The Hungry Detective

I talked super briefly to my mother today. She suggested a book that I have not read... from an author I have never heard of..... ringing endorsement? Well, I guess not..... but Donna(Mom) has read crime fiction longer than I have. I credit Walter Mosley, John Grisham (spare me the snide commentary), Stephen F. Wilcox, and my mother for hipping me to the most expensive hobby I have. Anyway the author is Mark Haskell Smith . His first book was Moist . His second was Delicious , and his last is Salty . Mom swears by the first book... which is good enough for me and that should be good enough for you.

I'm going to India. Pune, India actually. There is a conference on Film Heritage, and I am presenting on 4 panels. Ehhhhhh.... So The Hungry Detective is taking a break. Posts have been scarce as of late in any case. Maybe the random post here and there.... about India. More than anything I will try and plan out some future articles for THD while I am on plane for 30+ hours round trip.

A couple weeks back I finished David Skibbins's Eight of Swords . It is the first book in the Warren Ritter series. Warren (not his real name) has been in hiding since his 70s era affiliation with the Weathermen went in to the crapper. Warren is essentially the last radical standing. As a side note there are two good movies out there on the Weathermen. Slightly more available is a documentary from a few years ago unimaginatively titled The Weather Underground . The other maybe very hard to find. Try the library. Underground . The film was directed by Emile de Antonio . Emile was a seminal documentarian of the 1970's . He was the Michael Moore of his generation without the self aggrandizing BS. This is a good starting point for me. Interesting lead, shadowy past. I can overlook the fact that he rides a motorcycle.... Easy Rider nonsense. Warren is a Tarot card reader on the streets of Berkeley, CA. Apparently a mid-80s invest in Microsoft has put Warren on easy-street. Any...

BBC 4 is in the midst of transmitting the second season Life on Mars . Caught most of the first series last year when it played on BBCAmerica . The premise of this show is what happens when a cop in 2006 is transported back to 1973. DI Sam Tyler spends equal time trying to figure how this strange event has befallen him while also trying to solve crimes in his new decade. It actually comes off better than you think. It employs the 'Lost' formula to great affect. Everything is or is not a clue as to why Sam is 1973. Like the fact that Sam has gone back 33 years..... 33 years is how old Jesus was when he was crucified. Important? Coincidence? Maddening. I look forward to the re-broadcast on BBC America . No scheduled dates yet, but if that terrible Footballers Wive$ can get a second season then this should be a guarantee.

I'm starting to hear a lot of buzz associated with Nick Stone's Mr. Clarinet . Released in the UK last year, the book is scheduled for a June release here in the US. Reviews from UK papers have been good to great to fanatical . Well, the last review is from January Magazine, but let's not quibble. Serial Killer fiction has gotten a pretty bad rap as of late. Not having read the book I really can't say if Stone has overcome the pit falls of the modern serial killer novel.... ie Thomas Harris... pre-Hannibal. Given the content of this interview Stone appears to be mixing in a healthy dose of Haitian history to differentiate it from the rest. I'm intrigued .