DEAD SHARP
Scottish Crime Writers
on Country and Craft
Len Wanner
Click here for Len's author page.
Introduction by Dr Aaron Kelly; Afterword by Louise Welsh.
So much more than just a collection of in-depth interviews with Scotland's bestselling crime writers, Dead Sharp is also a distinctive and edgy investigation of Scotland as a changing nation. Brimming with pithy, witty and sometimes just plain weird revelations, these interviews provide a unique and unforgettable insight into how writers think, and into the professional secrets of some of the genre's greatest exponents.
Includes interviews with:
Ian Rankin
Stuart MacBride
Allan Guthrie
Karen Campbell
Neil Forsyth
Christopher Brookmyre
Paul Johnston
Alice Thompson
Louise Welsh
About Len Wanner
A graduate of University College Dublin, Len Wanner holds an honours degree in German and English, an MA in Modern English, and is currently completing a PhD on Scottish Crime Fiction at the University of Edinburgh. As founder and editor of the online journal thecrimeofitall.com, he has conducted over 450 interviews with international crime writers. He has also been a juror for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and a freelance translator for Irish author Ken Bruen.
Praise for Dead Sharp:
'Wanner is a skilled conversationalist and extractor of information. In these intriguing interviews, he illustrates his appreciation of crime fiction and encourages the writers to discuss the nature of their craft. His selection of writers reveals an objective of showing how diverse the genre has become. As Dr Aaron Kelly states in his introduction, “What the writers have in common is that each of them disrupts an attempt to construct a dichotomy between literary and genre fiction.”... An entertaining and revealing resource.'– The Herald
'Len Wanner is the perfect interrogator, subtle, accommodating and incisive, and these interviews elicit many layers of deep, dark and vital intelligence.' – John Banville, author of The Sea
'This is fascinating reading and a real treat. A rare insight into the minds of a diverse group of crime writers, writing in one genre, living in proximity, but all with utterly different, individual voices.' – Peter James, author of Dead Like You
'These interviews cut to the very marrow of Scottish crime writing, deep, incisive and bloody. Bloody good fun too.' – Colin Bateman, author of Mystery Man
'Time was, the best and brightest author interviews were contained in three books: John Williams’ Badlands, and Craig McDonald’s Art in the Blood and Rogue Males. But blasting into the Zeitgeist is Len Wanner’s amazing, in-depth, funny and compassionate collection, showing a side of these authors previously unseen. A stunning, dark jewel in the library of great interviews.' – Ken Bruen, author of London Boulevard and Blitz
'Incorporating a comprehensive range of Scottish author interviews, all of them possessing a different slant on the business of professional writing, Wanner has compiled a must-read anthology of the witty, the wise, the weird and the wonderful. Wanner has encouraged his interviewees to illuminate, edify, entertain and amuse us, and yet has also persuaded them to give us something of real worth. Not only for the aspirant, but also for the weatherworn professional, there is a refreshing vitality and energy present in the text, as if we were right there listening, as if this was for our ears only. Highly recommended, not only as a fascinating peek behind the Oz curtain, but also as a journal of achievement from some of our brightest and best.' – R.J. Ellory, author of A Quiet Belief in Angels
‘Does “Tartan Noir” exist? What is the appeal of crime fiction? Should the crime writer deal with political issues? Why has there been a turn to dark crime fiction? What does it mean for crime fiction to transcend its genre? Is gallows humour inseparable from the Scottish psyche? What is the impact of a balaclava-clad diner walking into a restaurant in the middle of the day? All of these and many more questions are illuminated by Len Wanner’s series of entertaining and revealing interviews. Highly recommended!’
– Lee Horsley, Lancaster University, author of The Noir Thriller
‘Len Wanner is a gift to any serious writer, but especially contemporary crime writers, who see their genre not as some ghettoized backwater of the entertainment industry but the legitimate heir of the social and political novels that seem to have lost their cache in literary circles. The interviews are insightful gems, full of invention, wit and cleverness as well as the honesty and perceptiveness one expects from men and women whose job is to craft well-told tales. Wanner captures these writers at their best, lures them into unconventional terrain and obliges improvisation, with bracing results.’ – David Corbett, author of Do They Know I’m Running?
