New interview with crime fiction novelist Ed Duncan

A hearty welcome back to crime fiction author Ed Duncan. We’re chatting about his new novel, Rico Stays.

You can read our last interview about The Last Straw.

Bio:

Ed is a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University Law School. He was a partner at a national law firm in Cleveland, Ohio for many years. He is the original author of a highly regarded legal treatise entitled Ohio Insurance Coverage, for which he provided annual editions from 2008 through 2012. Rico Stays is the third novel in the Pigeon-Blood Red Trilogy which began with Pigeon-Blood Red and was followed by The Last Straw. Ed, originally from Gary, Indiana, lives outside Cleveland.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Ed. Please tell us about your newest release.

Rico Stays continues the saga of the uneasy friendship between two men from different sides of the tracks, each of whom harbors a secret admiration for the other. Paul Elliott is an African American lawyer in a large, mostly white corporate law firm in Chicago, and Richard "Rico" Sanders is a white enforcer/killer for hire, but one with a conscience. Their paths cross when Rico is gravely wounded in a shootout with the hot-headed nephew of a local mob boss and three other men. Rico dispatches the three men, one of whom has a brother who has just been released from prison in California, but the nephew escapes and vows revenge. The brother arrives in Chicago also seeking revenge and joins forces with the nephew and others, but the brother is conflicted because of a budding relationship with an old girlfriend who thinks he has abandoned his criminal past.

After a brief hospital stay, Rico is released but he is in no condition to face multiple gunmen. Therefore, his girlfriend Jean persuades Paul to let them use Paul's cabin, located miles from the city, as a hideout until Rico regains his strength. Paul's girlfriend Evelyn has always been wary of Rico, and Paul allowing Rico to use his cabin causes a rift between her and Paul. After a few days, using Jean as bait, several killers lure Rico back to the city, and Paul and Evelyn are along for the ride and the climactic gun battle that follows.

What inspired you to write this book?

I knew practically from the start that I wanted to write at least a trilogy. With Pigeon-Blood Red and The Last Straw behind me, all that remained was to come up with a plot and a title for the third book. I knew I wanted Rico to be more vulnerable than in the first two books. Once I imagined him being wounded and needing Paul's help, the other elements of the plot fell into place. The title came to me while watching an old Barbara Stanwyck movie called Babyface. There was a scene where Stanwyck's lover asks her to get rid of her long-time maid, whose name was Chico. In response she replies gruffly, "Chico Stays." That gave me the idea for the title.

Excerpt from Rico Stays:

Cosgrove, however, hadn’t finished venting and didn’t appreciate Koblentz’s gesture. “You want some of this, old man?”

“I was just –”

Cosgrove interrupted him with a vicious slap to the mouth that drew blood. Koblentz fell to one knee, head bowed, and was silent.

“You bastard!” Jean yelled. She glanced at Rico, who was still in his car in front of her some ten yards away. She wasn’t sure how much he’d seen because his expression, as usual, was utterly inscrutable behind his aviators. She sprinted to Koblentz’s side and knelt beside him. “Are you okay?”

Cosgrove glared at her, then a cruel smile lifted his mouth. She was a mouth-wateringly gorgeous woman and his mouth watered. Taunting her, he pressed one foot against Koblentz’s back and slowly forced him to the ground. Jean’s eyes flashed and she straightened up and slapped him hard enough to make his head turn. At once surprised and enraged, he immediately drew his arm back to retaliate. Jean closed her eyes and flinched in anticipation. Cosgrove reached far behind him to increase the momentum of his blow and then he launched his open hand toward her as hard as he could, creating a swoosh of air as his hand traveled forward to meet Jean’s face.

But it never reached its target.

Rico had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and, with one hand, had grabbed Cosgrove’s wrist from behind, stopping his hand mere inches from Jean’s face. Now he stood behind Cosgrove holding his wrist in a vice-like grip from which there was no hope of escape. Slender and soft, Cosgrove was around five feet ten inches tall and weighed about one hundred and seventy-five pounds. Rico stood six feet two, weighed over two hundred pounds, and was solid muscle.

