CrimeFest 2011

You know (or hope) you are participating in a crime fiction conference when you hear someone saying:

´... and then I put the poison in his haemorrhoid cream´
´you got to kill people somehow´
´I do like blowing things up´

In two words; my first CrimeFest was absolutely overwhelming!  I did take a few photos, but most of the time my husband had the camera. And Saturday, the only day when I had it, the battery went flat rather unexpectedly.

Karen Meek of Euro Crime

As I mentioned the other day, one of the very best experiences was to meet some of my blog friends and get to know them even better. The panels were also very interesting, and it was such a pleasure that the crime writers I have read - and read about - for so long, were so kind and forthcoming. They really seemed to like meeting their readers :)

So apart from Martin Edwards, our walking crime fiction encyclopaedia, whom I mentioned the other day, I had plenty of opportunity to chat with Len Tyler, Christine Poulson, Quentin Bates and Kate Ellis to mention a few.

I wish I could participate every year, but unfortunately May and June are the busiest months of our school year so I won´t win any popularity contests by running off, leaving three days of external examinations to my colleagues again.


Here you see my CrimeFest spoil - I bought the ones by Len Tyler and S.J. Bolton myself, the others are books I won or was given for free.

S is for Silence

(Taking a short break in the streets of Bristol)

For this week´s alphabet in crime meme, I´ll comment on what the crime writer does not tell us. I was inspired by a very interesting CrimeFest panel where the writers discussed the endings of crime novels, their own as well as those of other writers. Good endings, brilliant endings, disappointing endings - and the endings we will never see because their wives or publishers vetoed them.

I don´t think Rob Kitchin will mind if I tell you that his first crime novel leaves a couple of loose ends. The Rule Book was an impressive debut which I enjoyed very much, and the ending worked very well for me, but there are aspects I hope he will take up in later volumes of his great Colm McEvoy series.

Another trend is mysteries of the kind where we know who committed the crime almost from the beginning. There are wonderful examples of the why dunnit around, but after a very promising beginning, the ending of Louise Doughty´s Honey-Dew was a disappointment for me. I didn´t feel she added enough suspense after the first few chapters so in my opinion she should have structured her story very differently, or kept a few surprices up her sleeve.


Do you prefer endings where everything is nicely wrapped up, or is it okay with you when the author hands you the villain but leaves some - or several - unanswered questions?

Save the Words

Scatterbrained as I am today I keep telling myself that now I´ll begin that blog round, but I run into one distraction after the other (such as five-star reviews on Amazon).

I just visited Rob Kitchin´s blog and was reminded of "Save The Words". Of course I ran off immediately to salvage some word of my own, and I just had to adopt ´magistricide´  ;)

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NB: for danske læsere - jeg har lige opdaget, at min lille Thy-historie, Entreprenøren, er blevet udgivet på Skrive-Bloggen mens jeg har været væk.

Back home from CrimeFest

Came home from a wonderful event last night (twenty past one so forgive me if I write sheer rubbish).

CrimeFest in Bristol was absolutely overwhelming.
First of all I met a couple of blog friends, and of course they were just as kind and interesting as I had expected. Norman (Crime Scraps), Kerrie (Mysteries of Paradise) and Karen (EuroCrime), it has been so great to get to know you and spend three-four days together with you. And thank you to Martin Edwards not only for being just as kind and charming as Daniel Kind, but also for winning the pub quiz for us Thursday night. It was a good feeling to participate in my first pub quiz ever - and ´win´ it.

As my husband has been sightseeing in Bristol, I only have a few pictures of the people I met, but I promise to post them later (when I have had time to catch up with life, work and my blog round). If you follow the links to Norman, Karen and Martin´s blogs above, you will see some of us in Bristol, though.

R is for Revenge

- the alphabet in crime is hosted by Kerrie, Mysteries in Paradise -

A few lines written in between washing & packing.

Revenge is not exactly my favourite crime fiction plot, but when it is done well, the result may be a wonderful pageturner. So I will mention a couple of recent reviews where revenge is part of the plot, but without going into detail because it is quite easy to spoil such a story for those of you who have not read it yet.

First, I´ll highlight Jussi Adler-Olsen´s Mercy (UK title) or The Keeper of Lost Causes (US). I re-read the first Carl Mørck story in English earlier this month because I was curious about the English translation. Here a dramatic event acts like a catalyst many years later.

Second, I reviewed Martin Edwards´ standalone, Take My Breath Away as my first May book. Apparently a woman returns from the dead, bent on revenge. There is much else to this story, but the urge to get even is one of the pieces of the puzzle.

What is your favourite story that includes an element of revenge?

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Writer´s news:

I created an author´s page on Amazon the other day. While I am writing this, my short biography and two of my works are visible, and "Candied Crime" should also be on the way. So for those of you who prefer shopping via Amazon.com, it is now possible. But I recommend that you check the price. Mobi for Kindle is also available from Smashwords, and their VAT-free version may be cheaper for some of you.

"Liquorice Twists" should also be available via Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Apple and Diesel in a week or two.
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Neil Gaiman, Coraline (2002)

Today I am visiting Kelly of Kelly´s Thoughts & Ramblings. Kelly and I will be ever so pleased if you peep in to say hello, and perhaps some of you also want to know why the vicar´s wife writes crime fiction. 

This British fantasy is brilliantly illustrated by Dave McKean. I only read Coraline because I needed some fantasy for a challenge (Bogudfordringen 2011), but I enjoyed it very much. 

Once you realize Coraline is a little school girl and neither the teenager she looks like on the cover nor the tiny midget she sounds like, the story works very well.

"Something moved. It was little more than a shadow, and it scuttled down the darkened hall fast, like a little patch of night."

Coraline and her family move into a new flat in a mysterious house. One rainy day when she is bored, she finds the door which leads to nowhere. Her mother does not lock the door afterwards, and of course you know immediately that this was very unwise of her. The next time Coraline tries the door, it suddenly leads to somewhere - a flat which looks deceptively like her own, but where everything is just a bit different.

And in this other world Coraline realizes she need all her courage and determination in order to change things back so she can return to her ordinary life which suddenly seems incredibly appealing.

I bought the Kindle version myself, and if you like fantasy/fairy tales, this one is strongly recommended.

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NB: I know I should be in touch with a few of you who have also invited me to guest blog, but that will have to wait until I have come to my senses after CrimeFest. 

DJ Light

- just came home from the hairdresser, considerably lighter (eh, greyer) than before -

As Blogger has played so many tricks recently, most of you had no chance to notice my guest post yesterday so here is the link once again. 

For several reasons you may expect irregular posting and visits from me over the next month or two.
First, I am running off to Bristol to CrimeFest from Wednesday to Sunday, and afterwards the exam period begins. Besides, I have my family and my unreliable health to consider. 

Liquorice Twists Launch

Notes to myself:
- don´t launch on a Sunday which is often the quietest blog day
- add more ghosts; my readers seem to like them

What else?
I am testing the possibilities of Amazon, but as I have had a few technical glitches, I have only published "Heather farm" there yet. The price I set is 99 cents so if Amazon wants more than that (e.g. from Scandinavian customers), I recommend that you go to Smashwords instead. Because they are a minor company, they are not forced to add VAT.

Finally a reminder: there is still plenty of time to participate in my competition or download "Heather Farm" for free (Smashwords coupon: EP 59D).