Chat with author Terry James

Terry James is chatting over at the Black Horse Western Yahoo! forum today and tomorrow (30/31 May). Don't worry if you're not a member, it's not too late to join. Just click here.

online petition

Please everyone sign our online petition in favour western fiction HERE

Much appreciated

Shadows of the Past - published 29th May

My latest romantic suspense is published a week today. I am having a launch at my local library and have been, and will be featured, in the local paper. If all the people who said they are coming do arrive there won't be enough chairs!!

"Alva can't remember anything, not even the death of her baby in childbirth, and is horrified that her estranged husband Conte Luca Mazareeze should accuse her of trying to commit suicide. Little by little memories trip into her mind but it is only when she becomes the target of a murderer that she realises she knows something someone is afraid of her remembering."

Cheers!

Margaret

New Review for Long Shadows

The reviews are starting to come in for Long Shadows by Terry James. You can find the latest at Western Fiction Review plus links to two others at my blog Joanne Walpole.

Black Horse Western news round-up

For all the latest Black Horse Western news bookmark the Black Horse Express

Items in the last week :
- Video promo for Tarnished Star by Jack Martin
- Review of Gun Feud by Frank Arnside
- An Interview with Lance Howard
- Review of Loco by Ethan Wall
- New BHW website - John Paxton Sheriff
- Latest edition of Black Horse Extra
- An Interview with Joanne Walpole
- Bestsellers on Amazon.co.uk - 11 May
- New BHW author website - Thomas McNulty

Items in the previous week:
- Review of Fast Gun Range by Ben Coady
- Howard Hopkins on his current BHW
- An interview with John Hale
- Bestselling Linford Westerns on Amazon - 4 May
- New BHW poll
- Interview with Gary Dobbs
- Audio excerpt of Long Shadows by Terry James
- Ray Foster on Bret Ray

My Victorian mystery, Murder Most Welcome, comes out in Large Print in September this year and the Audio Adition sometime later. Even more exciting (well, it is exciting for me, anyway!) is that the follow-up, Death is the Cure, is due out at the end of this year. It continues the adventures of my Victorian sleuth, Charlotte Richmond, but can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Long Shadows by Terry James - Available Now

My debut novel is now available at Amazon, Book Depository etc for immediate delivery. A nice surprise since the release date is scheduled for 29 May.

JOHN HALE INTERVIEW

On the Tainted Archive - go here

http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/2009/05/black-horse-western-publisher-profile.html

THE THIRD SECRET

Now that it's the month 0f May, I can say my novel will be out on the 29th. Always a great occasion for any author, and I'm looking forward to having it in my hands and reading it as a reader rather than an author checking his or her manuscript. Do we all do that? Now I want you all to rush out and buy one! Don't forget, you can read more about my novel on my website: www.thirdsecret.co.uk

Requiem for a Dummy

David Stuart Davies just sent me the cover for his forthcoming novel, Requiem for a Dummy, which is due out from Hale in September. Requiem is the fourth in his acclaimed Johnny One Eye series, and I think the artist has done a fantastic job, really capturing the sinister aspect of the ventriloqust's dummy.

Rafe McGregor

PSYCHO - a Hale reprint

I'm halfway through reading this book - the 1985 Corgi edition - and thought you might be interested in its printing history.

First released in the US in 1959, it was published by Robert Hale in 1960 and went into reprint in the same year.

Between then and my edition the book was reprinted or reissued as a paperback 12 times. It was a multi-million bestseller.

Of course it became a massive hit film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960 so Hale must have benefitted greatly from the cinematic release.

Very few books these days seem to show their printing history. I used to find it quite fascinating. And of course it was a measure of the book's popularity, for all browsers to see.

Nik Morton

Black Horse Western news round-up

For all the latest Black Horse Western news bookmark the Black Horse Express blog

Items in the last week :
- April's Black Horse Westerns
- Extract of Misfit Lil Hides Out by Chap O'Keefe
- Press release for Long Shadows by Terry James
- April's Linford Westerns
- I J Parnham, Black Horse Western writer
- BHW Bestsellers at the Book Depository @20 April
- Review of On the Great Plains by Logan Winters

A Poisoned Legacy

I have just found a five blue ribbon review for A Poisoned Legacy, from Romance Junkies. It is amazing what you find when you have half an hour to kill and you trawl the internet!

