9mm: An interview with Mark Gimenez

Welcome to the latest instalment in Crime Watch's ongoing series of quickfire author interviews; 9mm - 9 MurderMystery questions put to a variety of New Zealand and international crime, thriller, and mystery authors. Before we dive into it, thanks again to all of you Crime Watch readers who took the time to place some feedback about the series as a whole. Feel free to place more comments and give more suggestions - I'm always open to hearing who and what the readers of this website want to read about.

After a nice recent run of great female crime writers (Stella Duffy, Faye Kellerman, Alix Bosco, and the magnificent PD James), for the 29th instalment in the 9mm series, Crime Watch is featuring Texan lawyer and courtroom thriller writer Mark Gimenez.

A former partner at a big Dallas firm who now fills his working life with commercial, property and tax law on a project basis (writing novels in between big legal projects), Gimenez, who has been favourably compared to John Grisham, has now written five legal thrillers. His latest, The THE ACCUSED, was published earlier this year, and marks the return of the lawyer-hero from his acclaimed 2005 debut, THE COLOUR OF MONEY.

You can read my NZLawyer feature article on Mark Gimenez here.

But for now, the lawyer and thriller writer from Texas stares down the barrel of 9mm.

The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: Mark Gimenez

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?
Let’s see, my favourite… I have a lot. One of my favourite authors is Elmore Leonard, but he doesn’t have too many recurring detectives. I would guess my favourite would be Dave Robicheaux, by James Lee Burke. I really like James Lee Burke a lot, and I like his character, I like Dave Robicheaux a lot.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. [My debut novel] THE COLOUR OF LAW was essentially an update of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. That book inspired me since I first read it when I was 14 or 15, and I’ve probably read it a dozen times since. I think it’s a great American novel, and I just have never read anything close to that.

I just love that it’s told from the child’s point of view, I just love that. But it was Atticus, and being a single father and raising his children and trying to be a good father, a good man, a good lawyer - all of which by themselves are hard, I’m finding. But to try and do them all, and to take that case. In the book, moreso than in the movie, he did not want it, he really did not want it, so he’s a reluctant hero, and I think that’s the true hero - he was reluctant, but once he took it on, he did it right. I really, just most admirable fictional character ever… he’s who we all want to be I guess, we’re not, but we wish we were like him.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?
I had written several other books. I think THE COLOUR OF LAW was the third book I’d written. I’d written another book, I’m not even sure what it was, and once it got to 1,600 pages I stopped, you know because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. And a big part of that was not outlining it first, just starting writing … from then on I’ve outlined.

Then I did a political thriller that you know I never really was happy with. And actually I was working on THE ABDUCTION, which was called SAVING GRACE at the time, and was working through that one, and again not quite - I felt like I had the story on that one, but I just couldn’t quite put it all together - and then my son came home with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and we always talk about everything at dinner. So we started talking about it, and he said ‘Could that happen today? Could an innocent person go to prison just because he’s black?’

And I remember saying, ‘well, he would if he’s poor’. It’s the same for a poor person of any colour - a black person, a brown person, a white person, a poor person will go to prison and a rich person will go home. That’s… I remember saying ‘the colour of law today is not black and white, it’s green’. And we’ve proved that in Texas, because we’ve so far released 40 people from prison with DNA testing, and we’re undergoing a complete review of all of that. And people have been in prison, 28 years I think was the longest one, completely innocent. Can you imagine that?

But anyway, when I said that, I thought ‘that’s a story’, and so I set SAVING GRACE/THE ABDUCTION aside, and I outlined and wrote THE COLOUR OF LAW is six or seven or eight months, and it all just came out, it was all just there. So all that work I’d done before, wandering around aimlessly and trying to write, it all came out on that one, and I spent six months finding an agent, and two days selling it. It was astounding how fast, you’ve got to be kidding me, we sold it within two days. Submitted it on Wed, sold it on Friday, or something like that, it was astounding.

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?
I work out constantly, I play golf. I play golf and tennis with my 11-year-old son, keep up with him, you know he’s an athlete. So he has a baseball tournament this weekend, we played tennis this morning, he’s my athlete, so his older brother is our maths-science-engineering guy, and he’s off at an internship at some engineering company in St Louis this summer. My younger boy is here doing his sports. So between my sport and keeping up with his, that’s what we spend a lot of time doing.

