Genre Spotlight | Mystery: Dispatches from the Edge
Mysteries go highbrow, exploring dysfunctional and dystopian worlds Apr 15, 2011Crime fiction is a genre dedicated to exploring the underside of both human psychology and life itself. This year’s crop of summer and fall mysteries and thrillers—and in particular those by debut writers and established authors launching new series—present a superabundance of story lines that are not only macabre but also intensely disturbing and at times downright bizarre.
“Whether it emerges as violence or a fascination with the dark side of heroes [and] perpetrators,” says Houghton Mifflin Harcourt editor in chief Andrea Schulz, “we’re seeing a lot of darkness.”
Ben Sevier, an executive editor at Dutton, chalks this up to current events. “I think imagining regular people surviving difficult times in fictional worlds is a reaction to the financial [crisis] and other terrifying events in our own world,” he says. [These dark novels are also attracting younger readers, according to Barbara Fister’s analysis of a recent Sisters in Crime survey of consumers who buy mysteries (see sidebar, below).—Ed.]
Edgy times, it seems, are the crucible out of which even edgier mystery novels and series openers are emerging. But they have also given rise to some other significant trends in the publishing industry. Continued economic hard times have made many of the larger publishing houses more risk averse, creating a boon for smaller presses. Permanent Press copublisher Martin Shepard notes that one third of his recent titles have come from agents who could not make a sale to the big houses. So a larger proportion of talented debut crime fiction authors—many of whom consider themselves literary novelists rather than mystery writers—have opted to join forces with publishers on the edge of mainstream publishing. “Thirty percent of our 14 selections each year [have been] well-crafted mystery/thrillers for three years running,” Shepard observes.
Upping the ante
Fewer opportunities to sell manuscripts to publishers of any size have created a fiercely competitive environment, especially for debut writers. This in turn helps to account for why an increasing number of gifted novelists are trying their hand at the genre, says Shepard. In an otherwise depressed market, crime fiction continues to thrive. “Some novels that embed mysteries, which wouldn’t have been characterized as mysteries a decade ago” are quite successful, says Houghton’s Schulz, citing 1995 Whitbread winner Kate Atkinson’s popular series (Case Histories; One Good Turn) featuring London private detective Jackson Brodie.
This year, both large publishing firms and smaller, independent ones are launching debuts that, though labeled “novels,” have all the elements of great crime fiction: unforgettable characters, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and page-turning plots. From Viking comes Gordon Reece’s psychological thriller, Mice (Aug.), in which a mother and daughter—partly patterned after the homicidal protagonists of Shakespeare’s Macbeth—are pushed beyond their limits.
Arriving in July from Houghton is Stephen Kelman’s Pigeon English. Bruce K. Nichols, senior VP and publisher of adult trade books, has likened Kelman’s debut [see starred review on p. 85], which has already sold in seven countries, to Irish writer Roddy Doyle’s 1993 Booker Prize–winning novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. An able mystery writer with keen insight into the mind of a child narrator determined to get to the bottom of a classmate’s brutal murder, Kelman is, in Nichols’s words, “a major new voice in fiction.”
Another debut that has also sold abroad in numerous countries (in this case, 12) is Alice LaPlante’s Turn of Mind (Atlantic Monthly, Jul.). Publisher Grove/Atlantic plans a marketing blitz that will include outreach to such high-profile periodicals as the New York Times Magazine and O the Oprah Magazine and a 16-city book tour for LaPlante. Executive editor Elisabeth Schmitz calls this much-touted debut about a 64-year-old woman with dementia accused of killing her best friend “a riveting...thriller [that is also] a sensitive account of a heartbreaking disease of the mind.” With the leading edge of the baby boom generation turning 65 this year, LaPlante’s novel is sure to strike a powerful chord among many readers.
Murder in the past tense
The social, political, and economic upheaval that characterizes the present makes the past appear to offer a place of temporary—though admittedly dark—refuge for readers. Houghton’s Schulz is seeing a lot of historical mysteries, particularly those set during the two world wars. Periods of conflict and crisis may come, but they also pass, and narratives that depict this offer what Schulz calls “buoyancy” and “comfort.”