Do visit the site and check it out - www.romancejunkies.com

"A Poisoned Legacy is a must read! Mrs Blake had me from page one! I could not put the book down."Kimberley, Romance Junkies.

Without Conscience

Without Conscience by David Stuart Davies, published by Robert Hale, 2008.

Without Conscience is not great literature. In fact, it isn’t literature at all. Mr Davies’ unique combination of hardboiled detective story, Golden Age murder mystery, and psychological thriller is quite clearly ‘genre’ or ‘commercial’ fiction. Like all good quality crime writing, however, the novel not only entertains, but also challenges the division of literature into ‘serious’ and ‘popular’ with its emotional depth. The story demands attention from the very first page, establishing a recipe for danger, intrigue, and drama as the three main characters are introduced: Harryboy Jenkins, a psychopathic army deserter; Johnny ‘One Eye’ Hawke, a tough private eye with a heart of gold; and Peter Blake, an orphan evacuated from London during the Blitz. The contrast between Johnny and Harryboy is a particularly fine example of the protagonist and antagonist as two sides of the same archetype, paragon and shadow. Both men are haunted by their pasts, and both are victims of circumstance. Where Johnny has emerged sensitive and noble, determined to make the world a better place, Harryboy is a savage killer, hell bent on self-gratification no matter what the cost to others.

Like the characters, the setting – London in 1942, the year after the Blitz – is original and inventive. It provides an edgy, realistic background to the plot, and debunks the myth that Britons pulled together in the face of Nazi aggression. Violent crime, theft, and fraud all actually increased during the war years. While the Thin Blue Line was stretched to breaking point as policemen resigned to enlist, wartime conditions gave birth to new crimes (blackout gangs, looting, billeting fraud), and provided increased opportunities for old (the murder rate in London is estimated to have increased by twenty percent from 1939 to 1945). Never was there a greater need for a knight in rusty armour to rescue a chain-smoking damsel in distress.

Clichés in dialogue and description abound, but they are carefully crafted to recreate a classic film noir atmosphere in print. The only criticism worth noting is in the use of both first and third person voices, which sometimes interrupts the flow of the otherwise cogent storytelling. The conflicting motivations of the characters drive a taught plot: Harryboy murders a clergyman and preys on Rachel Howells, a young innocent lost in London; Johnny accepts a domestic case concerning a cross-dresser that turns into a murder investigation; and Peter resolves to escape from his guardians. The tension builds as Harryboy appears to commit a second and third murder, with Rachel as an unwitting accomplice. Meanwhile, Johnny discovers there may be more to his case than a robbery gone wrong, and Peter arrives at his flat as a runaway, setting the stage for a nail-biting climax.

Without Conscience is the third Johnny One Eye novel, and the best so far; an exciting, informed, and thought-provoking tale of crime in wartime London.


Rafe McGregor

Everybody's Somebody's Fool

Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool by Ed Gorman, published by Robert Hale, 2008.

‘A hero with a heart of gold’ is a phrase which has been used to describe a number of fictional private investigators over the years, including Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe, Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, and Mosley’s Easy Rawlins. It alludes to the type of protagonist who is tough enough to handle all the trouble that comes his or her way, but also possesses a strong sense of morality and a great capacity for compassion; the kind of sympathetic character with whom everyone can identify. No one – not even the great writers above – has found so perfect a balance of unsentimental pathos as Mr Gorman with Sam McCain: he has created the ultimate ‘good guy’ of detective fiction, a hero whose fate will concern even the most cynical of readers.

