Wendall Thomas is the author of the Cyd Redondo mysteries. The latest adventure takes Cyd to Australia in Drowned Under. You can order a copy of the first book in the series, Lost Luggage, and reserve a copy of Drowned Under through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2TBqB6v
Michael Barson recently interviewed Wendall Thomas for Suspense Magazine. You can catch that interview here. https://bit.ly/2TBufgz
Here’s the summary ofDrowned Under, the second Cyd Redondo escapade.
“Fans of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will cotton to Cyd.” —Publishers Weekly
Eggnog notwithstanding, travel agent Cyd Redondo is not looking forward to the holidays. The borough of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn—along with most of her family—holds her responsible for landing her Uncle Ray in a minimum security prison.
So, when Cyd’s ex-husband, Barry Manzoni, announces his parents have disappeared from an Australian cruise, she rushes Down Under to enlist the help of travel liaison and friend Harriet Archer, who offers a free cabin on the Tasmanian Dream and insider assistance with the search.
Cyd’s flights are delayed, so she hitches a helicopter ride to the ship—which lacks a heli-pad. She and her Balenciaga bag barely survive the harrowing drop, landing on a gorgeous man in a Speedo. When she finally makes it to her cabin, she finds Harriet dead, lying in a pool of blood.
The ship’s doctor/coroner—now wearing a tux instead of his Speedo—declares the death an accident. While Darling Cruises hurries to cover up the “unfortunate event” and sanitize the crime scene, Cyd scrambles to preserve evidence, terrified the murder is connected to the Manzonis’ disappearance, and to prevent the heist of the world’s last Tasmanian tiger.
The Hot Books of the Week turn over quickly at The Poisoned Pen. On Wednesday, March 27 at 7 PM, the bookstore will welcome Jane Stanton Hitchcock, author of the current Hot Book of the Week, Bluff. Hitchcock will be joined by Linda Fairstein, author of Blood Oath. You can order copies of books by both authors, as well as a signed copy of Bluff, through the Web Store, https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here’s the description of Bluff.
“An irresistible social noir.” —New York Times bestselling author Linda Fairstein
There has never been a better time for revenge
One-time socialite Maud Warner polishes up the rags of her once glittering existence and bluffs her way into a signature New York restaurant on a sunny October day. When she walks out again, a man will have been shot.
Maud has grown accustomed to being underestimated and invisible, and she uses her ability to fly under the radar as she pursues celebrity accountant Burt Sklar, the man she believes stole her mother’s fortune and left her family in ruins. Her fervent passion for poker has taught Maud that she can turn weakness into strength to take advantage of people who think they are taking advantage of her, and now she has dealt the first card in her high-stakes plan for revenge.
One unexpected twist after another follows as Maud plays the most important poker hand of her life. The stakes? To take down her enemies and get justice for their victims. Her success depends on her continuing ability to bluff—and on who will fold.
Can she win?
A tale of deceit, seduction and revenge, perfect for fans of Mary Kubica and Jeffery Deaver!
Additional Praise for Bluff: “This delicious novel of sweet revenge reveals, with wit and stylish vigor, a world ““ New York high society ““ that the author clearly knows intimately.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review “A smartly plotted upper-crust caper.”—Booklist
Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women is currently the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. She was just at the bookstore to discuss her latest book with Barbara Peters. They mentioned she has been there for all of her books since the very first one. Lately, bestselling authors who face large crowds at the bookstore remind the audience that there may have only been five people there for their first appearance. It’s encouragement for new authors, and reminders to the audience that every author has a debut, and it’s wonderful to receive support from the beginning. If you’d like to buy an autographed copy of See’s latest book, The Island of Sea Women, or copies of her other books, check the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2TVqNm5
Here’s the description of The Island of Sea Women.
A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island.
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.
Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Womenintroduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.
*****
Intrigued? You can watch Lisa See discuss her books here.
