The Great Escape: Mystery Preview

At first glance, the current economic climate appears to be the worst of times for the publishing industry. Staff layoffs and restructurings have hit major houses, and even writers have not been immune to the downturn. “Publishers are buying, but they're not necessarily investing as much—smaller advances, single-book contracts,” says mystery writer Kelli Stanley. “I am very lucky to get a two-book deal in this environment. Authors are scared. We all are.”

Stanley, whose debut, Nox Dormienda (LJ 7/08), was named the Bruce Alexander Memorial Best Historical Mystery at the Left Coast Crime (LCC) 2009 conference, sold her new historical series, set in 1940s San Francisco, to St. Martin's Minotaur Books crime fiction imprint, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year (see sidebar, p. 23). “When my agent and I first put Rice Bowl (the first book in the series) on the market, I was terrified that the economy would sink my hopes.”

But Kimberley Cameron of Reece Halsey, a literary agency specializing in mysteries and thrillers, explains that in tough times, book and movie sales prosper as consumers look for some form of escape. “Readers of mystery fiction look to be swept along to another time, a fictive environment, and we sold Rice Bowl quickly because its world is complex yet accessible.”

What better escape is there than traveling back in time with a compelling historical mystery? “Historicals are growing dramatically,” affirms St. Martin's executive editor Keith Kahla, citing the strong paperback sales of Celtic historian Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma series, set in seventh-century Ireland. Minotaur's biggest author of historical mysteries, notes Kahla, is Tasha Alexander, whose Lady Emily Ashton series has enjoyed steadily rising sales. In 2007, Minotaur lured her away from Morrow and this September will publish her fourth Victorian mystery, Tears of Pearl.

Kahla credits the subgenre's appeal to the skills of talented writers like Alexander, who can make the past come alive for readers seeking to forget a dismal present. But Kate Miciak, VP, editorial director, Ballantine Bantam Dell, believes historicals have also reemerged “because it's comforting for readers buffeted by tough times to know that others have survived equally bumpy historical periods.” As an example, she points to Rory Clements's debut, Martyr (Bantam, May), an Elizabethan thriller starring William Shakespeare's older brother, John. “What attracted me instantly was the powerful sense of immersion in the period.... [The novel] also has a marvelous intimate sense of the way the man on the street perceived the conspiracies and immense threats of the time.”

Author Stanley cites the increased demand among the reading public for books about the Great Depression as another factor in the quick sale of her mystery. “I think both editors and readers are more interested in that period than ever before because of the unfortunate similarities in economic hardship.” Tentatively scheduled for a February 2010 publication, Rice Bowl introduces a former Spanish Civil War nurse–turned–PI who probes the murder of a Japanese American man in San Francisco's Chinatown.

By also touching on the dark political situation of the 1930s, Stanley taps into an era that continues to fascinate today's mystery authors and readers. Drawing big prepub buzz this spring with blurbs from Bill Pronzini and Anne Perry is Rebecca Cantrell's debut historical noir, A Trace of Smoke (Forge, May), which Tor/Forge publicity manager Alexis Saarela touts as a personal favorite and an example of an escapist mystery. Set in a moody Weimar Berlin falling under the dark thrall of the Nazis, the novel traces crime reporter Hannah Vogel's search for the killer of her cross-dressing, cabaret singer brother.

Also making a comeback is spy fiction, pronounced dead by some critics after the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union. In a recent online essay for Barnes & Noble (tinyurl.com/df7t9d), crime fiction blogger Sarah Weinman tied the espionage renaissance to the current mood of uncertainty and cynicism. Olen Steinhauer's first stand-alone, a twisty CIA thriller entitled The Tourist (LJ 11/1/08), received rave reviews and a movie option from George Clooney. “Olen hit the ball out of the park,” comments Minotaur publisher Andrew Martin.

Other espionage novels coming down the pike include Rich Lowry and Keith Korman's Banquo's Ghosts (Vanguard, Apr.), David Ignatius's The Increment (Norton, May; reviewed on p. 84); Tom Gabbay's The Tehran Conviction (Morrow, Jun.), Dan Fesperman's The Arms Maker of Berlin (Knopf, Aug.), and Alex Dryden's Red to Black (Ecco, Sept.).

While these works offer plenty of escapism, they also address some serious real-life fears: the threats posed by an Iran armed with nuclear weapons and a resurgent right-wing Russia. Ecco associate editor Virginia Smith acquired British journalist Dryden's debut thriller because of the veracity of the political plot. “Red to Black dramatizes a Russia maneuvering actively to be a world power again,” Smith explains. “When I read The Economist's review in the UK, Russian tanks were rolling into Georgia. Dryden's take on Putin's ambitions was on the money.”

Norton editor-in-chief and vice chair Starling Lawrence praises Washington Post columnist Ignatius's in-depth knowledge of the business of spying and counterspying. “David's factual knowledge is not just historical but up-to-the-minute.” But Lawrence also stresses the literary firepower in Ignatius's The Increment. “Espionage fiction, in the right hands, offers an extraordinary opportunity in terms of story line and character development.”

