A Conversation with Chris Grabenstein

We are delighted to welcome Chris Grabenstein to Omnimystery News today.

Chris is the author of the "John Ceepak, Jersey Shore" mysteries for adults, the "Haunted Mystery" series for middle grade readers, and several other non-series books for readers of all ages.

His most recently published book, Riley Mack and the Other Known Troublemakers (HarperCollins, April 2012 print and ebook editions) introduces a new series character for kids. We recently had a chance to talk to Chris about the character and the book.

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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little bit about your new middle grade book series.

Chris Grabenstein: With Riley Mack and the Other Known Troublemakers, I set out to create an "Ocean's Eleven" for 11-year-olds. A new "Mission: Impossible" team made up of extremely talented 7th graders. I think with this series, unlike my adult John Ceepak mysteries, the characters will be relatively unchanged from book to book. Some of the relationships, however, may grow. And the 7th graders might stop thinking of 5th grader Jamal as an annoying little gnat.

Photo provided courtesy of
Chris Grabenstein; Photo credit Tess Steinkolk.

OMN: It sounds like a setup that would appeal to readers who enjoy exciting action-adventure books. Is that how do you describe it?

CG: I would categorize it as a comic crime caper series for kids. But in the middle grades market, I don't think genres and sub-genres matter that much. Kids love a good book.

OMN: Are any of your own real-life experiences as a middle grade student fictionalized for the book?

CG: Interestingly, I think the character of the cool, charismatic, and clever Riley Mack is one who I wish I could've been when I was in middle school. Whereas shy, imaginative Zack from my "Haunted Mystery" series is probably closer to who I really was at that age. Of course the good thing about writing what you know is that you can know just about anything if you do your homework. For instance, before creating the character of Jamal Wilson in the Riley Mack books I did not know how to "pick" a combination lock by feel. Now I do.

OMN: How do you go about developing a storyline?

CG: I establish four major tent poles to hold the story up: The act one "turn," the second act midpoint, the third act turn, the final climax. Once I know my four major destinations, I tell myself a story to get there. I usually write character biographies after I have written the book. A lot of this comes from being an actor in my youth. I think I use the same technique of character discovery in my writing process.

OMN: How do you fact-check your books? Internet research? Consulting with experts? First-hand experience?

CG: All of the above. One of my favorite things about being a writer is learning new things. For Riley Mack, I had to consult with an electrician to make sure my way of dealing with Grandma Brown would knock her out but not kill her.

OMN: Where is Fairview, the setting of the Riley Mack books? Is it a real place, or one from your imagination?

CG: I based my town on several of the commuter suburban towns along the Hudson River just north of New York City. I've visited a lot of schools and libraries in those towns and have used their feel for Fairview — especially the pizza parlors on Main Street where kids hang out after school.

OMN: What is your involvement with marketing your books?

CG: I do a little bit of everything except ads. I have fun doing book trailers since I used to do TV commercials. [OMN aside: We've embedded a trailer for Riley Mack and the Other Known Troublemakers below.] I'm pretty regular on Facebook, sporadic on Twitter. My best "marketing tools" are my author visits where I get to meet and talk with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of students and their teachers and librarians. I teach about writing, they laugh, some buy books. It's terrific.

OMN: Suppose someone wants to adapt Riley Mack for the screen. Any thoughts on who, or what type of actor, would play him?

CG: That's so hard to say with a middle grades book where the main character is 12. Given Hollywood production schedules and the length of time it takes for movies to get to the screen, I'd say Riley would be played by a completely (as of now) unknown kid with red hair. This is, however, my first book where the main character is depicted on the cover. It took about 4 back and forths to get him looking right.

OMN: What interests do you have outside of writing? Might they include your pictured companion?

CG: That's Fred. I run and walk with him. These activities aren't in the books but help me write the books. I carry Sharpie pens and note cards and jot down ideas while I'm jogging.

OMN: Are there any authors whose books you rush out to buy as soon as they are published?

CG: I always check out what Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Patterson are up to. I find that I'm reading more and more YA and middle grades books. And, for fun, I like biographies and non-fiction.

