To revisit Harry Bosch

I am now in a spooky mood, as you know, being Augtober and all, so I have started reading other things than crime fiction. That said, something came to my mind about my favourite genre: I haven't read a Michael Connelly novel in more than a decade. I only read for novels of him, all in the Harry Bosch series, all in the earlier entries. For a famous and prolific crime writer like him, it might surprise you. I haven't blogged about him either, this post is a first. So you can guess that, while I enjoyed Connelly's novels, I'm far from a diehard fan. I guess there are crime writers I prefer. The first one I read was Angels Flight, back in 2006. I think that it should be time to revisit him and read more, especially about Harry Bosch. If you have any title to recommend me, please let me know in the comments.

Beretta (Signature Weapon)

This post is a new entry in my Signature Weapons series, weapons you find in crime fiction and spy fiction and that are used or could be used as signature weapons by protagonists and/or antagonists. So today I am blogging about the Beretta, an Italian gun. I have seen the brand showing up in many crime stories, including a novel I read recently. It's part of the arsenal of the Carabinieri and other police forces around the world. Conversely, it's been used by the mob and still is, whether Italian or not. It's also often featured in the spy thrillers, or at least I have seen the Beretta showing up in the spy novels I read recently. You may not know, but it was the service weapon of a certain British agent (guess who) until it was replaced by another brand (guess which one). Anyway, I'm not sure if the Beretta is in fiction more often held by a good guy or a bad guy, either way it can be a signature weapon.

Glock (Signature Weapon)

This is a new post in my Signature Weapons series, about weapons that say something about the characters using them, especially but not exclusively in crime fiction. So today I am blogging about the Glock. This is the very first firearm of the series. And before I go further, a disclaimer: I know almost nothing of firearms, I'm not a gun enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination, I don't have a gun fetish either, so I am writing this as a complete outsider, but as an aspiring crime fiction writer. Now, I find Glocks interesting for a number of reasons: thematically, symbolically and practically. First, it is the service weapon of many police forces in the world, including the SQ (Sûreté du Québec). So this is often the weapon of choice of my characters. According to the TV Tropes entry on handguns, it has the reputation of being the boring but practical gun of all boring, but practical guns. It's reliable without being flashy. Also, it's an Austrian weapon, and the name is very close to the German Glocke, which means bell. I find it ironic that a weapon is thus linked to something often seen as delicate and playful, used to produce music. And yes, I am working to use this double entendre in couple of stories.

Legends

 I found another great crime series on Netflix and I wanted to share it/plug it here: Legends. It's both a crime drama and a true crime documentary, as it is based on true events: the heroin trade of the early nineties in the UK and the combat against it by a team formed by border officers. A ragtag bunch of misfits as the trope is called. I love ragtags bunch of misfits, especially in crime fiction, even more when they had an origin in real life. I might blog about the trope one day, but I digress. You have two fairly rarely seen (at least in fiction) mob groups as the antagonists, one from Liverpool, the other from Turkey. Anyway, I cannot stress how solid the series is and I cannot recommend it enough.

Karambit (Signature Weapon)

 Okay, so I am trying to get my Signature Weapons series going, so I am blogging another one of them. I am thus blogging about the karambit, which from what I understands originates from Indonesia, but can be found around all of Southeast Asia and elsewhere. So it is again quite an exotic blade I am blogging about. I discovered it thanks Fight Write, by Carla Hoch, the book that inspired me to blog this very series on signature weapons. It even has its own entry in the book. The knife is meant to resemble a tiger's claw, at least according to folklore. It is a small, curved weapon that looks quite nasty: sharp, easily concealed, etc. It can be used as a tool, but also as a weapon. Personally, I think it looks far more like a weapon, and a nasty one at that, than a tool. In a crime fiction context, I think it would probably suit a villain more, given its rather devious capacities. Anyway, tell he what you think.

