Belinda Bauer
Mystery Scene|Winter #148, 2017

Some authors spend hours staring at a computer screen, waiting for that perfect sentence to form like Venus rising from the sea. Others set up workstations at coffee houses, fast food restaurants, and parks, or sequester themselves away in a cabin.

- Oline H. Cogdill
Belinda Bauer

Belinda Bauer drives, cycles, or takes to her bath. While driving her car along the streets and byways of Wales or cycling the roads near her country home just outside of Cardiff, she concentrates on the traffic, the scenery, and murder. Sometimes, when soaking in a hot bath, the plot she was stuck on or the character she was shaping suddenly crystalizes.

“I’m on autopilot then,” says Bauer. “I just forget about everything and that is when it all rises and comes together for me.”

However Bauer approaches a story, it seems to be working for her. The British author’s psychological thrillers are known for their precise characterizations, unflinching— but not gratuitous—violence, and myriad but believable surprises.

Bauer’s thrillers are bestsellers in the United Kingdom, have earned her positive reviews from both UK and US publications, and have garnered two awards. Her seventh novel, The Beautiful Dead, was released last fall in the UK and is being published in the United States in early 2017.

Although Bauer’s first books featured a couple of recurring characters and settings, each of her novels is self-contained rather than being part of a series. What does recur are Bauer’s ongoing themes of betrayal and disappointment that link each novel.

“Betrayal is a part of life,” says Bauer during a telephone interview from her Welsh home. “We are all betrayed at some stage in our lives, in small ways and in big ways. Maybe a better word is disappointment— we all find disappointment in places, people. Life is not always what we expect it to be, or want it to be. I think that is the basis of every crime novel—something goes wrong, we are disappointed and betrayed.”

この蚘事は Mystery Scene の Winter #148, 2017 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Mystery Scene の Winter #148, 2017 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

MYSTERY SCENEのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
6 New Writers to Watch
Mystery Scene

6 New Writers to Watch

Wiley Cash’s debut, A Land More Kind Than Home, about the bond between two brothers landed on the New York Times Best Sellers List and received the Crime Writers’ Association Debut of the Year.

time-read
10 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
ANN CLEEVES
Mystery Scene

ANN CLEEVES

British author Ann Cleeves has an affinity for remote areas and how these isolated regions affect her characters.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
CARLENE O'CONNOR
Mystery Scene

CARLENE O'CONNOR

“Anyone can play Snow White. It takes real talent to play the Wicked Witch.”

time-read
8 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
Mystery Scene MISCELLANY
Mystery Scene

Mystery Scene MISCELLANY

FIRST USE OF FINGERPRINTS

time-read
3 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
PANIC ATTACK
Mystery Scene

PANIC ATTACK

The newest entry in my Pittsburgh set series of thrillers is called Panic Attack. It’s the sixth book featuring Daniel Rinaldi, a psychologist and trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police.

time-read
2 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
LAIDLAW'S LEGACY
Mystery Scene

LAIDLAW'S LEGACY

During the pandemic, Ian Rankin stepped away from Rebus and into the shoes of friend and literary hero, the “Godfather of Tartan Noir” William McIlvanney.

time-read
10+ 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
HILARY DAVIDSON
Mystery Scene

HILARY DAVIDSON

Call it The Case of Life Imitating Art.

time-read
7 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
Thomas Walsh - The Unusual Suspect
Mystery Scene

Thomas Walsh - The Unusual Suspect

Any paternity test on the sub-genre of police procedural will identify the DNA of Ed McBain and Lawrence Treat, as well as the 1948 movie The Naked City and the radio and TV series Dragnet
and of course Thomas Walsh.

time-read
6 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
S.A. COSBY
Mystery Scene

S.A. COSBY

In Razorblade Tears, two aging men—one Black, one white, both with criminal pasts—join forces to seek revenge for the murders of their gay sons. The themes of fathers and sons and toxic masculinity will be familar to fans of Cosby’s 2020 breakout Blacktop Wasteland.

time-read
10 分  |
Fall #169, 2021
VIPER'S NEST OF LIES
Mystery Scene

VIPER'S NEST OF LIES

A slip of the tongue is a dangerous thing. Not only does it expose indiscretions, it also can lead to murder. The latter especially applies to me.

time-read
2 分  |
Fall #169, 2021