Chili con carnage whodunit movie#
Chili con carnage whodunit series#

A wiseass with a temper who takes personally what he considers to be unfair treatment, regardless of who itРІР‚в„ўs directed at. ForteРІР‚в„ўs a former musician, divorced father with grief issues over the separation from his daughter.

He was my first character, and all I really knew about writing at the time was the ubiquitous РІР‚СљtheyРІР‚Сњ said to write what you know, and I knew me better than anything else, having recently been through a divorce and counseling. Originally, Forte pretty much was me, or at least the me I might be if I knew that some all-powerful being-such as an author-could make sure the consequences didnРІР‚в„ўt get too severe. Where did Nick Forte come from? In what ways is he like, and unlike, you? I think РІР‚СљThe Maltese FalconРІР‚Сњ is maybe the most perfect Hollywood film ever made, and I loved the way you wove it through the book. As I write a chapter I keep watch for a phrase that might suggest where the scene might be going, or just make me laugh. I also titled every chapter, as Hammett did in the book. I use brief quotes any fan will recognize, create a РІР‚СљbackstoryРІР‚Сњ for the falcon Arbuthnot owns, with no better provenance than could be shown in the movie.

I make no bones about it: this book is my homage to HammettРІР‚в„ўs masterpiece. The protection gig looks to be a publicity stunt to bolster lagging ticket sales, but then someone actually does kill Arbuthnot, which is not the kind of publicity anyone had in mind, least of all Forte, who feels he ought to do something about it. Arbuthnot, who bears a cultivated resemblance to Sidney Greenstreet, claims to have received death threats he canРІР‚в„ўt substantiate.

Chili con carnage whodunit movie#

Forte is asked to serve as a bodyguard for actor Russell Arbuthnot, who is about to open a one-man show featuring a prop from John HustonРІР‚в„ўs movie of The Maltese Falcon. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of is ForteРІР‚в„ўs second story, the successor to last yearРІР‚в„ўs A Small Sacrifice. What surprised me-pleasantly-more than anything is that Nick is the character IРІР‚в„ўve received the most flattering comments about in Grind Joint, where he gets to play Mouse to DocРІР‚в„ўs Easy Rawlins. I donРІР‚в„ўt want to overdo that, but itРІР‚в„ўs there if I need it.

Chili con carnage whodunit series#

Now I have both series operating in the same fictional universe, where characters from either can make random appearances in the other. He seemed like just what I needed, so I made him the first cousin of Ben Dougherty, the cop who is the main character of the Penns River books. I liked the character and had watched him grow increasingly violent as the cases he worked on wore him down. I needed something to level the playing field, and I thought of Nick in Chicago. In the second book, Grind Joint, the Russian mob is in town, and the local cops arenРІР‚в„ўt equipped to handle them. I knew the area and, most importantly, I knew the people. After a standalone ( Wild Bill), I started a series that takes place in Penns River, which is essentially an amalgam of the three small Pennsylvania towns I grew up in. IРІР‚в„ўd written four Nick Forte books that didnРІР‚в„ўt sell. Can you talk a little about that and then tell us about the new one, The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of? YouРІР‚в„ўre writing two series that are related in an interesting (maybe unique) way. I think youРІР‚в„ўll enjoy it.Р”Р‡irst, congratulations on the Shamus nomination. The brand new Nick Forte, The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, is the most recent book IРІР‚в„ўve read, and more or less prompted this interview, which is going to appear in two pieces. HeРІР‚в„ўs written a standalone, the very fine Chicago mob novel Wild Bill, and heРІР‚в„ўs currently producing two series, the Penns River novels, which so far include the wonderful Grind Joint and and the just-published Worst Enemies, and the Nick Forte private eye novels, the first of which, A Small Sacrifice, was nominated for a Shamus this year as best first indie-published PI novel.

IРІР‚в„ўve enjoyed everything heРІР‚в„ўs written thus far and I admire his prose style, his plotting, and his characters, and also his personal character as a writer and a human being, which is sterling.

Dana King is a writer I both enjoy and admire.