Selected Nonfiction
AARP: The Magazine
A review of Richard North Patterson's The Devil's Light, June 2011
"A Shortcut Worth Taking," a review of P.G. Sturges' Shortcut Man, March 2011
"2010 Books: Overlooked and Overlauded," January 2011
A review of John Lescroart’s Treasure Hunt, January 2010
The Armchair Detective
“Tracking Dirt onto the Parlor Rug: The Mystery Novels of Michael Malone,” Summer 1995
“Bloody Kin: The Southern Mysteries of Margaret Maron,” Winter 1994
Metro Magazine
“A Goodly Crop: North Carolina Offers Fertile Ground for Emerging Writers,” Feb. 2000
Mississippi Quarterly
“Magical Realism and the Mississippi Delta,” Summer 2004 [Note: Another version of this article is available in full text online at Southern Spaces.]
Mystery Scene
“The Celebrated Poirot,” Winter 2012
“The Woman’s War,” an interview with Sarah R. Shaber, Fall 2011
“Louis Bayard: The School of Night,” Spring 2011
“Deadline! Journalists in Crime Films,” Winter 2011
“The Write Stuff: Crime Films Starring Writers,” Fall 2010
“Nevada Barr: New Orleans Bound,” Fall 2009
“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Great Romantic Crime Movies,” Spring 2009, and “Love Bites: Romantic Crime Films, Part 2,” Summer 2009 (cover story)
“Heartbreaker: Hannah Berry’s Britten and Brülightly,” Spring 2009
“Miss Jane Marple: Spinster Sleuth Extraordinaire,” Winter 2009
“Murder in Black & White: Novels of the Civil Rights Era,” Fall 2008
“Do the Right Thing: Harper Lee and To Kill A Mockingbird,” Fall 2007; reprinted here on the novel’s 50th anniversary
“Last Laughs: 10 Comic Crime Films,” Spring 2007
“Visions of Sugar Plums: An Interview with Janet Evanovich,” Holiday 2002
North Carolina Literary Review
“Taking the Long Way Home,” a review of John Hart’s Iron House, 2012 (electronic supplement)
“Michael Malone, Witness to the Times,” an interview, 2011
“Wanda Canada’s Coastal Crimes,” an interview, 2010
“Crimes Close to Home,” a review of John Hart’s North Carolina mysteries, 2009
“A Directory of North Carolina Mystery Writers,” 1995
“Sister in Crime: An Interview with Margaret Maron,” Spring 1994
The Washington Post
“A cold case heats up for detective Harry Bosch,” a review of Michael Connelly’s The Drop, November 30, 2011
“International intelligence's meeting of the minds,” a review of Matthew Dunn’s Spycatcher
“A mother's worth realized in her absence,” a review of Kyung-sook Shin’s Please Look After Mom
“High stakes, swift pace keep readers on the Edge,” a review of Jeffery Deaver’s Edge
“With Mile, Lehane is back, baby, back,” a review of Dennis Lehane’s Moonlight Mile
“Military-industrial-fashion complex,” a review of William Gibson’s Zero History
“Bureaucrats go bang-bang,” a review of Dale Brown’s Executive Intent
“Can an author rewrite her life?” a review of Carolyn Parkhurst’s The Nobodies Album
“The Boy Who Lived,” a review of John Hart’s The Last Child
“High-Energy Maneuvering,” a review of Peter Schechter’s Pipeline
“Africa, in the Shadow of Sept. 11,” a review of Richard North Patterson’s Eclipse
“Checkmate,” a review of Katherine Neville’s The Fire
“A Broadly Painted Bull’s-Eye on the South,” a review of Stephen Hunter’s Night of Thunder
“007’s Double,” a review of David Baldacci’s The Whole Truth
“Memento Mori,” a review of Kate Mosse’s Sepulchre
“Risky Business,” a review of Joe McGinniss Jr.’s The Delivery Man
“An Appetite for Suspense,” a review of Patrick Anderson’s The Triumph of the Thriller
“Mail-Order Ghost,” a review of Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box
“Shallow Grave,” a review of William Gay’s Twilight
“Mowgli in Vermont,” a review of Victoria Vinton’s The Jungle Law
“The Ultimate Makeover,” a review of William Hoffman’s Lies
