Barry Forshaw rang to tip me off that he’d talked about my work on the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Open Book’ yesterday, while warning me that there was always the chance that any mention of my name might be edited out of the final interview! The theme of that part of the programme was lawyers who write crime fiction and the starting point was Mariella Frostrup’s interview of P.D.James about Cyril Hare. I’ve talked about my admiration for Hare on this blog, and James is clearly a huge fan, especially of Tragedy at Law.
Barry was then interviewed by Mariella (lucky chap) about lawyers who write crime and gave me a name check, along with Frances Fyfield, when talking about British lawyer-writers. The Americans, he mentioned were Scott Turow, John Grisham and Mark Gimenez, so I felt I was in very select company.
By coincidence, Steve Steinbock has just blogged about my very first novel, All the Lonely People, which introduced the Liverpool lawyer Harry Devlin, on Criminal Brief. Steve recently gave my latest novel with a legal background, Waterloo Sunset, a terrific review in The Strand Magazine, and this time I am quite unable to resist linking to his generous remarks.
Finally, three more entries on the blogroll: Bookwitch, Paul Brazill, and Deighton Dossier. Do also check out Rob Mallows’ impressive website about Len Deighton.
That's great news, Martin. I really rate Barry Forshaw, I think he writes with great insight and does so much to promote the genre - in an intelligent way. I really hope that this inspires a few more people to pick up your (excellent!) books.
ReplyDeleteI listened to the programme earlier and you were mentioned - top of the list actually.
ReplyDeleteThank you, ladies. If you haven't met Barry, you will have the chance to do so at Crimefest, which he is attending. A mine of information about crime fiction.
ReplyDeleteDear Martin
ReplyDeleteI'd missed yesterday's Open Book and the interview with PD James about my father, "Cyril Hare", so was delighted to be told by the Google Alert that you had noted it was out there, this enabling me to hear it on "Listen Again".
I thought PD James made some good points, such as the historical value now of the books, especially the wartime ones - I have always thought that because detective story writers have to conceal so much, they tend to be expansive in including contemporary social detail!
She was also sharp about the clear enjoyment of writers who are doing it as a hobby, and the styles and perspectives they bring from their own trades.
regards
Charles Gordon Clark, Llaneglwys, Breconshire
Charles, it's great to hear from you. As you can see, I remain a huge fan of CH. How are things with you?
ReplyDelete