Post-Harrogate Post

Well, Harrogate Crime Festival was excellent. Not that I went to any events, so I can't comment on those, but it was so brilliant to catch up with old friends and to make new ones who you feel as though you've known forever. I'm not going to list everyone, because that would just be ridiculous, but you know who you are because I probably hugged you several times (or, if I didn't know you very well, I probably shook your hand whilst wishing I knew you well enough to hug you). Some brief highlights:

Getting to spend time with the gorgeous Christa Faust after missing out on an LA trip last year due to pneumonia. (Photo courtesy of Adele (who, at one point during the weekend, told me I wasn't scary after all. Am I scary, dear Reader?))

Lovely agent Allan Guthrie calling the screenplay I just sent him 'a humdinger' (he never usually says anything nice to me...)

Getting to meet Steve Mosby's gorgeous little baby boy.

The hilarious dinner where we developed a concept for the new TV show RUN, RUSSEL, RUN starring Russel D McLean and his catchphrase "Now THAT I can do." Thanks to Al, Damien, Kate, Charles, Adele, Kat, Vincent and Russel for such a fun evening.

My lovely new shoes - courtesy of the aforementioned Christa Faust.

Being insulted by young Kat Heubeck in such a lovely way. Knowing that I am a big fan of 70s punk (it having been the music of my heyday), Christa had also bought me a book about an LA punk club from the late 1970s. Kat, taking a look at it, said "Oh! A history book." I am, officially, history.

Meeting one of my heroes - Cathi Unsworth - and getting to talk music with her. It made me come home and play my old Sisters of Mercy albums.

Being inspired by Harrogate to finish up/write three short stories on the train on the way home, and dying to get stuck into the new screenplay.

Anyway, a wee bit of Scottish crime fiction news, because it doesn't just all stop while I'm away, you know. Before that, a rather marvellous picture from Harrogate of those Reservoir Scots Allan Guthrie, Stuart MacBride and Russel McLean (aka Mr Giggle, Mr Ponytail and Mr Breadcrumbs).

Craig Russell unwittingly leads tourists astray.

A review of Alexander McCall Smith's THE DOG WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, reviews of Grant McKenzie's SWITCH and NO CRY FOR HELP, and Publisher's Weekly on Denise Mina's THE END OF THE WASP SEASON.

Win tickets to the Edinburgh Book Festival.

Finally, several authors who were at Harrogate choose their favourite fictional characters.

What I Read In August

VANILLA RIDE - Joe Lansdale
Published: 2009
Setting: East Texas
Protagonist: Hap Collins and Leonard Pine
Series?: 7th
First Lines: 'I hadn't been shot at in a while, and no one had hit me in the head for a whole month or two. It was kind of a record and I was starting to feel special.'
At long, long last, East Texas' finest - Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are back. Hap is a white trash, good ol' boy, with an eye for the ladies, but a penchant for bunny slippers; Leonard is a black, gay, martial arts expert and Vietnam veteran. Together they've been through many years of dead end jobs, romantic troubles, fights, fun and friendship. In this outing, they agree to help an old friend, whose granddaughter is living with a local, small-time drug-dealer. A little skirmish later and our heroes have rescued the girl. Job done. Unfortunately, the drug dealer is tied to the Dixie Mafia - a rather scary bunch of guys with a seemingly never-ending array of assassins, all of whom now seem to be after Hap and Leonard. A great mix of viloence, thrills, humour, and added philosophy from Hap. This is one of my very favourite series, and Joe Lansdale is a truly brilliant writer, and a wonderful storyteller. As I wrote those first lines out for this summary, I wanted to get the book off the shelf and read it all over again. Love it, love it, love it. And here's a great podcast interview with Joe Lansdale.

THE TWILIGHT TIME - Karen Campbell
Published: 2008
Setting: Glasgow
Protagonist: Sergeant Anna Cameron
Series?: First
First Lines: '"Put your arm back through." "No, darlin', no. I got to breathe."'

