Adrienne Carlson Guest Blog

Adrienne Carlson is well clued up on Forensic Science, and as such, you should be pretty damn interested in finding out what kind of crime fiction she enjoys. So I was delighted to hear from her. She offered to take a break from the site she regularly writes for (The Forensic Science Schools) to pen me a short article on her favourite Irish crime writers.

You may remember a similar article from Kat Sanders who also writes for The Forensic Scientist Blog. There's a danger of this becoming a series. No bad thing, as it allows me to concentrate solely on my fiction for the day.

Take it away, Adrienne!

Why Irish Crime Fiction is Gaining in Popularity?

There’s no doubt about it – there’s a wave of crime sweeping through the Irish community, and it sure is arresting. Now before you think that Ireland is becoming a nation of bloodshed and violence, let me reassure that it’s all on paper, and it’s all very good. A host of Irish authors are making names for themselves, adding to the crowd of already established ones like Declan Hughes and John Connolly. And considering the fact that Ireland is a tiny nation where everyone seems to know everyone and the crime rate is relatively low when compared to most other parts of the world, it’s surprising that crime fiction is a genre that has gained immense popularity in recent years.

When we look at the reasons for the surge in the demand for Irish crime fiction, we find that:

• Well established authors like Hughes, Connolly and Gene Kerrigan have inspired other wannabes to try their hand at writing whodunits; and with the new generation like Alex Barclay, Brian McGilloway and Arlene Hunt jumping on this bandwagon and tasting success on a grand scale, others are bound to follow suit.

• Irish crime authors base their books and stories in the USA because plot lines and police procedurals work more effectively when the tales are set in cities and locations where crimes do tend to take place as a matter of routine.

• The Irish Book Awards have included Alex Barclay’s Blood Runs Cold, Arlene Hunt’s Undertow and Brian McGilloway’s Gallows Lane, a move that goes to show that crime fiction is now gaining acceptance into elite literary circles.

• Crime fiction rarely makes it to the acceptable list of must-read books, so when one gets picked to be the Book of the Month, it is bound to boost the popularity of this genre. With author Alex Barclay receiving tumultuous applause for her debut novel, Darkhouse, her new bestseller Blood Runs Cold was included in the Book Club Choice. Other authors have since followed suit what with various discussions and programs boosting the popularity of this genre.

• Booker Prize winner John Banville has now turned to crime fiction using the pseudonym Benjamin Black, thus showing that this is a genre that even award winning authors endorse.

• Besides this, the sheer number of current Irish crime writers – Brian McGilloway, Alex Barclay, Gene Kerrigan, Declan Hughes, Arlene Hunt, John Connolly, Tana French, Ken Bruen, John Banville and Ava McCarthy, Adrian McKinty, Pauline McLynn, Stuart Neville and Ed O’Loughlin - to name just a few, are making this genre more and more appealing to not just fans in Ireland, but all over the world as well.

By-line:

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of forensic scientist schools. Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83(at)yahoo.com

An Interview - Liam McIlvanney

Liam McIlvanney was born and raised in Ayrshire, Scotland. He now lives in New Zealand. His first novel, All the Colours of the Town, was published in August 2009 by Faber.

‘An authentic, atmospheric and ambitious debut. Liam McIlvanney nails it.’
- Val McDermid

‘Liam McIlvanney holds all the aces of a really vital young novelist … a brilliant study in the harsh, pawky affinity between those two majestic cities, Glasgow and Belfast.’
- Richard T Kelly, author of Crusaders

‘I read it almost at a sitting… smart, generous and compelling’ - Gordon Burn

‘With a bravura nod at classic north of Carlisle crime writing, All The Colours of the Town swaggers onto the Larne-Stranraer ferry and brings noir home. Razor-sharp prose and laser-sharp observation makes this a brilliant fiction debut.’ - Eoin McNamee

Q1. What are you writing at the minute?

Right now I’m trying to get started on the second novel. I’m still at the note-taking stage, but will be knuckling down to a proper writing schedule in a few weeks’ time. The book is a sequel to All the Colours in the Town, and features the same central character, Gerry Conway. I did plan to set the second novel in New Zealand (where I now live), but I recently had an idea that will keep Gerry in Glasgow for the time being. Maybe I’ll take him to NZ in a later book.

