Saturday, October 04, 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds No. 23

(Image courtesy of mongolia-pictures.co.uk © 2004 Piers Nicholson.)

Read Michael Walters' novels featuring Inspector Nergui, and you're apt to run into anything from traditional Mongolian ger tents bumping up against modern apartment blocks to a Manchester City fan in the middle of the Gobi desert.

Now it's Walters' turn to host the twenty-third incarnation of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds, for which he takes us to northern England and then on into the wide world of crime-fiction criticism. His carnival offers not just a round-up of crime writing, but also a critical look at the critics. He has insightful things to say about authors' blogs, for instance.

It's nice to see readers taking crime fiction seriously without descending into obscurantist academic sludge. Walters also makes the important point that blogs provide wider, deeper, timelier, more comprehensive and more innovative coverage of crime fiction than do the media still sometimes called mainstream:

"Not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with conventional journalism or criticism – it’s just that it’s operating within the commercial constraints
inevitably associated with conventional mass media."

As always, glimpses of this and all previous Carnivals are available courtesy that pearl among archivists, Barbara Fister.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

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4 Comments:

Blogger petra michelle; Whose role is it anyway? said...

Fascinating, Peter. I have never been exposed to a "carnival" of any genre previous to this. My mother used to say, a day without learning is a day lost.
My lesson...be aware when the carnival comes to town. It may carry you off into the realm of mystery and magic! :))
p.s. Thank you again for your comment and vote on "The Longest Date." The winners were Meg Ryan and Bill Murray. I hope you enjoy
"Sharing Popcorn with God." Hint: It's got nothing to do with religion! Hope you're having a wonderful weeekend! Petra

October 04, 2008  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

That Barbara Fister does quite a job with the carnivals and with the last two, they've taken a refreshing new direction toward self-examination in the matter of crime fiction and blogging.

She's also kept the carnivals going for some time now. I hosted the eighth carnival, and the current edition is number twenty-three.

October 04, 2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link and the kind words, Peter. It was a privilege to host the Carnival - it's a terrific initiative on Barbara's part.

October 06, 2008  
Blogger Peter Rozovsky said...

You're welcome. The carnival is a terrific initiative, yes, and I like the turn it's taken in its last two incarnations.

October 06, 2008  

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