mystery
The Death Ship: Tom Henighan Plays Detective
Tom Henighan has published many titles for Dundurn, but his first foray into the adult mystery genre, Nightshade, has just hit the shelves. Tom has certainly drawn on his personal insights to create many of his characters and develop his stories… and well, the fact that he helped investigate a real murder would be great [...]
Q&A with Tom Henighan, author of Nightshade
Tell us about your forthcoming novel.
My first two attempts at fiction were mystery novels, one of them based on a real murder I investigated in the British colony of Aden (now Yemen), the other set in the north of England, where I lived and studied for several years. Later, as a university professor, I taught [...]
The Bishop, in the Green Room, with the candlestick
I love a good mystery. Not so much the ‘where did I put that claim form I NEED to send off today?’ kind, but your garden variety crime thriller. On a sunny summer weekend, in the hammock, with a cold beverage nearby (yes, it is a balancing act), there’s almost nothing better than a spicy [...]
Dressing Up An Old Friend
Last week, along with mystery writer Vicki Delany, I was a guest of the Public Library in Picton, Ontario. I read two scenes from my recently completed manuscript, Black Tupelo. The audience was relaxed and conversational, and one of the questions I was asked during the Q&A was “What are you working on now?” I [...]
An Ellis Nomination for Maureen Jennings!
Like many people who now work for a publishing company one of my first jobs in the field was working at a bookstore. In my case it was the independent mystery bookstore Prime Crime Books in Ottawa. With its cozy living room feel, Sam – Prime Crime’s skeleton mascot – in the front window, the [...]
Salvaging A Novel I Wrote In 1983
My first novel, like most first novels, was transparently autobiographical. It was also, I’m guessing, derivative of writers I admired at the time I wrote it, which was 27 years ago, writers like Hemingway and Faulkner. I am guessing that this is the case because I haven’t reread it since it was rejected, after 11 [...]
How I Keep My Tools Sharp
My latest manuscript, Black Tupelo, took me three years to complete. I worked on it every day — creatively or editorially — weekends included, for months at a time. Every once in a while I would take a break for a week or two, but never for very long; when I’m writing a novel, I [...]
