Episode 5: Interviews with April Smith and Stephen Jay Schwartz

Speaking of Mystery’s – Episode 5
Interviews with April Smith and Stephen Jay Schwartz
by Nancie Clare

SoM’s third installment recorded at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Welcome back! Les and I do our best to make sure our podcasts are published at the beginning of each week, but last week he and I were otherwise engaged in New York City at the Edgar Award’s banquet. I talk about it a bit on the podcast, so I won’t repeat myself here. Needless to say, if you are fan of mysteries and thrillers, the Edgar Awards is a slice of heaven. And this particular Edgar’s (I’ve been twice before) was especially good. Master of Ceremonies Brad Meltzer was superb.

April Smith’s next book is not part of her FBI Special Agent Ana Grey series. It’s a stand-alone novel titled A Star for Mrs. Blake. I’ll let April explain more in her interview.

Stephen Jay Schwartz has also stepped away from his series featuring the troubled LAPD Detective Hayden Glass to write a stand alone. Stephen’s new mystery, Triple X, centers around a young FBI agent who goes to Amsterdam to escort a fugitive back to the U.S. In his own words, Stephen describes it as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold meets 3:10 to Yuma.

Episode Six, scheduled for publication on May 12, includes our interview with T. Jefferson Parker, who talks about his stand-alone novel – I’m sensing a trend here. We also speak to Darrell James, who talks about the third in his Del Shannon series of mysteries. I don’t recall him mentioning a stand-alone, but he does discuss how he’s about to embark on a  series of novellas with a new protagonist.