If you ask what fuels a novel, a common answer is: conflict. My latest read, Gigi Waldorf’s Murder on the Upper East Side, is no exception. When a Gossip Girl-ish cast of high school frenemies reunites after ten years and one of them doesn’t survive the night, a host of past conflicts come to light.…
If you ask what fuels a novel, a common answer is: conflict. My latest read, Gigi Waldorf’s Murder on the Upper East Side, is no exception. When a Gossip Girl-ish cast of high school frenemies reunites after ten years and one of them doesn’t survive…
Psychopath: a person who does not care about other people’s feelings, does not feel sorry when they have done something bad, and may want to be violent or cruel towards others (adapted from Oxford Learner’s Dictionary) Ahem. Notice that Dr. Deadly said sort-of-psychopaths make great…
Tessa Wegert’s new release, The River Runs Black, serves up a mix of compelling ingredients. In the waterside North Country near the Canadian border, we find a tragic teenage overdose pointing to a widespread drug operation, a detective team with children of their own to…
Characters reveal their – well, characters – in novels, and some labels we might use are “good”, “bad”, and the now-popular “morally gray”. Dr. Deadly’s latest read inspired thoughts on a different angle: the potential of a character, which hints at a more fluid identity.…
Dr. Deadly read Clare Mackintosh’s new release, It’s Not What You Think, and…wow. The novel’s description introduces a woman who fears her partner is having an affair. What happens next – and what’s really going on – is far more complicated and dangerous. Without giving…
Queen Bee: A dominant female who leads and controls a group, often through manipulation and bullying Imagine, dear reader, that you are a queen bee. (And maybe you are!) What are your goals? What do you worry about? How do you handle problems? Who do…
A controversial therapist. The reliability of memory. Taking psychological crimes to court. The hooks in Philippa Malicka’s debut novel In Her Defense were the perfect shape and size for this crime fiction therapist, dear readers! The story follows troubled artist Gus Bird and her role…
What hooks you in a fictional character? Dr. Deadly most often hears that characters who are believable, want something desperately, and show their vulnerabilities will compel us to get attached and to care about what happens to them in the story. But let’s look at…
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