He was a killer, but not your run-of-the mill killer. He was exceptional at what he did, but he was not only that. He was also a killer with a conscience. He didn’t kill kids, he killed women only as a last resort, and he only killed people who “had it coming.” Or at least that was what he told himself, because sometimes it was a close call. But at least he tried. And that made him unique, as nobody else in his business gave a hit a second thought.

Cosgrove tried to turn to face him, but with just one hand holding his wrist, Rico prevented him from even budging. After Cosgrove stopped squirming, Rico twisted the man’s arm behind his back and wrenched it upward until he yelped in pain. Then he thrust his free forearm under Cosgrove’s chin and applied just enough pressure so that Cosgrove, with some effort, could still breathe and talk. Just.

Cosgrove squealed, “What the –”

“Shut up,” Rico said and turned to Jean who was helping Koblentz to his feet. “You all right?”

“Fine.” Her worried eyes met Koblentz’s. She smiled. “Are you okay?”

Gingerly wiping the blood from his face, he nodded and smiled back.

“Wait in the car,” Rico said.

“What are you gonna do with him?” Jean asked, a little apprehensively.

“Wait in the car.”

Jean started to press him but by now she knew the drill. She collected her shopping cart and she and Koblentz headed for the car. The boy, still on his back resting on his elbows, scrambled to his feet and stood staring at Rico in awe. Rico said, “Kid, get outta here.” Dejected, the boy slowly started to walk away. Raising his voice an octave, Rico said to the other gawkers, “That goes for everybody else, too.”

The edge in his voice did the trick. No one objected and no one lingered. Except the boy. He turned around after he’d taken a few steps and, in a voice just above a whisper, said, “Thanks, mister.”

The slightest hint of a smile appeared on Rico’s face. “Nice catch, kid.” That brought a grin to the boy’s face. He pounded the ball in his glove and hurried away.

Rico scanned the area in a 360-degree arc and, seeing no one besides the steadily retreating onlookers, released the choke hold on Cosgrove’s neck but maintained his grip on his wrist. Then he placed his free hand on the back of Cosgrove’s neck and, mimicking what Cosgrove had done to Koblentz moments earlier, he slowly guided him to the ground, face down. Rico knelt beside him.

Cosgrove coughed and drew in several sweet breaths of air now that the pressure on his windpipe had been relieved. “Your ass is mine, motherfucker,” he hissed under his breath.

“I don’t think so,” Rico said as he patted Cosgrove down. “I’m pretty attached to it.”

The pat down yielded a Smith and Wesson Model 10 .38 revolver in Cosgrove’s belt under his jacket. Searching him had been a basic precaution, yet Rico hadn’t expected to find a gun and when he did, he immediately regretted leaving his own in his apartment.

“Shit,” he said out loud, but it was in the same tone of voice he might have used if he’d walked down three flights of stairs only to find that he’d left his cell phone upstairs in his apartment. In other words, he was irritated but not alarmed – yet. After all, this was only one guy with a .38 – no, one guy who used to have a .38. And so far, there was no evidence that he had company.

But there was no evidence that he was alone, either.

Rico tucked the gun in his own belt next to his belly, and with his free hand he reached down and turned Cosgrove’s face toward him. He had a question. He knew he couldn’t trust Cosgrove’s answer but the inflexion in his voice might give him a clue. “You alone, smart ass?”

Cosgrove said nothing.

Rico increased the upward pressure on Cosgrove’s arm which was still pinned behind his back. Cosgrove gritted his teeth. Rico increased the pressure again until Cosgrove could stand it no longer. He yelled, “Help!”

Maybe it was just a primal cry to the heavens, but Rico thought it was directed toward someone. Maybe more than one person. Who knew? He relaxed the pressure on Cosgrove’s arm but continued to hold his wrist in a vice-like grip. With his other hand he checked the .38, engaging the cylinder release, snapping the cylinder free, spinning it with his thumb, then snapping it back in place. It was fully loaded. Six rounds. A picture of his Sig Sauer with its twelve-round capacity magazine flashed across his mind. This will have to do.

What is your next writing project?