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?
In Galveston [where I grew up], the greatest thing you can do if you go to Galveston, there’s a place called the Moody Gardens, and it’s the most amazing… I don’t know if you’d call it a resort - it started off as a rehabilitation facility and now it’s grown into the most amazing thing. They have these three huge pyramids. And under one pyramid is a living rainforest, I don’t know how many acres it is, under glass, a living rainforest with fish, birds, trees, plants, it’s huge. Another one is an aquarium which you can walk under, around, and through, and there’s every fish imaginable, there’s penguins, and it’s just huge. And the third one is the Discovery Pyramid, it’s a science based pyramid, one time they’ll do space flight, and it’s everything to do with that, so it’s become an educational destination. And they also have you know the four IMAX theatres, and things like that. It’s the most amazing place I’ve ever been, in the United States at least, as far as a man-made thing. It’s fantastic, really amazing. In Galveston.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?
Man, that’d be a boring movie, I tell you. Ah, you know, I’d like to say Seve Ballesteros in his prime, but I was never quite that good. You know my grandfather immigrated from just outside Barcelona, to Galveston in 1890. Man, who would play me? One of my favourite actors is Dennis Quaid - we’re trying to sell one of these books to him, THE PERK, I actually wrote that for him. I think he’s an underrated, terrific actor. My wife certainly wishes I looked like him.

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?
[big pause] Wow, that’s like asking me which of my boys is my favourite, ‘cause they’re all different. Every one of my books is different. I guess if I was really in crunch and had to pick… gol-ly, that’s tough. I want to say THE PERK, because I wanted to be a small-town judge. That was my career plan when I went off to Notre Dame Law School, and go back to Texas Hill Country where I went to college at, and be a small-town judge, but it didn’t work that way; I became a big firm lawyer.

I guess I would say THE ABDUCTION, and the reason is the hero of THE ABDUCTION is an ex Vietnam war hero who’s never adjusted back to real life, and never found his peace, and he’s a grandfather and he’s that sort of thing. And I have heard from so many veterans, both from America but also from Australia, because Australians fought with us in Vietnam, and I’ve heard from a lot of people, and how that war affected people’s lives - the soldiers, their wives, their children, their parents, their brothers and sisters. It you know, it’s amazing, it’s astounding - and just how any war is, but particularly that war, how they were treated back here, they weren’t treated well… I’ve heard from so many people, and I have ongoing email correspondence with them, ever since the book came out. And they were profoundly affected by that war, and I’d read about it, but I didn’t know much about it, and I’d met several Vietnam veterans during my practice, and they could not speak about it, they couldn’t talk about it. As close as I got to some of them, they could not talk about it. So I started reading more about it, and I really wanted to write a story about one of those guys, you know.

I’ve heard from so many of them, one telling me I’ve got it right, which is so great, because I wasn’t there, and it’s always the fear - it’s a real event in life, and you want to make sure you got it right. And then, that the book touched them, and that meant a lot. So I guess in that sense, that would be favourite book, but it’s tough to choose.

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?
You know, I’m not really a type of guy who would go and celebrate. I’m kind of low-key, calm and quiet. So there was no real celebration. But I guess it came home when the books came in, and there were two boxes, one for each of my boys you know, and all of this stuff, so when I’m long gone they can tell their kids that I did something half way decent in my life, you know. So to be able to give THE COLOUR OF LAW to my older boy at the time, and see the look on his face, you know, that Dad’s okay - that was probably the best moment of the whole thing. You always think about the father being proud of the son, but it’s really the reverse - you want your children to be proud of you, and it’s really amazing how much that affects your behaviour and conduct in life and what you do. You’re thinking, geez, will my sons be proud of me? But it looked like he was sort of proud of me that day, so it was a good moment.

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?
There are two kind of interesting things. One is, just in general, how many readers I’ve heard from by email. It honestly just never occurred to me to write an author - I’d read the books, and it never occurred to me to email an author. But it occurs to a lot of people. And I think I’m getting close to 5,000 emails now, from readers all over the world. Lots and lots from New Zealand and Australia, hundreds and hundreds. And all kinds of people - lots of lawyers and judges of course, but all kinds of people. I get this long, long email from the High Commissioner of Refugees at the UN, and he picked up the book at Heathrow for the flight to Geneva, and he wrote me this long story about all kinds of things, and you know, we go back and forth.

The interesting one was from a lady in New York, who never knew me, and her and her friends went out to eat in Chappaqua, New York, and Bill Clinton came down and sat next to them. So they started talking, and started talking about books, and he said ‘Oh, you’ve got to read this guys books, Mark Gimenez’, and he was telling them about my first two books, and was selling them on my books. And he said he couldn’t find THE PERK, so I’ve sent him THE PERK, and heard back from him several times.

Another interesting thing is we have the Texas Book Festival in Austin, which is a pretty big festival, and the authors are brought to the Governor’s Mansion - which somebody torched it a few years back, so this beautiful building burnt down - anyway, we went there and the Governor hosted us there with the first lady, and it was very nice, and my wife and I walked in, and found out that he’d been reading THE COLOUR OF LAW the night before, and his wife had been telling him to turn off the light, and he was like ‘No, I’ve got to finish the book’, so that was a funny coincidence.

