Blatant, But Somewhat Restrained Self-Promotion

San Francisco Mysteries Part of Rapid Reads Growing Novella Program

And now a word from our sponsor.  What my Canadian publisher Orca offers in its Rapid Reads program are “quick, engaging reads by bestselling authors’ — works that can be read in one sitting — possibly a flight from L.A. to New York, or just a satisfying read that won’t keep you up all night. The direct writing style makes these books accessible to the “reader on the go,” the reluctant reader, as well as those with English as a second language.

Here is a comment from an early reviewer of The Blue Dragon: "What an incredible beginning to a new mystery series by Ronald Tierney... [This was] my first introduction to “Rapid Reads” and I am enthralled not only by the individual title selection experience but also for the incredible discovery of this reading series.”

What I hope to create with the Peter Strand series is to re-imagine the plot-oriented mystery in the tradition of Rex Stout and Agatha Christie, a story with minimal violence and with emphasis on the puzzle aspects of the crime. The book allows the reader to sleuth along with the detective. Here is more information about my first two books in the Rapid Reads series:

The Blue Dragon — A murder at a small apartment building in San Francisco’s Chinatown, prompts the absentee owner to hire Chinese American Peter Strand to calm the anxious tenants. But Strand isn’t exactly what he appears to be. Neither are the tenants who, on the surface, seem to be regular people going about their lives. Strand, a forensic accountant by trade, doesn’t intend to investigate the murder, but he soon realizes that this isn’t a gang-related killing, as the police believe. The murder was committed by one of the tenants. Finding out which one exposes the secrets of The Blue Dragon and brings Strand face-to-face with a few ghosts of his own. The Blue Dragon is available in paperback and e-book.

 

The Black Tortoise – Peter Strand is asked to investigate a San Francisco-based nonprofit arts organization located in a pier on San Francisco Bay near the Ferry Building. There he meets a cast of colorful, quirky characters who all seem to be hiding something. Peter soon finds evidence of a probable fraud, but is it the fraud that leads to murder? Or is it something else? Whatever it is, a suspicious drowning draws Strand deeper into a murky mystery. The murderer is finally unmasked, but at what personal expense? The Black Tortoise is the second book in the Peter Strand mystery series. Preorder available now for a March delivery.

Consider these two San Francisco mysteries as gifts, one in time for the holidays and one for right after.

On Writing — Fiction As History

The Early Shanahan novels

Occasionally I receive comments from people who have read some of the early books in my Shanahan mystery series.   These notes usually come from people who live or have lived in Indianapolis. Rarely are the comments about the plot, though critics at the time were complimentary. Some are about the main characters – Deets Shanahan and his love, Maureen.  But most of the sentiment is about bringing back memories. The 11 novels in the series set in Indianapolis cover 25 years in the life of the Circle City beginning with The Stone Veil in 1980. History is an unforeseen, but happy consequence of fiction.

I haven’t been the only one.  In fact I wasn’t the first one or necessarily the most prolific.  The acclaimed Michael Z. Lewin not only originated the first series featuring a fictional Indianapolis P.I., but is also credited with popularizing the idea of a regional P.I. series. Many others followed.  My Deets Shanahan character also came after Lewin’s Albert Samson.

Michael Z. Lewin

Lewin and I are roughly the same vintage. However he began writing younger in his life.  Counting his Leroy Powder cop series, Lewin has used Indianapolis as a setting for 11 crime novels with a history going back to 1971 with his first Samson novel, Ask The Right Question, among those being re-released as I write.

Re-released

I have inadvertently been part of recording this city’s history when, as its first editor, I helped found NUVO Newsweekly, the longest serving alternative newspaper in the city’s history. Long after I was gone it continues to chronicle my hometown and is a powerful, on-going historical reference. However, I would suggest that fiction could go beyond the news as a historical document in many ways by creating the mood, the ambiance and an in-depth characterization of its neighborhoods, restaurants, transportation and particularly its inhabitants.