The other night, William Kent Krueger introduced debut author John McMahon to an audience at The Poisoned Pen. McMahon is the author of The Good Detective, a book that received a rave notice in The New York Times. Marilyn Stasio said The Good Detective “is pretty much perfect”. https://nyti.ms/2UKkSMI
You can order a signed copy of The Good Detective through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FplGl1
You might want to seriously consider supporting a debut author. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, sent an email to readers earlier this week. It was before McMahon’s appearance at the bookstore. But, her reasons why readers should show up to meet a debut author are fitting for why we should support debut authors as well. Here’s part of that email.
“This is a good time to emphasize how important it is to support debut authors. To make them feel welcome at The Pen, and try their books.
“Publishing a first novel is a landmark, also life-changing event. We knock ourselves out to host as many of them as we can regardless of expense. It matters who the next generation of writers you want to read will be. And if we don’t do our part and you don’t do yours, a first novel can become a last novel. Ouch.
“You only get one shot at meeting a debut author and buying a debut novel. Bragging rights along with books to devour. Long-time customers can look back to this moment with Child, Connelly, Winslow, Ide, Petrie, Krueger, Hamilton… Lisa See. So many more.”
*****
Here’s the summary of John McMahon’s The Good Detective.
“John McMahon is one of those rare writers who seem to have sprung out of nowhere. His first novel, The Good Detective, which is pretty much perfect, features a decent if flawed hero battling personal troubles while occupied with a murder case of great consequence to his community.”–New York Times Book Review
Introducing Detective P.T. Marsh in a swift and bruising debut where Elmore Leonard’s staccato prose meets Greg Iles’ Southern settings.
How can you solve a crime if you’ve killed the prime suspect?
Detective P.T. Marsh was a rising star on the police force of Mason Falls, Georgia–until his wife and young son died in an accident. Since that night, he’s lost the ability to see the line between smart moves and disastrous decisions. Such as when he agrees to help out a woman by confronting her abusive boyfriend. When the next morning he gets called to the scene of his newest murder case, he is stunned to arrive at the house of the very man he beat up the night before. He could swear the guy was alive when he left, but can he be sure? What’s certain is that his fingerprints are all over the crime scene.
The trouble is only beginning. When the dead body of a black teenager is found in a burned-out field with a portion of a blackened rope around his neck, P.T. realizes he might have killed the number-one suspect of this horrific crime.
Amid rising racial tension and media scrutiny, P.T. uncovers something sinister at the heart of the boy’s murder–a conspiracy leading all the way back to the time of the Civil War. Risking everything to unravel the puzzle even as he fights his own personal demons, P.T. races headlong toward an incendiary and life-altering showdown.
*****
If you didn’t make it the other night, you can still watch John McMahon in conversation with William Kent Krueger.
The title of Deanna Raybourn’s latest Veronica Speedwell book is not “The Victorian Sisterhood”. However, Raybourn and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, had a far-ranging fascinating discussion that covered topics involving the Victorian sisterhood. Raybourn’s books, including signed copies of A Dangerous Collaboration, the latest in her series, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2OhP0wy
Here’s the description of A Dangerous Collaboration.
A bride mysteriously disappears on her wedding day in the newest Veronica Speedwell adventure by the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey series.
But Veronica soon learns that one question hangs over the party: What happened to Rosamund? Three years ago, Malcolm Romilly’s bride vanished on their wedding day, and no trace of her has ever been found. Now those who were closest to her have gathered, each a possible suspect in her disappearance.
From the poison garden kept by Malcolm’s sister to the high towers of the family castle, the island’s atmosphere is full of shadows, and danger lurks around every corner.
Determined to discover Rosamund’s fate, Veronica and Stoker match wits with a murderer who has already struck once and will not hesitate to kill again.…
*****
Intrigued? Barbara Peters calls Deanna Raybourn’s latest book “a country house murder”. You can “attend” the recent event right here.
