 Mystery: August 27, 2025 Issue [#13312] |
This week: August Mystery Belinda Bauer Edited by: Adore lol♥  
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
This month's August mystery newsletter will look at Patrick Süskind, author of his bestselling novel "Perfume", the story of man Jean Baptiste Grenouille who was born with an extraordinary sense of scent but has none of his own.
This book will shock and amaze you and I hope you are as thrilled with it as I was, and still am. So, without further discussion, let's begin our look at this wonderful author and his work. |
For this month’s mystery newsletter, you guys are in for a treat! I was right in the midst of completing Süskind , when I came across Belinda Bauer, the crime and mystery author we are spotlighting for this month’s newsletter.
Belinda Bauer was born in 1962 in Bromley, UK. She is a British writer of crime novels. She grew up in England and South Africa, but later moved to Wales, where she worked as a court reporter in Cardiff; the country is often used as a setting in her work.
She spent seven years as a screenwriter before writing her first novel at age 45. Just hearing her age gives me soooo much hope for those with time in their life. Lol
It is said that she was born with ink in her veins and suspense in her soul.
She represents a fascinating blend of cultural influences that infuse her work with unique perspective and depth.
Her journey from England to South Africa and back again has shaped a narrative voice unlike any other in contemporary crime fiction. Born in England but raised partly in South Africa during her formative years, Bauer absorbed the landscapes, tensions, and cultural nuances of both worlds.
This transcontinental upbringing gives her writing a distinctive flavor that stands out in the crime genre. Currently, she makes her home in Wales, Bauer draws inspiration from the moody landscapes and close-knit communities that characterize her adopted country.
The rugged coastlines and isolated villages frequently appear as atmospheric backdrops in her stories. Before emerging as a novelist, Bauer honed her craft as both a journalist and screenwriter.
These early career paths taught her the economy of language, pacing, and visual storytelling techniques that make her novels so cinematic and compelling.
What makes Bauer particularly fascinating is how she's managed to synthesize these diverse experiences into a cohesive literary voice that feels both familiar and refreshingly original.
Her work demonstrates how a writer's personal geography can enrich their fictional worlds in subtle but powerful ways. The leap from journalism to fiction isn't always smooth, but Belinda Bauer made it look effortless.
Her 2009 debut novel, “Blacklands”, didn't just enter the crime fiction scene; it crashed through the door with authority, earning the prestigious Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award.
Her time spent in newsrooms covering crime gave her more than just writing skills; it provided unparalleled access to the reality of criminal investigations.
The procedural details in her novels ring true because she's witnessed them firsthand, from police interviews to courtroom dramas.
Bauer has said that she learned to observe everything yet judge nothing. This is invaluable when creating morally complex characters.
What sets Bauer's work apart from other former journalists who turn to fiction is her ability to maintain journalistic precision while adding profound emotional depth.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Belinda Bauer's work is her frequent use of child protagonists in the dark world of crime fiction. This unusual pairing creates a disquieting tension.
It sets her apart from peers who typically center adult perspectives.
This insight allows her to craft young characters with authentic inner lives rather than miniature adults or simplistic victims.
Their vulnerability becomes our vulnerability, creating a reading experience that's uniquely unsettling yet impossible to turn away from.
Bauer refuses to paint characters as simply good or evil, instead exploring the gray areas where most people actually reside. Her antagonists often have understandable motivations, while her protagonists make questionable choices.
In novels like “Exit", Bauer places ordinary people in extraordinary situations that force impossible choices, asking readers what they might do when faced with competing moral imperatives.
Bauer's upcoming release later this year titled, “The Impossible Thing” is a highly anticipated work from this multilayered novelist.
This highly anticipated work draws inspiration from a peculiar unsolved mystery involving rare red guillemot eggs, a crime that might seem minor to some, but in Bauer's hands becomes the foundation for a multilayered exploration of obsession and greed.
