Beantown Crime

Yesterday's Boston Globe had an interesting article on that town's prominence in crime fiction.

With so much fiction gone bad out there, how is it that Boston and its neighborhoods continue to churn out so much of the good stuff? Is it something about the Boston character? Is it the city itself, its brownstones and triple-deckers? The history of so many fantastic true crime stories, from the tales of "Whitey" Bulger to the Boston Strangler to the Irish gang wars to Charles Stuart? Or maybe just the way we talk? In this story, there is no pat ending, no neat resolution. Not even the city's biggest names in the genre agree.

They go on to talk to Dennis Lehane and Robert B. Parker, each of whom shares some insight on their hometown as well as the writing process.

The article also presents "Five of the best Boston crime novels":

MYSTIC RIVER By Dennis Lehane

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE By George V. Higgins

PROMISED LAND By Robert B. Parker

THE BIG DIG By Linda Barnes

SO LIKE SLEEP By Jeremiah Healy