other writers as inspiration for, 135–36, 138
reviewer relationship with, 256
Baatz, Simon, 124
backstory, 120, 135, 162–63, 170, 234, 241, 242, 245
Bailey, Frankie Y., 174–82, 291
Baldacci, David, 8, 187
Barclay, Linwood, 39, 292
Barr, Nevada, 9, 31
Beaton, M.C., 8
Beatty, Warren, 239
Be-Bop Barbarians, The (Phillips), 106–10
Bendel, Stephanie Kay, 191, 292
Benson, Raymond, 238
Beowulf, 166
Berendt, John, 216
Berenson, Alex, 8
Berry, Dale W., 103–4, 105, 106–12, 292
Berry, Mysti, 275, 292
beta readers, 94, 162, 182, 224
Beukes, Lauren, 10
Black, Cara, 214
Black Cherry Blues (Burke), 220
Black women characters, 34–36, 37
Blochman, Lawrence, 114
Block, Lawrence, 217
blogs, bloggers, 249, 250, 254, 274, 277
Blood Hollow (Krueger), 219
Bodner, Hal, 245, 292–93
Bond, Larry, 8
Bone Garden, The (Gerritsen), 65
BookBub, 262
book covers, 271
book sales, 263, 264
book signings, 281
book tours, 278, 282
Bowen, Rhys, 31, 53, 56, 57
Box, C. J., 9, 217
Boxcar Children, The (Warner), 81
Bradley, Alan, 30
Braithwaite, Oyinkan, 225
branding, 267, 268, 269, 271, 272–73, 274
Breaking Bad (TV show), 188
breaking points, 20–21
Brennan, Allison, 184–90, 293
Browder, Bill, 72
Brown, Dale, 8
Brown, Dan, 9
Brown, J., 110
Brown, Sandra, 9
Budewitz, Leslie, 165, 293
Buggé, Carole, 129, 293
build-up, 18, 22
Bullitt (film), 18
Burke, Alafair, 29
Burke, James Lee, 214, 216, 220
Burke, Jan, 25, 29
Burnett, W. R., 7
Cain, James M., 7, 44, 45
California Crime Writers Conference, 36
California Girl (Parker), 193
Cameron, Dana, 32
Campbell, Joseph, 204
Cannon, Don, 24
Capote, Truman, 123
Carlisle, Kate, 30
“Case of Identity, A” (Doyle), 136
Casey, Donis, 29
“Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository” (Connolly), 114–15
Chandler, Raymond, 7, 40, 42, 43, 140–41, 176, 214, 220, 238
chapter books, 81–82
characters, 16, 21, 53, 113, 126, 129, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 159, 161–62, 167, 168, 171, 172, 173, 175, 218, 221, 225, 234–35, 284, 288, 289 actions of, 120, 151, 184, 190, 192–93
avoiding stereotypes in, 37, 82, 175, 177, 189–90
backstory of, 135, 170, 234, 242, 245
Black women, 34–36, 37
casting of, 176–78
in children’s and YA stories, 80, 81–82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 93–95, 98
composite, 127
continuing of other author’s established, 238–39, 242–44, 252
creating and developing of, 18, 19, 23–25, 27, 37, 55, 168, 170, 184–86, 194, 195, 199–200, 201–2, 207–8, 233, 245
dialogue and voice of, 53, 57, 63, 64, 98–99, 104, 117–18, 134–35, 136–38, 153, 163, 194, 199, 200, 205–11, 212, 226, 227, 228, 233
diversity of, 82, 88, 93–95, 174–82, 199, 201
“evergreen” vs. “evolving,” 42, 43–44
flaws and weaknesses in, 14, 41, 42, 62, 185, 186, 188, 189–90, 201, 202
motivations of, 23, 46, 120, 151, 173, 191, 193, 194, 195, 245
naming of, 25
in noir fiction, 41, 42–44
settings as, 216
in short stories, 115, 116, 118, 120
subgenres and, 176–78
supporting and minor, 161–62, 170, 176–78, 199–203, 204
see also antagonists; protagonists; villains
character twists, 119
Charlie Hood books (Parker), 193–94
chase scenes, 17–18
Chazin, Suzanne, 58, 293–94
Chekhov, Anton, 237
Chesterton, G. K., 32
Chicago Tribune, 251
Chien, Vivien, 28
Child, Lee, 1–2, 145, 152–55
Child, Lincoln, 9