Thank you Mark Gimenez. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read any of Gimenez’s legal thrillers? Do you like courtroom thrillers with plenty of action outside the courthouse? I'd love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.

Peter Robinson, Inspector Banks, and BAD BOY

Phew! I've been on a bit of a run of big-name author interviews lately. Following my recent interview with James Lee Burke (for the article published in last weekend's Canvas magazine), on Friday I interviewed 2010 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid, and yesterday I interviewed multiple Ned Kelly Award winner Michael Robotham - both of who are visiting New Zealand in the coming weeks.

Tonight (in about three hours) I'm interviewing another 'heavy hitter' of the crime fiction world; Peter Robinson, creator of the beloved hero, Inspector Banks. Robinson is also touring Australia and New Zealand in August, in support of his latest Banks novel, BAD BOY, which is about to be released. I will have more about his NZ tour details soon.

In the meantime, here is a bit of a audio-visual quick squiz at BAD BOY. You can watch a little 'teaser trailer' about the latest Banks adventure here:



And here is Robinson himself talking about the background to the story (with some nice footage of the Yorkshire dales setting too):



If there are any questions you desperately want me to ask Peter Robinson, get a comment in quick and I'll do my best to include them.

Philosopher of Crime: my feature on James Lee Burke

As I mentioned earlier, the Weekend Herald (New Zealand's biggest newspaper) have now kindly allowed me to republish any articles I have or will write for them, online. So today I am sharing my 1500-word feature on mystery writing maestro James Lee Burke, which was in the features section of the Canvas magazine (the glossy lifestyle supplement) in last weekend's edition.

PHILOSOPHER OF CRIME
James Lee Burke talks to CRAIG SISTERSON about artistry in crime writing, speaking for those with no voice, and the central issue of modern times

ANY TRUE artist, whatever their creative medium, needs both humility and vanity, says legendary American novelist James Lee Burke. “Humility is not a virtue in a writer, it is an absolute necessity,” he adds, his mild Southern accent reverberating down the phone line from his “property that tries to be a ranch” just outside Missoula, Montana. Burke and his wife of fifty years, Pearl, now split their time between Missoula and New Iberia in Louisiana, the lush setting of Burke’s evocative and award-winning crime novels starring aging detective Dave Robicheaux.

Burke’s eighteenth and latest Robicheaux novel, The Glass Rainbow (released in New Zealand next week), is ostensibly the reason for our interview, but just like his rich and layered tales themselves, my conversation with Burke ends up being a bit deeper and more philosophical, and laced with history, politics, social commentary, and literary references. Throughout, the 73-year-old laughs easily and often, almost explosively at times. He is unfailing polite, yet not at all stuffy or formal. He answers the phone with a jovial “Is this New Zealand calling?” then tells me to call him “Jim”. Down-to-earth and humble, his soft-spoken manner and measured cadence belie some strident opinions when it comes to several things he cares deeply about, including the environment, “people of humble origin”, and the purpose and importance of art.

The humility a writer must have is just recognition that their artistic talent is a gift, says Burke. “All good art has its origins I believe in some source outside oneself. And every good artist knows that the gift comes from somewhere else, and it’s there for a reason, and that’s to make the world a better place.” The greatest enemy of art is self-absorption and ego, continues Burke. Arrogance and pride are “a cancer”, and if an artist “begins to think of himself as someone who in effect went out and acquired the talent” rather than appreciating it for the gift it is, then they are heading for a fall. However, an artist must have faith in their talent, and feel compelled to share something important with the wider world. “It’s a kind of vanity,” says Burke. “George Orwell once said writers write because they want to set history straight. And that’s the emotion the writer feels, as though he is seeing reality in a perfectly accurate way, and he feels an obsession to communicate his vision.”

Some may question a crime writer, even one as acclaimed as Burke, talking about art and making the world a better place. But anyone who’s read his novels knows that they have a fair bit more to say, beneath the page-turning action, than your typical easy-reading ‘airport thriller’. “I don’t make much distinction between genres,” he says. “I think literary art is literary art, or it’s not. Writing is either good or bad.”