Jacqueline Winspear, author of the Maisie Dobbs books, will be at The Poisoned Pen on Tuesday, March 26 at 7 PM. During this visit, she has two books to discuss and sign, but I have the feeling part of the conversation will be about radio. She discusses that in her recent newsletter.
The American Agent and The Power of Radio
In this newsletter:
Publication update for The American Agent and What Would Maisie Do?
Radio—the “wireless” of its day
I am so excited about publication of two books next week! On March 26th—as you all know by now—The American Agent, the latest novel in the Maisie Dobbs series will be published, at the same time as What Would Maisie Do? the non-fiction book bringing together readers’ favorite passages from the series, along with my inspiration for each piece, and new questions for you, the reader, to consider. There’s space for you to record your responses, and also sections on locations mentioned in the series, as well as gorgeous color plates and other photos to give you a real sense of Maisie Dobbs’ world.
But back to The American Agent. For this novel I drew upon family recollections and stories in my effort to give a real sense of what life was like for those who lived through the Blitz, and though the novel is concentrated in London, you will see in the “Author’s Notes” that I have drawn readers’ attention to the fact that many British cities were impacted by the Luftwaffe “Blitzkrieg.” Bombing of Britain’s cities would continue throughout the war, but “Blitzkrieg” was formed of a very specific “V” formation of bombers and fighter aircraft, with the former carrying not only devastating heavy bombs, but thousands of incendiary devices that would rain down upon the cities to cause conflagrations such as you could not imagine. I also added that at the same time, while RAF fighter pilots were doing their best to stop the German attacks, British bombers were heading into Germany.
The Blitz
One feature of The American Agent is the radio, and how radio broadcasts not only informed people—with some editorial work to keep up spirits—but also became a powerful tool of soft propaganda. Edward Murrow and his cadre of “warcasters” brought the war to American families with searing descriptions of what they saw each and every day. Indeed, you could think of them as “change agents” because that is exactly what Murrow did—the American public began to move away from the isolationist rhetoric of certain politicians, realizing that Britain was holding back the Nazi threat alone. Murrow’s late-night broadcasts reached the US east coast at dinner time, so you can just imagine a family around the table, eating dinner while listening to the sound of people running toward a shelter during the bombing—Murrow took a microphone and recording equipment into the streets to give people at home in the USA a real sense of what was happening on the other side of the Atlantic.
Ed Murrow broadcasting during the Blitz
The radio—or “wireless” as it was called in Britain—made a huge impact when it became available to the broader population, and by the 1930’s it was bringing the wider world into people’s living rooms, with news, music and light entertainment. In Britain, the British Broadcasting Company (before it became “Corporation”) required the men—and it was pretty much always men—who read the news to wear evening jackets and bow ties, even though it was not a visual medium. In short order, tens of thousands of people had radios—arguably, it was the Internet of its day. Today in Britain (I don’t have the stats for the USA), some 90% of people listen to the radio each week—on the way to work (25% of listeners), at home (60%) or in the office. Apparently that’s a weekly average of 21.3 hours per listener, per week. Now of course you can stream radio programming, though many people miss that crackle and pop of the dial as it turns to the next station.
Listening to the wireless
Excerpts from real radio broadcasts are peppered throughout The American Agent. I am not sure when I decided to weave in some of my research in this way, but for me it gave the story an immediacy, and it was also—I suppose—a love letter from me to radio itself, and my memories of listening to the radio with my parents when I was a child. Today, despite streaming, playlists and podcasts, I still love listening to the radio, mainly when I’m driving. Needless to say, during the war years, the radio was particularly important in the lives of women, who not only listened at home, but in factories and while in the services. It brought people together, bolstered morale, and it made them laugh. Of course, one broadcaster who was deadly serious, but actually made most people laugh, was “Lord Haw Haw.” You may have heard of him. William Joyce was an American born Anglo-Irish fascist (he held a British passport) and Nazi propaganda broadcaster, whose “hoity-toity” voice boomed across the airwaves in an effort to undermine British morale during the war. He was eventually captured in Germany by British forces in 1945, and brought to London, where he was tried at the Old Bailey and found guilty of High Treason. He was executed in 1946.
