Crime Time FM

Part 2 - The Golden Decade. GETTING CARTER author NICK TRIPLOW chats to Paul Burke about Ted Lewis and Brit Noir as No Exit Press reissue 2 of his classic novels Jack Carter's Law and Billy Rags. In this second part we discuss the novels of Ted Lewis from Plender to GBH, the film Yellow Submarine, tv cop show  Z Cars and Mary Whitehouse.

NICK TRIPLOW GETTING CARTER: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir is a meticulously researched and riveting account of the career of a doomed genius. Long-time admirer Nick Triplow has fashioned a thorough, sympathetic and unsparing narrative. Required reading for noirists, this book will enthral and move anyone who finds irresistible the old cocktail of rags to riches to rags. Nick is also the author of the novel Frank's Wild Years.

Jack Carter's Law  Ted Lewis returns to his greatest invention, a smooth-operating hardcase named Jack Carter, who is about to burn a city down in order to silence an informant... London. The late 1960s. It's Christmas and Jack Carter's the top man in a crime syndicate headed by two brothers, Gerald and Les Fletcher. He's also a worried man. The fact that he's sleeping with Gerald's wife, Audrey, and that they plan on someday running away together with a lot of the brothers' money, doesn't have Jack concerned. Instead it's an informant - one of his own men - that has him losing sleep. The grass has enough knowledge about the firm to not only bring down Gerald and Les but Jack as well. Jack doesn't like his name in the mouth of that sort.

Billy Rags  It's the 1960s and Billy Cracken is a hard man to keep locked up. An austere and troubled childhood has given way to life as a hardened criminal and now status as one of the most feared prisoners in England. He has been moved from one maximum security prison to the next. Guards and inmates alike fear and begrudgingly respect the powerfully-built Cracken. But a life doing his porridge, even if as a minor celebrity, isn't the one he wants. A girlfriend and a child await Cracken on the outside and he'll stop at nothing to get to them. While plotting his escape he crosses a powerful mobster who vows to make Cracken's life hell, and if nothing else succeeds at making his escape all the more difficult, something the ever-rebellious Cracken defiantly relishes. Billy Rags is a fascinating look into the lives of British inmates serving time in a maximum security prison. Lewis manages once again to tell an exciting, action-filled story with a soul - demonstrated most clearly in a series of brilliant flashbacks to Billy's childhood and in the end conjures a character that will remind readers of both Tom Hardy in Bronson and Lee Marvin in Point Blank.

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate and Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

Part 1 - GETTING CARTER. Author NICK TRIPLOW chats to Paul Burke about Ted Lewis and Brit Noir as No Exit Press reissue 2 Lewis novels Jack Carter's Law and Billy Rags, (Plender & GBH came out last year). In this first part Nick talks about his biography of Lewis, the author's background, influences and debut crime novel Jack's Return Home, filmed as Get Carter.

GETTING CARTER: The story of Ted Lewis carries historical and cultural resonances for our own troubled times Get Carter are two words to bring a smile of fond recollection to all British film lovers of a certain age. The cinema classic was based on a book called Jack's Return Home, and many commentators agree contemporary British crime writing began with that novel. The influence of both book and film is strong to this day, reflected in the work of David Peace, Jake Arnott and a host of contemporary crime & noir authors. But what of the man who wrote this seminal work? Ted Lewis is one of the most important writers you've never heard of. Born in Manchester in 1940, he grew up in the tough environs of post-war Humberside, attending Hull College of Arts and Crafts before heading for London. His life described a cycle of obscurity to glamour and back to obscurity, followed by death at only 42. He sampled the bright temptations of sixties London while working in advertising, TV and films and he encountered excitement and danger in Soho drinking dens, rubbing shoulders with the 'East End boys' in gangland haunts. He wrote for Z Cars and had some nine books published. Alas, unable to repeat the commercial success of Get Carter, Lewis's life fell apart, his marriage ended and he returned to Humberside and an all too early demise. Getting Carter is a meticulously researched and riveting account of the career of a doomed genius. Long-time admirer Nick Triplow has fashioned a thorough, sympathetic and unsparing narrative. Required reading for noirists, this book will enthral and move anyone who finds irresistible the old cocktail of rags to riches to rags.

Nick Triplow is the author of the south London crime novel Frank's Wild Years and the social history books The Women They Left Behind, Distant Water and Pattie Slappers. His acclaimed short story, Face Value, was a winner in the 2015 Northern Crime competition. Originally from London, now living in Barton upon Humber, Nick studied English and Creative Writing at Middlesex University and, in 2007, earned a distinction at Sheffield Hallam University's MA in Creative Writing. Since completing his biography of British noir pioneer, Ted Lewis, Nick has been working on new fiction.