There are those, of course, who dismiss genre fiction, including the P.I. novel as something less than respectable. The Shanahan mysteries are definitely genre fiction, as are the Samson novels. We gain a sense of the place in time in a way that may not be academic, but in a fluid, experiential way.

On Writing – Short San Francisco Mysteries And Shameless Self Promotion

New Release – Pre-Order

Even before my Shanahan series came to an end, I was investigating, experimenting and completing shorter mysteries. The standard mystery novel is somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 words.  Short stories probably average around 5,000 words. The novella, or short novel, usually comes in around 20,000 allowing, in my opinion, the writer to develop both substantial character and plot development without fluff.

I’ve written two of these novellas for the Lang-Paladino series — Death In The Tenderloin and Death In The Haight.  More recently I participated in Canadian publisher Orca’s Rapid Reads program, easy-to-read short novels. I think of the series of books by popular authors as the perfect read for that flight from Denver to New York or while you under the covers for bedtime but can’t afford to stay up all night. The first novella, The Blue Dragon, received a genuinely warm welcome.  Here is what an early reviewer had to say about the book and the program:

"What an incredible beginning to a new mystery series by Ronald Tierney...This cover art also provides a capsule view of the multi-dimensions of the novella and becomes more meaningful as the reader progresses through each chapter...[This was] my first introduction to “Rapid Reads” and I am enthralled not only by the individual title selection experience but also for the incredible discovery of this reading series...(LibraryThing Early Reviewer 2015-08-23)

Now, we’re ready for book two, The BlackTortoise: When a low-key forensic accountant with a private investigator’s license is asked to investigate a San Francisco-based nonprofit arts organization, he meets a cast of quirky characters who all seem to be hiding a secret. There is evidence of a probable fraud, but when fraud leads to murder, the reluctant P.I. is drawn deeper into the murky waters of a criminal undertaking and shocking personal revelations.

   
The Black Tortoise, now available for pre-order, is the second novella featuring Asian American private eye Peter Strand. The Blue Dragon is available in paperback and digital. Both books are part of Orca Publishing’s Rapid Reads series.

Book Notes: A Chandler-Parker Welcome To Poodle Springs

Robert B. Parker

There has been an ongoing battle between the Raymond Chandler fans and those who prefer Dashiell Hammett about the invention of the modern P.I. in fiction.  I confess that I’m not well enough read to come down on one side or the other. However, spending a couple of decades in San Francisco, I’m more likely to favor Hammett.   It’s a matter of the sprawling suburbs that surround Hollywood versus the mysterious, exotic neighborhoods of the foggy City By The Bay. I prefer the walkable streets of S.F.

Used to be walkable, anyway. In the last few years, age and declining health nudged me from my third floor apartment at the top of a long and high hill.  The cost of relocating in one the world’s most beautiful but expensive cities pushed me out, and I’ve ended up in Chandler territory, two hours out of L.A., in Palm Springs. Here I expect to spend my golden years, or platinum years or titanium years. I also expect to murder someone here literarily, perhaps more than one.

Raymond Chandler

Now, after settling “Down Among The Sheltering Palms,” I wanted to read something that took place in my new town to help get my bearings — preferably a P.I. story.  And there it was — Poodle Springs, the last of Chandler’s eight Marlowe novels. It was left undone at the famous author’s death in 1959, and finished in 1989 by the popular and prolific Robert B. Parker.  I’ve read more than a few of Parker’s Spenser novels over the years. This one reads a whole lot like Spenser, caught in a time machine, a time when Palm (Poodle) Springs was the resort playground for movie stars and gangsters.  In this case, a guy fails to pay off a $100,000 IOU.  Marlowe is hired to collect. Murder ensues in the town of the rich and playful.

