Janet Roger

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Janet Roger

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United Kingdom
Website

Genre

Influences
Chandler, Dickens, Simenon, Joyce, Greene, Le Carre

Member Since
July 2019


* WINNER 2019 - BEVERLY HILLS BOOK AWARD - SHAMUS DUST
* WINNER 2019 - FULLY BOOKED BOOK OF THE YEAR - SHAMUS DUST
* FINALIST 2020 -ERIC HOFFER AWARD - SHAMUS DUST
* FINALIST 2020 -INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS - SHAMUS DUST
* FINALIST 2020 - NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS - SHAMUS DUST

As a teenager I'd read all of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe stories - not so long after they were written as I’d like to think - and they knocked my socks off. He wrote about Los Angeles and its neon-lit boulevards, its sour, gritty downtown and gun-toting cops (a novelty to this young European) and made them exotic. But what really got under my skin was Marlowe's voice guiding me around the next street corner, and beyond it into a stale apartment block or a do
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Popular Answered Questions

Janet Roger Well, thank you so much for asking Jason.

Let me start with the City. Shamus Dust is set there at Christmas 1947, when - as it still is - the City of …more
Well, thank you so much for asking Jason.

Let me start with the City. Shamus Dust is set there at Christmas 1947, when - as it still is - the City of London was financial heart of the capital, often simply known as the Square Mile. Think of it as London’s Wall Street. In fact, it genuinely is, even now, the more or less single square mile contained inside the arc of London’s ancient Roman walls, with the Thames running along its southern boundary.

What drew me, was living and working there for a long time. You can walk the whole City very easily, and if you do that you inevitably get up close to its geography and history.

As for period, those early years of Cold War fascinate me in general. But in the City something very special happens. It had taken a hammering in the London blitz. Hundreds of its acres - some of the most valuable real estate on the planet - were flattened rubble. Which made it archaeologists’ dreamland. For a few short years, digging in those blitz sites gave them unimagined access to the two-thousand years old Roman city right beneath their feet. They wasted no time. Before reconstruction got seriously under way they’d made monumental discoveries: a Roman temple, a Roman fortress on the line of the wall, even the foundations of an arena - a Roman coliseum, no less. And there was the puzzle. The discovery of the temple and the fortress made instant splash headlines. Yet London’s very own Roman coliseum - yes, there really is one - got overlooked. Seriously, it completely escaped notice for the next almost forty years. Which started me wondering what the story was…(less)
Janet Roger I was interested to think back and find this out myself. Thank you for asking Bruno. I started by looking at my reviews on Goodreads - and what a mixe…moreI was interested to think back and find this out myself. Thank you for asking Bruno. I started by looking at my reviews on Goodreads - and what a mixed bag they are – ranging from Play It As It Lays (Joan Didion); Maigret’s Memoirs (Georges Simenon); Mahoney Reconsidered (David Van Zanten); The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, and Monet’s Impression Sunrise (Marianne Mathieu).

But I travel a lot and often my choice of reading is determined by which country I find myself in. For example I came across Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy in a bookshop in Bucharest, which is where her story begins. So how could I not read it? And many years ago, in a hotel room in Swaziland of all places, I browsed the first couple of chapters of Dr. Johnson’s Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Then on a chance visit to second-hand bookstore on quite another continent, there it was again, and so of course I snapped it up. Serendipity. You just can’t beat it.

For influential authors let me start with Raymond Chandler. My noir crime thriller Shamus Dust tips its hat to the novels of Chandler in all sorts of ways. After all it’s a dark take on city crime, corruption and a series of murders set in 1947, when not only Chandler’s Philip Marlowe mysteries but the entirely new form of film noir were both hitting their stride. But it also owes much to Charles Dickens, with his well-observed, powerful descriptions of the seedy underbelly of London with more than its fair share of murderous thieves and villains from the gutter to the government - a hundred years before my own story begins. (less)
Average rating: 4.3 · 552 ratings · 177 reviews · 1 distinct workSimilar authors
Shamus Dust

4.30 avg rating — 552 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Ranger's 5-star Goodreads review of SHAMUS DUST: HARD WINTER, COLD WAR, COOL MURDER by Janet Roger

Outstanding debut novel mixing detective fiction and historical fiction with a liberal dose of noir atmospherics. Shamus Dust is a surprisingly good debut detective novel, one of the best mystery debuts I have read.

It's no accident that this fine noir detective mystery echoes Raymond Chandler's Marlowe novels. The author, Janet Roger, is a fan of Chandler's Marlowe and wanted her debut to pay homa Read more of this blog post »
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Published on December 29, 2023 15:30 Tags: 1947, historical-fiction, london, murder, mystery-thriller, noir, review
The Age of Napoleon
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Alienated Affecti...
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The Story of the ...
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Janet’s Recent Updates

Janet Roger rated a book really liked it
A History of Malta During the Period of the French and Britis... by William Hardman
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Some things you just can’t get enough of. Well I can’t. So I’m starting 2026 exactly where I left off last year. Having finished Victor Aquilina’s splendidly detailed “Napoleon Malta or War” I decided to go back to William Hardman, one of his sources ...more
Janet Roger and 95 other people liked Paul Haspel's review of Twelfth Night:
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
"Two things stand out to me regarding William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The first is the courage and strength of the play's women characters. The second is the way in which this play, composed at the height of Shakespeare's powers as a writer, mixe" Read more of this review »
Janet Roger and 5 other people liked Alexw's review of Kissinger:
Kissinger by Walter Isaacson
"This is the 5th biography I have read by Isaacson who does meticulous research into all his biographies.
I was amazed at what Kissinger got wrong. From his biggest failure to negotiate for peace in Vietnam, being on the wrong side for America in Angol" Read more of this review »
Janet Roger and 51 other people liked megs_bookrack's review of The Running Man:
The Running Man by Richard  Bachman
"1984, Kingified.

