What a treat for millions of mystery readers! Stuart Kaminsky personally visited and interviewed 18 of his friends who are leading mystery writers. Laurie Roberts captures them on film at home, working, and relaxing.
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Mickey Spillane is a Jehovah's Witness. That may be the most startling revelation in this fascinating collection of interviews with leading crime writers, but it is hardly the only one. That interviewer Kaminsky is an acclaimed mystery author himself--and friends with all of his subjects--lends these conversations an air of relaxed informality that is very different from the tone of most similar collections. The roster of authors--including Tony Hillerman, Elmore Leonard, Robert Parker, Michael Connelly, and Sue Grafton, among many other, equally celebrated names--is an attraction in itself, but Kaminsky and photographer Laurie Roberts manage to take fans inside their favorite crime writers' personal lives with a combination of casual chat and revealing images of homes and offices. Perhaps most interesting are the interviews with veteran genre writers--Leonard, Spillane, Donald Westlake, Lawrence Block--who have worked up from the pulps to the best-seller lists and understand the business and craft of fiction writing at every level. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
From the Inside Flap
Edgar award winner and past President of the Mystery Writers of America Stuart Kaminsky brings mystery fans into the living rooms, offices, and gardens of his most talented friends and fellow writers in this tribute to the mystery genre. Professional photographer Laurie Roberts captures the writers, their families, homes, and pets while Kaminsky probes into their personal lives and writing to go "behind the mystery" writer.
Readers will be entertained and enlightened by Faye and Jonathan Kellerman's introspect into how religion plays a role in their lives and writing while Elmore Leonard shares his Ten Rules of Writing. Ann Rule explains her obsession with serial killers; Robert Parker unveils his wall of baseball memorabilia; Sue Grafton answers what comes after Z; and Mickey Spillane reminisces about his flying days. Kaminsky encompasses everything from film adaptations of their books to old writing habits that never die. Behind the Mystery takes its readers on a tour of the homes, lives, and idiosyncrasies of America's talented mystery writers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Charming photos, mystery author interviews.,
By D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer "California B... (California, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed by Stuart Kaminsky and Photographed by Laurie Roberts (Hardcover)
Kaminsky is an award-winning mystery writer himself, and is in the perfect position to introduce his fellow mystery writer friends to audiences in BEHIND THE MYSTERY: TOP MYSTERY WRITERS INTERVIEWED. Working with professional photographer Laurie Roberts, who captures images of these writers in their home settings, Kaminsky provides insights into the personal lives and inspirations of Sue Grafton, Donald Westlake, Faye Kellerman, Lisa Scottoline and other modern notable authors who have made major impacts on the genre. Mystery fans will relish the charming black and white shots and Kaminsky's probe into family, friends and perspectives on mystery writing.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Surprising Find...,
By AKB (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed by Stuart Kaminsky and Photographed by Laurie Roberts (Hardcover)
This book examines some of my favorite authors' lives as novelists-their views on creativity, inspiration, writer's block and what it means to be a writer. But most striking is its revelation of what really matters to each writer on a personal level-their families, childhoods, insights, politics and spiritual beliefs.
Each page reveals new and surprising details. Did you know Mickey Spillane was a fighter pilor in World War II? Both Ann Rule and Jonathan Kellerman are avid painters, and James Lee Burke was once a forest ranger in Kentucky. Kaminsky's casual interviews are full of unexpected discoveries. And while listening in these telling conversations, readers catch glimpses of the authors at ease in their private homes, with their families and pets and at their typewriters and laptops. Kaminsky and Roberts bring us the mysteries behind the mystery makers. Often poignant or humorous, but always stunningly honest, Behind the Mystery dares to examine our favorite masters of suspense, not just as writers, but as people.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Illuminating "Mystery" through words and images,
By
This review is from: Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed by Stuart Kaminsky and Photographed by Laurie Roberts (Hardcover)
It is not often that we get a chance to truly delve beyond the prepackaged, for-your-viewing-pleasure, sound byte approved persona of the Famous Person...be they actor, musician, or in this case, writer. Most "behind the scenes"-style biographies or profiles ring false, offering a merely superficial glimpse beneath the mask of fame.
Behind the Mystery changes all that. There is nothing superficial about it. It truly takes you inside these venerable writers' homes and lives. The interviews contain kernels of wisdom and personal philosophy that will delight any mystery fan. But I found the crux of these portraits not in the interviews but in the photographs captured with great elegance by Laurie Roberts. Her subtle and non-judgemental gaze illuminates the personalities of the authors more than any text could. Once again (probably much to these mystery writers chagrin), a picture is worth a thousand words! Buy this book!
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