Lord Haw Haw
There’s much I could write about radio during the war years, but perhaps the best thing is simply to say that you can listen to the wartime broadcasts of people such as Edward Murrow, J.B. Priestley and others—they’re on the Internet. Those recordings are some 80 years old now and still able to inspire goosebumps—that’s the power of radio.
My book tour starts in a week, on March 25th. You can check out my tour itinerary here—hopefully I’ll see many of you along the way. And for those of you who cannot attend one of the events, there’s a new What Would Maisie Do? group interface where you can discuss the series and your favorite passages from the books. It helps to have a copy of What Would Maisie Do? to hand, but readers are talking already!
Until the next time…
Jacqueline
*****
You can order Winspear’s books, including copies of The American Agent and What Would Maisie Do? through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2JDLy0W
Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. See will be at the bookstore on Friday, March 22 at 7 PM to discuss and sign the book. You can order copies of her books, including a signed copy of The Island of Sea Women, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FphdyO
Carly Silver recently wrote an article, “6 Things to Know Before Reading Lisa See’s new book, The Island of Sea Women”. You can read the article on BookBub. https://bit.ly/2JsBlUN
Here’s the description of The Island of Sea Women.
A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island.
Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.
Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.
This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Womenintroduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.
Brad Parks and Glen Erik Hamilton were recently at The Poisoned Pen, hosted by Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore. Anyone who takes the time to watch the video will enjoy the witty conversation. Parks’s latest book, The Last Act, was recently the subject of Patrick Anderson’s article in The Washington Post, https://wapo.st/2Cr4CcE. Anderson said The Last Act may be Parks’ best book yet.
Here’s the description of The Last Act.
Award-winning author Brad Parks delivers a tense novel of thrills, twists, and deceit that grabs you and won’t let go until the final, satisfying page.
Tommy Jump is an out-of-work stage actor approached by the FBI with the role of a lifetime: Go undercover at a federal prison, impersonate a convicted felon, and befriend a fellow inmate, a disgraced banker named Mitchell Dupree who knows the location of documents that can be used to bring down a ruthless drug cartel. . . if only he’d tell the FBI where they are.
Using a false name and backstory, Tommy enters the low-security prison and begins the process of befriending Dupree. But Tommy soon realizes he’s underestimated the enormity of his task and the terrifying reach of the cartel. The FBI isn’t the only one looking for the documents, and if Tommy doesn’t play his role to perfection, it just may be his last act.
*****
Glen Erik Hamilton’s Mercy River is the fourth book in his Van Shaw series. Hamilton was kind enough to take time recently to answer questions for this blog. You can read his “In the Hot Seat” interview here. https://bit.ly/2XRGoRU
Here’s the summary of Mercy River.
Helping a fellow veteran accused of murder, Van Shaw is drawn into a dangerous labyrinth involving smuggled opioids, ruthless mercenaries, and deadly family secrets that will challenge his notions of brotherhood and justice in this riveting thriller from Anthony, Macavity and Strand Critics Award-winning author Glen Erik Hamilton.
When his friend Leo Pak is arrested on suspicion of murder and armed robbery, Van Shaw journeys to a remote Oregon county to help his fellow Ranger. Van had been Leo’s sergeant when they served with the 75thRegiment in Afghanistan, and back in the States, Leo had helped Van when he needed it most.
Arriving in the isolated town of Mercy River, Van learns that his troubled friend had planned to join a raucous three-day party that dominates the place for one weekend each year. Attended by hundreds of former and active Rangers, the event is more than just a reunion; it’s the central celebration of a growing support network called the Rally, founded and led by a highly decorated Special Operations general named Macomber.
