I Have Alex Grecian Covered!

 

I have to admit that what persuaded me to use this week's title for a Cover Off wasn't so much the covers but the difference in titles. I always find it interesting when the same book has a different title in the UK than it does here in the US. It makes me wonder the eternal "WHY?" But before I get any further, let's take a look at the book I've chosen...

And to help us with this particular Cover Off, I'm going to add the synopsis for the book:

"Travis Roan and his dog, Bear, are hunters: They travel the world pursuing evildoers in order to bring them to justice. They have now come to Kansas on the trail of Rudolph Bormann, a Nazi doctor and concentration camp administrator who snuck into the U.S. under the name Rudy Goodman in the 1950s and has at last been identified. Travis quickly learns that Goodman has powerful friends who will go to any length to protect the Nazi; what he doesn't know is that Goodman has furtively continued his diabolical work, amassing a congregation of followers who believe he possesses Godlike powers. Caught between these men is Kansas State Trooper Skottie Foster, an African American woman and a good cop who must find a way to keep peace in her district--until she realizes the struggle between Roan and Bormann will put her and her family in grave peril." 

Okay. Obviously, the wolf and/or butcher is this Rudy Goodman, and he's referred to as "the saint" because he's the head of a church in Kansas. Having been at The Poisoned Pen and heard Grecian talk about this book before it was published, it is based on a true story.

What do I think of the artwork on the covers? The UK cover is so simple that it's almost an insult. A man walking down a rain-slicked highway with a dark cloud hanging over his head. But the storm looks as though it's already passed and that cloud's merely a leftover. Land that's flat as a pancake which reminds me of the Great Plains. Absolutely no blurbs. Just the title and the author's name. On the whole, this cover says so little that most people probably wouldn't bother picking it up. Was the UK publisher obligated by contract to release the book in the UK? Just wondering.

Now, the US cover has more oomph to it, although-- you know me-- I could do without Nora Roberts' blurb and the "National Bestselling Author" bit. There's Skottie Foster's state trooper car raising a dust cloud as it travels down the road toward a sky that looks as though all hell's about to break loose. I would not want to be traveling toward that storm! I also like the font and slant the US publishers have given to the title and author's name. Very eye-catching.

But what about those two different titles?

The UK choice of title, like the cover, says nothing, gives no clues. On the other hand, when I read the US title, my first thought was "I didn't know wolves and butchers had a saint" which led to curiosity which led to me reading the synopsis.

So it should come as no surprise when I tell you that I much prefer the US cover. It's much more evocative than the UK cover. 

What about you? Which cover do you prefer? US? UK? Neither one? Inquiring minds would love to know!

Alex Grecian & Dan Fesperman at The Poisoned Pen!

Thursday, May 19, saw me jumping into the Jeep once again to head to my favorite bookstore, The Poisoned Pen. This time I was going to see CWA Dagger Award winner Dan Fesperman and Alex Grecian, author of the Murder Squad books (one of my favorite series). Although owner Barbara Peters did stop by the bookstore, she didn't stay long. Dana Stabenow was with her, and I have a feeling that they had dinner plans. Tonight would be Patrick Millikin's turn to interview the authors.

L to R: Dan Fesperman, Alex Grecian, Patrick Millikin

Dan's latest book is The Letter Writer which takes place in New York City shortly after Pearl Harbor. Alex's books are about the beginnings of forensic science and the formation of the Murder Squad in London shortly after the Jack the Ripper murders. They also show how Jack the Ripper has influenced our current culture.

"Lost and Gone Forever is the third book in what I call my Ripper trilogy," Grecian said. "I've seen the back of Jack, and now I'm done with him!"

"And we get to see the beginnings of a Hammersmith detective agency," Millikin said. "We were talking a bit in the back about where the private detective entered history. Roughly at the same time as your book, we had the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the United States."

"Yes, in this latest book there are two bounty hunters who were originally going to be Pinkerton agents," Alex said.

