Dave Zeltserman

1 - What's your latest?

Dave Zeltserman: KILLER will be out in May, which is the third and final book of my "man out of prison" noir trilogy.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Dave Zeltserman: KILLER is quite a bit different than the first two in the series, SMALL CRIMES and PARIAH. It's a quieter book, more meditative, with a subtle mystery running through it, and a shocking conclusion. With its spare prose and tight, fast pacing, I think it's an absorbing crime read, as well as a fascinating character study.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Dave Zeltserman: That's a tough one. I lived and breathed the main character, Leonard March, for months while writing this book.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Dave Zeltserman: I can't tell you my favorite scenes, it would give too much of the book away. But one of the scenes I liked quite a bit was where Leonard plays hero and stops a liquor story robbery before it happens. I liked the way that scene plays out, how Leonard's action surprise him as much as they do the two punks, and the way it confuses the image of Leonard from despised hit man to hero.

5 - What's next?

Dave Zeltserman: THE CARETAKER OF LORNE FIELD is coming out this August. It's not crime fiction,
although it has a norish tone to it, and I think it's a book that's going to surprise any reader familiar with my crime fiction.

Karen E. Olson

1 - What's your latest?

Karen E. Olson: PRETTY IN INK, the second in the tattoo shop mystery series >>

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Karen E. Olson: PRETTY IN INK is all about drag queens and who's trying to kill them. Brett Kavanaugh, my tattoo shop owner/amateur sleuth, has a personal reason for getting involved and she finds herself in the middle of a possible terrorist plot as she maneuvers her way around the clues. The book is set in Vegas, which is so much fun and over the top.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Karen E. Olson: She's way too nosy but can't help herself.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Karen E. Olson: The first scene in the book, when Britney Brassieres gets hit with a wayward champagne cork and topples over on her six inch heels. Chaos ensues, and Brett matches wits with a responding cop, but not in the way you might think. It sets the scene for the entire book.

5 - What's next?

Karen E. Olson: The third in the series, DRIVEN TO INK, will be out in September. In that one, Brett discovers the body of a Dean Martin impersonator in her trunk.

Naomi Hirahara

1 - What's your latest?

Naomi Hirahara: BLOOD HINA, my fourth Mas Arai mystery, was available on March 2, 2010.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Naomi Hirahara: If you like tales of an everyman layered with history, you might enjoy Blood Hina.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Naomi Hirahara: More than being defined by his ethnicity or age, he's a regular bloke who wants a little more out of life.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Naomi Hirahara: One of the last action scenes, because I get a kick out of picturing an eightysomething man with a deadly weapon.

5 - What's next?

Naomi Hirahara: The fifth in the series. This time it's all about baseball. I hope that I can pull it off.

Lori Armstrong

 - What's your latest?

Lori Armstrong: My latest NO MERCY, the first book in the Mercy Gunderson series.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Lori Armstrong: Who doesn't love a kick-ass female character who can out shoot and out drink you?

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Lori Armstrong: That she'd probably rather shoot you than drink with you.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Lori Armstrong: The prologue, because it sets the tone for the book.

5 - What's next?

Lori Armstrong: Finishing up the second book in the series, MERCY KILL.

Clea Simon

1 - What's your latest?


Clea Simon: "Grey Matters," the second Dulcie Schwartz mystery, which comes out (in the US) in March. (It's been out in the UK since Dec.)

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Clea Simon: Because I adore Dulcie as a character? Oh, that's your next question. OK, because I use this sort-of-cozy, slightly paranormal to reexamine motive and the classic genre mystery problem of having a cast full of people who are hiding something and may be motivated to kill. How's that?

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Clea Simon: Well, that I'm really fond of her. Also, she's more naive than I realized originally. She's an academic and she is very smart, but she's a little dopey about people. She doesn't walk into danger. She's certainly not a "don't go in the basement" femme jep type of heroine. But she thinks that her intellect will help her out even when she needs something a little more concrete to go on.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Clea Simon: Possibly when she's interviewing one of the suspects - in the guise of doing an errand for her thesis advisor. She is talking with a crotchety book binder, a real artisan who has little use for the modern world, and she realizes that he's like some wild animal: fine in his own habitat, but a little scary.

5 - What's next?

Clea Simon: Dulcie #3! I have only the slightest idea of a plot as yet, but I do have a deadline. I'm also hoping to find a home for my tongue-in-cheek hardboiled mystery, my "pet noir," soon - but more on that if and when it happens.

Raffi Yessaran

1 - What's your latest?

Raffi Yessaran: My latest novel is 2 IN THE HAT (Ballantine, April 13, 2010), the sequel to 8 IN THE BOX (Ballantine Paperback, March 23, 2010).

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Raffi Yessaran: Here's why you should read 2 IN THE HAT (and you might want to read 8 IN THE BOX  first):

A serial killer the cops thought was long gone.

A good detective racing the clock to stop the murders.

A chilling and twisty thriller that will leave readers gasping.

A major spike in gang homicides has Boston on edge, leaving a growing body-count of bangers in its wake and the city’s police and DA’s office scrambling to catch up. Even the mayor’s Street Saviors taskforce of ex-cons, devoted to steering kids out of the thug life, are working overtime to stop the bloodshed. But who will stop the even greater threat that’s about to descend when a murderous psychopath steps out of the past?

Memories of the infamous Blood Bath Killer still loom large, especially for homicide detective Angel Alves, who helped bring down the multiple-murderer whose rampage shocked the city. So when a pair of students turn up bizarrely slain, Alves fears another serial killer is stalking Boston. A fear that becomes fact when his ex-partner, Wayne Mooney, recognizes the murders as the work of the Prom Night Killer—whose unsolved crimes have haunted Mooney for a decade. Now, with hands-on assistant DA Conrad Darget backing them, Alves and Mooney set out to stop grim history from repeating itself. But matching wits with a twisted mind is a dangerous game. Especially when there are no rules—and your allies may really be your enemies.

