MACAVITY AWARDS 2022: Congratulations to all!

The Macavity Awards 2022
(for works published in 2021)

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and friends of MRI. The winners were announced tonight at opening ceremonies at the Minneapolis Bouchercon. Thanks to George Easter of Deadly Pleasures Magazine for handling the presentation since I couldn't be at Bouchercon. Congratulations to all.

MACAVITY AWARDS 2022 

 

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

 

Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books) 

 

 

BEST FIRST MYSTERY NOVEL

 

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)

 

 

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

 

“Sweeps Week,” by Richard Helms (EQMM, July/August 2021)

 

BEST NONFICTION/CRITICAL

How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America edited by Lee Child with Laurie R. King (Scribner)

 

BEST HISTORICAL MYSTERY: Sue Feder Memorial Award

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime) 

 

Mystery Writers of America Special Awards: Grand Master, Raven, Ellery Queen Awards

Thrilling News!! Well deserved by all the recipients. Hats Off to Laurie R. King, Lesa Holstine, and Juliet Grames!

Today Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced the recipients of its special awards. The board chose Laurie R. King as the 2022 Grand Master, the 2022 Raven Award recipient is Lesa Holstine, and Juliet Grames will receive the Ellery Queen Award. They will accept their awards at the 76^th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony, which will be held April 28, 2022, at the Marriott Marquis Times Square in New York City.

“Mystery Writers of America is thrilled to honor Laurie R. King as MWA’s 2022 Grand Master,” said MWA President Alafair Burke. “For more than a quarter century, King has entertained readers around the world with her writings, which range from historical fiction to contemporary police procedurals to gripping standalones and scores of anthology contributions. She is also a generous supporter of readers and fellow writers and a leader within the literary community. She exemplifies the excellence that defines the Grand Master Award, and we are delighted to recognize her achievements.

MWA’s Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing and was established to acknowledge important contributions to this genre, as well as for a body of work that is both significant and of consistent high quality. Laurie R. King is the bestselling author of 30 novels and other works, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories, beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (named “One of the 20th Century’s Best Crime Novels” by the IMBA.)  She has won the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, Lambda, Wolfe, Macavity, Creasey dagger, and Romantic Times Career Achievement awards, has an honorary doctorate in theology, and is a Baker Street Irregular.  Her recent books include Castle Shade and How to Write a Mystery (co-edited with Lee Child.) She has been a member of Mystery Writers of America since 1993 and served on the NorCal and National boards.

On being notified of the honor, King said, “I am sure I’m not the only person who greeted the announcement that they had been given this extreme honor of the mystery world first with silence, then with, “Really?  Me??”  I mean, any list that begins with Agatha Christie and touches on such gods as Ross MacDonald and Daphne du Maurier, Ngaio Marsh and John Le Carré, Tony Hillerman and—well, you get the idea. ‘I am honored’ is an inadequate response (You are sure you counted the votes, right?) when what I mean is, ‘I am stunned, dumbfounded, gobsmacked.’ And honored too, of course—intensely, humbly, and gratefully.”

The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing. For 2022, Mystery Writers of America selected librarian, a blogger, and book reviewer Lesa Holstine.

Upon learning she would receive the Raven Award, Lesa Holstine reacted with disbelief, “You’re kidding!” Holstine said, “I’m grateful to the MWA Board, and to mystery writers everywhere who have provided so much enjoyment over the years.”

Holstine has worked in public libraries since she was 16. For almost 50 years, she’s shared her love of books, especially mysteries, with library patrons, and is presently the Collections Manager at the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library in Evansville, Indiana. She is in the 18^th  year of writing her award-winning blog, Lesa’s Book Critiques, has been the blogger for Poisoned Pen Bookstore for over four years, and reviews mysteries for Mystery Readers’ Journal and Library Journal, where she was named Reviewer of the Year in 2018. She has received the 2011 Arizona Library Association Outstanding Library Service Award and the David S. Thompson Special Service Memorial Award. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and serves on the Left Coast Crime Standing Committee.

The Ellery Queen Award was established in 1983 to honor “outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry.” This year the Board chose to honor Juliet Grames, SVP, Associate Publisher at Soho Press, where she has curated the award-winning Soho Crime imprint since 2011. Her debut novel, The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, was published by Ecco/HarperCollins and has been translated into ten languages.

