Patrick Whitehurst's Blog

Le Barde Noir, a surreal Shakespearean noir dramedy, with which I contributed to the script alongside a great lineup of talent, has hit the stage as of last night!
Thanks to all the great actors, directors, and writers for making this Monterey-based noir a reality!
If you live in California’s Monterey Peninsula and want to attend a show, tickets are available here.

Be sure to check out my latest Sam the Thug story, out today over on Bristol Noir, in which Sam deals with a post-election, holiday tiff between two work buddies. Read it free right here. Thanks to John at the always amazing Bristol Noir for accepting this short piece!

Dietrich Kalteis is one of those writers you can’t get enough of. Every new addition adds another to jewel to his crime writing crown. His latest historical crime offering, CROOKED, is absolutely no exception.

Like an expert fisherman, Kalteis hooks readers from the outset thanks to a cast of dastardly charmers. Crooked, a fictional account, follows the infamous American outlaws known as the Barker-Karpis Gang and their exploits through 1930s America, from robberies to kidnapping and beyond.

Crooked is an wild, criminally-charged romp through America’s gun-toting, gangster roots.

Get your hands on Crooked here and read below for an interview with Dietrich!

WHITEHURST: Before we get started, I wanted to congratulate you and your novel UNDER AN OUTLAW MOON for winning the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for Best Crime Novel! With your inspiring body of work, I can’t think of anyone more deserving. Did you celebrate when you learned the news?

KALTEIS: Thank you, Patrick. When I found out I had won, I was thrilled to say the least. And I think I’m still celebrating that one.

WHITEHURST: Crooked opens in Spain and makes readers feel they’re sitting right next to “Karpowitz” in 1979. Setting is pivotal and you nailed it. How do you prepare a scene, from a point in history, when you sit down to write? Especially if set in a foreign country?

KALTEIS: When I’m researching for a historical story, I dig up everything I can and cherry pick those moments that I think I can bring to life and that make the strongest visual scenes. If it’s set in a country I haven’t visited, I immerse myself in the customs and culture and times. From there, I start a scene close to the action and I try to end it the same way in order to give it a hook leading into what follows. This allows for a good pace too. While writing the scene I slip in bits of the research, just enough of it to lend credibility and a sense of realism. 

WHITEHURST: This is an historical crime fiction novel that jumps around in time, and from Spain to Tulsa for instance. Is there any point in history that you wished you could experience?

KALTEIS: I’ve written several novels set in the twenties and thirties, and the hard times are fascinating and of particular interest, although I’ve never wished I could have lived through the Great Depression or wanted to feel the stinging Dustbowl sands. I think the postwar boom years of the fifties would have been more interesting times to experience. Aside from fears around the Korean War and the Cold War, there was a confidence in a future that promised peace and prosperity. Unemployment and inflation ran low, and people had money to spend. Elvis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard played on jukeboxes. It was the Golden Age of Television and that meant I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners and Gunsmoke. The Drive-Ins showed Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, and who’d pass seeing James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause or John Wayne in Rio Grande on the big screen. There were soda fountains and malt shops, drive-in restaurants with waitresses on roller skates (no junk food joints back then). Kids read comic books, played street hockey and spun hoola-hoops. Older kids danced the jitterbug and went to sock hops. And families piled into the Chevy Bel Air and went camping or on road trips. All of that sounds pretty good to me.

WHITEHURST: With Crooked, was there any aspect of the writing process you’re most proud of? What about any challenges with this book?

KALTEIS: There was a certain pride when I finished and I felt I’d done my best. The parts I enjoyed most were building the story around the timeline of actual events, blending history with moments of pure fiction. The big challenge was deciding what history to put in and what to leave out. There was so much interesting research that I couldn’t include all of it without making the chapters sound like history lessons.

WHITEHURST: What made you decide on the Barker-Karpis Gang as the central characters for your newest novel?

KALTEIS: I was doing research for Call Down the Thunder, which was also set in the same era. I read about Alvin Karpis and his relationship with the Barkers and I became intrigued. After I finished Call Down the Thunder, I started compiling research on the life and crimes of Karpis.

WHITEHURST: What do you hope readers take away from Crooked?

