How Chicago crime novelist Tracy Clark unwinds after writing about murder and mayhem
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Tracy Clark. Photo: Courtesy of Bruno Passigatti, Bauwerks Photography
How does award-winning Chicago crime writer Tracy Clark unwind after a day of writing about murder and mystery?
Reality check: It's not rom-coms.
The big picture: Tracy Clark is the author of the Cass Raines Chicago Mystery series about an ex-cop turned private investigator and the Detective Harriet Foster series, featuring a homicide detective.
- Clark's stories are based in her hometown of Chicago, where she still lives in South Shore. They feature smart, African American women navigating the male-dominated world of crime fighting.
The latest: Her latest book "Echo," out Tuesday, follows a murder on a Chicago college campus that has striking similarities to an unsolved crime at the school decades earlier.
- Clark will talk about the book Thursday at 7pm at the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square.
What they're saying: "Every writer has their niche, mine is crime and murder (cue ominous voice here)," Clark tells Axios.
- "Not so strangely, when I read, watch television, or go to a movie, I prefer my entertainment be accompanied by a healthy dose of fictional homicide, and murder most foul can never be foul enough for me."
Dig in: We asked Clark when she's not writing whodunnit crime novels, what she watches and reads. Here's what she said:
📺 "Elsbeth"
- "Part 'Columbo,' part 'Miss Marple,' Elsbeth is a police consultant who somehow always knows more than the police. This show's a good wind down to a stressful writing day."
📺 "Marlowe Murder Club"
- "British crime show. Insulated small town, a lot of citizens getting bumped off in fantastical ways. But good fun."
📺 "Matlock"starring Kathy Bates
- "Bates' Matlock is a stone-cold liar. I LOVE it. And the character pegged it right in the pilot episode: Women of a certain age are invisible to most."
📖 Forgotten Sisters, by Cynthia Pelayo
- "Pelayo's books are part crime and part creepy horror, which is a fantastic combination when you're looking for a good read. Pelayo is not going to rock you to sleep. In fact, you may never sleep soundly again."
📖 ANYTHING, and I mean, anything written by S.A. Cosby
- "Cosby is, in my opinion, the current standard bearer for Southern noir. "All the Sinners Bleed" was his last release."