children’s mysteries, 79–100, 241
Chinatown (film), 217
Chow, Jennifer, 28
Christie, Agatha, 5, 8, 9, 25, 28, 93, 176
Clancy, Tom, 8, 10, 243
Clark, Mary Higgins, 134, 135
climax, 18, 19, 20, 167
Cline, Ernest, 9
Closed Doors (Paris), 8
Coben, Harlan, 173
Coel, Margaret, 214, 217
Cogdill, Oline H., 249–56, 294
Cohen, Jeff, 225
Cohen, Nancy J., 266, 294
Cold Dish, The (Johnson), 200–202
Coleman, Reed Farrel, 238, 243
collaborations, 232–36, 244 graphic novels and, 104, 106, 110–12
Collette, Abby, 28
Collier, John, 114
Collins, Barb, 240, 243
Collins, Max Allan, 238–44, 294
colorists, 110, 111
Coma (Cook), 59
comic books, 103, 104–6, 243
composite characters, 127
conferences, 11, 36, 88, 256, 274, 276, 277
conflict, 13–14, 20, 21, 116, 167, 168, 184
Connelly, Michael, 7, 29, 35, 36, 43, 186, 216
Connolly, John, 114–15
continuation writers, 238–39, 242–44, 252
contracts, 236, 252
conventions, 50, 278, 282
Cook, Robin, 9, 59
Coonts, Stephen, 8
Copperman, E.J., 28
copyright, 235, 239, 285–88
Copyright Act, U.S., 285, 286, 287
Cornwell, Patricia, 9
Corwin, Miles, 36
Cosmopolitan, 102
Cotterill, Colin, 30
covers, book, 263, 271
Coyle, Cleo, 28
cozy mysteries, 8, 24, 176, 177, 253, 254
Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams, 175
Crichton, Michael, 9, 59, 60
crime fiction, 1, 22, 40, 144, 167–68, 169, 171, 187, 190, 211 comics and, 104–5
diversity in, 82, 174–82, 201
humor in, 140, 141, 223–30
as subgenre, 6–7, 10
see also mystery stories; specific subgenres and story elements
critics, book, 68, 249–56, 257
Crombie, Deborah, 166–71, 294–95
Cronin, Doreen, 81
cross-genre fiction, 10–11, 48–50, 260, 268
Crossroads, The (Grabenstein), 84, 89
Crowley, John, 114–15
CSI books, 241, 242
Cuckoo’s Calling, The (Rowling), 135
cultural appropriation, 94–95, 201
“cultures of memory,” 181
Current Affairs (Stone), 229–30
Dahl, Roald, 120
Dance at the Slaughterhouse, A (Block), 217
Dance Hall of the Dead (Hillerman), 215
Dangerous Ends (Segura), 42
Dare Me (Abbott), 7
Dark Angel (TV show), 242
Dark Horse, The (Johnson), 215
Davidson, Diane Mott, 8
Davis, Bette, 205
Davis, Lindsey, 33, 295
Day, Dianne, 31
Daylight (film; novelization), 241
Day of the Jackal (Forsyth), 70
DC comics, 105
Dead Pool, The (film), 18
Dead Until Dark (Harris), 4
9
Deaver, Jeffery, 143–49, 238, 243, 295
defamation, 285, 288–89
Deighton, Len, 8
Dennison, Hannah, 30
details, 52, 53, 64, 72–73, 135, 215, 229
Detective Comics, 105
Devil Wears Prada, The (film), 205
Diagnosis: Homicide (Blochman), 114
dialects, 208
dialogue, 99, 104, 105, 127, 129, 136–38, 160, 163, 168, 199, 205–11, 212, 227, 228, 233, 241 accents and regionalisms in, 137, 206, 208–9
advancing the plot with, 118, 206
authentic jargon in, 63, 64, 137–38
character development with, 118, 207–8
in historical fiction, 53, 57
speech tags and, 163, 209–10, 211, 226, 228
Dickinson, Emily, 121
Dick Tracy comic strip, 239, 240
Die Hard (film), 20
Dionne, Karen, 9
Discover, 60
diversity, 82, 88, 93–95, 174–82, 199, 201 in book reviews, 253–54
settings and, 178
Doctorow, E. L., 156
domain names, 269
domestic thrillers, 7–8
Doubleday, 101–2
Douglas, Michael, 185
Douglass, Frederick, 181
Downing, Samantha, 8
Doyle, Arthur Conan, 25, 124, 136, 239
drafts, manuscript, 39, 91, 150, 157, 158–59, 160, 163, 173, 179, 195, 196