Q2. Can you give us an idea of Liam McIlvanney’s typical up-to-the-armpits-in-ideas-and-time writing day?

With three young sons and a full-time job, I write whenever I get the chance. Typically, I write early in the morning and sometimes last thing at night. I set a realistic target of 500 words a day and try to stick to it. I don’t really have time for writer’s block so I try to get stuck in straight away.

Q3. What do you do when you’re not writing?

Erm, see above. I also play the odd game of five-a-side footie and do a bit of ‘tramping’, as they call hiking in this part of the world.

Q4. Any advice for a greenhorn trying to break into the crime fiction scene?

Read a lot and write a lot. The two go together.

Q5. Which crime writers have impressed you this year?

I’ve been very impressed by Stuart Neville’s The Twelve. Great premise; brilliant execution: a top crime novel.

Q6. What are you reading right now?

Right now I’m reading Ian Rankin’s The Complaints, featuring Malcolm Fox, who looks like being a worthy successor to DI Rebus. I’m also re-reading The Big Sleep for the umpteenth time.

Q7. Plans for the future?

I’m planning to write at least three novels with Gerry Conway as the hero and narrator. After that, I’m not sure.

Q8. With regards to your writing career to date, would you do anything differently?

Nope. I’d do things quicker, if I could, but that’s another story.

Q9. Do you fancy sharing your worst writing experience?

I have my worst writing experience (as I imagine most writers do) every time I sit down in front of a blank screen. Then, if you’re lucky, the words trickle through and things start to look up.

Q10. Anything you want to say that I haven’t asked you about?

I’d like to say thanks for having me on your website. I’m a big fan of writers like Eoin McNamee and Brian McGilloway, so I’m chuffed to be getting a mention on Crimescene NI.

Thank you, Liam McIlvanney!

A Wee Review - Barbelo's Blood by Capt. Joseph W. Barbelo

Capt. Joseph W. Barbelo made quite an impression on me after he accepted my invitation to partake in a CSNI Q&A. And judging by the comments there and on the Crime Always Pays post that referenced it, I wasn’t the only person intrigued by this new force in Irish writing.

So I was looking forward to reading Barbelo’s Blood, even, if at 440 pages packed with text, it would be one of the longest books I’ve read in years.

Barbelo’s Blood is basically a ‘quest’ novel. The book was blurbed by the mighty Ken Bruen, and as such I’d mentally lumped Barbelo in with the ever mutating Irish crime fiction fraternity. And there are quite a few gangster crime fiction tropes in there; crime firms and vigilantes to name a couple. But I’d equate this to something closer to a Neil Gaiman dark fantasy than anything else. At eighty-two years old, the books protagonist, Joe Barbelo is rediscovering himself. And he’s an ultra-violent kind of guy.

Wait, though. Isn’t Joe Barbelo the writer too? Ahem, that’s Capt. Joseph W. Barbelo to you -- but yes, the writer is the character is the writer, but judging by the fact that most of the story takes place in Brixton in the eighties, I’m going to take a chance and assume that Capt. Barbelo is a pseudonym. Otherwise the dude’s at least 104 years old. And judging by the content, I have to hope it’s a work of fiction, not a biography.

But as all good fiction should, Barbelo’s Blood gave this reader plenty to chew on. Conspiracy theories, the nature of life, immortality, morality and legal loopholes... it’s all in there. Is it a little too much to cover in one novel? Hmmm, possibly. Personally, I think it might have worked well as two books with more emphasis on certain themes in each one, but the publisher, Galway Print, might argue that they’ve provided value for money. And as a very small outfit in a competitive market of titans, I guess I can’t fault them for that. The novel is split into four parts, so there’s nothing stopping a reader from taking breaks in between each one to read something else.

On the whole, the writing is pretty tasty. Snappy and with a real London twang. Yeah, sorry, I should have mentioned; the story has some strong Irish connections but Barbelo is a Londoner. Written in first person with lapses from past to present tense, which works to keep the tone conversational, I found myself completely plugged in to the writer’s voice. And with an attention span like mine, Barbelo has to be doing something right.

