Simon Maltman Blogs

Here are just a few of my favourite books, TV, music and movies from this year.     What were your faves from 2019? Books What You Did- Claire McGowan A  compelling family mystery with plenty of dark secrets and twists The Chain- Adrian McKinty The behemoth that relaunched McKinty's career charting a terrifying child kidnapping network  An Eye for a Eye- Paul Heatley A funny and dark novella set in a seedy underworld in North England     (As usual I also read a load of books that weren't out this year. I read Misery for the first time- def my best read of the year! I also really enjoyed Mr Mercedes by King. I delved deeper into Lawrence Block's Scudder books- they have quickly become one of my top crime series) Movies Once Upon a Time in Hollywood My film of the year- he absolutely nailed it- nostalgic, atmospheric, thrilling and great fun The Irishman Perhaps best watched in a few sittings due to its length but a brilliant movie with an ev

I like to occasionally put up a lighthearted ‘noir’ inspired parenting short story- here’s a bit of flash fiction ...  After The Big Sleep: A Parenting Noir The clock said that it wasn’t quite 8am. The atmosphere was already hostile. The temperature had been dropping rapidly. The three of us sat there in a rare moment of silence, the toast and porridge cooling on the table. Rain beat noisily against the window.  “I don’t like butter,” announced the six year old gruffly.  I didn’t react right away, composing myself.  “You liked it okay yesterday,” I replied evenly.  I picked up my coffee, drinking deeply, keeping my eyes set ahead. She was agitated. Her face contorted as if she was being forced to eat glass.  “Meow!” Screeched the cat from beside the table, demanding his own breakfast. “This is yucky,” broke in the three year old, spitting and spraying her porridge out all over the table.  I set my mug down, my hand beginning to shake, my fingers tur

NEW RELEASE:  Bongo Fury Novella Collection & Soundtrack My new book is out today! It's a collection of my Bongo Fury novellas, including a new and final installment and an accompanying soundtrack.  You can grab a copy here if you like- cheers!  Amazon #crimefiction #newbook #ulsternoir #newrelease #emeraldnoir

Overview of Ulster Noir On my Belfast Noir walking tour, I give out lots of recommendations and people often note many of these down. A reading group from Dublin were on the tour yesterday  and asked for me to compile  a list for them. I thought I would share it here on my blog too. This is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully will offer a rudimentary overview of the local scene. It includes well established writers and some who are earlier in their career. Of course it also includes many of my personal favourite books!  Rise of Ulster Noir  (This was following a period of 'Troubles Trash' where many books were set here but often written from afar and were not always that great) Maurice Leitch Leitch's first novel came in 1965 and he is still writing today in various disciplines. He has been awarded an MBE for services to literature.  Check out Silver's City  Colin Bateman  Colin Bateman broke the scene wide ope

It was great craic to be part of the Noireland festival this year, taking Crime Fiction fans on our Belfast Noir tour. Great to have people along not only from various parts of the UK, but the likes of USA and Germany too. The festival had a great atmosphere about it and was a really class weekend. Last week I had a Tourist Board tour, taking international buyers on Belfast Noir too. I love introducing people to Belfast and in particular to writers who they haven't read before. Finishing  up in No Alibis Bookstore is always a great way to end, so folk can have a good old riffle through some awesome books. I've found it's really true that writers aren't competitive with one another, and like nothing more than bigging up other authors  that they enjoy- and that's certainly how I feel. The local scene really is thriving. What about talking about our own books?  It's a well discussed contradiction that introverted writers have to get out there and