Arts
The day had gone badly for Raymond Ambler, a bitterly cold, gray, January day not long after New Year's, the wind like a knife, slicing into the cavern cut by 42nd Street between the skyscrapers on either side. The wind stung his face and whipped under his trench coat as he walked the couple of blocks to the library from Grand Central, where he'd gotten off the subway from the courthouse downtown. Banks of piled-up snow, stained and filthy as only snow on a city street can get, hanging on from the storm the day after Christmas, lined the curb, the gutters on at each street corner a half-foot deep in slush and muddy water. -- Con Lehane, Murder in the Manuscript Room Murder + libraries is always a winner for me, and author Con Lehane gives us a non-cozy suspense series about Raymond Ambler, curator of crime at the 42nd Street Library. Ahem, I mean curator of crime books, of course. ;) Raymond comes across more than his fair share of bodies -- and lucky for us that he does. In his latest, there is a crime from the past reaching its tentacles into the present, as well as family complications and questions of trust and betrayal. This is Con's second series, and it's just as interesting and complex as his first, The Bartender Brian McNulty Mysteries. In fact, McNulty has a cameo in the 42nd Street Library series as well. After all, there's always a good reason to stop in at a bar. I'm all over the cover art for the US edition of the first in that series, Beware the Solitary Drinker, published by Poisoned Pen Press. It was painted by Fritz Scholder; if you're not familiar with the artist, you can check out his official website here. Con gives a shout-out to Megan Abbott, who has compared him to Ross Macdonald. So many other writers came up in our chat! They include fellow noir(ish) writer Jason Starr; Macdonald's wife, Margaret Millar; and Con's favorite writer, Nelson Algren, who wrote The Man with the Golden Arm. Fellow writers whom Con admires for melding social problems with crackerjack mysteries include George Pelecanos, S.J. Rozan, Laura Lippman, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and Walter Mosley. If your TBR list isn't big enough, we also talk about a murder that happened while he was tending bar -- although not in his bar -- and influenced Beware the Solitary Drinker. It was adapted into a novel, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, by Judith Rossner. Finally, one mystery is solved! Con quotes a writer whose name escaped him, but it was, as he thought, the author of The Book of Daniel, E.L. Doctorow. The link takes you to even more of Doctorow's great quotes. Do check out Con's website as well as his Facebook and Twitter feeds if you want to keep tabs on him. Meanwhile, if you'd rather read than listen, as always, a transcript is below. Enjoy! -- Laura ************************************************************************************* Transcript of Interview with Con Lehane Laura Brennan: My guest today is author Con Lehane. Con has been a bartender, labor journalist, union organizer, and college professor. The New York Times has called his Brian McNulty mystery series “cruelly charming” while Megan Abbot dubbed his first Raymond Ambler novel a “masterful tale in the grand tradition of Ross Macdonald.” Con, thank you for joining me. Con Lehane: Well, thank you. LB: Those are some passionate fans, there. CL: Well, I'm very lucky. I've known Megan since her first book. Her first two, three, four were these noir-ish books that were set in the glamorous 40s. Her later books are stand-alones about younger women, girls growing up. I really appreciated her saying that, and I really admire Ross Macdonald. He's sort of my mentor from the past. Maybe I'm too much like him in some ways. LB: I don't think you can be too much like Ross Macdonald, I don't think that's a thing. I think that's good. So, you mentioned noir. There is a very noir feel, especially to your first series.