L to R: Dan Fesperman, Alex Grecian

"I ask many people who write historicals... how do you get the cadences of everyday speech? How do you bring the reader into that era and bring it alive?" Patrick asked.

"I read a lot of diaries," Grecian replied. "They don't explain anything; they're just talking about their everyday lives. Of course that often leads me down other rabbit holes of research!"

"Alex doesn't have recourse to this, but I find watching movies of the period to be a tremendous help," Fesperman said. "Another thing that was a fantastic resource-- since I have police characters-- is the monthly magazine published by the New York City Police Department. It's called Spring 3100 after their old telephone number. It's full of precinct gossip, police slang, and you really get a feel for their social lives."

Dan Fesperman

When asked for a brief description of The Letter Writer, Fesperman told us of Little Deutschland in New York City, a place that showed Nazi propaganda films to packed houses. Where Brown Shirt rallies were very well attended. Even though all of this activity stopped when the United States entered World War II, the sentiments were still there, and those people were still there. There was panic on the waterfront. The Navy was extremely nervous. And in the midst of all this is Danziger, a man who speaks five languages and writes letters for illiterate immigrants on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Danziger is "a steadfast practitioner of concealing and forgetting" for his clients-- and he has a seemingly boundless knowledge of the city and its inhabitants.

Fesperman's basis for the character of Danziger was a little vignette done by a woman who wrote Talk of the Town in the 1930s. As he read those few paragraphs, he realized what a repository of information and secrets a letter writer would be, that such a person would have access to better and more reliable information than the State Department about what was really going on in Europe as Hitler's armies advanced.  The only other real source material he found for this book was a memoir called My Mother and I about a Jewish girl who wrote letters for immigrants.

Alex Grecian

When asked about their backgrounds, Fesperman told us that he had been a journalist, while Grecian was in advertising.  Millikin asked Grecian about his approach to Jack the Ripper in his last three books.

"I made a very conscious decision that I wasn't going to bring in any female characters who were going to be victims. This led me to treat Jack the Ripper in a very different way."

Fesperman has written ten books and admitted that the time he spent in Dubai doing research for a book were "the dreariest three weeks of my life."

As a journalist, Dan traveled all over the world covering the news. "I made pizzas during that time," Grecian quipped, which made us all laugh. Another story that made us smile was one told by Dan about a TV repairman in Afghanistan who had to live like a spy because it was illegal under the Taliban to have a television set-- "the undercover TV repairman."

Right after that Patrick wanted to know more about Alex Grecian's earlier years as "the young pizza repairman"  and there we were, laughing again.

Available Now!

Alex is proof that "write what you know" doesn't always work. He knew his subject for his first book, and it took five months to write. It didn't sell. He knew the subject of his second book. It took nine months to write, and it didn't sell either. His third book-- The Yard, Murder Squad #1-- took a year and a half to write, and it was the one that sold. 

Alex wrote The Yard as a standalone, but when the book was in the process of being sold, he was asked, "Do you have book two?" He didn't, but replied, "Sure!" The reply to that was, "In thirty minutes can you give me three paragraphs [about the plot of non-existent book two]?"  Yikes!

What Grecian had to do was take the character of Walter Day, break him down, and build him back up again in order to make him rounder and more complex.

When Patrick mentioned the old "write what you know" again (ironically), Dan Fesperman quickly responded, "Write what you want to write, and if you don't know it, go find out!"  

Dan's work in progress takes place half in the present day and half in 1979 in Berlin, Germany, where a woman administers four safe houses. It's involved a lot of research into the CIA. He's also working on a television series with the BBC, HBO and two people responsible for The Wire. The drama series will begin with VE Day and concerns the early days of the CIA. Season one should cover VE Day to the Berlin Airlift. 

Available Now!

Grecian is working on a new series that begins in 1951 and works its way to the present. It involves the Ratlines (Nazi escape routes at the end of World War II) and a former camp administrator who made his way to South America. This  man then moves to Kansas, sets up a church with tax dodges, legal loopholes, etc. 