KALTEIS: Like every book, it’s about entertaining and taking readers on a journey, one that stays with them a long time. My hope is that they enjoy it enough to recommend it to their friends, and want to check out some of my other stories.

WHITEHURST: You’ve written many fantastic books over the years. Do you do something special, a fancy dinner perhaps, to celebrate each release?

KALTEIS: Thanks, Patrick. I think of reading events and book tours as my way of celebrating a new release. I love sharing the stories with an audience, and it’s always nice to lift a glass with family and friends to celebrate a new release as well.

WHITEHURST: What’s on the horizon for you now that Crooked has come out?

KALTEIS: My next one is Dirty Little War, published by ECW Press and scheduled to be released May 18, 2025. The story’s set in Chicago around Prohibition and focuses on the taxi wars going on — a wild west shoot ‘em up in the streets of the Windy City. The story starts in 1920 and rolls through the decade. Here’s the short synopsis:

A riveting, fast-paced ride through 1920s Prohibition-era Chicago — the epicenter of crime, corruption and commerce.

Trouble has a way of following Huckabee Waller like a shadow. Tough times force him to make his way bare-knuckle fighting and running booze. Before long, he finds himself entangled in the escalating tension between notorious rival gangs and the city’s deadly taxi wars. Caught up in vice and violence, Huckabee lands in the crosshairs of Al Capone. 

The smart thing to do would be to get out of Chicago — fast — that is if his reckless life doesn’t kill him first.

Thank you very much for the interview, Patrick.

To learn more about the author and his books, visit Dietrich online at https://dietrichkalteis.com/.

Out this week is EERIE ARIZONA, my latest nonfiction book from The History Press, featuring creepy cryptid stories, ghostly haunts, the Phoenix Lights, and famous Arizona unsolved mysteries. Read about the chupacabra, the story behind the film Fire in the Sky, the murder of the star of Hogan’s Heroes, and more.

Find it on Barnes and Noble here.

Find it on Amazon here.

Find it through the publisher here.

The words, “If you love the horrific lyrically delivered, this book is for you” were used to describe K.A. Schultz’s GÖTHIQUE, a late 2023 collection of prose and poetry that leans into the macabre the way a killer stalks their victims on a quiet night, silently at first, just out of sight, until the inevitable occurs and the hammer of horror drops. K.A. Schultz wields words the way Gandalf exudes magic, with both subtle nuance and thundering force. Anyone who loves short creeps and chills, and phrases tuned to exactness, or lyrically and horrifically delivered, Schultz is your author. The stories within this collection pay homage to classic tales of the macabre and, Like Doctor Frankenstein’s cadaverous creation, breathe into them new, splendidly chilling life.

Find GÖTHIQUE here.

Of course, GÖTHIQUE isn’t the author’s only recent contribution to the literary world. While it may be perfect for Halloween and every other spooky week of the year, the author’s 2024 release, KHRYSTMASS, brings the darkness Schultz is known for right to the holiday party. We’re all familiar with some of the classics of the fall and winter season; Shelley’s Frankenstein, A Christmas Carol by Dickens, and more, but many have often wondered what comes next in these stories? Schultz has an answer for you within these engaging, harrowing pages.

Find KHRYSTMASS here.

I got a chance to chat with the author upon the release of her two newest titles. Read the interview below!

Whitehurst: Let’s start with the first of two books we’ll be covering; GÖTHIQUE. It’s a collection of stories by “the late Lilah Ravenscraft.” Tell me about this collection.

Schultz: It’s the second (2023) of three short story collections I have published now. Horror short stories, with some flash fiction (i.e., 100-word pieces – such fun lit exercises!) and poetry in each one as well. The “late, great” Lilah Ravenscraft’s story is found in NEITHERIUM, my 2022 collection. Her untimely demise is due to a Faustian deal-with-the-devil she made, may she rest in peace… GÖTHIQUE consists of short stories she curated, but never was able to publish, which I have now done under the auspices of Dakeha Taunus LLC, my publishing entity. This plus many other literary and even tech bits and pieces connect all three books to each other, although every work in them can exist as a stand-alone story. I have content guides at my lit site http://www.butterflybroth.com for all books, the idea being to facilitate ez selection of stories to read, and to provide general content warnings as well.

