Michael Z. Lewin


My latest short story in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Death Row, refers to a bench in a Bath pub where the oldest regular customers get to sit closest to the bar. This picture was taken for a local newspaper story about the fact and fiction of the bench. The real life pub, The Star, is down the road from where I live. There's been a pub on the site there for more than 250 years.


People sometimes ask me to sell them books - which is cool and I'm happy to say that I can now send books to people unable to pay in US dollars or UK pounds.

I now have an account with PayPal, the money transfer system associated with eBay. PayPal can be used to send money in almost any currency.


Would you like a copy of EYE OPENER, signed and perhaps inscribed? I have some I can send you for £10 - or the equivalent in other currencies - plus postage - £2.50 in the UK. Click below and email me if you're interested.

I do also have copies of my other books, including some in Japanese, German and a few other languages as well as those from the US and the UK. Email me to ask about any books you might be interested in.

I've put a new old picture on the Bio/biblio page - bigger than here. If you scroll down the page, see if you can spot the mystery writer.


This writing’s a strange ol’ game. There is no natural place in the cycle of idea-write-publish to meet the people who read (and buy) what I do for a living. Or to tell them about anything that isn’t between the book covers. I hope that this site will fill a bit of that void, just as my occasionally visiting libraries, bookstores, universities, festivals and conferences already does. I can also be booked for weddings and children's parties.

The Events page is where I’ll post details of my venturings out in public, so you’ll know where to find me if you want to tell me in person how much better other people’s books are. There’ll be an occasional Newsletter that will include updates along with whatever else takes my fancy at the time. There’s also a page for you guys to talk among yourselves. What more could you want?

A way to contact me? Done! A way to buy books from me? That too. Help keep my grandchildren in shoes.

I don't check these pages every day, but I haven't launched this project lightly. I consider a website to be a long term commitment. You may be fickle and never call to let me know when you’re going to be late, but I’ll be here. Well, they do call this the home page.

Update details:

I do look in at the site often without up-dating it but on the following dates I made significant changes.

On April 17, 2008, I put the cover photo of OH JOE on the Home page and made several other changes - deleting some pictures and moving others.

On April 5, 2008, I added a picture from my son's wedding and responded to a posting on Chit & Chat.

On March 28, 2008, I deleted some old pictures and sections that referred to them and added a new bunny on Chit & Chat.

On March 12, 2008, I added a picture taken for a story in the Bath Chronicle about my AHMM story, "Death Row." I also deleted the picture of just the cover of the magazine.

On February 12, 2008, I added a new picture of myself (and a lil daffodil) to the home page, along with a new welcome message.

On January 26, 2008, I added the photo of AHMM March 2008 to the home page and made some corrections elsewhere.

On January 3, 2008, I responded to a contributor to Chit & Chat who had nice things to say about the Lunghis.

On October 15, 2007, I added a picture of the Frome Men's Basketball team from the '70s and updated my forthcoming appearances.

On September 10, 2007 I eliminated reference to an out of date way of getting copies of my books and replaces two individual pictures of the Japanese edition of CUTTING LOOSE with one.


Welcome

On this site I hope to provide a combination of accurate information about my current and past writing along with some less work-focussed bits and pieces.

So, look around and then, if you care to, comment on the Chit & Chat page, sign up for a very occasional newsletter, or contact me with the links provided.

And in any case, thanks for checking in. MZL Feb 08

In July of 2008 OH JOE will be published in the United States. Set in Indianapolis the book is a gentle thriller that follows Joe Prince's struggle to become a better man, a better boyfriend and a better father to his baby, Little Joe. But self-improvement is a struggle for him. Joe hates being alone at night and, unfortunately, just before the book begins his girlfriend, Kelly, has to go away to a funeral...

OH JOE doesn't revisit any of my other Indy characters. However Joe and Kelly do live in the Fountain Square area - home to Albert Samson.

When I get some reviews and additional information, I'll post them on the Recent Works page.


Followers of this website will know that I have stories in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine from time to time. In fact in the May 2007 issue there were two of my stories, both about Garth and Annette who are mature cribbage-playing friends and, um, problem-solvers...

The stories could have stood alone but as the second takes what happens in the first on a bit, the wise and wonderful editor of EQMM decided to put them in the same issue.

If I've tantalized you into wanting to read them, copies should be available on request from American booksellers or www.TheMysteryPlace.com. I do have a couple of copies here that I could supply at exorbitant prices.


My thanks to Yusuke Nakai for sending me images of the covers of the two volumes of the Japanese edition of CUTTING LOOSE. And to Nellie Bridge of the Author's Guild Web Services for contriving to put them side by side.

A special greeting to my Japanese readers:



I'm proud of the beautiful falcon that I was so fortunate to receive when I won the Maltese Falcon Society's award for Best Foreign Novel in 1987. It's here in my living room - along with another prized possession, my 1992 "Marlowe" from the Raymond Chandler Society in Germany. And some tulips from my patio garden.

Try samples from The Ideas Experiment by clicking farther down this column.

The Japanese edition of CUTTING LOOSE has just been published (in two volumes)as you can see above, but I'm not going to offer page samples. I wouldn't know how to pick...



The IDEAS Experiment is the title of a booklet that I have written with my friends Liza Cody and Peter Lovesey. We all attended the Left Coast Crime conference in Bristol (England) in March 2006 and we devised the "experiment" for a panel there.

Agreeing on a little newspaper story, we each wrote a short story inspired by it. Would they all be the same, or would they be very different? The resulting stories are published in the booklet. And I have posted the beginning of each story to give you a flavor.

If you'd like to have a copy of the booklet there are a few left - we only printed a hundred. You can order them through me while they last - not available other than from the three authors, sorry.

I can send a copy to the UK for £4.50 (£8 for two copies.) In the US they'll cost $10 ($18 for two copies.) The prices include postage and packing.

I can send copies to other countries as well, but I'll need payment in US Dollars, GB Pounds or using PayPal - the money transfer system associated with eBay.

Sorry I can't take checks in other currencies. My bank here charges £10 ($18) for them so orders would have to be large for me to be able to take payment in, say, euros or yen.

If you're interested in purchasing the booklet, please contact me on the link below.



SELECTED WORKS
Click on the title for more information.

CD
TAKE-OUTS
Songs, stories and discussion featuring Michael Z. Lewin, Liza Cody and Peter Lovesey
Latest novel
EYE OPENER
After an absence of more than a decade, Indy private eye Albert Samson returns to find that he never noticed a lot of things going on around him.
Novels
FAMILY PLANNING
A follow up to FAMILY BUSINESS, the three generations of the Lunghi family run a private detective agency in Bath, England. Ever seen PIing run as a family business? I don't think so.
HARD LINE
The second of the Lt Leroy Powder novels.
CUTTING LOOSE
A young woman pursues her best friend's killer in 19th Century US and England
UNDERDOG
A homeless "entrepreneur" in Indianapolis gets more than he bargains for when he sees an opportunity...
Short stories
THE RELUCTANT DETECTIVE and Other Stories
Stories written over a period of twenty years or so, along with an introduction - by me - about writing stories and an extensive bibliography of my crime writing.
ROVER'S TALES
Stories told by Rover, a canine crusader.



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