But there’s more going on in Mercy River than just a bunch of Army hard cases blowing off steam. The murder victim—the owner of a local gun shop where Leo worked part time—was dealing in stolen heroin-grade opiates. Worse, the town has a dark history with a community of white supremacists, growing in strength and threatening to turn Mercy River into their private enclave.
The cops have damning evidence linking Leo to the murder, and Van knows that backwaters like Mercy River are notorious for protecting their own. His quest to clear Leo’s name will stir up old grudges and dark secrets beneath the surface of this secretive small town, pit his criminal instincts against his loyalties to his brothers in arms, and force him to question his own belief in putting justice above the letter of the law.
Glen Erik Hamilton creates crime fiction that pulsates with emotional intensity and is “as much fun to read as Lee Child’s Jack Reacher” (J. A. Jance). In Mercy River, Hamilton highlights the unique and powerful moral struggle inherent in Van Shaw’s iconoclastic character—an honorable man torn between upholding the law and breaking it to save innocent lives. Action-packed, riveting, and powerful, Mercy River is a novel that goes to the heart and soul of what it means to be a hero in a corrupt and punishing world.
*****
Signed copies of these books by both authors are available through the Web Store. https://poisonedpen.com/
If you missed it, I hope you have time to watch the event with the authors in conversation.
It was a full house at The Poisoned Pen for the debut of Betty Webb’s tenth and final Lena Jones mystery, Desert Redemption. You can order the Lena Jones books, and a signed copy of Desert Redemption through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2uhnpCs
Here’s the description of Desert Redemption.
“In Jones’s electrifying 10th…Scottsdale, Arizona, PI Lena is approached by Harold Slow Horse, one of Arizona’s leading artists…[and] gets on a trail that leads her at long last to answers about her troubled past…” —Publishers Weekly
At the age of four, Scottsdale private eye Lena Jones was shot in the head and left to die on a Phoenix street. After her rescue, she spent years in the abusive foster care system, never knowing who her parents were and why they didn’t claim her. When Desert Redemption begins, she still doesn’t know her real name.
Lena’s rough childhood—and the suspicion that her parents may have been members of a cult—keeps her hackles raised. So when Chelsea, the ex-wife of Harold Slow Horse, a close friend, joins a “new thought” organization called Kanati, Lena begins to investigate. She soon learns that two communes—polar opposites of each other—have sprung up nearby in the Arizona desert. The participants at EarthWay follow a rigorous dietary regime that could threaten the health of its back-to-the-land inhabitants, while the more pleasure-loving folk at Kanati are dining on sumptuous French cuisine.
On an early morning horseback ride across the Pima Indian Reservation, Lena finds an emaciated woman’s body in the desert. “Reservation Woman” lies in a spot close to EarthWay, clad in a dress similar to the ones worn by its women. But there is something about her face that reminds Lena of the Kanatians.
While investigating, Lena’s memory is jolted back to that horrible night when her father and younger brother were among those murdered by a cult leader named Abraham, who then vanished. Lena begins to wonder if either EarthWay or Kanati could be linked to that night, and to her own near-death. Could leaders of one or both shed light on what had happened to Lena’s mother, who vanished at the same time as Abraham?
All these mysteries are resolved in Desert Redemption, the tenth and final Lena Jones case, which can also be enjoyed on its own.
Author Mickey Spillane would have turned 101 on March 9. To mark that occasion, Michael Barson offered to share an interview he did a year ago for Crimespree Magazine. Max Allan Collins not only collaborated with Mickey Spillane, he’s the literary executor for Spillane’s estate. Unless you read the article a year ago, some of this may be new to you.
INTERVIEW WITH MAX ALLAN COLLINS BY MICHAEL BARSON
Michel Barson: When did you first begin reading Mickey Spillane’s novels?