Chandler wrote the first four chapters, Parker the rest. Things have changed in the Marlowe series. The heretofore single-guy and L.A. P.I. has suddenly married.  He’s suddenly married a rich woman who delights in trying to make him a “kept-man” (as they used to say) — a theme that would repeat itself in the story.  What it reminded me of was Nick and Nora Charles, Hammett’s lovely, witty couple, so witty they turned The Thin Man series of films into a goldmine for Hammett. What was Chandler thinking? Was it simply the time for Philip Marlowe to settle down? Or did Chandler expect to hit the comedy-romance-mystery jackpot? The main difference between the two couples  —and Marlowe’s comes more than a decade later — seems to be that while Nick liked the good life provided by his wife, Marlowe was a tad threatened by it. And I’ll give Hammett the edge in the witty repartee department. How does it end? That’s for you to find out.  

Poodle Springs is a good, fast read and just what I wanted, a glance at my new home through the eyes of a couple of classic writers and an era I like a lot.

Book Notes: John D. MacDonald At 100

If you are not a critic, or an academic specializing in crime fiction or a reader obsessed with it, you are forgiven if all the MacDonalds are just a bit confusing. In addition to John D. MacDonald, there is Ross Macdonald and Gregory Mcdonald. What they have in common, besides ever-so-slightly different last names is that they are all critically acclaimed crime writers, and all three have sold a helluva lot of books.  I once thought that I should change my last name to McDonald if only to capitalize on the magic of the name. Because my first name is Ronald, I quickly gave up on the idea.

John D. MacDonald

The reason I am focusing on John D. is to honor on the last day of a two-week celebration of the centennial of his birth and the appropriately timed, handsome reissues of some of his work. Perhaps his most esteemed work is the 1957 thriller, The Executioners, better known to moviegoers as Cape Fear, a film so good they made it twice.  MacDonald is also the creator of one of America’s most popular fictional P.I.s, Travis McGee, who works out of his a boat in Florida.

If you are a new reader though, it’s probably a good idea to start with this first of his 21 Travis McGee novels because The Deep Blue Good-By is the series exposition — building the character, painting the setting, and developing the mechanics, which is how this P.I uniquely goes about his business.  The year is 1964, and McGee is a tough but conscientious man of his times. Though we are not mired down in his philosophy of good and evil, we are dealt at least some thoughtful, literary exposure to the subject as the P.I. sees it.  In this first of his series, we witness a strange kind of murderer: A monster, maybe, but not a sophisticated, brilliant Ripley or a sophisticated, obsessed Hannibal Lecter, but a coarse, rough-hewn charmer, whose motives include but go well beyond self-enrichment, at least in the monetary sense.

“There are men in the world who are compelled to destroy the most fragile and valuable things they can find, the same way rowdy children will ravage a beautiful home. Look at me, they are saying.”

In The Deep Blue Good-By, McGee hunts for such a man, a twisted Romeo who sees fragile women as an object to dominate, extort, and ravage. To break. If Travis McGee can be warm and compassionate, he can also be vicious in pursuit of justice. After a long sea-chase, the finale is a testament to up-close and very personal violence.

Though John D. is not my favorite of the various McDonalds, there is no doubt he is one of the masters of the genre. The good looking cover of the recent rerelease shows the high regard in which he is held by current crime-writing luminaries. Praise comes from Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark and Jonathan Kellerman.  Lee Child wrote the introduction to this edition.

Final note: Though a promised Travis McGee film is in dry-dock, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt — all of them — flirted seriously with the P.I. role in The Deep Blue Good-By.  Also, over at The Rap Sheet, there’s more interesting stuff on the 100th birthday of John D, especially a gallery of old John D. covers.

Happy birthday, John.

Book Notes: Charcoal Joe, Easy Rawlins and Walter Mosley

I was fortunate to hear Walter Mosley speak during a major mystery convention more than a few years ago.  He told the story of a Hollywood studio wanting the movie rights to one of his books.  As part of the negotiation, the studio also wanted the rights to “novelize” the movie. That is, they wanted to write a novel based on the book on which they based the movie. This incredibly circular logic may help explain why writers find the wielders of power in the film capital of the world a few bricks shy of a load.

