From Small Town Oddness to Baby Boomers In Detective Fiction
Plus, Jessica Fletcher!
Hello mystery friends,
Well, the big talk in the publishing world this week centered once again around AI, but with a twist. Jane Friedman, well renowned in the writing world for her books on writing and all around publishing savvy, hasn’t put out a new book since roughly 2018. So, she was shocked when a handful of new books purported to be written by her popped up on Amazon. Jane was successful at getting the books removed (finally), but her article indicates other authors are having the same issue. Books being pirated is nothing new. Scammers generating AI content and publishing it under an established author’s name and brand, essentially claiming to be the author in an effort to fool trusting readers into purchasing the book, is. The fake books even included introductions commending Jane on her contributions to and knowledge of the writing and publishing business. The moral of this story for readers is to look closely before purchasing your favorite author’s new release. If the author hasn’t promoted or even announced the book’s upcoming availability, that’s a red flag. Ye’ve been warned, my friends.
Let’s move on to nicer conversation topics, shall we? I’ve got a great link roundup for you below. And, quick reminder, you can find more mystery related content at @moremysteryplease on Instagram.
LIFE IS STRANGER THAN FICTION
When Emma Rosenblum’s debut mystery novel manuscript was leaked to residents of the beach town she set it in, oddness ensued. Per Rosenbaum “things started getting weird”.
In 1975, Jack H. Hetherington had a problem. Specifically, that problem was the royal “we” used throughout the physics paper he written and wished to submit to Physical Review Letters, who only accepted the royal “we” on manuscripts written by more than one author. Doing so would require hours of work. This was before the days of laptops and find-replace. In the 70s, manuscripts were typed on manual typewriters and mistakes required either the aid of correction tape or retyping. Enter Hetherington’s cat, F.D.C. Willard. Eric Grundhauser tells the story on Atlas Obscura.
PAGING JESSICA FLETCHER
Francine Paino muses how Jessica Fletcher (and Columbo) help her with housework on Austin Mystery Writers.
On NextAvenue, Laurie Bain Wilson discusses Jessica Fletcher, her father Donald Bain’s ability to bring Cabot Cove to life in the books based on the television series, and Kennebunkport.
BOOK BLIPS
Margot Kinberg ruminates on how hopes and dreams can lead to murder in many mystery novels.
Via The Sydney Morning Herald, Keith Austin explains why Hay-on-Wye is like “a Willy Wonka factory for book lovers”.
At The Guardian, Ella Creamer reports on Rolling Stone drummer Charlie Watts’s extensive book collection of modern editions which is heading to Christie’s for auction this September. Most interesting to me are his first editions of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle novels.
Sara Bader of Literary Hub discusses the ways in which famous authors have mourned for their pets after their beloved animals' passings.
On Something Is Going To Happen, Andrew McAleer provides exclusive excerpts of the conversations between his father, John McAleer, and Nero Wolfe creator Rex Stout during interviews from 1972 and 1975 for the book Royal Decree: Conversations with Rex Stout.
Also on Something Is Going To Happen, Kevin Mims examines who the first baby boomer was in detective fiction.
I’ll leave you here with a fun chance to Solve Your First Space Murder, courtesy of another Substacker, Adventure Snack. If you loved Choose Your Own Adventure books when you were a kid, you’ll enjoy perusing Adventure Snack’s archives.
Happy reading until next time,
Kate