TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS by Leigh Lundin Hello to everyone at Bouchercon! While I like mysteries designed with a solvable riddle, I appreciate realism in stories. Sometimes the realism blurs with the bizarre, the topic of today’s article. Two ghastly crimes have come up for trial, both stranger than fiction. Collaring a Suspect On 28 August […]

A ROOM WITHOUT A VIEW by John M. Floyd I’ve been fascinated, in past months, by the descriptions of other writers’ workspaces. I think it’s interesting to know a little about where they produce the work they produce, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction or CB columns. Anyhow, here’s my contribution to that “survey” of our […]

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION? by Steven Steinbock I was recently scouting locations. I’m lucky that I happen to live in a region that is very evocative of fictional crime. When they’re not thinking about lobsters and lighthouses and L.L. Bean, people associate Maine with Stephen King, Jessica Fletcher, and Dark Shadows. So I studied Google Maps […]

JUST LIKE CLOCKWORK by Deborah Elliott-Upton A hardbound book arrived in my mailbox a few days ago. I’m calling it a gift To me, From me, but it’s actually a gift to the world when John M. Floyd shares his stories. I knew better than to open the book when I was rushed, so I […]

STOUT-HEARTED MAN by Rob Lopresti In response to James’ recent column about phoning it in, which is to say, telling the same story in book after book, I said that I would get around some time to writing about how Rex Stout handled that problem by using plot devices exactly twice. But before we go […]

FOR ERICA by Melodie Johnson Howe Like James, Steve, and Rob, I’m off to Bouchercon and I haven’t even thought about packing. I’m still trying to get off the high-heels I wore to a wedding this past weekend. It was a special affair for our daughter Erica, whom I raised since she was six years […]

BREVITY BEING THE SOUL OF WIT . . . by James Lincoln Warren Today’s Scribbler is of necessity brief. Criminally brief, if I may say so. This last week I’ve been busier than the proverbial one-armed paper-hanger. (Can anybody tell me what proverb contains a reference to a one-armed paper-hanger? No? @#$%&!.) To complicate matters, […]