S.J. Rozan puts her P.I. heroes Lydia Chin and Bill Smith when they help Lydia's doctor brother, in trying to clear a diener (morgue attendant ) accused of murdering a nurse in the hospital. The cast takes them into the politics of the hospital with a labor dispute between the nurses and administrators. S.J. was kind enough to answer some questions about the book, its medical backdrop and her characters. SCOTT MONTGOMERY: What drew you to take on a hospital as the backdrop fo

Broken Kite is the second book to feature Timothy J. Lockhart's Wendy Lu and the first one I've read by the author. Like S.J. Rozan's Lydia Chin, Wendy is a second generation Chinese American working as a private detective. However, she has a naval background that she keeps a foot in as well as being an ex-cop in her Northfolk, Virginia stomping ground. Her jaded experience battles the optimism of her youth and Lockhart challenges it it further with the latest case. The book

As February kicks in, so does the first Austin Noir At The Bar Austin. We have a line up of killer crime writers to kick off the year in noir style. We have authors with new books coming out as well as old favorites. Some of our recidivists will be back. Jesse Sublett will be reading and literary outlaw James Wade rides back into town and crosses the border between prose and poetry. Mark Pryor, who will have a new Hugo Marston book out next month will be in for out non-fictio

The Lost Coast and Other Sharon McCone Stories collects several stories of Marcia Muller's San Francisco private eye that shows the characters growth over the decades from working at The All Souls legal cooperative to going out on her own and finding a life partner. Marcia was find enough to discuss the collection and her character with us. SCOTT MONTGOMERY: Do you remember how Sharon McCone came to you as a character? MARCIA MULLER: Sharon McCone came to me as I was reading

Of a Different Stamp is R.F. Ryan's second book to feature Finnegan Gilhooly, a Pinkerton man trying to find his place in a changing America of the 1880s. The first books dealt with coal mining tensions and the Molly Maguires in Pennsylvania. Now we got out west as he works for ranchers and deals with outlaws during the last phase of the territory's time as a frontier. It's still the old west, but it isn't as cut and dry as usual. After in a jailhouse meeting with his decade

While I love reading all over the mystery/thriller genre, I have a few subgenres that I particularly enjoy. “Geezer noir” (featuring elderly sleuths, like the Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club series) is a particular favorite. A close second would be mysteries featuring neurodivergent characters, which I attribute to reading “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” by Mark Haddon over 20 years ago. To this day it remains one of my favorite books, primarily because