THE ART OF THE DETECTIVE STORY by Steve Steinbock Last week I mentioned that I was in the throes of writing and editing reviews for The Strand. Well, to that end I’ve just finished watching P. D. James: The Essential Collection. That’s thirty-four and a half hours of the ITV adaptations of the first nine […]

EDITING WITH STONE AND CHISEL by Steve Steinbock I never thought of myself as a Luddite. I don’t run out and purchase every new gadget that comes on the market, but neither do I shy away. Back in the day when I first heard talk of computers being used as writing tools—“word processing” they called […]

BANDERSNATCH BUFFET by Steve Steinbock This week I have a small smörgåsbord of items to spread on the table. Think of it as our very own Mad Tea Party, and I’m your March Hare. March? It’s only September. The words “buffet” and “smörgåsbord” are both etymologically linked to the idea of a table. The former […]

MAN BITES REALITY by Steve Steinbock After my week aboard the Rhapsody of the Sea, I’m a true believer in vacation by cruise ship. By the time you read this, I’ll be back home in Maine recovering from jetlag and lamenting that reality has set in. Between the Alaskan cruise and my return to Maine, […]

MURDER AT SEA by Steve Steinbock Aboard the Royal Caribbean ocean liner Rhapsody of the Sea, I understand how Agatha Christie got the inspiration for so many of her stories. With my sick mind, it’s easy to see murder everywhere I look. Opportunities for poisonings, tossing people overboard, and fatal injuries by blunt trauma abound […]

MYSTERY PLACES by Steve Steinbock I’m sitting at Mio Posto, a corner café and pizzeria in the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle. Long time Criminal Brief readers may remember that I spent a lot of time here last summer when I was on the west coast visiting my sisters. There are three guys behind the […]

MAPPING FICTION by Steve Steinbock Last month fellow Criminal Briefer John Floyd shared some thoughts on plotting in a Mississippi Mud column, “Map Quest.” I enjoy that topic, and I enjoyed John’s column. In fact, it generated a lot of behind-the-scenes discussion among us CD columnists as James Lincoln Warren explored nodal structure maps of […]