An Interview with Karen M McManus

11/22/2021

I have been reading detective fiction for as long as I can remember. It probably started with a Nancy Drew or a Hardy Boys novel. I read a lot of detective series from the light hearted and playful Alphabet series by Sue Grafton and the number series by Janet Evanovich to the darker novels in the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy by Stieg Larsson.

I breezed through the likes of Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene, Dashiell Hammett, and Ross Macdonald before moving on to more contemporary authors like Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Tony Hillerman, Linda Barnes, J. A. Jance, Ed McBain (Evan Hunter), Robert B Parker, Sara Paretsky and Lawrence Block.

Some readers might quibble with some the authors I label as “old” and those that are “new,” nevertheless I still look for new work from likes of Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini as if I just heard of them yesterday.

There are others I read and I am sure that I have missed many favorite authors that many readers of this blog enjoy. Clearly,my favorite sub classification in the larger suspense/mystery genre is the private sleuth or the detective novel.
I know that others favor the closed room or the isolated cabin version of the suspense novel and other seek out the inhertors of Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle, more power to them. There are plenty of authors and books to match everyone interests.

What about Suspense and Mystery Within Young Adult Literature?

Young Adult Literature certainly has it's share of suspense novels. Some go to the early years of YA with Mel Glenn's Who Killed Mr. Chippendale. Some of my more recent favorites are Ellen Whittinger's Local Girl Swept Away, E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, and Marieke Nijkamp's Even if We Break. Of course, there are many, many books that have a mystery, that have us wondering who did it, or ask us to consider how things will fall apart before there is a resolution.

We don't want to discount all of the dystopian, fantasy, and science fiction novels that have a problem or a mystery to consider. Yet, the realistic suspense/mystery novel set in worlds we instantly recognize is a unique breed. Perhaps this novels don't get enough attention in our YA literature courses, our classrooms, or, frankly, on our award lists.

Right now, Karen M. McManus has hit the publishing world by storm since 2017. Since I first read One of Us is Lying, I anxiously await news about her next book. I have never been disappointed. Karen's books are fantastic and will remind people of some of the best novelist writing suspense and mystery books for any age bracket. Just think of somebody you love to read and then if you haven't read it a book by Karen yet, pick one of her books and give it a try. In a short period of time, you understand what a talented writer she is and why her books are selling not just in the United State, but all over the world in a myriad languages.

No wonder Peacock has turned One of Us is Lying into an original drama. I highly recommend that you check it out.

Interview With Karen M McManus conducted on Nov. 11, 2021

Until next time.

Dr. Steve Bickmore
Creator and Curator

Dr. Bickmore is a Professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and a past president of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.

Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
Co-Curator

Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and writing program administrator at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods. She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

Bickmore's
Co-Edited Books

Meet
Evangile Dufitumukiza!

Evangile is a native of Kigali, Rwanda. He is a college student that Steve meet while working in Rwanda as a missionary. In fact, Evangile was one of the first people who translated his English into Kinyarwanda.

Steve recruited him to help promote Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media while Steve is doing his mission work.

He helps Dr. Bickmore promote his academic books and sometimes send out emails in his behalf.

You will notice that while he speaks fluent English, it often does look like an "American" version of English. That is because it isn't. His English is heavily influence by British English and different versions of Eastern and Central African English that is prominent in his home country of Rwanda.

Welcome Evangile into the YA Wednesday community as he learns about Young Adult Literature and all of the wild slang of American English vs the slang and language of the English he has mastered in his beautiful country of Rwanda.

While in Rwanda, Steve has learned that it is a poor English speaker who can only master one dialect and/or set of idioms in this complicated language.

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