In a rumor that is spreading like wildfire tonight, many readers have owled about a report in the Sunday Times newspaper claiming that author J.K. Rowling is at work writing a crime novel. This report (similar to previous claims that Jo might someday write a mystery novel) stems from an excerpt from a new profile of Scottish writer Ian Rankin, who lives in the same neighborhood area in Edinburgh as J.K. Rowling, and is quoted in the Times article with the following:
Rankin’s wife spotted JKR the other day “scribbling away in a cafe”, he said last week, speculating whether she was “writing her Edinburgh detective novel”.
The Associated Press is also running with this, and this report has a slightly more definitive quote from Ian Rankin, saying:
“My wife spotted her writing her Edinburgh criminal detective novel,” the newspaper, which was available late Saturday, quoted Rankin as saying.
Rankin, famous for his own police novels set in the historic Scottish city, said he had not discussed the project with Rowling personally, and declined to reveal how he had learned about her plans.It is great that she has not abandoned writing or Edinburgh cafes,” Rankin said.
...
The office of Rowling’s literary agent Christopher Little was not immediately available to comment late Saturday.
Again, while Jo has stated in interviews since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that she was at work on two things (“one for children, one not for children”), please keep this very much in the rumor category for now. Thanks to all who emailed!
she’ll be great as a crime novelist..we’ve seen her prowess at creating mysteries in HP..even though I’m sad HP is over,:( I still have hope for that encylopedia!! Waiting for more on this!!!!
Yea, I missed the complete plot twists in DH, where you could go back over the other books, and have things completly changed in your mind. Snape was a good part of that though, and so was catching the snitch in Harry’s mouth, it’s just the dumbleodre storyline that hasn’t changed much in my mind. I hve no idea why, mabey it just hasn’ sunk in yet, you never know…
i’m sure jo is writing lots of things… such a vivid imagination, she must be getting flooded with ideas now that potter’s done… so i highly doubt this rumor means much of anything, but i guess we’ll see sooner or later
I really hope this is true. I’ve always wondered what she can do with a different material. And an Edinburgh muystery story novel sounds so atmospheric.
If it’s true, great! It would be nice to read something completely different from her! I think she would be great in every style of novel. Harry Potter or crime novel, she will be very good at it! :D
I hated when they categorize books into genres or age groups. And I loathe people who dismiss a book categorically just because it belongs to the genre they would never read about. The Harry Potter novels, for instance, are so rich in many different themes that you can hardly sort them to a specific category. And I very much doubt Jo categorizing her writing before its done. Thus claiming she is now working on a crime work makes me repulsed, not by the crime genre at all, though by the categorizing.
Ohhh, I hope this rumour turns out to be true. I am a huuuuge crime novel fan. Apart from Harry Potter, I almost only read crime novels and to have one from JKR would be awesome awesomeness.She was fantastic with the mystery in HP already and she has developed as a writer. After the crime novel, she could return to the HP world and write the Encyclopedia? Please? ;)
I totally agree with you, The Prince, I absolutely detest, DETEST, people who categorise books into age groups, like HP is a “childrens” book, when really Deathly Hallows is not a book for kids! I hope Jo writes something else, i dont mind what genre really, if she is as skilled as we think she is, it will have the best parts of so many genres woven throughout, with an interesting twist at the end!
But give her some peace, guys! After the HP series, she should get her chance to write in cafes again without some reporter writing an article about it every time she does.
honestly, i don’t want to beleive it, although, i would love more books from Jo. she’s an awesome writer, but i still can’t let go of harry potter.
i just can’t yet. bah.
i want the encyclopedia, and then i think i can let it get through to me that the series is over.
but best of luck, jo. i’m sure anything she writes is going to be amazing.
I wonder if JKR could actually be working on a retelling of Orpheus. When I read about this back in July I emailed the info to Leaky but I didn’t see anything about it on the site. Looking back it probably got overlooked since there was so much going on.
Anyway, back on July 22, the News.Scotsman.com reported that “Edinburgh-based publishing firm Canongate has offered Rowling the chance to retell the adventures of the legendary Greek hero, who is best known for attempting to rescue his wife Eurydice from the underworld” and that “Rowling has already expressed an interest in covering the classics after her studies in Greek and Roman mythology at Exeter University in the 1980s, and now Canongate has invited her to become its latest celebrity writer to contribute to its best-selling Myths series.”
To read the whole article, “Rowling poised to work her magic on classic tale of underworld hero,” you can visit http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1142602007
It is so nice to see some meaty Rowling book news again, even if it is strongly in the rumor category right now.
I look forward to anything Jo writes but I very much doubt that ANYTHING will capture my imagination or fill the gaps in my life quite as effectively as Harry Potter has done.
Posted by Alison aka NobleBirth Descending on August 19, 2007, 02:14 PM
report to moderator
"I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him t
she’ll be great as a crime novelist..we’ve seen her prowess at creating mysteries in HP..even though I’m sad HP is over,:( I still have hope for that encylopedia!! Waiting for more on this!!!!