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Raymond Chandler’s 1944 essay in The Atlantic Magazine, The Simple Art of Murder, is a great touchstone for anyone writing genre fiction. Chandler was incredibly influential. He was one of [...]

Writing’s so easy, right? There’s a quote by Hemingway: There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. And who wants to go through the pain and [...]

Yes, that is a noose, and that is the River Thames. And yes, the gallows’ crossbeam is indeed aimed at the financial centre, Canary Wharf. The gallows is part of the Prospect of Whitby, one [...]

I’m reading a great book right now called Publishing 101, by Jane Friedman. She is a columnist with Publishers Weekly and writes a very useful blog at JaneFriedman.com. She’s been in [...]

I had always thought of ‘murder in the first degree’ as something dating back to mediaeval times in England. It certainly has that ring to it. But it turns out, it’s not an [...]

I got the great news this week that The Devil’s Half Mile has been nominated for an Audie Award, for best male narrator. The book was narrated by Euan Morton, who, if you don’t know, [...]

The Bookseller’s Indie Bookshop Christmas Trading Survey reports independent bookshops in the U.K. and Ireland “enjoyed a bumper end to 2018, with ‘excellent’ Christmas [...]

I’m writing historical novels, so I use old maps a lot in my research. Over the last few years, more and more map owners have put their maps on the web, so it’s become increasingly [...]

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the official hardback cover of The Devil’s Half Mile. It arrived the mail the other day – or at last a half dozen covers arrived, in a long flat [...]

Publishers Weekly was kind enough to interview me recently. An excerpt from the interview appeared in the physical magazine, and another excerpt was posted online this week. PWs Lenny Picker [...]