Poison as a Murder Weapon is Dying a Slow Death

I've always had a special place in my heart for murder by poison. But in the past couple of decades, poison seems to have fallen out of favor (except as a weapon of bioterrorism, involving mass deaths of hundreds or thousands).

I'm thinking more along the lines of the traditional mystery favored by writers like Agatha Christie where the victim was often a rich relative who had outlived their usefulness. The Golden Age of Poison seems to have peaked between the Victorian Era in the 1880's up to the 1930's. Many of the top mystery writers in this period were British, and their material often came from exotic locales that remained part of the British Empire. Colonial sources like Africa, India and South America provided a rich vein for mysterious toxins; fast acting, undetectable and useful for bumping off the rich relative or the inconvenient spouse.

Assisting in this pattern was the fact that forensic science was still in its infancy. Poisons were easy to obtain and hard to uncover in an autopsy. Anyone could walk into a local apothecary and purchase strychnine, arsenic or the popular poison of the month, without ID.

Today, forensic science has entered a golden age, and readers expect that CSI type investigators will be able to decifer not only the DNA in the blood of a murder victim, but the presence of any unusual poisons or substances. Dangerous chemicals are tracked by Homeland Security or corporations who maintain a database. You can't even rent a video without some form of ID, let alone 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate.

Now comes word that scientists may be able to create an anditote to a wide range of poisons.  Nanosponges may be able to soak up a wide range of toxins, according to an article by Daniel Akst. Scientists at the University of California are working on this latest discovery.

It's enough to make a crime writer cry? What's next? Cameras at intersections to record cars who speed through red lights? Oh, wait...that's been done.

Seems we'll have to get more creative when we sit down at the computer and ponder that age old mystery as we write our next story.

How do I kill someone, and get away with it?

DO CRIMINALS LIKE THE WAY YOU WALK?

In the animal kingdom, lions, tigers and bears seek out easy prey...the young, the old, and the weak. They do this in part by studying movement. In our world, criminals act much the same way, looking for victims who are easy prey. They choose their victims based on the way they walk. You can protect yourself on the street in part by walking with confidence. Seems like common sense, but this may be the first scientific study to look at how criminals pick their victims. Read more at slate.com by clicking here: I Like The Way You Walk

More Resources For Crime Victims

 

In recognition of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, check out the following resources. If you've ever been the victim of a crime, you can find useful information below.

 

National Center For Victims of Crime: www.VictimsofCrime.org

 

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: www.missingkids.com

 

DOD Safe Helpline: https://www.safehelpline.org



Mothers Against Drunk Driving: www.madd.org

 

Parents of Murdered Children: www.pomc.org

 

National Crime Prevention Council: www.ncpc.org

 

National Human Trafficking Hotline: www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/national-human-trafficking-hotline/the-nhtrc/overview

 

National Domestic Violence Hotline: www.thehotline.org

 

National Crime Victim's Rights Week Starts, and a Tip For Protecting Your ATM Card from Clever Thieves

This week marks the start of national Crime Victims' Rights Week, a time to recall those who have suffered from real crime. Those who have suffered from criminals who prey on the weak, the timid, the young or the naive, deserve our support. Check your local community bulletin board and local library for programs and events. You can also check out this link at the Justice Department: National Crime Victims' Rights Week. It had a resource guide available for download with tons of useful information and programs.

 

 

Think your PIN is safe because you didn't write it down? Think again. Criminals have ingenious ways of guessing your pin number, based on common habits and mistakes we all make when choosing our pin. Check out this article for practical tips: Protect yourself from Pin theft.

101 Things to Do before You Die (for Crime Writers)

When I started this list 3 1/2 years ago, I only had 30 items on it. I'm glad to say the list is finished.   Enjoy, and have fun with it!

