Tag: Artemesia Publishing

It is my pleasure to welcome Marcia Rosen
to Escape With Dollycas today! 

HEARING VOICES OF PAST FAMOUS DETECTIVES…

        …THEIR IMPACT AND INFLUENCE ON MYSTERY WRITERS

 “the stuff that dreams are made of…”

 With that famous line at the end of The Maltese Falcon, Bogey exposed a world to noir films and fictional detective stories. The gumshoes of the past, along with their dames and hoodlums, entranced America with the shadowy and dark side of humanity. Many mystery writers, including myself, have been impacted and influenced by these past crime-solvers. They knew a thing or two about dreams…and murder. We have long admired them. But why?

The old-fashioned private detective with hardboiled ways has been around since the 1920s. We have loved the sinister and menacing plots, behaviors of beautiful, deadly women, and the sexy gumshoes featured in dozens of films for generations following The Maltese Falcon, which opened in 1941.

There are many reasons for loving these detective stories: We become armchair detectives sharing in the suspense with a bit of vicarious pleasure. Our imagination wants to find the killer before the detective, and we are arrogantly thrilled when we do. And we love the romances we know can only end badly. Perhaps that’s just human nature.

Edgar Allan Poe unlocked the door to detective fiction when he wrote the first modern detective story in1841, Murders in the Rue Morgue; and it was Arthur Conan Doyle who swung the door wide open writing 50 books featuring the Consulting Detective, Sherlock Holmes and his cohort, Dr. Watson. Versions of Sherlock Holmes have been seen on screen over 250 times, some in old black and white films featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce who were marvelous. Later, a couple of my favorites include Jeremy Brett as Holmes and the recent, modern version with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Crime is the number one genre people read. Dozens of published authors have created stories hearing the voices of past famous detectives. Television mystery shows such as Perry Mason, Columbo, Magnum, and Murder She Wrote, are just a few of mystery lovers’ favorites.

I love Dashiell Hammond who continued writing film noir, and The Thin Man was turned into six films. Less dark and menacing, it was the charm of the characters, the dialogue, and the overall experience of feeling they were— for a brief time— part of your life. There was romance, love, crazy characters, and the very charming stars.

And, of course, there is Agatha Christie who has written 66 novels and there are many movies of her stories. Two of her famous crime solvers revered by so many mystery readers are the strange-looking and intense-thinking Hercule Poirot. Also loved are the sweet acting ways of Miss Marple finding clues, enjoying a bit of gossip, and, in the process, uncovering secret plots swirling around her.

We mystery lovers have also long been thrilled by the darker and deeper writings of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, Murder My Sweet, and Double Indemnity, claiming women were definitely not to be trusted. The men could not be trusted either. Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, played by Bogart in The Big Sleep, with his classic style of tough guy, along with Mitchum and Powell and others who were cynical and moody. I mean, really! Who needs a moody, gruffy guy, except in these crime novels!

Still, I am a dreamer of sorts. I hear their voices and they have made an impact on my writing. I keep wondering why we enjoy the detective genre so much? Why do we so enjoy murder mysteries? I believe in part it’s a glimpse into that darker side of humanity. We seem to be fascinated by behaviors that stir our curiosity and allow us to think, to solve the puzzles of who did such awful acts and why. The stories and characters are filled with suspense and incredibly intriguing to me. I like the way they challenge my thinking and they inspire me as an author of murder mysteries.

Many of us mystery writers have the ambition and desire to create thrilling crime fiction with clever detectives. In cozies, like I write, the amateur sleuth finds the murders have many twists and turns; there are a few foreshadowing comments; and there are several red herrings to distract readers. The amateur sleuth sifts through clues, tossing the useless information out. The hunt is on to find the truth . . . for the reader and for me.

I am very much influenced by the voices of famous mystery writers.

Perhaps you are too!

Thank you, Marcia, for visiting today!

Keep reading to find out about Marcia’s new book.

Murder at the Zoo (Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock, & Me Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Artemesia Publishing, LLC (March 14, 2023)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1951122496
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1951122492
Kindle ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BNNYB5X6

She had read nearly every book of every famous mystery writer and had seen movies made from them many times and was often absorbed and obsessed by the stories and the characters. It was not the first time she had shouted to one or more of the voices in her head. Sometimes they seemed so real to her. When she was a young girl, Miranda Scott read dozens of mystery books by authors such as Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler, and she loved characters like Sherlock Holmes. Then she began hearing their voices in her head suggesting what she should and should not do.

After a body is tossed into the lions’ habitat at the zoo where she is the senior veterinarian, Miranda and Detective Bryan Anderson find themselves investigating several murders and dealing with a group of bad guys, while gangster friends of her father are trying to protect her. Plus, Miranda and Bryan alternate between flirting and fighting off romantic feelings.

Murder seems to keep getting in their way!

“Marcia Rosen’s new book is hard to put down! The characters are engaging and you enjoy getting to know them as you read this mystery. I enjoyed discovering the world and people in Murder at the Zoo and can’t wait to read more from this author!”
~Cat Harper
National Steinbeck Center

About Marcia Rosen

Marcia Rosen (aka M. Glenda Rosen), the award-winning author of eleven books including her newest one, An Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock and Me Mystery: Murder at the Zoo, plus  The Senior Sleuths and Dying To Be Beautiful Mystery Series and The Gourmet Gangster: Mysteries and Menus (Menus by her son Jory Rosen). She is also the author of The Woman’s Business Therapist and the award-winning My Memoir Workbook. For 25 years she was the owner of a successful national marketing and public relations agency,

Marcia has frequently been a speaker and/or program moderator at organization meetings and conferences, bookstores, libraries and Zoom Programs. Topics she has taught and presented over the past twenty years include: Encouraging the Writer Within You, Marketing for Authors, Writing Mysteries…Not A Mystery, Writing Your Memoir and recently “Anatomy of Writing A Murder.”

Many articles on these topics have been published on mystery reader blogs and in newsletters and magazines and her newest articles relating include, Location, Location, Location: Murders Have Their Places, Hearing Voices of Past Famous Detectives: Their Impact and Influences and Writing Mysteries at a Zoo: With Caution.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime National and New Mexico (Croak & Dagger), Southwest Writers, New Mexico Book Association, Women Writing the West, Public Safety Writer’s Association, Women’s National Book Association and National Association of Independent Writers and Editors—for which she is also a board member. Visit Marcia at www.MarciaRosen.com

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