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The last two police procedural novels that I read - The Force by Don Winslow and The Dime by Kathleen Kent - I read because of Marilyn Stasio.
In fact, I’d say that about every detective book and crime novel that I choose to read can be traced back to Stasio.
As every reader of police procedurals and crime fiction knows, Marilyn Stasio writes the Crime Column for the NYTimes Book Review. Her column appears twice a month, and she has been writing it since 1988.
Stasio’s book reviews are concise and stiletto sharp. My sense is that Stasio reads more crime books than she reviews, saving her column for books she recommends, rather than books to avoid.
There is a meta media story somewhere in Marilyn Stasio. A narrative that deserves some speculative unpacking.
I wonder about the power of Stasio to shape the crime wing of the publishing industry. What do publishing houses do to get their detective novels in from of Stasio? How important is it for the success of a new crime novel that it appear in Stasio’s twice-monthly column?
There is also the question of talent vs. platform. Stasio is a master of the concentrated book review. The fact that she specializes in a single genre, and has been doing so for 3 decades, gives her book reviews the air of authority. But would Stasio be so influential if she were not writing from the platform of the NYTimes Book Review? If her crime novel reviews appeared as a blog, rather than as a predictable element of the print and digital versions of the Times?
Is there also, I wonder, a lesson in how Stasio has specialized? Should those of us in the ideas industry be looking to carve out the sort of specialized niche in our own particular area - just as Stasio has done with crime fiction? And again, what is the power of specialization minus platform? To what degree are cultural critics dependent on the publications in which they contribute for influence - and how has this relationship changed in the digital era?
From my own completely unscientific sampling - I’d hypothesize that higher ed people are also disproportionately readers of crime fiction. The reasons why academics (both alternative and typical) love crime books so is a mystery.
If I’m right about the overlap of higher ed people and crime fiction readers, then it might be worth our time to discuss how we choose our crime books. What branch of academia studies the intersection between books, book sales, critics, and platforms? Who amongst you can help us make sense of the meaning of Marilyn Stasio?
By the way, both The Force and The Dime are terrific. The Force is probably Winslow’s best work so far - which is saying a great deal given how amazing his previous books have been.
What police procedurals, crime novels, and mysteries are you reading this summer?
