The World's Finest Mystery... (7 page)

Every Dead Thing
the year before). Mo Hayder was a godsend to publicists with her blond film-star looks, murky past, and shy demeanor, but I reckon she is a major talent and here to stay. Another left-of-field blockbuster appeared in the Spring as a paperback original: Jake Arnott's
The Long Firm
, a sardonic and powerful tale inspired by the notorious Kray brothers East End empire of thuggery, with a strong gay, ironic voice that made it very much a word-of-mouth success. This was soon to be followed by J. J. Connolly's
Layer Cake
, another first-person tale of a career criminal whose world is collapsing around him, another literary debut sparkling with zest and originality. All three books, although undoubtedly belonging to the crime and mystery genre, were not marketed as such, which allows a pause for thought, but then neither of the authors originated within the crime community. This is a trend that is accelerating in Britain, with so many new, younger authors adopting the genre as matter of course, regardless of clichés and traditions. A healthy trend, if you ask me.

 

 

The year also began with Ian Rankin's
Set in Darkness
, the twelfth Inspector Rebus, and the novel that established his unchallenged domination of the best-selling lists, where most of his backlist camped throughout the year. (At one stage his novels occupied eight of the top fifteen positions on the Scottish best-seller lists!) Many other well-established writers came out with new books: Michael Gilbert, still active in his eighties, with
The Mathematics of Murder
, a short-story collection; Catherine Aird (
Little Knell
); Simon Brett (
The Body on the Beach
); Natasha Cooper (
Prey to All
); Ruth Dudley-Edwards (the comedic
Anglo-Irish
Murders
); Jonathan Gash (
Die Dancing
, featuring his new heroine Dr. Clare Burtonall); Paula Gosling (
Underneath Every Stone
); Reginald Hill (
Arms and the Woman
); Sarah Caudwell (the posthumous
The Sirens Sang of Murder
, which sadly only appeared in the U.S.A.); Bill James (
Kill Me
); Margaret Yorke (
A Case to Answer
); June Thomson (
The Unquiet Grave
); Quintin Jardine (with two books:
Screen Savers
, featuring Oz Blackstone, and
Thursday's Legends
, featuring Skinner); Val McDermid (
Killing in the Shadows
); H. R. F. Keating (another recidivist, with
The Last Detective
, and his final Inspector Ghote mystery,
Breaking and Entering
); Nicolas Freeling (
Some Day Tomorrow
); Martina Cole (
Broken
, another of her wildly successful East End gangster moll sagas, which outsell most other better-known British authors by a mile and more); Michael Dibdin (
Thanksgiving
, a haunting, elegiac noir excursion that disappointed many reviewers used to his pithy Inspector Zen chronicles, but which I adored); Roy Lewis (
Forms of Death
); Jo Bannister (
Changelings
); Robert Barnard (
Unholy Dying
); W. J. Burley (
Wycliffe and the Sign of Nine
); Gwendoline Butler (
A Cof
fi
n for Christmas
); Ann Granger (
Shades of Murder
); Agatha Christie… well, a novelized play by the great Christie expanded by Charles Osborne,
The Spiders Web
; Janet Laurence (
The Mermaid's Feast
); Frances Fyfield (
Undercurrents
); Peter Lovesey (
The Reaper
); Minette Walters (
The Shape of Snakes
); Dick Francis (
Shattered
, which might turn out to be his final book, following the death of his wife, Mary, with whom he collaborated); and Ruth Rendell twice, with a story collection,
Piranha to Scurfy
, as herself, and
Grasshopper
as "Barbara Vine."

 

 