As the conversation delved into Germans who fled Europe for Central and South America, Fesperman mentioned a New York Times article he'd read recently about a town in the heart of Brazil with a strong (American) Confederate history. "And what many people don't know is that yes, Ellis Island was the gateway for immigrants to the United States, but during World War II, it was a detention center for deportation," Dan said.

Lots of interesting conversation about little known history... the hour flew by. If you'd like to watch the entire event, I urge you to go to Livestream!

I Have Alex Grecian Covered!

Let's see.... I reviewed Alex Grecian's latest Murder Squad mystery yesterday. I'm doing a US/UK Cover-Off of the book today, and tomorrow Denis and I will be heading to The Poisoned Pen to see him in person. I guess you could say that this is Alex Grecian Week!

Before we actually get right down to it, I have to tell you that I'm looking forward to seeing Alex's shoes. The first time I saw him, his shoes had lots of bright neon green. Last year he wore his Union Jack shoes. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us this time!

Okay, time to take a look at these covers....

The US cover is a bit depressing, isn't it? Gray, gray, gray. Gloomy skies, fog, one lone figure who's probably wondering what the deal is with all those chairs just like I am. No real blurbs. Just the title, author's name, and information telling us that this is a Murder Squad book and that Grecian is a bestselling author. I like the fonts used, and the spacing, but... there's really nothing there to grab me. How about you?

On the other hand, I like the use of color on the UK cover. There's a lot of red on that cover, which is appropriate since these books can sometimes get a bit bloody-- especially with Jack the Ripper as a character in the last two. But even with all that use of red, the cover still strongly implies darkness. I really like the fact that a man in Victorian clothing has walked through a dark tunnel and is coming out into the light. This is very symbolic of Walter Day's progress throughout the book.

Title, author's name, "bestselling author," and four-- count 'em--four blurbs. You're probably expecting me to be frothing at the mouth because I've made no secret of my loathing of blurbs. But guess what? They don't bother me on this cover. Yes, it's true that I wish they weren't there. I don't know if it's because the blurbs are short, well balanced on either side of the tunnel, and actually give the prospective buyer genuine clues about the book, but I don't find them as obnoxious as I usually do. What do you think about them?

Now... which one is my choice? I think it's rather easy to deduce that I prefer the UK cover. It's just plain more eye-catching. Walking down that bookstore aisle, I'd go right past the depressing gray US cover (unless I did happen to see Grecian's name) and find myself picking up the UK edition.

What about you? Which cover do you prefer? US? UK? Neither one? Too close to call? Inquiring minds would love to know!


 

Lost and Gone Forever by Alex Grecian

First Line: "Peter?"

Many changes have occurred at Scotland Yard's Murder Squad in the past year. Scotland Yard is now in a new building. Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith has lost his job and set up his own private detective agency. Claire Day is trying to raise her family by writing because her husband, Inspector Walter Day, has been missing for this entire length of time. 

No one knows where Day is, although some have suspicions that Saucy Jack (AKA Jack the Ripper) has him. For Hammersmith, finding Day is his one and only case-- although one of the women working for him have other ideas. What Hammersmith doesn't realize for quite a while is that he isn't working alone. There is a pair of bounty hunters on the lookout for Jack and Walter, and Nevil should be worried.

I've been reading and enjoying Alex Grecian's Murder Squad series since the very first book, The Yard. Grecian has created several marvelous characters, and it's easy to become irritated when you feel that they all aren't getting their fair share of time in the spotlight. And that can happen here. Points of view can change from one book to another as a certain character takes charge of the narrative. Relationships shift... and bad things can happen.

Bad things have been happening to Walter Day for an entire year. He's been held captive by Jack the Ripper, and if you're afraid that Lost and Gone Forever's gore factor is going to be too high for you, or that you just don't want to read scenes of torture, you can rest easy. Grecian does something much worse (in my opinion) than describing gore and torture: he lets your imagination fill in the blanks. Toward the end of Walter's lightly described time with Jack, Jack looks at Walter and makes the comment that he's broken his favorite toy. I don't know about you, but my imagination can fill in a lot of blanks with that one short sentence.

