To begin at the beginning… Alison Layland praises the Prologue, with extracts from her novels. Crime Cymru In this series, we invite our Crime Cymru authors to showcase an excerpt from their books. This week, Alison Layland writes in praise of the prologue in crime fiction, with illustrations from her novels, Someone Else’s Conflict and Riverflow.Continue reading “BOOKCASE with Alison Layland”
Category Archives: Crime
Murder?
I’ve spent the last twenty years involved in murder. Writing about it, that is. Writing novels in which murders happen and lives unravel, never to be the same again. Murder is always an excellent subject for drama, whether it immerses the reader in the intricacies of detection or in the psychological impact. Murder sits likeContinue reading “Murder?”
The Unravelling: Mines and Daisies
I’ve written about families rocked by crime, about hidden secrets and domestic violence, where the criminals are close relatives or complete strangers, but I usually accept the normal assumption that they will be adults, even if children can be their victims. In The Unravelling I broke free to write about criminal intent among children. KarenContinue reading “The Unravelling: Mines and Daisies”
Home, Hearth and Murder: domestic drama
Back in 1816, Jane Austen (yes, I always try to bring her into anything if I can) commiserated with her nephew when he reported that he had lost two whole chapters of his own tentative novel. She hadn’t stolen them, she promised. “What should I do with your strong, manly, spirited Sketches, full of VarietyContinue reading “Home, Hearth and Murder: domestic drama”
It’s a Crime
Crime Fiction comes in many forms – international thrillers, historical mysteries, psychological dramas, police procedurals, court dramas, cosy crime… the sub-genres are endless, but they all dwell on crime. What is the appeal? Real life crime comes in many sub-divisions too, but crime fiction ignores most of them. You don’t get thrillers centring on crimesContinue reading “It’s a Crime”
What’s in a Genre?
When I first moved from seriously obsessive scribbling to trying to get someone else to appreciate what I’d written, the first question confronting me was ‘what genre do I write in?’ People want to know. At least publishers want to know, and agents and librarians and book shop owners, not to mention readers. This canContinue reading “What’s in a Genre?”
Crime with a Welsh Twist
Everyone knows Scandi Noir. Scottish Crime Writing is a phenomenon that makes its voice heard loudly. Not so many people know about Welsh crime writing, though they have probably watched Welsh crime dramas like Hinterland and Keeping Faith. But there are a lot of Welsh crime writers (like me) and we have a Presence: weContinue reading “Crime with a Welsh Twist”
There is Still Crime!The Covenant, by Thorne Moore #BookLaunch #Review #FridayReads
Thank you, Judith Barrow, for this blog review
New Books for 2020
Great books here (modest cough). Crime Cymru 2020, a year that some people would like to forget – but despite Covid 19 there are reasons to be cheerful, especially in the form of books by our authors that have arrived this year or are in the pipeline. MARCH saw the publication of The Memory, byContinue reading “New Books for 2020”
Q&A with Thorne Moore – home is where the hurt is
My turn to be grilled by Crime Cymru. Crime Cymru Every week we feature a Q&A session with one of our Crime Cymru authors. This week,Thorne Moore offers a fascinating insight into how not just location, but homes and buildings impact on character and story. Can you tell us a little about yourself? I wasContinue reading “Q&A with Thorne Moore – home is where the hurt is”
Thorne Moore 