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Book reviews, writing tips, and guidance on writing, publishing, and getting published from Ross Browne, owner of publishing’s oldest freelance editorial firm.

Reviewing SUDDEN PREY by John Sandford Considering characterization and its impact on story in a bestselling crime series

[by Ross Browne]

Anyone familiar with my taste in books probably knows how much I love John Sandford and admire his skills as a writer. One reason I like his Lucas Davenport series so much is that these deftly plotted novels usually go deep into the minds of deranged killers in seriously […]

By |2024-01-19T23:23:47+00:00|Book Reviews|Comments Off on Reviewing SUDDEN PREY by John Sandford Considering characterization and its impact on story in a bestselling crime series
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Reviewing CASINO ROYALE, by Ian Fleming: A Most Pleasant Surprise Considering thriller craft and the delights of the unexpected in the first James Bond novel

[by Ross Browne]

Up until last week, one notable blind spot in my reading life was Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. I loved the movies of the Sean Connery and Roger Moore era but, unimpressed by a later book in the series (written by one of four authors who took the helm after Fleming […]

By |2025-02-11T21:18:47+00:00|Book Reviews|Comments Off on Reviewing CASINO ROYALE, by Ian Fleming: A Most Pleasant Surprise Considering thriller craft and the delights of the unexpected in the first James Bond novel
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How P.J. Parrish Starts a Story: A “First 50” Analysis

[by Ross Browne]

Flap Copy: For Louis Kincaid and his lover, female detective Joe Frye, the present and the past collide when they team up to find out what happened to Jean Brandt, who was reported missing by her husband from their Michigan farmhouse in 1981. Jean’s daughter Amy, only five at the time, has been plagued by […]

By |2025-08-04T19:58:07+00:00March 8th, 2018|Behind The Bestsellers|Comments Off on How P.J. Parrish Starts a Story: A “First 50” Analysis
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Don’t Confuse Plot with Plot Event An editor's thoughts inspired by Robert Ludlum, Matt Damon, and Jason Bourne

[by Ross Browne]

It wasn’t all that long ago that the news hit Hollywood that Matt Damon was considering bowing out of his leading role as Jason Bourne. The untitled film he considered passing on would have been the fifth in a series based on a trilogy that we have Robert Ludlum to […]

By |2024-01-06T21:11:19+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Don’t Confuse Plot with Plot Event An editor's thoughts inspired by Robert Ludlum, Matt Damon, and Jason Bourne
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Writing Mysteries Guides, tips, and recommended reading for mystery writers

[by Ross Browne]

A quick word of caution to the aspiring mystery writer…

For its enduring popularity as a genre, mystery is a surprisingly tough genre to break into for new writers, and in some respects one of the hardest genres to write. This is in part due to the procedural know-how a writer must have to write […]

By |2025-07-03T17:31:39+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on Writing Mysteries Guides, tips, and recommended reading for mystery writers
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What Writers Can Learn from Lee Child & Jack Reacher A lesson in handling exposition in mystery and suspense novels

Exposition: a discourse of information. (Often necessary, but also challenging to handle skillfully.)

In an earlier post for mystery writers, I talked a little bit about the value of resisting the urge to lecture your readers on what you might have learned in the course of researching your story or what you might know from your own in-the-trenches […]

By |2024-01-19T23:26:21+00:00|The Writer’s Craft|Comments Off on What Writers Can Learn from Lee Child & Jack Reacher A lesson in handling exposition in mystery and suspense novels
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