Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Deep Six
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.dplylemd.com/
CITY: Orange County
STATE: CA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.dplylemd.com/author-bio.html * https://www.margielawson.com/how-to-author-interviews/59-how-to-author-dp-lyle-md * http://www.latimes.com/local/great-reads/la-me-c1-murder-doctor-20140912-story.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Huntsville, AL.
EDUCATION:University of Alabama, M.D.; University of Texas at Houston, residency in internal medicine; Texas Heart Institute, fellowship in cardiology.
ADDRESS
CAREER
South Orange County Cardiology Group, Laguna Hills, CA, partner, 1987—. Medical adviser to authors and to television shows, including Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars. Crime and Science Radio, cohost, 2013—.
MEMBER:International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America.
AWARDS:Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction, 2005, for Forensics for Dummies; Benjamin Franklin Silver Award, Mystery/Suspense Category, 2013, for Run to Ground; Significant Sig Award, Sigma Chi Fraternity, 2015.
WRITINGS
Work represented in anthologies, including Thrillers: 100 Must Reads and Thriller 3: Love Is Murder. Writes a Web log at Writers Forensics Blog.
SIDELIGHTS
D.P. Lyle is a physician with a sideline in writing about crime, both in crime novels and in books designed to help authors and others navigate the world of forensic science. He has advised many authors on this topic, in addition to consulting on numerous television shows, such as Cold Case, House, Pretty Little Liars, and CSI: Miami. A cardiologist in Southern California, Lyle “spends two days a week saving patients’ lives at his Laguna Hills heart clinic,” Christopher Goffard wrote in the Los Angeles Times in 2014. “The rest of the time, he writes crime novels and tries to answer other crime writers’ questions about how to end their characters’ lives in weird—but scientifically plausible—ways.” Lyle became interested in writing in the 1990s, and he started going to writers’ conferences. “If you go to a cocktail party and people find out you’re a physician, they ask about their gall bladder and their cholesterol,” he told Goffard. “If you go to a writers’ conference, they want to know about guns and knives and poisons and dead bodies.”
Murder and Mayhem
Lyle deals with some of the questions he has received from writers in Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers. The questions and answers are drawn from a column he penned in a mystery writers’ newsletter. The topics include gunshots, knife wounds, poisons, various illnesses, autopsies, and the work of medical examiners. Lyle offers answers in laypeople’s language with a touch of humor.
Several critics found the book entertaining as well as informative. “Murder and Mayhem provides the answers to questions you didn’t even know you wanted to ask, but you’ll be glad that someone else did,” related Anja Weidmann in Student BMJ. Weidmann also praised Lyle’s “clear, concise explanations.” In Library Journal, Necia Parker-Gibson noted that “the medical information is well researched yet simple enough to understand,” and the book is “surprisingly funny.”
"Dub Walker" Series
Stress Fracture begins Lyle’s series of crime novels about Dub Walker, a forensics investigator and consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Set in Lyle’s hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, the novel involves Walker in investigating the murder of a friend, retired sheriff Mike Savage. Savage has been killed in a particularly vicious manner, with a wrought-iron poker stuck through his stomach. Two other local men, with no apparent connection to Savage, had previously been murdered by similar means. As Walker searches for the killer, the author reveals his identity and provides insights into his motives. While a Publishers Weekly reviewer termed Stress Fracture a “routine serial killer thriller,” Booklist contributor David Pitt found it “suspenseful” and “well-constructed.” Pitt added: “The writing is hard-edged and visually evocative.”
In Hot Lights, Cold Steel, an old friend of Walker’s asks him to track down her missing teenage daughter. He does find her, but she is dead. She has been buried with another young woman, and it appears that someone with a surgeon’s skills performed procedures on them before they died. As in the previous novel, Lyle lets readers in on the identity of the killer as Walker seeks him out, and he alternates the viewpoints of the perpetrator and the investigator. A Publishers Weekly critic thought Hot Lights, Cold Steel just “so-so,” but David Pitt, again writing in Booklist, saw much to recommend it. “It’s a suspenseful, psychologically intriguing, genuinely powerful thriller,” with a “three-dimensional” portrayal of the killer, he remarked.
Run to Ground finds Walker on a particularly unusual case. Walter Whitiker stood trial for the molestation and murder of a young boy, but he was convicted only of perjury and obstruction of justice. Whitiker has served a short sentence, and the day he is released from prison, he is shot to death. The prime suspects are Tim and Martha Foster, parents of the murdered boy, but they have vanished. Walker joins Huntsville homicide detective T-Tommy Tortelli in the investigation, which takes them across several states. J.D. Whitiker, Walter’s brother, is trying to find the Fosters too. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called this novel “middling” but did commend Lyle for his “sure handling of forensic issues.” Library Journal contributor Mary Todd Chesnut found it compelling, though, and she praised its “likable characters and surprise-filled plot.”
Deep Six
Deep Six introduces detective Jake Longly and marks the start of another planned series. Longly is a former professional baseball player who has reluctantly joined his father’s private investigation firm on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. He is assigned to follow a wealthy woman to find evidence that she is cheating on her husband, but soon she is murdered. The case is further complicated by the fact that her lover is the husband of Jake’s ex-wife. He investigates along with his father, Ray; Nicole Jamison, the strong-minded screenwriter who becomes Jake’s girlfriend; and computer expert Tommy Jeffers. They encounter local mobsters, discover unsavory real estate deals, and interact with a variety of eccentric and comic characters.
Several reviewers thought this an enjoyable detective story. “While the plot absolutely lends itself to comedic relief, Lyle’s true talent shines in the development of his characters,” Dawn Ius remarked at the Big Thrill Web site. A Publishers Weekly critic predicted that the novel’s “mix of quirky characters and some brutal acts of violence” would appeal to “fans of the hard-boiled genre.” An Internet Bookwatch contributor summed it up as “consistently compelling” and “the stuff from which block-buster movies are made.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 15, 2010, David Pitt, review of Stress Fracture, p. 44; May 1, 2011, David Pitt, review of Hot Lights, Cold Steel, p. 28; May 1, 2016, Jeff Ayers, review of Deep Six, p. 40.
Internet Bookwatch, September, 2016, review of Deep Six.
Library Journal, January, 2003, Necia Parker-Gibson, review of Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers, p. 126; August 1, 2012, Mary Todd Chesnut, review of Run to Ground, p. 86.
Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2014, Christopher Goffard, “Murder, They Wrote, Using This Doctor’s Ingenious Ideas.”
PRWeb Newswire, June 28, 2013, “Run to Ground by D.P. Lyle Receives Silver.”
Publishers Weekly, February 22, 2010, review of Stress Fracture, p. 43; April 11, 2011, review of Hot Lights, Cold Steel, p. 30; June 25, 2012, review of Run to Ground, p. 154; May 16, 2016, review of Deep Six, p. 35.
Reference & Research Book News, February, 2009, review of Forensics: A Guide for Writers.
Science News, February 8, 2003, review of Murder and Mayhem, p. 95.
Student BMJ, July, 2003, Anja Weidmann, review of Murder and Mayhem, p. 259.
UWIRE Text, March 15, 2015, “Crime Authors to Speak on Misperception of Forensic Science in Movies.”
ONLINE
Big Thrill Online, http://www.thebigthrill.org/ (June 30, 2016), Dawn Ius, “Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard. Or Is It?”
D.P. Lyle Home Page, http://www.dplylemd.com (March 13, 2017).
Killer Nashville Web site, http://www.killernashvillemagazine.com/ (March 13, 2017), brief biography.
Margie Lawson Web site, https://www.margielawson.com/ (March 13, 2017), “How-to Author Interview: D.P. Lyle, MD.”
Quoted in Sidelights: He spends two days a week saving patients' lives at his Laguna Hills heart clinic. The rest of the time, he writes crime novels and tries to answer other crime writers' questions about how to end their characters' lives in weird — but scientifically plausible — ways.
"If you go to a cocktail party and people find out you're a physician, they ask about their gall bladder and their cholesterol," he says. "If you go to a writers' conference, they want to know about guns and knives and poisons and dead bodies."
LOCAL Great Reads
Great Read Murder, they wrote, using this doctor's ingenious ideas
Christopher Goffard Christopher GoffardContact Reporter
September 12, 2014
The doctor's phone rang. It was another request for his expertise.
A murderous son was donating an organ to his aging father. Somehow, the procedure had to kill the dad. Somehow, the murder weapon had to be the organ itself.
Can you help? pleaded the crime writer, who had six weeks to finish his book.
It is the kind of call cardiologist Douglas Lyle, 67, relishes. He's gotten many like it — in fact, he'd helped the writer kill before.
When he's brooding over such questions, Lyle lights a big cigar on the patio of his Lake Forest home and pours himself some good bourbon.
A stout man with penetrating blue eyes and a thinning fringe of exuberant curly hair, Lyle has an encyclopedic memory, a Southerner's gift for back-porch raconteurship and an expertise in the myriad mechanisms of unnatural death.
