SleuthSayers

James M. Cain was my gateway drug into crime fiction. Before Cain, I’d read Nelson Algren, whose novels, while often featuring criminals, would be better defined as social realism. But to my twenty-five-year-old aspiring writer self, Cain’s voice—and the reading it inspired—changed the focus of my writing horizon.

I discovered Cain through film, specifically The Pos...

Well, we've pulled through that time of year again.  Orange and black, skeletons and ghouls, scary movies, candy, and endless commercials that are just beginning to be replaced by Christmas commercials, and I just keep muting them all.  Especially since this year Halloween coincided with election year and it's up to you to decide which was scarier.

Of course all the H...

Is this a good day to talk about American political history? Depends on your point of view, I guess...

 I assume no one wants to hear another debate on the definition of mystery fiction.  Most of us are happy to use Otto Penzler's: fiction in which crime or the threat of crime is a major element.

It's not perfect, of course: it easily encompasses Oedipus Rex, H...