Crimefest - and a magic moment...

Crimefest at Bristol, always so enjoyable, was especially memorable for me this year,as I was awarded the inaugural CWA Margery Allingham short story prize for my story "Acknowledgments". Moments of this kind don't come along very often in a writer's life - well, not in my writing life, anyway - and are something to cherish. The announcement was made by Julia Jones, Allingham's biographer, whom I'd had the pleasure of meeting for the first time the previous day. She kept the secret very well - I had no idea whatsoever that my name would be read out. Thanks to Ali Karim, as ever, for the photo above, as well as these, taken at a party to celebrate Severn House's 40 years of publishing. There's me with Jake Kerridge, the crime critic from The Daily Telegraph, a group shot, and Ali's daughter Sophia, Susan Moody, Felix Francis (son of Dick), me, bookseller Richard Reynolds, and Mike Stotter of Shots.

In the lead-up to the prize giving, I'd been absorbed by a wonderfully witty one-man show by Simon Brett, this year's CWA Diamond Dagger winner. On the subject of short stories, I was also delighted that the stories John Harvey and Cath Staincliffe contributed to Deadly Pleasures have been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger, to be announced at the end of June.

On Thursday, I again moderated the Forgotten Authors panel. Martin Walker, Jessica Mann, Stephen Booth and Christine Poulson shared their enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, a terrific range of writers, including Bruce Graeme, Mavis Doriel Hay, Dilwyn Rees and Harry Kemelman. With such a group, moderating was easy - the only challenge, as usual, was that the time whizzed by all too quickly, There is always so much more that we would like to say about our chosen authors.

On Saturday Kate Ellis moderated a panel about archaeology and history in which I took part, along with Tom Harper, and two writers I was meeting for the first time, Luca Veste, whose first novel has made a big hit, and Elly Griffiths, one of the most successful detectuve novelists to have emerged in recent years.Kate had never moderated before, but she did a fine job, and she later took part in the Mastermind, coming second only to Paul Johnston, who has won the quiz previously. I was given a lift to and from Bristol with Kate and her husband Roger and as always they were great company.

So too were many writers and readers with whom I enjoyed spending time over the week-end. One particular pleasure is catching up with fellow writers whom I haven't seen for a few years. This time, that list included Hilary Bonner, a former CWA chair who hasn't been working in the crime field for about a decade - it's great to see her back - Linda Regan and her husband, the actor Brian Murphy, Rob Gittins and Mick Herron, who was last year's CWA Gold Dagger winner. Mick reminded me that the last time we met, I won the CWA Short Story Dagger,so with that track record, I hope to run into him more often in future! There were also various interesting conversations about some good things to come. These include a guest blog by Susan Moody and, I hope, a couple of other talented writers,, a Golden Age project mooted by Mike Linane, a new CWA venture, and a possible new direction for the CWA anthology amongst other things.

The feelgood atmosphere of a convention like this is always the result of a vast amount of hard work by a small group of volunteers. Adrian, Donna, Myles, Liz and their team do a remarkable job. They must be absolutely exhausted now, but at least they have the satisfaction of knowing the whole event was another real success. And believe me, I'll remember it with pleasure for a long, long time.

The Crime Writers' Association - Diamond Jubilee

I've been a member of the Crime Writers' Association since the late 80s, and over the years my involvement with the CWA, initially through the Northern Chapter founded by Peter N. Walker, has introduced me to a great many people whom I would probably never otherwise have met. It's a great social organisation - even for those, like me, who don't regard themselves as naturally very gregarious. And the CWA also takes increasingly active steps to help members to promote their work, which is a tremendous benefit at a time when it is not only hard to get published, but a challenge to remain published.

This year sees the CWA celebrate its Diamond Jubilee - on Guy Fawkes Night to be precise. This special anniversary has seen a number of notable events, including a glittering Awards Dinner, and the publication of Deadly Pleasures, which includes stories by a number of the great and the good of crime writing (along with me - editor's perk!)

I joined the CWA committee towards the end of last year, something that pressure of the day job had never previously allowed, and I do feel that under Alison Joseph's chairmanship the organisation is going from strength to strength, despite the challenges faced by publishers and authors the world over. Membership has increased very significantly, and as a result the CWA needs to operate in a very businesslike way. The role of its hard-working director, Lucy Santos, is extremely important in this respect and in a relatively short time Lucy has made a great impression.

