Harlan Coben has been a leading voice in the crime writing world since his first thriller came out in 1990, and he’s entertained millions with both his series, featuring Myron Bolitar, former basketball player turned sports agent who solves crimes for his clients, and his many stand-alones, some of which are set to grace our Netflix screens in a steady parade over the coming years.
The last time CrimeReads interviewed Harlan Coben, we stuck to facts about his latest book; to celebrate the release of The Boy from the Woods, we thought we’d do something different, and ask him all about the genre we love. The following interview was conducted over email.
CrimeReads: What crime book first made you fall in love with the genre?
Harlan Coben: Are You My Mother? By PD Eastman. Sure, it’s a picture book for preschoolers, but when a baby bird falls out of its nest and wanders aimlessly asking a dog, a kitten, a cow and even a steam shovel the titular question, well, that, my friends, is terror and suspense!
CR: Who was your favorite child sleuth when you were a kid?
HC: I would have to go with Encyclopedia Brown.
CR: What’s the best plot twist in crime history?
HC: The ending of the original Planet of the Apes. I kind of saw it coming, and I still get goosebumps every time it airs.
CR: What is your favorite film noir, and why?
HC: Strangers on a Train. It’s my favorite Hitchcock film because it has it all—cool villain, great premise, mind-bending suspense, and an ordinary man in an extraordinary circumstance.
CR: Who’s a crime or mystery author you want more people to discover?
HC: Oh there are too many to name. Some recent finds that you may missed include Alafair Burke, Janelle Brown, Attica Locke, Alison Gaylin, Lisa Jewell, CJ Tudor, I could do this all day and still feel bad because I left out favorites.
CR: Which classic crime novel should everyone read?
HC: I don’t know whether you’d label it a classic, but maybe Ceremony by Robert B Parker.
CR: Is there a historic cold case you’re dying to have solved?
HC: The 1990 Boston art heist at the Isabelle Gardner Museum. A half billion dollars in art was stolen, including a Vermeer, and no one to this day knows where the paintings are. I’m fictionalizing it in the novel I’m currently writing.
CR: What crime book would you give a friend to get them interested in the genre?
HC: Depends on the friend. If they are a little warped, I might offer them Darkness Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane.
CR: If you could have dinner with any author, living or dead, who would it be, and what would you talk about?
HC: I’d chose Sue Grafton, Elmore Leonard, Mary Higgins Clark, Ed McBain, James Crumley, Laura Caldwell and Donald Westlake—because I love all of them both personally and professionally, and I miss them like crazy.