OMN: Thanks, Chris, so very much for introducing us to your new character and series. For more information about Chris and his books, visit his website at ChrisGrabenstein.com.

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About Riley Mack and the Other Known Troublemakers:

What do you get when you add up

• 1 middle-school bully …
• 2 bank robbers …
• 57 dogs in peril …
• 4,000 missing dollars … and
• 5 daring troublemakers led by the one and only
Riley Mack?

1 crazy caper!

   

Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark is Today's Third Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark as today's third free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark
A Carolina Slade Mystery
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books

This is the first mystery in this series to feature the by-the-book county manager for the Department of Agriculture.

About Lowcountry Bribe (from the publisher): A killer wants to make certain she buys the farm. Threats, a missing boss, a very dead co-worker, a high-level investigation and a sinister hog farmer: Lowcountry Ag Department manager Carolina Slade is a bean-counting civil servant in hot water.

Carolina coordinates federal loans for farmers in the coastal lowcountry of South Carolina. When one of her clients, a hog farmer named Jessie Rawlings, offers her a bribe, Slade reports Jessie to her superiors. The next thing she knows, she's besieged by Resident Agent-In-Charge Wayne Largo from the Feds' IG Office in Atlanta. He and his partner have come to investigate Slade's accusations, and if possible catch Jessie in the act of handing over money.

However, the IG isn't telling Slade everything. The agents are also investigating the disappearance of Slade's boss the year before in connection to possible land fraud. And when the sting on Jessie goes bad, the case is put on hold and Wayne is called back to Atlanta, leaving Slade to fear not only for her life and job, but for her childrens' safety.

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Nice Girl Does Noir Vol. 2 by Libby Fischer Hellmann is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Nice Girl Does Noir Vol. 2 by Libby Fischer Hellmann as today's second free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Nice Girl Does Noir Vol. 2 by Libby Fischer Hellmann
A Short Story Collection
Publisher: CreateSpace

About Nice Girl Does Noir Vol. 2 (from the publisher): A collection of 10 crime fiction short stories, divided into two parts: "Chicago Then and Now" and "Other Places, Other Times".

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Hogdoggin' by Anthony Neil Smith is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Hogdoggin' by Anthony Neil Smith as today's free mystery ebook.

This title was listed as free as of the date and time of this post. Prices are subject to change without notice. The price displayed on the vendor website at the time of purchase will be the price paid for the book. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your transaction.

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Hogdoggin' by Anthony Neil Smith
Original Publisher: Bleak House

This is the second thriller to feature Billy Lafitte, a sequel to Yellow Medicine.

About Hogdoggin' (from the publisher): Former Deputy Billy Lafitte is a no-good, grits-for-brains, despicable and dangerous traitor Special Agent Franklin Rome is sure of it. So sure, in fact, that he's willing to investigate outside departmental bounds. Willing to blackmail and bribe his fellow lawmen into helping him. Willing to ferret Lafitte out of whatever snake-hole he's hidden himself in, and do what the too-lax government wouldn't let him do back in Yellow Medicine county, just months ago …

And Rome's plan is working. Squeeze a man's ex-wife, especially an ex-wife as unstable as Ginny Lafitte, and watch her overprotective man appear from thin air to stand by his family. No matter that Rome s had to bend a few rules in order to make it happen; Billy's end will justify Rome's means.

Of course, Rome didn't count on Billy riding in to save the day on a turquoise motorcycle with a beard, fifty extra pounds of muscle, and the weight of a man named Steel God at his back. Nor did he think Billy would go and get himself caught up with paint-huffing, knife-wielding rednecks. And Rome certainly never predicted that a broken-hearted, vengeful woman named Colleen would be just as hot for Lafitte's blood as he is …

Important Note: This book was listed for free on the date and time of this post. Prices can and do change without prior notice. Please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Fox Orders to Series The Following, Cancels Alcatraz, The Finder

Another pre-announcement announcement of a prime time crime series order for Fall 2012.

