SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL |
- ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ and ‘Out of Her Depth’ by Lizzy Barber
- 2022 Edgar Awards announced
- Writing my debut novel "Trust" during a year of lockdown by Mark Eccleston
| ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ and ‘Out of Her Depth’ by Lizzy Barber Posted: 30 Apr 2022 10:00 PM PDT  'Tom envied him with a heart-breaking surge of envy and self-pity' writes Patricia Highsmith of Dickie Greenleaf in the early chapters of The Talented Mr Ripley. Tom, a penniless upstart but excellent impersonator, has managed to worm his way into the affections of Dickie's father, who at the start of the novel sends Tom on a reconnaissance trip to the small (fabricated) Italian town of Mongibello, where Dickie has escaped to, to try and persuade him to return to America. Only, when Tom arrives in Italy, he discovers that Dickie has no intention of returning home. And, more to the point, neither does Tom. I am not the first reader or author to be captivated by Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels. In Tom, she created a true antihero; an underdog and unreliable narrator we somehow still root for; and in his idol, Dickie Greenleaf, Dickie's girlfriend Marge and a band of wealthy expats, she creates a world that we, along with Tom, love to hate. Her clean, well-measured prose shines a light on every facet of their intoxicating world and has created an enduring legacy which has seen multiple adaptations – including the recent announcement of a new Talented Mr Ripley television series starring Fleabag's Andrew Scott in the titular role. Out of Her Depth is a psychological thriller about an unassuming young woman, Rachel, who receives an incredible opportunity to work at a beautiful hotel in the Florentine Hills, where she meets the magnetic but dangerous Diana and the dashing but careless Sebastian. She is drawn into their privileged circle and luxuriates in their world of glamourous parties and exotic trips…until something goes wrong. It is not a reworking of the original, but there are themes and events (not least the Romantic Italian setting) which I was keen to explore in my work. And what drew me to Tom, and indeed the most in Out of Her Depth, was exactly that initial quote: his intermixed feelings of envy and self-pity. Rachel, like Tom Ripley, is an outsider, a voyeur. By chance, she finds herself part of this impossible new world, but although she does step inside it, she is still painfully aware of her 'otherness,' that she will never truly fit in. As Tom's friendship with Dickie blooms, he emulates him: he takes on his words and phrases, he begins to dress like him, he even wants to learn to speak Italian as good as Dickie's. Highsmith, to allude to a spoiler (and if this is a spoiler for you, I'd say stop reading this now and get the book!), takes this to the extreme: Tom murders Dickie and fully impersonates him: but even then he constantly feels that he is only a poor copy. Diana frequently makes Rachel aware of her differences – 'you shouldn't nod like that,' 'it's bathroom, not bafroom' – telling her what to eat, buying her the right clothes, and under her tutelage Rachel begins to reinvent herself. Diana, much like Dickie to Tom, sees Rachel as a pet, a fun project to work on, and Rachel, blossoming under her attention, laps it up. The book is set in past and present day, and in the present, we see Rachel's bitterness at never fully conforming: her realisation that she will never truly match Diana: and that realisation is an ugly thing, as ugly as Tom's murder of Dickie. There has been much discussion about Ripley's sexuality – his fascination with Dickie and subsequent hatred for Marge - but regardless of what Highsmith's intentions were (she herself remained agnostic on the subject), I think what is rife in the book is a palpable desire. Tom wants Dickie; he wants to be Dickie; he wants Dickie to want him. His feelings are intense and intoxicating. This is what I wanted to explore with Rachel and Diana: Rachel has romantic feelings for Sebastian, but the friendship she has with Diana is all encompassing. It is that heady expression of teenage female friendship that is confusing and, for Rachel, toxic: she is so intoxicated by Diana's good parts that she cannot see anything bad. And that desire turns into an obsession that long outlasts their teenage Summer…and begins to have deadly consequences…  Out of Her Depth by Lizzy Barber (Out Now) Pan Macmillan  More information about Lizzy Barber can be found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @ByLizzyBarber and on Instagram @bylizzybarber |
| Posted: 30 Apr 2022 01:32 PM PDT
 Mystery Writers of America have announced the Winners for the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2021 Best Novel Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime) Best First Novel by an American Author Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press) Best Paperback Original Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir) Best Fact Crime Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books) Best Critical/Biography The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company) Best Short Story "The Road to Hana," Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines) Best Juvenile Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic – Scholastic Press) Best Young Adult Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children's Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR) Best Television Episode Teleplay "Boots on the Ground" – Narcos: Mexico, Written by Iturri Sosa (Netflix) Robert L. Fish Memorial Award "Analogue," Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines) The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime) The G.P Putnam's & Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books) Special Awards GRAND MASTER Laurie R. King RAVEN AWARD Lesa