Poisoned Pen Press editor Barbara Peters believes the globalization of crime fiction has become a permanent feature of the mystery world. The question today is whether chilly, Nordic thrillers will continue to appeal to American readers seeking to escape their domestic troubles. The verdict so far is mixed.

“We've only seen the popularity of Scandinavian crime writers grow since the initial U.S. media frenzy hit in the early 2000s,” says Picador senior publicist Lisa Mondello Fielack. She notes that Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason continues to do well for the paperback imprint especially after the movie of his Jar City became the highest-grossing film in Iceland's history. An American remake now in the works may stir further reader interest.

Fielack argues that as new writers such as Stieg Larsson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) enter the mix, the Scandinavian crime pool only seems to have grown stronger. Out this month are Håkan Nesser's Woman with a Birthmark (Pantheon), Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's My Soul To Take (Morrow), and Inger Frimansson's Island of the Naked Women (Pleasure Boat). Larsson's second novel in his acclaimed trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire (Knopf), debuts in August. In October, Sarah Crichton Books/FSG will publish Box 21, a Swedish thriller by Börge Hellström and Anders Roslund. Even suspense juggernaut James Patterson is catching the Nordic crime wave by partnering with Swedish crime writer Liza Marklund (The Bomber, LJ 5/1/01) on a thriller set in Stockholm (to be published in 2010 in Sweden).

Other publishers, however, think the field has been saturated. “Our Scandinavian titles received rave reviews in the past, but sales have decreased,” comments Grand Central Publishing assistant editor Celia Johnson. “With any mystery book, the challenge is to produce something that stands out in a crowded marketplace.”

The new global hot spots are Ireland and Asia, says Soho Press publicity director Sarah Reidy. Her notable fall mystery debut is Stuart Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast (Soho Crime, Oct.), about a onetime IRA hit man seeking revenge against his old bosses. In June, Soho Crime releases The Lord of Death, the sixth title in Eliot Pattison's Edgar Award–winning Inspector Shan series, which Reidy praises for its unique look inside Tibet.

Africa is also a hotbed of crime fiction. In December, Poisoned Pen will publish Predators, an African mystery by Frederick Ramsay that editor Peters says “trumps Alexander McCall Smith” in that “it's darker but funny, and more realistic.” Also challenging Smith's popular “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” series are South Africans Stanley Trollop and Michael Sears, writing as Michael Stanley. Their A Carrion Death introduced Botswana detective Kubu and was shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association's Debut Dagger Award. The next entry, The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu (LJ 4/1/09), touches on neighboring Zimbabwe's declining economic situation.

Readers are also gravitating toward more literary mysteries. Picador's Fielack points out that those with literary tastes as well as genre fans can easily slip into a Colin Harrison or Benjamin Black crime novel. “This across-the-board appeal is proving to be important in the current economic climate as book clubs increasingly offer an inexpensive social activity to a diverse reading population.” In October, Picador will release Harrison's trade paperback original mystery, Risk.

Fans also want the comfort that comes from their favorite series, whether it is a cozy or traditional mystery. “In times of strife, we seek out the familiar, sort of like craving comfort foods,” says Jane Cleland, author of the “Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery” series (Killer Keepsakes, LJ 4/1/09). On the other hand, Ballantine Bantam Dell's Miciak blames the glutting of the contemporary cozy market on the genre's splitting itself into so many subcategories: “Dwarves who cook and raise sheep and investigate crime while knitting.”

Meanwhile, animal mysteries are selling well, which Grand Central's Johnson attributes to their crossover appeal to both mystery readers and pet lovers. The surprise hit this past winter was Spencer Quinn's Dog On It (LJ 1/09), featuring a canine narrator who helps his PI owner solve crimes. And Johnson highlights the success of David Rosenfelt's Andy Carpenter series about a defense attorney and his lovable golden retriever. In the next book, New Tricks (Grand Central, Aug.), Andy must protect a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy.

Pinched hard by the recession, thrifty readers are turning to cheaper formats for their entertainment. According to Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai, this favors mass market paperbacks: “You'll see more heated competition as publishers discover that this is one segment of the business that has a growing rather than shrinking appeal to customers.” This summer Ardai launches through Dorchester's Leisure Books imprint a new pulp adventure mass-market series, “The Adventures of Gabriel Hunt,” inspired by H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. While not exactly mysteries, these tales will be written by such Hard Case Crime veterans as David Schow and Christa Faust and are sure to appeal to genre fans wanting pure escapism.

Thrilled by strong early sales and glowing reviews for Bryan Gruley's Starvation Lake (LJ 3/1/09), Touchstone/Fireside senior editor Trish Grader likewise sees increased support for trade paperback originals that in more prosperous times would have likely been released in hardcover. There also have been discussions at Minotaur about doing additional original trade paperbacks, but Andy Martin worries about the library market, a major supporter of mysteries: “If we switch our core authors to trade paperbacks, do we lose? Or do we not lose?”

