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Ted and Gloria Feit
Gloria and Ted Feit are a husband and wife team of reviewers and they decided to be interviewed together. If you recognize their names, I’m not surprised because their reviews turn up all over the place. Spinetingler, I Love A Mystery, Dorothy L, Amazon and others feature their mystery reviews.
On their first blind date, Ted showed up with a Dick Francis under his arm and that was about all it took for Gloria. Engaged in a month and married within six, this husband and wife will never run out of things to talk about as long as there are books.
And for that we can all be grateful.
What really gets you interested in a mystery?
Characters who you can believe [or want to believe] exist, with realistic
dialogue, good plotting, good pacing that keeps you turning the pages. In other
words, a well-told story that keeps moving forward without delay, but with
enough diversions to keep your mind engaged.
What bores the hell out of you?
Wooden characters whose dialogue would never take place in real
life, unrealistic plotting. Badly written novels, with outlandish situations and
characters.
What clichés would you really like to see go away?
Copycat plots, characters and situations that have been done thousands of
times.
What topics, themes, etc. would you like to see moreof in mysteries?
Most are currently being done well, but the Scandinavians certainly have
come up with a lot of twists.
What mistakes do you think authors make?
Take the reader for a nincompoop, giving no credit for any intelligence.
Do you write? Would you like to?
Neither of us has aspirations as a writer. Gloria’s only writing in the past
has been in the nature of legal correspondence and briefs. Ted has had a great
deal of experience writing, but not fiction, essentially business reports, press
releases and the like, having been an editor of daily, weekly and monthly
publications, as well as a public relations professional.
Who are your favorites?
This is a long list there are so many! For one or the other, but most often
both, of us: Michael Connelly;John Connolly; Henning Mankell; S. J. Rozan;
Steve Hamilton; Val McDermid; JoNesbo; Ian Rankin; Gayle Lynds; Peter Robinson;
the aforementioned Dick Francis; Alafair Burke; James Lee Burke; Peter James;
Stephen White; Julia Spencer-Fleming; Mark Billingham; G. M. Ford; Robert B.
Parker; Asa Larsson;George Pelecanos; John Harvey; Linda Fairstein; Denise Mina;
James Sallis;Frank Tallis; Wm. Kent Krueger; Stuart MacBride; Barry Eisler; Lee
Child;Arnaldue Indridason; Barbara Seranella; Laura Lippman; Robert Crais;
CynthiaHarrod-Eagles; and others I’m sure we’ve left out, of equal talent and
ability, whose work we love.
Why did you become reviewers?
Kind of a natural progression after Gloria became a DorothyL list member,
and it sort of took on a life of its own after a short while. If either of us
really hates a book, but can find something good to say about it, we will review
and point out the negatives and the positives. If there are none of the latter, we
feel we’re not doing anyone a favor by writing a review if by somewhere between pages
50 and 100 we just can’t find any redeeming features.
For more Reviewing the Reviewers click here.
Thank you, Tom. It was great to finally “meet” Gloria and Ted, after reading their reviews on DorothyL. I love the story of their first date! As someone who spent 26 years sharing books with my husband and reading partner, I know how wonderful it can be to have books in common.
I always appreciate the Feit reviews on DorothyL. Thanks for the interview, and I love the photo!
I was thrilled when Gloria reviewed my Duffy books…
My ex once took a picture of me reading a book, my father reading and my mother reading – all together, reading our own books on a couch – in perfect harmony. He thought we were idiots for not paying any attention to him. Yeah. One reason he is my ex!
Hi, Ted and Gloria. Lovely interview. With the sad demise of the DorothyL New York lunches, I’ll miss seeing you regularly. 🙂 Liz
Gloria and Ted are two of my favorite reviewers, I think because they are such readers as well. This was a great interview, like a chat or conversation!
It’s great to finally have faces to go with your reviews on Dorothy L. Thanks for all the recommendations.
I always appreciate a review by both of you since we seem to enjoy the same authors and then some. I have dipped my finger into reviewing a few titles since I like to convey my thoughts to this great group that I have been a part of for over 15 years!
I enjoyed this interview very much and glad to see you both in “person”.
betsy shipley
Thank you for a lovely review of two of MY favorite people in the world of literature!!!!! We are lucky to have them in this world – and I love the picture!! Thelma Straw
Yes we are!!!
I also enjoy your reviews. Thanks for sharing your interesting story!
Thank YOU!
I have appreciated your reviews and do appreciate this Review of you both. I hope we will be able to get together for a DL lunch soon as tentatively planned.
Zulema Seligsohn