Of sHuTterEd IsLAnDs & Dragon Tattooed Woman

Mark your diaries carefully for March 12th as two favourite novels of Shots Editors Mike Stotter and Ali Karim are revealed on the silver screen on the same day in the UK.

Fortunately Mike Stotter and Ali have already seen ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ at press screenings last year, so we need to organise tickets for Dennis Lehane’s sHuTtEr iSLanD

So have you got your tickets organised?

If not, why?

TOP TWENTY UK BEST SELLERS

For any of you who are interested, here's the UK top best sellers as of 20th February - thanks to the BookSeller.

1.Gone Tomorrow - Child, Lee
2.One Day - Nicholls, David
3.Twenties Girl - Kinsella, Sophie
4.The Lovely Bones (tie-in) - Sebold, Alice
5.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Larsson, Stieg
6.Friends, Lovers and Other Indiscretions - Neill, Fiona
7.Eclipse - Meyer, Stephenie
8.Mums Know Best - The Hairy Bikers
9.Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Deception - Lustbader, Eric Van
10.The Girl Who Played with Fire - Larsson, Stieg
11.The Fever of the Bone - McDermid, Val
12.Tea Time for the Traditionally Built - McCall Smith, Alexander
13.The Price of Love - Robinson, Peter
14.Breaking Dawn - Meyer, Stephenie
15.The Lovely Bones - Sebold, Alice
16.Don't Tell - Rose, Karen
17.Leaving the World - Kennedy, Douglas
18.Twilight - Meyer, Stephenie
19.Juliet, Naked - Hornby, Nick
20.The Secret Speech Smith, Tom Rob

Newsy Stuff

2010 is shaping up to be a great year for Val McDermid. Not only is she being awarded the Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association but also her novel A Darker Domain is shortlisted in the Mystery/Thriller section of the Los Angeles Book Prizes. A full list of the nominees in the various categories can be found here. The prizes will be awarded in an invitation-only ceremony in connection with the 15th annual L A Times Festival of Books, which takes place April 24-25

In an excellent article in the Irish Independent Declan Burke explains why he believes that unlike in 2009 which was the year of the male Irish crime writer this year he feels that it is the turn of the female Irish crime writer. The full article can be found here.

Jane Wood of Quercus Publishers has brought the rights to the first two books in a 18th Century historical series by debut author Patrick Easter. The first book in the series The Waterman will be published in Spring 2011. More information can be found here.

Karin Slaughter has written an interesting article in the Huffington Post on whether ebooks will create an elite reading class. The full article can be found here.

The saga of Stieg Larsson rumbles on. Rebecca Cooke of the Observer interviews Eva Gabrielsson's his partner of 32 years who shared his life and is now trying to protect his work amidst a bitter battle with his family. The interview can be found here.

So you think you know the ten rules of writing fiction? Inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing fiction a number of authors have been asked for their versions. Part one can be found here and part two here.

China Miéville’s surreal foray into crime fiction with his novel The City and The City has been shortlisted for the Nebula Awards the major American science fiction and fantasy awards. More information can be found in the Guardian article. The winner will be revealed on 15 May.

Nicholas Wroe interviews Henning Mankell in the Guardian about a life in writing.

According to Variety.com Angelina Jolie is to play Dr Kay Scarpetta the heroine of Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta novels. The latest novel Scarpetta was published in December 2009.,

Newsy Stuff – Award nominations!

The Strand Magazine have announced its nominees for the 2009 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction. They are as follows:-

Best Novel:

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Ballantine Books)
Life Sentences by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
The Renegades by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Riverhead Books)

Best First Novel

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown and Company)
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (Penguin Press)
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin Books)
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Touchstone)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (Harper)

The 2009 Agatha Award nominations have also been announced. The nominations are as follows:-

Best Novel:
Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett (Berkley Prime Crime)
Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)
A Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Air Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (MIRA)

Best First Novel:
For Better For Murder by Lisa Bork (Midnight Ink)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (Delacorte Press)
Posed for Murder by Meredith Cole (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan (St. Martin’s Press)
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

Best Non-fiction:
Duchess of Death by Richard Hack (Phoenix Books)
Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Knopf)
Blood on the Stage by 1925-1950 by Amnon Kabatchnik (Scarecrow Press)
Dame Agatha’s Shorts by Elena Santangelo (Bella Rosa Books)
The Talented Miss Highsmith by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story:
“Femme Sole” by Dana Cameron, Boston Noir (Akashic Books)
“Handbaskets, Drawers and a Killer Cold” by Kaye George, Crooked ezine
“The Worst Noel” by Barb Goffman, The Gift of Murder (Wolfmont Press)
“On the House” by Hank Phillippi Ryan, Quarry (Level Best Books)
“Death Will Trim Your Tree” by Elizabeth Zelvin, The Gift of Murder (Wolfmont Press)

