2016 - Publications

In 2016, I didn't publish a new novel, although The Dungeon House appeared in paperback, and earned very pleasing reviews. I'm afraid the same will be true in 2017 (though I am working on a new novel, promise!) Even so, this past twelve months proved to be the most wonderful of my entire writing career. And one of the main reasons is the success of The Golden Age of Murder, which outstrips anything else in my experience.

There was a dizzying 48 hour spell last April when I took the train from DC to New York, won the Edgar award for best non-fiction book on a fantastic evening, then returned just in time to take part in a panel at Malice Domestic celebrating the work of Patricia Moyes, before the gala dinner the next evening when the book won the Agatha. The company of great friends made the celebrations all the more special. Something I'll never forget.

As if that were not enough, the next month the book won the H.R.F. Keating award at Crimefest; it was especially pleasing that the award was presented by Harry Keating's widow, Sheila. I'd had dinner with her and her agent the previous night, but they'd kept secret the judges' verdict, although they'd been told of it. Then at Bouchercon in New Orleans, Janet Rudolph presented me with the Macavity award, given to the book by Mystery Readers International. Given that the book was also shortlisted for the Anthony award and the CWA Gold Dagger for non-fiction, and that fellow authors on the shortlists included some renowned writers, not least Val McDermid, Frederick Forsyth and Adam Sisman, it was almost overwhelming. Memories to cherish. I'm also delighted to say that I've recently signed contracts to have the book translated into both Japanese and Chinese.

Another memory to treasure concerned the Detection Club's annual dinner at the Dorchester in November, the first over which I'd presided. We presented the US and UK editions of Motives for Murder, a collection of new stories that I'd edited in honour of Peter Lovesey's 80th birthday to the man himself. In the summer the Club had also published The Sinking Admiral, masterminded by Simon Brett, to which I'd contributed a chapter.

During the year, I've published occasional short stories, and I've written plenty of intros to books published by the British Library, Dean Street Press, and Harper Collins. The British Library published three anthologies that I've edited: Murder at the Manor, Serpents in Eden, and Crimson Snow, and they've all sold very well; far better than most of the anthos I've worked on over the years. I was especially gratified by reaction to my new solution to Anthony Berkeley's The Poisoned Chocolates Case, which was published in the autumn by the BL. And there are plenty more BL books to come in 2017. Including three more anthologies. So although I aim to have another novel out in 2018, there's plenty to keep me occupied between now and then....

Finally, I wrote something else that didn't appear in print, but which has enjoyed a splendid short life within the British Library - the puzzle for customers of the Classic Crime pop-up shop, Murder at Magenta Manor. Attending the opening and seeing how imaginatively the design team had interpreted my material was fascinating, quite a unique occasion, as well as one more reminder of the reason for the endless appeal of crime fiction. The subject is deadly serious - but the genre is fun..

The Sinking Admiral

Tomorrow sees the official publication of the Detection Club's first collaborative novel for more than half a century. The Sinking Admiral was masterminded by Simon Brett, and is the work of fourteen members of the Club, including me. There's a launch, incidentally, this evening at Goldsboro Books in Cecil Court, London. Do come along if you are in the area; the launch is from 6 pm for an hour or so.

The book is, as its title implies, to some extent a homage to The Floating Admiral, the classic round robin mystery which the Club's founder members produced in 1931. But it's very much a contemporary mystery, with plenty of touches of humour (you'd expect nothing less from a gang of contributors that includes Simon, Ruth Dudley Edwards, and Len Tyler).

I contributed one chapter, and found it fun to write. Equally entertaining were the sessions we had - usually in pubs, it has to be said, when we were planning the storyline (you can see that some of the plot complications caused Janet Laurence momentary despair, but needless to say, she sorted them out).. However, we did reach a point, with a couple of chapters to go, where we still had not decided on the solution. Simon duly organised an unforgettable dinner at the Groucho Club where we worked it all out, and elected two brave souls to do the necessary writing.