When Sergeant Anna Cameron arrives at Glasgow's Stewart Street police station to take charge of the Flexi Unit she shows a very confident front - composed, successful, and more than a little frosty. Her personal life, however, is anything but composed and successful. Prostitutes are being viciously attacked and Anna's team is tasked with solving the crimes - a task made much more difficult by the often suspicious and sometimes downright unhelpful nature of the victims. In addition, Anna gets involved in the case of an elderly Polish man who is the target of racial abuse. Anna is a really interesting character - sometimes frustrating, sometimes cold, often very likeable, but above all, never dull. All the characters are very well drawn and some of them are surprisingly touching, without being cloying and melodramatic. In places the book is very dark and not for the squeamish. Along with the darkness there are also some great touches of black humour which mean that it's not a depressing read. The setting is one of the best depictions of Glasgow I've read, and it's shown as the schizophrenic, gritty, in-your-face, characterful city it is. On top of all that, there's a gripping plot that is full of twists and turns. But this is not a bog standard police procedural. It's an insight into real peoples' lives - police, victims and criminals - who all come across in shades of grey.

DON'T CALL ME A CROOK - Bob Moore

Published: 2009 (originally 1935 and lost to the world)
Setting: Glasgow, Chicago, New York - 1930s
Protagonist: Bob Moore
Series?: Standalone
First Lines: 'It is a pity there are getting to be so many places that I can never go back to, but all the same, I do not think it is much fun a man being respectable all his life.'
This is the autobiography of Glaswegian Bob Moore - sailor, adventurer, engineer, world traveller. He's also racist, sexist, violent and, more often than not, pickled in alcohol. Breaker of almost every law imaginable, he's also a thoroughly charming rapscallion. He keeps telling us he's not a crook, and you almost believe him. He doesn't steal things - he borrows things and just doesn't return them. And besides, usually it's the owner's fault he doesn't give them back - they should have been more careful shouldn't they? He has a callous disregard for human life, sometimes breathtakingly so. Moore travels the world in the 1920s and 30s - America, South America, Europe, China - partly because he has a real sense of adventure and seems to revel in danger - but partly because towns, cities, countries and even whole continents often end up a little hot for him because he's...well, let's face it...he is a crook. Bob Moore wouldn't know a scruple if it jumped up and bit him, but he knows how to spin a great yarn.

THE SINGER - Cathi Unsworth
Published: 2007
Setting: Mostly Hull and London
Protagonist: The members of punk rock band Blood Truth
Series?: Standalone
First Lines: 'You can tell its love by the expression on their faces. Four, maybe five hundred of them, packed together so tightly they've formed a kind of human sea, rolling and lapping in waves around the rim of the stage.'
It's 1977 and, like many young people at the time, Stevie Mullin has discovered punk. He and some mates form a band and, when they meet their edgy but charismatic singer Vincent Smith, it seems as though everything falls into place. They shoot to fame on the punk scene and make powerful and inspiring music, despite the tensions under the surface - mostly caused by Vince, who is quite a destructive character. Then, in 1981 Vince disappears. Twenty years later, journalist Eddie Bracknell is intrigued by the story and delves into the secrets and lies that surrounded his disappearance. Cathi Unsworth was a music journalist during the punk era and the atmosphere is totally authentic. I found myself trying to work out whether some of the characters were based on real people. The story and the characters reflect the passion, energy, aggression and rawness of punk, as well as the deprivation, social unrest and alienation of the times.

WALK THE DARK STREETS - William Krasner
Published: 1949
Setting: errrr...a city somewhere along the Ohio River
Protagonist: Captain Sam Birge of the Homicide Squad
Series?: Standalone
First Lines: 'The yellow fog was already creeping up around the Marne Hotel, mingling with the white breath from the sewers, carrying west the faint, sweet, rotting scent of the Ohio River.'
Captain Sam Birge is a dedicated and overworked homicide detective. His latest case is the brutal murder of night club hostess Janice Morel - or, as the front of the book describes her "blackmailer, hostess-entertainer, a lady of no virtue. Somebody wanted her dead." Janice lived in a sleazy residential hotel and when Birge and his partner, Lieutenant Charley Hagen, start their investigations, they interview a number of colourful characters, most of whom have mysterious pasts, or tortured presents, and Krasner brings them all to life with a few deft touches. We get to know Janice herself through fragments of diaries she has left which chart her downward spiral from hopeful, naive small town girl with ambitions of fame and fortune, to used-up, old before her time good time girl. This is an excellent, noir-feeling book, which has a wonderfully seedy atmosphere. Highly recommended for lovers of noir or hard-boiled or TV series like Dragnet.

