Rural Noir: What Raymond Chandler didn’t tell you
We have a mythology about small towns in America, and it goes something like this: people know each other, watch out for each other, leave their doors unlocked at night. […]
Read More…Tag: suspense
Rewriting Reality: Who owns a crime story?
Writers like to pretend stories are found objects—arrowheads in the dust, waiting for the right set of eyes. We talk about stumbling onto them, as if narrative were a vein […]
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The Second Coming of Father Bert Clancy
There are two kinds of priests in fiction. The first wears immaculate vestments, speaks in ecclesiastic riddles, and inevitably knows more about the murder than he lets on. The second […]
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The small, strange details in DEEP END you might not notice
There’s a small, mischievous part of me that believes every crime novel should come with a magnifying glass and a wink. As I put the finishing touches on DEEP END, […]
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Ghosts of Placitas: The Real Crime That Haunts DEEP END
For a true-crime writer, the world is seldom what it seems. Every place hums with a past life; every peaceful landscape casts a longer, darker shadow. When I moved to […]
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The Pull of a Dark Road: Why We Love Crime Stories
We read about crimes (and I write about them) not merely to know “whodunit,” but to peer into the hidden architecture of choice—the fragile lines between decency and destruction, the […]
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The Allure of Nowhere: Where the Roads Ends, Mystery Begins
There’s something seductive about the edge of the map. We talk about remote places the way earlier generations spoke of monasteries or islands—as if distance itself confers virtue. Move far […]
Read More…Fireside Chat with Anne Hillerman @ Placitas Library
In a fireside chat with friend and fellow mystery author ANNE HILLERMAN, Ron will talk about his new mystery novel DEEP END, which was inspired by a true-life 1970 double […]
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The Last Honest Place in Town
In every town I’ve ever known—from wind-scoured prairie crossroads to mountain hamlets tucked against a hard horizon—there is a table of old men always holding court over coffee. You know […]
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DEEP END launches!
The wait is over! DEEP END, sequel to Ron’s popular thriller DEAF ROW, will be released today! DEEP END is now available in print, ebook, and audiobook wherever you buy […]
Read More… DEEP END
‘DEEP END’ IS HERE! in print, ebook, and audio formats wherever you buy books! When a cannabis billionaire is murdered, retired Denver homicide detective Woodrow “Mountain” Bell is drawn […]
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Which is harder to write … true crime or crime fiction?
My true crimes like SHADOWMAN and THE DARKEST NIGHT are the product of old-school research and investigation. I’m an old-fashioned reporter who believes in first-hand, up-close sensory experiences that tell […]
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DEAF ROW
Sequel DEEP END coming in 2026! FINALIST in 2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in Crime Fiction! Retired to a small Colorado mountain town, ex-Denver homicide detective Woodrow “Mountain” Bell yearns […]
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‘Chilling’ new DEAF ROW cover unveiled!
A great book cover elicits an emotional response. And if it’s done well, a reader will feel the same while reading the book. In the case of the new cover […]
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Something novel
Unable to go out into the world during Covid, I turned inward. How could I use what I’ve learned in decades of true storytelling and journalism? How can I still write a provocative book without leaving the safety of my home and imagination? The answers changed the arc of my writing.
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