MODUS OPERANDI
The 2008 CWA anthology M.O. has just been
published and includes my revisionist history of Jack the Ripper’s murders,
Closure. The antho offers nineteen
such stories, and the authors include Liz Evans, Martyn Bedford, Amy Myers and
editor Martin Edwards. It’s published by Comma Press.
GOING MAINSTREAM
The mainstream press are increasingly interested in true crime - in recent
weeks, I’ve been featured in Woman’s Own, who were researching teenage
girls who kill, and The Times, which used my top six true crime list as
their Critic’s Choice.
CRIME
THROUGH THE AGES
My May contribution to
In Cold
Blog is about how little sex offenders have changed throughout the years.
The info below this line was added prior to 6th May 2008.
SNACK ATTACK
Fellow true crime author Jimmy Lee Shreeve interviews me in his latest
book
Cannibals, which features notorious
cases such as Issei Sagawa and Nicolas Claux as well as lesser known flesh
eaters from around the world.
He also corresponded with - and met - a cannibal, albeit one who got lunch from
the mortuary rather than from a fresh kill.
WITHOUT
A TRACE
Should we all register on a DNA database? I look at the downside in my April
posting on
In Cold
Blog.
A FAIR COP
Still on the subject of detective work, my latest review for Tangled
Web is by former Flying Squad officer Dick Kirby. Tangled Web had a site
crash in late January, so I’ve posted my review here until their recovery. Click
on Villains' cover to link to amazon.co.uk
Villains by
Dick Kirby
Published by Robinson in paperback price £7.99
ISBN 9781845295691
I’m
a huge Dick Kirby fan, having reviewed his earlier titles and interviewed him
about his life in the Flying Squad. So I was delighted when his publisher sent
his latest opus, Villains, to me.
The villains in question operated between the 40s and the 70s, masterminding
everything from not-so-great train robberies to hijacking whisky-filled lorries.
Safecracking was also popular in the days before manufacturers made more
sophisticated safes with better alarms. Needless to say, the best laid plans
often went awry, resulting in much black comedy, especially when the thief’s new
best mate turned out to be an undercover cop.
Some of these underworld figures dealt mercilessly with their enemies. The Krays
took a cutlass to two rival brothers whilst another ne’r-do-well put his enemy,
still alive, through an industrial shredding machine.
Often there was violence on both sides, with a sadist slashing or raping his
victim before becoming a victim himself of police brutality. In other instances
there was an uneasy truce between copper and criminal, with the latter acting as
a grass in order to secure a reduced sentence for himself.
Some of the villains got away with their heinous acts, but occasionally there
was a sense of natural justice, such as when a distraction burglar who had
robbed the visually-impaired failed to take his diabetic medication and went
blind.
This is a fast-paced, riveting read, made even more enjoyable by Kirby’s
trademark humour. It’ll appeal to anyone who lived through this era and to
younger readers with an interest in unorthodox policing or in the London
underworld. And British criminals who have fled to the Costa Del Sol - amusingly
referred to as ‘the chaps on holiday’ - will lap it up. Dick even thinks that he
knows the identities of the three unaccounted for Great Train Robbers. You read
it here first.
The info below this line was added prior to 6th March 2008.
THE
RAILWAY MURDERS
My February posting on
In Cold
Blog is about the London-based Railway Murders
of the 1980s, a case which still causes controversy.
THIS WRITING LIFE
Continuing on a controversial theme, check out the biography of Patricia
Highsmith who met with censure during her lifetime for delineating crime
from the sociopath’s viewpoint. You’ll find my review of her life story, the
impressively-written Beautiful Shadow, on
Tangled
Web.
AN
INNOCENT MAN
Those of us who believed in Colin Stagg’s
innocence from the start have at last been vindicated, with DNA evidence linking
a Broadmoor-based double killer to Rachel Nickell’s murder. To read all
about it, go to my latest posting on the all singing, all dancing
In Cold
Blog.
FURTHER READING
Meanwhile, over at
Tangled
Web, you’ll find my review of the excellent
Pariah, the aforementioned Colin Stagg’s
autobiography. I’ve also reviewed Corey Mitchell’s
superbly-written true crime opus, Strangler,
and the bittersweet Driving Miss Smith, the
biography of the late comedian Linda Smith.
TIME FOR CRIME
Crime Time issue 52 includes a few words (I think that they allowed me
300) on writing Sadistic Killers. You’ll
also find a well-deserved homage to the work of American novelist James Sallis.
THE
DEATH NURSE
My December contribution to
In Cold
Blog looked at British killer nurse Beverly Allitt
who was petitioning for an early release. She has since been turned down.
A MYSTERIOUS REVIEW
The October Mystery Women newsletter is out now, understandably delayed
because the editor was moving house. (Been there, got the exceptionally dusty
T-shirt.) This issue includes overviews of several crime festivals plus a review
of
Sadistic Killers.
A CHRISTMAS-FREE ZONE
You’ll find my humorous look at Christmas past,
Seasonal Affective Disorder, in the December issue of North
Wales Living. There’s also a competition offering two nights in a beautiful
castle hotel.
IS IT HOT IN HERE OR IS IT JUST ME?