Max Allan Collins: During the late ’50s/early ’60s craze of TV private eyes, I
began looking at the novels that had served as inspiration or even direct
adaptations — a lot of that craze had literary roots: The Thin Man, Phillip
Marlowe, Perry Mason, Mike Hammer, 77 Sunset Strip, Honey West. I read
Hammettt, Chandler and Spillane in that order, starting at around 12. I would
be enticed by the covers of the Spillane paperbacks on the spinner racks at
Cohn’s Newsland — I mistook the photos of Mickey, wielding guns and looking
tough in a fedora, for Darren McGavin on the MIKE HAMMER TV show.
I would go to the library, using the periodical guide to find reviews and articles about those authors. I found that Hammett and Chandler, almost from the star, were revered, and was astonished — and dismayed — to find Spillane attacked by both reviewers and social commentators. I was equally a fan of all of the Big Three private eye writers — Hammett, Chandler, Spillane — and I think to this day, you can see those influences in my work, along with a helping of Donald E. Westlake in his Richard Stark persona. But the attacks on Mickey made a defender out of me. I was nearly in several fists fights in the early days of Bouchercon over my pro-Spillane stance. By the way, that wasn’t because I was drunk, because I’m not really a drinker — my inebriation was strictly from reading Spillane.
MB: Did you seize on one of his mysteries as your favorite above
all others? Why so?
MAC: The first Spillane novel I read was One Lonely Night, and
frankly I have never been right in the head since. I was 13.
Mike Hammer is essentially having
a nervous breakdown in that book, contemplating suicide when it begins,
inadvertently causing the suicide of a young woman who mistakes him for a thug.
He maintains an interior monologue with a judge who’s dressed him down, then
journeys toward accepting that’s he’s been put on earth by God to smite the bad
guys. Hammer was a brutal, randy figure with little in common with Sam Spade
and Phillip Marlowe, and Spillane’s fever-dream prose was not Hammett’s spare
style or Chandler’s poetic melodrama, either…though, really, he’s more overtly
poetic than Chandler. You know who agreed with me? Ross Macdonald.
As an adult, I now know — and this is a spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t read One Lonely Night — that in a novel that would appear to admire Joe McCarthy, Joe McCarthy turns out to be not only the killer but a Russian mole. How could anyone not love this book?
MB: How long was the period between your first meeting with Mickey and his asking you to collaborate with him on his new and unpublished work?
MAC: The friendship lasted from 1981 till his death in 2006. Starting in the ’80s we did projects together, initially anthologies of uncollected novellas and stories of his, then later more general anthologies that we both picked contributors and stories for. We also collaborated on the MIKE DANGER s-f comic book , which lasted a couple of years and generated a Miramax movie sale, although it wasn’t made. I did the writing of the comic, but Mickey and I developed the property and he kept an eye on things. And he cooperated fully with my 1999 feature-length documentary, Mike Hammer’s Mickey Spillane, a condensed version of which is on the Criteron DVD/Blu-ray release. The real collaboration began when, a week or two before his death, he called and asked if I’d complete his last Mike Hammer novel, The Goliath Bone, for him, should that be necessary. A few days before his death, he told his wife Jane to gather all the unpublished material from his three home offices and give it to me — that I would know what to do. That was a bigger honor than receiving the MWA Grand Master.
Max Allan Collins
MB: In the course of your conversations with him, did Mickey ever
reveal to you what inspired him to return to writing crime novels in 1961 after
his semi-retirement after becoming a Jehovah’s Witness in 1952?
MAC: He claimed his absence from novel writing had more to do with an ongoing dispute with his publisher about his advances and royalties. At the same time, he wasn’t in need of funds, not with movie and TV money rolling in. And the notion that he stopped writing his tough, sexy fiction during that almost ten year period, because of his church, isn’t wholly credible, since he was doing one or two novellas a year for various men’s adventure magazines as well as Manhunt, the pulp successor to Black Mask.
MB: What was the process the two of you employed to collaborate while living halfway across the Country from each other? And how often would you actually see Mickey in the course of a year?