Burke wanted to be a writer from an early age. Born in Houston and growing up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast, the first books he remembers reading and really loving were crime novels; The Hardy Boys series. It was the “adventure, the mystery, and being able to identify with young boys who were solving great crimes” that held such great appeal, he recalls with a fond chuckle. Burke shared a youthful passion for words and storytelling with his first cousin Andre DuBus, and I hear a note of pride in his voice as he notes they both ended up being writers all of their lives. While Burke has published 30 more books since his 1965 debut Half of Paradise (which took several years to find a publisher), won two Edgar Awards (the ‘Oscars’ of crime writing), had his fourth novel The Lost Get Back Boogie rejected a record 111 times over nine years then get nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and last year the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, his late cousin was pretty talented too. Dubus is considered one of the best American short story writers of the 20th century.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'The story, the great drama, is around us all the time, it's always there. It's a matter of seeing it.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Burke has also lived a full and fascinating life away from the page; a life he says has truly enriched his writing. “Everything I was doing all the time in some way I thought of as translating into my art,” he says. “When I was a social worker in Los Angeles, I knew that all these people I was seeing - convicts, street people, migrant farm workers, skid row derelicts - were all going to become players later in my work. I learned an enormous amount about the other America, one that we don’t recognise. It was the same in other jobs.” For Burke those other jobs included working as a landman for the Sinclair Oil Company, as a pipeliner, land surveyor, newspaper reporter, college English professor, clerk for the Louisiana Employment Service, and instructor in the US Job Corps. “The story, the great drama, is around us all the time, it’s always there. It’s a matter of seeing it.”

You could say there are three main threads running through Burke’s various careers: working on the land (as an oil man and surveyor); working with words (as a journalist, English professor, and novelist); and working with those less fortunate (his social work and employment-related roles). Fans of his crime novels will notice clear similarities with issues and themes consistently highlighted through his writing, especially when it comes to man’s relationship with land and resources, and the stark reality of life for those at the lower end of the economic and social spectrum. When I ask Burke whether he consciously incorporated such issues into his storytelling, or whether they just naturally emerged given his background, he doesn’t hesitate. “It was always a conscious attempt to give voice to those who have none,” he says. “I believe that’s what the artist does. He tries to give voice to those who have none.”

Burke’s love for the land is also clear from both his writing and life away from the page. “Where we live in the Northern Rockies is just as good as the earth gets,” he says. “Much of it is like the earth was on the first day of creation, it’s just beautiful.” He is a keen outdoorsman, particularly enjoying fly-fishing. With his novels, Burke is renowned for a masterful touch for his Louisiana, Texas, and Montana settings. While other crime writers try to immediately grab readers’ attention with action-based hooks, in The Glass Rainbow Burke takes the entire first page to describe a room in a Mississippi river town, complete with ventilated storm shutters “slatted with a pink glow, as soft and filtered and cool in color as the spring sunrise can be”.

From there, Burke’s latest book evolves into an intricate tale involving a series of depraved murders, a convict-turned celebrity writer, some old-money Louisiana families with plenty of skeletons in their closets, and hired mercenaries. Septuagenarian investigator Dave Robicheaux (picture a slightly warmer and more connected but no less tough version of Clint Eastwood’s aging hero in Gran Torino) has his hands full trying to dig for the truth, keep his hulking sidekick Clete Purcel out of jail, protect his enamoured daughter Alafair from two older men with murky motives, and deal with nagging visions of his own mortality.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'And every good artist knows that the gift comes from somewhere else, and it's there for a reason, and that's to make the world a better place.'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reviews of Burke’s writing often contain words like lyrical, evocative, lush, and sensuous. The page-turning plots and compelling characters, such as Robicheaux, Clete, and strong-willed Alafair (named after Burke’s own daughter, who has herself become an acclaimed mystery novelist) are also impressive, but almost secondary. When I ask what in particular is so special about the regions where he sets his books, Burke notes “the past is always visible” in such places, which are “emblematic of the larger story”. Moreover, “Louisiana is at the centre, in a peculiar way, as is Montana, with the central issue of the 20th and the early 21st century, and that is energy and minerals”. For art to survive, it has to represent a larger story than a regional one, says Burke, and the era we’re in is all about the use and pursuit of natural resources. “It’s been the issue since 1914, and that’s a larger story. I think we’re in some denial about that. You guys went into Gallipoli in 1915 and that was the issue. The Kiwis that the British used for cannon fodder in the Dardanelles, the issue was natural resources. It was oil.” More recently, this central issue has led to the creation of “an antagonism between Christendom and the Islamic World that is going to be with us for decades”.

For decades James Lee Burke has been touching on such larger issues through the prism of crime fiction. As an artist, he’s had something important to say, and found a way to say it that has entranced readers around the globe. And like a true artist, he is grateful for his gift. “Most people fight with their job, but to me writing is just the perfect life, always has been. I can’t think of a better life.”