I haven't decided yet whether to enlarge the trilogy. I suppose it could be called the Pigeon-Blood Red Trilogy plus One. While I ponder that, though, as I mentioned in my last interview, I've written screenplays for each of the novels and am hoping to get them produced. Although the market is larger than ever these days, it is still very competitive, especially for an outsider. Alternatively, it is possible that the screenplays could be converted into a TV series and, if so, I would love to be involved.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book?

All of my books so far have been about the same main characters. The biggest challenge is devising a plot that results in their lives intersecting in an interesting and believable way. Although reading my novels requires a suspension of disbelief, nevertheless, I want the reader to imagine that what I've written could actually happen. In other words, I don't want the plots or characters to be totally divorced from reality. To achieve that effect while working with characters from such disparate backgrounds requires some effort.

If your novels require research - please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you're writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

As I mentioned in my last interview, I had to research the history of pigeon-blood red rubies and specifications for Rico's automatic of choice, the Sig Sauer, but practically everything else comes from books I've read or films I've seen that depict criminals and gangsters. So far my books have not dealt very much with Paul's law practice, but to the extent they have, obviously, I been able to draw upon my own experience as a civil trial lawyer. One small detail did require some minimal research. I wanted a conference table in Paul's law office to be made from uncommon and expensive wood. I knew nothing about the kind of wood that might fit that description. After a Google search, I came up Bocote, an exotic wood native to Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. I only used the word in one sentence, but I think it added a nice touch.

What's your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

In my last interview I mentioned the table downstairs that separates my kitchen from the family room and my study upstairs. Those haven't changed but when the weather is nice, I take a legal pad outside and work on my patio in my back yard. I have to admit, though, that I get a lot more done inside than outside.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside your genre?

In addition to those mentioned in my other interviews, I've read in my genre Lisa Scottoline (whom I met at a book conference and took a picture with), John D. MacDonald, Lou Berney (whom I met when he gave a talk at a local library), and Caleb Pirtle (who is also a fan of my work). Outside of my genre I've read Bryan Stevenson and Max Hastings (both nonfiction authors) and Carlos Luis Zafon (author of a magical novel that almost defies description) to name a few.

New interview with mystery novelist Ed Duncan

Novelist Ed Duncan is back for a visit! Today we’re chatting about his new crime thriller, The Last Straw

Bio:

Ed Duncan is a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University Law School. He was a partner at a national law firm in Cleveland, Ohio for many years. He currently lives outside of Cleveland, OH and is at work on the third installment in the Pigeon-Blood Red series.

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Ed. Please tell us about your newest release.

In this novel, a teenage girl witnesses a carjacking gone bad. As a result, she is marked for death by a crime boss with no apparent motive. A black partner at a large law firm, who is a friend of the family, and a white enforcer who have an unlikely history together forge an uneasy alliance to protect the girl from a hit man with an agenda of his own.

What inspired you to write this book?

The Last Straw is the second installment in the trilogy that began with Pigeon-Blood Red. (On Amazon and elsewhere the three books are collectively referred to as the Pigeon-Blood Red trilogy.) The last in the series will be called Rico Stays. Since I decided very early that I would write at least a trilogy involving the same main characters, the inspiration for the second novel is essentially that same as that for the first in the trilogy. 

I was attending a legal seminar in Honolulu in the mid-90's when one evening the germ of fan idea came to me. In my mind's eye I saw a beautiful, mysterious woman traveling alone and carrying something valuable that bad people -- dangerous people -- were trying to get their hands on, and I saw a lawyer coming to her rescue. That was all I knew about the novel I hoped to write. I had the inspiration and now all I needed was the time to write. Alas, I did not get that until I retired.

Over the months and years that followed the initial inspiration, I filled in details, many of which changed as a result of the many drafts and re-drafts. The "something" the woman was carrying became a priceless necklace. After I settled on jewelry as the "McGuffin," to use Hitchcock's phrase, I searched the library (pre-Google days) for something exotic and discovered the phrase "pigeon-blood red" which, of course, was coined by Indian gem dealers centuries ago and describes the color of the rarest and most valuable rubies in the world, the same color as the first two drops of blood that trickle from the nostrils of a freshly killed pigeon.

