It's a Rehearsal for the Edgars, Kind Of

Dozens of mystery writers from up and down the Eastern seaboard and other points east of the Mississippi will migrate to Manhattan's Black Orchid Bookshop tonight so they can see the start of Irish crime writer Ken Bruen's North American tour in support of The Magdalen Martyrs. Sarah Weinman has a pretty good idea about who all is coming, and she also passes along news of a conversation between Bruen and fellow author Duane Swierczynski that may reveal why his peers admire him so much:

"Editors tried to get me to fill out descriptive passages, like scenery. I said I don’t do scenery. And to tone down the violence and language. I said… no. I felt the day would come and the books would be of their time so I wouldn’t compromise...Noir can never be noir enough, but I hate the gore in many mystery novels—full on scenes of minute descriptions of skinning or cannibalism. I don’t think that’s noir. It’s pure sensationalism… and wasted space. Less is more and suggestion is almost more horrific. Set the scene and let the reader draw the horrible implication—works so much better. So the reader goes, what the hell, did he just?"