The Glass Rainbow (Orion, $38.99)

This feature article was first published in the Canvas magazine of the Weekend Herald on Saturday 31 July 2010, and is reprinted here with permission.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what do you think of my feature article on James Lee Burke? Of the Weekend Herald allowing me to share my past and future features for them, with you all her on Crime Watch? Have you read any of Burke's Robicheux novels? Or his other acclaimed works? Can crime writing be artistic? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Young writer comes up trumps with local hero: my review of THE FALLEN in NZ's largest newspaper

As I noted previously, the Weekend Herald (New Zealand's biggest newspaper) have now kindly allowed me to republish any articles I have or will write for them, online. So today I am publishing online my review of THE FALLEN by Ben Sanders, a 20-year old debutant Kiwi crime writer, that was in the Books section of the Canvas magazine in this past weekend's edition of the Weekend Herald.

Just before we get to that however, I thought I would share with you that you can watch a short 5mins long clip of Ben Sanders being interviewed by Paul Henry and Pippa Wetzell on Breakfast, the popular TVNZ morning show here.

Personally I thought Sanders did pretty well for his first TV interview, and it's great to see him and his debut book getting attention from the big media outlets - the Weekend Herald, the Sunday Star-Times, and now TVNZ. I also liked the implication of Henry's closing comments - that New Zealanders needed to write more crime fiction. Hear hear!

Now, onto my review of THE FALLEN.

The Fallen
By Ben Sanders
(HarperCollins, RRP $29.99)
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

A MAN dazedly regains consciousness only to find himself handcuffed, feeling like “he’s been bathed in something corrosive”, and with his head adhered to the carpet by his own clotted blood. So starts this debut crime thriller from North Shore engineering student and nascent author Ben Sanders, an adroit barely-20-something being touted as “a major new talent” with a “sophisticated and edgy” writing style.

The Fallen then switches to the first-person narration of street-savvy Auckland police detective Sean Devereaux, a hero who quickly displays some classic crime fiction traits. Devereaux has a tendency to trust his own morals, instincts and judgment more than “the rules” of his superiors; his narration is peppered with pithy comments and observations about the case and the wider world that are tinged with both smart-aleck humour and the occasionally jaded eye of someone who’s already seen plenty - “criminal investigation is inherently recession-proof”; but at the core he’s someone who cares, even if at times he may not want to.

Devereaux returns early from leave to investigate the brutal slaying of a 16-year-old ‘Epsom princess’, whose bashed body is discovered on the edge of a flowerbed in Albert Park. “I wondered what she could have done to deserve such a fate,” reflects Devereaux, “but as always when I asked myself with that question, my subconscious churned up the same answer: nothing”. Off the clock Devereaux is busying himself playing white knight for his attractive neighbour – finding out why she’s being watched by a mysterious man. As he juggles his official and unofficial duties, the latter with the help of ‘strong but silent’ security specialist John Hale (formerly an investigator with both the army and the NZ Police), Devereaux opens the proverbial Pandora’s Box. His after hours activities peel the scab from a scam run by senior colleagues, and he and Hale are dropped right into an escalating cycle of kidnapping, murder, and violence.

Sanders writes in a punchy, crisp style, employing short sentences and terse but telling descriptions, rather than languid or overwrought prose, to evoke a strong sense of the various Auckland settings, and his characters’ thoughts, actions, and motivations. There is a sleekness to Sanders’ storytelling that would be impressive for any crime writer, let alone one so young. He sprinkles musical references throughout; Devereaux, like the author, has a passion for rock, from REM to Neil Young. Sanders has reportedly been enamoured with crime fiction since he was an adolescent, and fellow fans of the genre will be able to spot the influence of varying big-name international bestsellers in aspects of The Fallen. Hale has echoes of Robert Crais’ Joe Pike, while Sanders’ ability to evoke an essence of Auckland as Devereaux travels the city’s streets is almost Connelly-esque.

But just like a new band that has echoes of those that have gone before, the real question isn’t whether a newcomer is completely unlike anything else, but whether they provide something enjoyable, and a little different. And more importantly, are they any good? With The Fallen, Sanders comes up trumps on that front; Devereaux’s first outing is an absorbing debut that also entices with future promise. The young man from the North Shore has added to the mounting evidence that New Zealand can produce native, compelling crime fiction to match the international offerings Kiwi readers buy in droves.

Craig Sisterson is an Auckland reviewer.

This feature article was first published in the Canvas magazine of the Weekend Herald on Saturday 31 July 2010, and is reprinted here with permission.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what do you think of my review? Of the Weekend Herald allowing me to share my past and future features and reviews for them, with you all here on Crime Watch? Do you like the sound of THE FALLEN? What did you think of Sanders' TV interview? Thoughts and comments welcome.

My EuroCrime reviews

The indefatigable Karen Meek of the excellent EuroCrime website has been at it again - making more improvements to what is already a terrific resource for crime fiction fans around the globe.

