Mina for Mystery

Denise Mina’s next novel, THE FIELD OF BLOOD, heralds the launch of a new series. Though it was originally due to be published last year, the date got pushed off till April (in the UK) as she recently had a child. Mina gets chatty and personal in this somewhat breathless profile by the Glasgow Evening Times’ Maureen Ellis, but I do like Mina’s descriptions of why the crime fiction world is a great place to be:

It seems that her personality contrasts entirely with the subject matter she chooses to write about. Aren’t those subjects more suited to…?

"What, spooky people?" she interjects. "Crime writers are super jolly people. They’re great at socialising and they’re all really nice people and they organise really good parties.

"People like Val McDermid and Ian Rankin are owed so many favours by so many people.

"But if you go to romance conventions then they all hate each other and they’re really spiteful."

And further, it allows her novels — as well as her short stories, including the forthcoming "Ida Tamson" which will be serialized in the paper next week — to reach a broader audience:

Crime fiction, according to Denise, is simply a marketing label – it serves to open up her novels to a broader audience.

"People read your stuff on the bus and the beach and it’s a really lovely way to interact.

"For me, reading some crime books was like eating 20 Bounty Bars, like: ‘aw, I can’t wait to get home and read this book’.

"And I love the idea that somebody would read my book that way."

And suddenly, I’m getting a chocolate craving…

(Thanks to Donna Moore for the link)