It's so tempting to talk more in depth about the plot of this book, but I don't like giving things away, so let's talk about more general things. There are quite a few plot threads in this book, and sometimes it seems as though they jostle each other for space. Did I find it confusing? Not at all. I just admired Grecian's ability to keep everything straight. Throughout the book, Claire Day was working on a children's story, and we were treated to excerpts from it. Something tells me there was supposed to be some symbolism there, but frankly the story almost bored me to tears, and I skimmed through those sections quickly. I probably missed something important, but I have yet to feel any real remorse.

I've always found Alex Grecian's writing to be very visual, very imaginative, and his pacing and characterization are wonderful. If you're new to this series, I do suggest that you start at the beginning with The Yard because, as I said earlier, characters grow and change, things happen to them, relationships shift... and that information will be invaluable in later books. 

Be warned: these books read quickly, and they are very addictive!
      

Lost and Gone Forever by Alex Grecian

ISBN: 9780399176104 

G.P. Putnam's Sons © 2016

Hardcover, 384 pages

Historical Mystery, #5 Murder Squad

Rating: A-

Source: Amazon Vine  


  

May 2016 New Mystery Releases!

Lots of trips to the Desert Botanical Garden. Trips to my local Michael's to fondle yarn. Lunches with authors and friends. Sitting outside to soak up a little sun. The usual appointments and errands. Lots of knitting. Long phone conversations with faraway friends. Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. Blogging. Have I had time to read? 

You betcha!

I've also had time to choose what I think will be the cream of the crop when it comes to new mysteries being released in May.

They're grouped by release date, and I've included all the information you'll need to find your own copies. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

I hope I've found some titles to add to your wish lists and shelves. Happy Reading!

=== May 3 ===

Title: The Woman in Blue

Author: Elly Griffiths

Series: #8 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson series set in Norfolk, England

ISBN: 9780544417854

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 368 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Known as England’s Nazareth, the medieval town of Little Walsingham is famous for religious apparitions. So when Ruth Galloway’s druid friend Cathbad sees a woman in a white dress and a dark blue cloak standing alone in the local cemetery one night, he takes her as a vision of the Virgin Mary. But then a woman wrapped in blue cloth is found dead the next day, and Ruth’s old friend Hilary, an Anglican priest, receives a series of hateful, threatening letters. Could these crimes be connected? When one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered just before Little Walsingham’s annual Good Friday Passion Play, Ruth, Cathbad, and DCI Harry Nelson must team up to find the killer before he strikes again." 

Title: A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall

Author: Hannah Dennison

Series: #3 in the Kat Stanford cozy series set in Devon, England

ISBN: 9781250065506

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When antique dealer Kat Stanford stumbles upon the partially mummified body of a young woman in an abandoned wing at Honeychurch Hall, suspicion falls on those who had been living there many years ago. And it appears that the deceased had been murdered. Given her mother Iris’s checkered past, Kat is not surprised to learn that Iris knew the victim.

Meanwhile, the unexpected appearance of former lothario Bryan Laney sets female hearts aflutter. Despite the passing years, time has not dampened his ardor for Iris, but the feeling is not reciprocated.

With stories of hidden treasure and secret chambers, past and present collide. As Kat becomes embroiled once more in her mother’s mysterious and tumultuous bygone days, she comes to realize that life is never black and white, and sometimes it is necessary to risk your own life to protect the lives of the ones you love."

Title: Wilde Lake

Author: Laura Lippman

Standalone

ISBN: 9780062083456

Publisher: William Morrow

Hardcover, 368 pages

Synopsis: "Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected—and first female—state’s attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It’s not the kind of case that makes headlines, but peaceful Howard county doesn’t see many homicides.

As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Now, Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What details might have been withheld from her when she was a child?

