My monthly crime picks for the Herald on Sunday

As I said last month, this year I've been asked to provide a monthly crime fiction round-up for the Herald on Sunday, one of New Zealand's most well-read newspapers. It's terrific to see some of New Zealand's larger media (big newspapers, magazines, TV shows etc) starting to include a little bit more crime fiction in their review pages. I'm very pleased to be able to contribute in my small way as well.

My second 'column', so to speak, was published on Sunday 26 February - see above - in the 'Detours' lifestyle magazine, and now I can share it here with you. Each month I will pick 2-3 books that I have read in the past month (usually new or recent releases, but not always), and talk a little about them. Due to space constraints I don't have a lot of words to play with, but I'll be doing my best to highlight some good and great crime fiction, that could be enjoyable for some of the Herald on Sunday readers to try, as best I can.

Here's the second instalment of the monthly series (note - the HOS subeditors made a couple of minor tweaks/word count cuts to my submission, so I’ve republishing here what was actually printed in the HOS, rather than my slightly longer draft, with one exception - they changed ‘caper-esque’ in the Wambaugh review to Capraesque - not at all what I meant, so I’ve corrected it back to caper here):

Still Missing
By Chevy Stevens (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)
A searing debut from Canadian writer Stevens, Still Missing consists of a series of sessions Annie O’Sullivan has with her psychiatrist, during which she reveals what happened during the year she spent imprisoned in a remote mountain cabin, and in the aftermath, while she struggles to piece her life back together and uncover the truth behind her abduction. It’s a flashback structure that could backfire, but Stevens utilises it with aplomb, ratcheting up the tension, and building empathy for O’Sullivan as the horror of what she went through is revealed.

Bound
By Vanda Symon (Penguin, $30.00)
A leading light amongst the recent surge in quality Kiwi crime fiction, Vanda Symon kick-starts her latest thrilling tale with a brutal home invasion; a dodgy businessman is shot gunned, his wife nearly chokes to death on a gag. Feisty heroine Sam Shephard’s Dunedin CID colleagues zero in on two lowlifes suspected of an earlier cop killing, but she’s uneasy, and keeps investigating. Excellent storytelling with real verve and energy, starring one of the most enjoyably readable heroines on the crime fiction scene.

Hollywood Hills
By Joseph Wambaugh (Corvus, $39.99)
An influential icon of the ‘police procedural’ sub-genre, former LAPD detective Wambaugh returns with another raucous ensemble tale, filled with a cast of memorable characters, layered with caper-esque plotlines and quirky vignettes of Hollywood life. A veteran cop and wannabe actor agrees to watch a B-list director’s home, an art dealer has an audacious plan to overcome his financial struggles, and a couple of junkies dream of the big score. There’s no central hero or singular investigation to power the plot, but it comes together to make an enjoyable read.

Craig Sisterson was one of the judges of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel last year. He blogs about crime and thriller fiction at http://goldenglobenominees.blogspot.com//

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This column was first published in the Sunday 26 February 2011 issue of the Herald on Sunday, and is reprinted here with permission.

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What do you think of my mini-reviews? Of having such a regular column in one of New Zealand's major newspapers? Have you read (or do you intend to) any of these titles? What are some of the upcoming titles I should definitely include in future columns? What should I review for March? Comments welcome.

Currently reading: HOLLYWOOD HILLS by Joseph Wambaugh

Although I've slowed from my fairly frantic book-a-day start to 2011, I'm still finding that I'm churning through the titles this year - and with plenty of great reading to be had both from my creaking bookshelves at home and the new books that find themselves in my hands on a regular occurence, that's a great thing. Though I do need to take a breath and catch up on some long overdue reviewing soon, both here on Crime Watch and for other fantastic outlets.

Now I'm a few chapters into HOLLYWOOD HILLS, the latest novel from iconic author Joseph Wambaugh. It's my first taste of Wambaugh, who has been on my 'must-read' list for quite a while - one of those greats who emerged in the 1960s-1970s-1980s and influenced the evolving genre after the likes of the cosy Golden Age Queens of Crime and the Hammett-Chandler hardboileds. An author that as any self-respecting crime fiction reviewer you 'should' read - along with the likes of Ed McBain, Tony Hillerman, Sarah Paretsky, Robert B. Parker, etc.

Wambaugh is a former Marine and active policeman who is credited as 'transforming the police procedural sub-genre' of crime writing. According to DetNovel.com, Wambaugh's "first four books and his work on the Police Story television series in the 1970s set standards of realism, dialogue, and character development for subsequent writers or turned them in new directions. In a very real sense he is the father of modern television police drama."

Looking at many things that have been said about Wambaugh over the years, it seems that it has been his 'authenticity' that really resonated, both in his novels and television work, and that this is something that has influenced a whole generation of novelists, TV and movie writers (even if some may not realise that their influences trace back to Wambaugh).

I have had a couple of Wambaugh books in my TBR pile for a while, but just hadn't got to them yet. When a copy of HOLLYWOOD HILLS arrived just after I finished Brian McGilloway's excellent debut BORDERLANDS earlier this week, I decided that now was the perfect time to address my Wambaugh-oversight, with a newer novel from the old master (I will still go back and read his classic ones from decades past). Here's a publisher's description of HOLLYWOOD HILLS, the fourth novel in Wambaugh's more recent 'Hollywood' series:

"For the streetwise cops of Hollywood Station, dealing with the panhandlers, prostitutes and costumed crackheads of the boulevard is all in a day's work. If they're lucky, surf-mad partners Flotsam and Jetsam can spend the morning calming the crazies and the afternoon policing the babes on the beach. But beyond the lights and the crowds on the Walk of Fame, the real Los Angeles simmers dangerously. And when things heat up, even veterans like Viv Daley will see things that they'll wish they could forget.In the hills above town, it's a different world, where sports-car-studded driveways lead to sprawling villas stuffed with clothes and jewels. Up here, pickings are easy for the Bling Ring, a group of photogenic young addicts who knock off celebrity cribs to fund their next fix.

Even experienced cop and wannabe filmstar Nate 'Hollywood' Weiss has struck gold in the hills. Leona Bruger, wife of an Industry Mover and Shaker, has taken a fancy to him. Although he knows the Hollywood maxim - you don't pet the cougars, especially if they belong to the boss - Nate reckons that a leg-over might be just the leg-up he needs. What Weiss doesn't realise is that his new flame's crooked art-dealer is about to pull a forgery scam right under his nose. And when a pair of desperate junkies hit on a foolproof plan to pay their drug debts with a stolen painting, things get very complicated indeed ..."

I'm enjoying it thusfar.

Have you read HOLLYWOOD HILLS, or any of Joseph Wambaugh's classic crime fiction? Do you enjoy 'police procedural' novels? Do you try to read some 'classic' or 'legendary' crime writers along with the plethora of newer authors clogging the shelves? Comments appreciated.