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Mystery couple keep crime-fiction writers connected

By Robert K. Elder | Tribune reporter

February 21, 2009

At "Love Is Murder," an annual conference of mystery writers held Feb. 5-6 in Wheeling, author Jeffery Deaver was the biggest draw—understandably so. He is a respected crime novelist, and one of his novels, "The Bone Collector," was turned into a 1999 movie of the same name, starring Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington.

But there were two other relative unknowns who could barely make it through the crowd of fans and authors: Jon and Ruth Jordan.

"We try to make it from point A to point B, but it's like being a pinball," Jon jokes as he is stopped by another friend.

Ruth says, "Everything we do is—I don't know if 'tainted' is the right word—but 'touched' by the mystery world."

The Jordans aren't authors, editors or even agents. But almost everyone behind the scenes knows them and CrimeSpree Magazine, their magazine devoted to the mystery, crime and thriller genres. To use a term from Malcolm Gladwell's sociological study "The Tipping Point," the Jordans are "connectors": influential enthusiasts whose energy and network ripple through this community of writers.

Take, for example, HarperCollins author Sean Chercover ("Trigger City").

"Jon and Ruth have had a huge impact on my career," Chercover says. Even before his first novel was published, "they were the first people to welcome me into the mystery community. They really made me feel at home."

The Jordans also introduced Chercover to author Marcus Sakey ("The Blade Itself"), and the two became unofficial collaborators, touring together and critiquing each other's manuscripts.

Chercover and Sakey later met author Libby Fischer Hellmann ("A Picture of Guilt") through the Jordans, when Hellmann was seeking talent for The Outfit, a Chicago-based blog for crime-fiction fans with a national following.

"They know everybody," Chercover says of the Jordans. "It's because of their genuine love of the genre."

All this from two people who essentially are fans who run a magazine part time, in addition to their day jobs as a machinist and pharmacy technician in Milwaukee. They even met at a convention like the Wheaton event in 1999, and married a year later. The text on their wedding cake read: "Love is an endless mystery." The magazine followed in 2004 as an outlet for their love of crime fiction.

"We really just wanted to introduce people to new authors, to help create a community," Jon says of working on CrimeSpree, which celebrates its fifth birthday this year.

Max Allan Collins ("Road to Perdition") puts it another way: "They formed friendships and contacts in that fearless, unpretentious Midwestern fashion. They really benefit authors."

In his case, Collins says, Jon Jordan was the first to break the news of Collins' deal to finish Mickey Spillane's last novels.

"Six months before anybody was interested, Jon was there wanting to know all about," Collins says.

But the Jordans' impact reaches beyond individual careers, says Danielle Bartlett, publicity manager at William Morrow publishers.

"They are probably in the top echelon of people connecting authors to readers and publishers to readers," Bartlett says. "They are truly the most hard-working people I've seen in crime fiction."

relder@tribune.com