• Crime Scene - No sex please
    Write

    No Sex Please We’re Crime Writers

    Have you ever wondered why there’s so little sex in crime fiction? Maybe there is and I’m reading the wrong books. Maybe sex and murder are not good bedfellows. Some categories of crime fiction, such as cosy mysteries, exclude explicit sex, graphic violence and excessive swearing. In my book, literally and metaphorically, this doesn’t exclude romance, sexual tension and people sleeping together. It simply frowns on graphic description. But sex scenes should only be in a story if they are essential to the plot or character development. This should be the case in any book in any category. If a killer, for instance, seduces his or her victims before killing…

  • Sheila Bugler
    Interview

    An interview with author, Sheila Bugler

    To help celebrate the launch of When the Dead Speak, I’m delighted to welcome fellow Eastbourne author, Sheila Bugler, to Robservations. While we met several years ago at a book festival, and a few times since, I wanted to find out more. So Sheila, please tell me a little about yourself and your writing. I’m an Irish crime writer, living in Eastbourne. So far, I’ve published five novels – three books in my Ellen Kelly crime series, and two in my Eastbourne Murder Mysteries series. I am a huge fan of crime fiction and read as many crime novels as I can get my hands on. I write reviews for…

  • The Soul Killer by Ross Greenwood
    Interview

    An interview with author Ross Greenwood

    I’m delighted to welcome crime fiction author Ross Greenwood to my Robservations blog. Having recently read and enjoyed The Snow Killer, I offered Ross the chance to tell me a little more about himself and his writing. Please tell me a little about yourself and your writing. Hi, I’m 46 and from Peterborough. I’ve been writing since 2015 and my eighth book is out in November. When did you first realise you wanted to be an author? I’ve always wanted to write a book, but suspected it would just be one. It’s snowballed since then, along a rather long, gentle slope with many hillocks as opposed to down a mountain!…

  • Interview

    An interview with author J A Schneider

    I’m delighted to welcome psychological suspense author, J A Schneider to Robservations. Her latest novel, What You’ve Done, is released tomorrow, 16th April 2020. I was lucky enough to read it recently and it’s brilliant, driven by a strong lead character in attorney, Mia Pearle, who feels a sense of responsibility and guilt when 16-year old Kelly is brutally murdered in a quiet town in Connecticut. Having also read and thoroughly enjoyed Girl Watching You, I thought it was time to find out a little more about J A Schneider. Please tell me a little about yourself and your writing. When very young, I’d hear complaints that I’d rather read…

  • Interview

    An interview with author Paula Williams

    I’m delighted to welcome crime novelist Paula Williams to Robservations. The third novel in her Much Winchmoor series, Burying Bad News, is published on 17th March 2020. Having enjoyed the first book in the series, Murder Served Cold, I thought it would be interesting and fun to learn more about Paula and her writing. Paula, please tell me a little about yourself and your writing. I began my writing career writing short stories and serials for women’s magazines, which I still do sometimes, although it’s now a sadly shrinking market.  So I started thinking of a change of direction and decided to dip my toe in the murky waters of…

  • Interview

    An interview with author, Colin Garrow

    I’m delighted to welcome author, Colin Garrow, who writes the entertaining Terry Bell murder mysteries and a glorious spoof of Sherlock Holmes, The Watson Letters. He’s also written plays, books for young adults and always has several projects on the go. Colin grew up in a former mining town in Northumberland. He has worked in a plethora of professions including: taxi driver, antiques dealer, drama facilitator, theatre director and fish processor, and has occasionally masqueraded as a pirate. His short stories have appeared in several literary mags, including: SN Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, Word Bohemia, Every Day Fiction, The Grind, A3 Review, 1,000 Words, Inkapture and Scribble Magazine. He currently…

  • Lieutenant Columbo
    Uncategorized

    Why murder mysteries?

    The simple answer is I love reading crime fiction and watching crime dramas on the TV. You can blame my love of crime fiction and murder mysteries on a bungalow in the middle of some woods on an estate near Henley on Thames. As a child, it was a fascinating location with eerie woods, a grand manor house I wasn’t allowed to go inside, and an isolated location. With no one to play with, my imagination filled the void. The adventures of the Famous Five by Enid Blyton fed my imagination. Books dominated my childhood, before and after the death of my father. They introduced me to fantastic new worlds,…