Set across two timelines: 1920s Yorkshire and present-day Wales, this novel delves into the shadowy world of egg trafficking, where collectors pay staggering sums for rare specimens.
What might seem like an esoteric subject becomes, under Bauer's skilled treatment, a mirror reflecting universal human drives: the need to possess beauty, the thrill of the forbidden, and the lengths to which obsession can drive otherwise rational people.
Her visit to the Natural History Museum's egg collection, one of the world's largest, provides the tactile details that make her fictional world convincing.
What elevates “The Impossible Thing” beyond mere historical curiosity is how Bauer connects this century-old crime to contemporary issues of conservation, collection ethics, and the human tendency to destroy what we claim to love.
Whether you begin with her debut "Blacklands", her most acclaimed "Rubbernecker", or await her forthcoming, "The Impossible Thing", Bauer's novels offer that rare combination of entertainment and substance. They're page-turners that linger in your thoughts long after you've turned the final page.
Bauer is still well and sixty-three years of age right now, and her career is glowing red hot. For those of you who find her writing of interest (like myself), we can expect many more novels for years to come.
So, thank you so much for being here for this last newsletter of this month, as we approach the HUGE 25th Writing.com celebration coming the first week of September!
Till next time we meet, (which won't be that long this time), continue to read well and be well my friends ♥
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Here's just a few of new and exciting mystery stories for your reading pleasure:
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Welcome to this month's Ask & Answer section of the Mystery newsletter where we discussed crime author Belinda Bauer from England and South Africa, who is the author of her award-winning novel, "Blacklands". We are nearly at the end of August, and school is in session both for students in high school and college.
In last month's Mystery newsletter, we asked a question where a member graciously submitted their response as follows:
The question was: What made Jean-Baptiste Grenouille upset when he was alone in the cave? I provided the answer as: He had no scent he could smell.
The second question was: what did Jean Baptiste take from the girls? Well, obviously, from the ominous language in the book, he wanted to possess their essence but he could only do this by taking their line. Fictiondiva provided answer to the question and will get a MB or Awardicon of her choice.
Fictiøn Ðiva the Wørd Weava  Jean-Baptiste Grenouille took the scent from three girls in Patrick Süskind novel, "Perfume."
Another sweet member wrote in to answer from the other mystery newsletters on Mystery how it intrigues us part 1 and part 2. She wrote in and here is their feedback from this newsletter:
Quick-Quill  wrote in to say: I'm sorry this is late. I loved both Pt 1&2 I love a good mystery. I want to find the owner of that letter found in the desk purchased at an estate sale. I have read some great mysteries that aren't based on murder. Get away from death and find a secret, missing item, family history. I am writing a story about man who finds a family secret in an old writing desk he finds in his parents attic.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I'll definitely do my best to insert more variety as mysterious things in life absolutely exist without death. I remember I had a mystery in my life a few years back where I could not find a USB drive for the life of me for nearly a year when, one day, on the backside of a wall, covered by a cabinet, was my long lost USB drive, found safe and sound. So, I hear ya and well noted.
Both members who submitted responses and comments will be rewarded with either a MB or Awardicon, of their choice.  
Now, for the question from this month's Mystery newsletter. I asked a question in the beginning of the newsletter: At what age did Belinda Bauer write her first work of fiction? The answer to this question is contained in the Mystery newsletter.
The 2nd question is: What profession did Belinda Bauer have prior to becoming a best-selling author?
The first 5 people who provide the answer to the first question will receive a MB or Awardicon, and anyone who answers both questions correctly will receive both a MB and Awardicon of their choosing.
Well, fall is right around the door of September.
My grandson has been gaming all summer playing Marvel rivals,
returned to school as a 9th grader!
Where has the time gone?
Our granddaughter is always on Roblox, but she's making content for her channel, just like her big brother.
Next week brings the 25th WDC anniversary week the first week of September! A very exciting time and really looking forward to it.
Till next mystery newsletter, take care friends, be well and read well♥
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