EYE FOR AN EYE - Frank Muir
Published: 2007
Setting: St Andrews, Scotland
Protagonist: DI Andy Gilchrist
Series?: 1st
First Lines: 'Rain hangs from the sky in silver ropes that dance on the street and spill from choked gutters. Lightening flashes. His face flickers white.'
A serial killer called The Stabber is terrorising Saint Andrews. The victims are all men who abuse women, they are all attacked during storms, and they are all stabbed in the left eye. I sighed when I read the prologue - why must serial killers always write in italics? I mused to myself, twisting the legs off a wasp. However, there was a lot about this book that I liked - particularly the main character - DI Andy Gilchrist, and a couple of the supporting cast. There were things he did that I didn't agree with (she says, vaguely, so as not to give anything away), but I found him an easy and interesting character to read about. The dialogue is excellent and it's very well paced. I also enjoyed the St Andrews setting - traditionally the home of golf and where princes go to university.

Harrogate, Hugs and Monkey Pleasure

I arrived in Harrogate yesterday to attend one day of the crime fiction festival, to see old friends, meet up with new ones (hi Alison, hi Michael - nice to meet you both!) and get my supply of hugs to keep me stocked up for the next few months. The monkey pleasure is an irrelevance relating to a discussion over dinner in Wagamamas (yes, we did have a most salubrious conversation) but I thought it might amuse John Rickards, as such things seem to do. I also signed a contract (without reading it - was I so wrong to trust Allan Guthrie? Al - I'm sure that the words 'soul' and 'devil' that I spotted at the top of the page before you whipped it away were of no relevance were they?)

I also spoke to Johnny Depp's brother, marvelled at Laura Lippman's ability to do press ups whilst reciting the titles of Marx Brothers' films, admired David Simon's yummy shoes, thrilled at Steve Mosby and Kevin Wignall wearing matching flowered shirts, and decided that since my surrogate son Chris Ewan is the only crime fiction writer on the Isle of Man, I am claiming the Isle as part of Scotland and including Chris in my list of links and news items as it doesn't look as though anyone will be starting a blog for Isle of Man crime fiction any time soon. You see, son, there is a benefit to having me as your mother after all. Grandma and Granddad send their love by the way. Your Grandma has knitted you some long underwear now that you are officially part of Scotland. You only need to get drunk on Buckfast once a year to qualify.

Anyway, on arriving in Harrogate I hopped into a taxi to my cheap hotel. I’d been worried on the train on the way down that my hotel was so cheap it must be a brothel. My worries were not assuaged by the taxi driver who, when I told him which hotel I was going to, said “Oh dear, you can’t win them all.” But it was fine. And the room service sandwiches at 2.30am this morning were the most delicious sandwiches I have ever had.

Anyway, yesterday I went to one panel, and the cabaret in the evening courtesy of the lovely Lord Kevin Wignall, who gave me his pass. The panel was excellent – Music To Murder By with Martyn Waites, Dreda Say Mitchell, John Harvey and Cathi Unsworth. It was extremely well moderated by Andrew Male from Mojo music magazine.

Each of the panellists had chosen a track that represented them, their taste in music, or was important to them in some way.

Martyn Waites – Isaac Hayes (I’ve forgotten the title- I was so shocked he hadn’t chosen a Nick Cave track that it didn’t register.

Dreda Say Mitchell – Soft Cell – Tainted Love

John Harvey – Billie Holliday – These Foolish Things

Cathi Unsworth – The Damned – New Rose (I immediately decided I was going to buy one of her books after the panel).

For all of them, the music of their youth was important, hearing a certain track would spark off memories and they used this to bring a rhythm to the narrative and to bring an inner life to their characters. John Harvey said that he tries to use what the character gets out of the music to underscore what a character is feeling at the time. Cathi Unsworth related this back to going into a pub in London a few years ago and seeing the lead singer of the 1980s one-hit wonders Splodgenessabounds (you remember their seminal hit ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please, of course? They are, in fact, still going to this day, apparently) She said that there are pubs all over with musicians who had minor hits way back when, surrounded by their ageing roadies, and all of them are still 18 in their heads.

The panellists were asked whether they listened to music while they wrote. Cathi said that she couldn’t write without a good soundtrack. Martyn said that he had only once been able to listen to music while writing and that was the Tom Waits track Ruby’s Arms. He had invented a pub with that name and he listened to the track over and over because of the melancholy in it that he wanted to reflect in the conversation his characters were having in that pub. He said that you can reflect emotion in the music the character is listening to.

John Harvey was asked why he chose Billie Holliday as his particular piece of music. He said that her voice has so much life and story in it. I like the way he said that. He also said that even from the early days jazz was associated with crime – speakeasies, drugs, and Billie Holliday’s own drug abuse and spousal abuse – you know from listening to her voice that there is a crime story there.