For those of you that aren't yet familiar with EuroCrime, it is a site for fans and would-be fans of British and European crime fiction. It includes both British and other European crime fiction writers (that have been published in English) as well as non-European born authors who are strongly associated with European crime fiction (eg. Donna Leon). Euro Crime reviews the latest books and its other features include a comprehensive bibliography section, a summary of upcoming titles, author websites, details of events, links to newspaper reviews, crime fiction award results and a regular competition.

It's a fantastic website, and a must-visit for any keen crime fiction fan.

One of the improvements Karen Meek has made recently is a list of reviews by reviewer. I have sporadically reviewed for EuroCrime, and you can see a list of my reviews for EuroCrime thusfar, and click through to the reviews themselves, here.

Yes, it's a rather meagre tally at the moment compared to some of the other fantastic EuroCrime reviewers (and there is no way I will ever catch the relentless Maxine Clarke - I started counting her reviews and gave up after I was at 40-something and still in the 'Cs'), but hopefully I will add more EuroCrime reviews over time. There are already a couple more pending, and there are some fantastic European authors waiting to be read on my TBR bookshelves.

In the meantime, swing by the site and have a look around. It'll be worth your while.

90th B'day 9mm: An interview with PD James

Today is a very special day in the crime fiction world; it's the 90th birthday of living legend Phyllis Dorothy "PD" James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL. So ngā mihi rā i tō rā whānau, e te tau from Aotearoa Baroness James - we hope you have many more.

To mark this very special occasion, we have a very special 9mm interview with the birthday Baroness. As many of you know, I was fortunate enough to be granted the only New Zealand interview with Baroness James in the lead-up to her 90th birthday celebrations. Parts of that interview have been utilised for a feature that is in the September issue of Good Reading, which will hit shelves soon - so keep an eye out for that. I hope you all don't mind, but I also took the opportunity to ask Baroness James the 9mm questions during our delightful hourlong phone interview, so I could share them with you here.

It was a real privilege to interview such a living legend of the crime fiction world, so I hope you all enjoy this special 9mm interview.


The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: PD James

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?
Well, I do like Morse, Colin Dexter’s Morse. And I don’t know whether that’s popular in New Zealand, but it’s extremely popular here… They’re Oxford stories, and I was born in Oxford and know the city, and I suppose that’s one of the big attractions of the Morse series. [The TV adaptations] are very, very well done, and they’re also very true to the books, and also some of them are special to the - you know, they didn’t have their origin in a book by Colin, the company has carried on with the character. Very, very successfully I think.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?
Well, I suppose The Wind in the Willows, I liked very much. I loved The Wind in the Willows, which I guess was quite a reassuring book, as I could cuddle up with the little animals in bed, and feel safe. But the actual reading, the first thing I ever read were comics. I think that’s often true with children. My mother used to buy them for me, there was one called Tiger Tim, and one called The Rainbow, and I was desperate to be able to read, because as soon as they came into the house I’d say “Mummy, read me another story”, and she was usually busy. And then one day, I just found, and I remember in huge excitement, that I could read - [comics] were of course very easy, because you had the picture and then the words underneath, you know, and you just recognise the words in relation to the picture. But I can remember the huge excitement of being able to read, and … of course I outgrew the comics as children do, and went onto books.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?
No, I didn’t write any other novel. I did write a television play, quite a short one, and I sent it off to the BBC, and I remember I did have a reply from Val Gielgud, who was a very important producer there, he said he couldn’t accept it, but could I send anything else, because he thought I had great promise.

But I’d never wrote anything else, that was the first thing I wrote, but when I first wrote my novel, and it was the first novel I wrote, COVER HER FACE, but I was very lucky because that was accepted by the first publisher I sent it to, which was marvellous of course. So I’ve never had a rejection slip for a novel. I’m very admiring of people who do have rejection slips, and they just put the book away and revise it later, or start another book, and I think that shows a lot of determination and a lot of courage because writing a book is a pretty long job…

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?
Well, I love to see the family, to spend the day with my daughters and my son-in-law, that’s a very great thing. I used to be a very great walker, and what I love is walking by the sea, or going to London and seeing an exhibition, and just walking… and just exploring bookshops, and junk shops, and picking up all sorts of things that like. And it’s a great shame, because it’s difficult now because I can’t walk very far, so I can’t do that. Apart from the pleasant things like that, I have the House of Lords to go to, which I don’t go to as much as I should, but at the moment as we’ve got a new leader and a new Parliament, I shall be there, all dressed up in my robes...

