Daddy's girl... by Cathy Ace

Question: Father’s Day is June 16^th – so there’s time for you to recommend some crime-themed reading that could be a useful gift idea for dads of different ages, and with different interests…and allow those reading the blog to order it, and get it in time to wrap it!

Answer: Here’s a photo (from 2002) of my dad, and my husband...who’s a father too.

My dad died more than a dozen years ago. His death was what made me realize that mortality is a “real thing”, and gave me the kick up the backside I needed to get on with writing fiction. I’d had nine marketing textbooks published, and I’d also had a short fiction story published in 1988, which was then republished in an anthology for the O level/GCSE English Language syllabus in the UK (the exams everyone takes at 16 years of age) and was produced for BBC Radio 4. 

Dad almost burst with pride when it aired, and his death made me determined to get some fiction books onto bookshelves in Mum’s local library so she could be the happiest, most boastful mum in Swansea. (I can tell you she is!)

Mum at Swansea library, having spotted one of my books on the shelf

Dad enjoyed reading, though not as much as he enjoyed watching TV. He did, however, have a small collection of books which fascinated me when I was a child – largely because they were on shelves so high I couldn’t reach them. I finally discovered they were books by Ian Fleming and Alistair MacLean, which – when I eventually read them – engaged and entranced me. 

My dad was pretty traditional in his tastes, enjoyed a good yarn, and seemed fascinated by tales set during World War Two, and the Cold War period. If only I had the chance nowadays, I’d be encouraging him to read Len Deighton’s Bernard Samson and Harry Palmer books…though I suspect he’d have already read them. They are some of my favourite books. 

As for newer publications? The Slough House books by Mick Herron are excellent – featuring jaded, washed-up spies (the “Slow Horses”) and complex, delightful plots - and is a series I believe he’d relish. 

I’m also pretty sure he’d have been thrilled to know that I now belong to a collective of crime writers all of whom have Welsh crime as their focus. Crime Cymru's authors turn out some excellent books across as wide a range of crime fiction (and non-fiction) as any reader could hope, so I'd lead him to the website (click here) let him browse what the authors have to say about their work, then order him whatever took his fancy. 

As for encouraging a dad who's pretty set in his ways to "try something new" (my dad, in other words)? Well, I'd try to get him to read Sue Grafton's alphabet series featuring Kinsey Millhone. I think the books have enough action in them to allow someone used to such things to be carried along, and the plots are twisty enough for most readers. They are not cosy, they feature a female lead character who's realistic enough to engage both male and female readers, and I think he might enjoy them. 

For my husband? He reads widely, and our tastes match up pretty well – which is useful when sharing a Kindle account, though we diverge at certain points too.

I know I could buy him any of Lee Child's Jack Reacher books and he'd be happy to read them (though I'd have to check which ones he's already read!). He hasn’t yet followed me into Icelandic Noir territory, but I know he’ll enjoy it when he does. Yrsa  Sigurðardóttir and Ragnar Jonasson are the two authors I’ll recommend to him most highly, starting with Yrsa’s Thora Gudmundsdottir books, and quickly moving to her Children’s House series. 

I have also recently introduced him to Martina Cole’s books – which he can hardly read fast enough…success!

As I said, he's an eclectic reader, so it's no surprise to me that he “not so secretly” enjoys MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin TV series, so I think he’d also enjoy those books. Luckily, there are LOTS of them! 

Even if, like me, your dad is no longer around to be treated royally on Fathers' Day, it doesn't mean you can't give him some thought. I just hope you've been fortunate enough to have good father-figures in your life so that you want to celebrate fatherhood. 

A bit of blatant self-promotion now...please consider reading my books? You can find out all about my traditional series, my cozier series, my collections of short and long stories and my most recent psychological suspense by clicking here.