The very nature of this novel makes it impossible to sum it up in a snappy closing paragraph, so just let me say this; Barbelo the character does all the things you wished you could do, then takes it to the extreme. Barbelo the novel almost makes you believe he’s doing the right thing. Barbelo the writer is probably pissing himself laughing. And juggling grenades with no pins.

No Alibis Event - John Connolly

(From the No Alibis website)

No Alibis Bookstore is pleased to be hosting the launch party for John Connolly's latest novel, THE GATES on Friday 9th October at 6:30PM.

THE GATES OF HELL ARE ABOUT TO OPEN. MIND THE GAP.

Young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund Boswell are trying to show initiative by trick-or-treating a full three days before Hallowe'en. Which is how they come to witness strange goings-on at 666 Crowley Avenue.

The Abernathys don't mean any harm by their flirtation with Satanism. But it just happens to coincide with a malfunction in the Large Hadron Collider that creates a hole in the universe, a hole through which can be glimpsed a pair of enormous gates.

The gates to Hell. And there are some pretty terrifying beings just itching to get out...

John Connolly was born in Dublin and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.

His first novel, Every Dead Thing, was published in 1999, and introduced the character of Charlie Parker, a former policeman hunting the killer of his wife and daughter. THE LOVERS is his tenth novel, and the eighth featuring Parker.

John Connolly is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States, where each of his novels has been set.

You can find out more on John's website.

We expect this to be a popular event, so reserve your spot now by emailing David, or by calling the shop on 9031 9607.

Qui est Ken Bruen? Breaking News from France!

So, who is Ken Bruen? Well, most recently, he’s the winner of Le Grand Prix de la Littérature Policière 2009 for his novel La Main Droite du Diable. That’s PRIEST to his English-speaking fans.

Some recent international recipients include Ian Rankin, Larry Beinhart, Arnaldur Indriðason and Camilla Läckberg. Check out this Wikipedia page for a history of the award and a full list of winners from as far back as 1948. And now Mister Bruen has done Irish crime fiction proud (as always). Congratulations to the man!

Funny thing, I planned to reread PRIEST this month as I’d finally read the copy of THE DRAMATIST me lovely missus had furnished me with when I passed into my thirties. PRIEST was the novel that introduced and hooked me to Ken Bruen’s work, and now that I’ve read the preceding four Jack Taylor novels, I intend to see if I enjoy it as much again.

My guess?

Je le ferai!

Family Life, Marketing and Bill Hicks

As a follow up to yesterday’s post on Paul Charles’ charm, I thought I’d share a line from Family Life that kind of nailed me when I read it. To put the quote in some context, a wet-behind-the-ears cop is conducting an interview with a murder victim’s brother, who happens to work in marketing. And then this:

‘There didn’t seem to be any apparent common denominator between marketing and murdering, so Casey decided to move on.’

Now, it may be cynical of me to latch on to this line as humour. After all, I’ve no basis at all with which to assume that marketing can be synonymous with murder...

Bill Hicks might disagree, though.

I don’t remember there being as much humour in the Dust of Death, the first Inspector Starrett novel, but that’s most likely due to the fact that I read it quite some time ago. Family Life deals with a very grim situation, a murder in which the victim’s siblings are the most obvious suspects, but Charles deals quite a few leavening moments along with the bleak. It’s disarming but it’s keeping me hooked.

Paul Charles' Charm

I’m currently reading Family Life by Paul Charles. It’s a police procedural set in a small Donegal town, the second in his new series featuring Inspector Starrett. Charles’ writing is of a no frills, matter-of-fact variety, but that isn’t to say that it lacks the panache and charm that I feel most writers of the Irish crime fiction set are bestowed with. But he approaches it quite differently than a lot of his contemporaries.

The following exchange between the protagonist and his father illustrates it pretty well, in my opinion:

'“Oh you should always be wary of someone who walks at least a step or two behind his wife.”