Best Children's/Young Adult:
The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford (Viking Juvenile)
The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein (Random House)
The Case of the Poisoned Pig by Lewis B. Montgomery (Kane Press)
The Other Side of Blue by Valerie O. Patterson (Clarion Books)
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer (Philomel)

The Agatha Awards honor the "traditional mystery." That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that:

•contain no explicit sex
•contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence
Materials generally classified as "hard-boiled" are not appropriate.

A ballot listing each category's nominees will be given to all attendees of Malice Domestic 22, which will be held April 30 - May 2, 2010. Attendees will vote by secret ballot, the ballots will be tabulated and the winners will be announced at the 2009 Agatha Awards banquet to be held on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

Congratulations to all the nominees for the Strand Magazine Critics Awards and the Agatha Awards.

Newsy Stuff

According to the Bookseller Harper Collins have bought the book that inspired Agatha Christie to write her best-selling play The Mousetrap. The book Someone to Love Us by Terence O’Neill was picked up from Harper Collins writer website authonomy. More information can be found here.

Not content with being a best selling author James Patterson is now branching out into comics. According to Patterson first up for release will be a five-part comic series based on the writer's best-selling young-adult novel Witch & Wizard. More information can be found here. Patterson has gone into partnership to create comic books and graphic novels with IDW Publishing.

With fans and fellow writers still mourning the death of Dick Francis, Penguin (via The Bookseller) have indicated that they will be celebrating the life of the author with the publication of his latest book Crossfire in September.

Dick Francis Obituary

Dick Francis the author of over 42 novels set in the racing industry has died at his home in the Grand Cayman. A former jockey who rode 8 times in the Grand National including for the late Queen Mother in 1956. His latest novel Even Money was published in 2009 along with his son Felix. He also published his along previous two Dead Heat (2007) and Silks (2008).

His first book was his autobiography The Sport of Queens (1957) that led to him becoming the racing correspondent for the London Sunday Express, a position he held for 16 years. Dick Francis won the Edgar Award for best novel three times for the novels winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come To Grief in 1996. The books Odds Against, Flying Finish and Blood Sport were also nominated. In 1979 he was awarded the CWA’s Gold Dagger Award for his novel Whip Hand and 10 years later in 1989 he was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award. He was the fourth recipient of the award. The Mystery Writers Association awarded him the Grand Master Award in 1996 the highest honour bestowed by the MWA. He was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. In 2003 he was further honoured by being awarded the Gumshoe Award’s Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award. In The Times list of 50 greatest crime writers that was published in 2008 Dick Francis was listed at number 40.

Further information about his death can be found here and here on the BBC website and in the Daily Telegraph.

Newsy Stuff

Alexander McCall Smith has written a prequel to his successful Mma Ramotswe series. Entitled Precious and the Puggies it tells the story as Mma Ramotswe as she undertakes her first case as a child. However, it will be at least a year before it will be available in English, as the prequel has been written in the Scots language. More information can be found here.

Depending on which fan you talk to it may or may not be good news that Katherine Heigel has signed up to play the lead character in Janet Evanovich’s widely successful Stephanie Plum series. Her devoted and loyal fans have their own views on whom they consider the best actress to play Stephanie Plum.

More information about the latest news on the Stephanie Plum film which will be “One for the Money” (the first book in the series) can be found here. Personally I would like to see Queen Latifah play Lula!

The winners of the 3rd Black Quill Awards have been announced. The editor’s choice for Dark Genre Novel of the Year was awarded to Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places whilst the reader’s vote went to Drood by Dan Simmons. The full list can be found here.