On learning she would receive the Ellery Queen Award, Grames said, “I am astonished and moved by this great honor. There is no community I could be prouder to work in: the creators in our genre are not only artists but activists and thoroughly good people. It is a great privilege to nurture and amplify their voices, and I humbly thank every author who has ever trusted me with that privilege. It is also a great privilege to work for a publisher, Bronwen Hruska, whose values—both literary and philosophical—align so perfectly with mine. This recognition belongs to them, although I am honored to be their representative.”

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. For more information on Mystery Writers of America, please visit the website: www.mysterywriters.org

 

GIVING YOUR BEST AUTHOR TALK: Laurie R. King

Don't miss this exceptional talk...well, it's all about Giving Your Best Author Talk and who is the best author to gove this? Why, Laurie R. King, of course. Sponsored by MWA NorCal, this will be on Facebook Live, November 20 at 1 p.m. PST. 

BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL: Mystery Programming

The Bay Area Book Festival has moved its date but kept its exceptional programming. Over the weekend of April 28th and 29th, 2018, the fourth annual Bay Area Book Festival will fill downtown Berkeley (CA) with a literary extravaganza that offers pleasure to anyone who has ever loved a book.

Whether you’re a fan of science fiction, mystery, or history, of fiction or memoir, of poetry or food writing, of children’s literature or science, come experience one of the best book festivals on the planet! Tickets for the Festival and/or individual panels and talks are now available. Get tickets here.

In addition to panels and talks, there will be booths. Mystery Writers of America, NorCal chapter will have a booth with author signings. Be sure and check the booth when you arrive for times and signings.

For the full program, go Here

Here are some panels of interest to mystery readers. Several of the panels are sponsored by Mystery Writers of America, Northern California Chapter.

Murder She Writes: 
Catherine Coulter Talks with Laurie R. King

Catherine Coulter interviewed by Laurie R. King

Saturday, April 28

10:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Catherine Coulter, No.1 New York Times best-selling suspense writer and author of 82 novels (almost all of them New York Times bestsellers!), is interviewed by Mystery Writers of America NorCal president Laurie R. King, herself a bestselling author of 25 novels. These two remarkable writers will talk about Coulter’s journey from Regency romances to FBI thrillers, the research she does for her widely varied stories, and her craft, art, and life of writing.

Hotel Shattuck Plaza - Crystal Ballroom

Insider, Outsider: Do PIs or Cops Do It Better?

Cara Black,Candice Fox, Matt Goldman, Rachel Howzell Hall, moderated by Bill Petrocelli

Saturday, April 28

11:45 AM - 1:00 PM

At the center of every good crime novel is a hero sniffing out the truth, whether a veteran police officer hardened and informed by years on the force, or a plucky private eye who takes on the case with little to no resources. Four accomplished crime writers battle it out to determine once and for all who does it better, cops or PIs? Vouching for private investigators, Cara Black (Aimée Leduc, PI) and Matt Goldman (Private detective Nils Shapiro) will go head to head with Candice Fox (Detective Harriet Blue) and Rachel Howzell Hall (Detective Elouise Norton). Mystery author Bill Petrocelli moderates.

Hotel Shattuck Plaza - Crystal Ballroom

Viet Thanh Nguyen on Art and Politics

Viet Thanh Nguyen interviewed by Karen Tei Yamashita

Saturday, April 28

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 for his novel “The Sympathizer,” Viet Thanh Nguyen—fiction writer, essayist, activist, and UC Berkeley doctoral alum—has become an outspoken voice for refugee rights and justice for immigrants. In 2017 he received a MacArthur Genius Grant, and while he was commended for “challenging popular depictions of the Vietnam War and exploring the myriad ways that war lives on for those it has displaced,” his latest efforts move outward to the plight of refugees across the world. His lauded story collection “The Refugees” explores immigration, identity, love, and family. His latest project, “The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives,” brings together a host of prominent writers. He joins us to today to talk with Karen Tei Yamashita, novelist and essayist on the immigrant experience, about the role of the writer in society, the importance of art to politics, and the power of the written word.

Freight & Salvage

Women Plot the Crime

Sara Blaedel, Anne Holt, and Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, moderated by Cara Black

Saturday, April 28

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

The plot for the perfect crime may very well reside in the minds of these three cunning women. This panel of authors will discuss what it takes—and what it takes out of you—to write a complex, compelling, and believable (but un-guessable) crime story. Come plumb the minds of Sara Blaedel (Denmark’s “queen of crime”), Anne Holt (Norway’s best-selling female crime writer), and Icelandic best-selling author Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, as they talk with fellow crime writer Cara Black.

