Sunday Smatterings, Served Cold

Right, I didn’t do one of these last week! Which made me realize that I do miss the link roundups, as long as it’s not obligation and still fun. So here we go:

Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime and mystery novels by Benjamin Black, Martha Grimes, Barbara Cleverly and Jacqueline Winspear in the NYTBR.

Oline Cogdill reviews Martha Grimes’ new Richard Jury novel, THE BLACK CAT, and talks with the author about the series – and its latest installment.

Patrick Anderson also weighs in with regards to THE BLACK CAT, which he enjoys for its whimsy and bizarre humor.

Adam Woog’s Seattle Times crime fiction column looks at new offerings by Benjamin Black, Jacqueline Winspear, Alan Bradley, Barbara Cleverly, William Dietrich, Gregg Olsen and Alexander McCall Smith.

From last week, Margaret Cannon rounds up recent crime novels by Benjamin Black, Walter Mosley, T. Jefferson Parker, Lisa Lutz, Barbara Cleverly and Jonathan Kellerman.

The Guardian’s John O’Connell has his say on crime and thrillers by Lee Child, Louise Welsh and Robert B. Parker.

Richard Rayner is impressed with the quiet strength of Gar Anthony Haywood’s CEMETERY ROAD, which is much like my reaction. The book sneaks up on you and has a great deal of depth.

Ace Atkins tells the Birmingham News why he tackled the story of gangster Machine Gun Kelly in his new crime novel INFAMOUS.

Dan Wells lets the San Francisco Chronicle in on the process of creating a teen protagonist obsessed with serial killers in his new novel, aptly titled I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER.

Laura Lippman picks some of her favorite books for the NY Post’s “In My Library” feature.

Michael Robotham may be a successful thriller writer (and ex-ghostwriter) but his mother is evidetly a hard customer, as he tells the Sydney Morning Herald.

Emily Raboteau and Victor Lavalle live together in a one-office apartment. With the help of an interior decorator, that changed for the better.

Stephen Benatar has spent decades handing out signed copies of his books to anyone in sight in every possible place. His persistence, as he tells the Sunday Times, paid off when NYRB Classics reissued his 1982 novel WISH HER SAFE AT HOME. And a damn good thing, too, because that book is fantastic.

Joanne Harris departs from her usual writing norm with her latest novel, a thriller set in various online communities, as she explains to the Independent on Sunday.

If you’re in Canada, you’re probably bombarded with reviews, interviews, and related news about Yann Martel’s BEATRICE AND VIRGIL. It’s interesting to see various critics tapdance around the book’s many, many shortcomings. And even Martel seems to be letting off steam about the torturous process of publication. Which leads me to wonder: maybe the book shouldn’t have been published after all? Or would that have been a riskier move for publishers with imperiled budgets?

The auction for Otto Penzler’s British Espionage and Thriller collection took place on Thursday, and the first edition Ian Fleming books brought in a serious amount of money.

Should we have an annual anthology devoted to the best of online stories? Well, DZanc Press publishes one on the literary side, so as long as at least a healthy four-figure audience exists to read such an offering year after year, then I say, why not?

And finally, I guess this is what senior citizens are up to post-retirement these days…