PORTLAND, Maine — A glass or two of fine champagne might be in order. Perhaps a special dinner out on the town. Maybe even a trip away, preferably to some dream destination.
All of those rewards would be fitting for John Connolly, whose new crime novel, "The Instruments of Darkness," comes out in early May. It features his longtime protagonist, private investigator Charlie Parker, and it marks a major milestone—25 years since the publication of his first Parker book. So what’s he doing to celebrate?
"Pretty much just working on the next book more than anything else," he said. "I have a book out in October as well, a book of short stories. And I’ve just finished my Ph. D."
Let the record show that Connolly, a writer of uncommon discipline and prolificness, does not have much of a knack for celebrating an achievement most other authors could only dream of.
"It’s a weird thing," he said. "Mostly you’re just grateful that you haven’t been found out. I’m just very relieved that I’ve had 25 years. I never thought I would have that."
The opening scene in "The Instruments of Darkness" takes place at Becky’s Diner, a fixture on Commercial Street in Portland for decades. No surprise there. Connolly fell hard for Maine when he first came here as a college student for a summer job at the Black Point Inn in Scarborough and has owned a home in Portland for many years even though he spends most of his time in his native Ireland.
That familiarity with the state has served him well as he has inserted real-life Maine shops, bars, restaurants, and more into his stories.
“Some of the people who read my books, especially from abroad, they’re fascinated by the city now," he said. "I quite like the idea that somebody would read one of my books and think, 'Well, I will go to Novel Book Bar and Café, I will go Becky’s, I’ll spend money at the Great Lost Bear, I’ll wander around Longfellow Books.'"
The key to his enduring popularity as a storyteller, Connolly suspects, lies not in plotting or giving readers an escape from the real world, although he does both of those things with flair. What really matters is creating interesting characters.
"All good fiction is about character," he said simply. "That’s what keeps people coming back."