 

Thank goodness, Mosley said no.  The original book was the real thing.  And so, from my perspective, is Walter Mosley. More than a quarter century ago, authors Mosley, Janet Dawson, Jerome Doolittle and I had our first novels nominated for a Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award (Best First P.I. Novel). Mosley triumphed with Devil in a Blue Dress, an Easy Rawlins’ crime novel. Since those days Mosley has zoomed to super stardom.  Fortunately, he hasn’t forgotten Easy, the fictional P.I. who lit the literary fuse for this now universally acclaimed author. Easy is back.

I was also fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of Charcoal Joe and a chance to revisit Rawlins in advance of the book’s June 14 release. Even with the fear that to judge at all is presumptuous, I’m going to do so anyway.  This is the work of a mature writer, one who has come as close to mastering his craft as most anyone. The slightest of characters is fully fleshed out.  The relationships are fully and deeply developed.

In Charcoal Joe, Mosley mixes the sacred and profane, the earthy with the celestial, the spiritual with the gritty, the sweet sorrow with the outright cruel. He provides an old white guy like me a glimpse into worlds I would be unable to imagine without his words.

In Charcoal Joe, we find P.I. Rawlins trying to clear a brilliant young black student from a murder charge in 1960s Los Angeles, a time and place the author paints with vivid strokes.  The novel isn’t all crime-solving. Rawlins must deal with the complexities in his personal life, trying but not necessarily succeeding in settling down. Just as in the real world, relationships are complex. Even so, Mosley makes sure there are enough guns, sex and suspense to stay true to the genre.

One of the best things about print versus film is that the reader brings his or her own imagination to fill in many of the details and to some extent brings meaning to the story.  One of the difficult things about reading is that there are instances when we discover we cannot bring quite enough knowledge or experience to that particular place in the author’s imagination.  Unfortunately this means we cannot fully give up our foreign status. Mosley’s world in Charcoal Joe, however distant from our own it might be, is blessedly accessible.

This year, the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) bestowed Grand Master status on the novelist, which he can add to a number of benchmarks, including a PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Also, Easy Rawlins’ cements his place in the great literary tradition of American private eyes

Book Notes: Nakamura — Stark Staccato versus Fluid and Poetic

Most writers have to get in the minds of people unlike themselves.  Certainly males write about females. Whites write about Blacks. Old people write about the young. Honest people write about dishonest people. And lots of vice versas. To steal the phrasing of the Geico ads:  We’re writers. It’s what we do.

 

However, it seems a pretty brave undertaking for a male writer to jump into the soul of a female so intimately — in the first person, no less — as Fuminori Nakamura has in his about-to be-released English translation of The Kingdom.  Then again Nakamura was born in 1977. Fortunately, for younger artists the lines of differentiation, with regard to gender and color are fading, opening new ways of seeing and thinking. But that doesn’t mean the vision can’t be dark.

Here, in The Kingdom, the author takes us back to his underworld of Tokyo.  Unlike TheThief and The Gun, the narrator here, Yurika, a fake prostitute who steals money or information, is unabashedly emotive, oddly about her lack of emotion. We are engaged in feeling rather than cold observation. The usual, simple, direct sentences are more expansive, nuanced in The Kingdom. The narrative reads like dreams.  Yet, the theme of control, whether that means a character has a difficult time holding onto it or is trying to escape it, remains central.

 

Easily tied to universal symbolism, Nakamura brings in the sun and the moon not just as metaphors, but also as sources of control beyond anyone’s ability to resist perhaps, and adds these forces to the earthbound monster he creates. In this novel in particular, the author appears to be adding a bit of smoky, fluid poetry to his usually stark, high contrast, staccato reality.

I’m a fan, though I’d be dishonest if I didn't admit to a little disappointment — being such an admirer of the minimalist style of his previous novels. This doesn’t diminish the thrill factor.  However thick his narrative can be, we must turn the pages. Yurika learns her destiny may have been designed very early in her life by the same man who holds that same life in his hands years later. 

It might appear the award-winning Japanese author is writing a book a week, judging from the frequency of recent releases. But what is likely happening is that his popularity here is so great publisher SOHO Crime appears to be stepping up the speed of translations available here. If you read Japanese, you could easily be well ahead of the rest of us.