Hotel Shattuck Plaza - Crystal Ballroom

Utter Fascination: The Art of the Exceptionally Complex Character

Åsa Avdic, Therese Bohman, Carl Frode Tiller, Laleh Khadivi

Saturday, April 28

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

How do writers create complex characters? These three authors discuss how they dream up, and then capture on the page, entirely new people who are exceptionally complicated. What narrative strategies do they use to create them? How did the characters develop in the authors’ minds? Don’t miss the complex characters on this panel: Asa Avdic, a journalist and breakout novelist whose debut, “The Dying Game,” is a chilling version of an Agatha Christie ensemble (characters trapped and slowly disappearing) in a futuristic Sweden; Therese Bohman, whose scintillating novel “Eventide” about a middle-aged woman’s life “explores complex inner worlds with great sensitivity and insight” (Kirkus); and Carl Frode Tiller with the “Encircling” trilogy, which endeavors to reconstruct a man’s mind piece by piece after he loses his memory.

The Brower Center - Tamalpais Room

Noir at the Bar: A Flight of Mystery! Sampling Bay Area Writers of Murder and Mayhem, with Drinks

Lillian Bell, Cara Black, Ellison Cooper, Reece Hirsh, Beth McMullen, Eileen Rendahl, Kelli Stanley, Domenic Stansberry, emceed by Sheldon Siegel

Saturday, April 28

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

A Festival favorite returns! There’s no better way to celebrate the Bay Area’s love of noir than to toast mystery writers who have mastered the form. Feel like a bonafide gumshoe listening in on riveting short readings by these modern masters of noir. And while you’re at it, order your cocktail (or whiskey) of choice.

The Marsh - Cabaret

Know Thyself: The Ultimate Mystery

Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, Mark Sarvas, Carl Frove Tiller

Saturday, April 28

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

It’s high literary tide mark on Saturday afternoon. Three of the smartest novelists working today discuss how fiction explodes the question of how we know ourselves. In “Call Me Zebra,” partly set in Spain, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi depicts a heroine on a Quixotic quest; the Wall Street Journal said, “Hearken ye fellow misfits, migrants, outcasts, squint-eyed bibliophiles, library-haunters and book stall-stalkers: Here is a novel for you.” Mark Sarvas’ “Memento Park,” partly set in Hungary, was praised by Salman Rushdie as “a gripping mystery novel about art that is also a powerful meditation on fathers and sons.” Norwegian writer Carl Frove Tiller has written a trilogy whodunit about a man who’s lost his memory and reconstitutes himself via letters from friends telling him who he is; you can imagine how that turns out. Said Kirkus, “A wholly satisfying story about how unreliable narrators tell tales not just about events, but about our core emotions.” Who are you? Come explore how we know ourselves.

The Marsh - Theater

Nordic Noir: The Enduring Genre of Cold Climate Thrillers

Sara Blaedel, Anne Holt, Karo Hämäläinen, Steffen Jacobsen, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, moderated by Randal Brandt

Sunday, April 29

2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

One of the most popular sessions at the Festival returns for its fourth year. Traveling all the way from Scandinavia and Iceland to join us today, these authors will illuminate why their books—which situate grisly stories of murder and chaos in frigid regions—have the enduring power to captivate audiences worldwide. From Denmark, Sara Blaedel will discuss her internationally best-selling and female-led Louise Rick and Ilka Jensen series. Norway’s best-selling female crime writer Anne Holt will consider how her years working for police departments and as a lawyer have influenced her work. Finnish crime savant Karo Hämäläinen will let us in on how he became “a wicked and controlled writer who rarely allows his readers a moment of peace” (Toronto Sun). Hear from Icelandic best-selling author Yrsa Sigurdardóttir, who The Times UK said “is ensconced at or near the summit of Nordic crime writing.” And learn how Danish physician and thrill-master Steffen Jacobsen uses his talent for the macabre to create gripping reads.

Magnes Museum

Laurie R. King Literary Salon: December 7

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an evening Literary Salon with award winning author Laurie R. King on Wednesday, December 7, 7 p.m. in Berkeley, CA. Please leave a comment with email below to RSVP and for directions. You MUST RSVP to attend. We are combining this Lit Salon with our Mystery Readers NorCal Cookie Party. Please bring cookies (and a recipe) to share--or other sweets.

