I recommend an excellent book called ‘Crime Fiction’ by John Scaggs. It is a comprehensive reference of the history of mystery and detective fiction.

There is a chapter where I have come across Father Knox’s ‘Detective Story Decalogue’ from 1929. Now, for all you experts out there, I’m sure this is old news but it was a very interesting revelation to me.

The Golden Age of crime fiction was codified by Father Knox with his ten commandments:

1. The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know.
2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
3. Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.
4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.
5. No Chinaman must figure in the story.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.
7. The detective himself must not commit the crime.
8. The detective is bound to declare any clues which he may discover.
9. The “sidekick” of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind: his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.
10. Twin brothers, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

Have you read crime fiction lately? Did it follow the rules?

They do seem a bit dated – especially rule 5! Not sure that’s very pc these days or where the rule came from. I wasn’t even sure it was wise to list it, but it’s there in 1929.

Some say the Golden Age of crime fiction is actually now. Crime Fiction has never been better! Take a look now!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Held-Ransom-Mystery-Graham-Dinton-ebook/dp/B06XSJ9HS3/

1. Crime authors work incredibly hard:
At every panel, I am astounded by their dedication and productivity. When someone says their 21st novel is out next month, you have to be impressed. Where do these people find the time and dedication? To be an author, you need to be committed – literally!

2. Everything has gone noir:
Genres can be invented. The wonderful Julia Crouch (if you haven’t read Cuckoo, please do. You won’t be inviting any old school friends to stay ever again) invented the term ‘Domestic Noir’. There’s plenty of talk in the sessions about many different noirs. Ann Cleeves likes Village Noir. Someone from Hull at the back of the room thinks Erotic Noir might be worth a go. You know who you are.

3. Sitting next to crime writing heroes:
CrimeFest is the place to bump into your favourites. Someone who wrote a book you invested a week of your life reading sits right next to you. We all have our favourites. ‘Into the Darkest Corner’ by Elizabeth Haynes introduced me to psychological thrillers and it’s still the best for me. How cool to say hello to her? Psychological thriller? Psychological suspense? Perhaps Obsession Noir.
Talking of Obsession, there’s another one. A brand new author not even on a panel and already racing up the charts as a best seller – Amanda Robson. I said hello to her too.
Then there’s Emma Kavanagh whose book ‘The Missing Hours’ I read after last year’s CrimeFest and loved it. Then suddenly she’s sitting next to me.
I love CrimeFest for that. It turns out your heroes are actually just normal people. Well, as normal as we all are. They just work harder.

4. Crime authors are born with two livers:
I’ve learned their secret. Crime authors are born to it. It’s something they just have to do, and they have to write stories. They don’t have a choice, and that’s because they have two livers. It’s the only way they can possibly survive CrimeFest to the last day.

5. Crime authors are patient:
Rome was built more quickly. One novel, two novels, three novels in. Keep going. It’s relentless. Build the back catalogue. Write a dozen novels before even one sees the light of day. Never give up.

6. CrimeFest inspires crime ideas:
Listening to panels can fill your notebook with ideas for plots. Is that plagiarism? Could anyone prove it? A mashup of ideas that can last a year.

7. Fill your bag with crime books for the year:
Or in my case a Kindle. Thanks CrimeFest. This year’s reading list is now full. See you next time.

Of course, saving the best for last is my new novel Held to Ransom. Take a look, there’s more to come from Emma Hawkins. If I work harder!!

#CrimeFest17 here we come! Yes, I’m looking forward to the annual pilgrimage to attend www.crimefest.com.

The inspiration will be fantastic, the buzz of new crime fiction, the atmosphere of tension and the creation of a reading list that will last me all year.

A highlight will be hearing from Ann Cleeves. I wonder if she’ll arrive in an old Land Rover and wear a tatty raincoat and floppy green hat.

(Image courtesy link here – I daren’t use a real Hockney ☺ )

Back in 2012 I visited the big David Hockney exhibition in London at the time and wrote a blog piece about it. Looking back at the statistics, it was the most popular page so I thought it would be good to revisit it after attending the new Tate Britain exhibition recently.
Here’s the link to the original posting: Drawing inspiration from Hockney – 9 lessons

What has changed in five years?

Lesson 1 – he’s still prolific:
Sure, he’s been around a long time, but he has produced an enormous amount of work in his lifetime. He’s changed in style and content over the years and has always experimented with different media. The result is a comprehensive “back catalogue” of art.

Inspiration: Write every day. No excuse. Are you a professional or not? Write across many genres and try new styles. Experiment, produce and ship. Build your catalogue.

Lesson 2 – he’s big and bold:
He uses bright colours and large canvasses. He displays a real talent for drawing and perspective producing pieces that fill the wall. They absorb your attention, masking the crowd around you in the room. They can’t be ignored. You can’t just walk by.

Inspiration: Write books that fill the reader’s minds and can’t be put down. Sounds so simple.

Lesson 3 – he repeats himself:
This is something that many famous artists do. Monet’s water lilies. Cezanne’s Mont Saint-Victoire. Hockney takes a landscape and paints it in all weathers and all seasons, from the same angle and from different angles. Why? Isn’t that boring? Perhaps it’s something about the challenge of art reflecting life. We think it’s a repeat but no two days are the same.

Inspiration: Write the same locations again and again at different times of the year and for different occasions. An Oxford street is never the same twice. Describe what you see in detail to make it different every time.