Dr. Douglas Lyle
Dr. Douglas Lyle, an Orange County cardiologist, has become widely known among crime novelists for his medically accurate answers about ingenious ways to kill people. (Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times)
He spends two days a week saving patients' lives at his Laguna Hills heart clinic. The rest of the time, he writes crime novels and tries to answer other crime writers' questions about how to end their characters' lives in weird — but scientifically plausible — ways.
When your Mac isn't working, you go to the Genius Bar. When your car won't start, you find a mechanic. When you want to find out how long your character will live if his body is stripped of skin, or what kind of poison a killer in medieval Europe might use, or whether a body mummifies if it's been bricked into a wall for several years, you call Lyle.
If you go to a writers' conference, they want to know about guns and knives and poisons and dead bodies. — Dr. Douglas Lyle
"Plot the perfect crime, and the harder it is, the smarter your protagonist will look when he solves it," Lyle says.
::
How a crime writer builds a story is a seemingly impenetrable, occult process. Often, it begins with a question like the one about the evil-minded organ donor from Lee Goldberg, a TV writer and novelist who was hard at work on a "Diagnosis: Murder" book.
Lyle is a stubborn man. He brags that he once played most of a high school football game with meningitis. So if it was even remotely possible for a man to murder his father mid-transplant by means that seemed accidental, he would undercover it.
First, they had to decide on the organ to be transplanted. How about a kidney? Could the son donate a kidney and get someone to poison it mid-procedure?
No — an operating room had a carefully orchestrated rhythm; someone would notice.
Lyle thought: What if the son knows his dad is severely allergic to penicillin? And what if, the night before, he gives himself a massive dose of it?
"Dad has anaphylactic shock, his blood pressure drops to zero. They're not going to think it's an allergic reaction for 10 minutes," Lyle said. By then it would be too late.
Goldberg thanked Lyle, hung up and put it in his book, "The Silent Partner: A Diagnosis Murder Novel."
"It's rare to find an expert who understands storytelling," Goldberg says. "Most experts are so into their own world, so into their science, they kind of bristle at the notion of flexibility. They don't understand the drama you're trying to wring out of your facts."
Among the characters Lyle has helped Goldberg kill was an airline passenger with a peanut allergy (the stewardess did it). He also may have saved the writer's life. One day he learned of Goldberg's family history of heart disease, ran blood tests revealing his off-the-charts cholesterol, and put him on statins.
::
In books and movies, the authorities are always seeking out the advice of an expert like Lyle. They let him tag along, quarrel with him and ultimately — grudgingly — admit that he solved the crime.
In the real world, cops don't call Dr. Lyle. He thinks it would be fun if they did.
"I think a cold-case squad should have a crime writer as a consultant," he says. "They think outside the box and their minds go off in wild directions, most of which have only a glancing brush with reality. But why not open every door and see what's behind it?"
He sips his bourbon. "I've also felt that attorneys should have crime writer consultants to tell the story. Most attorneys aren't good storytellers. What you want to do is spin a yarn."
A lifelong friend, Paul Lees-Haley, remembers building rockets with Lyle as a boy in the cotton town of Huntsville, Ala. He said Lyle had a mischievous streak. After a field trip to a cave, he came back with a bag full of bats and released them at a school assembly.
While still in elementary school, Lyle saw a documentary about a pioneering surgeon who performed surgery on babies with congenital heart disease. "I thought, 'This is what I'm gonna do,'" he says. "It was just so cool, so fascinating."
Lyle comes from a family of great dinner-table talkers, but he was the first to graduate from college. He attended med school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was a medical resident, and then a cardiology fellow, at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.
At 25, he did his first rotation in the ER. He was fighting to save two patients at once, side by side. One was a local politician, the other a vagrant. "I stopped and looked and thought, 'Wow, this is what it's all about.' You had one job: take care of sick people. There was no extraneous stuff. It was you vs. Mother Nature and you went to war."
About 20 years ago, he decided to write novels. He took writing classes at UC Irvine and began frequenting literary conferences, trying to learn the craft.
"If you go to a cocktail party and people find out you're a physician, they ask about their gall bladder and their cholesterol," he says. "If you go to a writers' conference, they want to know about guns and knives and poisons and dead bodies."
Word spread. He began answering forensic questions in the Mystery Writers of America newsletter, and for the widening circle of people who sought his advice.
He didn't ask for money in return, saying, "Knowledge should be shared." He decided to collect his responses in a 2003 book, "Murder & Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers," and two sequels.
Among his novels is a series featuring Dub Walker, a canny Southerner and med-school dropout who helps police solve crimes.
"He drinks bourbon and plays the blues," he says. "He's probably a little more personable than I am. I made him almost finish medical school, because if you have a medical license, you have to protect it."
::
To spend an afternoon with Lyle is to hear him roam freely through precincts of medicine, literature, history and anatomy. He wonders why, if intelligent design is true, the Good Lord put a man's urethra through his prostate.
He riffs on John Steinbeck, a Southerner's bone-deep loathing for Gen. Sherman, and on all the random death and bizarre near-death he has witnessed.
A man who arrives at the ER with a metal disk embedded in his brain, and leaves on his own feet. Healthy people who contract freak illnesses and die in a week.
"You learn the randomness of everything. There are billions of viruses out there that you can get," he says. "I always say, 'Eat dessert first.'"
He knows that some of the people who write him for advice do not have innocent literary motives. A cop once told him that his explanatory book "Forensics for Dummies" had been found in a killer's apartment. To weed out potential wrongdoers, he asks for the correspondent's address, phone number and email, and specifics of the situation.
"There's nothing I say that's not out there on the Internet," he says, but now and then, he writes to a requester, "This question sounds like it deals with a real-life situation, and I can't answer it."
Over and over, in print and in conversation, Lyle is careful to stress one point. There is no such thing as an undetectable crime.
"It requires incredible luck. Citizens will [muck] up the best plan ever made," he says. "If you know anything about forensic science, you know there's a million ways to get caught."
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Column One Entertainment Crime Authors Homicide University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Douglas Lyle
How-to Author Interview: D. P. Lyle, MD
D. P. Lyle, MD is the Macavity Award winning and Edgar Award nominated author of the nonfiction books, Murder and Mayhem, Forensics for Dummies, Forensics and Fiction, and Howdunnit: Forensics: A Guide for Writers, as well as thrillers, Devil's Playground, and Double Blind.
His next medical thriller, Stress Fracture, will be released in early 2010.
He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular TV shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women's Murder Club, and 1-800-Missing.
He is a practicing Cardiologist in Orange County, California.
Through his website, The Writers' Medical and Forensics Lab (www.dplylemd.com) he works with writers and readers to enrich their understanding of complex medical and forensic issues in the stories they write and read.
A Big Welcome to D.P. Lyle!
Doug Lyle impressed me at Thrillerfest two years ago. I was new to ITW, and Doug took time to sit and chat with me and answer my questions. A charter member of International Thriller Writers, Doug is active in ITW and is their CraftFest Chair.
I appreciate Doug Lyle for being our featured guest today. He will respond to comments and questions today after 3:00PM Mountain Time - until 8:00PM Mountain Time.
Anyone who posts a comment or question today (August 26th) may win FORENSICS: A Guide For Writers, or a Lecture Packet from me. I'll draw the two winning names at 8:30PM Mountain Time.
Here's what experts have to say about Doug Lyle's how-to books:
"A terrific resource for crime writers and anyone interested in forensics . . . will jump-start your imagination about all kinds of ingenious crimes, crime-solving techniques, and plot twists." Matt Witten, supervising producer of the Fox TV show, House.
"Every crime-fiction author's best friend . . . as essential to my library as my Strunk and White." -- Hallie Ephron, author of Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel.
"There's damn good reason why Dr. Doug Lyle's e-mail is in every crime writer's address book and why his reference books belong on every aspiring writer's book shelf: His advice comes from the head of a medical expert but also from the heart and imagination of a writer. Whenever I paint myself into a forensic corner, Dr. Doug is always there to rescue me." -- P. J. Parrish, author of An Unquiet Grave
THE INTERVIEW:
ML: Your forensics books for writers are full of CSI-type information, only your info is correct. :-) Please tell our blog guests about some of the topics you cover in Howdunnit: Forensics: A Guide for Writers.
Doug Lyle and Tess Gerritsen at ThrillerFest
DL: My plan all along was to write the definitive book on forensics for writers. I wanted to cover each and every subject. When I did Forensics for Dummies I was able to cover many of the subjects, just not in the detail I wanted. And they did not want any historical information but rather only current information on forensics. This book has a great deal of historical information about things such as how forensic toxicology or fire arms examination or fingerprinting came to be. I find this material fascinating and I know that many writers tell stories that are not set in the present day and indeed can be back to prehistoric times or even just fifty years ago. They need to know what the state of the art was at that time in order to make their stories real and believable and I believe that this book gives them much of the information they will need.