Dr. No (Fleming), 154
Drowning Pool, The (Macdonald), 42
du Maurier, Daphne, 217
Dunne, Dominick, 123
Dust and Shadow (Faye), 136
Dutchman series (Meyers), 233
early readers, 80–81
Eastwood, Clint, 18, 240
eavesdropping, 206–7, 208
economy, in short stories, 115, 117–20
Edgar Awards, 114–15, 116, 118n, 120, 238
editing process, 39, 46–47, 150, 159–63, 173, 224, 263 beta and sensitivity readers in, 88, 94, 162, 182, 224
rewriting in, 39, 91, 111, 144, 157–63, 173, 196
editors, 37, 68, 84, 87, 88, 89, 94, 101, 160, 165, 206, 209, 224, 235, 239, 240, 253, 263, 267, 279
efficiency, in short stories, 115, 117–20
elevator pitches, 127, 268
11/22/63 (King), 10
Ellin, Stanley, 117, 120
Ellroy, James, 45, 123
Elouise Norton series (Hall), 35
Emley, Dianne, 31
emotions, 42, 63, 64, 81, 85–86, 126, 153, 171, 220
endings, 44, 119, 144, 150, 153, 167, 220 twists or surprises in, 115, 119, 140
environmental/eco-danger thrillers, 9, 10
Ephron, Hallie, 151, 295
ER (TV show), 63
Erdman, Peter, 9
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library (Grabenstein), 87
Evanovich, Janet, 140
Eve Dallas (char.), 186
“evergreen” characters, 42, 43
exposition, 167, 245
Eye of the Needle (Follett), 70
Facebook, 194, 256, 277, 278, 279, 282
fact checking, 162
“fair use” claims, 287–88
“Fallen Curtain, The” (Rendell), 118
Fancies and Goodnights (Collier), 114
fan fiction, 242
fantasy genre, 48, 49
Farewell, My Lovely (Chandler), 141
Faulkner, William, 208
Faye, Lyndsay, 10, 133–41, 295–96
feedback, readers and, 181–82
Feinstein, Dianne, 196
film noir, 40, 44, 45
final drafts, 160, 163
financial thrillers, 9
First 48, The (TV show), 36–37
first drafts/rough drafts, 91, 157, 158–59, 160, 163, 173, 179, 195
flash fiction, 120
Flaubert, Gustave, 149
flaws, character, 14, 41, 42, 62, 185, 186, 188, 189–90, 201
Fleming, Ian, 154, 238, 243
Fletch novels (Mcdonald), 211
Fluke, Joanne, 8, 28
Flynn, Gillian, 7, 114, 117, 187
Flynn, Vince, 8
focus, in short stories, 115, 117–20
Follett, Ken, 8, 70
forensic thrillers, 9
Fornés, Jorge, 105–6
Forster, E. M., 166
Forsyth, Frederick, 8, 70
For the Thrill of It (Baatz), 124
Franklin, Tom, 120
French, Tana, 10, 141
Frey, Stephen, 9
Frome, Shelly, 156, 296
Furst, Alan, 9
Gallant, Gladys Selverne, 101–2
Gardiner, Meg, 13–21, 296
Gardner, John, 167, 238
Garfield, Brian, 5
Garrett, Kellye, 227
Garwood, Julie, 9
gatekeepers, 95–96, 97
Gattis, Ryan, 36
genre awareness, 160–61
Gerritsen, Tess, 30, 59–65, 296
ghostwriting, 233
Girl on the Train (Hawkins), 10
Gischler, Victor, 29
goals, 13, 14, 167
Gods of Gotham, The (Faye), 139
Goldberg, Lee, 238
Goldsborough, Bob, 242–43
Goliath Bone, The (Spillane and Collins), 243
Gone, Baby, Gone (Lehane), 217
Gone Girl (Flynn), 7, 9–10
Goodnight Moon (Brown), 80
Goodreads, 249
Google, 270
Grabenstein, Chris, 81, 84–90, 296–97
Grafton, Sue, 7, 11
Graham, Loren R., 71–72
graphic novels, 103–12
Gravity (Gerritsen), 63–64
Great Expectations (Dickens), 166
Griffin, W.E.B., 8
Grimes, Martha, 10
Grisham, John, 9
Haddon, Mark, 30
Hall, Rachel Howzell, 34–38, 297
Hamilton, Denise, 29
Hammett, Daniel, 7, 222
Hanssen, Robert, 69
hard-boiled detective novels, 7, 10, 40–41, 42, 43, 45, 176
Harper, Bradley, 212, 237, 297
Harris, Charlaine, 10, 48–50, 297
