The Sapphire Veil is the working title. You need a working title to give a project some permanence in your mind. Without giving any hints or spoilers, I can tell you it’s about a young, strapping lad who falls for the wrong kind of dame. Which femme fatale conventions I adhere to—and which I subvert—are… Continue reading Book 8 will be a novel
Douglas Ashe's The Longstreet Legacy is delightful for several ancillary reasons. But let’s get the main things out of the way first. Abigail Longstreet is the youngest granddaughter of an old, blind recluse named Ella Maybelle Longstreet. Ella has been behaving strangely these past few months—firing all her staff, leaving raw meat in the fridge,… Continue reading The Longstreet Legacy (aka A Shroud for Grandmama)
I’ve spent many a night huddled in my rocking chair with a murder mystery held steady under the lamp. Why did I keep reading? It might have something to do with the Zeigarnik Effect, which is defined thusly: The tendency for people to remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. In writing, this… Continue reading Bluma Zeigarnik, Ernest Hemingway, and the Murder Mystery
I've been hard at work editing my 7th book, The Architecture of Murder. It's a collection of four stories. They are all nearing final edits. I might be releasing this thing very soon, so watch this space! Here is an update.1. KILLER PETEI finished a 3rd edit of this on Tuesday. The final step will… Continue reading It’s Almost There
The Carny Murders is finished. It leans toward horror noir, so it's less rigorous than the detective stories, but that was always my intention. I knew this would stand out, both stylistically and thematically. It was a lot of fun to write--there's not a single character to root for. I have absolutely no idea how… Continue reading March 22nd Update
James Scott Byrnside 