It's a tale as old as time. Boy grows up beside girl. Boy falls for girl. Boy shoots his shot. Girl rejects boy. Boy unleashes a campaign of harassment, including death threats, against the girl. As such the 200 year old tale of Eliza Bolsom's death in 1821, shows how stalking, harassment and violence has always been interlinked.
This week on a podcast only episode Mairi interviews Jack Lutz, author of London in Black, a near-future novel about crime and society in London after a biochemical attack. They talk crime fiction, London, names and flawed detectives.
Science Fiction and crime fiction make extremely potent mix, best exemplified in China Mieville's The City and The City. The combination of working out what has happened in the crime, and also unravelling world building to understand the culture and history of a future or different universe, means that a readers synapses will be firing more than normal, and the satisfaction of finding the solution to the crime, while understanding the implications of the sometimes extremely unusual context means the dopamine hit at the end is higher.
For those who enjoy delving into the aberrant psychologies behind some of the worst true crime, you will soon come to notice that it reflects the same biases and inadequacies as the rest of society. It's serious nature does not lead it to be immune from the fact that humans are inherently flawed no matter …
Continue reading Father Wants Us Dead: A True Crime Podcast about John List
The nicest man in crime fiction This week Mairi interviews Jonathan Whitelaw, author of The Bingo Hall Detectives. They talk cosy crime, podcasts, journalism and writing tips. You can buy a copy of The Bingo Hall Detectives from the TCF shop where profits support independent bookshops and this podcast and site.
Which of us when faced with heartbreak, be it the end of a long term relationship of the rejection from a new lover have not reached out to try to find both solace and advice. What went wrong? How can I make sure this doesn't happen again? Was it me? Are only a few of …
Continue reading Twin Flames: A True Crime Podcast Which Is Most Definitely About A Cult
To support independent bookshops and the podcast you can buy The Bingo Hall Detectives at the TCF shop. Cosy crime is a genre that is often spoken about with a sneer, exactly the same kind of snobbish tone that is used with terms like "chic lit," or "domestic drama." It presupposes that there is a …
Continue reading Bingo Hall Detectives: A Crime Fiction Book set in Penrith
True Crime fandom can often be fraught with ethical questions, and this is exactly as it should be. Using what will be the worst thing that has ever happened in many people's lives, as what is essentially a form of entertainment, can bring us too uncomfortable places. Amoung the true crime community there is always discussions of what is and is not appropriate. How do we refer to victims? Which kind of crimes do we choose to focus on? How much detail of the violence do we need to give out?
In Britain however the crimes that we are often most gripped by tends to be those that happen to ordinary people, who live quiet lives. Perhapse that is to do with the fact that despite seeing ourselves as a modern state, in the UK we still live with the hangovers of the feudal system, with such regressive concepts as the "deserving poor," and moralisitic phrases like "hard working people," still finidng currancy in our politics, which has been overrun recently with those for whom even their privilage comes gold plated. We've never admired our rich and powerful as much as tolerate them, and get on with our own lives.
Mead's central charctor, John Spector, is the magician who helps the police unravel, this fiendishly difficult murder. As a conjuror he is perfectly placed to understand the art of illusion and distraction, and fits wonderfully well into the narrative. However, we learn little about who Spector is, and how he has come to be assisting the police, leading his presence to be essentailly the third mystery of the book.