Like any organisation, the CWA needs to look to the future, whilst at the same time remaining true to its core values and not forgetting or under-estimating the importance of its roots. I've had on my website for quite some time a modest page about the CWA, and to mark the Diamond Jubilee, I've just written an article about the origins of the CWA. As CWA archivist, I'll also be making an announcement shortly about our plans for the Archives. There's plenty of work to be done, but also a great many good things to look forward to.

Deadly Pleasures

I'm delighted to announce the publication this week of Deadly Pleasures, an anthology I've edited to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Crime Writers' Association. The book is published by Severn House in hardback and trade paperback and will be available in the US as well as the UK.

Putting this book together has been a labour of love, since I've been lucky enough to receive a host of marvellous - and brand new - stories by some wonderful writers. Let me just pick a few at random to give you the idea. John Harvey has written a new Jack Kiley story, which deals with a tricky and highly topical social issue. Peter Robinson has supplied a fascinating story, based on a performance piece that he worked on last year along with the great folk singer Martin Carty. Liza Cody tells us a bit more about the fate of Anna Lee - or does she? Andrew Taylor, who just won (most deservedly) the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, has contributed a very enjoyable story and so has Peter Lovesey.

David Hewson, recent author of a novelisation of The Killing, has a story in the book, and so does Lindsey Davis, who offers a sort of companion piece to a story she wrote for Mysterious Pleasures, the Golden Jubilee volume I edited for the CWA a decade ago. The other contributors of brand new stories are: Ann Cleeves, Cath Staincliffe,Simon Brett, Claire McGowan, Alison Joseph, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Michael Ridpath, Charles Todd and Christopher Fowler. Oh, and me!

I'm enormously grateful to the contributors, and also to Peter James, who wrote the intro. Let me assure you they didn't write these stories for the money, they just wanted to support the CWA, which is marvellous. There's one story that has been published before. Margaret Yorke, a former CWA chair who contributed to Mysterious Pleasures and other CWA anthologies I've edited, died while the book was in preparation. I wanted to include something by her as a tribute to her, and her family kindly agreed. All in all, it's a book I'm proud to be associated with, and I'm confident crime fans everywhere will love the stories written by some of the best writers around.

The Pleasures of Research

Shotsmag, run by Mike Stotter, is a crime and thriller ezine that grew out of a print magazine that was established in the Nineties by a group of fans including Bob Cartwright. The continuing energy, enthusiasm and expertise of Mike and the current team has resulted in a resource that is of tremendous value to crime fans.

Mike has kindly published an piece of mine discussing the pleasures of researching The Frozen Shroud in lovely Ullswater. Shotsmag also includes a great review of the book written by Sue Lord, which naturally I was delighted to see.

On the subject of research, I'm currently turning my attention to the next Lake District Mystery, number seven in the series. Since I finished The Frozen Shroud, I've not been totally idle, mind you. I've been tackling a major non-fiction project which I very much hope will see the light of day at some stage in the future. I've also been working on the CWA's Diamond Jubilee anthology, Deadly Pleasures, which contains some wonderful brand new stories by star names such as Peter Robinson, John Harvey and Ann Cleeves.

But now it's back to fiction. I'm warming up with a short story, a light-hearted piece written in tribute to the late Maxine Clarke which I'll be submitting to a proposed charity anthology in the near future. Then I should be ready to produce a synopsis of the new book. And I'm tempted to research a different part of the Lakes this time. Somewhere where I might construct a sandstone quarry, perhaps....

Disappearing Magazines

We’ve become sadly familiar with the experience of first-rate print magazines vanishing from the shelves, because of declining circulation. The biggest loss in recent years was probably that of Sherlock, a splendid magazine, which under the editorship of David Stuart Davies covered the whole world of crime fiction, not just Sherlockiana. But after several successful years, the owner lost heart. Unfortunately, the trend of disappearance isn’t confined to print publications. A couple of worthwhile ezine projects have faltered in the last year or so.

One was Cobwebby Bottles, produced by fellow author and blogger Rafe McGregor. This had a Sherlockian emphasis, and was really very promising. Now comes the news that Crime Fiction Gazette, the brainchild of rare book specialist and new novelist Paul Moy is also coming to an end after only two issues. A pity.

The snag is that producing print magazines takes a considerable financial investment, and even with ezines, there has to be a significant input of time and effort if the publication is to be sustained. It’s hard work, and I can well understand why those involved give up.

On a happier note, there are still various magazines available which do a terrific job of discussing the genre, and they deserve the support of crime fans everywhere. In the US, I can think of Mystery Scene, Deadly Pleasures, Give Me That Old-Time Detection and The Strand. In the UK, we have CADS, which I think is quite brilliant, and also excellent online resources such as Shots and Crime Time. I like all of them, and admire all the editors who do such a good job with them – but I’m sure there is room for fresh publications too.

