How do we begin our life as a writer? For Michael Connelly, it was the work of Raymond Chandler; it fired the forge from which Harry Bosch was drawn. For Sara Peretsky, it was about proving that women writers’ plots and prose could be as muscular as the likes of Hammett and Spillane.
For Christopher Fowler, it was trying his hand at a genre that he adored. He loved the writing as much as the reading. From his trial shot of a single book to a lifetime of creation, Fowler secured his place in the body of crime fiction works.
Christopher Fowler, author of Britain’s Bryant & May series of detective novels, has died at the age of 69. He fought the good fight after having been diagnosed with cancer three years ago.
Christopher was best known for his Bryant & May thrillers, featuring veteran detectives solving unusual crimes in London from the second world war to the present day. The series kicked off with Full Dark House in 2003, and 17 more novels followed, most recently London Bridge Is Falling Down, published in 2021.
Christopher was the winner of the Edge Hill Prize, (for excellence in a published single authored short story collection), the Last Laugh prize (for best humorous crime novel first published in the United Kingdom), the inaugural Green Carnation Award (award for best fiction and memoirs by gay men), the E-Dunnit Award (best crime fiction ebook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format in the British Isles) and the CWA 2015 Dagger In The Library (for a body of work by an established writer of crime fiction or non-fiction who has long been popular with borrowers from libraries). His crime fiction was superior and quality intensified as he aged.
Christopher Fowler wrote until he could not, sharing: “It’s very hard to write now without falling asleep or forgetting what I was going to say. All fun things have to come to an end. I love you all. Except for that horrible old troll – are there any other kind? There, now you have a smidgen of extra time on your hands, go have fun … and read a book.”
And now is a good time for you to discover Fowler’s works, if you aren’t familiar (I get no remuneration when you click a link and purchase). What you will get though is a thrilling chase through unusual crimes in unusual times. The usual buddy cops motif is turned upside down with gay detective partners who work in – wait for it – the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Fowler’s series is fun. Go to Amazon and find yourself in London, in the 40’s, in the life. You will sit up all night. You will not be able to put his books down.
Sisters in Crime-CO member Helen Starbuck’s new book A Cold Case of Conscience launches this month. It’s Book Four in the Annie Collins Mysteries. Join her for a Zoom launch party on March 8th at 6:30 pm MST. RVSP by DM on Facebook: Helensstarbuckor Instagram: Helenstarbuck_author or email her at [email protected].
In A Cold Case of Conscience, Annie Collins wants to unofficially review cold cases for Denver Homicide Detective Alex Frost. But solving them isn’t easy, like the arson death of a man known for his predatory behavior toward women. There are no suspects, no witnesses, and no one who is sorry that he’s gone.
Annie can’t resist the pull of a recent murder that may be connected to an old cold case. Annie and Frost aren’t sure if the two cases are connected, and the person who knows the answer isn’t talking.
Angel Cisneros, Annie’s husband, is struggling to recover after their brush with death, and his ability to tolerate the repercussions of her involvement with Frost is at an end. Annie may be forced to choose between helping Frost or concealing what she’s doing from Angel—something she’s never done.
Colorado native and former OR nurse, Helen Starbuck is an award-winning author of The Annie Collins Mystery Series.
While she lays no claim to the coffee empires, she does fondly foster two crabby cats and a 22-year-old pampered pasture-pet horse.
When she’s not writing, you can find her dressing up like a princess and ballroom dancing with her friends or reading books about strong women and interesting men who find themselves in suspense-filled situations.
We at Sisters in Crime are bursting with pride that Colorado Chapter President, Rhonda Blackhurst, has won the Excellence in Arts Award – Master of Literary Arts from the Brighton Cultural Arts Commission. Congratulations, Rhonda!
She started her first novel writing over 30 years ago. Rhonda always loved reading a good mystery, and that became the genre in which she chose to write.
Like the Queen of Crime herself, Agatha Christie, Rhonda authors “cozy mysteries” which she describes as mysteries “one would feel comfortable having one’s grandmother read with no gratuitous sex or violence.”