For your enjoyment...by Cathy Ace

End of year recommendations - always tough, and I haven't read as much as I'd hoped this year. I've decided the best thing to do is to list those books which have stuck out for me, and try to help you understand what they are like. Not everything is everyone's cup of tea - but, whatever you read, enjoy the Festive Season, and thanks for your support, Cathy  

For juveniles: CHASE – Get Ready To Run by Linwood Barclay

This book won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for best Juvenile/YA book in 2018, and it’s great fun! Here’s what the judges said about it – they speak more eloquently than I could:

The plot is inventive and captivating from the opening chapter where the reader is taken into the mind of a dog as Chipper, the Border Collie, escapes from a top secret, scientific facility. This is a highly imaginative but believable story exploring the potential of cyber crime using a dog to mask the nefarious goals of his handlers. The book has strong boy and girl characters with the girl, atypically, being the computer expert and the boy expressing well the emotions and difficulties of being an orphan. It quietly introduces an emerging boy girl relationship suitable for the juvenile age group. The author employs age appropriate language and uses humour to temper the more frightening aspects of the story.

For those who enjoy an escapist adventure with wit, whimsy and dead bodies: A SPOT OF TOIL AND TROUBLE by Catriona McPherson

I’m catching up with my TBR pile and, although Catriona has a new book out in the Dandy Gilver series, I just read this one!  GREAT FUN!

Scotland, 1934.

Aristocratic private detective Dandy Gilver arrives at Castle Bewer, at midsummer, to solve the tangled mystery of a missing man, a lost ruby and a family curse.

The Bewer family's latest wheeze to keep the wolf from the door is turning the castle keep into a theatre. While a motley band of players rehearse Macbeth, the Bewers themselves prepare lectures, their faithful servants set up a tearoom, and the guest wings fill with rich American ladies.

Meanwhile, Dandy and her sidekick Alec Osborne begin to unravel the many secrets of the Bewers and find that, despite the witches, murders and ghosts onstage, it's behind the scenes where the darkest deeds are done.

A lone man on a lonely road? PAST TENSE by Lee Child

I settle into a Lee Child Reacher book with a certainty that I’ll enjoy it! This one is an instant CLASSIC!

Jack Reacher hits the pavement and sticks out his thumb. He plans to follow the sun on an epic trip across America, from Maine to California. He doesn’t get far. On a country road deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been: the town where his father was born. He thinks, What’s one extra day? He takes the detour.

At the same moment, in the same isolated area, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians had been on their way to New York City to sell a treasure. Now they’re stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. The owners seem almost too friendly. It’s a strange place, but it’s all there is.

The next morning, in the city clerk’s office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He’s told no one named Reacher ever lived in town. He’s always known his father left and never returned, but now Reacher wonders, Was he ever there in the first place?

As Reacher explores his father’s life, and as the Canadians face lethal dangers, strands of different stories begin to merge. Then Reacher makes a shocking discovery: The present can be tough, but the past can be tense . . . and deadly.

Fancy some dark deeds and damaged souls? DAMAGED by Martina Cole

Martina Cole never disappoints, so if you want Brit Grit at its best, this is for you!

DCI Kate Burrows might be retired, but when the bodies of missing schoolgirls start turning up in Grantley, she's the first person DCI Annie Carr calls for help.

Life for Kate and ex-gangster Patrick Kelly is thrown into chaos when his long lost son turns up out of the blue, bringing trouble with him. This new case could be just what Kate needs.

But as the body count grows, Kate and Annie face a race against the clock.

Without any clear leads, can they stop the killer before another schoolgirl dies?