George Easter and Deadly Pleasures

I haven’t had much time for reading since my return from holiday, but at least I’ve managed to devour the latest issue of George Easter’s fanzine ‘Deadly Pleasures’. This is issue 58, and I’ve been a reader (and, often, a contributor) to the magazine from the outset, having first got to know George as long ago as the memorable 1992 Bouchercon in Toronto.

‘Deadly Pleasures’ differs from other crime fan magazines that I’ve mentioned here, such as CADS and Give Me That Old-Time Detection, in that the focus is primarily on reviews of modern books. (We're talking here about print magazines; there are also some superb online publications such as Shots and Crime Time). But DP features numerous shortish articles too, invariably including a piece from the admirable Philip Scowcroft: this time, Philip surveys ‘Asia in British Crime Fiction’.

One of the many things I like about George is that he has a very soft spot for British mysteries, and from that first meeting I’ve always found him very generous about my own books. A regular section in DP is ‘News and Reviews from the UK’, and there is also an article on Scottish crime fiction by Jeff Popple. There is extensive treatment of Second World War mysteries, and Laura Wilson is featured on the cover.

Among many interesting bits and pieces this time around is a short article by Carlos R. Zafon and this reminds me that I still haven’t got round to reading The Shadow of the Wind. I bought my copy at the time of original publication after that very good judge Maxim Jakubowski told me it was his favourite book of the past twelve months. But somehow it’s slipped down the pile...

Deadly Pleasures

I’ve received the latest issue (number 57, and I own every one of its predecessors) of George Easter’s very well-regarded fanzine, Deadly Pleasures. I haven’t contributed to this particular issue, but as ever there is a variety of good things, including a major features about that excellent writer Peter Robinson. I’ve been friendly with Peter since the early days of our careers, and his enormous success in recent years is richly deserved. On the occasions when reviewers have bracketed my books with his, I’ve been very pleased, and certainly we share a number of the same preoccupations as crime writers.

One of the pleasing features of DP is that the reviews are by no means bland – Larry Gandle, for instance, can be a pretty acerbic (but astute) commentator. The same is sometimes true of Marv Lachman, a hugely knowledgeable fan of traditional mysteries and the short story form. In his latest column, Marv highlights a very interesting book published a year or two back, collecting the detective fiction reviews of Charles Williams from 1930-1935. The book, edited by Jared Lobdell, contains a great deal of interesting material, and I share Marv’s enthusiasm for it. If you’re a serious fan of Golden Age mysteries, it’s packed with fascinating information.

George has long been a fan of British crime fiction, and as usual this issue contains generous coverage of UK authors and books – the contributors include Cath Staincliffe, Philip Scowcroft and Ali Karim. All in all, it’s a magazine that has established itself very firmly with fans, and for good reason. Its production is not a commercial enterprise, but a labour of love, undertaken by a man whose passion for the genre over the 17 years or so that I’ve known him has never dimmed. Long may George continue to share his deadly pleasures with the rest of us.

Three more editors

Janet Hutchings wasn’t the only editor I met at Bouchercon. George Easter, Andrew Gulli and Arthur Vidro are great enthusiasts for mystery fiction and they edit very enjoyable, though very different, magazines. George and I have known each other for more than fifteen years – which was even before he started up ‘Deadly Pleasures’, a fanzine to which I have often contributed. He introduced himself to me at the Toronto Bouchecon back in 1992, when the ‘Deadly Pleasures’ project was meant to be a book rather than a magazine. We’ve been in touch ever since.

George has long been a fan of the Harry Devlin books and he kindly supplied me with an early copy of the latest issue of ‘Deadly Pleasures’. By happy coincidence, this issue includes a great review of Waterloo Sunset:

‘…this wonderful series…..Martin Edwards is a fine writer and in Waterloo Sunset he kept me guessing to the very end.’

Very good for morale, needless to say!

In contrast to George, Andrew Gulli is someone I haven’t met before, although I’ve contributed a number of stories to ‘The Strand Magazine’, which he edits. It was good to have a chat with him (and get a sneak preview of the next edition.) I owe Andrew quite a debt, because it was he who first published ‘The Bookbinder’s Apprentice’. If he hadn’t asked me for a story, it’s not certain I’d have written the story that won the CWA Dagger for me this summer.

Finally, Arthur Vidro is responsible for the Old Time Detection fanzine I’ve featured here a couple of times. And again, albeit all too briefly, I had the pleasure of meeting at long last someone whose publications I’ve enjoyed for quite a while.