The Thrill Begins

Kelli Stanley’s debut novel NOX DORMIENDA – a historical mystery set in Roman Britain, but written in the classic noir style of Raymond Chandler – is highlighted in the cover story for the April 15th issue of Library Journal.

Wilda Williams, fiction editor for LJ, concludes “Genre Spotlight 2008 “Mystery”: The Sound of Crime Fiction” with a paragraph focusing on Kelli’s new Roman Noir genre as uniting two hot trends within mystery and crime fiction: the historical novel and the reemergence of classic hardboiled/noir/PI stories. Williams leads the article by discussing the growth of large-print editions and audio books, mentioning the Audiobook Publishers Association’s nomination of ITW’s The Chopin Manuscript.

In a section entitled “Roman Noir, Anyone?” Williams queries Barbara Peters of Poisoned Pen Press about what she sees as upcoming trends. Peters predicts that paranormal mysteries will subside in popularity, and sees “historical mysteries, along with the “hot, hot, hot” historical novels, grabbing market share. At the same time, Peters predicts a resurgence of the traditional PI and classic crime fiction.”

Williams concludes as follows:

“Reflecting these dual trends is a July debut Roman historical from Gale’s Five Star imprint, Nox Dormienda (A Long Night for Sleeping). Its author, Kelli Stanley, is a published classics scholar who has taught Latin and Greek. “Nox combines Kelli’s love of ancient history [and]… classic noir writers like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett in a new hybrid genre she’s calling Roman Noir,” says Five Star acquisitions editor Tiffany Schofield. With advance blurbs from Gayle Lynds, James Rollins, and Ken Bruen, perhaps this unusual debut will make a splash in other formats as well. Are the audio and large print publishers listening?”

The article can be read in its entirety at http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6547090.html. And large print publishers are, indeed, listening. NOX DORMIENDA has already been slotted for an October large-print release date through Thorndike Press.

Leighton Gage came to Brazil in 1973, left a few years later for Australia and the Middle East, but could not stay away.

When he came back two years later, he “ran smack dab into all of the bad things that I’d pushed into the back of my mind: the crime; the obscene wealth; the staggering poverty. I couldn’t take it. I went to live in Miami for a time. And found myself missing Brazil all over again. Now, a quarter of a century on, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t have to live here all the time, but I do have to live here some of the time. I get homesick when I’m away for too long.”

Gage’s first novel, Blood of the Wicked, published by Soho Crime, was one result of his exposure to the uglier side of the country. In Part I of a two-part interview, he talks to Detectives Beyond Borders about that book, its follow-up, and the vast, beautiful and violent land that inspired them. Part One. Part Two.