Things covered in this book are DNA, blood analysis including blood spatter, fingerprint and shoe print patterns toxicology, psychiatry, document examination, forensic chemistry and biology, and a host of other topics.
ML: Do you know of instances where the killer deliberately attempted to disguise the actual time of death? What was the outcome?
DL: Actually, there have been many cases where this has occured. One of the most clever involved freezing the body and then dumping it months later. Freezing would slow the decay process making it very difficult for the medical examiner to determine the time of death. He can tell by looking at the tissues under the microscope that they have been frozen suddenly because the ice crystals that form within the cells at the time of the freezing fractures the cells and this is visible. But if the body is frozen for a few months and then is dumped in a rural area and then not found until severely decayed then this microscopic evidence may not be present, it can be very difficult for the medical examiner to determine that the body has been frozen. After the first 48 hours then things such as temperature, lividity pattern, and rigor mortis are of no use. Here the medical examiner relies on insect activity and degree of decay to give him the best guess as to the approximate time of death. Freezing the body for a time alters this time line and makes it very difficult.
ML: Could you describe a situation where forensic evidence (such as decay cycle of sperm) proved an alleged rape victim was lying.
DL: That's a difficult one because the term rape is not in the medical vocabulary. The medical examiner will not use that term in his evaluation or in his autopsy report. He can only say that penetration occurred and that semen was found and that therefore sexual intercourse took place. Whether this was consensual or not is determined by a judge and jury.
There was an extremely interesting case involving semen analysis a couple of years ago. A man was convicted of rape on DNA evidence from semen collected from the victim. He denied that he did it but the DNA evidence sealed the deal for him. Then another young lady came forward saying that she had been raped. When the DNA analysis was done, it matched the DNA of the previous victim and matched the DNA of the incarcerated felon.
How could this be?
He argued that someone else had the same DNA as him and that it must be the case since he was incarcerated at the time of the second rape.
It turns out that the second victim was not raped. She was a friend of a friend of the felon. He had smuggled his own semen out of prison through his friend. To accomplish this, he deposited his semen in one of those tear-open ketchup packs. The alleged victim then used this to stage her own rape. I get the feeling this guy could have been quite successful had he chosen another path because he is defnitely quite clever.
ML: Is there political pressure placed on forensic investigatiors to push investigations in one direction or another? Could you describe some examples?
I'm sure this happens all the time and with lab results making the recent news (thereby swaying cases) there's probably a great deal of this that goes on behind the scenes. This is one of the current pushes in the forensic world to standardize the tests and to clean up the credentials of those who perform them. Since forensic sciences is such a new field, it is going through its growing pains right now and it has not all been hammered out yet. Add to this the fact that according to the Daubert Decision, which allows the trier of fact -- the judge -- to decide what evidence enters his courtroom, you can see how the stage is set for all types of shenanigans. What this rule allows is for the judge, and the judge alone, to decide whether a scientific test is credible and if it is allowable in the courtroom. It is interesting that the judge is one of the least qualified people to make this decision, but the judge has the absolute power in this regard. If the judge wants to admit the testimony of a crackpot they can. If they want to block the testimony of a well respected scientist, they can do that too.
The crime lab is typically in constant communication with the investigating officers and the district attorney. This is simply because much of the testing will help guide their investigation and it saves a lot of time and energy and money. So far so good. But a smart and aggressive investigator or district attorney can pressure the lab to say things that may not be entirely true. They can color their report slightly to help them obtain a search warrant or to lead them toward one suspect versus another. We would like to think this does not happen very often and indeed it probably doesn't. But the potential for abuse of the system was there.
ML: In recent years we've seen increasing use of DNA evidence to solve crimes. How do you feel future DNA technology can expand the science of solving crimes?
One area is that DNA is being found in smaller and smaller samples. Right now a single cell is all that is necessary to produce usable DNA and therefore a match. This means that large samples are not necessary and a felon can leave behind his DNA without realizing it. Not just blood and semen, but on the lip of a cup or a postage stamp, and more recently even on a fingerprint. When you think about it, fingerprints are basically skin oils and cells that are deposited by touch, the cells within the print contain DNA and this can be used to create a profile.
A more problematic development is the recent research that came from Israel where scientists were able to manufacture someone's genetic profile in the lab. They actually incorporated this into various body fluids after removing all the DNA from that fluid. If you remove the donor's DNA and add artificially produced DNA then you have basically altered the sample to the point that he would give the wrong answer. They actually gave samples to various labs and had them test for DNA and none of them realized what had been done. Now this is not the kind of thing that your average criminal can do at his kitchen table or in his garage. But the potential for making fake DNA and leaving the wrong person's DNA at the scene is real. Where this will lead, I have no idea. But it is very troubling.
ML: You also published another handy reference for suspense writers, Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Ingenious, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers. Love the title, love the book!
You share everything from what is included in an autopsy report and why -- to whacky and whackier questions posed by writers. Here's a sample:
---Can botox be used as a weapon for murder?
---Could a recent blood transfusion confuse DNA analysis?
---Can an injection of potassium kill a hospitalized patient quickly?
---Can a death-row inmate be saved after receiving a lethal injection?
---How long can a balloon with heroin remain intact within a 'mule's' stomach?
Please share one of your favorite questions and answers from Forensics and Fiction.
DL: When talking about my question-and-answer books, I always point out that I'm not responsible for the questions, only the answers. The questions are amazing and truly point out how the creative mind works. I am always fascinated by how people create their stories and the questions I get asked for a peek into that world.
The questions you listed above are examples of that. Other questions in the book deal with how crucifixion causes death, do zombies leave behind forensic evidence, does a corpse decay on Mars, would Abraham Lincoln have survived with modern medical care, was DNA available in the early 1990's, can mercury be found in a murder victim's hair a year after death, and many others. The answers are asphyxia and shock, zombies have fingerprints and blood and hair and fibers, Mars is too cold for decay to occur, Honest Abe would have easily survived today (so would Princess Diana had she been in the U.S.), DNA fingerprinting was discovered in 1984 and first entered the courtroom in the U.S. in 1987, and mercury can be found in hair even hundreds of years later.
ML: The last section in Forensics and Fiction is named: Odds and Ends--Mostly Odds. Want to treat our blog guests to something odd?
DL: One of my favorite questions was included in the same section of my first question-and-answer book, Murder and Mayhem. In this scenario a teenage girl lived next door to another couple. The female neighbor was having an affair with the teen's father and she wanted to do something to get even. The questioner asked if there was something she could do to the woman's diaphragm that would cause her some discomfort or concern. Being a Southerner, there was only one answer -- Tabasco. Think about it.
ML: Congratulations on Stress Fracture, to be released in April, 2010. I want to know more. What's the scoop on your upcoming thriller?
DL: This book is the first in a new series starring Dub Walker, an evidence and criminal behavior expert. He has written many books on these subjects, lectures on them frequently, and consults on unusual cases. In Stress Fracture, he is asked to help track down an over-the-top brutal killer who seems to have no real motive and no filter as far as victim selection. He does not follow any of the usualy behavior patterns and from a forensic psychiatric point of view, seems to be both organized and disorganized, careful and impulsive, at the same time.
The second book in the series, Hot Lights, Cold Steel, deals with robotic surgery and some nefarious characters. It is completed and sold and is undergoing the editorial processes right now.
The third in the series, Run to Ground, is under way and I'm nearing completion of the first draft. it deals with a couple who change their identity and drop off the radar completely. Suspected of murder, Dub must find a way to track them down and then prove their guilt or innocence.
ML: Please fill us in about The Writers Medical and Forensics Lab. I bet they'll want to check it out.
DL: My website began as a place where writers could come to get medical and forensic information and ask questions about their works in progress. It has not changed since its inception. I still have articles on there including things like the perfect murder, the untraceable poison, how the medical examiner determines the time of death, and a historical forensic timeline. There is also a link so that writers can send me questions about their stories.
I have now added a blog which I call The Writers Forensics Blog where I talk about current cases and news stories and attempt to explain the medical and forensic issues behind them. There is a link to my blog on my website and I hope some of your readers will visit.
ML: Thank you for taking the time to provide such thorough responses to my questions. I appreciate your time and your expertise!
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AUTHOR BIO
DPL2016-13
DP Lyle, MD is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar (2), Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Today Best Book Award (2) nominated author of many non-fiction books as well as numerous works of fiction, including the SAMANTHA CODY, DUB WALKER, and JAKE LONGLY thriller series and the ROYAL PAINS media tie-in novels. His essay on Jules Verne’s THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND appears in THRILLERS: 100 MUST READS and his short story “Even Steven” in ITW’s anthology THRILLER 3: LOVE IS MURDER.
He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.
He was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama where his childhood interests revolved around football, baseball, and building rockets in his backyard. The latter pursuit was common in Huntsville during the 1950’s and 60’s due to the nearby NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center.
