Joe Gross interviewed me for the Austin American-Statesman.
Crime Fiction Lover gives Charlesgate Confidential five stars. “It’s an ambitious structure but the author really makes it work. One of the book’s delights is the way events in one chapter inform the next even though there are decades between them. It only succeeds through the author’s incredible attention to detail, an attention that extends throughout the book.”
So this is exciting: A rave review in the Wall Street Journal!
You may need a subscription to read it, so here are some choice excerpts:
No one could say of Charlesgate Confidential (Hard Case Crime, 383 pages, $22.99), the impressive debut novel by film critic Scott Von Doviak, that it lacks gumption. This inventive chronicle of an audacious Boston art theft and its prolonged aftermath unfolds in alternating chapters on three different chronological tracks—1946, 1986 and 2014. Piecing the story and its large cast together can seem like solving a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle in the mirror. But the challenge is a worthy one, and the finished product is immensely enjoyable…Mr. Von Doviak finds the appropriate tone for every occasion in this unpredictable novel, whose moods range from hard-boiled to slapstick to gothic. Even the author’s afterword is entertaining, ending with the sentence: “Please tell all your friends to buy this book.” Consider it done.
In other news, I spoke to Joe Gross on the Austin American-Statesman‘s podcast, I Love You So Much. My segment starts around 22:55.
But my most treasured endorsement so far comes courtesy of The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Society. Not safe for work!
Charlesgate Confidential is the Austin-American Statesman’s “Statesman Selects” choice for September! “BookPeople is proud to partner with the Austin American-Statesman for their monthly Statesman Selects program. Each month, BookPeople will highlight the Statesman’s top recommended read for Austin. September’s pick is CHARLESGATE CONFIDENTIAL by Scott Von Doviak. The author will be here September 22nd at 6PM.”
In addition, Charlesgate Confidential is one of MysteryPeople’s 3 Picks for September.
I am also thrilled to be included in the stellar line-up for this year’s Texas Book Festival.
Much more to come. Watch this space!
I am giving away a signed ARC of Charlesgate Confidential! There are two ways to enter:
That’s it! The deadline is noon CDT on August 15. International entries are welcome. Good luck!
Here is my latest updated tour schedule for Charlesgate Confidential! Hope to see you at one of these fine venues!
More reviews are in:
Publisher’s Weekly calls Charlesgate Confidential a “highly entertaining debut.”
Booklist gives it a starred review! “An all-around superior thriller.”
Hope to see you on my book tour! The first review of Charlesgate Confidential is in. Kirkus Reviews calls my “waggish debut” a “wildly inventive fantasia spiced with frequent revelations of new crimes and new solutions.
The threads winding their way through the three interwoven timelines of Charlesgate Confidential include the Gardner museum heist and the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox, both already explored here in previous posts. But perhaps the most important linking element is the building that gives the novel its title. The Charlesgate, a real building in Boston’s Back Bay, has a fascinating history and a spooky reputation worth exploring. Continue reading