Yawara (Signature Weapon)

This post is part of my Signature Weapons series, which I only officially started this year. Although there were a few older posts that could be considered officiously part of the series, such as this one. Anyway, so I am reading at a slow pace Fight Write, by Carla Hoch, to help me depict fights and violence in my own crime fiction writing. And the book made me discover one exotic weapon from Japan, called the yawara, or yawara stick. It looks like nothing, it is as it says a short stick, a blunt instrument that is barely bigger than the palm of your hand. Yet apparently it can be quite effective and is even used by Japanese police forces. I checked a few videos on YouTube and I must say I am a bit skeptical. Sometimes people praise a thing only because it is exotic and think the world of a weapon simply because it's use by martial artists in the Far East. But since Japanese police officers use it, it must have some utility. In any case, it's a simple device and from what I understand fairly easy to make weapon, so I might add it to some of my character's arsenal. Heroes or villains? I'm not sure yet. So yawara is the word of the day, as well as today's signature weapon. If you have used one, or seen one (if you visited Japan, for instance), please let me know in the comments.

The Violin Thief

 I blogged last year about the theft of a 285-year-old violin worth £150,000 in a London pub. Well, there has been some development to the story since the man was arrested: he has been charged with theft. It was about time. As a music lover, the stealing of a rare and ancient musical instrument is to me both morally and aesthetically repellent. Hell, you could argue it is a crime against our civilisation's memory. That said, it could be the subject of a great crime story. Everything about it makes for a great drama. An atmospheric one too: he stole the violin in a London pub, after all. I'm sure there is a scriptweriter working on it at the moment. I'm kind of tempted to try my luck at it and write a short story on the subject.

True Crime Archives (Allô Police)

As you know, I love crime fiction, but I also love true crime history, especially the crime history of Québec. So my parents bought me this book from Christmas. An account of the history of crime in Québec, based on the archives of its most (in)famous tabloids, Allô Police. Sensationalist, sleazy, yellow, Allô Police was labeled a lot of things, maybe not without reasons. All the same, it remains to this day a reference in crime journalism. I have a lot on my TBR list, but I started reading it. There is a writing workshop coming and I intend to produce a crime fiction short story, so will use this book for inspiration.

Narco-Sub

I do like to read a bit of crime news from time to time, and one caught my attention a week ago and I wanted to blog about it: there is a narco-sub that has been intercepted by Portuguese authorities in the middle of the Atlantic. By narco-sub, you must understand it as a submarine carrying 1.7 tonnes fo cocaine. A submarine. Carrying drugs. It's not the first time a submarine carries drugs, but it's rare enough to catch my attention. I am not saying it is cool, but busting certainly is impressive. And this could be the basis for some really neat crime thriller. A bit like an helicopter heist. I would read a novel about it for  is #Noirvember, if there was one.

Cambriolage au Louvre

Je laisse mes chroniques habituelles le temps d'un billet afin de bloguer sur une nouvelle criminelle qui me fascine un peu: je parle bien entendu du vol de bijoux au Louvre. Au moment où j'écris ces lignes, l'enquête suit encore son cours et personne n'a été appréhendé. Quand même, c'est le genre de crime que l'on croit bon pour les polars. Je crois que ce sera la source d'inspiration pour nombre d'entre eux. Enfin bref, je sais que c'est pas drôle ce qui arrive, que c'est même catastrophique, mais ça ne m'empêche pas d'être fasciné par la nouvelle.

New (?) local police station

I noticed it recently when I was walking through the business estate: we have a new police station there. Well, I say new, maybe that's not quite right, but it's the first time I noticed it. A bit less than a decade ago, we used to live near the "old" police station, which was a rather quaint and old fashioned building. It looked really nice, but not exactly the kind of place I would expect to have a professional constabulatory force, working against crime in a small English town that can surprisingly... I'm not sure of the word. Criminalised? If you read this blog, you know what I'm talking about. It can be a dark place and the ideal setting for a crime novel or two. But anyway, this new (somewhat new) local police station looks suitably modern, from what I could see from the outside. Which is kind of reassuring. I think it's also at a more strategic place, giving a police presence where there was none before. So yes, good news. And if I need to find inspiration for my stories, I know where to walk by.

The Violin Theft

Here's a bit of crime news I found out recently, which both shocked and fascinated me: a man was arrested for the theft of a £150,000 violin. First thing to say: wow! That is one expensive violin. To be honest, its value is not exactly surprising. There are expensive musical instruments out there, artifacts from another time still in working condition.This one is from the 18th century. It's just the sheer audacity of stealing a musical instrument that I find morally repellent to the extreme. It's one of the worst kind of thefts I can think of. Unfortunately, the violin has not been recovered as I am typing this. On another note, this could make for a great starting point for a crime novel. It already did, sort of, I mean I read one crime novel featuring a stolen violin. If you want to know which one check this link (otherwise: spoiler alert). And the theft happened in a London pub, because of course it did. So please keep your eyes open. Probably your ears too. I hope they find the violin.