Whitehurst: What can you tell us about Lilah?

Schultz: Lilah’s story in NEITHERIUM is called “Ravenscrafted.” It tells of her early evolution as a writer, and a publisher, and relays her otherworldly experience with a mysterious demonic/magical being, which materializes in her room and leads her in a ritualistic pact signing – a classic trope – fame and fortune for her, but at a price. My newest book, KHRYSTMASS, now also features a story about Lilah in her earliest days, before she even adapted the name and persona by which she was so well known later on. That one is called “Bell Ringer Number One.” 

Whitehurst: The last time we chatted you had just released ANATHELOGIUM, and you explained the meaning behind the word. Care to share your insight on the meaning of GÖTHIQUE?

SCHULTZ: GÖTHIQUE is intended to be illustrative of the gothic leanings of this collection: classic horror and dark aesthetic tropes that (also) go back in time, which are also decidedly Brontëesque, if you will, in vibe: time, place, mood. All the works, btw, in ANATHELOGIUM were absorbed into NEITHERIUM, freshly re-edited.

Whitehurst: In the book you used classic fairy tales, such as your story Penchants of the Prize, and spun them into horrific corners. What led you down these paths?

Schultz: I love classic fairy tales and folklore, most particularly European/German originating, being that is my cultural and linguistic background as a first generation American. I have always delighted in the organically dark and dramatic of Germanic lit like this, and as horror writer find it rich fodder for inspiration and exploration. “Penchants of the Prize” digs into extreme concepts behind the envy of the stepsisters as juxtaposed to Cinderella’s virtuous embodiment, with the big twist being founded on the prince – the Prize – and the so-called “happily ever after,” which has been the classic presumption. It is also a nod to Ann Rice’s work as A.N. Roquelaure, her original Sleeping Beauty series.

Whitehurst: Tell me about your Christmas book, Khrystmass: Holiday Horror Collection?

Schultz: This is my new collection, just published in August. It was a *joy* to write! A few short stories were carried forward from the two previous books, them being Christmas or deep winter-leaning, as was an excerpt from JACOB A DENOUEMENT IN ONE ACT added to the mix. These holiday/winter/Christmas/Dickensian motifs are all great favorites of mine.

Whitehurst: Do you have a favorite Christmas memory?

Schultz: It could well be that my favorite memory is quite a new one: my daughter, now a junior in college, won a spot as one of three Christkinds at the Carmel Indiana Christkindlmarkt, back when she was a junior in high school. She worked several shifts at the Christmas market in full Christkind dress, which was an absolutely magical experience. It was also my mother’s last Christmas before she passed, and so for my mother to join us at the market, to first help my daughter dress in her glowing, angelic costume in preparation for her shift, and then to watch her interact with market goers, was a total highpoint for her, and for me as parent and daughter. The experience was really that of a magical transformation!

Whitehurst: In Khrystmass, you reference classic literature such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What do you think makes their popularity so timeless?

Schultz: They hold truths that are timeless and universal. Frankenstein is so about loss and rejection, about unrequited love, and devotion, and then all the rage that is spawned in its face. It is about the ills and issues of medical/scientific capabilities and experiments that exist beyond humankind’s wisdom to mete it out in its best possible ways. It is about usurping paradigms of what Man perceives as beauty and acceptability, how the monsters are not necessarily the beings that cause the most damage. Dickens explores much of this in his many works; A Christmas Carol most especially in my context as a horror writer is that it is the grandaddy of sci-fi: time travel/ intra-dimensional existence/ alternate realms of existence and it has who are the most famous, best-loved, and in Jacob Marley’s case, the most lamentable ghosts ever. I also, for all the issues that come with the pervasiveness of commercialized/materialistic holiday celebration, am a great believer in what Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew claimed as his Christmas celebratory mantra: (I’ll paraphrase) even if it never puts gold into one’s pocket, if it can manage to bring people together in the name of good cheer, it is a good thing and worth holding onto.

Whitehurst: Any personal favorites from the collection?

