In 1947, two years after the end of World War 2 and the same year that Shamus Dust is set, Gallup polled the British Public and asked what their no-expense-spared fantasy meal would be. Well it turned out that above all, most people in England wanted a good square meal like the ones they remembered before rationing started. According to Gallup the menu on the right here is what ordinary folk had in mind. For most people, during and after the war, a meal like this was the stuff of dreams. And wine? You have to be kidding. Wine was for strictly for the toffs! Cigarettes though, you might smoke ..read more

In 1947, when SHAMUS DUST is set, there were passages like these everywhere along the Thames waterfront, downstream from London’s Tower Bridge on both sides of the river. Take yourself on a walk through Wapping and Limehouse today and you’ll see some still, running from cobbled streets down through giant brick warehouses to the wharves. Built to store everything that London once traded with its empire, nowadays they’re refitted as apartment blocks and office spaces with spectacular views of the river; spruce, very liveable and a hop on a bicycle to the City. You might see a cruise ship or a ..read more

Whilom. Yes, that’s right. Whilom. Experts in archaic English can now sit back while the rest of us look it up. Context helps of course, as it often does. Here it is: "Adjoining the church, in a small cemetery, immediately under the back window of what was once the Boar’s Head, stands the tombstone of Robert Preston, whilom drawer at the tavern. " [from The Boar’s Head Tavern - The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.] That’s as in drawer of liquor. Robert Preston was whilom, or former - by now we might say sometime - waiter at that Boar’s Head tavern in Eastcheap, in the City of London. The ..read more

"Eighty yards along Liverpool Street, past the empty cab ranks, was a high, narrow, soot-brick alley named Sun Street Passage for a joke. It ran between two City rail stations, each the size of a small country town. On its east side, Liverpool Street terminus was closed for the holiday. On its west side, Broad Street station was a stretch of abandoned platforms, walled-off and bombed to dereliction. The alley was so sheltered, the night’s blizzard had stopped dead inside its maw, a scatter of powder stirring on the flagstones as if it had blown in under a door. Brick arches with deep recesses ..read more

The Noir Zone? I’ve borrowed the title from UK-based writer and script consultant, Phil Clarke who recently wrapped a charming compliment around an interesting question. And all in a few lines on Twitter! Here’s the question, and some of the thoughts it stirred: "I did want to ask you how you manage to so exquisitely nail that Chandler tone. Was it just a case of having read the books when you were young or did you do anything specific before writing Shamus Dust to get into the noir gumshoe zone? Did you work on your metaphors and similes? (always of note in a noir) I’d love to know." Now the ..read more

Next time I get into one of my customary scrapes, or even get stuck on a plot twist for that matter, I’ll know who to call. George Yuhasz is a former U.S. Government special agent with the Department of State, Department of Justice and Defense Department; after which he had a globetrotting career as top-notch private eye and security expert for celebrities and giant corporations alike. All of which might sound far too hush-hush for any of us to know the name. Unless, that is, you happen to have a nine year-old about the house. Because it turns out that nowadays George is the multi-award winni ..read more

It was a great pleasure to see SHAMUS DUST shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize and was a Finalist for the Montaigne Medal. And it was an even greater honor to learn today that it's one of only three in the Mystery /Crime category singled out for an Honorable Mention. Three Award Seals for one book! And as icing on the cake the Eric Hoffer Award Sponsor, the US Review of Books, has published the judges’ remarks in their publication. Here's what they say about SHAMUS DUST: HARD WINTER, COLD WAR, COOL MURDER: "The book reads like a snappy Raymond Chandler crime noir, with the ..read more

It was a rather lovely story of Yiddish speakers from Eastern Europe arriving as immigrants into New York, so for the benefit of those who weren’t in class that day (Shaymus Dust? Shahmus Dust? Does it Matter, so long as you love your Noir? - Posted back in August last year), let’s get up to speed. Now, as the brightest sparks will remember, and the etymologists won’t need to be told, the shamash is - and I more or less quote - the Hanukkah candle, not itself one of the eight lit on the eight nights of the holiday, used to light the others. Got that? The shammes, on the other hand, is the Syn ..read more

If you really want to know about armor and the men who wore it, you could ask any number of eminent historians. But if what fascinates you is knowing how it's made and how it functions, then let me introduce you to Nigel Carren. I first came across Nigel on Twitter. Not because I was looking to have the dents in my umpteenth great grandpa's pikeman's pot straightened out, nor was I wanting to commission a reproduction set of Polish Winged Hussar armor complete with brass detail, perfectly to scale and fully articulated. If I had, it's certain I would have found the right man for the job. His ..read more

Here's a question for you. What do these four authors have in common? Raymond Chandler, Erica Obey, Sir Thomas Malory, Janet Roger? Well how did you do? For me the first and the third in this list weren't so very difficult because I've recently been reading the The Annotated Big Sleep for a piece called Tuned to Chandler, published in The Rap Sheet. Chandler's interest in chivalric deeds is pointed out by the editors in chapter one when Marlowe, visiting a General Sternwood, glances up at "a stained glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree and didn't ..read more