New Scotland Yard, New Mr X

A few days ago, my wife said that we should play board games more often with Wolfie. We have a few, but we seldom take them out. And there are a lot which I would love to own. Among them, there is of course Scotland Yard, my all-time childhood favourite. I recently discovered that they have updated the look of the game, or at least the box, with a more modern take. It's a very contemporary London and Mr X looks far darker and more menacing, even though he sitll wears the rather anachronistic hat. He looks like he belongs to a spy thriller, which I guess Scotland Yard could be, as much as a crime adventure. Anyway, while I love the old fashioned look, I must say, I think the game's antagonist gives a proper sinister vibe.What do you think?

Weaponry for the Arsenal

 You may remember that I blog from time to time about the "War Game", a make-belief game Wolfie invented a few years ago. It's a mix of spy and crime adventures and it is really fun, like the game I played as a child. We haven't played it for a while, but this should change soon. Because we went at a local fête recently and in one of the game stands Wolfie won a price and he choosed this toy. We have plenty of weapons and equipment in the artillery drawer, but Wolfie loves the novelty (and the variety). So I'm expecting to receive a new mission orders soon.

Crime Routes

 The articles I read on my news feed. So I recently found this BBC article about the routes of cocaine smugggling from Ecuador into Europe. Smuggling which is growing, by the way. Oh and the Albanian mafia is heavily involved. I have a macabre fascination for these kinds of stories and find them interesting for many reasons. First, it shows that organised crime is not merely an Italian thing. Second, because it gives insight to how the drug trade works at an international level. As you probably have guessed, when I read this, I think there's a couple of crime fiction stories to write from such source material. I will check if something has been written about it already, otherwise I just might have to write something myself.

"Sting operation"

My wife, Wolfie and me were walking a few days ago and we crossed two police officers in uniform discussing. One was explaining something to the other and was saying: "So we are about to execute a sting operation..." We were surprised at hearing like this a police officer discussion strategy in the street. Although we didn't hear more details about it. As you may know sting operation is a deceptive operation using undercover police officers to lure suspects into incriminating themselves. It's often used in crime fiction, and I hope that this brief and accidental eavesdropping will inspire my own writing. In any case, this is the word of the day.

New weapon for the artillery drawer?

 You may remember that Wolfie and I have a special "War Game". We play kind of spies or special operativesor cops fighting villains. Wolfie comes up with most of the characters, plots and storyline. We even have an artillery drawer for our toy guns, things I bought for Wolfie over the years. We don't play the War Game much these days, but I am on the lookout for new toys for it. I found this one recently in the local toy shop. I didn't buy it, but I think could be a nice one to add to the weaponry.

Aquila and Sherlock

I said it before and I will say it again: Wolfie receives the best mail. A few days ago, he got the latest edition of Aquila Magazine, the magazine with "big ideas for inquisitive kids". So yeah, the February issue is all about forensics, crime investigation and, well, crime fiction, with  Sherlock Holmes on the cover (because well of course). I need to teach him about Sherlock Holmes, by the way, he barey knows him. But anyway, it has lots of fun stuff and it's a pleasure to read together.

A #Noirvember Game?

As the month is ending, I wanted to ask my readers one thing: how's your #Noirvember so far? For those who celebrate it of course. Mine has been slow, as I have been reading crime fiction at a snail's pace. However, I discovered a different way to do Noirvember: through make belief games. Wolfie loves his "Secret War" game, where we play a tea of secret police and/or spies and/or soldiers, battling baddies and doing covert operations. He has a whole arsenal here. And, like last year, it struck me that this is afitting game for November and Noirvember.

Regatta, accursed regatta

There is a regatta in our quiet English tow this weekend, along the River Thames.. Sounds high class and sophisticated, right? Wrong! It's a pandemonium of drunken people, from teenagers to the elderly. Our uiet little town often end up into a pandemonium. I call it Sodom and Regatta. Sometimes things get nasty. Thankfully, there is generally a heavy police presence, which always feel surreal. When we lived near the town centre, we used to spend the whole Saturday in. Sunday is more family friendly, I guess because everybody is hungover. All the same, I still don't like it much.