Julia Buckley is the author of the Undercover Dish Mysteries, the Teddy Thurber Mysteries, and the Madeline Mann Mysteries. She’s a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Romance Writers of America, as well as the Chicago Writers Association. Buckley has taught high school English for over twenty years.Her latest novel is The Big Chili.
Recently I asked Buckley about what she was reading. Her reply:
Every year I teach Crime and Punishment to my senior world literature class, and we are immersed in the book yet again. I first read it in high school, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve read it since, but I am still madly in love with this book. Why? First, because Fyodor Dostoevsky was a genius whose understanding of human behavior adds authenticity to his prose;Visit Julia Buckley's website and blog, Mysterious Musings.of his work Nietzsche wrote, in 1887, “he is the only psychologist from whom I have anything to learn.”
The book, as most probably know, focuses on a young man tormented by a theory which drives him to kill. In the aftermath, his psyche unravels, and Dostoevsky deftly accomplishes some daunting tasks: he makes us sympathize with an ax murderer; he helps us to understand the pain and torment of deep guilt; and he encourages us to consider the true meaning of redemption.
Every time I teach this novel I have new insights and new questions, and I appreciate anew this work of depth and brilliance, this perfect piece of erudition.
(If you look on my website, you’ll see it listed among my favorite mysteries of all time).
My Book, The Movie: The Big Chili.
The Page 69 Test: The Big Chili.
--Marshal Zeringue
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