Dreda Say Mitchell said that there is a strong parallel between music and crime fiction in that crime writers can tell a good story – you can’t tell a good story unless you understand rhythm. The whole of life is about rhythm.

The panellists talked about whether you can have too many cultural references in a book, or whether they might actually put a reader off, rather than add to the story. Martyn said that you have to make peoples’ other senses work while they are reading a book. It can sometimes be a problem when you don’t know the music. The skill of the writer is to make that connection between the character and the reader even when the reader doesn’t actually know the piece of music, or, in fact, dislikes it. John Harvey said that he used to have that problem with George Pelecanos' books which he loves otherwise. He doesn’t have that problem any more and didn’t know whether this is because he is now used to it or whether there are fewer musical references.

Cathi's next book is called BAD PENNY BLUES. It's set in the 1960s and focuses on a real life serial killer. As part of her research and to get into the mood, she immersed herself in the music of the time and found out what was Number 1 in the charts on the day each of the serial killer’s victims died. She said that the songs became so much more sinister when put into that context – ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’, and, particularly, ‘She’s Not There’. The tracks take on a different dimension and provide a mocking context to the action.

The panellists were asked whether they thought that many fictional detectives seem to need their music, almost as an emotional crutch. Martyn said that this is because it’s what people do, and this is also the same for books – it is a time to rebalance and recover your equilibrium. John said that it also helps with the mood and links between scenes., and Cathi said that it can also spark off an idea – both in the reader’s head and also the detective’s head.

Martyn said that he tries to use music sparingly, and only when it will add something. In his book THE MERCY SEAT the character is listening to that very track (by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) while he is contemplating suicide. Cathi said that Nelson Algren has a book called WALK ON THE WILDSIDE and Nick Cave has a whole album based on that. As Nick Cave is a favourite of mine, I’m going to hunt that book down. Has anyone read it? It looks good, and Nelson Algren's three rules of life made me smile - "Never play cards with a man called Doc. Never eat at a place called Mom's. Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own."

It was an excellent panel. I’d already read and enjoyed all the panellists’ books other than Cathi, with Martyn Waites being a particular favourite. Cathi Unsworth’s books really appealed to me after seeing her on the panel so I bought her book THE SINGER which is set in the punk era of the late 70s – right up my street.

So, dear reader, what songs would be part of the soundtrack of your life, or which make you think of crime fiction? I would be interested to hear your comments on this. I've already mentioned Tom Waits and Nick Cave but here, for what it’s worth, are a few of my favourite crime fiction related songs or artists:

THE FLAMING STARS (not to be confused with The Flaming Lips). The lead singer, Max Decharne who wrote the non-fiction book HARDBOILED HOLLYWOOD. He's a big fan of crime fiction (as seen by the titles of some of the band's songs - You Don't Always Want What You Get, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Face On The Barroom Floor, A Hell of A Woman, New Shade of Black, Downhill Without Brakes...songs from the bottom of a beer glass.

THE RAMONES - 53rd and 3rd is about a male prostitute who kills his customer with a razor blade (written by Dee Dee Ramone who was, apparently, a male prostitute at one point to feed his heroin addiction). The KKK Took My Baby Away was written by Joey Ramone allegedy after ultra-conservative Johnny Ramone nicked his girlfriend. Blitzkrieg Bop with its line "Shoot 'em in the back now", Beat On The Brat which was written by Joey Ramone after she saw a mother beating her child with a baseball bat, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue...loads of dark and twisted lyrics in their songs.

VIOLENT FEMMES - Country Death Song - about a man who pushes his daugther into a well. "Well, I'm a thinking and thinking, til there's nothing I ain't thunk, Breathing in the stink, till finally I stunk. It was at that time I swear I lost my mind, And started making plans to kill my own kind." brrrrrrrrrr.

THE CRAMPS - with their wonderful brand of psycho noir.

THE HANDSOME FAMILY'S Beautiful William "Was he given a package by a man on the train? We found his car by the roadside later that day...He left his lights burning. He left his perfect lawn, His automatic sprinklers about to switch on."

MARK LANEGAN - Methamphetamine Blues

LOU REED, THE CLASH, THE SISTERS OF MERCY...I shall stop there :o)

UPDATE: Oh, and PS - thank you National Express trains for the faulty toilet door which inconveniently opened while I was mid-wee.