1. Write a minimum of 500 words a day, every day of the year, every year, until you die.
2. Subscribe to Crimespree magazine.
3. Attend Bouchercon.
4. Take the Konrath Quiz!
5. Read The Rap Sheet and then visit the links listed on the right sidebar…all 511 of them.
6. Read An Unquiet Night by Patricia Carlon. Be amazed.
7. Join Crimespace. Then go to Australia. Track down Daniel Hatadi (creator of Crimespace). Buy him a beer. Praise him highly in front of the other bar patrons (while you’re still sober, so they know you really mean it).
8. Write your own obituary. It's your last chance to promote yourself (and keep the skeletons in your closet hidden).
9. Read agent Janet Reid’s blog. If you get a chance to meet her at a writer’s conference, introduce yourself, and thank her for the priceless advice. Then shake her fin.
10. This year, query three agents a week until you snag one. Start here and here.
11. Get your mystery novel published.
12. Then, join the Mystery Writers of America.
13. Go to your local library and give a talk about your book or the mystery genre.
14. Visit San Francisco and stop at all the landmarks mentioned in the novels by Dashiell Hammett.
15. Buy a bottle of Maker’s Mark. Sip it while you read the August Riordan PI series by Mark Coggins. Note: There are several books in the series…you may need more than one bottle.
16. Get on a panel at a writer’s conference, as a moderator or participant & teach your fellow writers about a topic you’re an expert on or excited about.
17. Learn how to kill someone with poison and get that story published.
18. Read the noir novels of Dorothy B Hughes, including In A Lonely Place.
19. Contact your local coroner and ask to witness an autopsy. Go on an empty stomach and take nose plugs.
20. Write and publish a story from the killer’s point of view and make him/her sympathetic.
21. Ditto from the victim’s point of view, but make him/her despicable.
22. Meet Sarah Weinman, editor, crime fiction critic and commentator extraordinaire. Prostrate yourself before her while you chant “I’m not worthy!” Read her on Tumbler and browse her blog.
23. Write a book review and get it published in your local newspaper, whether it’s the New York Times or the Small Town Gazette.
24. Attend the Love is Murder conference in Chicago. If you see Hanley Kanar, the conference organizer, say hello and tell her Thanks.
25. Participate in National Novel Writing Month. One month...50,000 words. You can do it. More important, you'll learn from this.
26. Read all of JA Konrath’s Jack Daniels novels. As you read each one, have a drink from the recipe in the front of the novel.
27. Post a large map of the United States on your wall, cover your eyes, and throw a dart at it. Drive to the spot you struck, then write a crime story about the trip. Please note: The high price of gasoline is not technically a crime.
28. Join Sisters In Crime. They take men too.
29. Meet Ben LeRoy of Tyrus Books (and the founder of Bleak House Books). Tell him thanks for publishing some great novels. Then buy a few and read them.
30. Attend a pitch session at every writer’s conference you attend.
31. Send an autographed copy of your novel to David J Montgomery, because those are the ones he keeps. Thank him. Read his blog, the Crime Fiction Dossier.
32. Write a cozy, a police procedural and a thriller and get them each published under different pen names.
33. If you’ve never tasted it, try absinthe.
34. Visit Hemmingway's home in Cuba.
35. Research a high profile criminal case in your city. Go to the courthouse and arrange to see the trial transcript (it's in the public record). Then read it cover to cover.
36. Learn to read a foreign language. Read a foreign language mystery novel in the original. Then translate it into English, or your native tongue.
37. At your next writer’s conference, go to the lobby or main meeting room after all the panels are done and read one of your favorite mystery stories out loud, even if no one is listening.
38. Meet Julie Julie Hyzy and chat with her. Be inspired by her optimistic and bubbly personality (you can actually hear the bubbles in her voice…it’s quite amazing). Oh, and read her books, starting with State of the Onion. Ask her about being interviewed by the Secret Service.
39. Visit the grave of Edgar Allen Poe, at night. Leave a rose.
40. Write a story about your boss. Use a pen name (trust me on this one).
41. Read Vanish by Tess Gerritsen. It’s the one she’ll be remembered for a hundred years hence.
42. Create your own blog. Promote your writing. Don’t forget to credit the other writers who helped you along the way.
43. Attend at least one writers conference a year. If you go to two or more, choose at least one you’ve never attended. The fresh faces you meet will energize your writing.
44. Visit your local police department and ask to participate in a ride along one night to see your hometown through the eyes of a cop.
45. Read Spinetingler Magazine.
46. Each December create your own Top Ten List of favorite mystery novels published that year and post it on your blog. Exclude the best sellers. Give us something new.
47. Plan the perfect crime...with one flaw. Then write a story about it. Hide the fatal flaw that catches the bad guy/girl until the very last sentence.
48. Go to the library and stroll down the fiction aisles. Find a novel or collection of stories by a writer you’ve never heard of until this moment. Then check out the book and read it.
49. Subscribe to the DorothyL website, or follow them on Facebook.
50. Using creative thinking and all the research tools at your disposal, try to determine how many novels by James Patterson have actually been written only by James Patterson (the number is higher than you think).
51. Send a copy of your published book and a handwritten fan letter to your favorite author, with return postage, and ask them to autograph it.
52. Make a movie trailer for your first/next book release and post it on your blog and on Youtube.