The latest issue of Forum (vol 41 no 12)
includes my feature Passion & The Perimenopause,
offering hope to everyone that’s hormonally-challenged. I recently found a
realistic appraisal of the subject online:
What women find attractive about men: A study conducted by UCLA’s Department of
Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man
can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.
For example, if she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and
masculine features. However, if she is menstruating or menopausal, she tends to
be more attracted to a man with duct tape over his mouth and a spear lodged in
his forehead while he is on fire.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
This update’s new link, on the Miscellaneous Links page, is to medical writer
Michael van Straten.
CHANGES
In Cold
Blog will now update on weekdays only as apparently people are too busy at
the weekends to read our ramblings. Either that or they prefer to use their
employer’s computer. My next posting will be on 5th December, 20 days before
otherwise sane men and women choose to spend time with their relatives...
DOWN UNDER
Sadistic Killers is now on sale in Australia
courtesy of Wakefield Press, and has just been reviewed by the unusually-named
Independent Weekly InDaily bulletin. For details please see the
Sadistic Killers page.
NO JUSTICE
Want to know more about how society treats victims’ families? Then read
Justice For William, my latest review on
Tangled
Web.
READ ON
You’ll also find new links to Manmade Magazine on the Literary Links page and to
Backlash Campaign and UK-Skeptics on the Miscellaneous Links page.
WRITE ON
You’ll find my article Forever Flexible on
the pleasures and perils of freelancing in the Sept/Oct issue of The New
Writer. This issue also includes pieces on writing a modern classic and
penning that challenging second novel. Most of us are self-harming by the
third...
Still on the subject of writing, check out my
Tangled
Web review of the brilliant Ed Reardon’s Week, a humorous look at
the literary life.
TAKING
RESPONSIBILITY
October’s
In Cold
Blog is about imprisoning passive parents, the ones who fail to seek help
when their partner abuses their child.
EMAIL'S GOING AWOL
I’m been receiving thousands of spam emails and have heard that various bona
fide ones have gone missing. So if you’ve emailed me in the past two months and
haven’t had the expected reply, please send your email again and also send a
copy of it to my hotmail account: it’s cdavis2006 followed by @
followed by hotmail.co.uk
IN COLD
BLOG
My September contribution to the all-singing, all-dancing
In Cold
Blog looks at the tragic case of a twelve year old girl who participated in
the murder of her family. My next posting will be on
5th October.
BOOK BLOG
Still on the subject of blogs, thanks to the very nice Marshall Zeringue
for asking me to contribute to the Page 99 section of his blogspot. It’s
a neat idea - authors turn to page 99 of their latest novel and tell readers, in
a couple of hundred words, how it contributes to the book. You’ll find my
Sob Story contribution
here. I’ve also added the blog - which is frequently updated - to my
literary links.
IN COURT
My
contribution to August’s
In Cold
Blog is about the British magistrates court system. Read it and weep.
IN CRIME SPREE
The very nice Russel McLean - crimewriter and editor of Crime Scene
Scotland - interviews me in the July/August edition of Crime Spree, the
American magazine.
IN CRIME TIME
There’s a review of
Couples Who Kill in the latest issue of Crime Time
(issue 51) which I’ve added to the Couples page. You no longer need a
subscription to Crime Time as it’s now available as a free download from their
site.
A FRIENDLY FORUM
Jack Lawrence travelled all the way from London to interview me for the
July issue of Forum (Vol 41 No 7). The
things a man will do for a jaffa cake. He asked me about the influences behind
my psycho-sexual fiction and true crime. We also discussed childhood abuse,
teenage isolation and the Spanner case, where several men went to prison for
practicing consensual BDSM. This issue of Forum also includes frank letters, an
advice column, articles and book reviews. It’s Britain’s longest-running
sexuality magazine.
ADOPT A LIBRARY
Libraries are now so underutilised that many of them are going to be scrapped.
Use it or lose it! They are a brilliant way to try out new authors, research
different hobbies or just enjoy the kind of guilty pleasure reads that you’d
never, ever buy. You can also do most of your browsing online - I’ve added a
link on the Miscellaneous Links page to
Cyberlibrary.
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE
The June issue of Mystery Women includes an
honest interview with fellow Scot Joyce Holms, dozens of book reviews and
details of forthcoming crime festivals. You’ll also find my humorous look at the
CSI franchise, called CSI Unlikely, sending
up emotionally-overwrought pathologists who talk to the dead.
TALES FROM THE CRYPT
Talking of mortuary scenes, thanks to Mike Ripley for giving the reissued
Shrouded an honourable mention in his Shots
column. Mike always has lots of industry gossip so, to read all about it, just
click
www.shots.co.uk.
A SURVIVOR'S STORY
Joanne Lees - who was travelling with boyfriend Peter Falconio
when he was killed by Bradley Murdoch - went on to write her story of surviving
both bereavement and public derision. Called No Turning
Back, it’s just been released in paperback and I’ve reviewed it on
Tangled
Web.
