Saturday, August 8, 2015

IF WE DIDN’T LAUGH.... -- Guest Post & Giveaway



If We Didn’t Laugh....
By Steve Hockensmith

Mysteries aren’t just about murder, of course. They also frequently mix in greed, betrayal, hatred, arrogance, ignorance, selfishness and all the other sins and evils of this sad, sad world of ours.

And they can be so much fun!

Go figure.

Of course, not all mysteries are fun. But my favorites are. And so are the ones I write. My newest -- Fool Me Once: A Tarot Mystery, written with my tarot-expert buddy Lisa Falco -- is full of laughs (I hope). Yet it's about murder, domestic abuse, con artists and the lingering psychological cost of being brought up by a sociopath.

Sounds like a real knee slapper, eh? What can I say? If we didn’t laugh....

When I was a kid, it was TV and movies rather than books that drew me to the mystery genre, perhaps because the crime fiction that was pushed on young people back then seemed so deadly dull. (Sorry, Hardy Boys. The Tower Treasure sat on our family bookshelf unread throughout my childhood because my literary Spidey-Sense started tingling -- “I’m sensing tedium!” -- every time I went to pick it up.) And it was a certain kind of mystery that I especially liked to see on the screen.

The arch, witty Christie adaptations Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun made a big impression on me, as did the sometimes surreal adventures of the original Avengers. I loved both snappy ’40s detective flicks like The Big Sleep and Murder, My Sweet as well as the far goofier, more (then) modern Pink Panther series. And when I discovered the Thin Man movies, it felt like I’d finally returned to home I didn’t know I’d left after a long quest I didn’t know I’d been on.

I had arrived. The destination: funny. With murder.

Even the stuff that I found I liked that wasn’t overtly comedic -- anything about Sherlock Holmes, say, or Columbo -- had a dry, droll air about it that was never dampened by a little detail like violent death. And when I finally got hooked on mystery novels, it was Raymond Chandler’s way with a one-liner and Irwin Fletcher’s laconic nonconformity and Archie Goodwin’s genially sardonic patter that did the hooking.

None of which really answers the question I was asking myself when I started writing this: Why? Why do I like this kind of thing? Why do you? (Hey -- you’ve read this far. I think I can assume you enjoy some of this stuff, too.)

I guess that’s a mystery that even Nick and Nora Charles, John Steed and Mrs. Peel, Inspector Clouseau, Fletch, Columbo and Archie Goodwin couldn’t solve. But they could help us laugh about it....
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Steve is offering a giveaway! One person can choose a copy of Fool Me Once. To be eligible simply leave a comment on this post about humorous mysteries. Leave your comment, along with your e-mail address, no later than 11:59pm EDT Tuesday, August 11, 2015.



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Steve Hockensmith is the author of 14 novels and dozens of short stories in a variety of genres. His novel Dawn of the Dreadfuls, the official prequel to the smash "mashup" Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, was a New York Times bestseller. His other books include the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies sequel Dreadfully Ever After, the Edgar Award-nominated mystery/Western Holmes on the Range and the science-adventure for kids Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab (written with frequent Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest "Science Bob" Pflugfelder). He writes the Tarot Mystery series with the help of tarot expert Lisa Falco.


Steve's website: http://www.stevehockensmith.com
Fool Me Once, the second book in the Tarot Mystery series: http://www.amazon.com/Fool-Me-Once-Tarot-Mystery/dp/0738742236/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1438886967&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+hockensmith
Be Steve's Facebook friend: https://www.facebook.com/steve.hockensmith.7
Follow Steve on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrhockensmith

18 comments:

  1. Oh why haven't I found you before, Steve? All my favorite movies and books. No Nancy Drew for me. I guess I will have to win this book and catch up on all the rest.
    sallycootie@gmail.com

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  2. Mystery and humor are the best of buddies! I like my stories to be real interactions, not slap stick, but a little comic relief is great, even in real life we find something humorous in dark situations. I liked Nancy Drew, but I was ten years old, now retired, I prefer my mysteries with a little "laugh" here and there. kat8762@aol.com

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  3. I love humorous mysteries. They really keep your attention to the point you just can't put them down. One of my favorite humorous mystery authors is Donna Andrews. Love her wit! Thank you for the chance to win, I hope to get a chance to read this nice novel :) jslbrown2009 at aol dot com

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  4. I love some laughs in the mysteries I read! Thanks for the opportunity!
    sharonbabyme@yahoo.com

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  5. Murder may not be funny, but I appreciate mysteries with humor. Bobbipad@gmail.com

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  6. it is said laughter is good for us, so I would love to read this book......
    thank you for the giveaway.........

    cyn209 at juno dot com

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  7. I love humorous mysteries, I love to laugh my way through a book.

    kaye dot killgore at comcast dot net

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  8. That is why I love cozies. not only for the mysteries but also for the humor. It makes my day . jchizmar01@windstream.net

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  9. What a wonderful post which was nostalgic. I enjoyed Nancy Drew but was enthralled with all of the 1940's and 1950's mystery novels and dramas. Yes, I too was captivated with John Steed and Emma Peel who seemed invincible as well as Agatha Christie books and Miss Marple series on T.V. but what I loved was Bogie, Chandler and movies like Vertigo and Rear Window. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  10. Mysteries with thrills and humor combination are always unique and intriguing. Mentioning those memorable movies and books made my day. Great taste which I appreciate. Thanks for this great feature and wonderful giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  11. I really like humorous, quirky mysteries! I liked Steve's post and how he found The Thin Man movies.
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. Reading The Thin Man. Finally. After years of enjoying the movies. The wry sense of humor in them is in your mysteries - love Holmes on the Range series, and White Magic Five and Dime. Love the sarcastic Tarot interpretations at the beginning of chapters. From the sounds of it, this second one in the series will not disappoint. Thanks. hharra (at) bsu (dot) edu

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  13. Love finding humor in any book!
    cjreynolds52@comcast.net

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  14. Loved The White Magic Five & Dime. The Thin Man movies were perfect. I don't think I'm too weird because I enjoy laughing while solving a murder. Am I? r23h24p51s02@gmail.com

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  15. I'm with you, Steve. I love the dry wit of Columbo and The Avengers. A little humor makes the mystery more fun.

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  16. Thanks for the great comments, guys! It's good to know that I'm not the only one who finds murder so amusing!

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  17. Didn't Magnum PI kill someone once? That might've been funny if they'd got Steve to write it...but he'd have been, like, ten years old.

    I've always thought that Steve has s certain Wodehouseian flavour, if Plummue was American and write about murders...

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  18. Congratulations Zaphnia M! Random.org chose your comment to win! I will pass your information along to the tour host!

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