I’ll be making another sortie out of the Burrow to appear at Book Carnival on Saturday, 13 February, at 3:00 p.m. Book Carnival is an increasingly rare bird: an independent bookstore that specializes in mysteries and thrillers. Anne, the owner, supports independent authors as well as those who have contracts…
Blog
Cleaning Up: Spotless
I’ve run afoul of the Criminal Element again, this time with a look at the Esquire TV series Spotless. After the detectives have gone and CSI gets done picking dandruff out of the shag carpet; after the police barrier tape comes down…then what? Someone’s gotta clean up the mess. The…
How the world of South started
In case you were wondering how the world of South started, I give you this: I’m reminded that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and it appears that the threat of harm to America from Isis now is just…
Da Vinci’s Spooks: Intelligence
I’m enmeshed with Criminal Element again, this time with a look at the Canadian cop series Intelligence. Mounties aside, we in the U.S. don’t usually think of Canada as the sort of place that would spawn a great TV police show. (Insert polite-criminal joke here.) Yet it did: Da Vinci’s…
Author Event: San Juan Capistrano Library, 20 Sep 2015
Like the famous swallows, I’ll be appearing at the San Juan Capistrano (California) Public Library on Sunday, 20 September, starting at 2:30 pm. I’ll be interviewed by Orange County Register reporter Meghann Cuniff, talking about my writing and whatever else she comes up with. Of course, books will be sold…
CSI Queensland: The Strip
I’m abetting the Criminal Element again, this time with a look at the Australian cop series The Strip. Imagine, if you will, that Jerry Bruckheimer was so taken by his time producing The Amazing Race Australia (yes, there was one) that he decides to create a cop show set in…
“Crimes Against Art” YouTube Channel
I’ve started a new side project — a YouTube channel called “Crimes Against Art.” It started as (a) a way to organize some of the research material I’ve found over the years, and (b) a way to learn how YouTube works. I’ve been reading and posting about art-related crime for…
To Protect and Non-Violently Serve: Rush
In another entanglement with the Criminal Element, I look at the Australian street-cop series Rush. Most Western police forces have, broadly speaking, two levels of response for field incidents: whatever the regular patrol officers can provide, and the commandos (aka SWAT). So what happens in a situation that’s too much…
South Tech Today: Armored Luxury Vehicles
According to The Economist, rich people in the industrialized West are spending huge sums of money to armor their already expensive cars…even where there’s no threat. “Demand has grown as more people join the ranks of the super-rich and can afford to minimise threats, whether they be real or imaginary…Most fitters…
Murder Most Aussie: City Homicide
I’m back at play with the Criminal Element, this time with a look at the Australian police series City Homicide. Why don’t we ever hear about Australian crime dramas? All nations have crime. They all experience murder. If their local film industries have advanced beyond talking heads and news, you…