Sad news. Award winning mystery author Martin Cruz Smith passed away yesterday. I was privileged to meet him on several occasions. He was an amazing storyteller. He will be missed. Sympathy to his family, friends, and readers at this sad time.
Martin Cruz Smith was known for his wonderful crime fiction, particularly his Arkady Renko series. He won the Hammett Prize from IACW twice, the Gold Dagger Award from CWA, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Left Coast Crime, and the Grand Master Award from MWA. His works explore themes of political intrigue and social issues within the context of Russia and other international settings.
Martin Cruz Smith was best known for his novels featuring Russian investigator Arkady Renko, whom he introduced in Gorky Park (1981). Renko has since appeared in ten other novels. Gorky Park debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list on April 26, 1981 and occupied the top spot for a week.Polar Star also claimed the No. 1 spot for two weeks on August 6, 1989, and held the No. 2 spot for over two months.
For a list of his works, go to Stop, You're Killing Me!
Hotel Ukraine, the 11th Arkady Renko Novel, debuted this week.
From NYT, July 2:
Sarah Weinman:
"The great Moscow detective Arkady Renko, first introduced in Smith’s 1981 classic “Gorky Park,” bids readers adieu in HOTEL UKRAINE (Simon & Schuster, 276 pp. $27.99). As Smith writes movingly in the acknowledgments, Parkinson’s disease, which he has had for decades and which Arkady also grapples with, “takes no prisoners, and now I have finished my last book. There is only one Arkady, and I will miss him.”
So will we. But “Hotel Ukraine,” set in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is a fitting send-off."
2 comments:
Sad news.
Sad day. I remember him from Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe in 2011, our first time on a convention committee. For some reason, the registration volunteers couldn't find his packet when he showed up. Since then I've tried to remember to make sure the registration folks know what the Guests of Honor look like. But things worked out. Even then, he was experiencing Parkinsons issues. The convention was at the legendary La Fonda Hotel and Martin was fond of pointing out that he traced his origins to La Fonda, since that is where his parents honeymooned. Now THAT was a unique note from a convention guest of honor!
Post a Comment