One historical mystery that Houghton is working especially hard to promote is newcomer Elizabeth Speller’s The Return of Captain John Emmett (Jul.). Originally released in Britain by Virago Press, the novel follows a World War I veteran as he seeks to unravel the mystery surrounding a boyhood friend’s death—only to find himself probing a heinous war crime. William Palmer of The Independent has lauded the book as “an involving and sensitively written examination of guilt and moral culpability” and marked Speller as a rising talent.
From Penguin comes another heart-stopping historical crime fiction debut, Ryan David Jahn’s Good Neighbors (Jun.). Set in mid-1960s New York, the novel explores the motivations of individuals who passively watch while a young woman—modeled after real-life murder victim Kitty Genovese—is stabbed to death. First published by British imprint Macmillan New Writing under the title Acts of Violence, it won the prestigious 2010 CWA John Creasy (New Blood) Dagger Award and high praise from critics.
For fans of Bernard Cornwell–style serial historicals also steeped in murder and intrigue, Trafalgar Square Publishing is handling the U.S. distribution of Paul Lawrence’s The Sweet Smell of Decay (Beautiful Bks., Apr.). Set in Restoration England, this first volume in “The Chronicles of Harry Lytle” centers on a London rascal with a morbid sense of humor who gets caught up in a murder investigation that’s more than he bargained for. History may provide a temporary escape for contemporary readers, but there’s no harm in poking fun at the nightmares it often presents.
Unapologetically eccentric
Colin Cotterill, author of the popular Southeast Asia–set series featuring Laotian coroner Dr. Siri Paiboun, believes that exotic settings trump historical ones. But this cult-favorite writer is also a firm believer in the saving grace of laughter. “I’ve found that there’s nothing like a good murder to cheer people up,” he quips. “No matter how bad the economy gets, it’s never as bad as getting your entrails gouged out with a pike.” This summer he launches a new cozy series with Killed at the Whim of a Hat (Minotaur: St. Martin’s, Jul.), which focuses on an eccentric Thai crime reporter, two dead hippies found buried in a Volkswagen bus, and the hint of a most unusual murder. Cotterill explains he started this fresh series out of a need for a “new challenge” that was both “contemporary...and light on politics.”
Cotterill’s book is one of several new Minotaur Books series openers that Talia Sherer, Macmillan’s director of library marketing, adult trade, cites as her favorites. “[It’s got] the quirkiest and most fascinatingly hilarious characters.” Another is Gone with a Handsomer Man (Apr.) by Michael Lee West. Sherer’s praise for West’s effort is equally glowing. “Think Janet Evanovich and Jennifer Crusie.” An established novelist but a newcomer to crime fiction, West blends plot ingredients—an unemployed pastry chef, love trouble, and the unexpected demise of a cheating fiancé—into a crazy-funny crime fiction concoction bound to please even the most discriminating cozy palate.
First-time novelist Jessie Chandler is literary kin to both Cotterill and West. “Goofy characters who are always getting in over their heads...are my kind of people,” she reveals. And her novel, Bingo Barge Murder (Midnight Ink, May), is chock-full of oddballs and other assorted fringe-dwellers, including a vegetarian tree-hugger and a Rain Man–like character. Midnight Ink acquiring editor Terri Bischoff was drawn to this series opener because of its madcap uniqueness. “I don’t think I’ve had anything cross my desk I could compare it to,” she says. The protagonist, Shay O’Hanlon, is a lesbian. But Bischoff points out that mystery, not romance, is the focus. Chandler’s book reflects society’s increased mainstreaming of LGBT culture. Says Chandler, “I really hoped to reach a broad audience including anyone—gay or straight—who likes [mysteries] with a large dose of humor.” This focus on social and cultural outsiders makes for reading that’s unabashed fun but also much bolder than traditional cozies.
Mysteries with muscle
Agatha Christie–style murder mysteries à la Jane Marple typically attract individuals—usually more female than male—interested in particular kinds of settings/communities or in stories that highlight characters and character relationships before crime. This year, a somewhat overlooked mystery genre subset featuring tough-guy narrators in gritty worlds dominated by male characters is muscling its way into prominence.
Among the most hard-boiled of these titles are three excellent series debuts. The Cut (Reagan Arthur: Little Brown, Aug.) by acclaimed crime fiction writer George Pelecanos deals with an ex–Iraqi War vet who recovers stolen property for anyone with enough cash and whose work gets him entangled with the criminal underworld. Fun & Games (Mulholland: Little, Brown, Jun.) by cult crime and Marvel Comics writer Duane Swierczynski channels pulp fiction noir in the story of an ex-cop who stumbles across a ring of sociopathic hit men specializing in accidental deaths. In newcomer Wayne Arthurson’s Fall from Grace (Forge: Tor, Apr.), a prostitute’s death leads a down-and-out reporter to uncover a scandal that could cost him everything, including his life. [See Q&A with Arthurson in 4/7 issue of BookSmack!—Ed.]
