Being Alone in a Crowd: Alafair Burke’s New York Crime Fiction

Alafair Burke, a former deputy district attorney and current professor of criminal law at New York’s Hofstra Univesity, is the author of two crime series, one featuring featuring Portland prosecutor Samantha Kincaid, and the second focusing on NYPD detective, Ellie Hatcher. Publishers Weekly dubbed the third installment of the latter series, the 2010 novel 212, a “white-knuckle thriller.” Similar praise came from Booklist, calling the book “up-to-the-minute, action-packed crime fiction.”

Burke’s first stand-alone crime fiction, Long Gone, is just out and has earned praise from fellow writers. Dennis Lehane found the work “a tremendous novel, and Alafair Burke is one of the finest young crime writers working today.” Likewise, Nelson DeMille termed Long Gone “a very clever and very smart novel by a very clever and smart writer.”

Read Full Post »

Douglas Preston’s Pendergast Thrillers and Beyond

Douglas Preston is the author of a score of thrillers working solo on works featuring ex-CIA agent Wyman Ford, or collaborating with Lincoln Child on the books featuring FBI special agent Aloysius X. L. Pendergast. He has also penned several nonfiction works, including the 2008 title, The Monster of Florence, a true crime story about a series of sensational murders in Italy. He is a contributing writer in archaeology for magazines from the Smithsonian to the New Yorker.

Read Full Post »

Chinatown Noir: Henry Chang’s Detective Jack Yu Novels

Henry Chang’s Chinatown series featuring Chinese-American NYPD Detective Jack Yu debuted to critical acclaim in 2008 with Chinatown Beat, “a fascinating look at New York’s Chinese-American urban community and its subcultures,” according to Publishers Weekly. The Boston Globe also had praise for this first novel, noting, “For readers who relish noir suspense, it doesn’t get any better than this stunning novel.”

Chang followed up that success with Year of the Dog, “a dense, moody, and intelligent glimpse at Chinese life in New York as seen through the world-weary eyes of a young man with a foot firmly planted in two cultures,” as Booklist commented. His 2010 series addition, Red Jade, was termed a “fast-moving police procedural with added sociological depth,” by Booklist. Chang’s third novel also earned a coveted starred review from Library Journal, whose critic observed, “An action-packed plot and a carefully detailed mystery make this a feast for readers who crave insight into the cultural melting pot that is the United States.”

Read Full Post »

Gotham’s Shadow: Stefanie Pintoff’s New York 1900

Scene of the Crime is happy to have Edgar Award-winning author Stefanie Pintoff with us today. Stefanie is the author of a historical mystery series featuring Detective Simon Ziele where early criminal science meets the dark side of old New York.  Her debut novel, In the Shadow of Gotham, won the coveted Edgar for best first novel as well as the St. Martin’s Press / Mystery Writers of America Best First Crime Novel Award. That first novel also earned nominations for the Anthony, Agatha, and RT Reviewer’s Choice Awards and raves from reviewers.  A starred review from Library Journal praised her “vividly depicted turn-of-the-century Gotham,” while Publishers Weekly, in another starred review, declared “Pintoff’s debut … will remind many of Caleb Carr at his best… The period detail, characterizations and plotting are all top-notch, and Ziele has enough depth to carry a series.”

Read Full Post »