I don't know much, really. The only thing I remember is that in detective fiction, you keep dropping clues throughout the narrative, but deflect the reader's attention so that they don't realise it's a clue. When the murderer (etc) is revealed at the end, the reader's supposed to get that "I-should've-thought-of-that" feeling, resulting in, I suppose, admiration for the fictional detective and possibly, the author, too.

On the other hand, if you drop a clue right at the end, before the murderer is revealed, the reader will feel cheated, because that information was not available beforehand. So you can't suddenly say, "X was a poisons expert" and then say X was the murderer.

But you probably already knew that. Heh.

I'm sure you'll do great though. Best to start early.

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Literature Gallery Director

Poetry Writing Month

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thank you for your ideas.

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Sugar Coated Razor Blades With Sex On Top

Andrew Vachss [link] is the best of the newer guys and his Burke series is excellent... you can find a list on here, [link]

Give it a go... beyond that you can't go wrong with Raymond Chandler whose Philip Marlow books still stand up (great dialogue too)...

I also recommend reading The Falls by Ian Rankin. Also in the modern thriller/detective fiction stakes another Scotsman is doing some interesting stuff Christopher Brookmeyer, worth checking out... I really enjoyed "Not The End Of The World" and "All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye" (nicely designed book jackets too, not that its relevant - though it is what drew me too them so I guess it is).

Oh and if you fancy a laugh or two try this little essay by Ronald Knox "Ten Commandments For Detective Fiction"... the tone and dated ideas may give you a chuckle but he makes some interesting points, if only so you can take his rules and bend and break them in a post-modern stylee.

[link]

No Chinaman? Anyway, there is an updated set of lists etc here too.

[link]

But give one of the Burke novels a go if you can find one (amazon have been pretty reasonable with his stuff).

h.

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‘When I’m not drinking, I’m thinking about drinking / When I’m not thinking, I’m drinking about you.’
- The Meat Purveyors from Thinking About Drinking/ All Relationships Are Doomed To Fail ~ Bloodshot Records.

thanks for all the great info. i bought two anthologies tonight of crime/noir fiction -- 9-cents for the books, 7-dollars in shipping.

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Sugar Coated Razor Blades With Sex On Top

I haven't read that much of it, though I have seen a ton of film noir and keep meaning to. A lot of the work from 30's and 40's pulp writers like Cain, Hammett, and Chandler served as the basis for these films.

Last year, I did manage to read Dashiel Hammett's The Glass Key. I would recommend it. His style is on par with Hemingway, who some consider an influence the hard-boiled style.

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my life in movies: [link]

right on, thank you.

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Sugar Coated Razor Blades With Sex On Top

If you want some recommendations on noir: [link]
A good chunk of those are based on short stories and novels, so it would be a decent starting point.
I know James Ellroy is one of the big contemporary hard-boiled writers, and I just remembered Mickey Spillane.

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my life in movies: [link]

very cool. thank you.

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Sugar Coated Razor Blades With Sex On Top

I suggest you read the following writers, trust me, it's worth it.

Elmore Leonard
Jim Thompson
Raymond Chandler
Charles Willeford


Leonard will teach you how to perfect dialog.
Thompson does a fantastic job in writing about characters and action.
Chandler, well, he is the noir-master when it comes to narrator's voice.

And Willeford, well, he can do it all. He is probably the greatest crime writer that has ever existed, yet he is not as well-known as the others listed here.

Good luck!

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"An artist is always alone - if he is an artist. No, what the artist needs is loneliness." -Henry Miller