I'd be honoured of you'd consider reading my work. You can find out all about it here:  http://www.cathyace.com/

I have a new book coming out on January 9th (PRE-ORDER now!) - and it's a bit different for me! Here are a couple of blurbs from two fellow Criminal Minds:

"A close-knit community in a quaint Welsh village in an area of outstanding beauty. Sounds cozy. But Cathy Ace's stunning new standalone, THE WRONG BOY, is about as cozy as a cornered snake. Told in a rising chorus of authentic voices, the story is deft and disturbing, creepingly claustrophobic, and with a grip that tightens to a choke-hold before its shattering conclusion."  Catriona McPherson, multi-award-winning author of ‘Go To My Grave’ 

“Drenched in Welsh atmosphere, forbidding weather, and mysterious folklore, THE WRONG BOY is a gem of a thriller that bewitches right up to the twisted ending you won’t see coming. Masterful plotting and characters so real, you’ll swear you know them. Ace is a master portraitist.” James W Ziskin, multi-award-winning author of The Ellie Stone Mysteries

Find out more: CLICK HERE

Four (or more) for four by Cathy Ace

“This is the time of year when thoughts turn to gift-giving. Could you suggest four books that would be ideal for "x" type of person - you get to define "x" - or a book for each of four different types of person…again, your choice of types.”

I’m choosing the “four different types of person” option for this question, and, who knows, maybe you know some folks like the ones I’m describing.

For my husband: he’s a huge Elmore Leonard fan, though he also enjoys Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce books too (hey, we all have our guilty pleasures) and he doesn’t get much of a chance to read novels, so, when he does, he likes to kick back and enjoy the adventure. As luck would have it, there’s a new Lee Child book available: Night School takes his character, Jack Reacher, back to 1996 when he’s still in the forces. For anyone who enjoys a lone-wolf scenario, Jack Reacher has to be their go-to character, and Lee Child their go-to writer. His style is easy to read and sucks you in from the beginning. This gift would earn me a couple of cooked breakfasts, I’m sure. (In order to ensure I get cooked breakfasts for a whole week, all I’ll need to do is also buy him Ian Rankin’s new Rebus book, Even Dogs in the Wild, and  Linwood Barclay’s most recent release, The Twenty Three).

For my mum: she’s a lover of traditional mysteries, an avid library-user, and reads a few books each week. Of course I’m her favourite author (allow me that, at least?) but, otherwise, I know she prefers British, rather than non-British, settings; despite the fact she’s visited me in Vancouver, Canada many times, she tells me she cannot envisage the settings in “American cozies” and finds the dialogue somewhat confusing, too.  She’s read everything Agatha Christie wrote - several times - and she’s the reason I love Christie and Marsh. That being said, she’s okay with books by those authors written at that time, but doesn’t like historicals – she’s particularly averse to anything set in the 1950s or 1960s; she doesn’t care for books that “try to be funny”, but enjoys them when they are light; she gets annoyed with “young things” (she’s in her eighties) traipsing about falling over clues; she seems to prefer main characters who are female (though she doesn’t admit it); she hates anything that smacks of romance. So…tough to choose for.  A “picky” reader. For her I’m going to get the books featuring Miss Silver by Patricia Wentworth. When mum and I went to The Mysterious Bookshop in New York last year, she found an old Miss Silver Mystery, was gifted it by the lovely people who run the store, and enjoyed it very much. I’ll stick with those for mum. She’ll lap them up, and will appreciate the fact I have hunted about for them on her behalf. 

Grandsons and granddaughters: (I’m counting this as two different types of person….though, being six people, they are really six different types of person, however young). I have three grandsons – aged zero to four, and three granddaughters – aged two to seven, so I’m going for something that can be read aloud to them, to begin with, so they can enjoy a brotherly and/or sisterly experience, and which they can then enjoy as they read alone for years to come. I travel a great deal, and always have....I would like all my grandchildren to understand how travel and exploration can help them learn, and broaden their horizons, so a set of books featuring Dora and Diego would be just the ticket.

Cathy Ace is the Bony Blithe Award-winning author of The Cait Morgan Mysteries (#8 The Corpse with the Ruby Lips was released on November 1st) and The WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries (#2 The Case of the Missing Morris Dancer was published in paperback in the USA & Canada on November 1st, and #3, The Case of the Curious Cook, will be released in hardcover in the UK on November 30th.)  You can find out more about Cathy, her work and her characters at her website, where you can also sign up for her newsletter with news, updates and special offers: http://cathyace.com/