The secret to a juicy plot? Manipulation
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…
Why sort-of-psychopaths make great protagonists
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.…
Save the girl, save the town! Community as a character in fiction
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…
The pull of a character’s potential for evil
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…
When it’s sad but true: how crime fiction can illuminate extremism
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…
Queen bees in crime fiction: love them or hate them?
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…
10-Step Guide to Brainwashing: IN HER DEFENSE
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…
The power of characters who break the mold
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…
THE READER’S RESORT: shame and blame and revenge, oh my!
The heroine’s journey in E.M. Jones’s THE READER’S RESORT is kicked off by shame: her secret guilt over accidental involvement in her best friend’s death, and her try at conjuring her friend’s ghost to apologize at the famous reading resort…
FLESH OF ALL SORROWS and high-impact villains
Dr. Deadly was fortunate to receive a new release, FLESH OF ALL SORROWS by Jeffrey J. Mariotte. A fast-paced, compelling read! But the focus here is how its villain left a big impression. The novel features Danny Mansfield, the brand…
Are we smarter than those kids in the slasher films?
Hey, all you kids-in-the-slasher-films: the truths are self-evident. Don’t go down into that basement alone! Never split up when the psycho-killer is after you! And, for the love of God, if you have to trip over a nonexistent tree root,…
If you could get away with it…? and other questions from THE GHOSTWRITER
Dr. Deadly’s latest read, Julie Clark’s The Ghostwriter, is all about questions. The main character, Olivia, delves into the unsolved mystery that shaped her entire world: did her father kill his brother and sister back when they were all teens?…
On Nat’l Book Lovers Day…Is Your Love a Lonely One?
Dear reader, August 9th is National Book Lovers Day! Whatever books you love, I encourage you to think of them right now and feel that glow. And now think about the love itself. What’s your particular relationship history? Bookworm since…
Superman to Spider-Man to…?
Both Superman and Spider-Man are known for helping and protecting others, aided by another commonality: their superhuman strength. Where the superheroes differ, according to Google Gemini, is a few personality traits. Superman: known for invulnerability, restraint, optimism, and humility. Spider-Man:…
Reader Poll: Are You Team Justice, or Team Revenge?
From Cambridge Dictionary online: Justice = fairness in the way people are dealt with Revenge = harm done to someone as a punishment for harm that they have done to someone else The time is midnight. The novel is Carter Wilson’s Tell Me What You Did. As the pages fly by,…
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