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Her hair is long, said Omoo.
Her eyes burn like the pools of night.
Many have the long hair, said Ung.
Many have eyes like the pools of night.
She will be bathing, said Omoo.
Tomorrow, as the sun dies.
She will be bathing. Washing her long hair at the falling water.
Many women will be bathing, said Ung.
Many long-haired, night-eyed women.
How will I know it is she?
Omoo thought.
Ah, he said, she shall be carrying flowers.
Bright hill flowers, that I shall gather and place in her hands, before she goes to bathe at the falling water.
Then you will know her.
And you will kill her.
For equal weight, said Ung.
Yes, said Omoo, for equal weight.
And so was begun the custom of giving bouquets and corsages.
True Crime by DONNA TARTT
Things were getting hot in Idaho. Smiling,
strangled, in his distinctive red-and-silver pickup,
he seethed with the name of actress Elke Sommer.
Full moons seemed to bring out the worst in him.
So did eighteen year old neighbor Debra Earl. Lake Charles,
Louisiana.
Prognosis: poor. Following a late dance at the VFW hall,
Authorities recovered a diary, a favorite rifle, a sales receipt
For antifreeze. "I have a problem. I'm
A ca
For a G.E.D. degree, a part-time candy business.
Stick figures of his first-grade sweetheart
Were scratched along the barrel of his gun.
william j. caunitz
No matter how much research an author does, no matter how meticulously facts are checked, no one can bring a sense of verisimilitude to a police story the way a cop can. Joseph Wambaugh was the first important author to illustrate this, but no one during the past decade has had greater success writing police stories than William J. Caunitz.
A New York City policeman for thirty years (well, actually twenty-nine years and a few months, since he retired from the force after the enormous success of his first novel, One Police Plaza), he worked his way up from patrolman to sergeant, during which time he saw as much as there was to see of the low side of human life. Apart from the bureaucracy that seems to pervade all government departments, he loved the life. His enthusiasm was conveyed to those around him, evidently, as one of his daughters has also become a police officer.
This is the first short story William J. Caunitz has ever written. Life-and, often, death-is too complex to try to describe in just a few pages, he says. But the passionate elements of life have been superbly conveyed in the pages that follow.
– O. P.
carol higgins clark
It would be naive, even downright foolish, to suppose that Carol Higgins Clark didn't have an advantage when she completed her first mystery novel, Decked. Her mother, Mary, was firmly established as the bestselling female mystery writer in the world, and it was expected that some of that fame and affection would spill over to her daughter.
In fact, the first book had numerous hardcover reprints and then made the paperback bestseller lists. All went as hoped and predicted. But affection for a writer's book, while it may make a reader curious enough to buy one book by a relative, ca
The beautiful actress-turned-writer has enjoyed success in two careers, her bestselling status as an author having been preceded by starring roles in made-for-television movies, among other vehicles.
With "For Whom the Beep Tolls, " she sets off in yet another direction. The creator of the humorous Regan Reilly mysteries has produced her first short story ever, a few elements of which are based-believe it or not-on real-life incidents.
– O. P.
mary higgins clark
Happily married with five young children, Mary Higgins Clark's husband came home from work one day and, having just a
The young widow then had to get on with life. Each morning, she rose at 5: 00 a. m., carried her portable typewriter to the kitchen table, and wrote for two hours before getting her children up, dressed, fed, and off to school, after which she went to her full-time job. After work, she made sure the kids were fed, bathed, got their homework done, and off to bed before she collapsed herself. The next morning, more of the same. I confess to being unimpressed when aspiring writers speak of their passion for writing being unfulfilled because they are simply too busy to get words on paper.
As perhaps the bestselling mystery writer in the world, Mary Higgins Clark is most closely associated with suspense fiction in which a woman or child is in peril. In "Definitely, a Crime of Passion, "she has written a somewhat different story, a breezy throwback to the married couple as sleuths. Here, a handsome and much-loved former president who flies his own plane, and his gorgeous and energetic young wife (think James Bond meets Mr. and Mrs. North) appear in the first of what will surely be a series of adventures.
– O. P.
james crumley
A significant portion of our cultural life is filled with lists: the year's best movies, top-ranked TV shows, bestsellers, and so on. It's all subjective and often useless, but it's also fun. We all know we should read every book so we can make our own decision about the best books of the year, and we should see every movie so we can decide for ourselves who are the best actors and actresses, and on and on. But in a busy life, this simply isn't possible, and the lists help to give us some direction.
In my own list of the best hard-boiled fiction, I have maintained for the past decade that the single greatest private-eye novel ever written is James Crumley's The Last Good Kiss. The title alone gives it a ru
When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.
This is James Crumley's first short story in twenty-three years and it is without question one of the finest crime stories ever written, filled with characters and texture enough for any serious novel.