Harris, Thomas, 193
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling), 86, 89
Harry Potter series (Rowling), 81
Hart, Carolyn, 12, 28, 297–98
Hart, Liliana, 258–65, 298
Hart, Rob, 150, 298
Harvest (Gerritsen), 63
Harwood, Gar Anthony, 36
Hemingway, Ernest, 44
Hero with a Thousand Faces, The (Campbell), 204
Herren, Greg, 205–11, 298
Hiaasen, Carl, 9, 10, 89, 214, 217
Highsmith, Patricia, 7, 116
high stakes, 15, 46
Hillerman, Tony, 7, 9, 214, 215, 216, 217
Hirahara, Naomi, 23–32, 36, 298–99
historical cases, 124
historical fiction, 5, 9, 10, 52–57, 85, 114, 134, 136, 176, 232, 234
Hobbit, The (Tolkien), 166
Hoch, Ed, 120
Hockensmith, Steve, 142, 299
Holes (Sachar), 89
Hollywood Homicide (Garrett), 227
home pages, 271
Hoot (Hiaasen), 89
Horowitz, Anthony, 238, 243
horror genre, 10, 50, 176
hosting services, 270
“House Party” (Ellin), 117
Howard, Linda, 9
Hughes, Dorothy B., 7, 42, 45
humor, 10, 57, 140, 141, 223–30 in children’s books, 88
I, the Jury (Spillane), 105
I Capture the Castle (Smith), 223
identity, building of, 267, 268, 271, 272–73, 274
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (McNamara), 124
illustrations, 80, 104, 105–6, 110
In a Lonely Place (Hughes), 42
inciting incidents, 25–26,
167
In Cold Blood (Capote), 123
ingenuity, 18
Inner City Blues (Woods), 35
Instagram, 277, 279
International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, 238
international thrillers, 8
“intersectionality,” 175
In the Line of Fire (film; novelization), 240
I Want My Hat Back (Klassen), 80
Jackson, Shirley, 120
Jaffarian, Sue Ann, 29
James, Henry, 125
James, Maddee, 267–74, 299
James, P. D., 7, 10
James, Rae Franklin, 164, 299
Jance, J. A., 214
jargon, 63, 64, 137–38
Java Graphical Authorship Attribution Program, 134–35
Jessica Fletcher (char.), 26
J.J. Tully mysteries (Cronin), 81
Johnson, Craig, 199–203, 215, 216, 300
Johnson, Jane Rodgers, 243
Kane, Stephanie, 75, 300
Kellerman, Faye, 32
Kepnes, Caroline, 187
Kerr, Philip, 9
Killer Inside Me, The (Thompson), 41–42
Killer of the Little Shepherds, The (Starr), 124
Killers, The (film), 44
Kindle Unlimited, 264
King, Laurie R., 54, 56, 157–63
King, Stephen, 10, 24, 93, 126, 210
Kinman, Gay Toltl, 204, 300
Kiss Me Deadly (film), 43
Klassen, Jon, 80
Knebel, Fletcher, 8
Knox, Ronald, 5, 48
Krentz, Jayne Ann, 9
Krueger, William Kent, 214–21, 300
Kuhn, Cynthia, 32
Land of Shadows (Hall), 37
language, 162
Last Policeman, The (Winters), 10
Lathen, Emma (pseudonym), 233
Laura (film), 44
le Carré, John, 8
legal thrillers, 9
Lehane, Dennis, 43, 216, 217
Leonard, Elmore, 5, 7, 9, 89, 210, 225
Levine, Laura, 30
Levine, Paul, 29
Lew Archer (char.), 42
Life of Theseus (Ovid), 154
Life Support (Gerritsen), 60
Lippman, Laura, 134
Listening Woman (Hillerman), 9
Lister, Michael, 32
Little Sister, The (Chandler), 220
Living Image (Gallant), 101–2
Long Time Dead, A (Spillane), 243
Lopresti, Robert, 173, 301
Lord of the Rings, The (Tolkien), 166
Los Angeles Times, 37, 68, 251
Ludlum, Robert, 68, 70, 243
Lynds, Gayle, 67–74
Maass, Donald, 189
McBain, Ed, 7
McCloud, Scott, 103
McClure, James, 7
Mcdonald, Gregory, 211
Macdonald, Ross, 7, 40, 42, 43
McGarrity, Michael, 216
McKinlay, Jenn, 28
McNamara, Michelle, 124
McPherson, Catriona, 223–30, 301
How to Write a Mystery Page 31