‘These include some of the best crime writers around anywhere, and in response to Len Wanner’s intelligent, probing and sometimes cheeky questions, they all interview superbly. If James Ellroy’s off-the-cuff term “Tartan Noir” gets short shrift from several as a collective tag, it at least helps to focus minds on the vivid mix of the dark and the colourful concentrated in Scottish crime writing just now.’ – Martin Priestman, University of Roehampton
‘Len Wanner’s interviews with crime writers represent the gold standard for literary conversation. As interviewer, Wanner is erudite and smart, but also subtle and sharp. Each writer’s personality comes off the page and each exchange is brimming with revelations. Indeed, these exchanges with Wanner may well represent the authors’ career-defining interviews.’
– Craig McDonald, author of Art in the Blood and Rogue Males
‘You’ve heard the rumors, now here’s the proof that Tartan Noir is not only one of the most important literary movements in crime fiction of the past twenty years, but one of the most important movements in all of literature. Wanner asks the tough questions and gets the tougher answers from this stellar cast of crime writers. Entertaining, insightful, heartbreaking, and hard to put down.’ – Jason Starr, author of The Pack
‘In this milestone work, Len Wanner serves as interlocutor for a number of Scotland’s most eloquent crime writers. His thoughtful probing has resulted in a book that will fascinate fans, serve as a guideline to emerging writers and be devoured by established authors. If crime writing in Scotland is a subject that interests you, Wanner’s book is a “must-read”.’ – Leighton Gage, author of Every Bitter Thing
‘If you want to gain an insight into the current origins and direction of Scottish crime fiction, you couldn’t do better than read this book by Len Wanner. Wanner doesn’t simply get answers; he gets explanations … about writing, about thinking, about reason; about where Scottish writers are coming from and where they are going, collectively and individually.’
– Adrian Magson, author of Red Station
‘I thought Tartan Noir was what Scottish Goths made their kilts from until I read this book. Len Wanner’s fascinating interviews are not just a compelling introduction to crime writing north of the border, they are also as good an insight as you are ever likely to get into what it is actually like to be a crime writer: the craft, the hard graft, the pleasure and the pain of our profession.’ – Tom Cain, author of Dictator
‘In nine probing interviews Wanner provides an almost definitive overview of the movement known as Tartan Noir. Allan Guthrie’s and Stuart MacBride’s are my favourites, although they’re mates of mine, and I got stuff from both that I didn’t know, so that’s a hell of a job.’ – Ray Banks, author of Beast of Burden
‘In interviews as whiplash-smart as they are meticulous, these nine authors reveal the kind of insight about craft that makes you want to take a copy and start bludgeoning creative writing students out into streets. There’s no gang of folks you could better spend an evening with, and no guide better suited to give you a tour of their world-weary and shrunken hearts than the immensely knowledgeable Len Wanner.’ – Benjamin Whitmer, author of Pike
‘Interviews as thorough as any you’d get in an interrogation room, as one by one Scotland’s finest crime writers reveal where the bodies are buried. The only way you’ll learn more about the art of murder is to commit one yourself.’ – Stephen Leather, author of Rough Justice
‘Len Wanner knows where the bodies are buried. In this incisive series of interviews, he cuts straight to the heart of what makes “Tartan Noir” a unique and wondrous genre of its own.’ – Wallace Stroby, author of Cold Shot to the Heart
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Read a comprehensive review here on the Venetian Vase website.
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Reviewed also on Lizzy Siddal's blog, here:
'It’s fascinating and revealing reading. Is there such a thing as Tartan Noir? What is noir? – there are as many answers to that as there are interviews in the book! What is it that makes Scottish Crime Writing unique? Is it possible for a cop to have a happy home life? Why is Rebus divorced? (The answer will surprise you.) How graphically should violence be depicted? (Paul Johnston goes existential in response.) Why is Karen Campbell unhappy that her first novel was categorised as crime fiction? Why is the literary author Louise Welsh delighted that her novels are found on the crime shelves? How passionate are the authors about the quality of their writing? Stuart McBride waxes metaphorical on this arguing that crime fiction is not the burger van to literary fiction’s 5-star restaurant, despite the impression that John Banville’s (aka Benjamin Black’s) careless attitude to writing crime fiction might give. Indeed Mr Banville doesn’t cut a popular figure in these pages, which is ironic because his blurb proclaims Wanner the perfect interrogator. So there you go. If you enjoy crime fiction, you’ll really enjoy this. There’s no requirement to be Scottish.'
