A Passion for Crime - Fiction

My passion for mystery and crime fiction was first ignited by Arthur Conan Doyle at the age of twelve. In bed at night under a soft, warm blanket, I experienced the thrill of the chase for The Hound of the Baskervilles as pounding rain and fierce winds raged outside my window. Holmes, the moors and the storm that night cemented my appetite for the skillful craft of crime fiction.

I went on to read all of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels and stories and year after year sought out novels by every skilled story teller of crime, murder and suspense I could find.

The more I read the more my admiration grows for writers who produce gripping page turners, while creating evocative images of the times and settings of their stories: the Venice of Donna Leon’s Brunetti; the Navajo tribe of Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn series; the Louisiana of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux; Medieval England through the eyes of Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael; and Nazi Germany as depicted by Philip Kerr in his Bernie Gunther novels. I could go on and on. The breadth and quality of the writing is endless and prime material for this blog.

In the weeks and months ahead, I will explore what keeps this genre fresh, exciting and always surprising. I will share interviews with established authors and newly emerging writers as well as my own thoughts as I continue to explore writers who keep readers coming back for more.