Laurie R. King is the third generation in her family native to the San Francisco area. She spent her childhood reading her way through libraries up and down the West Coast; her middle years raising children, renovating houses, traveling the world, and doing a BA and MA in theology. (Her long autobiography goes into detail about how she uses these interests.) King now lives a genteel life of crime, on California’s central coast. Her crime novels are both serial and stand-alone. First in the hearts of most readers comes Mary Russell, who met the retired Sherlock Holmes in 1915 and became his apprentice, then his partner. Beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Russell and Holmes move through the Teens and Twenties in amiable discord, challenging each other to ever greater feats of detection.

In the Russell & Holmes stories, King explores ideas—the roots of conflict in the Middle East and Afghanistan; feminism and early Christianity; patriotism and individual responsibility—while also having a rousing good time. Various stories revisit The Hound of the Baskervilles and Kipling’s Kim, set a pair of Bedouin nomads down in a grand country house in England, and offer an insider’s view of the great quake and fire of 1906, all the while forging an unlikely relationship between two remarkably similar individuals who happen to be separated by age, sex, and background.

King’s Stuyvesant & Grey series, also historical, follows American ex-Bureau of Investigation agent Harris Stuyvesant, damaged young Captain Bennett Grey, and Grey’s sister Sarah as they move through Europe between the Wars.

Five King novels concern San Francisco homicide inspector Kate Martinelli, Kate’s SFPD partner Al Hawkin, and her life partner Lee Cooper. In the course of the stories, Kate has encountered a female Rembrandt, a modern-day Holy Fool, two difficult teenagers, and a manifestation of the goddess Kali.

King’s stand-alone suspense novels include A Darker Place, the story of a middle-aged professor of religion who investigates “cults” for the FBI, and encounters a movement that embraces the dangerous beliefs of alchemy.  Folly tells of woodworker Rae Newborne, who comes to a deserted island to rebuild a house, and her life. Keeping Watch is the story of Rae’s friend Allen Carmichael, a Vietnam vet who draws on his combat experiences to rescue abused women and children—until he comes across a boy whose problems may rival his own. Califia’s Daughters (a paperback original by “Leigh Richards”) is a post-apocalyptic sort of tale set in a near future where women rule and men are fragile.

She has collaborated on nonfiction works including Crime & Thriller Writing and The Grand Game, and on several short story anthologies. 

Laurie R. King Literary Salon: October 19

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an afternoon Literary Salon with award winning author Laurie R. King on Wednesday, October 19, at 2 p.m. in Berkeley, CA. Please leave a comment with email below to RSVP and for directions.

Laurie R. King is the third generation in her family native to the San Francisco area. She spent her childhood reading her way through libraries up and down the West Coast; her middle years raising children, renovating houses, traveling the world, and doing a BA and MA in theology. (Her long autobiography goes into detail about how she uses these interests.) King now lives a genteel life of crime, on California’s central coast. Her crime novels are both serial and stand-alone. First in the hearts of most readers comes Mary Russell, who met the retired Sherlock Holmes in 1915 and became his apprentice, then his partner. Beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Russell and Holmes move through the Teens and Twenties in amiable discord, challenging each other to ever greater feats of detection.

In the Russell & Holmes stories, King explores ideas—the roots of conflict in the Middle East and Afghanistan; feminism and early Christianity; patriotism and individual responsibility—while also having a rousing good time. Various stories revisit The Hound of the Baskervilles and Kipling’s Kim, set a pair of Bedouin nomads down in a grand country house in England, and offer an insider’s view of the great quake and fire of 1906, all the while forging an unlikely relationship between two remarkably similar individuals who happen to be separated by age, sex, and background.

King’s Stuyvesant & Grey series, also historical, follows American ex-Bureau of Investigation agent Harris Stuyvesant, damaged young Captain Bennett Grey, and Grey’s sister Sarah as they move through Europe between the Wars.

Five King novels concern San Francisco homicide inspector Kate Martinelli, Kate’s SFPD partner Al Hawkin, and her life partner Lee Cooper. In the course of the stories, Kate has encountered a female Rembrandt, a modern-day Holy Fool, two difficult teenagers, and a manifestation of the goddess Kali.

King’s stand-alone suspense novels include A Darker Place, the story of a middle-aged professor of religion who investigates “cults” for the FBI, and encounters a movement that embraces the dangerous beliefs of alchemy.  Folly tells of woodworker Rae Newborne, who comes to a deserted island to rebuild a house, and her life. Keeping Watch is the story of Rae’s friend Allen Carmichael, a Vietnam vet who draws on his combat experiences to rescue abused women and children—until he comes across a boy whose problems may rival his own. Califia’s Daughters (a paperback original by “Leigh Richards”) is a post-apocalyptic sort of tale set in a near future where women rule and men are fragile.