Purgatory Chasm (May) a first novel by amateur race car driver and builder Steve Ulfelder, is one of several “tough guy” mysteries St. Martin’s Minotaur imprint plans to launch in 2011. Other titles by the likes of Steve Hamilton and David Housewright are also on the list. Ulfelder’s protagonist is an ex-alcoholic and mechanic who finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation involving a fellow AA member with a shady past.
However testosterone-driven these novels may appear, St. Martin’s executive editor Keith Kahla admonishes that “[it] doesn’t mean that men are the only readers of these books—in fact, [established writers of similar crime fiction] have a substantial following among women readers.” He argues that to label these mysteries as male-oriented or female-oriented is to shortchange both the books and the readers.
Global thrills
Gritty verisimilitude along with plenty of international intrigue characterize this season’s thrillers. “I’m not interested in crime writing that doesn’t have politics at the heart of it all,” says indie publisher Dennis Loy Johnson (who in 2010 launched Melville House’s Melville International Crime imprint). Coming in September is Nairobi Heat, an exciting debut from Kenyan journalist Mukoma wa Ngugi. The unexplained death of a young girl leads a black American detective out of his comfort zone and into dangerously unfinished business involving African politics and the Rwandan genocide.
Other notable transnational thrillers by newcomers include Sebastian Rotella’s Triple Crossing (Mulholland: Little Brown, Aug.), in which a rookie border patrol agent gets recruited to infiltrate the Mexican mafia and finds himself walking a thin and bloody line between right and wrong. Then there’s Spycatcher (Morrow, Aug.) by Matthew Dunn, a former field officer for Britain’s MI6 Secret Intelligence Service. An intelligence officer for the CIA and MI6 hunts down an ex–Iranian Revolutionary Guardsman who also happens to be responsible for the murder of his father. Espionage is definitely back.
Swedish crime fiction is also still very much in the thriller mix. “I hear from my friends at the big houses that...they’re still getting swamped with Scandinavian stuff,” Johnson reports. One Nordic thriller and series opener that’s gotten loads of attention in the last year is The Hypnotist (Farrar, May). A number one best-selling smash in Sweden that’s been sold in 36 countries and counting, the novel is the joint effort of Swedish writing duo and married couple Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril, who go by the pen name Lars Kepler. Oscar-nominated director Lasse Hallström will adapt the story—which revolves around a hypnotist who must confront his own tormented past as he helps uncover the identity of a family’s killer—for the big screen. With an announced first printing of 100,000 copies, the publisher also plans to bring the Ahndorils this May to BookExpo America in New York City. Stieg Larsson may be gone, but his ghost still haunts both the publishing world and the popular imagination.
Visions of the end
One of Forge executive editor Robert Gleason’s newest finds, H.T. Narea’s The Fund (May), features “evil hedge fund managers [and] evil corporate raiders” straight out of a Wall Street nightmare. It’s one of several thrillers the Tor imprint plans to release over the next year in which “financiers are major characters.” The Fund dramatizes Warren Buffett’s chilling pronouncement that in the right hands, derivatives can become “weapons of mass destruction.” Says Narea, “The idea for the book came to me because of some dangerous trends I’ve been following on the international black market and the rise of global powers to challenge the...monolithic preeminence of the United States.”
The Fund is not the only novel to merge crime fiction into end-of-the-world scenarios. In The Dewey Decimal System (Akashic, May), debut writer Nathan Larson depicts a New York City devastated by terrorist attacks. In that world, a war veteran with obsessive-compulsive disorder gets drawn into what appears to be a union-busting job but turns out to be a murderous web of intrigue. In Ashes of the Earth (Counterpoint, Apr.), Eliot Pattison, the Edgar Award–winning author of the Inspector Shan Tao Yun Tibetan mysteries, launches a compelling new series about a savage post-holocaust world in which the survival of one small community depends on one man’s quest to learn the truth behind an eminent scientist’s demise. With social, political, and economic meltdowns now a permanent part of the daily news scene, it’s little wonder that visions of the end have infiltrated the consciousness of so many writers.
