Winner of the H.R.F. Keating Award for best biographical/critical book related to crime fiction, and nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe and Macavity Awards for Best Critical/Biographical book.

Winner of four major prizes for the best critical/biographical book related to crime fiction: the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and H.R.F. Keating Awards; and shortlisted for both the Agatha and Gold Dagger Awards. ‘Martin Edwards is the closest thing there has been to a philosopher of crime writing.’ The Times

Edgar award nominee James N. Frey, author of the internationally best-selling books on the craft of writing, How to Write a Damn Good Novel, How to Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques, and The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth, has now written what is certain to become the standard "how to" book for mystery writing, How to Write a Damn Good Mystery. Frey urges writers to aim high-not to try to write a good-enough-to-get-published mystery, but a damn good mystery. A damn good mystery is first a dramatic novel, Frey insists-a dramatic novel with living, breathing characters-and he shows his readers how to create a living, breathing, believable character who will be clever and resourceful, willful and resolute, and will be what Frey calls "the author of the plot behind the plot." Frey then shows, in his well-known, entertaining, and accessible (and often humorous) style , how the characters-the entire ensemble, including the murderer, the detective, the authorities, the victims, the suspects, the witnesses and the bystanders-create a complete and coherent world. Exploring both the on-stage action and the behind-the-scenes intrigue, Frey shows prospective writers how to build a fleshed-out, believable, and logical world. He shows them exactly which parts of that world show up in the pages of a damn good mystery-and which parts are held back just long enough to keep the reader guessing. This is an indispensable step-by-step guide for anyone who's ever dreamed of writing a damn good mystery.

LEARN HOW TO WRITE GRIPPING CRIME FICTION. Do you have an idea for a gripping crime novel? Would you like to know how to plot your book flawlessly? Do you want to create beautifully crafted characters and nail biting twists? This book is designed for anyone who wants to write an unputdownable crime novel. Whatever your subgenre, whether Scandi-crime or detective 'cosies', this book is full of inspirational advice, acute insights and practical exercises. The first part of the book establishes the rules of writing crime fiction - from convincing characters to the role of research. The book then covers the practical craft of writing and editing, before explaining in detail how to secure a contract and/or self-publish your work. A comprehensive guide for anyone who wants to be the next Val McDermid or Ian Rankin. ABOUT THE SERIES The Teach Yourself Creative Writing series helps aspiring authors tell their story. Covering a range of genres from science fiction and romantic novels, to illustrated children's books and comedy, this series is packed with advice, exercises and tips for unlocking creativity and improving your writing. And because we know how daunting the blank page can be, we set up the Just Write online community at tyjustwrite, for budding authors and successful writers to connect and share.

Here's your ticket to the greatest mystery-writing workshop ever! In this extraordinary compilation, more than three dozen members of the Mystery Writers of America share insights and advice that can help make your writing dreams a reality. You'll learn how to: • Develop unique ideas • Construct an airtight plot packed with intrigue and suspense • Create compelling characters and atmospheric settings • Develop a writing style all your own • Write convincing dialogue • Choose the appropriate point of view • Work with an agent • Conduct accurate research • and much, much more! You'll also find special guidelines for creating clues, dropping red herrings, and writing medical, legal, historical, true crime, and young adult mysteries. It's all the information you need to solve the mystery-writing riddle!

Noir Affect proposes a new understanding of noir as defined by negative affect. This new understanding emphasizes that noir is, first and foremost, an affective disposition rather than a specific cycle of films or novels associated with a given time period or national tradition. Instead, the essays in Noir Affect trace noir’s negativity as it manifests in different national contexts from the United States to Mexico, France, and Japan and in a range of different media, including films, novels, video games, and manga. The forms of affect associated with noir are resolutely negative: These are narratives centered on loss, sadness, rage, shame, guilt, regret, anxiety, humiliation, resentment, resistance, and refusal. Moreover, noir often asks us to identify with those on the losing end of cultural narratives, especially the criminal, the lost, the compromised, the haunted, the unlucky, the cast-aside, and the erotically “perverse,” including those whose greatest erotic attachment is to death. Drawing on contemporary work in affect theory, while also re-orienting some of its core assumptions to address the resolutely negative affects narrated by noir, Noir Affect is invested in thinking through the material, bodily, social, and political–economic impact of the various forms noir affect takes. If much affect theory asks us to consider affect as a space of possibility and becoming, Noir Affect asks us to consider affect as also a site of repetition, dissolution, redundancy, unmaking, and decay. It also asks us to consider the way in which the affective dimensions of noir enable the staging of various forms of social antagonism, including those associated with racial, gendered, sexual, and economic inequality. Featuring an Afterword by the celebrated noir scholar Paula Rabinowitz and essays by an array of leading scholars, Noir Affect aims to fundamentally re-orient our understanding of noir. Contributors: Alexander Dunst, Sean Grattan, Peter Hitchcock, Justus Nieland, Andrew Pepper, Ignacio Sánchez Prado, Brian Rejack, Pamela Thoma, Kirin Wachter-Grene

Find out how to give your mystery and detective novels that necessary grit of authenticity.

Invited by bestselling authors Lee Child and Laurie R. King, seventy of the most successful mystery writers in the business contribute essays and tips on the craft of writing, How to Write a Mystery is an invaluable guide and a must-have for every level of mystery writers Topics Include: Before Writing (rules, genres, setting, character, research, etc.), While Writing (outlining, the plot, dialogue, mood, etc.), Other than Novels (short stories, true crime, etc.), Other Considerations (divers character, copyright, criticism, online platforms, etc.) Book jacket.

Whether they're writing a short detective story, crime novel, or something else, writers at every level--and in every genre--can find the information they need to make their work more accurate and gripping in this reference that cuts through the medical jargon to address everything from a poison's symptoms and reactions to how it can be administered.

"Edwards skillfully weaves the strands together [in] this twisty whodunit." —Publishers Weekly This atmospheric, fast-moving and intricate thriller features Harry Devlin, one of modern crime fiction's most memorable amateur detectives, in the deadliest case of his life. A notice announcing that Harry Devlin died suddenly on Midsummer's Eve arrives at the office of his law firm one June day. Harry isn't happy to read it: Midsummer's Eve is less than a week away. His partner Jim Crusoe treats the message as a joke, but Harry isn't so sure. Meanwhile, young women are being murdered in Harry's home city of Liverpool. When a friend who has asked to meet him becomes the latest victim, Harry becomes a suspect. He's soon fighting for survival on two fronts. Even as he unravels the shocking secret behind the murders, Harry must discover and confront the enemy who wants him dead if he is to live to see Midsummer's Day.