Interview With Tim Maleeny by Lou

The Hanging Devil is Tim Maleeny’s latest mystery book, set in the art world and today, I welcome him to my blog for a Q&A, where you will get to know more about more about why he writes in the Mystery genre, he also discusses AI Technology, Poisons, Art, How to follow him and more…

Tim Maleeny has won the Macavity Award and the Lefty Award. This book is a fascinating look at art forgery and heists, based on actual crimes, featuring a unique third-person POV within the private investigation mystery subgenre.

Without further ado, find out about the blurb and then what Tim Maleeny has to say. His answers truly are insightful and fascinating.

Blurb

It was supposed to be a simple job: steal the paintings, leave the forgeries…

When a helicopter crashes through the skylight of the Asian Art Museum, an audacious heist turns into a tragedy. The only witness to the crash is eleven-year-old Grace, who watches in horror as her uncle is killed and a priceless statue stolen by two men and a-ghost? At least that’s how the eerie, smoke-like figure with parchment skin and floating hair appears to Grace. Scared almost to death, she flees into the night and seeks refuge in the back alleys of San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Grace is found by Sally Mei, self-appointed guardian of Chinatown. While Sally trains Grace in basic survival skills, her erstwhile partner Cape Weathers, private detective and public nuisance, searches for the mysterious crew behind the robbery before they strike the museum a second time. As the clock winds down, Cape enlists aid from some unlikely allies to lay a trap for a ghost who has no intention of being caught-nor of leaving any witnesses alive to tell the tale.It was supposed to be a simple job: steal the paintings, leave the forgeries…

Now, you know more about the plot, please proceed onto the interview.

1. Who or what inspired you to write novels and in the mystery genre?

Thanks to my parents I grew up surrounded by books. Dime paperbacks from the thirties, historical novels, science fiction adventures, pulp thrillers and noir mysteries, along with books about the Greek myths and a small collection of leather-bound classics. I always knew I wanted to write fiction but didn’t know where to start until I began writing short stories. At the time, the bulk of what I was reading for pleasure was crime fiction, and I found my voice in those stories. A mystery can incorporate any style of storytelling, from humor to horror, historical to romance, or all of the above. The only necessary ingredients for a mystery novel are equal parts intrigue and suspense, the rest is up to you.

2. Hanging the Devil is an art heist. What research did you do into art crimes?

A story that began as a museum heist turned into an international thriller by the time I finished writing because it turns out there is quite a bit of mischief in the art world. Auction houses and museum directors who look the other way as known forgeries are sold and displayed as original masterpieces. Specialized police units in countries around the world, like the Carabinieri Art Squad in Italy and the Cultural Heritage Division of Interpol. Thieves, smugglers and forgers on government payrolls. When I first walked into a museum to check their security and begin my research for Hanging The Devil, I never would have guessed that I’d discover an underground economy where organized crime, greedy government officials and some of the world’s biggest museums conspire to keep the art world a mystery.

3. Do you like art and if so, what’s your favourite piece?

I am an art lover but would never claim to be an art expert. Learning about art is like reading a book—it begins with a visceral reaction to an idea, and before you know it, you’re empathizing with the characters on the canvas, then learning all you can about the history and context of the painting. Art has inspired me to study history and learn about other cultures, but my tastes, like my interests, run the gamut from comic book art to classical paintings and everything in between. I’m as likely to fall in love with a velvet Elvis as a Rembrandt, as long as it strikes a chord and looks good on the wall. For Hanging The Devil, it was crucial to know what an art forger or thief would look for in a painting, so I spent a lot of time researching the techniques of famous painters. And since part of the story takes place in present-day China, it was essential to understand the historical significance of paintings and sculptures from the 18^th century that could be on display at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, where the robbery in the first chapter takes place.

4. You’re said to do excessive research into exotic poisons and other things. What fascinates you about poisons and what is the most exotic poison you’ve discovered to be in existence?

My first major short story was called “Till Death Do Us Part,” the title story in an anthology edited by Harlan Coben for the Mystery Writers of America, about an older couple who’d been trying to poison each other for over forty years, a marital game of chess between two masters. From Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie to more modern mysteries, poisons always make the puzzle more perplexing, often unseen and undetected except by the sharpest eye. I’m fascinated by any poison used as a weapon in the natural world, whether it’s secreted by a tree frog, jellyfish, or octopus. My favourite might be the venom of a blue-ringed octopus, a cute little critter that can kill you in under a minute if you get on its bad side. And you can’t go wrong with poisons from plants, like cyanide, which can be found in the pits of apricots and cherries; or arsenic, which is found in rice. So if you want to become a criminal mastermind or famous detective, crack open a book on chemistry and start taking notes.

5. Hanging the Devil is darkly comical as well as mysterious, how do you go about injecting some humour into what are essentially dark subject matters, such as murder?

Humor is a bridge to empathy. When reading fiction, a smile or laugh helps you connect with a character faster, and so much of the misdirection in a mystery can happen when one character deflects with humor rather than share their true feelings. And when two characters with competing agendas collide, it may not be funny to them, but we’re laughing from having been in equally frustrating situations ourselves. Consider your favorite TV show or sitcom. When Lucille Ball is working on the assembly line in the chocolate factory with Ethel it’s pure mayhem, a nightmare for them but pure comedy for those of us watching.

I wanted Hanging The Devil to be exciting and suspenseful but also fun. Some books are quiet walks in the garden, but mine are more like a drunken ride on a roller coaster.

There is a great tradition of understated humor in noir fiction, often a hard-bitten cynicism peppered with wry observations about the human condition. Those hardboiled mysteries are the books that inspired me to write crime fiction, and later I discovered writers like Elmore Leonard, Loren Estleman, and Ross Thomas, virtuosos who seamlessly blend humor into their narratives through their very real-life characters. People do stupid things, and when you’re a criminal, any misstep can have devasting—and hilarious—consequences. I’m less interested in writing about a perfect crime than a perfect plan that goes horribly wrong, because in life, as in any good mystery, you never really know what happens next.

6. What made you decide to have an 11-year-old witness a guard being murdered and how did you put yourself in your character’s shoes to be able to write about their perspective?

I vividly remember what it felt like to be that age, the confidence of youth coupled with a growing realization that the world is so much bigger than you are. As for 11-year-old Grace, the witness to the museum heist in Hanging The Devil, fortunately I have two amazing daughters for inspiration when writing about a clever, creative and courageous character.

7. People are watching AI fairly carefully and discussing it, what is your perspective on this?

Ah, this is a big topic. So-called AI has tremendous positive potential and is being successfully applied in so many ways in business, science, even medicine—but there is definitely a dystopian side to AI that is starting to show its face. We have a co-dependent relationship with our digital devices and spend every waking moment on a digital landscape that is manipulated by companies that want to sell us something and monitored by governments that want to track everything we say or do. In countries around the world it’s become incredibly Orwellian almost overnight, so although I’m a technophile at heart, I’d argue that today’s inventors are not thinking things through in their rush to build what’s next. We’re at a moment in our civilization when our tech is more advanced than we are, and our brains are not ready to handle some of the software that’s already shaping how we live. A recent study showed that the average adult attention span is now less than nine seconds, so we’re turning into a civilization of goldfish.

8. Hanging the Devil will be published on 14^th How will you be celebrating?

The best way to celebrate a new book release is to go on tour! I’ll be signing copies of Hanging The Devil in New York on the 15^th of November and then head to Scottsdale, San Francisco, Houston and LA on the first leg of the tour, meeting readers and reconnecting with booksellers who love mysteries as much as I do.

9. What is next for you?

Currently I’m procrastinating but have plenty of writing to do, most importantly the next book featuring Cape and Sally. There is also a standalone novel I’ve been thinking about for a while, a YA adventure if I can make the time, and a couple of short stories on the horizon.

10. Where can people follow you?

Readers can reach me through my website www.timmaleny.com or follow @timmaleeny on Instagram, where I post updates on books I’m writing and books I’m reading.