It seems hard to believe, but Stark House Press (like Murder Squad!) recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. Greg Shepard and his associates, such as Rick Ollerman, have done a great job over the years in creating a list which reprints a wide range of interesting examples of crime fiction. Along with Jeff Marks and Doug Greene of Crippen & Landru, they have done crime fans a great service.
For instance, they have republished books by authors as different as Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, a wonderful exponent of domestic suspense and a writer who remains criminally under-valued (as is Nedra Tyre, another author on the list), and Gil Brewer, whose work has a harder edge than that of Holding and Tyre, but a distinctive quality. The Red Scarf, for instance, is absolutely gripping.
In terms of non-fiction, I can recommend, for instance, Rick Ollerman's Hardboiled, Noir and Gold Medals: essays on crime fiction writers from the 50s through the 90s. This collection of essays demonstrates Rick's insightful approach to crime criticism and is packed with interesting information. Among more recent writers, the late Ed Gorman has a Stark House 'twofer' - two novels in one book - which includes one of my favourites of his, The Night Remembers.
Another domestic suspense specialist who has been well served by Stark House is the excellent Jean Potts. I can also recommend Patrick Quentin's Death Freight and other Murderous Excursions, a collection of four novellas while Rick's advocacy on behalf of Peter Rabe, a really interesting writer, has seen publication of various Rabe novels. Recent publications include two books by a writer I don't know at all, Mary Collins, The Sister of Cain and Only the Good, which I'm about to start reading.
In short, if you're a crime fan with an interest in books of the past, you're sure to find something of interest on the Stark House list. Long may it continue to thrive.
and they've even reissued a novel of mine!
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