Newcomer Leonard Rosen’s All Cry Chaos (Permanent Pr., Sept.) also picks up on the apocalyptic zeitgeist. Publisher Shepard was drawn to this smart, dazzlingly original series opener for the way it “touches on so much of the chaos that exists in the world today [while] bringing in the higher concepts of mathematical/fractal theory and a level of spirituality that enhances the story line.” While the future remains the subject of at times grim speculation, Shepard has no doubt the book is destined for global success and that Rosen (see Q&A below) himself is one of the hottest new talents “that any publisher could hope to publish.”
Q & A: Leonard Rosen
The Math of Murder
Len Rosen’s first noveL, All Cry Chaos, revolves around the slaying of a mathematician who studies patterns in nature. Interpol Inspector Henri Poincaré (yes, a descendant of noted French mathematician Jules Henri Poincaré) undertakes a multicontinent search that not only uncovers the murderer but also reveals something deeply troubling in the process: that patterns imply a Pattern Maker in which Poincaré, a man divorced from faith, cannot so easily believe.
How did you, a textbook writer and college teacher, decide to write crime fiction?
About five years ago I found myself especially alert to patterns in nature—for instance, the similarity of lightning, arteries, tree limbs, and cracks on sidewalks. Research quickly led to Benoit Mandelbrot’s work on fractal geometry—the mathematics of nature. My response was to imagine a story with these astonishing patterns at its center. Textbook writing helped with the discipline of writing. As for the move from teaching: while I’ve spent the last decade writing full-time (and so haven’t been in the classroom), I’ve never lost the lit teacher’s pleasure in studying the devices writers use to achieve their effects. I had an idea, and writing a story didn’t feel like such a long leap.
Many recent mysteries seem to be tapping into the current global existential malaise. Where does your work fit in?
I think of All Cry Chaos as being concerned not so much with existential malaise as with the problematic nature of existence itself: that is, the presence of good and evil in our world. My protagonist, Henri Poincaré, questions how it is possible to regard these opposites as part of one creation. It’s the oldest of problems, and readers will decide for themselves if Poincaré succeeds with his inquiry. I believe he ends battered and bereft though still capable of love—so all is not lost. He’s a wiser man but also an exhausted man, which is not the same (in my mind) as a world-weary man. He wants to live because this fractured world of his is the only world he has. He cares enough to try to understand it and to set it right.
How did you come to incorporate so many disparate themes into a mystery?
I started with being amazed by patterns in nature, which led me to fractal geometry. I then studied with a math tutor for six months to gain confidence enough to write on the topic. Mandelbrot himself moves from the geometry of nature to economics—he wrote a book on the subject, so that much was done for me. I extrapolated from there: if patterns underlie so much of what we find in nature, and these patterns appear also in human domains such as the economy, one is tempted to ask: Is there a Pattern Maker? This is a theological question, the response to which brought me into the precincts of religion and spirituality. In time, my character comes to regard mathematics, economics, and religion/spirituality as not so disparate but as possible expressions, in fact, of an underlying unity. I thought: What deeper mystery could there be at the center of a mystery?
What can readers expect next in this series?
I’ve begun writing a prequel, which relates the story of how Poincaré (then a 28-year-old mechanical engineer) comes to be an Interpol agent. He’s a young man who can’t leave well enough alone and is drawn into a plot that shakes his confidence in the essential goodness of people. What he discovers threatens both his job security and his upcoming marriage.
Whom do you count among your greatest sources of inspiration?
Among current writers, I admire Ian McEwan and Mark Helprin immensely (I’m thinking particularly of Atonement and A Soldier of the Great War). Among writers of mysteries and thrillers, I most admire John le Carré and P.D. James for their rich narratives, character portraits, and descriptions. When I read them, I’m conscious mostly of reading good fiction—not genre work. Every year or so I re-read Chandler’s The Big Sleep and his essay “The Simple Art of Murder.” For their ability to keep me up at night turning pages, I read—and study the moves of—John Grisham, Martin Cruz Smith, Scott Turow, Henning Mankell, Robert Harris, Dan Brown, and Stieg Larsson. I don’t suppose many people still read Walker Percy, but his works have had a profound influence—I’m thinking specifically of his ability to fold big ideas into his narratives (as with The Moviegoer). And then there are the many classic authors you might imagine a former lit teacher reading.