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?
Well, I live in London, and I think it is important to see the obvious sights, one should visit Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral, and then I would say if there is time, take a boat down the Thames to Greenwich, and see the Great Hall of Greenwich. And then there are all sorts of wonderful museums, there’s the British Museum, and … I should wander the parks a lot, there’s St James’ Park, walk around St James’ Park, which is lovely, which is just across the Park, where you can go and visit the rooms underground where Churchill conducted the war. And of course you can’t go near it, but you can look at Downing Street in the distance. And then visit the House of Commons if there’s time for it.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?
Oh, I really wouldn’t want anyone to play me at all. I can’t think of anybody that … it’s really difficult to look at somebody and say they are like me. Oh my goodness, I don’t know. [Helen] Mirren perhaps? I think I would choose Mirren if I had to, absolutely.

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?
I’ve thought about this quite a lot. I think I could probably, if somebody said ‘only five of your books can last, all the rest will be destroyed, which five?’, I could probably pick out five, but with great difficulty. And I would probably be influenced more by whether I thought the book was a really good book. I mean, for example, I would probably have THE CHILDREN OF MEN, and then I would probably also have the last one [THE PRIVATE PATIENT] which I thought as a detective story I’d rank very highly. But I do think it’s one of those things - you do look back to number one, and the joy of being published for the first time, it’s rather like a first child. And then the second straight novel, INNOCENT BLOOD, would I have that there? I don’t know. I think I’d have to re-read some of them, but I think it would probably most likely be some of the recent ones I think. I think I could probably have the three most recent ones, and THE CHILDREN OF MEN.

I’m not sure now that the last one isn’t my favourite. I so much enjoyed writing it, it was… I was in hospital for the last third of the book, having had a heart attack, in a convalescent hospital, and it was ideal really, because I had a room of my own, and I had no telephone, no visitors really, and my secretary came down twice a week and took the dictation of the novel. And I’d get up, and get my over-bed table, and get at it, and work away in absolute peace, and if I wanted a cup of tea or coffee it came in. My medication came in with it, but I wasn’t in any pain, but I got on with it very well. And it seemed to do very well.

That was a very enjoyable one, and a very successful one, and I think probably I would say, probably, PRIVATE PATIENT, is [my favourite].

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?
I can remember that the most exciting moment of all was when I got home from work, because I was working in the health service then, supporting my two small girls and my sick husband, and then I got home, and I did everything usual, and then the phone rang, and it was my agent, and she said, “Your book is going to be published, it’s been accepted by Faber & Faber”.

Well, that was one of the great moments of my life. It was a greater moment than when the first book arrived, or when I first saw it on the shelf, because it meant that my great ambition was going to be fulfilled, I was going to be a published writer. And I can remember, you know, understanding for the first time what people meant by ‘dancing for joy’, I did a little jig around the hall, you know. There was nobody there, my husband was in hospital, so there was nobody there to share it with, but it was a great moment.

And after that, it was a satisfaction to hold the book in my hand, when they sent it to me when it was ready, and when it was on the shelves, but nothing quite came up to that moment of knowing that it was going to be published. And I know that my daughter, she went out to the bookshops over Christmas, the holidays, to earn some money, and she spent some time moving my books to the front (chuckling).

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?
Well, I suppose that the strangest was a book signing that I did in America. And I remember that the crowd that was waiting was so large, that they had to call out the police to control it… but there’s just been so many hundreds of them, and they’ve got more in common really, than any difference. Um, and you know you just have individual memories of people, and they have my books with them… and [the things they say about my books are] just so touching and reassuring, that makes me feel so humble. I remember people saying they don’t know what they would have done without PD James, and I just feel so humble and grateful that I’ve been able to give them a great deal of pleasure.

Will you please extend my warmest wishes to all my fans in New Zealand and Australia. I’ve had very many happy visits to New Zealand, and have some very happy memories of that beautiful country, and I just want to say thank you for all the loyalty and support I have had from my fans there.


Thank you Baroness James. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch, and hope you have a truly wonderful birthday.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read any of PD James' Dalgliesh novels? What do you think of her and her work? I'd love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.

9mm: An interview with Alix Bosco

Welcome to the latest instalment in Crime Watch's ongoing series of quickfire author interviews; 9mm - 9 MurderMystery questions put to a variety of New Zealand and international crime, thriller, and mystery authors. It's a bit of a special instalment, as I'm about to bring you an interview with an thriller writer who hasn't really done many, if any, interviews before. At all, ever (well, not in her thriller writing persona, anyway). So I hope you're intrigued.

Before we dive into it, thanks again to all of you Crime Watch readers who took the time to place some feedback about the series as a whole. Feel free to place more comments and give more suggestions - I'm always open to hearing who and what the readers of this website want to read about.