After leaving Huntsville, he attended college, medical school, and served an internship at the University of Alabama; followed by a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas at Houston; then a Fellowship in Cardiology at The Texas Heart Institute, also in Houston. For the past 40 years, he has practiced Cardiology in Orange County, California.
He is the co-host, along with Jan Burke, of CRIME AND SCIENCE RADIO, a twice-monthly program on SUSPENSE RADIO.
CRIME AND SCIENCE RADIO: Co-Host with Jan Burke, 2013-Present
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AWARDS & NOMINATIONS:
DEEP SIX:
Finalist, USA TODAY BEST BOOK AWARD 2016, Thriller Category
FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES:
Winner, MACAVITY AWARD 2005, Best Non-Fiction
Nomination, EDGAR AWARD 2005, Best Fact Crime
RUN TO GROUND:
Winner, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SILVER AWARD 2013, Benjamin Franklin Silver Award Mystery/Suspense Category
FInalist, USA TODAY BEST BOOK AWARD 2012, Thriller Category
ORIGINAL SIN:
Nomination, SILVER FALCHION AWARD 2015, Crime Thriller Category
MORE FORENSICS & FICTION:
Nomination, EDGAR AWARD 2013, Best Fact Crime
Nomination, AGATHA AWARD 2013, Best Non-fiction
Nomination, ANTHONY AWARD 2013, Best critical/Non-fiction
ROYAL PAINS: FIRST, DO NO HARM:
Nomination, SCRIBE AWARD 2011, General Fiction/Best Original Novel
MEMBERSHIPS:
International Thriller Writers:
Member (Charter Sponsor), 2004-Present
CraftFest Director, 2006—Present
Master CraftFest Director, 2014-Present
Board of Directors, 2011-Present
VP for National Events, 2011-2012
VP for Education, 2012-Present
Finance Committee, 2011-Present
Thriller Award Best Novel Committee, 2010
Thriller Award Best First Novel Committee, 2011
Mystery Writers of America:
Active Member-1996—Present
National, Board of Directors, 2007-2010
National, Secretary, 2009 & 2010
National Education Committee, Chairman 2007-2009
National LR Planning Committee, Member, 2008-2010
National PR Committee, Member, 2008-2009
The Third Degree Committee, Member, 2008-2009
National Nominating Committee, Chairman 2007
Edgar Best Novel Committee, 2005
Edgar Best Paperback Original Committee, 2007
Edgar Mary Higgins Clark Award Committee, 2008
Edgar Best First Novel Committee, Chair, 2012
SoCal Chapter, Board of Directors, 2006--2008
Sisters in Crime:
Member, 1996—2016
Orange County Chapter, Board of Directors, 2006–2011
Orange County Chapter, Vice-President, 2007-2008
Fictionaires of Orange County: Member- 2000-2008; Treasurer- 2001-2003
MISC:
KOCE-TV, Orange County, CA: Real Orange “Healthy OC” Segment, Co-Host, 2009-2010
DeSales University: Instructor, Masters of Criminal Justice Program, 2009-2012
American Heart Association, Orange County, CA Chapter
President, 1992-1994
Vice-President, 1991-1992
Medical Advisory Board,1998–2002
Member, Board of Directors, 1990-1995 & 2000-2001
Member, Executive Committee 1990-1995
XXIIIrd Olympics, Los Angeles, CA (1984): Volunteer Physician, Boxing Venue
Significant Sig Award from Sigma Chi Fraternity (2015)
TV CONSULTATIONS:
Westside Medical (1976): Consultant to Worley Thorne on the Premiere Episode: “The Sound of Sunlight”
Law and Order (Wolf Films/Universal Studios TV)
Consultant to Matt Witten and Aaron Zelmon:
"Whiplash"
"Possession"
"Born Again"
"Myth of Fingerprints"
“Brave New World”
Consultant to Terry Kopp:
“Good Cop/Bad Cop”
CSI:Miami: Consultant to Matt Witten, Co-Producer for “Just One Kiss”
Monk: Consultant to Lee Goldberg for “Mr. Monk Goes To Mexico’
Judging Amy: Consultant to Paul Guyot for “Shock and Awe” and “Into The Fire”
Peacemakers: Consultant to Matt Whitten for “No Excuse”
1-800-Missing: Consultant to Lee Goldberg for “72 Hours To Kill”
Cold Case: Consultant to Researcher Paul Yeuell for “The Plan”
House: Consultant to Matt Witten
Women's Murder Club: Consultant to Matt Witten
Medium: Consultant to Matt Witten
The Glades: Consultant to Matt Witten
Pretty Little Liars: Consultant to Matt Witten
Prison MD: Technical Consultant
MAGAZINES:
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (UK)-Magazine & DVDs
“Murder Autopsy”
“Fingerprinting”
“Ballistics”
“DNA Analysis”
“Forensic Anthropology”
“Explosives”
“Trace Evidence”
“Looking For Remains”
“Document Examination”
“Audio Analysis”
“Forensic Psychiatry”
About Dp Lyle
Education
Current City and Hometown
Huntsville, Alabama
Hometown
About Dp
D. P. Lyle is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books (MURDER & MAYHEM; FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES; FORENSICS & FICTION; MORE FORENSICS & FICTION; HOWDUNNIT: FORENSICS; and ABA FUNDAMENTALS: UNDERSTANDING FORENSIC SCIENCE) as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, DOUBLE BLIND, and ORIGINAL SIN); the Dub Walker thriller series (STRESS FRACTURE; HOT LIGHTS, COLD STEEL, and RUN TO GROUND); the Jake Longly thriller series (DEEP SIX); and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels (ROYAL PAINS: FIRST, DO NO HARM and ROYAL PAINS: SICK RICH). His essay on Jules Verne’s THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND appears in THRILLERS: 100 MUST READS and his short story “Even Steven” in ITW’s anthology THRILLER 3: LOVE IS MURDER.
He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.
He is the co-host, along with Jan Burke, of CRIME AND SCIENCE RADIO, a twice-monthly program on SUSPENSE RADIO.
DP Lyle, MD
Award-winning Author, Lecturer, Story Consultant
Orange County, California Area
Writing and Editing
Current
DP Lyle, South Orange County Cardiology Group
Education
Texas Heart Institute
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Summary
D. P. Lyle is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books (MURDER & MAYHEM; FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES; FORENSICS & FICTION; MORE FORENSICS & FICTION; HOWDUNNIT: FORENSICS; and ABA FUNDAMENTALS: UNDERSTANDING FORENSIC SCIENCE) as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, DOUBLE BLIND, and ORIGINAL SIN); the Dub Walker thriller series (STRESS FRACTURE; HOT LIGHTS, COLD STEEL, and RUN TO GROUND); the Jake Longly thriller series (DEEP SIX); and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels (ROYAL PAINS: FIRST, DO NO HARM and ROYAL PAINS: SICK RICH). His essay on Jules Verne’s THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND appears in THRILLERS: 100 MUST READS and his short story “Even Steven” in ITW’s anthology THRILLER 3: LOVE IS MURDER.
He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.
He is the co-host, along with Jan Burke, of CRIME AND SCIENCE RADIO, a twice-monthly program on SUSPENSE RADIO.
Website: http://www.dplylemd.com/
Blog: http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/
Crime & Science Radio: http://www.dplylemd.com/crime--science-radio.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DPLyleMD
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dplylemd
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dp-lyle-md/16/8a8/536
Pinterist: https://www.pinterest.com/dplyle/
Experience
Author
DP Lyle
1994 – Present (23 years)
Award winning author
Partner
South Orange County Cardiology Group
1987 – Present (30 years)
Honors & Awards
Benjamin Franklin Silver Award (2013)
Macavity Award (2005)
Edgar Award Nomination (2005 & 2013)
Agatha Award Nomination (2013)
Anthony Award Nomination (2013)
Scribe Award Nomination (2011)
USA Best Book Award Nomination (2012)
Silver Falchion Award Nomination (2015)
Skills
Published AuthorFictionFiction WritingBooksNon-fictionCreative WritingPublishingEditingBloggingEbooksFreelance WritingCopy EditingPoetryProofreadingGhostwritingSee 35+
How's this translation?
