Simon Maltman Blogs

Swampy Swagger and Blistering Ballads For the uninitiated, Walking Papers are a bluesy hard rock outfit from Seattle. It began as a project between Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Mad Season) and Jeff Angell (The Missionary Position). They ended up writing an album's worth of killer songs together with the swagger of some of their previous bands, with also the soulful and melancholy elements of say Mad Season. Overdriven guitar riffs sit comfortably next to vibraphone and double bass. Along for the ride were the likes of Mike McCready (Pearl Jam, Mad Season), Duff McKagan (GnR, Velvet Revolver), and Ben Anderson (Missionary Position). The minor label release of songs was so well received that Duff and Ben joined full time and they were all signed up to rerelease the album with a major label. What followed after was a great critical response, extensive touring and ultimately lots of ideas for a second record. The band then went in and cut this record, but with Duff inv

Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler,  James Ellroy... and Mark Sandman  In this blog post I get to write about two of my favourite things; Crime Fiction and the band Morphine. The three writers above were three of Mark Sandman's pulp favourites. Morphine's bluesy, swampy low rock is the perfect accompaniment to any of these hardboiled novelists. This style of writing was a big influence on his own songwriting. They both contain a direct, vivid and often somewhat nihilistic tone. Many of Sandman's characters form his songs could have walked off the pages of say The Getaway or The Long Goodbye . Sometimes during interviews, Sandman would go off on a tangent and just want to start discussing a particular Jim Thompson novel. He loved crime fiction and shared his passion with friends and journalists alike.  He appeared to find something in noir that moved him, just as his hero James Ellroy had-  "I love thinking about American history, thinking about L.A hi

Rain Dogs This was the second McKinty I had read and both are part of the Sean Duffy series. First thing to say is- I'm hooked! Sean Duffy is a Northern Irish detective, working during The Troubles in the 1980's. There are of course a gazillion modern police procedurals out there to choose from. I generally prefer other forms of crime fiction or even a PI opposed to an actual police officer story as a personal preference. I only enjoy the ones that really grab me and the Sean Duffy series certainly has! The last series to do so was Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole. This installment includes a locked room murder, conspiracy, lots of music references, Northern Irish settings and international intrigue. My recent novel included a locked room mystery, conspiracy, lots of music references, Northern Irish settings and international intrigue. I honestly hadn't read any McKinty before that and mine is nowhere near as good! Northern Irish crime fiction has so much great stuff go

😎🏆🍸    Competition time!     😎🏆🍸      Win a free ebook copy of Bongo Fury 2! Every correct answer a winner! This is for any both music and crime fiction fans! Just PM me your answer.  What does the title of the book and all the new main characters (including Merritt, Timmons and Morgan) have in common?? http://amzn.to/2fm7iME