Readers have been enthralled with crime, and true crime, for as long as the genre has existed and part-time Haliburton resident, Hope Thompson, has added to the bookshelves.
Thompson recently published Dark Thoughts & Other Stories: a collection of 11 crime stories, with many having a “noir quality.”
She described it as, “set on city streets from the 1930s and 50s, to the present day and beyond, these stories bristle with the grit of noir. While some are lighter, and others darker, all are about people forced by circumstance to escape their situation – or die trying.”
Thompson, who splits her time between Haliburton village and Toronto, said she has always been interested in noir. “So, these stories draw on that. They also draw on the cozy crime stories; say Agatha Christie; a little bit of everything. Some of the stories are historical, some are present day.”
Thompson said the short stories are mostly driven by “outsider characters; like single women, unmarried women, people who are kind of navigating patriarchy in some way; navigating the world from an outsider space. It’s very different from crime stories where it’s the male detective as the main lead.”
The author noted, “characters are cornered, caught and facing their own demise.” For example, an advice columnist receives a letter from a murderer. A drifter obsesses over a serial killer. A painter contemplates her final brush stroke – with death.”
As to why people love reading crime and true crime, Thompson said she thinks it’s partly escapism.
“The fact the world is in such a horrific place right now. It’s, ironically, going to a story that involves murder and what have you, as a form of escapism. It almost always is, and has been, since the invention of the genre. It’s always had this popularity and is the highest-selling genre.”
This is Thompson’s first book of short stories. She is also working on a novel. Add to that, a true crime project with Ellen White of the podcast Whereabouts Unknown.
Thompson has worked in film and television, including writing for the CBC sketch comedy hit Baroness Von Sketch Show. She has a future project with a production company in the Yukon. She also does freelance work to help pay the bills. Thompson has also taught courses for Haliburton School of Art + Design.
Asked how she keeps track of it all, she said it comes down to time management.
“I’ve got a white board with a lot of deadlines, some of which I have missed. I keep writing up lists and trying to strike things off.”
Dark Thoughts & Other Stories is available on Amazon, and at Master’s Book Store In Haliburton.
Thompson also plans to bring the book to Bookapalooza in Minden June 20. She hopes to plan another book reading event while in town for that. “I’m looking forward to being at my first Bookapalooza.”