The above list would make for an incomparable feast of mystery writing by any standards, but was restricted to well-established writers. To confirm the incomparable choice afforded to British readers, here is another necessarily abbreviated rundown of books published in 2000 by authors who have already made a distinct mark on the crime and mystery scene over the past decade; many of these will be the stars of tomorrow: John Baker (
The Chinese Girl
); Hilary Bonner (
Deep Deceit
); Russell James (
Painting in the Dark
); Carol Anne Davis (
Noise Abatement
); Janet Neel (
O Gentle Death
); Ken Bruen (
The McDead
, the final volume in his White underworld trilogy); Paul Charles (
The Ballad of Sean and Wilko
); Lee Child (
The Visitor
); Judith Cutler (
Dying by Degrees, Power Games
); Leslie Forbes (
Skin, Shadow and Bone
); Elizabeth Corley (
Fatal Legacy
); Kate Ellis (
The Funeral Boat
); Patricia Hall (
Skeleton at the Feast
); Paul Johnson (
The Blood Tree
); Frank Lean (
Boiling Point
); Phil Lovesey (
When Ashes Burn
); Jim Lusby (
Crazy Man Michael
); Barry Maitland (
Silvermeadow
); Veronica Stallwood (
Oxford Shadows
); Margaret Murphy (
Dying Embers
). Notable newcomers included Stephen Booth (
Black Dog
); Joolz Denby (
Stone Baby
); Stephen Humphreys (
Sleeping Partner
); Mary Scott (
Murder on Wheels
); David Aitken (
Sleeping with Jane Austen
); and Sarah Diamond (
The Beach Road
).

 

 

In the promises-confirmed department, many young writers demonstrated that their raved-over early steps were not flukes and are on the fast track for stardom; they include Martyn Bedford (
Black Cat
, an impressive follow-up to the haunting
The Houdini Girl
); Nicholas Royle (
The Director's Cut
); Patrick Redmond (
The Puppet Show
); Lauren Henderson (
Chained
, featuring the indomitable Sam Jones), who was also a founder and chief troublemaker of the Tart Noir group (and Web site) of politically incorrect female writers with attitude, which also enlisted Sparkle Hayter, Katy Munger, and Stella Duffy; Laura Wilson (
Dying
Voices
); John Williams (
Cardiff Dead
); Jane Adams (
Angels Gateway
); and Denise Mina (
Exile
, which might still win her a third award in three years!).

 

 

Three distinct niches in crime and mystery writing have always proven particularly suited to the British and in all three subgenres, they again excelled. Fueled by ever-increasingly popularity, the historical mystery continues to thrive and among the year's offerings were Lindsey Davis (
Ode to a Banker
); Alys Clare (
Ashes of the Elements; Tavern in the Morning
); Judith Cook (
School of the Night
); Paul Doherty, prolific as ever (
The Treason of the Ghosts
, featuring Hugh Corbett, and
The Anubis Slayings
, set in Ancient Egypt); Susanna Gregory (
Masterly Murder
); Philip Gooden (
Sleep of Death
); Michael Jecks (
The Traitor of St. Giles, The Boy Bishop's Glovemaker
); Bernard Knight (
An Awful Secret
); Hannah Marsh— alias Tim Godwin (
Distraction of the Blood; Death Be My Theme
); Iain Pears (the long-awaited
Immaculate Deception
); Kate Sedley (
St. John's Fern
); Peter Tremayne (with a double dose of Sister Fidelma, a collection of stories
Hemlock at Vespers
and a novel,
Our Lady of Darkness
); Sylvan Hamilton (
The Bone Peddlar
); Deryn Lake (
Death at the Apothecary's Hall
); Edward Marston (
The Amorous Nightingale, The Elephants of Norwich
); Barbara Nadel (
A Chemical Prison
); Michael Pearce (
A Cold Touch of Ice
); Marilyn Todd (
The Black Salamander
); Gillian Linscott (
Perfect Daughter
); and David Wishart (
Old Bones
). On similar form were the exponents of comic crime, including Christopher Brookmyre (
Boiling a Frog
); Marc Blake (
24 Carat Schmooze
); Peter Guttridge (
The Once and Future Con
); and Charles Spencer (
Under the In
fl
uence
).

 

 