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

TIMOTHY J LOCKHART chats to Paul Burke about UNLUCKY MONEY, Norfolk Virginia, hardboiled crime and Brit Grit.

UNLUCKY MONEY When Chinese American private-eye Wendy Lu takes on her first murder case, she doesn’t realize how dangerous it’s going to be. Probing into the murder of Susan Fontaine, the wife of her client, wealthy real-estate developer Whit Fontaine—the primary suspect in the case—Wendy fights to prove he was framed. Wendy used to be a cop but quit after a rookie mistake caused the death of her partner. Now she leads a more traditional life, dealing with her guilt, feeling she has disappointed her parents. Yet despite hostility from Fontaine’s arrogant business partner, opposition from the police, and violent threats on her life, she perseveres in the case.And that’s when Wendy discovers things that Fontaine, his partner Tom McKenna, and even Ryan Connolly, the police detective in charge of the murder investigation, would like to keep secret—that Fontaine-McKenna Associates is using criminal-syndicate money to finance the casino the firm wants to build. Now she is forced to use everything she’s learned just to stay alive.

Timothy J. Lockhart is a lawyer and former U.S. Navy officer who worked with the CIA, DIA, and Office of Naval Intelligence. In addition to his novels Smith, Pirates, A Certain Man’s Daughter and Unlucky Money (all from Stark House Press), he has written articles and book reviews for a variety of publications, including Naval Intelligence Quarterly, Naval War College Review, and The Virginian-Pilot. He lives in Norfolk, Virginia, with his wife and daughter.

Recommendations
Crime:
George V Higgins The Friends of Eddie Coyle
James M Cain The Postman Always Rings Twice
Elmore Leonard Glitz
Elliott Chaze Black Wings Has My Angel
Charles Williams, Daniel Woodrell, Megan Abbott, Jim Thompson, Vicki Hendricks, Ted Lewis, Derek Raymond, Mark Timlin.
Nick Triplow Getting Carter
Military history:
Ian W Toll Pacific Crucible (vol1 of trilogy)

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

HIGH CONCEPT - PSYCHE SUSPENSE PART 2
Sophie Hannah (The Couple at the Table), Gillian McAllister (Wrong Place, Wrong Time) and JP Delaney (The Girl Before) discuss high concept thrillers with Victoria Selman. What is high concept and why are we so gripped by the premise of some novels? The difference between high concept and big concept.

VICTORIA SELMAN
Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeS
Website for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.com
Twitter: @VictoriaSelman

We love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoria.

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

Part II: BOGDAN HRIB chats to Paul Burke about RESILIENCE, Romanian crime fiction, politics in Eastern Europe, translation Romanian to English and vice versa and coffee culture.

RESILIENCE Stelian Munteanu has had enough of fixing other people’s problems: all he wants to do is make the long-distance relationship with his wife Sofia work.
But when a notorious Romanian businessman asks him to investigate the death of his daughter in the north of England, he reluctantly gets involved once more. This time it turns into a tangled web of shady business dealings and international politics.
Moving rapidly between London, Newcastle, Bucharest and Iasi, Resilience shows just how easy and dangerous it is to fall prey to fake news and social media manipulation.
Translated by Marina Sofia.

Bogdan Hrib has worked as a journalist photographer and publisher of both academic books and fiction. He is the vice-president of the Romanian Crime Writers Club and the director of the International Mystery and Thriller festival in Râsnov, Romania. Two of his previous books in the Stelian Munteanu series have been translated into English.

Recommendations
George Arion Attack in the Library
Bogdan Teodorescu Sword 
Anamaria Ionescu Zodiac
Teodora Matei Living Candles
Oana Stoica-Mujea
Barry Forshaw Euro Noir
Sólveig Pálsdóttir
Jérôme Leroy
Martin Sixsmith Russia: A 1000 Year Chronicle of the Wild East

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network.

Publisher:
https://corylusbooks.com/

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

BOGDAN HRIB chats to Paul Burke about RESILIENCE, Romanian crime fiction, politics in Eastern Europe, translation Romanian to English and vice versa and coffee culture.

RESILIENCE Stelian Munteanu has had enough of fixing other people’s problems: all he wants to do is make the long-distance relationship with his wife Sofia work.
But when a notorious Romanian businessman asks him to investigate the death of his daughter in the north of England, he reluctantly gets involved once more. This time it turns into a tangled web of shady business dealings and international politics.
Moving rapidly between London, Newcastle, Bucharest and Iasi, Resilience shows just how easy and dangerous it is to fall prey to fake news and social media manipulation.
Translated by Marina Sofia.

Bogdan Hrib has worked as a journalist photographer and publisher of both academic books and fiction. He is the vice-president of the Romanian Crime Writers Club and the director of the International Mystery and Thriller festival in Râsnov, Romania. Two of his previous books in the Stelian Munteanu series have been translated into English.