She has collaborated on nonfiction works including Crime & Thriller Writing and The Grand Game, and on several short story anthologies. 

Writing and Researching Historical Mysteries: October 15

Writing and Researching Historical Mysteries
Saturday, October 15: 12-2 p.m.
Laurel Books, 1423 Broadway, Oakland, CA 
www.laurelbookstore.com

I will be moderating this panel on Writing and Researching Historical Mysteries with participants Rhys Bowen, Tony Broadbent, Laurie R. King, and Catriona McPherson. This event is sponsored by Mystery Writers of America NorCal. Free.

Rhys Bowen is the Bestselling Author of the Royal Spyness Series, Molly Murphy Mysteries, and Constable Evans mysteries. She has won the Agatha Best Novel Award and has been nominated for the Edgar Best Novel. Rhys currently writes two mystery series, the atmospheric Molly Murphy novels, about a feisty Irish immigrant in 1900s New York City, and the funny and sexy Royal Spyness mysteries, about a penniless minor royal in 1930s Britain. Her books have made bestseller lists, garnered many awards, nominations, and starred reviews. She was born in England and married into a family with historic royal connections. She now divides her time between California and Arizona.

Tony Broadbent was born in Windsor, England. Grew up in Burnham, Buckinghamshire. Attended Burnham Grammar School (as did Tracey Ullman and Jimmy Carr...so the place was obviously a lot of laughs). He graduated from the London College of Printing—rated one of the top design colleges in the world. And then worked as a copywriter and creative director at international advertising agencies in London, New York, and San Francisco—where he then opened his own agency. His debut novel The Smoke won critical acclaim. Booklist named Spectres In The Smoke—the second title in the series..."one of the best Spy Novels of 2006". He is a Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award Winner, a Macavity/Sue Feder Historical Award Nominee and a San Francisco Library Laureate. In addition to 'The Smoke Series' of novels, Tony has written short stories—one a contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; the other, a moment in time for a NYPD bomb disposal officer—and a stand-alone novel that touches upon the early days of The Beatles: The One After 9:09—A Mystery With A Backbeat.

Laurie R. King is the third generation in her family native to the San Francisco area. She spent her childhood reading her way through libraries up and down the West Coast; her middle years raising children, renovating houses, traveling the world, and doing a BA and MA in theology.  King now lives a genteel life of crime, on California’s central coast. Her crime novels are both serial and stand-alone. First in the hearts of most readers comes Mary Russell, who met the retired Sherlock Holmes in 1915 and became his apprentice, then his partner. Beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, Russell and Holmes move through the Teens and Twenties in amiable discord, challenging each other to ever greater feats of detection.

Catriona McPherson was born in Edinburgh and lived there, in Ayrshire, in Dumfriesshire and in Galloway before moving to California in 2010. A born swot, she I finally left school at age thirty with a PhD in linguistics from Edinburgh University. Proper jobs have included banking (hopeless), library work in local studies and fine art (marvellous), and a short burst of academia (miserable). She is now a full-time writer and hopes never to have a proper job again. When not writing, she is reading, gardening, cooking and baking, cycling in Davis, running through walnut orchards, getting to grips with this outlandish and enormous country (26 states visited so far) and practizing an extreme form of Scotch thrift*, from eating home-grown food to dumpster-diving/skip-surfing for major appliances. *when "making a living" as a writer, thrift helps a lot.  A former academic linguist, she is now a full-time fiction writer, the multi- award-winning author of the Dandy Gilver detective stories, set in Scotland in the 1920s.  She also writes a strand of award-winning contemporary standalone novels including Edgar-finalist THE DAY SHE DIED and Mary Higgins Clark finalist THE CHILD GARDEN.
 

LIVERMORE READS TOGETHER: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King

Laurie King’s The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is the Livermore Reads Together selection for 2014. Livermore Reads Together is an annual community-wide reading program sponsored by The Friends of the Livermore Library.  

