Mystery Man

Featured

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Tom Savage

Welcome to the Mystery Man blog. My name is Tom Savage, and I’m a mystery writer. I sold books at Murder Ink^® here in NYC for almost 20 years, until we closed our doors in 2006. My specialty was hand-selling titles to customers based on their personal likes and dislikes, and I learned how to match people with books. I have a lot of arcane knowledge to share, and I’m going to be posting lists, essays, and interviews with other writers here from time to time. I’m a big film fan, too, mysteries and thrillers, so I’ll be discussing my extensive DVD collection (hint: Hitchcock!). And I’ll occasionally be talking about the real world, too. I hope you enjoy it, and please look around my website for the latest news about my own works. Thank you for visiting.

Flattery, Part 2: 15 More Hitchcock Homages

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Tom Savage

I’ve been getting feedback about my recent list of Hitchcock-inspired films, which you can see here. People seem to like it, and they mention other “Hitchcockian” movies they like. So I decided to expand on the original list with 15 more titles. Continue reading →

“What’s in a name?” Part 2: The mystery is solved!

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Tom Savage

If you saw my last post, you know that I was on my high horse about a forthcoming reprint of WHILE STILL WE LIVE, Helen MacInnes’s wonderful novel of espionage and romance in the Polish Underground of WWII. The publisher in question, Titan Books, had listed this title as WHILE WE STILL LIVE, which Continue reading →

“What’s in a name?” Defending an artist’s vision

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Tom Savage

As you probably know, I’m a big fan of the late, great espionage writer, Helen MacInnes. For many years, her 21 novels have been out of print, lost in the shuffle of new trends and changing times. Well, I have great news for her fans, as well as for all you younger folks who may not know about her. Continue reading →

My new short story in AHMM!

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Tom Savage

I’m happy to announce that my latest mystery short story, “Jumbie Tea,” is in the June 2013 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, arriving in bookstores (real and online) and newsstands this week and available for a month. “Jumbie Tea” is set in my hometown–St. Thomas, VI–and it involves a young tourist couple with a sinister, one-eyed old Obeah woman. When she serves them her magical potion, they get more than they bargained for: sun, sand, Voodoo, walking dead people, and…murder? Continue reading →

Off the beaten path #3: the Down Under edition

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Tom Savage

Here are two more in my continuing series of “Stuff I Think You Should Know About.” As usual, I’m spotlighting a book (new) and a film (oldish). So… Continue reading →

The sincerest form of flattery: 12 Hitchcock homages

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Tom Savage

It’s no secret that Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite film director, but even I don’t love him as much as his fellow film directors love him. Hollywood has always been famous for following trends and jumping on bandwagons, but rarely has the imitating been more explicit than the long, venerable line of homages to Hitchcock by some of our finest filmmakers. Continue reading →

A valentine for “Valentine”

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Tom Savage

Today is Valentine’s Day, and it’s the first one on which my novel, Valentine, is available as an e-book, and sales at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc., have suddenly spiked. It’s gratifying (and a bit worrying) that the book is still popular on the holiday it “celebrates.” Continue reading →

Book v. Movie: The Woman In Black

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Tom Savage

I remember the first time I read Susan Hill’s now-classic ghost story, The Woman In Black. I was transported to a northern coastal village in England at the turn of the last century, and I was mesmerized by the tale. The novel was published in 1983, and it was soon adapted for TV, radio, and the stage. The play is still running in London’s West End after more than 20 years. I’ve never seen it, but I was interested to see the recent film version. Continue reading →

Whatever happened to “Bond, James Bond”?

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Tom Savage

Happy New Year! I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and productive 2013. I’m getting an early start on it, myself–I’m finishing up a new novel, planning the next one, and working to get the rest of my backlist available as e-books before the next New Year’s Eve is upon us. And, in what has become an annual tradition, a few close friends and I saw in the new year together here in NYC, not in Times Square (ugh!) but in a movie theater, followed by dinner at a favorite Greenwich Village restaurant. The dinner was great, the movie…not so much. Our pick this year was SKYFALL, the new James Bond movie, and I must say I was a bit underwhelmed. Continue reading →

A new kind of thriller

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Tom Savage

I’ve just finished reading GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn, which is currently a top bestseller in America. The book has made several end-of-year Top 10 lists for 2012, including the New York Times. It is Flynn’s third published novel, and its enormous popularity has catapulted her two earlier books, SHARP OBJECTS and DARK PLACES, back onto bestseller lists everywhere. It is the “breakout” book for the former journalist, who was a TV critic for Entertainment Weekly. Now, everybody in the world is talking about it.

Why all the fuss over a suspense novel? Continue reading →

Tom Savage Books

Mystery Man…