You should also read it because Robin Moore—author of The French Connection—says Raffi Yessayan is “the best prosecutor-turned-crime-writer to hit the streets since George V. Higgins and Scott Turow.”

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Raffi Yessaran: My main characters are Assistant District Attorney Conrad "Connie" Darget and Homicide Detective Angel Alves. Two men committed to making the streets of Boston safe. Although their jobs usually involve taking gangbangers off the street for their involvement in drug-related shootings, they now face the difficult task of trying to catch a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. In the process they learn that everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted. I learned that the more complex the motivation, the more intriguing the character.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Raffi Yessaran: One of my favorite scenes is when ADA Connie Darget is trying to convince a concerned mother to let her teenage son testify against a gang member for a shooting. The mother's emotions run high as she fights with Connie to keep her son out of the investigation. She is concerned about his safety if he is seen as a snitch on the street. Ultimately, Connie convinces her that he can keep her son safe and that he can garner the support of the entire community to back her son against these thugs who are terrorizing the neighborhood. As the scene ends, Connie feels the pressure he has put on himself. Now he has to deliver on his promise.

5 - What's next?

Raffi Yessaran: My next project will be a sequel to the sequel. It will be the last installment of the trilogy. Who knows, maybe I'll even introduce another serial killer.

Lynne Heitman

1 - What's your latest?

Lynne Heitman:  My latest published work is "Exit Interview," which was included in the anthology Boston Noir, published last October by Akashic Books.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Lynne Heitman:  Before Akashic asked for a submittal, I hadn't written a short story in over 10 years, not since a beginning writing class at the University of Washington. What I wrote then was definitely not for publication. I found novel writing soon after and that was the end of my short-story writing career. From that standpoint, "Exit Interview" is a departure. It's also my first published work in third person with a main character that is not Alex Shanahan. That might be why you the writer would be interested. You the reader might be interested in what one woman does after she gets passed over for a well-deserved promotion one too many times. She takes a particularly direct form of revenge against her insufferable boss, the downtown financial services firm they both work for, and the male gender in general.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Lynne Heitman:  Sloan lives in a beautiful condo on Beacon Street with bay windows that look out over the Charles River and Cambridge, but she never opens the curtains.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Lynne Heitman:  I had a fun time writing Sloan's rage and watching it explode all over the people who she believes did her wrong. I particularly liked writing the scene from her perspective where she killed her boss, and finding that one random detail that flipped her switch and turned a perfectly law-abiding(though tightly wound) woman into a murderer.

5 - What's next?

Lynne Heitman: Don't know. Maybe I'll try another short story.

SJ Rozan

1 - What's your latest?


SJ Rozan: THE SHANGHAI MOON

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

SJ Rozan: It will take you through today's New York, World War II Shanghai, and a chapter in history (the story of the European Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai) that you probably didn't know existed.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

SJ Rozan: She -- Lydia Chin -- is beginning to mature, right before my eyes.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

SJ Rozan: The one where her cousin saves the day. More than that would be a spoiler, but it's my favorite because I totally didn't see it coming (and it cracks me up, but I'm easily entertained).

5 - What's next?

SJ Rozan: A Bill Smith thriller, where Lydia gets kidnapped by a madman and Bill has to save her by playing the madman's games.

Toni L.P. Kelner

1 - What's your latest?

Toni L.P. Kelner:  Who Killed the Pinup Queen?, the second "Where are they now?" mystery from Berkley Prime Crime.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Toni L.P. Kelner:  It's got nearly naked women, cowboys, and murder. What more could you want in a mystery? And on a personal note, I need people to buy this book to buy for our guinea pigs. Pellets and hay don't come cheap--Patch and Spot are counting on you. (I could attach a photo of the two of them looking needy, but since guinea pigs pretty much just have the one expression, it wouldn't work very well.)

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Toni L.P. Kelner: I realized Tilda might ask this kind of question herself. She's a freelance entertainment reporter, and does lots of interviews.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Toni L.P. Kelner:  In Pinup Queen? Probably the denoument, which I had a lot of fun with. Lots of suspense, or so I hope.

5 - What's next?

Toni L.P. Kelner:  In March, I'll have a story in Carolyn Haines's anthology Delta Blues, from Tyrus Books, and in April, I'll have a story in the Charlaine Harris/MWA anthology Crimes by Moonlight. Plus Charlaine and I have our third co-edited anthology--Death's Excellent Vacation--in August.

Shelia Connelly

1 - What's your latest?

Shelia Connelly: Red Delicious Death, #3 in the Orchard Mystery series, came out March 2.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Shelia Connelly: The Orchard Series focuses on a woman who was forced out of her Boston banking job and finds herself saddled with a creaky colonial farmhouse and an orchard she knows nothing about--plus the body of her ex-boyfriend in her back yard. She's learning fast, if only those bodies would stop showing up to complicate her life.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Shelia Connelly: That it's fun to throw unexpected things (like bodies--plural) at my heroine Meg Corey to see how she reacts. Why make her life easy?

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Shelia Connelly: Only one? I'm fond of the final scene in Rotten to the Core (August 2009), when Meg and her maybe-current-boyfriend come home, having solved the most recent murder and wrapped up all the loose ends nicely with an excellent dinner, hoping for...well, you can guess--and they are surprised to find her mother waiting on the doorstep.

5 - What's next?

Shelia Connelly: A new series from Berkley Prime Crime, about a fundraiser who works in a Philadelphia museum (she finds not only a body but a multi-million-dollar theft--and you thought fundraisers led boring lives). Look for the Museum Series in Fall 2010.