Crime fiction

In a sense, every detective novel is about the inside of someone's head. What immediately captures the reader at the beginning of a Sherlock Holmes story is the tick-tock of Holmes mind: what brilliance will he conjure next, what detail will he pull out of an ordinary scene, who is this guy?

It was a dreary day in October, and the baby that was supposed to have arrived was already late. Maybe that means nothing to you, but to me, it meant that my out-of-office had long ago gone up and instead of holding my new baby, I was Googling the rates of stillbirth for post-term infants and the mortality rate of the women who carried them.  Read more

"I'm still proud of that book. It convinced me I could write a book. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for that book."

That book, My Darkest Prayer, Shawn "S.A." Cosby's first thriller, was published in 2019 by a small Maryland publisher and few noticed. It got some nice reviews, but every book signing was sparsely attended. Not unusual for a first-time crime novelist.  Read more

We all read crime novels, and all crime novels feature guns (more or less). When I got to work on my own crime novel-my first, after cutting my teeth on Napoleonic spy thrillers-I wanted to make sure I knew my stuff. It's a contemporary heist thriller about counterfeiting, art forgery, neo-Nazis and a horseback-Amtrak train robbery. Guns are involved.  Read more

I hate conflict of any kind. I go so far as to take the pickles and tomatoes off my burger rather than ask for them to be held, thus ensuring there is no mistake for me to point out later (or more than likely not point out at all). That doesn't stop conflict from occurring regularly. It has been around every corner since I was a child, always waiting to turn.