The more she learns about the case, the more questions arise. What does it mean to be a man or woman of one’s times? Why do we ask our heroes of the past to conform to the present’s standards? Is that fair? Is it right? Propelled into the past, she discovers that the legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. Lu realizes that even if she could learn the whole truth, she probably wouldn’t want to." 

=== May 10 ===

Title: Prayers the Devil Answers

Author: Sharyn McCrumb

Series: #11 in the Appalachian Ballad series set in Tennessee and North Carolina

ISBN: 9781476772813

Publisher: Atria Books

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Years later, after the tragedy, someone remembered the Dumb Supper and what had happened there. That was the cause of it, they said, because the ritual wasn’t a game after all. It really was magic, but magic has rules, and she broke them.

Suddenly thrust into the role of primary caretaker for her family following the tragic death of her husband, Ellie Robbins is appointed to serve out his term as sheriff of their rural Tennessee mountain town. The year is 1936, and her role is largely symbolic, except for the one task that only a sheriff can do: execute a convicted prisoner.

Ellie has long proven she can handle herself. But becoming sheriff is altogether different, and the demands of the role are even more challenging when she is forced to combat society’s expectations for a woman. Soon enough, dark secrets come to light, and Ellie must grapple with small town superstitions and the tenuous ties she shares with a condemned killer as she carves out a place for herself in an uncertain future.

“There is no one quite like Sharyn McCrumb. No one better either” (San Diego Union-Tribune), and her luscious narrative brings her unforgettable characters to life with the “pure poetry” (The New York Times Book Review) that defines her astounding novels. Prayers the Devil Answers combines masterful historical research and captivating folklore to make an atmospheric and suspenseful tour de force." 

Title: See Also Deception

Author: Larry D. Sweazy

Series: #2 in the Marjorie Trumaine historical series set in 1960s North Dakota

ISBN: 9781633881266

Publisher: Seventh Street Books

Paperback, 270 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "October 1964—Just months after freelance indexer Marjorie Trumaine helped solve a series of murders in Dickinson, North Dakota, she is faced with another death that pulls her into an unwanted investigation. Calla Eltmore, the local librarian, is found dead at work and everyone considers it suicide. But Marjorie can't believe that Calla would be capable of doing such a thing.

Marjorie's suspicions are further aroused when she notices something amiss at Calla's wake, but the police seem uninterested in her observations.

Despite pressing job commitments and the burden of caring for a husband in declining health, Marjorie sets out to uncover the truth. What she finds is a labyrinth of secrets—and threats from someone who will kill to keep these secrets hidden." 

Title: Reliance, Illinois

Author: Mary Volmer

Historical Fiction (with a lot of secrets) standalone set in a Mississippi River town in Illinois in the 1870s

ISBN: 9781616956721

Publisher: Soho Press

Hardcover, 368 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Reliance, Illinois tells the story of a young woman faced with choices that will alter the course of her own future, and offers a brilliant window into American life during a period of tumultuous change. Illinois, 1874: With a birthmark covering half her face, thirteen-year-old Madelyn Branch is accustomed to cold and awkward greetings, and expects no less in the struggling town of Reliance. After all, her mother, Rebecca, was careful not to mention a daughter in the Matrimonial Times ad that brought them there. When Rebecca weds, Madelyn poses as her mother’s younger sister and earns a grudging berth in her new house. Deeply injured by her mother’s deceptions, Madelyn soon leaves to enter the service of Miss Rose Werner, prodigal daughter of the town’s founder. Miss Rose is a suffragette and purveyor of black market birth control who sees in Madelyn a project and potential acolyte. Madelyn, though, wants to feel beautiful and loved, and she pins her hopes on William Stark, a young photographer and haunted Civil War veteran." 