I determined early on that the woman in danger, Evelyn (unlike her namesake in the movie Chinatown), would not be a femme fatale and instead would be an innocent victim. The hardest part of the novel was figuring out how to get the purloined necklace into her hands without her knowing it was stolen and how to get the pivotal characters from Chicago to Honolulu, the two places where I wanted the action to take place, without the plot appearing to be contrived.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or with writing this book)

My main characters are Rico, a white hit man/enforcer, and Paul, a black partner in a large law firm headquartered in Chicago. The biggest challenge for all three novels has been to dream up a plot that causes these characters to cross paths in an interesting and realistic way where each has an impact on the life of the other and on the lives of their significant others, respectively Jean, a high end call girl/prostitute, and Evelyn, a college professor. Obviously, the lives of these characters would not normally intersect at all, let alone three times (or more if I decide to extend the series). I'm very pleased with the ultimate results, but getting there has been, as you say in your question, a challenge.

If your novels require research, please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you're writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

In Pigeon-Blood Red, as mentioned earlier, I had to research the origin and history of "pigeon-blood red" rubies, which turned out to be fascinating. I did that research before I started writing because I wanted to find something interesting and exotic if possible that I knew I would be able to write about. Incidentally, in the novel I gave a figure for the most expensive rubies sold at auction as of the writing of the novel, which of course I researched. Before it was published, however, I read about a more expensive ruby that had sold at auction between the time I finished the novel and its publication. Fortunately, I had time to change the novel to use the most recent valuation. Also, Rico, the hit man in the novels, uses a particular hand gun that I wanted to be the best and most expensive of its kind. From the research I did (again, in advance) that gun turned out to be a Sig Sauer, known in some circles as the Cadillac of hand guns. I had never heard of it before I did the research, however.

What's your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

I write my first draft in long hand on a white legal pad. Mostly that occurs on a narrow table that separates my kitchen from the family room. Because I live alone, I don't have any distractions. My computer is upstairs in my study. That is where I transfer my first draft to a Word document, which of course goes through a number of additional drafts. There is nothing particularly unusual about either space, except that study has a more comfortable chair. It's the one I used when I was still practicing law. It's a high back leather chair with arm rests. It swivels and allows me to slide across the floor on a plastic pad to look at files behind me and to my right without having to stand. It's also easier to fall asleep in than the one downstairs!

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

Authors within my genre that I enjoy reading include Dashiell Hammett, Lee Child, Dennis Lehane, Scott Turow and Walter Mosley. Outside my genre they include Ernest Hemingway, James Jones, Somerset Maugham, Richard Wright, Ken Follett, and Theodore Dreiser.

What's the next writing project?

The next writing project is the third in my trilogy, Rico Stays. In it Paul and Rico lock horns with killers seeking revenge against Rico, and this time Rico, recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, reluctantly accepts help from Paul.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

Screenplays have been written for each of the three novels. (I have yet to write the third novel, but in this case the screenplay was written first). I collaborated on the first two scripts and wrote the third alone. I'm trying to interest producers in getting one or more made into a movie for the screen or television. The odds of success are long but I intend to keep trying!

Thanks for your questions!

To learn more, go to my website. Readers can connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Thanks for stopping in, Ed. All the best with your writing!

Interview with crime thriller author Ed Duncan

Kicking off a holiday week with an interview with Ed Duncan about his crime thriller Pigeon-Blood Red.

Bio:

Ed Duncan is a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University Law School. He was a partner at a national law firm in Cleveland, Ohio for many years. He currently lives outside of Cleveland, OH and is at work on the second installment in the Pigeon-Blood Red trilogy.

Welcome, Ed. Please tell us about your current release.

Set in Chicago and Honolulu, Pigeon-Blood Red tells the story of an underworld enforcer's pursuit of a man who stole a "pigeon-blood red" ruby necklace worth millions, and it describes the effect the chase ultimately has on the enforcer and on a couple of innocent bystanders who accidentally become embroiled in the crime. The hardened hitman is faced with a dilemma when he develops a grudging respect for the couple, the thief's estranged wife who is oblivious to his crime, and an old flame who comes to her rescue. His dilemma? He is ordered to kill the couple and if he does not, he will endanger the life of the woman he loves.