Holstine – Lesa's Book Critiques; Library Journal Reviewer ELLERY QUEEN AWARD Juliet Grames – Soho Press – Soho Crime Congratulations to all the winners and nominated authors. The Edgar® Awards were presented at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square and livestreamed on YouTube. The Edgar Awards, or "Edgars," as they are commonly known, are named after MWA's patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. The organization encompasses some 3,000 members including authors of fiction and non-fiction books, screen and television writers, as well as publishers, editors, and literary agents. Mystery Writers of America would like to emphasize our commitment to diversity and fairness in the judging of the Edgar Awards. Judges are selected from every region of the country, from every sub-category of our genre, and from every demographic to ensure fairness and impartiality. The EDGAR (and logo) are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the Mystery Writers of America, Inc. |
| Writing my debut novel "Trust" during a year of lockdown by Mark Eccleston Posted: 02 May 2022 10:09 AM PDT  I'd been thinking about writing a novel for a good 30 years, but never got round to it. There was always something more important to do. Then the Covid pandemic turned up. Out of nowhere. And it was mind-frazzling and grim. But for most of us it was a chance to reassess our lives. A long time-out. If I was going to write that novel, I wouldn't get a better chance than this. But what would it be about? One thing I knew, it wasn't going to be a dark. Living in a horror story every day – watching the virus run out of control, a government staggering after it – I wanted some escapism. A beautiful setting. Eccentric side characters. A few laughs, with a bit of luck. A houseboat – the boat figured early in the planning. I live in Ealing, which is not quite central London. Not quite leafy suburbia. A long way from the countryside I dreamt about moving to with my family during the pandemic. Where we might cash-in, buy a houseboat on a backwater. One of my favourite places in the country is the Dorset coast around Poole. There's a huge harbour – an inland sea almost – that's surrounded by some stunning landscapes. Sandy beaches. Wild heathland. Deserted islands. A river that winds up to a pretty village called Wareham. Which is where the protagonist Astrid Swift, an art conservator from the British Gallery in London, finds herself after inheriting a creaky houseboat. The town in the book isn't Wareham. It's called Hanbury, and is even more picturesque – the quintessential English hamlet that I thought about moving to, but never but never did in the end. If it even exists. It's a village where the weather is always great. The locals are friendly, and the local pub is, like the genre, cosy. I like cosy crime – writers like Agatha Christie, and more recently Robert Thorogood and Richard Osman. In their books, the villain never gets away with it. The amateur detectives triumph because, underneath it all, they're good eggs. They have skills and do the decent thing. There's a satisfying certainty to it all, and in uncertain times, those are the stories I wanted to read and write. A story that values friendship and community. That was the remarkable thing about the pandemic – how most people stepped up and did their bit. Cared for each other. It was the silver lining. In The Trust, Astrid slowly realises the shallowness of her materialistic life – the trophy husband begins to tarnish, and she's sacked from her high-flying job. But in picking up the pieces in a small town where she has to rely on the kindness of strangers, she discovers who she truly is. The lockdowns rolled in over the course of 2020 and, between the home schooling for the kids and the statutory one hour of outdoor exercise a day – remember that? – the story began to take shape. There was a fair amount of research to sort out along the way. None of it in person, but then, given the wonders of the internet, everything I needed to know was out there. So began hundreds of hours watching art conservators at work. A show called Fake or Fortune? presented by Fiona Bruce became essential viewing. As did sailing tutorials on YouTube. Lots of books were delivered: guides to deadly mushrooms and bird-spotting, tide charts and biographies of England's finest stately homes. Sherbourne Hall, the scene of much of the crime in the book, is a mix of various grand houses around the country. By the start of 2021, the book was finished. It went off to my agent, who seemed happy. She's always happy though. Then it found a quick home, along with two more in the series, at Head of Zeus. It comes out in paperback this spring, now that life is, it seems, getting back to normal. If there hadn't been those lockdowns, I doubt I'd have written a novel. Life would have carried on as usual – which is always wonderful. I'm lucky, and keenly aware of that. Grateful for getting through the pandemic, and out the other side with a new career and outlook on life.  The Trust by M H Eccleston (Head of Zeus) Out Now Ever so wholesome. Ever so deadly... When art restorer Astrid Swift moved from London to the Dorset village of Hanbury, she thought she was heading for a quiet life. Far from it. A local man has just been murdered in the English Trust stately home where Astrid works, and the sleepy community is shaken to its core. Soon Astrid has discovered the shocking truth about her employer: rather than being the genteel organisation it seems on the surface, the Trust is a hotbed of politics and intrigue. As Astrid's new friend Kath from the village says: 'It's like the mafia, but with scones. As the suspicious deaths mount up, Astrid must use every gadget in her restorer's toolkit to solve the mystery, salvage her reputation - and maybe even save her life. Mark can be found on Twitter @MarkEccleston1 |
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