NEW LINK
Turning into a slouch potato and suffering from back pain? Then check out the
new link on the Misc Links page to
Chiropractic-UK
LAUNCH OF ONLINE CRIME
I was delighted when crimewriter Corey Mitchell (Dead And Buried, Evil
Eyes, Murdered Innocents, et al) told me that he was launching a
new
true crime blog and asked me to be its British true crime expert. He’s put
together a brilliant line up of American experts including a criminal profiler,
a forensic artist, corrections officer, assistant district attorney and a whole
host of true crime authors. We’ve all been given a specific date each month to
post on, and mine’s the 5th.
The blog launched 1st June and you’ll find it at
www.incoldblogger.blogspot.com
IN THE TELEGRAPH...
... the Dundee Evening Telegraph to be precise, newspaper of my birth town. They
interviewed me recently, and the results - entitled a
Chilling Catalogue of Horrors - appeared on Wednesday 23rd May.
Thankfully the interviewer had worked with the police so understood the reality
of crime, said that I unwrapped the backgrounds of the perpetrators 'with cold
shocking facts but never with gratuity.' If only all interviewers were so open
to this genre, which is frequently vilified.
ALL ABOUT CRIME
I’ve added a couple of reviews to the
Sadistic Killers page - but if you prefer books
about detection, check out Dick Kirby’s rollercoaster read You’re Nicked.
Guaranteed to make you wince and laugh in turn, I’ve reviewed it for
Tangled
Web.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?
You'll find a link to Forum Magazine on the literary links page and to
Crime Squad on, where else, the crime links page.
AN ABSOLUTE HERO
Still on the subject of comedy, you’ll find my homage to the late Dave Allen in
Knave vol 39 issue 3. Dave told the truth on our screens at a time when it was
prudent to be anodyne and, as a result, was banned from various TV stations and
live venues. I was fortunate to see him at the Playhouse in Edinburgh during his
comeback tour.
LET'S DO LAUNCH
It’s launch day for my book of true crime profiles,
Sadistic Killers, available online now and
coming soon to a bookstore near you.
Sob Story, launched on the 2nd of this month,
is also on sale now.
IT'S A MYSTERY
But if you’re more interested in the machinations of TV companies, check out my
latest instalment, Won’t Get Fooled Again, in Mystery Women’s
review-filled newsletter. If hell actually existed it would be filled with TV
researchers and production companies...
ON A HIGH
Prefer to read about the writing process? Then you’ll find Chris High’s
column in Writers News of interest. He interviews me in the newest (March) issue
about the difference between writing fact and fiction, but you can read a fuller
version of the interview at
www.shotsmag.co.uk
FURTHER READING
Rather buy a book? Check out my
Tangled
Web reviews of the amusing Wasting Police Time, the political
Better To Reign In Hell and the filled-with-facts-you-didn’t-know (well, I
didn’t know) Carnal Knowledge.
BYE FOR NOW
Had enough of me? Or just had enough of sentences ending with a question mark?
Why not head over to
crimespreemag.com, my latest link? (Sorry, did it again.)
WHO'S GOING TO DRIVE YOU HOME TONIGHT?
Well, it won’t be yours truly as my attempt to master the wheel led to two
nervous breakdowns. (Driving instructors are surprisingly fragile.) To read all
about it, check out my humorous article Driving Miss Takes in the January
issue of
North Wales Living, now on its sixteenth
issue and apparently reaching expats everywhere.
BITTER SWEET SUCCESS
If you like comedy legends then you’ll enjoy my feature Broken Candy -
about the late John Candy - in Knave vol 39 issue 1. Though superficially happy,
he battled with depression and compulsive eating and died of a heart attack at
the ridiculously young age of forty three. This issue also includes a
feature on the bright-as-well-as-beautiful burlesque performer Dita Von Teese.
TIME FOR CRIME
Crime Time have just released their
double-sized fiftieth issue. They asked dozens of us to name our top five books
and the results appear in a feature called Crime Fiction To Die For.
Being a contrary critter, I did true crime.
PRYOR ENGAGEMENT
But if you prefer comedy, check out Knave vol 38 issue 12 which includes my
feature on the late Richard Pryor. Like most comedians, he was deeply unhappy -
and, in his case, also violent.
RECREATIONAL LINKS
Taking the day off? Then consider visiting Crossword in Miscellaneous Links or
Spinetingler mag in Crime Links.
SHE'S BEHIND YOU
Ravers (vol 12 issue 12) includes my article
Fatal Attraction about Christiana Edmunds, the Brighton-based 'woman
scorned' who poisoned half the town with strychnine-laced peppermints, and
killed one four year old boy.
But if you prefer to read about murderous men, check out the previous issue
(that’ll be vol 12 issue 11 - Helpful Editor) which looks at Texan spree killer
Charles Whitman, yet another abused child who grew up and took a terrible
revenge on the world.
SURVIVAL
Last weekend I spoke for two hours at the Quality
Women’s Fiction Convention in Glastonbury on the vagaries of
Surviving The Freelance Life. Afterwards a few
gunshots were heard in the car park but the hardier writers said that they felt
inspired. I usually accept one public speaking gig a year on a
feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway basis (part of my talk was about moving outwith
your comfort zone) so am now off the hook until November 2007.