What inspired you to write this book?

I had been a practicing lawyer at a national law firm for about twenty years when the idea of the novel first came to me. I was attending a legal seminar in Honolulu. One evening after dinner I sat on a bench outside to admire the lush grounds of the hotel, and the kernel of an idea sprang to mind. What if a lawyer on holiday in Honolulu, or attending a seminar, as I was, had a chance encounter with a mysterious woman who was both attractive and vulnerable? And what if the woman was running for her life from some unknown danger? And, finally, what if the lawyer, against great odds, managed to save her?

In my novel the lawyer, Paul Elliott, became the old flame and the mysterious woman, Evelyn Rogers, became the estranged wife. The underworld enforcer became Rico, a killer with a conscience. And, of course, the unknown danger was that Evelyn's husband had stolen the priceless ruby necklace, thereby unwittingly marking her and Paul for death. The odd thing was, though, that Rico's character is so interesting that it was a struggle to keep him from becoming the central focus of a story whose main character I had meant to be Paul, the lawyer and my alter ego. I think I was successful in reining him in somewhat, but you'll have to read the novel to see whether you agree.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Right now, the sequel to Pigeon-Blood Red (no title yet), which was always meant to be the first in a trilogy. The third installment is an unproduced screenplay (also untitled) I wrote that I'll convert to a novel.

How did the third installment start out as a screenplay? 

While I was waiting to get Pigeon-Blood Red published, I converted that novel and the next installment in the trilogy into screenplays. Then, rather than beginning with a novel that I would turn into a script, I thought it would be interesting to start with the script, so that's what I did with the third installment in the trilogy. Maybe one day one of the three novels will generate interest in one of the screenplays or vice versa -- at least that's the plan.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

In the last years of my legal practice, I wrote a text for lawyers and judges called "Ohio Insurance Coverage" and I supplied annual updates for five years. I suppose I could have considered myself a writer at that point. However, it was only upon publication of Pigeon-Blood Red in February of this year that I actually thought of myself as a writer. Writing the legal text was part of my job as a lawyer. Writing my novel was my vocation as an author.

I retired from my law firm in 2012 to write and travel. Since then I've traveled outside the U.S. at least once a year and sometimes twice. Next up is South Africa this fall and Hawaii the following spring. I hope to dream up some new ideas for novels during one or both trips. In the meantime, I've already written a draft of the sequel to Pigeon-Blood Red.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

Since I'm retired, I don't force myself into a regular writing schedule. I write when I feel like it and it's much easier to do when it's raining in the summertime or anytime in the winter. After my trilogy is complete, I'll probably shoehorn myself into a schedule of sorts but right now I don't feel the need to do so.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I'm not sure you would call it a quirk, but I write sections of my novels (of varying length depending on my mood) out in long hand, and then I do multiple revisions of each section before transferring it to my computer. I have the impression (perhaps mistaken) that most writers today have abandoned long hand as their starting point. By the time I've finished with the revisions, no one can read my draft except me and sometimes even I have trouble following all of the inserts and deletions.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a child I think the first thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a cowboy. My father and mother and all of my brothers were big western fans, and we watched westerns on television -- both regular series and movies -- religiously. My favorite series were "Have Gun Will Travel" and "Wanted Dead or Alive," and my favorite movie was "Shane." I'm certain some of the traits of the heroes and villains in those TV shows and movies have found their way into the Paul and Rico characters in my novel.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

One of my biggest influences as a writer is film noir and the novels on which many of the best of those films are based. Perhaps the novel and film of the same name that has influenced me the most is "The Maltese Falcon." The movie took much of the dialogue directly from Dashiell Hammett's novel, which is one of the reasons the movie is so good. If I ever even approached Hammett's masterful use of dialogue, I would be one happy camper.

Links:

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Thanks for being here today, Ed! All the best with your writing.