Twelve Must Read Thrillers (Author Louise Jensen has compiled a list of the twelve must read thrillers published this century. Some can be dystopian, some can have a trace of romance, a few will provide twists and surprise endings, and all are destined to be classics.) Someone like me – M. R. Carey The story […]
Category Archives: Blog Article
The Strand Magazine Giveaway
The Strand Magazine is hosting a giveaway! Want to celebrate the holidays with the Strand Magazine? Then get ready for The Strand Magazine Giveaway! Enter now for a chance to win a coffee mug featuring all of your favorite authors! We’re celebrating 20 years of The Strand Magazine, and we want to share this anniversary […]
20 Years of The Strand Magazine
20 Years of The Strand Magazine When the first issue of The Strand was released in fall of 1998, none of us had any idea we would still be doing this twenty years later. As with any new venture, nothing had prepared me or the team I’d assembled for the difficulties we encountered in getting […]
Reconsidering Hemingway’s World War II Legacy
Reconsidering Hemingway’s World War II Legacy As much veneration as he has now garnered, Ernest Hemingway, believe it or not, still has not been given enough credit for what he attempted to write in his coverage of World War II. Hemingway aimed to write his grand heroic epic—covering the land, the sea, and the air—perspectives […]
THE FIVE BEST AND THE FIVE WORST FICTIONAL LAWYERS
THE FIVE BEST AND THE FIVE WORST FICTIONAL LAWYERS This rather quirky list focuses on attorneys whose competence (or lack thereof) might not be obvious. In no particular order: BEST FICTIONAL ATTORNEYS Hans Rolfe, Judgment at Nuremberg (Abby Man, 1961 motion picture) Rolfe represents a Nazi war criminal at the Nuremberg trials. Paradoxically, […]
Deadly Motives: The Hedonistic Drive of Serial Murder
Deadly Motives: The Hedonistic Drive of Serial Murder There are several motives that drive serial killing as far as experts are concerned. Some are driven by missions such as ridding the world of what they perceive as a sin, or because they think they’re a higher being. Others are motivated by power or control over […]
The Anatomy of an Architectural Mystery
The Anatomy of an Architectural l Mystery A few weeks ago, I was going through this abandoned 1880s rowhouse in north central Baltimore and came across a mummified cat on the third floor. (See attached) It reminded me of those cats the ancient Egyptians put in their tombs because they worshiped cats. I would […]
Ten Great Things about Emperor Nero
Ten Great Things about Emperor Nero The emperor Nero, who reigned from A.D. 54—68, has been called “the first mass market pop star” and “the Elvis of the ancient world.” Who could not want to know such a character better? Although he was emperor, he saw himself primarily as an artist, especially as a performer […]
Where’s the body? The importance of a corpse to a crime writer…
Where’s the body? The importance of a corpse to a crime writer… I’ve been talking to audiences about murder for a number of years now. As a result, I’m uncomfortably aware that a high percentage of perfectly ordinary people have thought about committing murder—and some have a specific victim in mind. The stories I […]
Five Reinventions of the Boston Crime Novel
Five Reinventions of the Boston Crime Novel How to account for the popularity of Boston as a setting for crime fiction? There’s the city’s checkered history of real-life crime, from the Brinks truck job to the Gardner Museum heist to the tragic Boston Marathon bombing of 2013. Then there’s the Hub’s rogues gallery of larger-than-life […]
Eight Outer Banks Locations Guaranteed to Add Chills to Your Vacation
Eight Outer Banks Locations Guaranteed to Add Chills to Your Vacation For many American families, the words Outer Banks are synonymous with nostalgia and summer family fun. From historic lighthouses and mountainous sand dunes to wild horses and enchanting maritime forests, these narrow barrier islands along the east coast of North Carolina have something […]
“You mean I’m not Perfect?” Celebrate those idiosyncrasies in your favorite sleuths…
“You mean I’m not perfect?” Celebrate those idiosyncrasies in your favorite sleuths… The “Defective Detective” trope in fiction and media is often viewed negatively. Some readers believe it does a disservice to normalizing mental illness, and many feel it might add to the stigma surrounding sufferers. Below are five detectives whose mental illness acts not […]