McCain is a practicing lawyer who works as a part-time investigator for Judge Whitney in the invented town of Black River Falls, in the American Midwest. In addition to his genuine concern for his clients, McCain’s true colours are shown in his fledgling romance with Linda Dennehy, a childhood friend recovering from a mastectomy and divorce. The subplot is not only touching and revelatory, but also fiercely compelling. McCain finds a dead girl in a gazebo at the party of a wealthy couple. Suspicion falls on David Egan, the local tearaway, who has at least three lovers other than the deceased. When bigoted Sheriff Clifford Sykes Junior decides to arrest Egan, McCain leaps to his defence, and involves himself in an investigation that quickly results in a second death.

Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool was first published in 2004, is the fifth in the series, and set in the summer of 1961. Along with the strong characterisation, Mr Gorman brings a real knowledge of and affinity for the period, which complements the intriguing plot and original voice. There is no artificiality here, no deliberate or forced historical references; there isn’t even a sense of nostalgia. The recreation of time and place is as effortless and natural as if the author had written the novel forty years ago and held it back from publication. Perhaps he did. Regardless, it is an absolute pleasure to read: McCain is a jewel and his world a masterpiece.


Rafe McGregor

Presenting my new book

At last I have my new story in its finished form. What a pleasure to have in my hands the published book, set out in a neat, tidy form, no longer the dogeared heap of papers the A4 version had turned into.

Now there is another splendid cover by David Young, which makes it plain the story is set in Bath. It was fun to walk the streets there to check the time needed for Greg and the girls to get around town to the Assembly Rooms or the Pump Room. And of course, I'm so fascinated by the scene in Jane Austen's Persuasion where Anne and Captain Wentworth spend ages going up the Gravel Walk that I send my hero and heroine along there too, in homage.

In All Honour is set in 1812 and tells the further adventures of Greg Thatcham. At the end of The Wild Card he was left with a broken heart. It was just not possible to leave such a splendid character like that, however. Life has forced many changes on Greg but he is not the man to refuse a challenge.

In All Honour is published on 31st March.

http://regencytales.blogspot.com

Ray - take it easy, feller

From Broken Trails: Ray has had a setback but will be back soon. He has been advised to take it easy... Wish you well, Ray!
Nik (Ross Morton)

Cover captures essence of Patagonian story

It is said that you can’t judge a book by its cover.
But it is the cover image which often attracts a reader or buyer to a particular book.
More importantly, in today’s cyber-savvy world many books are ordered via the internet and the jacket image is the only indication of the essence of the story.
Hence the need for a good cover.

Last night I received a digital copy of the jacket cover for The Condor’s Feather and I am delighted with it.
Artist, Michael Thomas, has not only depicted the sweeping pampas with the jagged peaks of the Andes in the background, but also a pair of Criollo horses, the riders, and the ever-faithful Newfoundland dogs, Byron and Bella, which accompany the party on their exciting and often dangerous expedition across the wilds of Patagonia.
Of course the soaring condor is not forgotten.

To learn more about the book, my recent visit to South America and to discover what inspired me to write this novel, go to: http://www.squidoo.com/thecondorsfeather

The Condor’s Feather is due for publication in July, 2009 and will be available for order on-line from Hale Books, Amazon or good book stores.

My thanks to Michael Thomas.

BEAT TO A PULP NEW STORY

Head on over to Beat to a Pulp for a new short story.

This one's called identity theft.

Theaker's World

Stephen Theaker, of Theaker's Quarterly Fiction and British Fantasy Society fame, has his own take on book promotion...


Rafe McGregor's all out of Murder

Rafe McGregor, who contributed Fleet to Dark Horizons 53, is having a fine time of it with his new novel The Architect of Murder, published by Robert Hale Ltd: the initial print run of a thousand copies has already sold out. That's what appearing in Dark Horizons does for a writer's career!


I might just have to send him another short story...

The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes

The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Paul D. Gilbert, published by Robert Hale, 2008.

This collection is the second by the author, following The Lost Casebook of Sherlock Holmes last year, and marks a definite improvement and maturation of style. Mr Gilbert’s Holmes and Watson are the creations of Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke rather than Conan Doyle, but given the great popularity Brett brought to the Great Detective, his characterisation may be a strength rather than a failing. Regardless, the author’s enthusiasm for Holmes shines through in a remarkably original collection.