The end of the cold war hasn't slowed British thriller writers down, and they continue to find murky territory to explore. Pride of place naturally goes to John Le Carré for
The Constant Gardener
, a major return to form, but one must also mention Raymond Benson's latest James Bond adventure
Double or Death
; Colin Forbes (
Sinister Tide
); Clive Egelton (
The Honey Trap
); Ken Follett (
Code to Zero
); Robert Goddard (
Sea Change
); Michael Ridpath (
Final Venture
); Brian Freemantle (a Charlie Muffin caper,
Dead Men Living
); Donald James (
Vadim
, the third and maybe final volume in his brilliant near-future post–civil-war Russia police procedural series); and Peter May (
The Killing Room
). Over the past decade, a strong individual strain of distinctly British noir writing, both influenced and distanced from its American model, has established itself and echoes of it can be seen in many of the books and authors mentioned above in various categories. Some writers, however, stand on their own, and are at the vanguard of this movement. Many also published new books in 2000, and they include John Connolly (
Dark Hollow
); Mike Phillips (
A Shadow of Myself
); Jerry Raine (
Slaphead Chameleon
); Martyn Waites (
Candleland
); Mark Timlin (
All the Empty Places
); Maxim Jakubowski (
On Tenderness Express
); Boris Starling (
Storm
); Rob Ryan (
Nine Mil
); and the Tokyo-based David Peace, who offered the second volume of his searing Yorkshire quartet
1977
, confirming the promise of his debut
1974
.

 

 

Possibly affected by the number of magazines currently hosting a platform for short stories, only three anthologies appeared this year. Martin Edwards edited a final CWA volume
Scenes of the Crime
, while the undersigned published the third, and also final volume, in his series of historical mystery collections initially set up in homage to the late Ellis Peters.
Murder Through the Ages
featured many of the usual suspects from British, U.S., and European shores. I also managed to showcase various mystery writers (including Val McDermid, Nicholas Blincoe, Stella Duffy, Denise Danks, and Manda Scott) in a collection of stories inspired by the Internet
The New English Library Book of Internet Stories
.

 

 

Lest the reader think I have indulged in sheer list-making above, I'm pleased to point out that the titles and writers mentioned in the course of this retrospective only cover a quarter of so of the books by British authors published in the U.K. in 2000. An indication, if one were needed, of the health of the genre on these shores. Long may it continue.

 

 

 

World Mystery Report: Australia

David Honeybone and Lucy Sussex

The Ned Kelly Awards for Australian Crime Writing were revived in 2000 after a hiatus of several years, and were presented at the Night Cat Bar, Fitzroy, on August 31, to coincide with the Melbourne Writer's Festival. Apart from the awards, the highlight of the evening was a spirited debate between a motley bunch of crime writers, journalists, and lawyers on the subject of "Is truth stronger than fiction?" On the Truth side were crime writers Carolyn Morwood, Shane Maloney, Peter Temple, and Liz Gaynor, QC (Queen's Counsel); on the Fiction side were author Barry Dickens, crime journalist John Silvester, and QCs John Smallwood (married to Gaynor), and Doug Salek. U.S. author Laurie King was also in attendance, and had the Australian idioms translated for her by Sue Turnbull. For the first time, true-crime writing was included in the Nonfiction category.

 

 

The winners of the Ned Kelly Awards were as follows:

 

 

Best Novel:
Shooting Star
by Peter Temple (Bantam)

 

 

Best First Novel:
The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders
by Marshall Browne (Duffy & Snellgrove)

 

 

Best True Crime:
Huckstepp
by John Dale (Allen & Unwin);
Rule and Silvester
, Underbelly 3 (Sly Ink)

 

 

Perhaps the most controversy of the year was produced by Inez Baranay's article for the
Australian Author
(May 2000) "Oz Cri-Fi in the Gun," a cover story with the subheading "Has Australian gumshow gone off the boil?" She took the position that crime writing in Australia was in a sorry state, languishing unread, with writers not delivering fiction suited to the local market's needs— although Baranay did quote various authors and publishers who strongly disagreed. In any case, the healthy amount of local crime publishing during the year, despite the imposition of a 10 percent goods and services tax on books, which raised their retail prices, would seem to belie Baranay's article.

 

 

The last quarter of the year saw new books from established writers including: Peter Temple's third Jack Irish book,
Dead Point
, (Bantam); and Andrew Masterson's sacrilegious and highly amusing
The Second Coming
(HarperCollins), featuring messiah turned P. I. Joe Panther. Shane Maloney's fourth Murray Whelan book,
The Big Ask
(Text), was launched at Readings Bookshop in Melbourne by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, with various state and federal Labor party politicians rubbing shoulders with the crime fans. Peter Doyle has written a prequel to his award-winning books
Get Rich Quick
and
Amaze Your Friends
set in Sydney in the 1950s.
The Devil's Jump