Lithub
Crime and the City: Monte Carlo
.
How could there not be a lot of crime in Monaco – a tightly packed nest of wealth, sex and power all in the sunshine of the Riviera. Officially…
The Magic of Sisterhood: Five Supernatural Sister Stories
.
Halloween season has always been steeped in sisterly magic. Think of the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus or the Owens sisters in Practical Magic. They set the stage for…
How Much Do We Really Know About Charles Dickens?
.
The weather has been exceptionally mild of late but in this Christmas season every party demands a good blaze and good cheer. What with the fire and the punch…
A Childhood Full of Love and Death: On Growing Up With a Father in Forensics
.
It wasn’t a surprise to those who knew me as a child that when I start telling stories for a living, they were centered around the forensic and crime…
Vanessa Lillie on Writing a Thriller That Explores Native American Issues and Environmental Injustice
.
Vanessa Lillie says she’s “an impatient reader,” a trait that influences her writing: “I really like to create characters who are aggressively seeking justice, even when it puts their…
A Cultural History of the Erotic Thriller
.
The strip mall video rental store was an emporium of illicit dreams. Its doorway in the small town where I came of age, located in between candy store and…
Sudden Death and the Startlement of Absence
.
Sudden Death is a dirty business. It touches you, and there’s no rubbing it off. Scrub until you bleed. No dice—it remains. Maybe that’s why I keep writing about…