JEFF BRIDGES

JEFF BRIDGES
As the Dude is up for a long overdue Oscar, just a reminder of how great an actor he has been in a number of crime and mystery movies quite apart from his other great performance. First there is that homo-erotic relationship with Clint Eastwood in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (1974) (Jeff in a frock and wig). Then "Winter Kills" (1979), a cult movie if there ever was, in which he plays the nephew of an assassinated president (Kennedy in all but name) uncovering a conspiracy in an all-star cast. "Cutter's Way" (1981) (aka "Cutter and Bone") is simply a masterpiece of paranoid crime fiction - and Bridges shows his acting chops sparking off the great John Heard. "Against All Odds" (1984) is an unnecessary remake of the noir classic "Out of The Past" but worth buying the DVD just for the commentary track in which co-star James Woods and Bridges have a great time.
In 1985 Bridges turned to the dark side as the psychopath in "Jagged Edge" trying to con then kill Glenn Close (sadly for filmgoers everywhere he failed in the latter attempt). He played Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder in 8 Million Ways to Die, a film that should have/could have been great - Andy Garcia and Roseanne Arquette co-star and it was directed by the great Hal Ashby - but I think I'm right in saying Ashby was dying so the film is (understandably) all over the place. He fared better in a tight little thriller, "The Morning After" (1986), although it was really a vehicle for Jane Fonda, who was riding high at the time. His slack-jawed serial killer in the unnecessary re-make of the Dutch film "The Vanishing" (1993) is best passed over and "Blown Away" (1994) suffers from an over-the-top Tommy Lee Jones performance as an unhinged bomber. "Arlington Road" (1999) though is a neat thriller with Bridges up against a creepy Tim Robbins.
A year earlier, of course, he had defined the hippy slacker as The Dude in "The Big Lebowski", the weirdest crime film you'll ever see. He himself looks pretty weird bald as the villain in "Iron Man" (2008) but is back with the pony tail in "The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009).
Then there's the path less travelled - the films he might have been in had he not turned them down. It's well known he was a contender to play Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver and turned down Indiana Jones. But he was also considered for Don Johnson's part in "Miami Vice", Nick Nolte's part in "48 Hours", Michael Douglas's part in "Fatal Attraction" [told you he should have killed Glenn Close in "Jagged Edge"], Martin Sheen's part in "Apocalypse Now", Bruce Willis's part in "Twelve Monkeys" and the part of John Rambo in "First Blood".
Keanu Reeves's part in "Speed" was actually written with Bridges in mind and he and Nick Nolte were contenders for good guy/bad guy in Michael Mann's "Heat". Back in 1988 he and Nolte were cast in "Tequila Sunrise" but Nolte dropped out so Jeff did too. (Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell took the parts.)
In short: The Dude Abideth.
Thanks to Peter Guttridge for this insight.

Newsy Stuff

Waterstone’s found themselves in an awkward position recently when they suggested that Sawbones a thriller by Stuart MacBride would be suitable for children with reading difficulties. As explained in The Times article they had made a terrible mistake.

Simon Beckett may not be on the radar of casual crime fiction readers, (those in the know have been reading his work for ages) and he is certainly not as well known as he should be in the UK but on the other hand he is certainly better known in Europe and as indicated in a recent article he is constantly mobbed elsewhere in Europe.

The long-awaited film of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief is due to be released on February 12. The film is (hopefully) the first of many is based on a series of books involving Greek mythology written by crime writer Rick Riordan for his son Haley. In an interview in the Guardian Rick Riordan explains how it all started. Riordan is the author of the P. I. Tres Navarre series. The first book in the series is The Big Red Tequila.

So which crime books do you think would be on your list of crime books of the decade? Crime fiction experts Barry Forshaw and Laura Wilson have drawn up their list of books and they can be found here and here and finally here Would any of them make your list?

According to Booktrade Pauline Rowson’s 2nd novel in her marine mystery series Deadly Waters featuring Inspector Andy Horton has been selected as one of ten titles to be featured in a special promotion in the UK throughout February aimed at promoting new and burgeoning talent.


The International Association of Crime Writers have announced the 2010 Hammett Prize nominees. They are:-
Megan Abbott, Bury Me Deep (Simon & Schuster)
Ace Atkins, Devil's Garden (Putnam)
Jedediah Berry, The Manual Of Detection (The Penguin Press)
Walter Mosley, The Long Fall (Riverhead)
George Pelecanos, The Way Home (Little, Brown)
The Hammett Prize is given for literary excellence in crime writing and will be awarded at the Bloody Words Conference (which this year is celebrating its tenth anniversary) which is due to be held in Toronto from 28 to 30 May 2010. This is an extremely strong and varied list and congratulations to all the nominees.

Rather late than never but still worth reporting. According to the Daily Mirror former Drop the Dead Donkey and Ballykissangel star Stephen Tompkinson is due to star as Chief Inspector Banks in the televison adaptation of Peter Robinson’s Aftermath.

The Larsson Conspiracy

As the release of the Swedish Version [with English subtitles] of ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ is fast approaching; Stieg Larsson’s name is back in the media spotlight.