All seven of the stories are based on Watson’s references to Holmes’ unrecorded cases, and the titles are worth noting for enthusiasts: Baron Maupertuis, The Remarkable Disappearance of James Phillimore, The Affair of the Aluminium Crutch, The Adventure of the Abominable Wife, The Adventure of the Cutter ‘Alicia’, The Adventure of the Red Leech, and The Mystery of the Mumbling Duellist. Mr Gilbert has been brave enough to attempt two of the most notorious of Watson’s references, and takes the unprecedented step of intentionally linking The Adventure of the Red Leech and The Mystery of the Mumbling Duellist.

The idea is inspired, and not only provides a smooth segue from one to the other, but also reminds us that Conan Doyle either had his tongue firmly in his cheek, or simply forgot how similar the references were. Mr Gilbert’s red leech is in fact Holmes’ client, a man named Crosby who suffers from the skin condition known as solar urticaria, and whose brother is missing. The mumbling duellist is Isadora Persano, who has been driven mad by the bite of a South American worm. Holmes investigates his attempted murder.

Well worth the read for anyone who enjoyed either Conan Doyle’s originals or the Granada TV series. I wonder if Mr Gilbert is daring enough to attempt the Dundas Separation Case in his next collection? For those who don’t remember, this was the gentleman who “…had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife…” (from A Case of Identity). Tongue in cheek indeed!

A cautionary note: Hale's choice of title is unfortunate, as it creates confusion with Denis O. Smith's series, The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes, published by Calabash Press from 1997 to 2002. I'm not sure if they're still in print, but Mr Smith's work is a rare treat, and all four volumes reward the effort of tracking them down on the secondhand market.


Rafe McGregor

AN IMPROPER SUITOR as Best One Hundred?

I was very amused to see the Large Print Edition of my Hale novel, An Improper Suitor, on the Top One Hundred best selling list. Not only that, but a very flattering number 16 on the list.

Why would I be amused, you might ask? Shouldn’t I be jumping for joy? The fact is, I immediately took that list with a very large pinch of salt (make it a spade, or even a whole wagon-full). The bestselling list is compiled by Tower.com Books, an offshoot of Tower Records, and my book is number 16 on their list of Mystery and Detective: Historical Fiction Top 100. Since I’m in excellent company -- listed just after an audio recording of Danielle Steel, with Mary Balogh, one of my favorite regency authors, heading the list -- I have no intention of complaining, naturally.

You’ll still be wondering then why I’m not jumping up and down with joy.

Well, first, because it is quite difficult to find the aforementioned bestseller list on the website. It would take a dedicated searcher some time to find it. In fact, with all the interest in the world because it was my own book and I wanted to track it down, it took me some time to find the list myself.

Second – and far more importantly, because herein lies the crux of the matter, An Improper Suitor has been classified as Mystery and Detective Historical Fiction. You’ll understand my misgivings about this when you know that I never set out to write in either genre! Talk about the arbitrary nature of publisher’s and bookseller’s categories…

On the other hand, what was that saying about looking gift horses in the mouth?

Once I had finally come to terms that I was a bestseller on a very obscure list of books not in my genre at all, imagine the extent of my disappointment when I realized that the Mystery and Detective: Historical list was simply arranged by order of publication…

Monica Fairview

Sherlock Holmes in Russia

Sherlock Holmes in Russia by Alex Auswaks, published by Robert Hale, 2008.

This is an excellent collection of seven Sherlock Holmes adventures, written by two Russian authors; a rare treat for all crime fiction fans, and long overdue. The introduction, by George Piliev, tells the fascinating story of how these tales came to be written, in the context of the Sherlockian phenomenon in Russia. Conan Doyle’s detective came to Russia in 1893, via Germany, and was so popular that a host of (presumably unauthorised) imitators sprung up, creating a subgenre of it’s own in the first decade of the twentieth century. Mr Piliev explains how Holmes reached an even greater audience when Russian writers decided to transport him and Watson from Baker Street to Russia, on the premise that they travelled widely in the country and became fluent in the language.