=== May 17 ===

Title: Boar Island

Author: Nevada Barr

Series: #19 in the Anna Pigeon series set in Maine

ISBN: 9781250064691

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Hardcover, 384 pages

Synopsis: "Anna Pigeon, in her career as a National Park Service Ranger, has had to deal with all manner of crimes and misdemeanors, but cyber-bullying and stalking is a new one. The target is Elizabeth, the adopted teenage daughter of her friend Heath Jarrod. Elizabeth is driven to despair by the disgusting rumors spreading online and bullying texts. Until, one day, Heath finds her daughter Elizabeth in the midst of an unsuccessful suicide attempt. And then she calls in the cavalry---her aunt Gwen and her friend Anna Pigeon.

While they try to deal with the fragile state of affairs---and find the person behind the harassment---the three adults decide the best thing to do is to remove Elizabeth from the situation. Since Anna is about to start her new post as Acting Chief Ranger at Acadia National Park in Maine, the three will join her and stay at a house on the cliff of a small island near the park, Boar Island.

But the move east doesn't solve the problem. The stalker has followed them east. And Heath (a paraplegic) and Elizabeth aren't alone on the otherwise deserted island. At the same time, Anna has barely arrived at Acadia before a brutal murder is committed by a killer uncomfortably close to her." 

Title: The Singer from Memphis

Author: Gary Corby

Series: #6 in the historical Athenian series set in 461 BCE

ISBN: 9781616956684

Publisher: Soho Crime

Hardcover, 352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Nicolaos, the only private investigator in ancient Athens, discovers that helping an author with his book research can be very dangerous. The would-be author Herodotus has hired Nico and his priestess wife, Diotima, to accompany him to Egypt to research that ancient country’s history. Unfortunately, Egypt happens to be in the throes of a rebellion against its overlords, the Persian Empire. Pirates infest the sea route. Three different armies roam the Egyptian countryside. The river is full of crocodiles. Everywhere Nico turns, there’s a secret agent ready to kill him, and he can’t find a decent cup of wine anywhere. A simple historical investigation turns into a dangerous adventure of international espionage." 

Title: Lost and Gone Forever

Author: Alex Grecian

Series: #5 in the historical Murder Squad series set in London, England

ISBN: 9780399176104

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hardcover, 384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Many changes have happened to the Murder Squad. Rash actions have cost Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith his job, and in response he has set up his own private detective agency. Inspector Walter Day has been missing for a year, and no one knows where he is—though there is a strong suspicion that Saucy Jack has him. Hammersmith has made finding Day his primary case, and he has company—a pair of bounty hunters, a man and a woman. It is only gradually that he has come to realize that they are not what they seem . ." 

Title: The Highwayman

Author: Craig Johnson

Series: #14 in the Sheriff Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming

ISBN: 9780735220898

Publisher: Viking

Hardcover, 208 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When Wyoming highway patrolman Rosey Wayman is transferred to the beautiful and imposing landscape of the Wind River Canyon, an area the troopers refer to as no-man's-land because of the lack of radio communication, she starts receiving “officer needs assistance” calls. The problem? They're coming from Bobby Womack, a legendary Arapaho patrolman who met a fiery death in the canyon almost a half-century ago. With an investigation that spans this world and the next, Sheriff Walt Longmire and Henry Standing Bear take on a case that pits them against a legend: The Highwayman." 

=== May 19 ===

Title: The Malice of Waves

Author: Mark Douglas-Home

Series: #3 in the Sea Detective series set in Scotland

ISBN: 9780718182755

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Hardcover, 304 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "Five years ago, fourteen-year-old Max Wheeler disappeared from Priest's Island, an isolated but bleakly beautiful place on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. 

In the closeknit local community, there are no secrets, except what happened to Max. None of the police or private investigations since have shed any light on what happened the night he went missing, presumed dead.

But there is one man who is yet to take on the case: The Sea Detective.

Cal McGill is an oceanographer and unique investigator who uses his knowledge of tides, winds and currents to solve mysteries no-one else can.

However, Cal is an unwelcome stranger who must navigate the tensions between Max's inconsolable father, the broken family he has neglected, and the embittered locals, resentful after years of suspicion.

As Cal arrives, a violent storm approaches, threatening to completely cut off the island, with a possible murderer at large.."  


