Crime Reads » Craft

Why Some of the Best Thrillers Are Also Hilarious

Why Some of the Best Thrillers Are Also Hilarious

Unless you want your reader to be utterly terrified, "you've gotta do something to leaven the topic."

By James Byrne | June 10, 2022

When the House Talks Back: Environments that Transform into Full-Fledged Characters

When the House Talks Back: Environments that Transform into Full-Fledged Characters

John David Mann on transformative settings

By John David Mann | June 8, 2022

Murder Isn't Funny. But Gallows Humor Is!

Murder Isn't Funny. But Gallows Humor Is!

"In real life, [murder is] devastating....What is funny—in life and on the page—is how people cope with the savagery and finality of a senseless homicide."

By Marshall Karp | June 8, 2022

Long Live Pantsing

Long Live Pantsing

Chris Offutt discovers the "pantser v. plotter" debate and promptly reevaluates his fifty-six years of writing.

By Chris Offutt | June 7, 2022

Remembering Comics Legend Neal Adams

Remembering Comics Legend Neal Adams

"[I]f you bought a super-hero comic anytime between 1967 and 2021, you were a fan."

By Michael Barson and Hector DeJean | June 7, 2022

Who's Queer in Christie?

Who's Queer in Christie?

"Once you know what to look for...queer characters start peeking out of many of Christie’s mysteries."

By Katharine Schellman | June 7, 2022

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

All Tied Up with a Bow: Sulari Gentill On Endings

By Sulari Gentill | June 7, 2022

M. P. Woodward: Why It Took Me Twenty Years To Write My First Spy Thriller

By M. P. Woodward | June 6, 2022

Martin Edwards: My Life In Crime

By Martin Edwards | June 3, 2022

Shop Talk: Lisa Unger on Waking Up Early, Carving Out Time, and Writing Longhand in the Target Parking Lot

Shop Talk: Lisa Unger on Waking Up Early, Carving Out Time, and Writing Longhand in the Target Parking Lot

Crime writers talking routine, discipline, and what it takes to write a book every year.

By Eli Cranor | June 2, 2022

The Mystery of Subtext: An Appreciation

The Mystery of Subtext: An Appreciation

"[L]ook for the clues the author has left behind in the images and in the subtext..."

By Susan Speranza | June 2, 2022

Writing Genre: Bending Stories that Integrate Romance, Fantasy, and Mystery

Writing Genre: Bending Stories that Integrate Romance, Fantasy, and Mystery

Lana Harper on blurring the boundaries between genres

By Lana Harper | May 27, 2022

Why I Quit Writing Screenplays and Wrote a Novel

Why I Quit Writing Screenplays and Wrote a Novel

"A book lives on a bookshelf, in a book store, placed next to books by other writers, and the only collaboration is the one between the writer and the reader."

By P. David Ebersole | May 27, 2022

Representation Matters, or, a Story in Edits

Representation Matters, or, a Story in Edits

On word choice and whiteness in publishing.

By Sandra S. G. Wong | May 26, 2022

What Really Distinguishes a Crime Novel?

What Really Distinguishes a Crime Novel?

Megan Abbott, S.A. Cosby, Laura Lippman, and Ace Atkins share their thoughts with Polly Stewart.

By Polly Stewart | May 25, 2022

James Lee Burke on Personal Tragedy, National Trauma, and the Search for Salvation

James Lee Burke on Personal Tragedy, National Trauma, and the Search for Salvation

"The story of Eden, and how it influences my work, is not the story of a snake in a tree, but the story of what we are doing to the tree – what we are doing to the Garden."

By David Masciotra | May 24, 2022

« First ‹ Previous 47 48 49 505152 53 54 55 Next ›Last »

Page 51 of 105