Great•Has errors
Education
Texas Heart Institute
Cardiology Fellowship, Cardiology
The University of Texas Medical School at Houston
Residency in Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine
University of Alabama
University of Alabama
Bachelor of Science (BS), Chemistry
Activities and Societies: Sigma Chi Fraternity
University of Alabama School of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (MD), MD
Interests
MedicineForensic ScienceFiction WritingStory Consulting
Organizations
International Thriller Writers (ITW)
Mystery Writers of America
International Association of Crime Writers
International Association of Media Tie-In Writers
Recommendations
A preview of what LinkedIn members have to say about DP:
Whenever I needed a medical advisor, Dr. Lyle made his knowledge available to me.And the knowledge was just what i needed. Thanks again. Rita Lakin
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Nonfiction Authors Association - Writers Network
SEAK Physician and Lawyer Fiction Writers Group
SEAK Physician and Lawyer Fiction Writers Group
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International Thriller Writers
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INDIE BOOK REVIEW & PROMOTION
INDIE BOOK REVIEW
D. P. Lyle is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of many non-fiction books (Murder & Mayhem; Forensics For Dummies; Forensics & Fiction; More Forensics & Fiction; Howdunnit: Forensics; and ABA Fundamentals: Understanding Forensic Science) as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series (Devil’s Playground, Double Blind, and Original Sin); the Dub Walker Thriller series (Stress Fracture; Hot Lights, Cold Steel, and Run To Ground); and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels (Royal Pains: First, Do No Harm and Royal Pains: Sick Rich). His essay on Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island appears in Thrillers: 100 Must Reads and his short story “Even Steven” in ITW’s anthology Thriller 3: Love Is Murder.
Along with Jan Burke, he is the co-host of Crime and Science Radio. He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.
DP Lyle Vincent on Shooting Neo-Noir Thriller Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
by Filmmaker Staff
in Cinematographers, Cinematography, Filmmaking, Interviews, Sundance
on Jan 27, 2017
Cory Finley, Lyle Vincent, Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival 2017, Thoroughbred
Lyle Vincent served as DP on two films at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival: the Midnight selection Bushwick and the NEXT entry Thoroughbred. From first time director Cory Finley, Thoroughbred is a neo-noir character drama that features one of the final performances of the late Anton Yelchin. Vincent discussed his process and approach to cinematography with Filmmaker ahead of the film’s world premiere at Sundance.
Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?
Vincent: The film’s writer/director Cory Finley liked my work on the movie A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, so I took a meeting with him about Thoroughbred and we really hit it off. One thing led to another and I was very fortunate that Cory and the producers asked me to shoot this film. It was an opportunity I of course jumped on, because the script was so good and I really liked the direction Cory wanted to take it.
Filmmaker: What were your artistic goals on this film, and how did you realize them? How did you want your cinematography to enhance the film’s storytelling and treatment of its characters?
Vincent: Thoroughbred can be considered a neo-noir thriller so both Cory and I wanted to incorporate traditional noir elements and tropes into the film’s look. It was also something that we didn’t want to hit the viewer over the head with, but gradually transform into as the audience learns more about the characters. Thus, starting in the second act of the film, the look — specifically the lighting — becomes more dramatic with stronger shadows, silhouettes, chiaroscuro and more expressive colors and camera moves. In the end the film is really a character-driven piece, so while we wanted this strong look for the film we also wanted to balance it in keeping in a natural and motivated realm but still heightened to support the amazing performances of our actors.
Filmmaker: Were there any specific influences on your cinematography, whether they be other films, or visual art, of photography, or something else?
Vincent: I looked at the noir films shot by James Wong Howe as well as Gregg Toland’s work in Citizen Kane and others specifically looking at the lighting techniques and the use of light and shadow. Cory and I also used the still photography of Gregory Crewdson as a more modern visual reference specifically in its heightened realism and balance of theatrical and motivated lighting and setting. Also the Coen brothers’ work in Blood Simple and No Country for Old Men were influential.
Filmmaker: What were the biggest challenges posed by production to those goals?
Vincent: We shot most of the film in a magnificent Gilded Age mansion which was filled with many fine art pieces and antiques, so we really had to use minimal equipment and lighting instruments. I had to rely on more available light and augmented by smaller LED lights. I also found to achieve the look we wanted I would simply take away more light than add light to create contrast.
Filmmaker: What camera did you shoot on? Why did you choose the camera that you did? What lenses did you use?
Vincent: The film was shot on the Arri Alexa Mini. As stated before we were in an old house with expensive things everywhere, so I wanted a small camera and something that could be moved easily around for our long takes on Seadicam. The Alexa Mini was paired with Panavision G series and primo anamorphic prime lens and the AWZ2 anamorphic zoom, which we used effectively for in camera zoom shots. The director and I felt the anamorphic format would elevate and formalize the look of the film. This helped us with our heightened realism look for the film. I also find that anamorphic can be very intimate for close ups and can draw you into the performance which we of course wanted to highlight for this film.
Filmmaker: Describe your approach to lighting.
Vincent: As discussed above, I did take a minimal approach and looked more to take away light than to add. The ultimate approach was to end up in a noir-inspired look but still be in a motivated natural realm. Also in the second act we really went for more bold colors in use of LED lighting as well as hard lighting that produced sharp shadows.
Filmmaker: What was the most difficult scene to realize and why? And how did you do it?
Vincent: We shot one scene with the two lead actresses in a very small wine cellar and did the whole scene as a long take. There was also quite a lot of dialogue and they were moving in and out of a wine closet to a bar area to then finally ending up with the camera following one of them out and up a hallway then to a staircase to another level and then breaking off and continuing into the darkness of the mansion. We of course had to do that take many times but finally all the elements came together for a perfect take and I think it really works for the scene. (I guess it had to because we shot no back up coverage!) We had to be very creative and build most of the lighting into the set and hide things to make it work so I owe a lot of the shot to my gaffer Joshua Dreyfus and key grip Tim Driscoll…and of course it wouldn’t have been possible if not for the amazing Steadicam work of our A cam OP Jonathan Beattie, who somehow fit himself and the Steadicam rig in this wine cellar while following the actress in and out through the tiny door at a swift pace.
Filmmaker: Finally describe the finishing of the film. How much of your look was “baked in” versus realized in the DI?
Vincent: In the testing stage of pre-production I modified to taste a film stock emulation LUT based on the discontinued Fuji Eterna 8553 stock. I love how the colors and skin tones are rendered with this film and thought it was a good fit for Thoroughbred. I created one master LUT for the entire film which we used for viewing on set and was also applied to the dallies. Once I find a good overall LUT I don’t like to stray from it or tweak it on set and just treat it as shooting on film. When we went into the color suite at our post house Nice Dissolve we used this LUT as a base to grade everything off of, and of course our colorist Brian Boyd lent an amazing eye and attention to detail to help us hone in the final look of the film.
Camera: Arri Alexa Mini
Lenses: Panavision G series and Primo Anamorphic primes, Panavision Anamorphic AWZ2 zoom
Lighting: LED, minimal HMI, large tungsten units for night work
Processing: Digital
Color Grading: DaVinci Resolve at Nice Dissolve
Quoted in Sidelight: mix of quirky characters and some brutal acts of violence
fans of the hard-boiled genre.
Deep Six
263.20 (May 16, 2016): p35.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Deep Six
D.P. Lyle. Oceanview (Midpoint, dist.), $26.95 (352p) ISBN 978-1-60809-181-2
Retired professional baseball player Jake Longly, the narrator of this entertaining if slight series launch set on Florida's Gulf Coast from Lyle (Stress Factor and two other Dub Walker novels), has agreed to do a little surveillance work for his PI father, Ray. Jake's first assignment is to take pictures of a cheating wife, but things get complicated when she's murdered and her lover turns out to be the new husband of Jake's ex-wife. When Jake, Ray, and Jake's beautiful new girlfriend, screenwriter Nicole Jamison, investigate, they realize that there's a connection to a local crime boss with some shady real estate plans. At times Lyle takes his Gulf Coast twist on Hiaasen and Dorsey too far (a pair of brothers named Darrell and Darnell is a joke that soon wears thin) and the ease with which Nicole falls into bed with Jake is a stretch, but the mix of quirky characters and some brutal acts of violence should offer plenty of grist for fans of the hard-boiled genre. Agent: Kimberly Cameron, Kimberly Cameron & Associates. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Deep Six." Publishers Weekly, 16 May 2016, p. 35. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453506760&it=r&asid=ee5766318f5ac605fec18208b014caf4. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A453506760
Deep Six
Jeff Ayers
112.17 (May 1, 2016): p40.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Deep Six. By D. P. Lyle. July 2016. 352p. Oceanview, $26.95 (9781608091812); e-book (9781608091874).
Lyle debuts a new series starring Jake Longly, former baseball player, now reluctant PI working for his father. Assigned to watch a wealthy woman believed to be having an affair, he quickly learns that her paramour is Jake's own ex-wife's new husband. Then the woman is murdered, and Jake, who has a mouth that speaks before his brain has time to think, finds himself in deep trouble. Readers who enjoy smart-mouthed Pis like Robert Crais' Elvis Cole will want to watch this series develop.--Jeff Ayers
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ayers, Jeff. "Deep Six." Booklist, 1 May 2016, p. 40. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA453293683&it=r&asid=2182151725b8b2f79f7f613839cbb39a. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A453293683
Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers
163.6 (Feb. 8, 2003): p95.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 Science Service, Inc.
http://www.sciencenews.org
D.P. LYLE
Where do writers for television shows, such as Law and Order, or authors of crime novels turn when they need technical answers to medical questions? one of the first places is the author of this book, cardiologist D.P. Lyle. This collection of questions and answers is culled from Lyle's regular column in publications produced by the Mystery Writers of America. In this book, readers learn how dangerous or safe it is to handle cyanide, what the most lethal knife wounds are, how long someone can survive in a freezer, and what a wound from a close-range gun-shot looks like. Thomas Dunne, 2003, 278 p., hardcover, $23.95.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers." Science News, 8 Feb. 2003, p. 95. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA97997823&it=r&asid=ba1e5fb6cf699a4e0b224e3b822de5d8. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A97997823
Quoted in Sidelights: it's a suspenseful, psychologically intriguing, genuinely powerful thriller
three-dimensional
Hot Lights, Cold Steel
David Pitt
107.17 (May 1, 2011): p28.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Hot Lights, Cold Steel.
