More essays by Radha Vatsal
“How Sisters in Crime Is Helping to Diversify the Mystery World,” Kirkus Reviews
As a fundamentally popular genre (according to The Guardian, it recently became the bestselling genre in the United Kingdom, overtaking general and literary fiction in 2017) with the flexibility to tackle a whole range of themes, crime fiction can and should attract and retain a broad spectrum of writers and readers of all backgrounds and ages. That is not always the case, however.”
“Is Noir Possible in Iraq? On International Crime Fiction, Part I,” Kirkus Reviews
As I read the stories in Baghdad Noir, many of which are set in Saddam-era Baghdad or after, I kept wondering how noir is possible in a place where violent deaths are a daily occurrence, where even the veneer of normalcy has already been shattered, and where reality seems darker than fiction.”
“How a Mystery Bookstore Thrives in the Age of Amazon,” Kirkus Reviews
[A] few years ago, when a local yarn store went out of business, a group of knitters who used to meet there weekly asked Beamer if they could meet at her store instead. “Most knitters I know read books,” Beamer observed. She decided to keep the shop open until 8 p.m. on Fridays to accommodate them. More recently, Beamer has started to participate in off-site events in collaboration with other businesses and libraries.”
“In Defense of Cozy Mysteries,” Kirkus Reviews
I have to wonder if the category is belittled in part because it is perceived as a “feminine” genre, written primarily by women and for women and dealing with women’s issues and interests.”
“What Classic Crime Novels Reveal About American Hopes and Fears,” Kirkus Reviews
Crime fiction is predicated on being able to show the reader what a society most fears, or who the bad guy is—whether it’s someone poor, or insane, or a free-thinking woman, or immigrants, or Nazis, or KGB agents. And what it fears changes over time, making these novels invaluable conduits to the historical moment in which they take place.”
Searching For Crime Fiction In Mumbai’s Beloved English-Language Bookstore,” CrimeReads
I grew up in Mumbai reading Agatha Christie, Frederick Forsyth and Dick Francis alongside Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jane Austen… It was only much later, when I started to write crime fiction and was looking to publish that I realized that in the US, crime fiction, like other genre fiction, is marketed separately and physically placed on separate bookstore shelves.”
More from Kirkus:
“Robert Harris Writes Thrillers—Even When He Doesn’t”
“Rediscovering Fantomas: The French Crime Novels Were Early Book-to-Film Adaptations”
“The Writer’s Life: How One Mystery Novelist Makes It All Work”
“Bouchercon: The Mystery World’s Annual Family Reunion”
“Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Novelist”
“Beyond Nordic Noir: On International Crime Fiction, Part 2”
“Got 15 Minutes? Read a Crime Story”
“True Crime Tales: What Do We Learn From Them?”
“The Forensics of Historical Crime Fiction”
“Revisiting the ‘Crime of the (Last) Century”
More from CrimeReads
“Wilkie Collins and the Prison of Marriage”
“Miss Sherlock is the Smartest, Most Intuitive Sherlock Holmes Adaptation We’ve Seen in Awhile”