May is a feast! Craig Johnson. Nevada Barr. Elly Griffiths. And on. And on. And on.  Wow!

Which of these books are going on your reading lists?

Alex Grecian at The Poisoned Pen!

Finally! An event at The Poisoned Pen that Denis could attend with me! This would be the third time we've seen Alex Grecian, author of the Murder Squad mysteries that we both enjoy, and we were looking forward to it. In fact it hadn't been long since I'd read his latest book, The Harvest Man, and put it on my Best Reads of 2015 list, so I was really looking forward to seeing him.

Alex was still off signing a stack of books for my favorite bookstore's mail order customers when host and bookstore owner Barbara Peters came out to talk with us a bit. She told us that Comic Con was going to be in town the following week and that seventeen of the authors slated to attend would be at The Poisoned Pen Wednesday night of that week to "hang out" with their fans. (From all reports, a good time was had by all. The event was not put on Livestream.)

Barbara went on to report that the store would also host debut novelist Anne A. Wilson, whose book Hover is about a female helicopter pilot who flies training exercises with Navy SEAL teams. At the end of June, Shona Patel-- author of the #2 bestselling trade paperback at The Poisoned Pen, Teatime for the Firefly-- would be there to talk about her latest book, Flame Tree Road. And guess what? Both these authors live in nearby Fountain Hills!

"I'm a contrary guy."

L to R: Barbara Peters, Alex Grecian

When Alex Grecian took his seat, I had to take a look at a ten-year-old boy who was attending with his father. The boy was wired-- so excited to be there with his dad (who was a diehard Grecian fan), and so pumped to have a chance to see a real, live author. When the two had arrived, the boy was quick to ask how he could reserve seats because he wanted the best ones in the house. He'd made me smile, and-- sure enough-- when I looked over at him, he had a huge grin on his face, and I could swear he was floating an inch or two above his seat. I love young readers!

When Barbara mentioned that there had been some harsh fan criticism of Inspector Walter Day's wife, Claire, in the first book, The Yard, Alex nodded. "Yes, there was. I had fan mail telling me that she was too whiny, and that they wanted me to get rid of her. I'm a contrary guy. I decided right then and there that Claire Day will never be hurt or killed!" (Personally, I was glad to hear the news because I like Claire and never found her to be whiny.) 

Barbara then asked him about the historical characters in The Yard. "Yes, I had a few," Alex said, "but when I learned that the book was now going to be a series, I had to do some things differently. I changed everything but the procedures, and now Commissioner Sir Edward Bradford is the only historical character."

Available Now!

Before going on to talk about The Harvest Man, Alex asked how many of us had read the book. Only Barbara and I had. Alex smiled at me and did a little half wave. "I got these shoes for you!" More on the shoes later, but suffice it to say he'd remembered my two-thumbs-up review of his shoes the first time we met in 2013.

After Peters mentioning that it had been "Ripper Week" at The Pen with other authors also having written about the most infamous serial killer of them all, she returned to the subject of Claire Day. "After some of the comments you've made, I have to ask if some aspects of your own marriage get written into your books?"

"Yes, there are definitely elements of my own marriage in my books!" Alex said.

Saucy Jack

The Harvest Man is the second Murder Squad book (after The Devil's Workshop) in which Jack the Ripper appears. Talk naturally had to gravitate toward Saucy Jack for a minute. 

"Jack the Ripper is the world's first celebrity killer, and he opened the floodgate for people to do bad things in order to get attention," Grecian said. "He should not be celebrated. He's nothing more than a garden variety brutal psychopathic killer. I wish he had been fiction. I might be writing My Little Pony or something instead."

Deconstruction/Reconstruction

"I never imagined there'd be a sequel to The Yard," Grecian told us. "That book was written as a fully formed standalone. I had to deconstruct it in order to write it as a series.

Alex Grecian

"My next Murder Squad book is called Lost and Gone Forever..."

"That's a horrible title!" Barbara objected, and I agreed in a way. It certainly makes me wonder who's going to be lost and gone!