Fox has ordered to series The Following from a previously untitled pilot. The storyline is centered on the complex relationship between a diabolical serial killer (to be played by James Purefoy) and the damaged FBI agent (Kevin Bacon, in his first recurring television series role) who took him down. After the killer escapes, the agent is reactivated and discovers that he is no longer just hunting one man, but a massive cult of serial killers created and manipulated during his time in prison.

More late-breaking news … Fox has canceled Alcatraz, the J. J. Abrams series that seemed to promise so much before it aired but really delivered so little … at least in our opinion. We never watched past the third or fourth episode or so.

And still more late-breaking news … Fox has canceled The Finder, the Bones spin-off (sort of) that we confess we never saw an episode of.

Review: Dead Level by Sarah Graves

We've just published our Review of Dead Level by Sarah Graves. A Home Repair is Homicide Mystery. Bantam Hardcover, May 2012.

Our rating:

Available to purchase from …

Dark Shadows Opens in Theaters This Friday, May 11th

Dark Shadows. Opens in theaters May 11, 2012.

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family.

Two decades pass and Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy … until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets.

Directed by Tim Burton from an original screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Running time: 113 minutes Rated PG-13 for comic horror violence, sexual content, some drug use, language and smoking.

Watch a trailer for the film below:

Telemystery: NBC Renews Law & Order SVU, Orders Chicago Fire

The official announcements from the networks regarding the Fall 2012 television season won't come until next week, but news about what's new and what's being renewed have started to leak out.

NBC has renewed Law & Order: SVU for a 14th season and ordered to series another Dick Wolf-created drama, Chicago Fire. (Though this new series is written by a pair of crime novelists, Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, we're not sure it qualifies as a "telemystery" … though we're the first to admit our own definition of the term can be somewhat arbitrary at times!)

NBC ordered Revolution to series last week, another example of a drama we're going to have to learn more about before we decide whether it qualifies as a "telemystery".

Today's Bestselling Free Kindle MystereBooks (120509)

Here is today's list of the top bestselling free Kindle mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers.

We're using a script to embed an RSS feed from Amazon.com, which is updated hourly, but if you cannot see the box below — or have scripts blocked — you can use this link to see the relevant page on Amazon.com.

Lifetime Developing Crime Drama based on Danish Series Lulu & Leon

Lifetime Television is developing a remake of the Danish crime drama Lulu & Leon, which aired for a single season in Denmark in 2009.

Here's a synopsis from Eurochannel, which aired the series elsewhere in Europe in 2010:

The world of crime is a mysterious and deadly one, especially when seen through the eyes of an ordinary housewife. Lulu & Leon is a shocking story about violence, bribery, and one simple woman's meteoric rise to the highest echelons of her husband's criminal organization. You've never seen a family drama like this one before.

Lulu is a charming mother of two who leads a modest life. She owns a hair salon in the suburbs, cares for her children, and loves Leon, her husband of ten years. Unbeknownst to her, however, her perfect life is little more than a cover for Leon's criminal activities.

As Lulu struggles to free Leon from prison, she is forced to carry on his business in the criminal underworld and deal with a vicious network of gangsters, hookers, and corrupt cops. This dangerous situation is further complicated by her lack of experience, and the chauvinistic, male-dominated pecking order of organized crime.

Her troubles become even more complicated when she meets a corrupt cop named Patrick Smith and, despite the danger, develops an intense attraction to him. She must juggle her complex feelings with an even more complex cash flow problem, which she solves by borrowing from a used car salesman named Memeth.

This storyline sounds very similar to the Dutch drama Penoza, which ABC is developing as a potential series to air this Fall … but since we haven't seen either, it's hard to tell how similar — or dissimilar — they really are.

We've embedded below the promo for the series from Eurochannel, though the US version is likely to be much different.

Please Welcome Marguerite Darlington

We are delighted to welcome crime novelist Marguerite Darlington as our guest blogger today.

Marguerite's first mystery, Movie Star Money (CreateSpace, June 2011 print and ebook editions), introduces con artist Sacha Sanchez.

Today Marguerite shares with prospective authors — and interested readers! — her Top 5 Resources for L.A. Crime Writers.

