Crippen to be cleared? and other news

I’ve been intrigued by recent news reports suggestion that Dr Crippen’s name may finally be ‘cleared’ almost a century after his execution for the murder of his wife. Here’s a link to one of the articles:

Crippen Cleared?

The quality of Crippen’s legal representation during the course of his trial is one of the key elements of Dancing for the Hangman. I’m intrigued to see that Mr Di Stefano, now engaged in this matter, numbers Saddam Hussein among his former clients.

How far this particular campaign to exonerate Crippen will get, who knows? I suspect that issues about the validity of the ‘DNA evidence’ said to prove his innocence may be more complex than the news reports suggest.

Changing the subject, I was really pleased to hear from my German publisher this week that Kein Einsames Grab (aka The Arsenic Labyrinth) is being reprinted already. A German mate emailed me the other day to say that all three of the Lake District Mysteries are prominently featured in bookshops he’s visited lately, and for any mid-list writer, this has to be morale-boosting news.

Kein Einsames Grab

I’ve received my copy of the latest Lake District Mystery to be published in Germany by Luebbe. The Arsenic Labyrinth has metamorphosed into Kein Einsames Grab. As with previous books in the series, the title is not a direct translation, but an attempt to capture the flavour of the story (‘No Solitary Grave’ – a reference to what happens when police search for a body at the labyrinth site up in the Coniston fells.)

I definitely get a kick out of seeing my books appear in overseas editions. I can read German (although I’ve got rather rusty) but I’m not keen on reading my own books once they have been published, and I’ve not had the temerity to check the translation, which is once again by Ulrike Werner – I’m sure she’s done a great job.

Someone asked me if I was planning to do an ‘author tour’ of Germany. Unfortunately, the constraints of the day job do not permit it. But maybe one of these days…