The protagonist of Roger Hobbs’ debut novel, Ghostman, may not be a nice guy, but he’s a great character. This is the second in our two-part series on fixers. Roger Hobbs is nothing if not thoughtful and methodical. He timed the seven years of rejections that writers endure to coincide with his time… Read more »
Posts By: Nancie Clare
Episode 16: Lyndsay Faye
The Baker Street Babe talks with Les Klinger about the next book in the Timothy Wilde trilogy, writing for the Watson and Holmes graphic stories and how Jane Eyre can coax out the dark side for a character in her new novel. By her own admission Lyndsay Faye thinks it’s a good idea… Read more »
Episode 15: Mike Lawson
Political Fixer Joe DeMarco is back in House Reckoning, which takes him back to his hometown of Queens, New York, to rekindle old friendships and make new enemies. I like what Mike Lawson had to say about choosing a fixer as a central character. Not a private investigator, police detective, or lawyer, a… Read more »
A Short Series on Fixers
Not detectives, private or police, nor attorneys, the next two interviews feature writers whose protagonists make things work out—one way or the other. Mike Lawson’s House Reckoning, the latest in his series on Joe DeMarco, personal fixer for Congressman John Mahoney, delves into DeMarco’s past and the death of his father, who had been a… Read more »
Episode 14: Becky Masterman
Becky Masterman describes Brigid Quinn, the 59-year old protagonist of her debut novel, Rage Against the Dying, as a cross between Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker. It turns out people are interested in female characters over the age of 30, in spite of what one agent to whom Becky Masterman initially sent… Read more »
Next up: Becky Masterman
Her Rage Against the Dying has received nominations for “Best First Mystery” awards from the genre’s top organizations. Talk about last laughs: when Ms. Masterman first submitted her novel (with the then title One Tough Broad) an agent rejected it, saying “no one was interested in a woman who’s over 30.” Well, plenty of people… Read more »
Episode 13: Julia Keller
Later next month, just in time for a good Labor Day read, Summer of the Dead—the third in Julia Keller’s series about Raythune County, West Virginia prosecuting attorney Bell Elkins—will be released. If you haven’t read Ms. Keller’s previous two works A Killing in the Hills and Bitter River, I suggest you start reading… Read more »
Almost Heaven: Bell Elkins, Julia Keller’s West Virginia Prosecutor, Is Back
Coming early next week, SoM talks to Pulitzer Prize winning writer Julia Keller about Summer of the Dead, the third book in her series about the Raythune County prosecutor, Belfa Elkins. Photo of Julia Keller ©Mike Zajakowski
The Pause that Refreshes
Speaking of Mysteries is taking a short break to catch up on its reading and to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. In the next few weeks we plan to have interviews with Pulitzer Prize winning author Julia Keller (A Killing in the Hills, Bitter River) to talk about Summer of the Dead, the third… Read more »
Episode 12: Paul Doiron
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Cabot Cove anymore. For the most part, popular culture associates the intersection of mysteries and the state of Maine with Murder She Wrote. You know, the circa ‘80s episodic TV series that featured the quite brilliant Angela Lansbury as a bicycle-riding, Miss Marple-esque mystery writer in a fictional Maine… Read more »