“Ach, sure, that’s only because city girls walk faster, Dad.”

“Aye, I did hear they were faster all right,” Starrett’s dad replied, and then he muttered something Starrett couldn’t make out.'

I think Charles has painted an honest representation of small town mentality here. Both humorous and disparaging, but true to the kind of characters he has created in this world. Starrett is a relaxed and mostly unflappable character (though quite innocent and shy at times for an inspector) who’s a bit more worldly from time spent living in London. Sometimes he’s a little dismayed at the old fashioned attitudes held by those close to him, and yet at other times he’s equally likely to embrace them. It’s an interesting mix.

A History of the Paperbacks (accordin’ to the Times)

An interesting article from The Times Online the other day gave a brief history of the paperback in all its money-saving glory. It concluded with a paragraph on the perception of how the e-reader or Kindle may eventually replace it. The writer seemed to doubt that this may happen, but who knows what the future will hold, eh?

Sit down, Nostradamus.

Anyway, if you click on the link, you’ll also find a list of the top fifty paperbacks as judged by a triumvirate of Times-type folk. Only two of the fifty actually feature on my bookshelf, though. Bateman’s Mystery Man and The Reapers by John Connolly. I wonder if I should construct my own top fifty... Mightn’t be worth the effort. I mean, it’s not like I’m in a position to offer a cash prize to the top three or anything. Still, might mean more to the average CSNI reader, legion that you are.

A Wee Review – Filthy Rich by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos

Filthy Rich is the first graphic novel to come from the newly launched Vertigo Crime imprint at DC Comics. It follows the classic American noir formula -- a tough guy, down on his luck, meets his femme fatale and much murder and mayhem ensues.

On a first impression basis, the production value of this graphic novel is top class. Presented in a beautiful hardback edition with powerful cover art and black and white interior art, it was already off to a running start before I began reading. It looks to be the standard format for the series, and I look forward to filling a shelf on my bookcase with these lovely tomes.

How’d the inside fare, though? Well, I found Azzarello’s writing style a perfect match for the story’s tone. Terse and fast-paced, it put me in mind of Ken Bruen’s work. I could imagine Azzarello rattling out his words while he battled a hangover in a dark room that smelt of coffee and stale cigarette smoke. Now, for all I know, Mister Azzarello is a fine example of clean living, but the voice seemed to belong to a writer entrenched in vice. Although it takes a little while to build up to the real nitty-gritty in terms of violence, there’s always the threat of it present in the protagonist’s bearing. And as protagonists go, Rich ‘Junk’ Junkin is up there with the best of anti-heroes. His motivations? Sex and money, probably in that order. And when you learn a little about the women pulling his strings in this story, you might find you can sympathise with him.

The artwork also suited the mood. Stark black and white that assaulted the eye from each panel. There was a scruffy, dreamlike quality to a lot of the pages, and Santos is great at portraying the ugliness and frenzy of violence in his illustrations. My only criticism is that the lack of softer shading wasn’t always easy on my vision, and I wonder if the smaller page format contributed to my discomfort. But all in all, the match between writer and artist was one made in heaven.

I’d urge crime fiction fans to keep a close watch on the Vertigo Crime series. The next graphic novel on my reading list is Dark Entries by Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’Edera, and on an initial sneak-peak, the quality is as high as that of the debut offering. And with heavy-hitter Jason Starr up next with The Chill (art by Mick Bertilorenzi) I wouldn’t anticipate a dip in grit and fire.

Filthy Rich is a prime example of how noir should be done. It’ll slap the smirk off your face and leave you guiltily grateful for the tough love dealt. You want unapologetic and bleak? You’ve found it.

Get Your (Comic Book) Geek On...

Feast your eyes on the tasty loot I managed to get my grubby mitts on this week:




Beautiful new graphic novels. Two hardbacks and an advance review copy. The first three titles from the new DC Comics imprint, Vertigo Crime. Not suitable for kids or adults of a sensitive disposition. Perfect for a little Mick crime junky like me. Especially since Jason Starr's offering is steeped in Irish mythology.

I've already devoured Filthy Rich. Pure American noir. More on that in a day or two.