My Life of Crime

[[B O O K S]] * One of the many additional things I do regularly (and which detract from what might otherwise be my obsessive blogging) is to edit “The Rap Sheet,” a mostly monthly crime-fiction newsletter for readers of January Magazine. Now in its seventh year, “The Rap Sheet” has grown into a mammoth compendium of book recommendations and reviews, news about authors and trends in the crime fiction/mystery genre, and notices of awards being dispensed left and right. It’s a way for me to stay connected with new books in a literary field that has intrigued me ever since I was in high school, and an assistant librarian introduced me to Ross Macdonald, California creator of the private eye Lew Archer series. Although I don’t often hear from readers, those who do drop me not notes (often simply prodding me to write faster) appear to value the newsletter. And it was instrumental in winning January a Gumshoe Award this year.

The latest edition--all 17,000 words of it--was posted this morning. It contains my picks of the season’s best crime novels; reviews of the latest works by Peter May, Sandra Scoppettone, Michael Kronenwetter, Denise Hamilton, Charlie Huston, Roger Jon Ellory, and many others; news about a long-forgotten Wilkie Collins legal thriller and a soon-to-be released DVD of The Rockford Files; plus, the proverbial much, much more.

Check out “The Rap Sheet” when you get a chance. And let me know what you think.