Which characters in crime fiction influenced the development of your protagonist, Henri Poincaré?
I mentioned that I re-read Chandler’s “The Simple Art of Murder” every so often, and I’m drawn always to the same passage: “In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption. It may be pure tragedy, if it is high tragedy, and it may be pity and irony, and it may be the raucous laughter of the strong man. But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective in this kind of story must be such a man. He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.”
| Author Information |
| M.M. Adjarian, a Dallas-based freelance writer and literary critic, is a contributor to the Dallas Voice, Arts + Culture DFW, and Bitch magazine, a reviewer for Kirkus, and the author of Allegories of Desire: Body, Nation and Empire in Modern Caribbean Literature by Women (Praeger, 2004) |
PROFILING MYSTERY READERS
Who buys mysteries? What influences readers as they decide what to read? How do tastes differ by gender and age? Finally, where do mystery addicts get their fix?
These are questions posed in “The Mystery Book Consumer in the Digital Age,” a survey conducted by Bowker’s PubTrack Consumer research division in September 2010 and published in January (bit.ly/hc3cO4) on behalf of Sisters in Crime, an organization promoting the professional development and advancement of women crime writers. The respondents, a representative sample of over 1000 drawn from a pool of U.S. consumers who purchased a mystery in 2009 or 2010, provide a snapshot of who is in the market for mysteries.
THE LINEUP
The majority of respondents (70 percent) were over 45 and female. Male readers were somewhat more likely to read thrillers and espionage than mysteries. However, tastes appear to be gravitating to the meaner streets as younger readers of both genders reported being more interested in dark and suspenseful stories than the older group. Nearly 40 percent of those surveyed said they were almost always reading a mystery; another 51 percent identified themselves as frequent, but not exclusive, readers of mysteries.
Brick and mortar stores were the most common source for mysteries, followed by online purchases, more popular with younger consumers than the older demographic. Libraries were the third most common source for mysteries, but—surprisingly—only 19 percent of respondents said they used libraries. The age groups that used libraries the most were those under 30 and those 60 or older.
THE CLUES ON LIBRARY USE
Library users said that saving money was a primary motivator. Many respondents also reported that they enjoy the atmosphere and (particularly for those under 50) were already visiting the library, often with children. Librarians and their recommendations were less of a draw. However, respondents under age 30 were more likely than any other age group to cite librarians’ recommendations as a motivator for using the library. Perhaps a younger audience that hasn’t yet formed a wish list of favorite authors is most receptive to readers’ advisory.
Open-ended responses offered additional insights into why people use libraries. Several mentioned that they read so voraciously, they couldn’t possibly buy everything they read. Others said the library is a useful resource for discovering new writers. Several pointed to the convenience of reserving books online and to the wide selection their libraries offer. Some consumers appreciated being able to choose among formats, with both large print and downloadable audiobooks getting special mention.
Readers tended to look first for books by an author they like. Favorite series and characters were also important factors in purchasing decisions. In addition, recommendations from friends ranked high as an influencer in choosing books, followed by the book’s appearance on a best sellers list, and the cover art and jacket copy. Reviews were important to the over-50 group, but younger readers were more persuaded by covers. Online promotion was of greater interest to those under age 30 than for those over 50. A majority reported they were actively seeking new writers to try out; younger readers were most open to suggestions. These findings may be useful to libraries deciding what avenues to use while promoting their mystery collections.
A SURPRISING VERDICT
While ebook sales are growing rapidly, readers 30 and younger were nearly as resistant to the format as the over-60 group, with nearly 60 percent saying they would only read print books. Overall, only about 40 percent of all respondents said they were open to reading ebooks, a percentage that is the same for men and women. These are figures to watch as the industry increasingly gravitates to ebooks and as libraries cope with barriers to purchasing this format from publishers.
Though in many ways the study confirmed common wisdom, one finding is of particular interest for Sisters in Crime, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year: women are more open to reading books by authors of the opposite sex than men are. A quarter of male respondents said they were more likely to choose a book by a man than a woman; only nine percent of women said they were more likely to read a book by a woman.
| Author Information |
| Barbara Fister is a librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, LJ Academic Newswire’s Peer to Peer Review columnist, and an author of crime fiction. Her latest mystery, Through the Cracks, was published by Minotaur Books in 2010 |
