Chris Wiegand It’s hard not to fall in love with Nanette Hayes, the self-effacing heroine of Rhode Island Red, Coq Au Vin and Drumsticks – a trio of musical mysteries from African-American author Charlotte Carter. A sassy, streetwise, sax-playing busker, Nanette is funky, jazzy and soulful. She’s also no stranger to the Blues. Carter’s novels […]
Kenji Jasper – Dark
Chris Wiegand There is a fantastic scene in Martin Scorsese’s 1973 masterpiece Mean Streets. In a film packed with memorable moments, one sums up the dilemma faced by the central character perfectly. The scene is brief: Charlie and his girlfriend Teresa ‘escape’ the city (at her request) to take time out and spend the afternoon […]
George Pelecanos: Washington DC Crime Quartet
Chris Wiegand on George Pelecanos’ contemporary hardboiled Washington DC novels With his critically acclaimed Washington DC Quartet, comprising The Big Blowdown, King Suckerman, The Sweet Forever and Shame the Devil, George P. Pelecanos has done for the mean streets of the Chocolate City what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles and Chester Himes did for […]
Ernesto Quinonez : Bodega Dreams : Spanglish Stories
Chris Wiegand meets Ernesto Quiñonez and dives into Spanish Harlem with Bodega Dreams With the short story collection Drown, Junot Diaz proved that modern literary representations of the Latin American experience could be both critically and commercially successful and Ernesto Quiñonez’s assured debut novel Bodega Dreams follows suite. Published in the U.K. by Serpent’s Tail, […]
Amy Prior: Retro Retro
Chris Wiegand As Y2K dropped, London-based writer Amy Prior wasn’t thinking about the new millennium. Her thoughts were with passed eras populated by teddy boys, ’50s teenagers and matinee idols. When Serpent’s Tail asked her to come up with a theme for a new short story anthology, the former charity shop clothes model decided to […]
