, and the critiques here are offered with my tongue half in cheek. It’s not lost on me that I’ve written more words about these micro-stories than the stories themselves contain.

And for those who are interested, here are the past winners

2017-2020 winners list

2022-01-042022-01-04

2021 Wrapped: What I read in the second year of Covid-19

Reading is a writer’s homework, and in 2021 I pulled a massive all-nighter (all-yearer?). I read 51 books (listed below)—far more than I ever have in a year. There’s a lot of mystery/thriller content here, along with what turned out to be some romance-leaning mystery/thrillers, but not everything falls into those categories. There are some series (one notable one that I read end-to-end), and a lot of standalones. I don’t think I made a concerted effort to read more Black authors, but I ended up doing so and these were among the best I read this year.

I’ve provided some notes on the books I found most memorable, but there are many others I’m happy I read. A few I enjoyed reading, but when putting together this list I had to go back and check whether I’d really read them because they just didn’t stand out. Just one book didn’t make this list because I abandoned it early on (which is a pretty good run rate, I think).

Note: I’ve provided goodreads or Amazon links because they are easy and because I read most of these in the Kindle app on my phone, but I do not benefit in any way if you follow these or any other links on mcx.page.

Most Memorable

Open Water — Caleb Azumah Nelson – This is a novel of vulnerability and pain, of need and desire, of love and heartbreak. I will never truly know what it’s like to be young and Black in London, but this book pulled me through a window into that life for just a little while. But that’s just me becoming less naive—it’s Nelson’s mastery of the words, the language, the poetry of Nelson’s prose that I’ll remember and go back to.

The Good Lord Bird: A Novel – James McBride – Told from the perspective of a young black boy who pretends to be a girl to stay alive, this National Book Award-winning historical novel is populated with larger-than-life, crazy characters, and impossible situations—most of which are based on real people and events. All told so believably and with enough intrigue to keep me turning the pages.

Klara and the Sun: A novel – Kazuo Ishiguro – Somehow I’d never read any of Nobel-prize winner Ishiguro’s novels, but this one I found as an audiobook recommendation, so I listened to it while driving, walking the dog, cooking, etc. Sura Siu gave Klara a voice and diction that have stuck with me even six months later. Like the two above this one, highly recommended. As you can see in the next section, I subsequently read Never Let Me Go (which also moved me) and The Buried Giant. I’ll definitely read more Ishiguro in the future, but Klara is a singular character that I will remember and re-read.

Lonesome Dove — Larry McMurtry – Not sure why I picked up this old book. I’d never read it nor seen the mini-series, and I had the impression that it was some kind of romance/soap opera (I suppose from the name). It is not. McMurtry’s characters are alive on the page, and I could taste the dust, feel the heat (and cold), and smell the whiskey. It’s a portrait of a violent time and place, so not for everyone, but the characters ring true.

The Chaos Kind — Barry Eisler – Speaking of violence… I picked this up on a whim and found myself drawn into Eisler’s world where (some of) the assassins are the “good guys” (not all guys), and all the characters have depth, flaws, and endearing traits. I really enjoyed this book and then went back and started from the beginning with Eisler’s John Rain series (which have all been renamed at least once, I think—his website has a definitive chronology).

Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere) — Lisa Cron – I’m still working my way through this one, but it is already helping me build my characters more realistically and interestingly. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to tell me whether it’s working or not some time soon(ish).

Best American Mystery And Suspense 2021 — Anthology – This series has been rebooted with a new Series Editor (Steph Cha, who chose 50 stories) and Editor (Alafair Burke, who narrowed the field to 20), with an eye toward finding talent in a more diverse areas and subjects. All the stories were great, and yes, a little different. The last (and longest) story (Let Her Be, by Lisa Unger) was particularly engaging. If you prefer a more traditional mystery anthology, Otto Penzler, the previous Series Editor, now edits the Mysterious Bookshop version of the Best Mystery Stories of the Year, which you can find in my “didn’t get to yet” section below.

The Trees: A Novel — Percival Everett – This funny, disturbing, and thought-provoking story of what I can only call a revenge serial killer movement also sheds light on the atrocious, tragic, and inexcusable history of lynchings in America. Did I mention it’s told with humor? And yet… and yet… so many innocent people senselessly (but very intentionally and systematically) killed—with impunity. The kind of book that can make one laugh one moment, cry the next, but never forget.

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse Book 1) — James S. A. Corey

Leviathan Falls (The Expanse Book 9) – James S. A. Corey

The bookends for my reading year. The first eight books of the series were the first eight I read in 2020, and the ninth (which came out late in the year) was the last. This series is interesting in a speculative, science fiction way, and was meticulously researched so it is scientifically accurate as far as the pre-speculative stuff goes, but that’s not what makes it great. It’s the characters, what they do, and why that makes it so worth reading. These are novels of big questions: of ethics, morals, and politics as much as they are of intrigue, suspense, and mystery (and they are very much books of intrigue, suspense, and mystery). The authors (James S. A. Corey is a pseudonym for two people) created worlds—a universe—that I won’t soon forget.