Sunday, January 26, 2-3 p.m. Civic Center Library Storytime Room:
Laurie R. King, author of The Beekeeper's Apprentice

Laurie R. King is a third generation Northern Californian. Her background is as mixed as any writer's, from theology to managing a coffee store to raising children, vegetables, and the occasional building. Chosen as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century, The Beekeeper's Apprentice presents Mary Russell, a fifteen-year-old American orphan, who meets Sherlock Holmes in 1915 in Sussex Downs. Holmes, who spends his quiet days studying beekeeping and dabbling in detective work, takes the spirited Russell on as an apprentice. In her, Holmes finds his perfect partner in detection.

Sunday, February 23, 2-3 p.m. Civic Center Library Storytime Room:
Leslie S. Klinger, Sherlockian expert

Leslie S. Klinger will explore the life and times of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s first consulting detective. Learn how Holmes continues to inspire and fascinate more than 125 years after he first appeared in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories. Mr. Klinger is one of the world’s foremost Sherlockian authorities. He is a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and served as technical advisor on the 2009 and 2011 Sherlock Holmes films. Klinger has published numerous articles and co-edited works on the Great Detective including A Study in Sherlock with Laurie R. King.

READ MORE ABOUT OTHER EVENTS DURING LIVERMORE READS TOGETHER!

Laurie R. King Blogs on Mystery Fanfare

From Laurie R. King, Guest Blogger

Laurie R. King is the Edgar award winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, the modern police series of Kate Martinelli, and a number of standalones. Her web site (www.LaurieRKing.com) is celebrating the publication of her ninth Mary Russell novel, The Language of Bees, now in stores everywhere.


My background is theology, namely, the Old Testament (the story-teller’s source-book.) After I had my MA, I looked at the employment possibilities for a person with my qualifications (sic…) and turned from a life of God to a life of crime.

Let me begin by saying that it is truly extraordinary how often one’s characters share one’s interests. Mary Russell is forever finding herself in a situation where her knowledge of the Bible, both Hebrew (A Monstrous Regiment of Women) and Greek (A Letter of Mary) comes in very handy. The second Kate Martinelli (To Play the Fool) finds that San Francisco cop face to face with a Holy Fool, as in the next one (Night Work) she meets modern-day Kali worshippers. Since my own background includes first a BA thesis on the Holy Fool, then an MA thesis on “Feminine Aspects of God in the Old Testament,” well, it’s nothing short of amazing how often I find myself working snippets of research past into the stories.

Take the current book, The Language of Bees. This is the ninth outing for Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, and in the course of a complex case involving Bohemian artists, Shanghai natives, and what appears to be Druidic human sacrifice, they meet a man who wrote his own Bible, calling it Testimony.

The problem is, religion is a touchy subject in the publishing industry. Not, I have found, that readers themselves are offended, but publishers are convinced they will be, just as publishers are convinced that green book covers or plots set in Australia condemn a book to obscurity.

So, what in the first draft of The Language of Bees was two full chapters of excerpts from Testimony, became whittled down in subsequent drafts. Two shorter chapters were still too much, so I chopped the material into forty segments and placed them at the beginnings of each chapter, then trimmed them into shorter segments, until finally, Testimony was reduced to forty brief lines decorating the chapter heads. I fought each step of the way, because the material was essential for, if nothing else, the clues it contained.

The problem was, that kind of religious document is often more than a little tedious. And since I do nothing halfway, I got into the spirit of the thing and made Testimony both pompous and long-winded, the very essence of religious tedium. Battle as I might for its inclusion, my argument based on the idea that the reader would skim over it lightly, thus miss the clues, which would permit me to claim that I had played fair with them, I lost. Somehow my editor couldn’t get past the “readers skimming over it lightly” part. She, unfortunately, had also heard Elmore Leonard’s famous dictum to cut all the parts that readers skim over.

So, bit by bit, Testimony‘s twenty or so pages were reduced to forty brief (but, one hopes, evocative) lines, and readers would have had to trust the narrator, Mary Russell , when she declares how tedious the material is.

Except for the Internet. Thanks to a web site that will soon require an entire server to host it, Testimony is now available online for an adoring public. My brother-in-law even played with it on Photoshop to make it look like an old facsimile, which makes it even more fun. I have already signed half a dozen of the things on my current book tour.

And you know? My editor was right. True, she’s always right, but in this case she was righter than usual. The book reads better with Testimony flitting at the corner of the reader’s vision. For every reader who would have loved to have the material included, there will be twenty who are, all unknowing, breathing a sigh of relief.

And twenty years from now when The Language of Bees is required reading in all high schools? I can do an anniversary edition and restore Testimony to its rightful place in the text, and successfully bore a future generation’s readers into ignoring its clues.
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