There is something very appealing about Holmes going on another eastern excursion after his last case in 1903, rather than retiring to keep bees (Conan Doyle’s tongue must have been sore from the number of times he placed it in his cheek). While Doyle quite rightly guarded his creation jealously (he took action when Maurice Leblanc included Holmes in an Arsène Lupin story), one can’t help thinking he might have enjoyed the Russian approach, especially once he began to regard Holmes as a burden: two of these seven stories end with the Great Detective missing, presumed dead.

Most of the cases concern thefts of different sorts, which perhaps reflects the concerns of the Russian middle class at the time. The first two, by P. Orlovetz, are the best: The Brothers’ Gold Mine has a fiendishly clever solution, and despite a dull title and very slow pace, The Railroad Thieves is superb. The richness of atmosphere and detail in the depiction of life on the Siberian railway is completely compelling. The Strangler, by P. Nikitin, has the most potential, but is let down by a poor action sequence in the finale. It is nonetheless a brooding, grim Gothic mystery in the spirit of The Copper Beeches and The Speckled Band, with a touch of The Final Problem thrown in.

One mystery remains: absolutely nothing is known about the two authors who created these marvellous tales. Mr Piliev and the publisher both deserve the thanks of mystery fans worldwide, but the greatest credit should go to Alex Auswaks, the translator, for his painstaking work in building such a fantastic bridge from Baker Street to Vladivostok.


Rafe McGregor

The Architect of Murder: Bill Crider

From Texan author Bill Crider, who has an excellent blog of his own over at Bill Crider's Popular Culture Magazine:

Rafe McGregor maintains an excellent blog, well worth your time. He’s also the author of a fine new novel,The Architect of Murder, published by Robert Hale.

The story involves a number of real and fictional characters, including Cecil John Rhodes, whose last will and testament kick off the events of the book. One of the witnesses to Rhodes’s will, Eric Lowenstein, is murdered. Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Melville, head of the Special Branch, recruits Major Alec Marshall VC, just back from the fighting in South Africa to help investigate. As it happens, Marshall’s sister has also recently died under mysterious circumstances. If you’re a mystery reader, you already know that the two events will turn out to be connected.

The setting is London, 1902, and it’s evoked quite well. If you know a little bit about the history of the time and the events in South Africa, you’ll probably enjoy the book even more. There’s some dandy police procedure (McGregor is a Sherlockian), and plenty of interesting characters to carry the story along. Not to mention action. Even a swordfight! I got a kick out of some of the things I thought of as little in-jokes (Melville is referred to once or twice as “Mr. M.” and there’s also a “Mr. Q.”) The plot has plenty of twists, and I suspect that hardly anyone will figure out all of them. I know I didn’t.

The Architect of Murder looks like a hit to me. The ending plainly sets the stage for a sequel, and I think we’ll see one for sure.

The Architect of Murder: Sold Out!

I received a little bit of good news from Hale last Friday: the first print run of The Architect of Murder sold out earlier in the week, several days after publication on the 27th February. A big thank you to all my readers; I hope you aren't disappointed.

Hale are taking pre-orders for the second print run direct, and also through the usual channels like Amazon, Borders, etc...

Westminster, 1902: Major Alec Marshall VC, newly back in London, is enlisted to make inquiries into the will of the late Cecil John Rhodes, the wealthiest man in the British Empire. That same night one of the witnesses to the will, Eric Lowenstein, is found beaten to death in a seedy boarding house, where he was lodging under a false name. As London prepares for King Edward VII's coronation, Marshall discovers that Lowenstein harboured a deadly secret concerning not only the vast fortune Rhodes amassed, but the very future of the Empire. Marshall's investigation takes him into the dark heart of a flawed genius, and sets him on a personal journey that will change his life forever.

During the Second Boer War, Great Britain lost her most famous queen, her wealthiest citizen, and twenty thousand soldiers. Back from the veldt, Alec Marshall thinks the fighting is finished, but a new battle has begun...on the mean streets of Westminster.

"excellent writing" Bernard Knight
"a fascinating marriage of investigative mayhem with keen attention to historical detail" Graham Hurley
"a fine new novel" Bill Crider.
"hugely enjoyable" Books Monthly