Recommendations
George Arion Attack in the Library
Bogdan Teodorescu Sword 
Anamaria Ionescu Zodiac
Teodora Matei Living Candles
Oana Stoica-Mujea
Barry Forshaw Euro Noir
Sólveig Pálsdóttir
Jérôme Leroy

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network.

Publisher:
https://corylusbooks.com/

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

TED FLANAGAN chats to Paul Burke about EVERY HIDDEN THING, being a paramedic, local journalism, the Ribbon Creek Incident and the correct pronunciation of Woosta.

EVERY HIDDEN THING: The last scion of a once-powerful political family, Worcester mayor John O'Toole has his sights set on vastly higher aspirations. When night shift paramedic Thomas Archer uncovers a secret that could upend the mayor's career, O'Toole is set on silencing him, and sends Eamon Conroy, a brutal former cop, to ensure the truth remains under wraps. But O'Toole doesn't stop there. With bribes, buried secrets, and personal attacks, he wreaks havoc on Archer's life in an attempt to save himself. Archer's troubles continue to mount when domestic terrorist and militia member Gerald Knak, who blames Archer for his wife's recent death, sets in motion a deadly plan for revenge. With two forces of evil aligned against him, Archer doesn't stand a chance. But things aren't always what they seem - and he may just have a few tricks up his sleeve in a last gambit to get out alive.

Ted Flanagan is a Paramedic and former daily newspaper reporter from central Massachusetts whose writing has appeared on Shotgun Honey and Cognoscenti, among other places. In addition, he served as a Recon Marine with 2nd Recon Battalion. He lives with his wife and kids outside of Worcester, Mass.

Every Hidden Thing Amazon UK

Recommendations
Tod Goldberg The Low Desert
Cara Blue Adams You Never Get it Back
Richard Price Clockers
David Peace
Elmore Leonard
Charles Portis
Olga Tokarczuk The Book of Jacob
William Giraldi Hold the Dark
Horace McCoy They Shoot Horses Don't They

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

HIGH CONCEPT - PSYCHE SUSPENSE PART 1
Sophie Hannah (The Couple at the Table), Gillian McAllister (Wrong Place, Wrong Time) and JP Delaney (The Girl Before) discuss high concept thrillers with Victoria Selman. What is high concept and why are we so gripped by the premise of some novels?

VICTORIA SELMAN
Amazon Author Page: https://amzn.to/3xmvMeS
Website for news and giveaways: http://www.victoriaselmanauthor.com
Twitter: @VictoriaSelman

We love to hear from our listeners! Find me on Twitter @VictoriaSelman and join in the chat using #OnTheSofaWithVictoria.

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

The Alternative Ulster Noir Collective takeover Crime Time FM for an episode of mayhem and good craic from Northern Ireland. Simon Maltman chats to the other contributors to the Alternative Ulster Noir: NI Crime Stories Inspired by NI Music.

ALTERNATIVE ULSTER NOIR: A collection of seven new NI crime short stories inspired by NI music.
Enjoy a diverse anthology of work from some of the best NI thriller writers featuring Colin Bateman, Stuart Neville, Sharon Dempsey, Gerard Brennan, Kelly Creighton and James Murphy. Curated and edited by Simon Maltman, with one of his own new stories included. This collection was inspired by local artists including The Undertones, Van Morrison, Ash, Snow Patrol, Therapy? and more.

Produced by Simon Maltman & Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Paul Burke (who isn't here but will be back next week - hopefully) writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine and the European Literature Network and edits/presents Crime Time FM.

Alternative Ulster  Noir is Available at bookshops in Northern Ireland and online, (above link Amazon)

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,  

HEADS TOGETHER - the monthly magazine show on CRIME TIME FM. PAUL, VICTORIA and BARRY discuss the Crime Time FM WATCHLIST, the latest podcasts, crime writing festivals, character, originality and new Blu-rays of TV classics OUT & FOX.

PAUL BURKE writes about crime fiction for Crime Fiction Lover, NB Magazine, Crime Time and the European Literature Network.

VICTORIA SELMAN is the bestselling author of the Ziba MacKenzie serial killer thrillers. Her new literary crime novel Truly, Darkly, Deeply will be published in 2022.

BARRY FORSHAW is the editor of Crime Time, author of several books on film and crime fiction and the FT Crime Fiction Critic.

The Watchlist:
Tove Alsterdal We Know You Remember
Javier Cercas Even the Darkest Night
Amen Alonge A Good Day to Die
Stuart Neville The House of Ashes
CM Ewan The Interview
Charlie Higson Whatever Gets You Through the Night 

Produced by Junkyard Dog
Music courtesy of Southgate & Leigh
Crime Time

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023-2026 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,