"As I've mentioned, The Yard was written as a standalone. When I was asked to write a series using these characters, I had to deconstruct the book into its separate parts in order to reconstruct it as a series. The second book took Day and Hammersmith out of London. The third book split the two up. This fourth book has them adjusting to serious changes in both their lives."

When Barbara asked him how many books would be in the series, Grecian replied, "The sixth book could be the last."

"Is there anything else in the works for you?" Barbara asked.

"Yes. There could possibly be two series," Grecian said, and we all perked up our ears. "I'm working on a second, contemporary, series that features Hammersmith's great-great-grandson." (I like the sound of that, and I know I wasn't the only one!)

Going back to The Harvest Man, Peters mentioned that the focus of the book wasn't really on Jack the Ripper. "No, it's not," Alex said. "The focus is on a new killer who's been dubbed 'the Harvest Man' because he likes to hide in attics waiting for his victims to go to bed. If any of you remember The Devil's Workshop, the Harvest Man is one of the prisoners who wasn't captured when there was that prison break."

Alex Grecian signing his book for a fan.

Questions and Wifely Wisdom

A fan asked him about the research that he does for his books.

Grecian replied, "My Victorian research is pretty much on autopilot now. With my last two books, my primary research was on serial killers.

"I do try not to have women and children be victims in these books, although married couples are the Harvest Man's victims in this latest one.

"One thing that surprised me in my research is discovering that there's not a lot of information about Scotland Yard," Grecian continued. "There are no photographs or architectural plans of the inside of the building. There are no illustrations showing what their uniforms looked like. It's frustrating, but it does allow me to make stuff up."

The ten-year-old fan had a question: "Will they be making a movie based on your books?"

Alex smiled and said, "There was an option taken on The Yard, but it was shelved when 'Ripper Street' was broadcast. That option was on a single book, not the entire series though."

It was then that Grecian told us that he was thinking of writing a "spec script" for CSI before he wrote The Yard.

L to R: Barbara Peters, Alex Grecian

Another fan mentioned how much he liked the character of Dr. Kingsley. It was obvious that he's a favorite of Grecian's, too. Kingsley is based on British pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury, who "had a sense of smell like Wolverine's and was Sherlock Holmes for real. Spilsbury committed suicide, which is why I changed the character to Kingsley."

One of the surprises I had when I started reading The Harvest Man was the inclusion of poetry from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden Of Verses. When I was eight and read those poems, I learned how wonderful poetry could be. They still rank high in my memory, but in Grecian's talented hands, those verses took on a decidedly sinister cast. I asked him about it.

"I hope I didn't ruin them for you!" Grecian exclaimed. I assured him that he hadn't-- and that I'd enjoyed reading them in a completely different light. "I'm glad," he replied. "I don't know... I just always thought they were creepy!" He went on to say that the next novel will use excerpts from the book that Claire Day is writing, and I certainly look forward to that. (Well... I look forward to the whole book, not just Claire's writings!)

Lost and Gone Forever takes place one year after the events of The Harvest Man. Alex's wife pays close attention to what's happening, and she wants Nevil Hammersmith and Fiona Kingsley to get together. "The problem is, Fiona's too young, so I had to have a jump in time in the new book for my wife," Grecian said.

When asked about violence in his books, Grecian commented, "I abhor violence. I don't want to glorify it, but I don't want to sweep it under the rug either. You know, it's the strangest thing, being a writer. When my wife sees me and I'm in a really good mood, she knows I've killed someone that morning!" That's it, Alex-- end the evening with a laugh!

Worn just for me...

Once again time had flown by. Denis helped out by taking a woman's phone and photographing her standing next to Alex, and then Denis and I chatted with the author as he signed my book.

"I was serious, you know," Alex told me. "I wore these shoes just for you!" And he obligingly modeled one so Denis could take a photo.

It's going to be a very long wait for Lost and Gone Forever... and a look at Alex Grecian's newest footwear!