Books about books--a great list of suggestions

One of the things that's happened in the last few years is that publishers are starting to repurpose thier websites as content hubs. thus you have Macmillan's crime fiction site Criminal Element, which features numerous bloggers contributing articles and reviews, along with excerpts and contests and sweepstakes.Penguin/Random House is no exception. They have exceptionally engaging content, including their READ DOWN feature. One of the offerings today is a list of books about books. It's an eclectic list (Ink and Bone, The Book Thief, The Fault in Our Stars) and even if it is heavy on Penguin books, that doesn't take away from the suggestions.

For the TBR pile BELOVED POISON

A Victorian mystery!  My favorite. Well, one of my favorites. Read a review on Criminal Element.

March Mystery: Time of Fog and Fire

Another for the TBR pile, the lastest in Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy mystery series. Don't you LOVE the cover? Criminal Element has posted an excerpt here.

Blood Ties by Nicholas Gjuild

My review of Nicholas Guild's Blood Ties is live over at Criminal Element. In it I ponder sexism in crime fiction and note that in a book written by a guy, the women are strong and dimensional. And just saying that seems sexist to me. But I have gotten awfully tired of seeing women crime writers ignored or shuffled to the side or marginalized or dismissed or ignored. But I'm repeating myself. I enjoyed Blood Ties and wouldn't mind seeing more in the series.

The Doomsday Equation by Matt Richtel

I review Matt Richtel's techno-thriller The Doomsday Equation over at Criminal Element today. Check it out here

.

Criminal Element runs a promotion for Whipping Boy!

I've been working as a "Fresh Meat" reviewer for Criminal Element," the crime fiction blog hosted by Macmillan publishing for a little over a year now. (And I learned about the paid gig via Twitter, which is something I tell my clients who see no value in social media because they don't think "anyone wants to know what I ate for breakfast.")

I am a proud indie author but it's still kind of fun to drop the phrase, "My editor at Macmillan," into casual conversation.  The editor in question is Clare Toohey, and she is awesome. She set up a great promotion to celebrate the publication of my debut mystery novella, Whipping Boy, and is running it in conjunction with an excerpt on Criminal Element today.  She's also helped me hone in on a description of the book that fits my brand of crime fiction, which is not that easily defined. Did I mention she's awesome?  Here's how she describes Whipping Boy:

Whipping Boy by Katherine Tomlinson is a California cop mystery novella, the debut of a female criminalist whose strange existence swings from the darkest crime scenes to life among Hollywood royalty--no wonder she has such a bad attitude (available March 12, 2014). 

 

If you love crime fiction in all its varieties, you should be checking out Criminal Element. And you should definitely stop by today because if you leave a comment about the excerpt, you can win excellent swag! Here's a link to the excerpt.

Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus

Best-selling German crime writer Nele Neuhaus has a new book out today, Bad Wolf. It's the second in her series about a couple of detectives who have messy personal lives they need to balance as they go about solving murders. I reviewed the first book in the series, Snow White Must Die at Criminal Element last year, and my first look at the Bad Wolf is up on the site now. Read it here.

Cath Staincliffe's Blog

I review for Criminal Element and one of the real pleasures of the gig is discovering writers who are new to me. I just finished reading Cath Staincliffe's new book Dead to Me and enjoyed it so much that I tracked down her website to learn more about her.

Her blog is a lot of fun. In addition to interesting posts about topics such as point of view and how to write tense scens, she lists books that she's recently read and enjoyed. All of her recommendations sound interesting. Check her site out here. And watch for my "Fresh Meat" about Dead to Me on Tuesday.

Book Review Nobody Walks

I review Dennis Walsh's true crime book Nobody Walks over at Criminal Element  today. Read it here.  Dennis Walsh is an LA attorney whose little brother Christopher was murdered in 2003. Chris was an addict, a petty criminal, someone easily dismissed as a loser. He came to a very bad end. The book is the story of Dennis' investigation into the case, and it's a gripping story.

Review of Snow White Must Die

This is a Euro-noir from German writer Cornelia "Nele" Neuhaus. It's part of a series about two detectives working homicides in the burbs of Frankfurt. I would love to read the first three books but they haven't been translated yet. The review is posted over at Criminal Element. Head over there for a chance to win the book.

G. M. Malliet's A Fatal Winter

I just read G.M. Malliet's A Fatal Winter, and will be doing a full review soon. You can read the post I did for Criminal Element's Fresh Meat here.  A Fatal Winter is the second in Malliet's series about Max Tudor, a former MI5 operative-turned-vicar of a small English village called Nether Monkslip where the biggest problems facing the populace are who'll house the cat that runs around the hisoric church where Max preaches and whether poinsettias and holly are toxic.
After reading so much dark matter lately, reading Fatal Winter was like sinking into a warm bath scented with lavender.  I loved the characters. I loved the village. (I want to move there.) And I loved the description of the food at the Yuletide party at the end.  A Fatal Winter is highly recommended for those of you who love "traditional" mysteries.