MAC: We got together several times a year, usually at his place —
he and Jane came to Muscatine, once, when we showed the documentary at the
University of Iowa in Iowa City. A lot of it was over the phone, but the actual
collaboration on novels didn’t begin till Mickey had passed. I did two short
stories with him during his lifetime — one, “The Night I Died,” was me turning
an unproduced Hammer radio script into a story. That was mostly Mickey, because
the story had plenty of his trademark first-person narration. The other was a
Mike Danger story that I wrote and he gave me notes on. I took no byline on the
first of the two stories, but we shared it on the second.
MB: Was there one book that proved to be particularly difficult to
work on together? If so, for what reason?
MAC: We never did a book together, other than the anthologies. That
was always smooth.
For me, the most difficult book
was King of the Weeds, though I also feel it was the most rewarding. Mickey had
done several versions of various chapters, and had reordered them at one point.
The novel had two plots — a serial killer was targeting cops, and the mob and
feds were both looking for a billion dollars in cash stashed away in the
previous novel, Black Alley. I was faced with a big problem — Black Alley
hadn’t been in print for years, so doing a sequel seemed ill-advised. I almost
cut that aspect out, but I never could bring myself to do it, because I knew
how much Mickey relished the idea of billions in cash being squirreled away. So
it took a lot work, figuring out what order to present certain chapters in, and
making the missing billions plotline work for readers who either hadn’t read
Black Alley or had read it so long ago, didn’t remember it well.
But I kept faith with Mickey and I think very possibly King of the Weeds is the best of the collaborative works. Most sequels aren’t as good as the original — in this case, Black Alley itself improves, because loose ends and thematic aspects of that novel are dealt with satisfyingly in the follow-up.
MB: Although he was a celebrity for nearly sixty years, do you feel
it ever bothered Mickey that his early burst of superstardom in the world of
books was never fully recaptured over the later decades of his writing career?
MAC: No. He sold very well all through the 1990s, when he was arguably at his celebrity peak doing the spoofy Miller Lite commercials. All of his books were back in print with covers that sometime showed him in shots from one of the commercials. For along time, each generation discovered Spillane all over again and made him there. I am a second generation fan, after all, born a year after I, The Jury came out. I was with him a lot in the ’90s and witnessed how people both remembered him and flocked to him.
MB: How did Mickey react to be named a Grand Master by the MWA? Was
he friendly and in touch with many members of the mystery community?
MAC: Mickey was thrilled by receiving the award and having his peers finally recognize him. Though he would never admit it, he was hurt by the attacks on him and his work, particularly by fellow mystery writers. This was a great turn-around for him. He did maintain friendships among mystery writers, Clive Cussler in particular. But I was the only one who went down to South Carolina and spent a lot of time with him — he craved that kind of contact, particularly after his writer pal, Dave Gerrity, passed away.
MB: You are now in the second decade of your position as literary
executor of the Spillane estate. The first ten years were extremely productive…
What do you see in store for the coming years?
MAC: If the centenary celebration sparks renewed interest, I have plenty of material in the unfinished/unpublished file to keep going. The tricky thing is that a lot of what’s left isn’t Hammer material, and I may have to find ways to convert those into Hammer stories, since he’s the star of the Spillane show, after all. There’s movie interest in Tiger Mann, though, and a couple of things in the files could be refashioned without much trouble into Tiger Mann yarns. There are two horror-oriented screenplays that could become novels, much as his western script about Caleb York has turned into a book series at Kensington, currently The Bloody Spur. There’s a Mike Danger novel. Plenty of material, if the interest remains there.
My first order of business was to get the Mike Hammer material completed — I have two more on the current contract. And of course I saved The Last Stand, his final solo novel, and Killing Town, the very first Mike Hammer book, for the centenary. I wanted something special to celebrate his life and his work, and giving readers his first Hammer and final novel seemed perfect.
Mickey Spillane, at home, 1976. Photo by Michael BartonMichael Barson & Mickey Spillane, South Carolina, 1976