By D. P. Lyle.
June 2011. 398p. Medallion, $24.95 (9781605421810).
When Dub Walker, the forensic investigator introduced in Stress Fracture (2010), steps in to help an old friend locate her missing daughter, he has no idea what's coming. The girl's body is found, buried with another young woman, and evidence indicates they weren't merely murdered. They were also, prior to death, repeatedly operated on by someone with top surgical skills. When more bodies turn up with similar physical evidence, Walker knows he has a serial killer on his hands. Like Stress Fracture, this one gives equal weight to the mind of the investigator and the actual investigation. It also presents the perpetrator, whose identity we know early on, well before Walker knows it, as a three-dimensional character. Lyle doesn't shy away from graphic imagery, so readers who prefer that their thrillers lack close contact with body parts might find this caper a bit unsettling. Messy bits aside, it's a suspenseful, psychologically intriguing, genuinely powerful thriller.--David Pitt
Pitt, David
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Pitt, David. "Hot Lights, Cold Steel." Booklist, 1 May 2011, p. 28+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA256683988&it=r&asid=7d302c7e7234f1adb4e3cde41f4c3c50. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A256683988
Quoted in Sidelights: likable characters and surprise-filled plot.
Lyle, D.P. Run to Ground
Mary Todd Chesnut
137.13 (Aug. 1, 2012): p86.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Lyle, D.P. Run to Ground. Oceanview. Aug. 2012. c.392p. ISBN 9781808090570. $25.95. F
Could grief push ordinary parents to commit murder? In Huntsville, AL, eight-year-old Steven Foster was abducted and, months later, found dead in the woods near his home. Murder charges were brought against pedophile Walter Whitiker, but dismissed evidence resulted in a greatly reduced sentence. After fewer than two years, Whitiker was released on good behavior but then killed by an unknown shooter as he left prison. Evidence seemed to implicate Tim and Martha Foster, Steven's parents, who disappeared without a trace the day Whitiker was killed. Forensics and criminal behavior consultant Dub Walker and his pal, homicide investigator T-Tommy Tortelli, work together to solve the case. In a tense, action-packed five-day manhunt across states, Dub and T-Tommy risk their lives to track down the answers. VERDICT This third series entry (after Stress Fracture; Hot Lights, Cold Steel) delivers a powerful punch of action and intrigue. Mystery and thriller readers will welcome Lyle's likable characters and surprise-filled plot.--Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights
Chesnut, Mary Todd
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Chesnut, Mary Todd. "Lyle, D.P. Run to Ground." Library Journal, 1 Aug. 2012, p. 86. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA299258451&it=r&asid=4378c3de511f79593a3ad0a54628affe. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A299258451
Quoted in Sidelights: routine serial killer thriller
Stress Fracture
257.8 (Feb. 22, 2010): p43.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Stress Fracture
D.R Lyle. Medallion (IPG, dist.), $24.95 (394p) ISBN 9784-6054-2134-6
Lyle's routine serial killer thriller introduces crime scene and evidence analyst Dub Walker, a character indistinguishable from the leads of many other such novels. The Huntsville, Ala., authorities ask Walker for help in the third of a series of murders, the brutal beating death of retired sheriff Mike Savage, who's found in his bedroom with a wrought-iron poker stuck in his abdomen. Walker's being an old friend of Savage makes the inquiry personal. There are no obvious connections between Savage and the earlier victims, a 73-year-old retired aerospace engineer and an activist in the local gay community. Providing Walker with a stereotypical motive for focusing on serial killers--a girlfriend during his med school days vanished without trace at the hands done--does little to add depth. Macavity Award-winner Lyle is the author of Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers and other nonfiction works on crime. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Stress Fracture." Publishers Weekly, 22 Feb. 2010, p. 43. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA219832011&it=r&asid=785b216e326ff551a7a649e1aa8a27c2. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A219832011
Quoted in Sidelights: sure handling of forensic issues
middling
Run to Ground
259.26 (June 25, 2012): p154.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Run to Ground
D.P. Lyle. Oceanview (Midpoint, dist.), $25.95 (392p) ISBN 978-1-60809-057-0
At the start of forensics expert Lyle's middling third mystery featuring Huntsville, Ala., criminal consultant Dub Walker (after 2011's Hot Lights, Cold Steel), Tim and Martha Foster hatch a plot to assume new identities and disappear after killing Walter Whitiker, who abducted and murdered their seven-year-old son, Steven, and is now due for early release after serving time only for perjury and obstruction of justice. As Whitiker walks out of Stone Gate Prison, he's hit by two rifle shots, one of them fatal. Huntsville homicide cop T-Tommy Tortelli takes charge of the investigation, for which his friend Dub becomes an official consultant. In addition to sifting through trace evidence left behind at the shooting site, they need to locate the Fosters. J.D. Whitiker, Walter's brother, is also looking for the Fosters for more sinister reasons. Lyle's sure handling of forensic issues helps make up for thin characters and too many unlikely occurrences. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron and Associates. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Run to Ground." Publishers Weekly, 25 June 2012, p. 154. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA294898158&it=r&asid=0936517d9c0a6fee27ea432999cd69cb. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A294898158
Quoted in Sidelights:
suspenseful, well-constructed
The writing is hard-edged and visually evocative
Stress Fracture
David Pitt
106.12 (Feb. 15, 2010): p44.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Stress Fracture.
By D. P. Lyle.
Apr. 2010. 394p. Medallion, $24.95 (9781605421346).
Dub Walker, a consultant to the FBI's Behavioral Assessment Unit and a former homicide investigator, thinks he has seen everything. Until, that is, the murder of an old friend brings him back into the game. Mike Savage, a former sheriff, isn't the only victim: a serial killer has already brutally murdered two other people, and it doesn't look like he intends to stop anytime soon. But can Dub catch him before the death toll gets any higher? In some ways, this suspenseful, well-constructed thriller feels like an episode of television's Criminal Minds: its protagonist is a noted profiler who interprets the evidence to put together a picture of the perpetrator; the killer, whose identity is revealed to the reader (but not Dub) early on, is a fully realized character; and the story explores not just the investigation of a crime but also the minds of the investigator and the criminal (who is, by the way, presented sympathetically and not as a purely evil man). The writing is hard-edged and visually evocative, and readers of dark serial-killer thrillers will definitely want to read this one.--David Pitt
Pitt, David
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Pitt, David. "Stress Fracture." Booklist, 15 Feb. 2010, p. 44. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA219830828&it=r&asid=9989100759063b5fd6f0a81d765cab2c. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A219830828
Quoted in Sidelights:
The medical information is well researched yet simple enough to understand
surprisingly funny book
Lyle, D.P., M.D. Murder and Mayhem: a Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers
Necia Parker-Gibson
128.1 (Jan. 2003): p126.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Jan. 2003. c.288p. illus. ISBN 0-312-30945-7. $23.95. COMM
Drawn from the author's column in a mystery writers' newsletter, this surprisingly funny book is for writers, readers, or anyone fascinated by medical or forensic details. Cardiologist Lyle has compiled information on injuries, illnesses, ingestion, exposure, and other disasters as well as forensic procedures, autopsies, and coroners for writers who must create believable dramatic situations. The medical information is well researched yet simple enough to understand (the section describing the causes and treatment of sucking chest wounds is excellent) and more accessible to the average nonexpert than more technical works like the Merck Manual. The text is organized into chapters by topic (e.g., "Trauma Injuries and Their Treatment"), and the questions addressed therein (e.g., "Where can my hero be shot, and survive?" or "How would death occur from blunt head trauma?") are also listed in the table of contents. Particularly suitable for public libraries but a reasonable purchase for academic libraries with interest--or medical libraries with a sense of humor.--Necia Parker-Gibson, Univ. of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Parker-Gibson, Necia
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Parker-Gibson, Necia. "Lyle, D.P., M.D. Murder and Mayhem: a Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers." Library Journal, Jan. 2003, p. 126+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA97174538&it=r&asid=0f1f08aed2074bf2e177729cc8ce416c. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A97174538
Quoted in Sidelights: so-so
Hot Lights, Cold Steel
258.15 (Apr. 11, 2011): p30.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Hot Lights, Cold Steel
D.R Lyle. Medallion (IPG, dist.), $24.95 (398p) ISBN 978-1-605421-81-0
In Lyle's so-so second thriller featuring Huntsville, Ala., criminal consultant and lumber company owner Dub Walker (after Stress Fracture), Walker's college crush, Miranda Edwards, asks for his help in tracing her wayward 18-year-old daughter, Noel. Noel, who's been paying for her higher education by turning tricks, hasn't been heard of since going on a date with a friend 10 days earlier. The assignment, which has a personal resonance for Walker (his sister, Jill, was abducted and never found), morphs into something quite different after two corpses turn up in a shallow grave with wounds consistent with some kind of surgical procedure. Walker's investigation alternates with the perils of Alejandro Diaz, the utterly unsympathetic lowlife who's responsible for burying the two cadavers. The cliched climax will leave few readers satisfied. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Hot Lights, Cold Steel." Publishers Weekly, 11 Apr. 2011, p. 30. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA254483273&it=r&asid=a5774a565cea4f630f8b804cf75302c2. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A254483273
Forensics; a guide for writers
24.1 (Feb. 2009):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2009 Ringgold, Inc.
http://www.ringgold.com/
9781582974743
Forensics; a guide for writers.