I do love a conspiracy theory, and of course the early death by heart-attack of Stieg Larsson has provoked the theory that he was actually killed by Neo-Nazi elements. This theory has been widely refuted, but another conspiracy theory is reported by the BBC today –

Kurdo Baksi, who worked with Larsson on the anti-fascist magazine Expo, and who had known him since 1992, has just released a book entitled My Friend Stieg Larsson. His suggestion that Larsson was not a leading light of journalism has proved controversial in Sweden. "Many people are angry," says Baksi. "He is a god in Sweden."

But the controversy over Baksi's book may be dwarfed by the storm generated by another old colleague of Larsson. Anders Hellberg believes there is no way Larsson could have written the prose in the Millennium trilogy.
He worked with Larsson at the TT news agency in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Larsson was a designer. He edited the text that Larsson produced to go alongside graphics and he was not impressed.

"This was not professional writing. Everything was wrong, the order of the words, the syntax - it was not professional language.

"To write is a kind of talent. You can learn up to a certain level to write. Stieg in my view could not have written the novels."

Hellberg, who made his revelations in an article in Sweden's leading newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Friday, does not know for certain who else may have written the novels, but he said it might be plausible to suggest Larsson's partner Ms Gabrielsson, an architect, played a big part.

"Stranger things have happened than two people [where] one does the plot, the research, the story and the other one is writing. She has written a lot in underground papers. She is a very good writer, I've been told."

There is no evidence that Ms Gabrielsson did any of the writing, admits Hellberg. It has been suggested that her contribution to the work was proofreading and assistance on description of architectural detail. But it is not clear why, if Ms Gabrielsson was responsible for more, she would not have already made it clear. Her forthcoming book may make her position on the matter clearer. Ms Gabrielsson was unavailable for comment.

Hellberg has also been on the receiving end of fan ire for his theory.

The reaction from my fellow Swedes and also some others is quite angry. Normal Stieg Larsson readers don't like this. I've committed some kind of crime to raise the question. Some of the mail is not pleasant."

The idea that Larsson couldn't write and therefore is not responsible for the prose in the trilogy is dismissed by others who knew him, like Anna-Lena Lodenius, who worked with him on a book about neo-Nazis in the early 90s. "When we worked together he wasn't that good in the beginning but that was a long time ago," says Lodenius.

"If you read the books you can hear his voice. It is like he is next to you. It is his words, his expression. You can hear it."

She does not think it strange that someone with little track record of writing fiction could suddenly turn out a series of bestsellers. "He read an enormous amount of crime stories and true crime. He was very interested in female writers like Sara Paretsky [who created the character of VI Warshawski].

"I was maybe a little bit surprised that he was able to write this kind of thriller, books that you can't put down. He learnt by reading I think. For me it's quite obvious that he was a good writer."

Read the full piece here

Though the last paragraph is the stuff that fuels conspiratorial thoughts –

“A man, approaching middle age, and with no track record of writing fiction, knocks out a trilogy of thrillers, gets a publishing deal, but dies before being thrust into superstardom.”

Newsy stuff

Sherlock Holmes

It appears that the copyright issues surrounding the Sherlock Holmes books of the late Sir Arthur Conan is not that straightforward and there still seems to be some dispute of who actually owns the rights. Two different takes on the issue can be found here and here.


Stieg Larrson

As well as having three books in the best sellers list on both sides of the Atlantic, this year will also see a number of books being published about the late author’s life. Among the boks to be published will one by the crime critic Barry Forshaw (John Blake publishers), and Larsson's own publishers, Quercus. There is also a possibility that his partner Eva Gabrielsson will also be writing about her life with the author. More information may be found here.

The appeal of Nordic crime and Henning Mankell’s Man from Beijing

A rather interesting article in the Independent newspaper about the appeal of crime novels from Nordic writers,a list of Nordic authors to read, and a review of Henning Mankell’s latest book. The article can be found James Patterson Inc

The New York Times reveals how many people it takes to look after the best-selling author James Patterson and his numerous books.

