The Light Enables Mystery Writers to Explore the Dark by Bobby Mathews

Here’s a surprising twist on crime and mystery writers that you might not know: these writers who deal with some of the darkest crimes that the human mind can conjure are also some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

I think it’s because we get our darkness onto the page and let it bleed out on the crime scene of our work. I learned early on — well before any of my novels were published — that mystery and crime fiction authors are incredibly kind and gracious. I am, in some ways, a decently successful novelist and short story writer. My book, Living the Gimmick, broke out in a small way for a novel from a small press, had good sales, and won a couple of regional awards. The follow-up, Magic City Blues, was nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original in 2024. I’ve won a Derringer Award for my short fiction, and had a story included in Best American Mystery & Suspense.

I am not one of the famous names in our genre, even though I occasionally hang out with some of them.

I’m a fan just like anyone else. At Bouchercon in San Diego, I went up to the insanely talented Megan Abbott and asked her to sign my copy of her novel, Beware the Woman. She already knew that I was a huge fan of her work, and I told her that I really appreciated her signing the book to me.

“Don’t be silly,” she said. “We’re colleagues.”

Colleagues? With Megan Abbott? With S.A. Cosby? With Jordan Harper? With Kellye Garrett? With Ace Atkins? With Alex Segura and Jess Freakin’ Lourey? With Debra Goldstein??? That put a new spin on how I thought of myself. While I still have an enormous bout of imposter syndrome every time I approach the page, her words ring in my ears as I chase down the words and tell the tales I hope that I was born to tell. That small interaction meant more to me than Megan will ever know. 

When my short story collection, Negative Tilt, was accepted for publication, I emailed Ace to ask if he’d blurb the book. Asking for blurbs is nerve-wracking for almost every author, but especially for one whose reputation at the time was so thin. Ace wrote back and said he’d take a look at the book. The collection was a hit with him, and he gave me an enthusiastic blurb.

I’ve had personal struggles even while having professional success. My mom died the same year Living the Gimmick debuted. My dad passed away 14 months later. Three other family members died during the same time span. Over the last six months or so, I’ve had some health challenges that have kept me away from the page for weeks at a time. But it hasn’t mattered. The crime and mystery writing community never let me fall. People I’d never met in person were emailing and messaging me to check on me and let me know they were in my corner. 

I write crime fiction because I like to read the dark stuff, to explore the human psyche at what I consider its most vulnerable. I put a Southern twist on it because I am a native of the Deep South. But I love the community because while we explore the darkest of themes, writers like Mindy Carlson and Alex Kenna and Tony Wirt and Jason Powell and James D.F. Hannah — and I know I’m forgetting a lot of people — are the brightest of lights. Those are the kinds of folks who make mystery and crime fiction more than a genre. They make it a home, and I’m proud to be here.

Living the Gimmick: https://shotgunhoney.com/books/catalog/living-the-gimmick-by-bobby-mathews/ 

Magic City Blues: https://shotgunhoney.com/books/catalog/magic-city-blues-by-bobby-mathews/ 

Negative Tilt: https://shotgunhoney.com/books/catalog/negative-tilt-stories-by-bobby-mathews/ 

Website is https://bamawriter.com/ 

Bobby Mathews is an award-winning (and -losing!) author from Birmingham, Alabama. His work has been featured in multiple magazines, anthologies, and websites that dig noir fiction. If he’s not writing, he’s probably coaching youth baseball or just procrastinating. His next book will be out sometime after he finishes writing it.