Author Archives: Richard Cass

About Richard Cass

Dick is the author of the Elder Darrow Jazz Mystery series, the story of an alcoholic who walks into a dive bar in Boston . . . and buys it. Solo Act was a Finalist for the Maine Literary Award in Crime Fiction in 2017 and In Solo Time won the award in 2018. The third book in the series, Burton's Solo, comes out on November 1, 2018. Dick serves on the Board of the Mystery Writers of America's New England chapter and lives and writes in Cape Elizabeth.

Crime Writing and the Grandmaster

Posted on January 4, 2019

Going to go a little inside baseball on this topic, but when something wakes me up in the middle of the night, I know it’s something I need to write about. And since I have no facility at all for … Continue reading →

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Back Spasms, Walter Mosley, and the Meaning of Ort

Posted on December 6, 2018

Dick here, slowly clawing my way back to health from a nasty stretch of back spasms, the kind of mystery tweaks that appear without warning, where you’re standing at the kitchen counter chopping garlics and you reach for the bottle … Continue reading →

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Why We Do It (Besides the Money)

Posted on November 5, 2018

Dick here, prepping madly for the launch of Burton’s Solo on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at Longfellow Books in Portland. 7:00 PM. Actually not prepping too madly because the book has been dribbling out into the universe over the past … Continue reading →

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Waking October

Posted on October 3, 2018

Shameless Commerce Department: The third book in the Elder Darrow jazz mystery series, Burton’s Solo, drops, as we say in the biz, on November 1, 2018. You can preorder (and keep your money out of Jeff Bezos’s grimy paws) here. Stay tuned for … Continue reading →

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A Trivial Pursuit

Posted on September 6, 2018

Made a trip to the other Portland this month, where triple digit temperatures poached my brain and also got me tangled up in a riot between the Patriot Boys and the Love Bugs in Tom McCall Waterfront Park. I actually … Continue reading →

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How to Say Hello

Posted on August 24, 2018

At five in the morning now, I’m starting to feel the darkness that signifies the slow creep in of autumn and not a moment too soon. As a parting gift to the summer folks (or as an Alafair Burke character … Continue reading →

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Everything’s a Threat If You Look at it Right

Posted on July 9, 2018

First off, many many thanks to MWPA for selecting In Solo Time as winner of the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction for 2018. I’m both honored and humbled, knowing the caliber of the writers we have here in Maine. Second, … Continue reading →

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