Lyle, D. P.
Writer's Digest Books
2008
438 pages
$19.99
Paperback
Howdunit
HV8073
In this world of crime-scene detection programs, mystery and thriller writers need to know at least the terminology of forensics to make their work realistic. Lyle, a cardiologist and mystery writer, provides the basic information that will keep writers from the most egregious errors. He covers the crime scene, blood stains, fingerprints, DNA and other popular themes. he also explains how one can tell if the deceased was manually strangled or hanged, how arson investigators work, the ways in which bodies decay and many other fine points of the study of murder. The book is written clearly with technical terms explained and simple drawings that educate without being gruesome. A bibliography, even of reputable websites, if not books and articles, would have been preferred to the advice that the reader search the Internet for keywords. Nevertheless, the book is a good starting point for writers or interested viewers and readers.
([c]2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Forensics; a guide for writers." Reference & Research Book News, Feb. 2009. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA196719710&it=r&asid=283412156de559910d3accce043b5d13. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A196719710
Quoted in Sidelights:
Murder and Mayhem provides the answers to questions you didn't even know you wanted to ask, but you'll be glad that someone else did.
clear, concise explanations
Murder and Mayhem. (Reviews)
Anja Weidmann
(July 2003): p259.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 British Medical Association
http://www.studentbmj.com
D.P. Lyle
Saint Martin's, 2003, [pounds sterling]15.00, pp 286
ISBN 0 312 30945 7
Rating: ****
If you want to know how dangerous it is to transport heroin in a swallowed condom, how many rhubarb leaves are needed to kill someone, or how mood cosmetics would look on a corpse, then Murder and May hem is the book for you.
The origins of this volume are, appropriately for a crime writer, rather convoluted. It all began with a suggestion from the past president of the south Californian chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. The idea was that the newsletters March of Crime and The Sleuth Sayer would benefit from a source of specialist medical knowledge. A column, "The doctor is in," was born and proved to be so popular that cardiologist Dr Lyle received hundreds of letters from "detail conscious" writers looking for plausible solutions to their complex plot problems. Murder and Mayhem is a compilation of some of these questions and their often surprising answers.
Dr Lyle provides clear, concise explanations of the physiology and anatomy involved in the variety of injuries, accidents, and general bad luck that authors propose to inflict on their characters. This might sound slightly boring, but these particular applications of the basic sciences are unlikely to have appeared on a medical school curriculum.
The book is divided into broad subject groups, such as "poisons and drugs" and "medical murder," and a wide range of material is covered. However, since each question and answer is independent from the next it is easy to skip around and read in bits.
Murder and Mayhem provides the answers to questions you didn't even know you wanted to ask, but you'll be glad that someone else did. There are loads of positive comments from fairly well known crime writers suggesting that they found the book useful and what I found particularly interesting was how the explanations were tailored towards answering a specific question. Often these deal with the functional impact of an injury or the likelihood of it arousing police suspicion. Just in case anyone should get any ideas, there is a bold warning that the book "is not to be used as a manual for any criminal activity or to bring harm to anyone."
Anja Weidmann fourth year medical student Manchester University anja_weidniann@doctors.co.uk
Weidmann, Anja
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Weidmann, Anja. "Murder and Mayhem. (Reviews)." Student BMJ, 2003, p. 259. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA104669297&it=r&asid=ee090612245ffc169923e64dbbd5aba1. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A104669297
Quoted in Sidelights: consistently compelling
the stuff from which block-buster movies are made
Deep Six
(Sept. 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Deep Six
D. P. Lyle
Oceanview Publishing
595 Bay Isles Road, 120-G, Longboat Key, FL 34228
www.oceanviewpub.com
9781608091812, $26.95, HC, 337pp, www.amazon.com
Ex-professional baseball player Jake Longly adamantly refuses to work for his father, wanting no part of Ray's PI world. He prefers to hang out at his beachfront bar and chase bikinis along the sugary beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama. But Ray could be persuasive, so Jake finds himself staking out the home of wealthy Barbara Plummer, a suspected adulteress. The mission seems simple enough hang around, take a few pictures, sip a little bourbon. Except Barbara gets herself murdered right under Jake's nose. When Jake launches into an investigation of his target's homicide, he quickly runs afoul of Ukrainian mobster Victor Borkov. Aided by his new girlfriend Nicole Jemison and Tommy "Pancake" Jeffers, his behemoth employee with crazy computer skills, Jake tries to peel away the layers of the crime. The deeper the intrepid trio delves, the more murders start to pile up, leading them to Borkov's massive yacht--where they just might be deep-sixed. In "Deep Six", author D. P. Lyle has once again written a consistently compelling novel that will riveting his reader's total attention from beginning to end. This is the stuff from which block-buster movies are made! While unreservedly recommended for community library Mystery/Thriller Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading list that "Deep Six" is also available in a Kindle edition ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Deep Six." Internet Bookwatch, Sept. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA465810286&it=r&asid=fac1089055998204b0140527f24ac513. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A465810286
Crime authors to speak on misperception of forensic science in movies
(Mar. 15, 2015): p1.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Uloop Inc.
http://uwire.com/?s=UWIRE+Text&x=26&y=14&=Go
Byline: Jessica Butalla
Two authors will take Hollywood to task on the movie industry's portrayal of forensic scientists and their work solving crimes, during the Fullerton Library's Distinguished Speaker Series next week.
Jan Burke, a Cal State Long Beach alumna, and Dr. D.P. Lyle, author of Forensics for Dummies will discuss the role of forensic scientists in solving crimes, a topic they've researched during years of study.
In addition to how forensic scientists do their work, the authors will shed light on how Hollywood wrongly portrays how forensic scientists solve crimes. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.
Given Lyle's and Burke's interest in forensics and science, the presentation will take a different spin on what a mystery author usually speaks on, said Maureen Gebelein, Fullerton Public Library Director in an email.
The authors also cater to a crowd-friendly topic, she said.
"The public is fascinated by crime stories and mysteries are always a popular genre for our patrons, so this is a good fit," Gebelein said.
Burke and Lyle are co-hosts of Crime and Science Radio, a production of Suspense magazine.
Jan Burke is an award-winning novelist and short story writer. She has written more than ten crime fiction books, including the Irene Kelly novel series.
Burke founded Crime Lab Project, a nonprofit that aims to increase public awareness of the issues facing forensic science agencies, and the gap between public perception and the reality of forensic science work. The organization also advocates for increased funding to education and research in the forensic science field.
Lyle has worked with multiple authors, as well as, writers of crime and science television shows including CSI: Miami, Law & Order and House.
The Distinguished Speaker Series is hosted by the Fullerton Public Library two to three times a year.
The presentation will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Community Room in the library's Conference Center. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Crime authors to speak on misperception of forensic science in movies." UWIRE Text, 15 Mar. 2015, p. 1. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA405461545&it=r&asid=1efb95e9f4f81a3a0826700d8a6a4c70. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A405461545
Run to Ground by D.P. Lyle Receives Silver
(June 28, 2013):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Vocus PRW Holdings LLC
http://www.prweb.com or www.vocus.com
Longboat Key, Florida (PRWEB) June 28, 2013
The Independent Book Publishers Association has awarded D.P. Lyle, M.D. their 2013 Benjamin Franklin Silver Award[TM] in the Mystery/Suspense category. Dr. Lyle, no stranger to awards, is author of many non-fiction books as well as numerous works of fiction including the Samantha Cody and Dub Walker thriller series and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels. He has worked with novelists and writers of popular television series, such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Monk, and Cold Case. His non-fiction works, Murder and Mayhem, Forensics For Dummies, Forensics and Fiction, Howdunnit: Forensics, More Forensics and Fiction, and ABA Fundamentals: Understanding Forensic Science, clearly display his expert knowledge about the science of forensics.