For the 27th instalment in the 9mm series, Crime Watch is featuring Alix Bosco, the Kiwi crime writer with the secret identity. Bosco came to attention last year with the release of her debut crime novel CUT & RUN, which deservedly received many good reviews, and is now available in paperback. A new face on the Kiwi crime fiction map in 2009, 'Alix Bosco' is the thriller writing pseudonym of a 'successful writer in other media' who wishes to keep her crime writing and other life separate. As such up until now she hasn't really done any media about her novels, so this 9mm interview is something special for all of you reading Crime Watch. I'm not sure, but it may in fact be the first interview 'Alix Bosco' has given, which is pretty cool.

From today Bosco's second thriller starring middle-aged former social worker and legal researcher Anna Markunas, SLAUGHTER FALLS, will be available in New Zealand and Australia. The publisher's blurb for Bosco's second novel says, "When Anna Markunas comes to Brisbane to watch a rugby test, two members of her tour party die sudden, violent deaths. Anna tries to track down the elusive family of one man, but each discovery about his past leads her further into the dark world of Queensland's corrupt underbelly. Soon Anna is running for her life – she has discovered the secrets of those who will stop at nothing to silence her."

I read an advance copy in the past couple of days, and enjoyed it. It's another good addition to the burgeoning Kiwi crime fiction canon, and I'm already looking forward to the third in the series, as well as seeing CUT & RUN hit the television screen with Robyn Malcolm in the lead role, hopefully sometime in the not-too-distant future.

But for now, Alix Bosco looks down the barrel of 9mm - which for the first time ever, won't have an author photo...

The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: Alix Bosco

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?
Until Lisbeth Salander came along, Peter Temple’s Jack Irish was probably my favourite. Jack was warm and funny, cooked, cleaned, and helped the old cabinet maker next door. The Melbourne Jack Irish inhabited was palpable, almost another character, and being so close, was identifiable for me in a way that Janet Evanovich’s New Jersey or Sue Grafton’s Santa Barbara or PD James’ English bureaucracy or even Rankin’s Edinburgh, never was. Both Jack and Lisbeth are also ‘crime’ outsiders in the sense that they are not cops or private eyes or trial lawyers (Jack is a faded, failed lawyer), and the author has to work harder to place them at the centre of the story. When that succeeds, it seems to make their stake in the story more personal.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?
Wuthering Heights. A brutally passionate love story. Move over Jane Austen – go Charlotte Brontë!

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?
I’ve been writing since I was old enough to read. I’m always writing something – the only real question is whether, at any given time, I’m being paid for doing it.

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?
Having a pseudonym is one way of avoiding touring and promotional commitments! Which leaves more time to walk the dog and think of the next story for Anna Markunas.

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?
On a summer evening, take a window seat at Bonitas on Ponsonby Road, sip a glass of something interesting and watch the world go by.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?
It would have to be Robyn Malcolm, who is beautiful, sexy and real. Rather than playing me, I’m hoping she’ll get to play Anna Markunas on television next year.

Of your writings, which is your favourite, and why?
The most recent, probably, because it’s the most vulnerable as it staggers out into the world. Each has different attributes: Cut & Run may be as close to the perfect who-dunnit as I can manage, whereas Slaughter Falls is a different, perhaps more ambitious story, more of a political thriller. To be honest, I’m more interested in societal forensics than criminal forensics, and I’m enormously encouraged by the success of someone like Stieg Larsson who seems to have had a similar preoccupation. The good thing about the crime fiction/thriller genre is that there is so much room to move. Not every hero has to be a sardonic cop, ex-cop or military drop-out, with a cryptic turn of phrase, an alcohol problem and a redeeming hobby!

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?
When I first saw Cut & Run – at a Paper Plus, featured as one of Kerre Woodham’s Choices - I wanted to shout from the roof-tops that I’d written a book I was proud of…. At which point I realised that such behaviour would tend to defeat the purpose of having a pseudonym. So I picked it up as disinterestedly as I could and… well, quietly fondled it, actually.

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?
I’ll let you know if I ever get to attend any of those events as an author. Cut & Run and Slaughter Falls are such departures from the kind of writing I’m known for, that I feel it’s better that they are free of any expectations created by my other writing. However, I saw recently that novelist Stephanie Merritt has revealed herself as crime writer SJ Parris, and I can understand the pressure to do that – it’s very difficult for the publisher to promote a book without an author to do the promotional and publicity rounds. So thank you so much for your and your readers’ support, Craig.

Thank you Alix Bosco. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read Alix Bosco's CUT & RUN? If so, what did you think? Will Robyn Malcolm be a good Anna Markunas? Are you going to read SLAUGHTER FALLS? What do you think of pseudonyms for crime writers? Who do you think Alix Bosco might be? I'd love to read your comments. Please share your thoughts.