Schultz: In KHRYSTMASS, I would say “Turn the Lights to Party” and “Stille Nacht” (Silent Night) are nearest to my heart. “Lights” is a direct homage to my daughter and how she has Alexa set our lamplight in multi-color arrays, and it is about the undying love one has for their child. “Stille Nacht” is the manifestation of a story I have had in my heart and head for ages. I researched it thoroughly and enjoyed the creative calm before the storm while my subconscious was working out the approach to the story – it took a while to get to the point of writing it, but when I did, the story seemed to write itself. I write of many things in history and nature that I love in that story, and I use them as spiritual, universe-tapping incidents the Creature experienced. For, you see, in my story, the Creature (Frankenstein’s creation had no name) lived on into modern times. It is the rest of his story.

Whitehurst: Would you share some tidbits into your writing process? How did you decide the arrangement for your stories for instance?

Schultz: They are chronologically placed into the collections, but their placement is also very reliant on a chronology that would establish itself, were the reader to read the three books in order, front to back. There are many literary and tech-based Easter eggs in the books.

The writing process: I love technology for its easy ability to log ideas and to file them. Just as anyone would have idea folders and pages of notes and ideas, or snippets of dialogue or narrative that occur to one, so do I keep all of that electronically, to refer back to it, and to tap it, mix it and blend it as needed, as the writing process might evolve from any of it. When I write, I write quickly and for long spells – it is a hyper-introspective, solitary state of being I relish, but which is not ideal for pets and family lol. I have even explored and written on the creative process, as that in and of itself fascinates me. The article is an older Huffington Post piece, easily accessed via my link tree, called, “On Creativity: Endocepts and Exocepts.”

Whitehurst: Khrystmass has a very memorable cover which you wrote is a German postcard. Care to shed some light on it?

Schultz: It is a totally meant-to-be eBay find! The moment I saw it, I knew that postcard was IT. Seventy dollars very well spent! A late 1800s German postcard, which I own, so the image is freely mine to use. The red critter-elves even found their way into my foray into splatter punk fun, entitled, “Krampuss,” and the image is likewise uncannily illustrative of my two Santa Domnia (Saint Everything) stories, in particular of the troubled, obsessive author-wannabe who conjures forth the dark and wicked Saint from her ancient grave… 

Thank you for visiting the page! Learn more about K.A. Schultz here.

The History Press will release Eerie Arizona, my sixth nonfiction book, on Monday, October 21, 2024. Look for it everywhere online and in bookstores throughout Arizona. Preorders for the book are now available here!

Read the blurb below:

Mysterious lights, mystical vortexes and the Mogollon Monster.

Go beyond the beautiful vistas and desert landscapes and discover a new, stranger side of Arizona. From the legendary cryptid that stalks the Grand Canyon to a purported alien abduction that inspired a feature film, strange happenings and weird occurrences have been recorded in every corner of the state. Join author Patrick Whitehurst as he explores tales of the odd and unexplained. 

Be sure to check out my latest Sam the Thug short story, “End on a Low Note,” in the first issue of Pulp Lit, a brand new online magazine.

Click the page turn arrow to read each page!

It’s free to read here!

Review of Who by Fire by Greg Rhyno

Who by Fire isn’t just a memorable Leonard Cohen song.; it’s also the title of a remarkable new book by mystery author Greg Rhyno, out April 20th from Cormorant Books. Who by Fire introduces the world to one clever, and reluctant, sleuth with Dame Polara. Like Cohen’s music, once Rhyno’s crisp prose gets in your head, it will stay with you for some time.

Greg Rhyno’s freshman Dame Polara tale is a well-crafted, superbly plotted mystery adventure. Great care is taken in both the characters, the dialogue, and in the overall structure. In Who by Fire readers are introduced to Dame, her ailing private eye father, her job saving historic buildings, and an imminent eviction. It’s that eviction that leads to Dame accepting her first case, what she thinks is a simple matter of investigating an extramarital affair. Add in some arson, however, and her case goes from simple to hot in no time flat. 

A great read from a newly emerging talent. Get the book here and continue below to read my interview with the author!

Interview with Greg Rhyno, author of Who by Fire

Author Greg Rhyno

WHITEHURST: Your book emphasizes the roles of family and what it means to the protagonist, Dame Polara. Is family an important part of Greg Rhyno’s world?