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My first introduction to the detective genre was watching Humphrey Bogart in 1940s noir detective pictures. I loved his wise-cracking, cigarette-smoking, I'll-do-as-I-please attitude. He inspired me to read Raymond Chandler, and then my love of Los Angeles, post-WWII detective noir began.

Photo provided courtesy of
Marguerite Darlington

Most people think that L.A. is Hollywood, but that's just a neighborhood. This city has a rich literary history, and enough bizarre crimes and shady politics to keep writers inspired ad infinitum. I'm proud to live in the city that Raymond Chandler, John Fante, Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy Parker, William Faulkner and many more great writers have chosen to call home, even if it was just long enough for them to get fed up with Hollywood and head slouching home with a suitcase full of cash and cocktail party stories to last a lifetime.

The post WWII-era may have been Los Angeles' heyday, but the city of angels still has a grimy underbelly worth writing about, believe me. Whether you live in the area or you're just inspired by the city's mystique, I've compiled a list of resources for crime writers that will help you tap into the pulse of Los Angeles.

1. Los Angeles Visionaries Association — This organization is like an ongoing Masters program in Los Angeles cultural history. They offer weekly events of all kinds, from bus tours focused on famous writers, to high-class dinners at historic locations to educational seminars at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center at Cal State L.A., which are my personal favorite. The Crime Lab seminars are led by top criminologists and discuss real cases that have been tried in Los Angeles County. If you're a crime writer there is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

2. The Los Angeles Police Protection League Blog — I get the daily newsletter for the Los Angeles Police Protection League, and there are always one or two interesting stories. Covers all the local crime that the evening news ignores (Confession, I haven't watched the evening news since the 90s anyway), local politics and matters of city government that would not otherwise cross my radar. For example, there was a truancy law on the books in LA until recently that kids who skipped school could be fined up to $200 if a cop caught them. That's a lot of bubble gum.

3. Los Angeles Public Library Podcasts — The Library Foundation of Los Angeles hosts a speaker series at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles called ALOUD, which includes local mystery writers, as well as local crime and political experts. If you can't attend, don't worry. The podcasts are free online. Great research and inspiration.

4. The California Crime Writer's Conference — Although it only happens once a year, this event packs a lot of information into a very short amount of time. Presented by Sisters in Crime Los Angeles and the So Cal Mystery Writers of America, this event is perfect for out-of-towners who want to immerse themselves in mystery writing while staying in the City of Angeles.

5. The Interactive Crime Map of Los Angeles — This is just cool. You can pick any neighborhood in Los Angeles, zoom in and see every crime from burglary to auto theft to assault to murder. It's great for choosing where to set a story or scene in your novel, and also helpful when booking a hotel room. (Hint: They may have given Hollywood Boulevard a face lift, but I would not stumble around there after the sun goes down. And if someone asks you if you want to take a bus tour, the answer is "no.")

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Marguerite Darlington is an accomplished writer and editor based in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she is the managing editor of Fashionablymarketing.me by day, and she is a mystery writer and connoisseur by night. To learn more about Marguerite, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @MJDarlington.

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About Movie Star Money:

Sacha Sanchez didn't want to leave Chicago … she had to leave. The pick-up-and-rip-off gig she had been running at a bar up on Ashland blew up in her face, so the 23-year-old con artist had to split town before the cops pick her up. Her adopted father and mentor Tomas (a.k.a. Poppa Tom of The Lucky Money Shoppe) packs her off to Los Angeles to lay low with her Aunt Lois.

Sacha does anything but. She starts looking for new ways to hustle pocket change and settles on "energy healing." Before she knows it, she's the toast of Hollywood, making house calls to the rich and famous and getting paid like she's one of them. She thinks she has the world wrapped around her finger until she finds one of her rich and famous clients dead, his wife crouched over him, covered in blood swearing up and down that she didn't do it.

She agrees to help the woman out, try to find out who the real killer is so that her friend doesn't go up the river for a crime she didn't commit. Even though she promised her poppa that she would stay out of trouble, Sacha sinks deeper and deeper into the web of Hollywood intrigue that's spun around this high profile murder.

