Chicago Crime

 I thought about it recently, somethign struck me checking my TBR list: I haven't read a single novel from crime writer Theresa Schwegel since 2008... In fact, I only read one novel of hers, her acclaimed debut novel Officer Down,which I had borrowed in the local library. Whatever happened to her? It seems I cannot find her novels anywhere here. It is a shame, because I really loved her first novel and I had been wanting to read more since. One of the things I loved about it is that it was set in Chicago, a city I don't know well, but which is a perfect setting for crme fiction, due to its history of violence. So I have a new reading objective (another one!): find more of her books.

Summer reading

It is still very hot today, so I am in a Summery mood. I think I might drive my wife crazy with Underneath the Mango Tree. I am about to finish Officer Down so I guess I am enjoying it, but that means I have to read a book soon after. I don,t know if I told it here, but I like to read stories according to the time of the year: stories set in winter/Christmas during Christmastime (On Her Majesty's Secret Service for example), horror stories for Autumn (because of Halloween) and for Springtime and Summer, novels set during a warmer period of the year, or simply adventure/crime novels (what in French is called "lectures d'été", because it's easier to read, "lighter"). I don't know if it's bizarre, but that's how I read, anyway most of the time (I am not maniacal about it, obviously). I don't think Ed McBain's Heat would have been as enjoyable read in the middle of winter. I read it in the heatwave of 2006. It makes it easier to choose a book among the ones on your bookshelf, when you have a wide choice. (which is often my case). Anyway, I put in this entry another image from the Detective Tales magazine (April 1936 edition). I love the guy's eyepatch and where he shoots from. I don't know the story, but it seems a good one.

Theresa Schwegel: Officer Down

I have started reading Officer Down, the first (and very recent) novel of Theresa Schwegel, an American crime writer. The book received the 2006 Edgar Award for best first novel. I have read only a few pages, but it is quite good so far. Apart from the fact that she writes at the present tense, which has always irritated me for some reason, I like her style which, although not exactly original, is very solid and in the hardboiled tradition. I envy her as well, because she is quite young, probably younger than I am, and not only did she get published, but she won a price, and a big one at that!