Sunday, November 18, 2018

Vicki Delany

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy.

Delany's new novel is A Scandal in Scarlet.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Delany's reply:
I am almost finished Hunters in the Dark by Lawrence Osborne. Osborne is a new writer to me, and I picked up this book after listing to him being interviewed on CBC radio. He is English, and lives in Thailand and brings the perspective of an ex-pat to his writing about South East Asia.

I don’t have a lot of experience with South East Asia but I have been lucky enough to visit twice, once to Vietnam and once to Malaysia. I loved it, and am very much looking forward to going back. My experience has been nothing but a tourist on an organized tour, so an insight into the deeper society sounded like a good read to me. Hunters in the Dark is set in Cambodia, and it is absolutely drenched in atmosphere and setting. I’m about 90% finished as I write this. I’m hoping for a happy ending, but might not get it. Osborne is not, shall we saw, an optimist. But he is a first class writer and an incredible interpreter of the human condition.

I’m going on a long plane right shortly, and I’ve stocked up for the trip. I love reading on the plane. It’s the only time when I can get a solid chunk of reading – meaning hours and hours –without being interrupted or distracted. No in-flight Wi-Fi for me.

I bought The Clockmakers Daughter by Kate Morton the day it came out and have been saving it. Morton is possibly my favourite author writing today, although I have to admit I was extremely disappointed by the ending of her last book, The Lake House. Nevertheless, have high hopes for the new one.

The other book I have for the flight is A Dark and Stormy Murder by Julia Buckley. I’m a cozy writer these days, and I like to check in and see what’s happening in the cozy world every now and again. This is the first in a series that somehow got by me when it first came out.
Visit Vicki Delany's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: A Scandal in Scarlet.

--Marshal Zeringue