FX Networks Developing Drama based on Chelsea Cain's Archie Sheridan Thrillers

Early last year we reported that Chelsea Cain's Archie Sheridan mysteries had been optioned … though it was unclear at the time whether it was for film or television. Today we're learning that FX Networks is putting the project into development as a drama series for the cable network.

Heartsick, the first book in the series — there are four to date — introduces the Portland detective and his pursuit of serial killer Gretchen Lowell. In the end she was the one who caught him, but after torturing him for days she mysteriously let him go and turned herself in. Since then the she has been locked up, leaving Archie damaged but alive in a prison of another kind — addicted to pain pills, unable to return to his old life, powerless to get those ten horrific days or Gretchen off his mind.

When another killer begins snatching teenage girls off the streets, Archie has to pull himself together to head up a new task force, but even then he can’t stop him without getting information from Gretchen — an encounter that may destroy him.

With Susan Ward, a hungry young newspaper reporter, profiling Archie and his team, Archie, the killer, and Gretchen enter into a dark and deadly game.

ABC Family Developing New Mystery Series, The Keys

ABC Family, which already airs several teen-oriented mystery series including Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, is developing another.

The Keys is set at an exclusive — and mysterious — island resort and features a young woman — presumably Ashley Tisdale, of "High School Musical" fame, who is co-producing — investigating the secrets of the place.

(Related article: Deadline.)

Jeffrey Archer's False Impression May Be First Book Adapted Instead

Earlier today we mentioned that A Matter of Honor by Jeffrey Archer was getting a screenwriter — Richard Regen — to adapt the book as the first in a potential series (or franchise).

Now we're reading that the author's thriller False Impression — "A breathtaking journey of twists and turns from New York to London, from Bucharest and on to Tokyo ends up in a sleepy English village, where the mystery surrounding Van Gogh's last painting will finally be resolved." — may be the first to be filmed … but with a different screenwriter, Brian D. Young. To quote The Hollywood Reporter, "Regen is charged with creating an action sequel based on Archer’s Honor Among Thieves novel using a recurring character from A Matter of Honor, Adam Scott, as the main focus."

The operative word above is "sequel" but there is also a reference to two titles. Adam Scott is, indeed, the lead character in A Matter of Honor but THR is saying that that book won't be adapted, but another, Honor Among Thieves, will be. In other words, Adam Scott will be taken as a character from one book and inserted into adaptation of another. Which also suggests that Adam Scott will somehow find his way into False Impression as well.

Color us confused.

This is all so reminiscent of what happened when Alex Cross was first announced, with the title of one book used together with the adapted storyline from another.

The bottom line, we guess, is that the producers are actively moving forward with adaptations of Jeffrey Archer's novels. Only we're not exactly sure which is coming first, and how much of what makes it into the screenplay is actually from the book being adapted.

(Related article: The Hollywood Reporter.)

The Mystery Bookshelf: Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson, a Dandy Gilver Mystery

The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a world of mystery and suspense, is pleased to feature a new crime novel we recently received from the publisher.

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Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains by Catriona McPherson
A Dandy Gilver Mystery (5th in series)
Minotaur Books (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: May 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1-250-00736-0

About Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains (from the publisher): Welcome to Edinburgh, 1926. Dandy Gilver, a wealthy and witty aristocrat (and sometimes amateur sleuth) receives a letter from Lollie Balfour, who insists that her husband of five years is having her followed and her mail is being steamed open.

The only way for Dandy to help is by pretending to applying for a job as a lady’s maid in Lollie’s house. Dandy gets a crash course from her own maid and arrives at 31 Heriot Row, ready to put all of her detection skills to good use. Why does Mr. Balfour want to get rid of his wife? And can Dandy stay in disguise long enough to evade the villains?

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About the author: Catriona McPherson was born near Edinburgh, where she received her Ph.D. She now lives in Davis, California, with her husband and two cats. For more information about the author, a biography of her character, recipes, dressing tips and more, visit her website at DandyGilver.com.

 Crime novels by Catriona McPherson reviewed by Mysterious Reviews: Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains (2011).

Purchase Options for Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains: