Crime Lines Up...By the Book

All we were missing was the height chart behind us....





The original plan was to video tape the entire panel discussion, but when we found our tables set up against a beautiful and dramatic backdrop, we loved the setting but knew the video tape would be impossible. Shooting against the sun turned us all into black silhouettes, which really only works if you're doing the opening credits to James Bond.

So we briefly lined up against a nearby black wall and, as befitting our profession, a private eye made this little video.

Don Lasseter is a veteran of the True Crime genre with 20 books to his credit. He told the story of one murderer he had to interview who later called him on the phone: "Don, I'm at the corner of X & Y! Come pick me up!"  Don's terror was relieved only when the inmate admitted he was joking. Some prank!

Annette and Gayle (on the right) are co-authors of their first True Crime book about a French underworld assassination that took place in 1937. Professional historians, Annette and Gayle were able to delve into musty French archives and rattle some very old Parisian families.

Caitlin Rother has several True Crime books and TV shows to her credit. She told of a murder victim from one of her books who came to her in her dreams. Catilin told the crowd she can't escape the influence of her own books in many parts of her life, as she views each new acquaintance through the prism of potential for danger.

 I told how Dale Hausner, the Phoenix Serial Shooter, would drop his pen during trial, leveraging an opportunity to bend down and face me in the gallery, trying to initiate eye contact and engage in non-verbal communication. Marjorie Orbin, convicted of dismembering her husband, expected me to be the jail rabbi when she was first led into the visiting booth. Nevertheless, she talked to me for hours while I visited her in jail and also wrote me voluminous letters.

Standing in front of my books (at lower right)

At the Mystery Ink book stall I spotted this T shirt which couldn't be more fitting, could it? I loved it! This avid reader was happy to pose for this snapshot (and if she contacts me with her name I will be happy to put it up here!).  Where else would you find a shirt like this than loitering about a clutch of crime writers?!

Thanks to private detective Paul Huebl, an old friend from our television days, for creating this fun snippet!

Camille Kimball's books:

What She Always Wanted

A Sudden Shot

The Mammoth Book of Tough Guys
Coming soon: Masters of True Crime-Chilling Stories of Murder and the Macabre