D.P. Lyle applies his forensics knowledge in Run To Ground, the third book in the Dub Walker series. In Run to Ground Lyle explores the grief of Tim and Martha Foster, who lost their only child to a convicted murderer...a convicted murderer who is to be released due to a technicality.
The story line as issued by Oceanview Publishing:
"What would you do if someone brutally murdered your only child, served only months in jail because of a technicality, and continually taunted, even threatened, you from behind bars? Could you hide your growing rage from family and friends? Could you gun the killer down as he left prison? Could you change your ID and leave behind your entire life a family, friends, jobs, house a and just disappear? Could Tim and Martha Foster do this?
"Forensic evidence and criminal behavior expert Dub Walker, along with best friend and homicide investigator T-Tommy Tortelli and ex-wife and TV reporter Claire McBride, employ all their skills to track down the Fosters.
"Dub quickly learns that the murder of Walter Whitiker is not as simple as it seems and Tim and Martha are not the only ones who want Walt dead. Are they truly as clever as they seem or did someone twist the evidence to keep the hot light of suspicion on the Fosters?"
Run to Ground (ISBN 978-1-60809-057-0, $25.95) is distributed by Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Bookazine, and Midpoint Trade Books. It is available through public libraries and all fine booksellers. Run to Ground is available in hardcover, all eBook formats, and audiobook.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/6/prweb10875411.htm
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Run to Ground by D.P. Lyle Receives Silver." PRWeb Newswire, 28 June 2013. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA335221050&it=r&asid=3bdbb60c73e79608780b6be165851070. Accessed 5 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A335221050
Quoted in Sidelights: While the plot absolutely lends itself to comedic relief, Lyle’s true talent shines in the development of his characters
Deep Six by D.P. Lyle
June 30, 2016 by Dawn Ius
51 1 0
Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard. Or Is It?
deep sixBy Dawn Ius
Fans of D.P. Lyle’s darker, more noirish work may suddenly feel like they’re on the butt end of a badly written punchline, but Lyle’s new book is no laughing matter. Actually, that’s a lie. It’s funny as hell.
DEEP SIX is a comedic thriller. No joke.
While it may come as a shock to readers, the genre-shift wasn’t a surprise for Lyle, who credits his family for instilling in him the power of laughter. After eight successful dark and gritty novels, Lyle says he was ready for something light and … well, comedic.
“I had this idea for a funny story about a guy who gets bamboozled into a stakeout, and so I just started writing,” he says.
No outline. No concrete plot. No sense, in fact, of where a “comedic thriller” would even fit in today’s somewhat fickle marketplace. To Lyle’s pleasure, readers appear to be laughing (out loud!) with him rather than at him—and that is certainly something to chuckle about.
“Comedy is hard,” he says. “I could do stand-up comedy no problem, because when you’re speaking in front of an audience, you can gauge their reactions. It easier than writing. You don’t know if the one-liners and gags are making people laugh, because you write in a vacuum.”
True, but Lyle’s vacuum seems to be infused with laughing gas, because DEEP SIX is funny in all the right places, creating a page-turning experience reminiscent of Carl Hiasson’s work.
DEEP SIX centers on ex-professional baseball player Jake Longly who, despite much protest, gets sucked into doing a gig for his dad’s PI business. He’s just supposed to hang around, snap off a few shots of the suspected adulteress, and report back to pops. Easy peasy. That is, until his target gets herself killed.
An investigation into her death leads Jake and his cohorts—new girlfriend, Nicole Jemison and computer genius Tommy Jeffers—deep into a crime where murder and mayhem run rampant along the sugary beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama.
While the plot absolutely lends itself to comedic relief, Lyle’s true talent shines in the development of his characters—from the loveable Jake whose foot is found in his mouth more often than not, to his tough-as-nails, sarcastic girlfriend, Nicole, the perfect partner-in-crime. Together, they’re a hoot.
“If you read my other books, you’ll find there’s a Nicole in all of them,” he says. “Smart, sarcastic, tough, and alarmingly pretty. I like characters like that—the kind that end up being so much more than they appear at the start.”
Lyle credits his mother for both his love of writing strong female characters, but also for his sense of humor, noting that she could “turn everything into a party.” His father, on the flipside, gets the nod for Lyle’s exceptional worth ethic—even as a successful author, he still practices medicine, a career he pegged at the tender age of 10 after watching the first “blue baby” heart surgery on TV.
“Dad was always about work first, play second,” he says. “He worked at the post office for 30 years and had an accounting business at night—even when he didn’t have to. My parents were of that generation. They never had to ask me if I’d done my homework. Of course I had—that was my job.”
These days, Lyle continues the family tradition by burning the candle at both ends, a routine he says he can sustain thanks to his needy, nocturnal cat—and a deep hatred of sleep.
It doesn’t hurt that DEEP SIX was one of the easiest books Lyle has written—and by some people’s measurement, perhaps his best. The novel came back from his editor with zero structural edits—as in none. (He’s not kidding!)
“That’s unheard of,” he says. “There’s always edits, always something. But I fixed the manuscript up in a few hours. Some books are just easy. Others are not. This one was.”
If you think that would inspire him to keep writing more Jake Longly books, you’d be dead wrong.
Ha! I’m just messing with you. Book two, Fractured Image, is already underway.
But if belly laughs aren’t your thing, don’t worry, Lyle is heading back to the grit with another new character that is, “flawed out the gazoo. The kind who would kill you in an instant. My kind of character.”
. . . says the man who, in his other career, has saved dozens of lives.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Laughter is Good Medicine by DP Lyle
D. P. Lyle is the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of both non-fiction and fiction (the Samantha Cody, Dub Walker, and Jake Longly thriller series and the Royal Pains media tie-in series). Along with Jan Burke, he is the co-host of Crime and Science Radio. He has served as story consultant to many novelists and the screenwriters of shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.
Website: http://www.dplylemd.com Blog: http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com Crime and Science Radio: http://www.dplylemd.com/crime--science-radio.html
DP Lyle:
Laughter is Good Medicine
I love to laugh. Bet you do too.
It’s good for you. It relieves stress, lowers blood pressure, and might even boost your immune system and make you healthier, definitely happier. I use it every day in my practice. With virtually every patient I see, after going through all the medical stuff, the last thing I say to them as they leave the office is: “Laugh a lot.” It’s that important.
I grew up with humor. My mom could turn anything into a party and always seemed to find the funny in everything. Dad had a drier sense of humor, but a sense of humor none the less. My sisters, cousins, and friends each had great wit.
In my early teens, as I began reading novels, I was captured by the usual suspects—Hemingway, Steinbeck, Verne—but also by the great humorists Mark Twain and Will Rogers. Later I dug into more modern humor writers like Carl Hiaasen and Tim Maleeny. I admired how each employed humor and downright knee-slapping funny in their essays and works of fiction.
Most of my early work is harsher—darker stuff with very bad guys—but I always included splashes of humor. I couldn’t help myself. Besides, humor is a great way to diffuse tension and humanize characters. But I had long wanted to write a more comedic thriller. And finally, I did.
DEEP SIX is a humorous thriller starring Jake Longly, ex professional baseball player, Gulf Coast bar/restaurant owner, and someone who’d rather run his dive and chase bikinis than do “honest work.” At least that was his father Ray’s take. Ray has a gray past, being involved in government secret ops of some kind—Jake never knew and Ray never shared—but is now a P.I. He wants Jake to work for him. Not a chance.
But, Ray does talk Jake into doing a bit of surveillance work—watching the house of a suspected adulteress. Of course, the woman gets murdered practically under Jake’s nose. And the story is off and running.
Jake, and his latest girlfriend Nicole Jemison. turn out to be fairly effective P.I.s—though Jake is reluctant to wear that mantel. But they can’t seem to stay out of trouble, and out of the crosshairs of the ruthless Victor Bookoff and his minions. Throw in Jake’s ex Tammy and her new husband and attorney Walter, who it turns out was having an affair with the deceased woman and naturally becomes the primary suspect, along with a couple of thugs and cartel hitmen, and well—-the pot boils.
After I finished DEEP SIX, I loved it. But would others? I mean, humor is hard to judge. One person’s funny is another’s ho hum. Very tricky stuff. Turned out my agent Kimberley Cameron and publishers Bob and Pat Gussin at Oceanview did indeed love it.
Now that makes me laugh.
As Lee Child said: “We all know Lyle’s erudition and expertise—-but who knew he was this funny?”
Certainly not my cat, who sees all this as annoying and not about him—the prerequisite for him to find anything interesting. Well, you can’t make everyone laugh.
DEEP SIX is available July 5, 2016.
For more details and to read Chapter 1, go here:
https://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/deep-six-launches-july-5th/
Posted by Janet Rudolph at 7:08 AM