Harper Collins are the publishers, and I think they've done a lovely production job: I really like the cover artwork, and the reality of publishing is that such things do make a difference to the way in which a book is perceived in the trade, and by readers. More than that, this is an unusual and innovative novel. Whilst it's not to be taken too seriously, of course, I'm very optimistic that it will supply lovers of twisty, light-hearted mysteries with a great deal of entertainment. .

The Folio Society and The Floating Admiral

About thirty years ago (blimey!) the Folio Society commissioned me to write an article for its magazine "Folio" about Raymond Chandler's literary style. This accompanied a lovely set of Chandler's books, which still has pride of place on top of my bookshelves, close to where I'm typing this blog post. The set sold well, and there was a second edition a few years later. Over the years since then, I've added a few more Folio Society editions of crime novels to my collection. They are always highly attractive.

And now the Folio Society have reissued The Floating Admiral by the Detection Club, in a beautiful new edition with lovely illustrations by Mark Thomas. I've picked out one of them to head this blog post. All in all, this edition strikes me as highly collectible.

The book also boasts a brand new intro from Simon Brett, which is characteristically witty and enjoyable. The enduring appeal of this "round robin" detective novel is clear. And members of the Detection Club are very much hoping that our latest collaborative novel, The Sinking Admiral - not a sequel to the original, but in some ways a homage to it - will also find an appreciative audience. It will be published in June. Can't wait!

Happy New Year!

I'd like to wish all readers of my blog and my books a very happy - and healthy - 2016. Let's hope it's a year when good things far outweigh the bad. To get myself in the right sort of mood, I've already typed "Chapter One " today - the chapter heading rather than the whole chapter, I hasten to add! As well as managing to start the year without the faintest hint of a hangover, I've also been delighted to find The Golden Age of Murder named as book of the year on the widely read Random Jottings blog.

After a flurry of brand new books in 2015, this year will be slightly quieter for me - but the key word there is "slightly". I'm already looking forward to paperback publication of a revised edition of The Golden Age of Murder (a first draft of the proposed cover is above) and of The Dungeon House.  I'm also hoping for an ebook publication of a new collection of my short stories, but this has yet to be finalised.

I'm now working on a couple of new books, but neither of these will achieve publication in 2016. However, I have also signed up with the British Library to compile no fewer than six new anthologies of classic crime stories, and three of these will appear this year. The first two will be Murder at the Manor - country house mysteries - and Serpents in Eden - countryside crimes. The third will be announced later n the year. .I've also reached agreement in principle for the British Library to publish something which, although short, is unusual and in the Golden Age vein- and, for me, rather exciting and unique. The details are being finalised, and I hope to say more about this before long.

Harper Collins will publish The Sinking Admiral by "certain members of the Detection Club", including me. This collaborative novel, supervised by Simon Brett, has proved very enjoyable to create and it will also give a welcome boost to the Club's coffers. There may also be a further Detection Club project later in the year, if all goes according to plan.

I've already written intros for a host of new entries in the British Library Crime Classics series, and there are some very good books to look our for. There will also be a reissue in the Collins Detective Story Club of an old Edgar Wallace for which I've written an intro.

I'm hoping that this year will see the publication of Taking Detective Stories Seriously, the collected Sunday Times crime reviews of Dorothy L. Sayers, for which I've written a detailed commentary. The Dorothy L. Sayers Society is publishing this, and I must say the reviews are a mine of information. They are also very enjoyably written.

It's going to be a busy year in terms of festivals - Crimefest, Malice Domestic, St Hilda's, The Bodies in the Library, Deal Noir, Essex Book Festival and Felixstowe Book Festival are already in the diary. I hope very much to meet some of you at one or another of those events. Last year, this blog sailed past the million pageview milestone, and your comments and emails continue to give me enormous pleasure - I'm truly grateful for your support. Writing is satisfying in itself, even if what one writes never sees the light of day, but there's something special about writing something that appeals to discerning readers.