Left Coast Crime Nominations

The nominations for Left Coast Crime have been announced and they are as follows:-



The Lefty Award for Humorous Mystery:

Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews
Living With Your Kids Is Murder by Mike Befeler
Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread by Denise Dietz
Getting Old Is a Disaster by Rita Lakin
High Crimes on the Magical Plane by Kris Neri

The Bruce Alexander Award for Historical Mystery:



Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander
In a Gilded Cage by Rhys Bowen
Freedom’s Fight by Gary Phillips
A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell
Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson

The Panik Award for LA Noir (in honor of the late Paul Anik, Chair of LCC20, to be given this year only):


Cemetery Road by Gar Anthony Haywood
Trust No One by Gregg Hurwitz
Death Was in the Picture by Linda Richards
Boulevard by Stephen J. Schwartz

The awards will be given out at Left Coast Crime which is due to be held between 11 and 14 March in Los Angeles. Congratulations to all the nominees.

Robert B Parker (1932-2010) R.I.P (Part 2)

There is an excellent obituary by Michael Carlson on Robert B Parker in the Guardian for Wednesday 20 January 2010. The article can be found here

Newsy Stuff – Award nominations!

The Season of award nominations is here! Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 201st anniversary of the birth of Edgar AllanPoe, its nominees for the 2010 Edgar® Awards which honour the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction and television published or produced in 2009.

Some of the nominees are as follows:-

BEST NOVEL
The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
The Odds by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Random House - Ballantine Books)
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (HarperCollins)
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)


BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano (Grand Central Publishing)
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf (MIRA Books)
A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (HarperCollins)
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)


















BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Havana Lunar by Robert Arellano (Akashic Books)
The Lord God Bird by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Books)
Body Blows by Marc Strange (Dundurn Press – Castle Street Mysteries)
The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)


CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
The Lineup: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest
Detectives edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books)
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)
The Stephen King Illustrated Companion by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)


BEST SHORT STORY
"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" – Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins (Busted Flush Press)
"Femme Sole" – Boston Noir by Dana Cameron (Akashic Books)
"Digby, Attorney at Law" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Jim Fusilli (Dell Magazines)
"Animal Rescue" – Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane (Akashic Books)
"Amapola" – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea (Akashic Books)

A full list of the nominations can be found here The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at the 64th Gala Banquet, April 29, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

The nominations for the Dilys Awards have also been announced. The Dilys Awards are named after Dilys Winn who was the founder of the first specialty bookseller of
mystery books in the United States and are given annually by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the mystery title of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling.
The nominations are:-
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellroy
The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson
The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
The Dilys Award will be given out at the at the Left Coast Crime mystery convention that is due to be held in Los Angeles, California, March 11-14, 2010.
Congratulations to all the nominees.

Robert B Parker (1932-2010) R.I.P

Quercus his publishers in the United Kingdom and Putnam who were his US publishers. Putnam are due to publish a statement.

Parker’s first novel The Godwulf Manuscript was published in 1973 and introduced readers to his most enduring hero the wisecracking, street-smart Boston private detective Spenser. Parker wrote over 35 novels featuring Spenser and his sidekick Hawk. A number of the Spenser books were made into television films amongst them The Judas Goat and A Savage Place. In 1976 the novel Promised Land won the Best Novel Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. This novel also introduced his sidekick Hawk. Spenser’s long-term girlfriend Susan Silverman first came to readers attention in the novel God Save the Child. In 1989 Parker completed Raymond Chandler’s last uncompleted Philip Marlowe novel Poodle Springs. It was subsequently turned into a film. He went on to write a sequel to Chandler’s The Big Sleep under the title Perchance to Dream in 1994.

In 1997 with the novel Night Passage he started a new series featuring Jesse Stone a former Los Angeles police detective who had a drink problem. A number of books in this series have been turned into successful television films featuring Tom Selleck in the title role. These include the first book in the series Night Passage, Death in Paradise and Stone Cold. The third series that he created featured Sunny Randall a female private eye. The first book in the series was Blue Screen. In 2007 the fictional world of his two characters Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone came together in the novel High Profile. Parker also started a western series known as the Appalossa series in 2005 with the aptly named title Appalossa. This was subsequently turned into a film featuring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Jeremy Irons. Parker also wrote two books with his wife Joan H Parker. These were Three Weeks in Spring in 1982 and A Year at the Races in 1990.

In 2002 Parker was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and in 2007 he was awarded the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award.

Quercus his publishers in the UK are due to publish a number of his novels in 2010 including the new Jesse Stone novel Split Image in March (February in the US) and Painted Ladies the new Spenser novel in November (September in the US). In the US a new Appaloosa novel Blue-eyed Devil will be released in May. Parker also wrote a number of other novels including Edenville Owls in 2007 a young adult novel.

More information about his death and tributes can be found here:
New York Times, Mystery Ink, IFPress.com, and