Thus far, Rhonda has had ten books published: seven in the Melanie Hogan cozy mystery series, a short story, two romantic suspense novels Finding Abby and Abby’s Redemption, a standalone called The Inheritance and a non-fiction story.
She is currently working on a series called The Spirit Lake Mysteries as well as a mystery short story “From the Darkness.” Rhonda created a publishing company, Lighthouse, that has a cover designer, an editor, a formatter, as well as beta readers. She attends many writing workshops and enjoys book signings and talks.
Because of Brighton’s vibrant and growing cultural arts community, the Cultural Arts Commission created the Excellence Awards to celebrate individuals and groups within Brighton who are cultural arts champions.
These champions were recognized with the Excellence in Arts Awards on February 9 at Eagle View Adult Center.
Sisters in Crime – CO member, Margaret Mizushima has announced the upcoming release of STANDING DEAD, her eighth Timber Creek K-9 Mystery. The Timber Creek K-9 books are police procedurals. Each adventure contains a combination of K-9 cops, veterinary work, and family relationships as well as a murder case to investigate and solve.
In this episode, the case for Deputy Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo becomes personal when Mattie’s mother vanishes without a trace. After a dead man is found tied to a standing dead pine in the beetle-killed forest near Timber Creek, Mattie is forced to play cat and mouse with a killer.
In a last-ditch gambit, she goes undercover into the killer’s lair to try to save her mother—or die trying. STANDING DEAD can be found wherever books are sold and is available for preorder now. The book releases March 7th.
Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. Active within the writing community, Margaret serves as past president for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, was elected the 2019 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is also a member of Northern Colorado Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Women Writing the West.
The Lefty Awards Are Back! This year’s Left Coast Crime Convention’s annual banquet and awards presentation takes place on Saturday, March 18, at the El Conquistador Resort in the Oro Valley of Tucson, Arizona.
Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, including readers as well as authors. This LCC celebration takes place first quarter of the year in Western North America. Conventions have been held from Anchorage to El Paso, from Denver to Hawaii.
The convention honors writers in these categories:
Best Humorous Mystery Novel
Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial)
Best Mystery Novel
Best Debut Mystery Novel
These are the nominees for 2022 awards:
Lefty Nominees for Best Humorous Mystery Novel
Ellen Byron, Bayou Book Thief (Berkley Prime Crime)
Jennifer J. Chow, Death by Bubble Tea (Berkley Prime Crime)
A.J. Devlin, Five Moves of Doom (NeWest Press)
T.G. Herren, A Streetcar Named Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Catriona McPherson, Scot in a Trap (Severn House)
Lefty Nominees for Best Historical Mystery Novel (The Bill Gottfried Memorial) for books set before 1970)
Dianne Freeman, A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder (Kensington Books)
Catriona McPherson, In Place of Fear (Severn House)
Wanda M. Morris, Anywhere You Run (William Morrow)
Karen Odden, Under a Veiled Moon (Crooked Lane Books)
Ann Parker, The Secret in the Wall (Poisoned Pen Press)
Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire (Touchwood)
Lefty Nominees for Best Debut Mystery Novel
Erin E. Adams, Jackal (Bantam Books)
Eli Cranor, Don’t Know Tough (Soho Crime)
Ramona Emerson, Shutter (Soho Crime)
Meredith Hambrock, Other People’s Secrets (Crooked Lane Books)
Harini Nagendra, The Bangalore Detectives Club (Pegasus Crime)
Rob Osler, Devil’s Chew Toy (Crooked Lane Books)
Jane Pek, The Verifiers (Vintage Books)
Lefty Nominees for Best Mystery Novel
Kellye Garrett, Like a Sister (Mulholland Books)
Laurie R. King, Back to the Garden (Bantam Books)
James L’Etoile, Dead Drop (Level Best Books)
Gigi Pandian, Under Lock & Skeleton Key (Minotaur Books)
Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities (Minotaur Books)
Valerie Webster and Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller in the spotlight via Author of the Day interview.
Make your next book club event an author event with a writer who’s lived the cases, developed the crime fighting technologies. Contact Valerie Webster today.
