April 2023 Blog Posts (6)

Reviewers have their say

Thank you to everyone who took the time to review my latest crime novel The Name on the Bullet, published by The Book Folks.

You can find out what the reviewers thought of DCI John Blizzard's latest outing, and buy the book in ebook, paperback and hardcover format, at…

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Added by John Dean on April 28, 2023 at 11:30 — No Comments

Forensic scientist to help launch National Crime Reading Month

Leading forensic scientist and author Professor Jim Fraser will be the guest speaker at the Scottish launch of the Crime Writers’ Association’s National Crime Reading Month (NCRM) in Edinburgh.

National Crime Reading Month runs throughout June and is organised by the CWA, which is celebrating its 70th jubilee year, in partnership…

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Added by John Dean on April 26, 2023 at 16:49 — No Comments

An excellent read

It might not be true that you can entirely judge a book by its cover but you can certainly judge it by its opening pages and this novel is a perfect example of how to get it right from the off. Fast-paced and tension-filled, they plunge the reader straight into the story and the narrative does not loosen its grip, keeping the reader hooked until the…

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Added by John Dean on April 24, 2023 at 11:13 — No Comments

Joining the dots

As you will have become aware from my blogs on the subject over the years, an author’s use of back story carries with it many perils, namely the temptation to pack in far too much information.

Back story refers to the characters’ history and one of the most common mistakes I note when I’m called upon to offer comments on inexperienced…

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Added by John Dean on April 18, 2023 at 11:27 — No Comments

Letting your characters speak

I have written blogs before about the importance of characters in the writing process and I have just experienced another powerful example of the role that they can play.

I am 5,000 words into the new Harris crime novel and was writing a scene in which I had ground to a halt. I knew what I wanted the scene to achieve but seemed to have hit a…

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Added by John Dean on April 5, 2023 at 16:15 — No Comments

New book is published

I am pleased to announce that I have a new crime novel out. The Name on the Bullet has been published by London-based The Book Folks and is the latest in the series featuring DCI John Blizzard.

In the book, which is my twenty third crime novel to be published, a high-profile detective on a reality television cop show is killed and Blizzard…

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Added by John Dean on April 4, 2023 at 13:00 — No Comments

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John Dean posted a blog post

Closure of site

HelloThis note is to say that I have a new website at www.johndeancrimewriter.co.uk, which means that this site will close on April 15.My new website includes my usual news and views, details on my novels, handy hints for writers, information on my assessment and editing services and much more.I would like to thank all of you for supporting this website over the years. I can still be contacted on the same email address deangriss@btinternet.comSee More
Apr 2
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Crime writers to sign copies of newly-published novels

A book signing due to be held by author John Dean as part of Kirkcudbright Book Week has been expanded to include fellow crime writer Ryan Stark.John, who lives in Dumfries and Galloway, will sign paperback copies of his recently-published novel The Meek Shall Inherit (The Book Folks), which will be available to purchase during the event at Feast Café, 32 St Cuthbert…See More
Feb 26
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Lead me to the keyboard

This is where writing comes perilously close to madness but I am a strong believer that fictional characters, if allowed their head, can tell their own stories and all the author has to do is type!It does not happen every time you write, which is why authors must value it when it does, but it happened to me today when writing an account of a Zoom conversation between…See More
Feb 20
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At the top of his game

Book Review The Red Shoes Mystery by David Pearson David Pearson continues to delight his many fans with his latest crime novel, in which his investigators O’Shea and Maguire face their most challenging case yet—the mysterious death of Maria Hyka.As Maguire and her team dig deeper, they uncover connections to a shadowy underworld and, as ever, with David’s books, it is…See More
Feb 12
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A welcome addition to the crime fiction canon

Book Review - Murder in the New Forest by Carol Cole (The Book Folks).It’s always a moment laden with anticipation when a new crime series emerges onto the scene and Carol Cole does not disappoint with Murder in the New Forest (The Book Folks).At the heart of the novel is a new central character, DI Callum MacLean, newly arrived in Hampshire from Glasgow and plunged into…See More
Feb 5
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Jan 25
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Bestseller chart success

I am delighted that two of my crime fiction works are this morning in the top 100 Organised Crime Kindle charts on Amazon.The DCI John Blizzard box set containing the first seven novels in the series, (The Book Folks) for just 99p - now if that is not an outstanding offer, I do not know what is -  is at number 43 (it is already topping various anthology charts).My new…See More
Jan 20
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Grant award helps develop crime fiction programme

Organisers of the fourth annual Kirkcudbright Book Week have been awarded a £1,750 grant from the Robin Rigg Community Fund to help them develop the crime fiction component of the festival.Kirkcudbright Book Week is designed to celebrate the growing literary scene in and around the South West Scotland town and crime fiction has proved to be a popular genre with audiences…See More
Jan 17
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Jan 8
John Dean posted a blog post

The way authors work

A few years ago, I ran a creative writing course and, at the beginning of one of the sessions, I asked my fifteen students how they worked.The result was fifteen different answers –one author wrote everything by hand then typed it onto their computer, another wrote it all in note form then linked the notes together, one did not edit anything until everything was…See More
Dec 29, 2024

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