The jury, though, is still out on ebooks. While many mystery publishers are making their titles available for the Kindle and Sony readers and smartphones like the iPhone, ebook sales are so far minimal. This may be partly owing to an older reader demographic reluctant to adapt to the still expensive new technologies. Mystery fans are also serious collectors of potentially valuable signed first-edition hardcovers, remarks Kelli Stanley. “I know as a former comic-book retailer that collectibles not only stay steady in economic downturns, they tend to increase in demand.”

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Academic librarian and mystery author Barbara Fister tells small libraries how they can launch a mystery event.  Click here.

Bullish on Minotaur at 10

This fall, St. Martin's Minotaur Books imprint celebrates a decade of successful crime fiction publishing with a slew of special programs, including “The Minotaur Author Crime Wave,” author events in early September with bookstores and libraries nationwide.

Also revving up is a big online campaign using social networking media to connect readers with their favorite writers. For example, Minotaur authors will be invited to contribute photos of themselves as corpses, offed in the manner of their own devising, which will be posted on Facebook and Minotaur.com. A new First on the Scene program will reintroduce fans to books in long-running series. This summer, look for a Minotaur celebration at the American Library Association conference in Chicago.

Recently, Minotaur Books publisher and VP Andrew Martin and St. Martin's executive editor Keith Kahla chatted with LJ about how the imprint has changed over ten years.

Martin: A decade ago the largest announced first print run was 25,000 copies. Today our lead titles have first print runs of 100,000 copies.

Kahla: And we dramatically changed the mix of authors on our list, publishing more American writers now than in the early days when we followed British publishers' lists.

Martin: Minotaur now can handle both a small English cozy and a big international thriller. That's our goal: to be able to cover every category of crime fiction. When something perks up, it is our job to be aware there's an opportunity.

For example, the five books in Olen Steinhauer's Eastern European crime series, all wonderfully reviewed, sold fewer than 5000 copies each. Then he wrote this outstanding stand-alone contemporary espionage thriller, The Tourist, at a time when people like crime fiction critic Sarah Weinman are writing about the return of espionage fiction. We're putting a lot of emphasis on marketing this book, unlike anything else we have done for Olen before.

Kahla: Our goal is not to publish trends but to publish the best books we can so that when an author like Steinhauer writes the novel that has more potential, we are already there.

Clues to the Mysteries

Below are the forthcoming titles mentioned here.

Alexander, Tasha. Tears of Pearl (Minotaur: St. Martin's. Sept.)

Cantrell, Rebecca. A Trace of Smoke (Forge: Tor. May)

Cleland, Jane K. Killer Keepsakes (Minotaur: St. Martin's. Apr.)

Clements, Rory. Martyr (Bantam. May)

Dryden, Alex. Red to Black (Ecco: HarperCollins. Sept.)

Fesperman, Dan. The Arms Maker of Berlin (Knopf. Aug.)

Frimansson, Inger. Island of the Naked Women (Pleasure Boat. Apr.)

Gabbay, Tom. The Tehran Conviction (Morrow. Jun.)

Hellström, Börge & Anders Roslund. Box 21 (Sarah Crichton Bks./FSG. Oct.)

Gruley, Bryan. Starvation Lake (Touchstone: S. & S. Mar.)

Harrison, Colin. Risk (Picador. Oct.)

Hunt, Gabriel. At the Well of Eternity (Leisure: Dorchester. May)

Ignatius, David. The Increment (Norton. May)

Larsson, Stieg. The Girl Who Played with Fire (Knopf. Aug.)

Lowry, Rich & Keith Korman. Banquo's Ghosts (Vanguard. Apr.)

Nesser, Håkan. Woman with a Birthmark (Pantheon. Apr.)

Neville, Stuart. The Ghosts of Belfast (Soho Crime. Oct.)

Pattison, Eliot. The Lord of Death (Soho Crime. Jun.)

Ramsay, Frederick. Predators (Poisoned Pen. Dec.)

Rosenfelt, David. New Tricks (Grand Central. Aug.)

Sigurdardóttir, Yrsa. My Soul To Take (Morrow. Apr.)

Stanley, Michael. The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu (HarperCollins. Jun.)

Steinhauer, Olen. The Tourist (Minotaur: St. Martin's. Mar.)


Minotaur's Top 2009 Forthcoming Titles

Spring / Summer ’09:

Castillo, Linda.Sworn to Silence. Jun. (LJ 3/15/09)

Hart, John. The Last Child. May (LJ 3/1/09)

Hayman, James. The Cutting. Jun.

Grant, Andrew. Even. May (LJ 3/1/09)

Schwegel, Teresa. Last Known Address. July.

Fall ’09:

Alexander, Tasha. Tears of Pearl. Sept.

Cain, Chelsea. Evil at Heart. September

Manfredo, Lou. Rizzo’s War. October.

Mayor, Archie. The Price of Malice. October.

Penny, Louise. Brutal Telling. October.

Spencer-Fleming, Julia. One was a Soldier. November.

Vonnegut, Norbert. Top Producer. September.