Forgotten Music

"Do you like this stuff?" She said.

"Yes. A lot, actually."

"Jazz?"

"Lars Gullin. A sax player, one of Swedwn's best Jazz musicians ever. He died much too young." --An exchange between Jazz loving Lindman and Linda Wallander from Henning Mankell's BEFORE THE FROST



For more Forgotten Music visit Pattinase.

Runaway

Russel D posted this vid, last week, on Do Some Damage and it's been stuck in my cranium every since. I'm passing it on to you...



Del Shannon on Letterman | Hats Off To Larry | Keep Searching | Walk Away | Del Shannon Entertainment Tonight Report 1990 | and MTV News Report

Robert B. Parker

Bill Crider just floored me with the news of Robert B. Parker's death. My thoughts are a bit scattered.

I went from The Hardy Boys to Spenser and since 1984 have been a loyal fan. Each February or March I would look for the newest tale of Boston's #1 private investigator and first class cook. When I went to meet with a college advisor he asked me what I wanted to be and I said a detective. I was inspired to take up writing late in life because I knew Parker had. Spenser’s secure, time tested relationship with Susan inspired me to find my own charmer. My interest in Spenser began to wane, slightly, a few years ago but was renewed with Parker’s new creation, Jesse Stone. Plus his western novels featuring Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch proved his writing chops were still in full force.

I’m scanning the news and according to early reports, Mr. Parker died peacefully at his desk. I certainly hope so. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. He will be missed. RIP.

I’m going to have a beer now. I know Spenser would.

#

Sarah Weinman blog: Robert B. Parker is Dead | Another Spenser novel is due in November | WSJ | The Washington Post | ABC News | USA Today | The Rap Sheet: On the Passing of Parker | CS Monitor | The Boston Herald

Two Sentence Tuesday

This week's TwoFer is the 'blows to the head' edition. My two in progress:

Grabbing the barrel of the Colt, Cash smashed the butt into his prisoner’s head. Shorty let out a shriek, his body lurched as he reached for his face with bound hands.

This rough draft has the working title Cash Laramie: Showdown At Lark's Pass. The current Laramie story can be found in A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS.

#

A co-worker was reading Henning Mankel's BEFORE THE FROST and I asked to borrow it when he finished. It's the first in the series billed as a Kurt and Linda Wallander Novel. Two lines:

The blow to her face came with the force of a charging predator. She was plunged into a deep and bottomless darkness.

For more Two Sentence Tuesday, here's the Women Of Mystery.

Legends At Amazon

I.J. Parnham reports that A FISTFUL OF LEGENDS is now available at the mighty Amazon.com. My pulpy tale, "Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil," is included in this anthology.

Legends review | Cash Laramie review

BTAP #57: The Killing On Sutter Street by Paul S. Powers

I’m not sure I will be able to top this in terms of personal satisfaction as an editor. I mean I thought I had reached the creme de la creme last year by having James Reasoner and Robert J. Randisi (two writing heroes of mine) graciously submit stories to BTAP. But now... damn. I have the honor of publishing the late Paul S. Powers, one of the golden era pulp writers.

Here’s how it happened.

I was at my day job when Mr. Powers came to mind. I mean, of course, I go to his granddaughter, Laurie’s terrific website almost daily but I also visit about a hundred other blogs a week. What I mean to say is I hadn’t been thinking of asking for an old story, so when the thought occurred to me it was almost like he tapped me on the shoulder saying, “Hey, ask Laurie.” Seem odd to you? I’m not sure how else to explain it. I was a little apprehensive about mentioning this to Laurie but she said:

“I do think that this was all guided - I've felt that way since I found out he was a pulp writer. The serendipitous things that happened cannot be explained. So no it's not weird. I'm sure he would be very happy about all of this - thrilled, as a matter of fact. Probably standing on his head right now.”

Laurie surprised me by saying she had several unpublished works. She still had to read through them and get back to me. And when she did. Whew! One is a fictional account of the death of Ambrose Bierce which is just an extraordinary piece of writing that will be featured in our upcoming print anthology and the other makes its debut today as our Weekly Punch. Has a golden era pulp writer ever returned after a sixty year absence? I’m not sure. Regardless, thank you Laurie. Thank you Paul. I’m on top of the world.

So without further ado, here’s Paul S. Powers with “The Killing on Sutter Street.”

A Friday Forgotten Book Rerun

I have missed participating in Patti's FFBs, so I thought I would cheat a little by rerunning an old post. From 9/19/08:

I was at a flea market in Opelousas, Louisiana when I spotted The Crime of Colin Wise by Michael Underwood (pseudonym of John Michael Evelyn, 1916-1992). This 1964 hardcover was in good shape and, priced at $2, it was a steal.

This great little crime thriller follows a television repairman, Wise, who steals and forges a check of the affluent Geoffrey Goodwin. He then invites Goodwin to his house under the false pretense of selling the rich man one of his paintings. Wise murders him by strangulation, carefully dissecting the body in his bathtub and disposing the pieces in various spots around the countryside. Colin Wise is a meticulous self-controlled killer who believes he has committed the perfect crime, but Goodwin left the directions to Colin’s house in the car glove compartment on the night of the crime. Enter, Inspector Manton who finds this evidence and uses it to prove Colin was the last person to see Goodwin alive.

I was expecting this story to take the predictable path of cat and mouse between Inspector Manton and Colin Wise leading up to an inevitable conclusion. Instead, Wise is put behind bars early on and the story becomes a courtroom drama. The police build a case on circumstantial evidence, which results in a hung jury. Just when the plot seems to be drawing to an end, a twelve-year-old boy walking his dog makes a gruesome discovery. One more twist awaits before The Crime of Colin Wise concludes.

This was an enjoyable find, and based on this work alone, I would recommend it or any other Michael Underwood books you might happen to come across.

Click here for more of Friday’s Forgotten Books courtesy of Patti Abbott...