53. Check the obituaries to find recently deceased authors whose stories you've never read.
54. Enter one writing contest a year with a novel length unpublished manuscript from your drawer.
55. Serve on a jury.
56. Read Sandra Scoppetone's Jack Early or Lauren Laurano series. Check out her blog, Sandra Scoppetone's Writing Thoughts.
57. Join a writer's group and actively participate.
58. For one month, take the bus or train to work. This alone will give you enough material for three novels.
59. Read A Newbie's Guide To Publishing.
60. Ask your family doctor the most effective way to kill someone. Explain that you are a mystery writer before he/she reaches for the phone to dial 911.
61. Send the FBI a request to see your file. (Don't laugh...you may have one). If you have one, they must give it to you by law.
62. Subscribe to Mystery Scene magazine.
63. Learn how to pick a lock. Warning: Practice on your own lock only, or you'll be getting an FBI file sooner than you think!
64. Teach an adult to read.
65. Interview a member of your local law enforcement...a police officer, detective, prosecutor or judge. Publish the interview. If you can record the interview, post it as a podcast.
66. Write a story in which the victim is murdered by a member of the animal kingdom.
67. Every month, read at least one newspaper from each continent. For some suggestions, start here: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America, and Ireland (OK, so Ireland isn't a continent, but we have expats on every continent). Wants more choices? Click here for dozens of world newspapers.
68. Pick one novel or story that the world cannot live without, and commit it to memory.
69. Get your PI license. Fill out the application, study for the exam, and pass it.
70. Write a crime story in which the weapon of choice is a computer connected to the internet.
71. Take a literary vacation and visit the homes of your favorite authors.
72. Review the police logs in your city. You may have to request these in person, so if you go to your local police station, make sure you have no outstanding warrants. (You would not believe how many people fumble this one).
73. Go into the attic and dig out an old family photo that has a scene or family member who no one remembers or can name. Study the photo. Write their story. Include a crime.
74. Eat right and get enough exercise. Writing takes stamina and besides, you'll need to live a long life to finish all the items on this list.
75. Take a train trip across America. See this country from a vantage point other than an interstate highway. You'll see railroad yards, bustling factories, mighty rivers and breathtaking natural wonders. Gotta be a story in there somewhere.
76. Take a tour of Alcatraz.
77. Interview someone who is behind bars because of his/her crimes, OR interview a member of Congress who got elected because of his/her crimes.
78. Find an obscure and irrelevant law that is still on the books and write an article about it in your local paper. Try to get it repealed. (Eg: In Kansas City, MO, Minors are not allowed to purchase cap pistols, however they may buy shotguns freely.)
79. Volunteer at your local church, homeless shelter or women's shelter.
80. Learn to shoot and handle a gun. Take a gun safety course. Get your concealed carry permit, even if you don't own a firearm, just because you can.
81. Spend a full day at the New York City Public Library main branch, browsing the shelves. Take a map, so you don't get lost.
82. Who gets your royalties...Spouse? Children? The dog? Write a will, before you die. It's really hard to write one after. Do it now, or some stranger in a black robe will decide.
83. Read Lee Lofland's blog, The Graveyard Shift on a regular basis. The tips will make you a better crime writer.
84. There are over 10,000 pieces of artwork still missing from the looting of Europe in World War II, by both Allied and the Axis nations. Behind each one is a crime story. Write one, fiction or non-fiction.
85. Keep a diary.
86. Learn how to identify edible plants and poison mushrooms. Go on a mushroom hunt. Cook your harvest (have an expert check it). Write the story. Include a crime.
87. Broaden your horizon by following the blog, Detectives Without Borders.
88. Write a crime poem.
89. Visit the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C.
90. Listen to some Crime Jazz while you write. Click here for a good example, from the original movie version, The Taking of Pelham, One, Two, Three.
91. Commit to memory the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution (you should know these anyway). Pick one and use it as the basis of a crime story.
92. Write a story about International Smuggling, using one of the Big Three: Drugs, Wildlife, or People.
93. For a fascinating look at the history of crime in America, check out the FBI's website, especially the page on Famous Cases and Criminals.
94. Keep a copy of George Orwell's Essay, Politics and the English Language, at hand while you write. Re-read it as needed.
95. Take a class at your local college in Criminal Justice. If you have some expertise, try to arrange to teach a class.
96. Once a year, check out Writer's Digest list of “101 Best Websites For Writers”.
97. Interview a power line repairman or telephone repairman. Ask them to tell you their stories. You'll be amazed at what they've seen.
98. Go on a writer's retreat for at least a week. Leave the retreat's phone number with family for emergencies only. Turn your cellphone off. Do nothing for 7 days but write, eat, sleep and occasionally walk around. No internet, no TV. (You can read the local paper). Just write. Oh, and don't forget to breath...deeply. Very important.
99. Don't give up on a novel or story until you have at least 50 rejections. Then set it aside and work on something else. Let it ferment.
100. Learn to accept constructive criticism. Your editor and agent are your friends, not the enemy.
101. Got your epitaph finished? Keep it simple, but memorable. Inject some humor. Here's mine:

 SEE YOU SOON.

 

Who Killed Ginger? A 5,500 year old mystery.

At the British museum this month you can stroll in and scan the body of a murder victim. The man's family won't object, since they can't be located. This crime happened almost 6,000 years ago. Check out the link for more info on this truely "cold" case.

Click here to read more about: Who Killed Ginger?

 

 



A Veteran's Day Salute

Veterans who fought with the pen as well as the sword.

Here's a salute to the veterans who fought for our country and our allies, and a look at some of them who survived long enough to write about it. Although war cannot be rendered through written words alone, these men have tried to help us see what they saw and felt. We are the richer for their efforts.

Ambrose Bierce Served with distinction and honor in the Civil War. He did not shrink from describing the horrors he saw, and yet loved being on the battlefield. His short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek, is an American classic. After the war, he wrote about politics and corruption surrounding the Central Pacific Railroad. The company tried to bribe him to shut up, failed, and was forced to pay back 75 million dollars to the taxpayers. In 1913, at the age of 71 and still hungering for adventure, he went to Mexico to cover the revolt by Pancho Villa. His last letter from Chihuahua, Mexico was dated December 26, 1913. It was the last anyone heard from him. To this day, his disappearance remains a mystery.

  Wilfred Owen English soldier and poet who saw action at the front lines in France during World War I, the war to end all wars. His most famous poem, DULCE ET DECORUM EST, described the cruelty and suffering experienced by victims of a poison gas attack. In 1925, the Geneva Convention banned the use of poison gas in war. As of this year, 188 nations have agreed to be bound by international law restricting the use of chemical weapons.

Owen was killed in action one week before the war ended. His mother received the telegram announcing his death on Armistice Day as the rest of the country celebrated.


 Saki  A modern master of the short story, H. H. Munro wrote macabre tales that satirized authority figures. The children in his stories often turned the tables on their tormentors. His most famous story, The Open Window, is required reading in most high school and college English texts. He served on the western front from 1914 to 1916. In an ironic twist that he would have appreciated, he was killed by a German sniper while barking an order at a soldier who struck a match. His last words were "Put that bloody cigarette out!"

  Kurt Vonnegut  A veteran of World war II, Vonnegut was captured while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. Imprisoned in a basement in Dresden with other POWs, he survived the firebombing that destroyed much of the city. He evetually turned this wartime experience into one of his most famous novels, Slaughterhouse-Five.






Julius Fast  Served in the US Army Medical Corps during World War II. He was a self-proclaimed outdoorsman. "My other hobby was hiking, till the army cured me of that", he quipped.

His first published work, Watchful At Night, was awarded the first Edgar ever given by The Mystery Writers of America.

50 Years of James Bond

Celebrating 50 years of James Bond the Wall Street Journal features this video, with looks at all the Bond girls we love as well as inteviews and some fast cars (naturally).