RHYNO: Taking care of two little dudes can be frustrating and exhausting, but I’m crazy about my kids and I love being a dad. The fact that family is so important to me might be the reason why Dame Polara wants one so badly.

WHITEHURST: Who by Fire kicks off with depressing news for Dame. What led to your decision to start this series there?

RHYNO: For starters, it checks a couple boxes on Kurt Vonnegut’s Rules for Writing (i.e. every character should want something; writers should make awful things happen to their characters), but more importantly, I wanted Dame to be a relatable protagonist with real world problems. Navigating the healthcare system, caring for an ailing parent, dealing with an unreasonable landlord — these are all issues that my friends were facing when I started writing the book, and they’re issues that aren’t going away anytime soon.

WHITEHURST: The dialogue in your novel is crisp, it’s bittersweet, and it’s hilarious. How do you manage the different voices, juggling fully realized characters, in your writing?

RHYNO: Thanks! For me, writing dialogue is like tuning into a character’s particular frequency and listening for what they might say. Sometimes, I’ll start a scene by writing its dialogue, and the way a character speaks will pull me in directions I wasn’t expecting. One of the things I love about detective fiction is that a big part of the investigation is conversation. Like me, Dame is often trying to figure out who people are by listening to what they say.

WHITEHURST: Dame has a love for historic preservation. Do you share her appreciation?

RHYNO: I love beautiful old buildings, and I think a lot of Canadian cities have done a lousy job of preserving some really impressive architecture. That said, it can be tricky to determine just which parts of the past we want to preserve. My first novel, To Me You Seem Giant, was unabashedly nostalgic for a particular time and place. For this story, I wanted to trouble Dame’s relationship with the past. Not everything about the good old’ days was good.

WHITEHURST: What’s one thing you hope readers take away from Who by Fire? Or maybe many things?

RHYNO: An inclination to read the sequel would be pretty nice! Other than that, I’d love people to consider how we negotiate the tension between past, present, and future. What parts of the past do we hold onto, and what parts do we throw away?

WHITEHURST: What led you to the world of mysteries and crime fiction? And what authors and characters inspire you?

RHYNO: A few years back, a new colleague of mine was complaining that she had to fill in for her husband at work. When I asked what he did, she told me he was a private investigator. I was fascinated by the idea that you could not only be a substitute detective, but a reluctant one.

Maybe as a result, I tend to prefer more unconventional investigators. Some of my favorite gumshoes include Thomas Pynchon’s Doc Sportello, Jonathan Lethem’s Lionel Essrog, Thomas King’s Thumps DreadfulWater, and Sara Gran’s Claire deWitt.

WHITEHURST: Got an elevator pitch? What would you tell Martin Scorsese if he called to ask about Dame’s first book?

RHYNO: I’d say, “Look, Marty. Dame Polara has spent her adult life running from her father’s shady P.I. past. Now, she’s got to rely on the skills he taught her if she’s to protect herself and the people she cares about most.” Then I’d probably ask him what it was like to hang out with Levon Helm in 1978.

WHITEHURST: You’re in line at the bookstore and you notice the person in front of you is holding your book. Do you say anything?

RHYNO: “You know what’s even better than Who by Fire? Two copies of Who by Fire.”

WHITEHURST: This may be an often-asked question but it’s one of my favorites, because the answers vary wildly. What does a typical writing day look like for Greg Rhyno?

RHYNO: I teach full-time, and I try to spend evenings with my family, so I don’t always get many opportunities to write during the day. There is a magic hour between the time my last class ends and the time I have to pick up my son from school, so I often use that hour to write. Otherwise, it’s catch as catch can.

WHITEHURST: What can readers expect from you next? And where can they find you online and in person?

RHYNO: I have a few events coming up in my neck of the woods:

Saturday, April 27th at The Rhino in Toronto, ON

Saturday, May 4th at the ArtBar in Guelph, ON

Monday, June 3rd at Another Story Bookshop in Toronto, ON

Who By Water, the second Dame Polara novel,is forthcoming from Cormorant Books in 2025.

I’m pretty searchable on Instagram, Facebook, and whatever Twitter is calling itself these days. My website is at www.gregrhyno.com.

