ASHENDEN by Melodie Johnson Howe I was asked to write about W. Somerset Maugham’s book, Ashenden, or The British Agent. It is not a novel but a group of short stories connected by the character Ashenden. They gave me a fairly long deadline so I happily agreed. I ordered a paperback from Amazon. The book […]

DRAWN FALSE by James Lincoln Warren DUKE. Why, sure, this plot’s drawn false; here’s no such thing. Thos. Middleton, Women Beware Women, V.ii. (1657) Last week, I took on three-act structure as being confining. This week, I confront an even more prejudicial example of received (so-called) wisdom. It is a commonly held belief that there […]

OBSERVATION and DESCRIPTION, Part II by Leigh Lundin Sherlock Holmes, mentor to all of us, lectured Watson about the necessity of observation. The power of observation shouldn’t be limited to characters; my favorite writers routinely examine their surroundings in unusual ways. As I’m using it, observe has two meanings: to examine with insight and articulate that […]

SPECIALTY ITEMS by John M. Floyd In recent weeks several of us at Criminal Brief have discussed some of the ingredients of fiction that make reading especially enjoyable and worthwhile, the things readers look for in a story, We all know that the best authors of novels and short stories are competent at almost all […]

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 […]

SENSES AND SETTINGS AND REALITY, OH MY! by Deborah Elliott-Upton Right now my mind is busily steeped in details. My daughter is being married in May and while we’ve already been planning for months, there is still much to do before the Big Day. In researching what is traditional, expected and new, my daughter reads […]

THE GAME OF DAN GREENBURG by Rob Lopresti Back in the 1970s, which could laughingly be called my formative years, New York Magazine used to have a weekly competition. Each week Mary Ann Madden would set a contest and thousands of readers would try to get published. I vividly remember some of my favorite entries […]