And wow, that ending. I totally forgot that and considering certain historical events, that's extra creepy.

I loved some of the body horror descriptions in here. King has always been quite creative in that regard ((and many others)).

Fu" Read more of this review »
The Big Book of Tarot Meanings by Sam Magdaleno
" Sounds fascinating ... and fun. "
2025 on Goodreads by Various
" It's always a pleasure to read your reviews Karen. Glad to see your five-star badge! ...more "
Coriolanus A BBC Radio Shakespeare production by William Shakespeare
" Did you ever see the Alan Howard BBC version? It was very good. But nowhere near his Stratford performance. Ah ,,, those were the days!! "
Janet Roger is currently reading
The Age of Napoleon by Will Durant
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Alienated Affections by Leah Leneman
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The Story of the Barony of Gorbals by John Ord
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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Quintilian
“Erasure is as important as writing. Prune what is turgid, elevate what is commonplace, arrange what is disorderly, introduce rhythm where the language is harsh, modify where it is too absolute. . . . The best method of correction is to put aside for a time what we have written, so that when we come to it again it may have an aspect of novelty, as of being another man's work; in this way we may preserve ourselves from regarding our writings with the affection that we lavish upon a newborn child.”
Quintilian, De Institutione Oratoria

Freya Stark
“The great and almost only comfort about being a woman is that one can always pretend to be more stupid that one is and no one is surprised. When the police stopped our car at Bedrah and enquired where we were staying, the chauffeur, who did not know, told him to ask the lady.
"That is no good," said the policeman. "She's a woman."
"Yes," said the chauffeur, "but she knows everything. She knows Arabic."
The policeman asked me.
I had not the vaguest idea of where we were staying, and looked at him with the blank idiocy which he thought perfectly natural.”
Freya Stark, The Valleys of the Assassins: and Other Persian Travels

T.S. Eliot
“A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land

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message 14: by Janet

Janet Roger Good to meet you here Sandra. I'm enjoying your reviews.


message 13: by Sandra

Sandra Hi Janet,
Thanks for the friend-invite! :)


message 12: by Janet

Janet Roger Mike wrote: "Janet wrote: "Are you by any chance Mike Coyne - the same GR account that Will talked into letting him post the second half of his review of Shamus Dust on? It's disappeared now so I can't check bu..."

Well that's one mystery solved Mike. And thank you for hosting the second part of Will's review.

I'm very happy to know The Shamus has got the edge on all those Chandlers in storage.

Have a lovely holiday ... Janet


message 11: by Mike

Mike Janet wrote: "Are you by any chance Mike Coyne - the same GR account that Will talked into letting him post the second half of his review of Shamus Dust on? It's disappeared now so I can't check but do let me kn..."

Yes, I am. I had a look at Will's review again and he used the 1st comment post to continue his review so it is still there for everyone to see.

Thank you kindly for the offer of the ebook but I'll be good with my physical copy. I gave it a pet of reassurance yesterday. I'll get to it before any of Chandler's as those all remained packed up in storage.

Happy Holidays ... Mike


message 10: by Janet

Janet Roger You are very kind Majenta. Thank you for your encouraging words and greetings. I'm working hard on my sequel and enjoying the research that goes into it. I hope you also have a good week and wish you every happiness. My very best wishes, Janet


Majenta Hello, Janet! Thank you for contacting me. Congratulations on your book and its success and I hope you're enjoying working on your next one...and thinking about your next one...and so on! Happy reading, writing, creating, and everything else. Blessings! Have a great new week.
Best wishes from Majenta 💙💛🌻


message 8: by Janet

Janet Roger I'm looking forward to reading your review Anna. And I hope you enjoy Wilson's book when it gets to the top of your pile!


message 7: by Anna

Anna Thank you for the invitation Janet, I am as you said (or just have been) reading about Victoria Princess Royal and my reflections are due at any time now. You message has also prompted me to look at the biography that you mentioned- looks very interesting! Now it too is residing in my very long TBR list. I am looking forward both to your thoughts about it and to more book-thought-exchanges in the future!


message 6: by Janet

Janet Roger Are you by any chance Mike Coyne - the same GR account that Will talked into letting him post the second half of his review of Shamus Dust on? It's disappeared now so I can't check but do let me know?

Will has been a good friend and his review was unique and very kind. Since then he's done even more to keep the Shamus in the limelight.

I'm delighted you still have your copy of Shamus Dust. When Will started reading his he asked me for the ebook to help him keep track if things. Just let me know if you'd like it too and it will be my pleasure to send it to you.

Don't read all the Chandler's before Shamus Dust though ... I implore you. I'm not so young! And I really do want to know if you agree with our friend.

Kind regards ... Janet


message 5: by Mike (last edited Dec 13, 2022 10:11PM)

Mike Hi Janet. Thank you kindly for your friend invite. That Will Byrnes fella has led me to some outstanding reads with his spectacular reviews. His review for "Shamus Dust" had me really intrigued and excited and I'm elated to see you are working on the sequel. I recently moved and had to pack up all of Mount TBR.

However, I did pull out my copy of "Shamus Dust" because I know it's going to a special read that I want to tackle in the near future. I'll have to get going on some Chandler as well so I can full appreciate what you're writing. Looking forward to future interactions. Happy reading and writing in the meantime!!


message 4: by Janet

Janet Roger You too William, It's especailly good to meet another Chandler addict! - Janet


William Thank you for the friendship!

I look forward to reading your reviews!


Richard Dominguez Thank you for the friend


Ivonne Rovira Thank you so much for the Friend request.


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