Shows about cops and investigators are all over TV – it’s no secret that many people have a fascination with crime. The topic for Episode 14 of BookendsTV is Crime Fiction.
This month, Justine chats with Jeffrey Round, an author who was born in Sudbury and is currently living in Toronto.
Jeffrey’s most recent book, Lake on the Mountain, is the first in a trilogy of murder mysteries based on missing persons investigator and gay father, Dan Sharp.
While attending a wedding in Prince Edward County, Sharp becomes involved in the case of a dead woman and a man who disappeared 20 years ago.
In this episode of Bookends, Jeffrey talks about the process of writing a crime novel, the last remnants of homophobia he comes across, and how he relates to the main character.
If you are searching for crime fiction, there’s no better place to go but Sleuth of Baker Street in Toronto and owner, J.D. Singh gives us his three other murder mystery recommendations.
BookendsTV starts here!
The Bookends List:
Owner of Sleuth of Baker Street, J.D. Singh, gives three other recommendations:
1. Sixkill, Robert B. Parker
On location in Boston, bad-boy actor Jumbo Nelson is accused of the rape and murder of a young woman. From the start the case seems fishy, so the Boston PD calls on Spenser to investigate. The situation doesn’t look good for Jumbo, whose appetites for food, booze, and sex are as outsized as his name. He was the studio’s biggest star, but he’s become their biggest liability. In the course of the investigation, Spenser encounters Jumbo’s bodyguard: a young, former football-playing Native American named Zebulon Sixkill. Sixkill acts tough, but Spenser sees something more within the young man. Despite the odd circumstances, the two forge an unlikely alliance, with Spenser serving as mentor for Sixkill. As the case grows darker and secrets about both Jumbo and the dead girl come to light, it’s Spenser-with Sixkill at his side-who must put things right. (description from Amazon.com)
2. Red Means Run, Brad Smith
Mickey Dupree is one of the most successful criminal attorneys in upstate New York. The upside of being Mickey: he has never lost a capital murder case. The downside: Mickey has a lot of enemies, and one of them has just driven the shaft of a golf club through his heart, leaving him dead in a sand trap at his exclusive country club. The cops, led by a gung ho but dim-witted detective named Joe Brady, focus their attentions on Virgil Cain. Just two weeks earlier, Virgil told a crowded bar that “somebody ought to blow Mickey’s head off,” after the slippery lawyer earned an acquittal for Alan Comstock, the man accused of murdering Virgil’s wife. Comstock, a legendary record producer, gun nut, and certifiable lunatic, has returned to his estate, where he lives with his wife, the long-suffering Jane. Virgil is convinced that the fix is in when Brady immediately throws him into jail with no investigation. So Virgil escapes from custody, determined to find Mickey’s killer himself. His only ally is the smart and sexy Claire Marchand, a detective who is at least willing to consider that Virgil may be telling the truth. Now it’s up to Virgil to prove his innocence, and to do that he needs to find the killer. Before the killer finds him. (description from Amazon.com)
3. Beat the Reaper, Josh Brazell
Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan’s worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he’d prefer to keep hidden. Whether it’s a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. Pietro “Bearclaw” Brnwna is a hitman for the mob, with a genius for violence, a well-earned fear of sharks, and an overly close relationship with the Federal Witness Relocation Program. More likely to leave a trail of dead gangsters than a molecule of evidence, he’s the last person you want to see in your hospital room. Nicholas LoBrutto, aka Eddy Squillante, is Dr. Brown’s new patient, with three months to live and a very strange idea: that Peter Brown and Pietro Brnwa might-just might-be the same person … Now, with the mob, the government, and death itself descending on the hospital, Peter has to buy time and do whatever it takes to keep his patients, himself, and his last shot at redemption alive. To get through the next eight hours-and somehow beat the reaper. Spattered in adrenaline-fueled action and bone-saw-sharp dialogue, BEAT THE REAPER is a debut thriller so utterly original you won’t be able to guess what happens next, and so shockingly entertaining you won’t be able to put it down. (description from Amazon.ca)
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Thank you to:
Jeffrey Round
Marta Warner with Dundurn
Sleuth of Baker Street
