The Hungry Detective

Thirty is now fourteen. I am at the halfway point of The List . The List was born out of a desire to reinvigorate my interest in Crime Fiction. Almost two years into this plan and I feel good about where I am...emotionally....physically...with Crime Fiction Although difficult to quantify I knew that the smart play two years ago was to focus on my core authors as a way to rekindle my interest in Crime Fiction. Chasing new authors with 'hot' debuts had lead me to a kind of ruin. My shelves became littered with authors and their two book deals that had come to nothing. A bunch three out of five star books that passed the time but never excelled. The other effect this plan had was to appease my desire to buy books. All those disappointing debuts that amounted to so much nothing still needed replacing. The promise of buying a book is completely separate from the shrug that it can elicit when I read the last page. Filling the gaps of my core authors also filled the need I have...

[Editor's Note: I have massaged this piece for longer than I care to admit. One should never openly denigrate ones work, but in wondering why this has taking me so long to finish I confront two options. One, I was trying to get it 'right,' and that is true up to a point. I am driving at something with this post that I am never quite able to quantify, hence the endless editing. Which then leads me into the second reason, that it just doesn't make any sense. The post starts by making a point then goes about proving it...or not proving it in this case..in the least effective way possible.]  I wish my ennui with Amazon had something to do with any one of the corporate messes that they have found themselves in over the last ten years, but that is not the reason. In a previous post I figured, through some suspect math, that I spend $700 a year on new Crime Fiction. While this number does not account for used, and rather expensive back catalog books, it is a useful number...

I was thinking about the economics of my Crime Fiction buying. What are they exactly? How many and how much? My Amazon purchases over the last few years would be an accurate reflection of that number. I feel like that leaves out a great deal, and for the purposes of this exercise I want to know what the amount is without it reflecting Amazon's typical 30-50% discount. The goal here is to produce a number that I can craft a budget around. If I spend 'X' on new books and 'Y' on used books I can plan better. Plan mainly for the 'Y' because the 'Y' figure for used books is unknowable to an extent. I could get HEAVEN'S PRISONERS by James Lee Burke for $200 or $300 depending on the circumstances. The latest Michael Connelly is going to be $27.95, and the one next year is going to be the same price or a dollar or two more. I can plan for the incremental movements of that situation more than I can in the used market where the price can move in one d...

I have spent more time then I care to admit watching 'Book Haul' videos on YouTube recently. If you don't know these are videos that almost exclusively feature young women who display recent purchases that focus heavily on YA fiction. Fascinating. I'm not going to do a video because I just don't have that kind of energy. But I do like talking about books, so here is what I bought at Bouchercon 2014. Justice Hall - Laurie R. King  - Bantam I lost this book when The Hungry Detective moved Headquarters. The book got inexplicably crushed. This is the first book I have had to repurchase. Let it be the last.... [Editor's Note: Maybe you should wait until the end of this post before you make this claim]. Japantown - Barry Lancet - Simon and Schuster A book and author I identified for purchase before I went to the show. It is a thriller which gives me a bit of a pause. I've burned out on thrillers over the last couple years. On the plus...

It is late on Sunday. A long, fun weekend and honestly I am exhausted. My recap of the 2014 Long Beach Bouchercon could wait until tomorrow. But why put off today what you will probably have to complete tomorrow or the next day. [Editor's Note: Probably?] I had good luck with the panels this year. It amazes me that you throw a bunch of authors in a room and more often then not the panel works. I found myself in a number of panels this year where I either knew nothing of the author or only what I could glean while doing Amazon searchers for their books in the five minutes before the panel started. It works when it feels like it should fail more often. I do know that I have become selective in the panels I choose to attend. There was at least one panel session on Thursday and Friday I did not attend. There was only one panel that was a bust from the get go. For those little traumas I have long learned to follow the adage of life being too short. A quick, quiet exit is smart f...

Hello and welcome to The Hungry Detective panel picks for the 2014 Long Beach Bouchercon. In years past I would pick one panel for each session. This time around I'm going to pick 2-3 for each day. Some of these I will make, and some of these I will be in a line to get books signed. It has been a few years since my last Bouchercon, and I am excited to return. Safe travels if you are making the journey to Southern California. THURSDAY: The Hungry Detective is now based in the greater Los Angles area. A scheduling error will cause me to miss most of Saturday. However, I will be there for all of Thursday, and I am thankful for the 11:30 am start because I am going to have to take the subway to Long Beach. 11:30-12:30 Regency C No More Badge: Crime Solvers Who've Left the Badge Behind George Easter (Moderator), Paul Doiron, David Housewright, John Lutz, Sean Lynch I like cops. I like detectives. I like detectives that used to be cops because something horrible...

This list has actually changed a lot more than I thought it would in first year of existence. The small mysteries of life... 1.  Heaven's Prisoners  - James Lee Burke Still on top. When I first created this list I strongly considered Robert Crais's LULLABY TOWN for the head of the list, primarily under the assumption that the cost would prohibit me from buying it. It was not and now HEAVEN'S PRISONERS has been here since the beginning. Soon, I'll head to the same Pasadena Book show where I was tripping over copies last year, and with the express purpose is to land a copy there. Writing that dooms the whole enterprise. [Editor's Note: B'ah it totally did...] 2.  The Beekeeper's Apprentice  - Laurie R. King Previously I have written that my hopes are pinned the acquisition of this book at the Long Beach B'Con in a few months time. That plan has not changed. [Editor's Note: I can no longer state with any certainty if this assertion or the o...