   

A Night to Remember

Last Thursday evening was for me very special. The highpoint of my crime writing life, no less. For Thursday was when, during a wonderful occasion as the Dorchester Hotel, I became President of the Detection Club. Since 1930, there have only been seven previous Presidents, plus a co-president, Lord Gorell, who acted as a public speaker during the early years of Agatha Christie's nineteen year reign as President. My immediate predecessor was Simon Brett, who has served with distinction for the past fourteen years.

The first President, from 1930, was G.K. Chesterton - Sir Arthur Conan  Doyle was approached, but too infirm in the months before his death to accept. Chesterton was followed by E.C. Bentley, author of the book that really inaugurated the Golden Age of detective fiction, Trent's Last Case. Next came Dorothy L. Sayers, and when she died, Agatha Christie took over. After her death, Julian Symons became President; he was followed by another leading crime novelist and critic H.R.F.Keating, and then Harry handed over to Simon. As I said at the close of the installation ceremony, those are big shoes to fill. And there's a big presidential robe to fill, too! It was clearly designed, as Simon noted, to accommodate the well-upholstered Chesterton

A very happy feature of the evening was that we had the largest turn-out for a Detection Club event for many years. Those attending included Harry's widow Sheila, Jessica Mann (who was the Club Secretary for several years), the eminent journalist Katherine Whitehorn, and a host of distinguished novelists including Andrew Taylor and N.J. Cooper. The guest speaker was Mark Lawson, himself a novelist of note, as well as a leading cultural critic and commentator. He spoke movingly and well about a trio of recently departed crime writers, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Henning Mankell, and we also had a chat about The Golden Age of Murder, which he reviewed very generously some months ago.

The Detection Club is a private, London-based dining club, no more, no less. But it has the distinction of being the first major social network for crime writers, and it played a significant part in the genre's development and its cultural heritage. And next year will see the publication of the first Detection Club novel for decades. This is The Sinking Admiral, a book which we thoroughly enjoyed putting together. I'm very glad to be part of the Club, and naturally I'm thrilled that the members have honoured me by asking me to take over from Simon. It's not something I ever anticipated, but I'm very, very glad that it's happened.

The Whodunit Dinner and The Sinking Admiral

Right at the end of The Golden Age of Murder, I make passing mention of a new Detection Club project. This is a novel in the tradition of the Club's 1931 classic The Floating Admiral, a round-robin story written by "certain members of the Detection Club". The new book is to be called The Sinking Admiral, and again it is written by "certain members of the Detection Club" - including me.

This project has been masterminded by Simon Brett as President, and participating in it has been hugely enjoyable. I'm glad to say that the book has now been completed, and that it will be published next year by Harper Collins, who have already enjoyed great success in recent years with reissues of earlier Detection Club books, including Ask a Policeman and The Anatomy of Murder.

When Simon first mooted the project, a group of members volunteered to take part, and although one had to drop out for health reasons, unfortunately, someone else stepped in to take her place.The early stages of planning took a considerable time, but once we had the publishing contract signed, the deadline concentrated our minds, as it usually does with writers. We've had a number of meetings to discuss the project as it proceeded, and when the summer arrived, the book was in a pretty decent state.

We did not, however, know whodunit! So Simon, who has put a great deal of energy and skill into the whole exercise, organised a wonderfully enjoyable Whodunit Dinner at the Groucho Club - not far away from the site of the Detection Club's original premises in Gerrard Street - and as well as having a highly convivial time, we worked out a solution, and who would write it. (The menu above is signed by the contributors who were present, although a few could not make it.) It must rank as one of the most memorable occasions of my writing career. Wild horses would not, of course, drag any more information out of me about the story at this stage, but it's fair to say that we are both relieved and happy about the way the project has turned out. It's been tremendous fun, and we are very much hoping that readers will find the book is a lot of fun, too.