Thrilled to be today’s guest on Off the Cuff with one of the best crime writers of our generation, Dietrich Kalteis. We chatted about my latest Barker Mysteries novella, Monterey Lies, and writing stuff in general!

Read it here!

Reading is often the best cure for what ails you. And 2023 was, for me, a year of ailments, ending with a flu bug that continues to rattle around in my chest as I type these words. There were some great reads this year, including many older tales and many new tales from up-and-coming talent. As always, Top Reads is comprised of books I spent time with this year, not necessarily books released this year, though some were.

My Top Reads of 2023 are a brilliant mix.

25 to Life by John Lansing

We breathe air in a perilous world. Lucky for us we’ve got Jack Bertolino watching out for things. Lansing kicks our worries right in the teeth with his latest Bertolino thriller, 25 to Life, the fifth in the popular series, and one his fans are more than ready to see adapted to film. When Jack is brought in to investigate the mysterious death of an up-and-coming law student, who met her end in a fiery wreck along Los Angeles’s Malibu Canyon Road, he soon finds himself neck deep in trouble. The dead student, Gloria Milhouse, was about to blow the lid off a cold case, freeing an innocent man in the process, but it seems there are forces at play who don’t want the case reopened. And they’re determined not to let Jack gain an inch in his investigation.

Get your hands on the book here.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I read A Christmas Carol annually, but the words blinked off the page with jazz this time around. The story remained the same, Ebenezer Scrooge sees his life and the results of his hard choices reflected upon him by three colorful spirits – four counting the ghostly precursor of Jacob Marley. My mind zeroed in on different aspects of the text this time around, which made the yuletide creeps come alive as vibrantly as if I were reading it for the first time. Online communities also began sharing the usual assortment of Christmas Carol memes, but I noticed this year a hot take summary, “Rich person scared into being generous,” etc., which bummed me out. To me, the story has always been about the fear of poverty and how that fear turns us all into miserable, miserly wretches if we’re not careful. This apparent lack of understanding made reading the Charles Dickens classic more critical this year.

Learn what makes Scrooge tick here.

Family and Other Ailments: Crime Stories Close to Home by M.E. Proctor

M.E. Proctor has made a name for herself as one of today’s Modern Noir Masters. Her stories have appeared damn near everywhere, from Mystery Tribune, Bristol Noir, Vautrin, and Pulp Modern, to Shotgun Honey, Guilty Crime Story Magazine, and elsewhere. In Family and Other Ailments readers are treated to a collection of tales, twenty-six darkly-lit gems, each with their own soul, and each with an edge as sharp as a butcher knife. Fans of suspense, chills, crime, and noir fiction will find something to sink their teeth into with this literary assortment, ranging from stories like the gritty “No Recoil” to the domestic agony of “Black and Tan.” All deserving of praise.

Meet the Proctor’s “family” here.

Stealing Paradise by Curtis Ippolito

Stealing Paradise is Book 34 in the Grifter’s Song series and is a rip-roaring ride through sunny, sinful San Diego. Scammers Rachel and Sam make a solid attempt to get away from their life of criminal, clever cons during a stay on Coronado Island, only to come across a mark too easy to let slide. Only they aren’t the only con artists with an eye on the businessman with a loudmouth. Ippolito’s short stories have appeared in Mystery Tribune, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Rock and a Hard Place, and elsewhere. He proves his talent in longform stories with Stealing Paradise, a great read for the summer months and a sweet choice for crime junkies.

Steal some paradise here.

Trouble in Tucson edited by Eva Eldridge

Created for the 2023 Left Coast Crime conference, which was held in Tucson in March of 23, Trouble in Tucson collects stories written by southwestern members of the Tucson Sisters in Crime group. Stories run the gamut, from Jeffrey J. Mariotte’s private investigator Dave Tanner short story, “A Page from the Past,” to Kris Neri’s Christmas mystery “The Gift of Christmas Future.” My own short story, “The Boys Were Seen,” a tale of Perry Mason trivia and hitmen, was included in the collection. The delightful Trouble in Tucson anthology offers a little murder and a lot of mayhem, with a side of local Tucson, Arizona, flavor.

Taste Tucson’s delectable dark side here.