TAMPA, Fla. - s4story -- Down & Out Books is pleased to announce that BRUTAL & STRANGE, Stories Inspired by the Songs of Elvis Costello, edited by Jim Fusilli, has been published on December 4, 2023 in trade paperback and ebook formats.

About BRUTAL & STRANGE …

One of popular music's most prolific and creative composers, Elvis Costello has written songs in every conceivable genre: pop, reggae, rock, country, funk, soul and jazz, but also for full orchestras and string quartets. What you may not have noticed is that a surprising number of these songs are crime stories—not mere nods toward unsavory events featuring questionable characters, but complete tales of murder and violence told in verse.

Costello's song titles alone confirm one of his preferred themes: "Accidents will Happen," "American Gangster Time," "Bullets for the Newborn King," "Coal-Train Robberies," "The Final Mrs. Curtain," "Hetty O'Hara Confidential," "Kinder Murder," "My Thief," "Shabby Doll," "Shot with His Own Gun," "That's How You Got Killed Before" and "Watching the Detectives," among them. His album titles include "Blood & Chocolate," "Brutal Youth," "National Ransom" and "When I Was Cruel." You can just imagine the so-called pulp mysteries of the 1920s, '30s and '40s bearing identical titles accompanied by lurid, evocative cover art.

More on S For Story

• NRE Health Institute Launches International Study Examining Motivations Behind Non-Sexual Nudity
• A Foundational Claim in Human Secrecy Goes Public
• Agape Leadership Academy Opens Nationwide Enrollment — State ESA Scholarships Cover Full Tuition for Families in 7 States
• Best Book Publishing Services for Authors Noble Book Publisher Simplifies the Publishing Journey
• Las Vegas Headliner Don Barnhart Brings National Touring Comedy Show to Comedy Cabana

In Brutal & Strange, contemporary masters of crime fiction dig into Costello's catalogue for inspiration. The marriage of Costello's themes and these award-winning authors' creativity will seem an inevitable match when you experience the results. Whether it's Meg Gardiner and "Complicated Shadows," Catriona McPherson and "Tramp the Dirt Down," Alex Segura and "I Want You", Mark Billingham and "Our Little Angel" or many other virtuoso interpretations, the stories match the composer's high standards and suggest there's even more stirring beneath the surface of his songs.

In his "Everyday I Write the Book"—explored here by Gar Anthony Hayward—Costello portrays an author as sinister, controlling and vengeful. That's not to say the authors who contributed to Brutal & Strange are anything of the kind. But you will find their questionable characters engaged in unsavory events. One imagines Costello himself would approve.

More on S For Story

• Father-Son Team Troy and Moses Horne Help Young Athletes Build Confidence and Mental Toughness
• Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame Announces 14th Annual Induction Gala Weekend Honoring Classes of 2025 and 2026
• Brosix Celebrates 20 Years of Private Team Messaging for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses
• Top 15 Mosquito-Infested Cities in Louisiana and East Texas Ranked for 2026 Mosquito Season
• History Matters: Book Recommendations for June

Meet the editor …

JIM FUSILLI is the author of nine novels and many short stories in the crime and mystery genre and a former Rock & Pop Critic of The Wall Street Journal.

In its thirteenth year as an independent publisher of award-winning literary and crime fiction, Down & Out Books (https://downandoutbooks.com) is based in Tampa, Florida. For more information about the book, to request a review copy of the book, or to inquire about an interview with the author, contact info@downandoutbooks.com.