In Reference to Murder

Friday's "Forgotten" Books:

Magdalen Nabb was born in Lancashire in 1947 but lived in Florence, Italy, from 1975 until her death in 2007. She wrote both children's fiction and crime fiction, the latter featuring her literary creation Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia. She modeled the Marshal on a real Florentine law officer who used to keep the author up to date on crimes in the city being investigated by the Carabinieri, the national Italian police force. Critic Susanna Yager of the Sunday Telegraph once noted that "The mystery for me is why Magdalen Nabb is not better known," certainly not as well as Michael Dibdin (Aurelia Zen) and Donna Leon (Commissario Guido Brunetti).

After the first book featuring Guarnaccia appeared in 1981, it impressed Georges Simenon so much that he wrote to congratulate Nabb. After the publication of the sequel, Death of a Dutchman, he said, "Your first novel was a coup de maitre, your second is a masterpiece." That second book (she wrote 14 Guarnaccia installments in all) opens as Marshal Guarnaccia finds a jeweler dying in an apparent suicide from slashed hands and a barbiturate overdose, uttering his last words, "It wasn't her." The only witnesses to the crime are a blind man and a notoriously untruthful 91-year-old woman.

Although the case seems to be a dead end, the Marshal refuses to let it go, fighting his way through bureaucratic red tape, hordes of tourists, the soggy July heat, the secret police known as Digos and the dead Dutchman's troubled past in order to reach the truth. The dead man is known as a "Dutchman" even though his father was Dutch and his mother Italian. This neither-here-nor-there sense of belonging echoes the life of the Marshal himself, a Sicilian stationed in Florence, living at the station barracks without his wife and sons, as they care for his invalid mother back home.

Marshal, lower down the police hierarchy than a Lieutenant or Magistrate, is nonetheless a dedicated, sensitive and caring officer, not particularly articulate but with a subtle humor who patiently helps the young and inexperienced officer in charge of the case. The city and culture that is Florence becomes another character, focusing on the importance of family, place and tradition. Or as the Washington Post added, "The richest scene here, however, is Florence itself, whose intricate politics and class structure Nabb parses with precision and wit."

It's unfortunately difficult to find Nabb's work in print, although Soho Crime reprinted Death of a Dutchman in 2007, along with several of the other titles in Nabb's Florentine Mystery series.

Mystery Melange

The Bouchercon Conference Board announced that Sara Paretsky is this year's winner of the David Thompson Special Service Award, given to honor the memory and contributions to the crime fiction community of David Thompson, a beloved Houston bookseller who passed away in 2010. Recipients are recognized for their extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the crime fiction field. As the Board noted, "Sara's contributions as a founder of Sisters In Crime; as a leader in helping to lay the publishing groundwork for women authors of mystery and crime fiction, and as an ongoing literacy activist, have been phenomenal." The award will be presented during the General Members Meeting at the Bouchercon 2023 convention in San Diego.

The second annual Motive: Crime & Mystery Festival, an adjunct of the Toronto International Festival of Authors, takes place at Harbourfront this weekend, Friday through Sunday. Following last year’s inaugural event, one of the first in-person literary festivals after the COVID-19 lockdowns, the format will once again include a combination of readings, panel conversations and master classes focusing on the craft of writing in the crime genre. Among those authors scheduled to participate are Canadians Linwood Barclay, Margaret Cannon, Maureen Jennings, and Sheena Kamal, as well as many others from countries including Scotland, Britain, Iceland, and the U.S.
 

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has appointed Vaseem Khan as its first non-white chair in the organization's 70-year history. Khan, who is the author of two crime series set in India and also co-hosts the Red Hot Chilli Writers podcast with fellow author Abir Mukherjee, said he aimed to make the CWA "a home for all crime writers." He takes over the role of chair from author, editor, publisher and critic Maxim Jakubowski. Previous chairs include Ian Rankin, Dick Francis, Peter James and Lindsey Davis.

Now in their sixth year, the Danger Awards continue to honor books featuring Australia as a setting for stories about crime and justice. At BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival in November 2023, three awards will be presented: one for crime fiction, one for crime non-fiction and thanks to the generous sponsorship of OverDrive Australia, for the first time a People’s Choice award will be presented covering both categories. The winners will each receive $1000 In prize money, a Danger Award trophy and be invited to speak at BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2023. Organizers will be accepting submissions, of both crime fiction and non-fiction books that explore and shed light on crime and justice issues in Australia, by no later than 5pm on June 10th. All books must have been first published between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022.

Andrew Gulli, editor-in-chief of Strand Magazine, announced that the periodical will publish for the first time a "lost" short story by James M Cain, one of the greats of American noir, and a "poet of the tabloid murder," whose works made famous on film include The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, and Mildred Pierce. Gulli made the discovery simply by asking the Library of Congress to look in its Cain papers, and he found the unfamiliar title and story, which he dates to the late 1950s. The newly discovered story, "Blackmail," is set in Washington, DC, and concerns a blind Korean war veteran tormented by his sister-in-law.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "The Dream" by Adam Stemple.

In the Q&A roundup, Alison Goodman was interviewed by E. B. Davis about her fiercely feminist historical mystery series including The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies; and Lisa Haselton chatted with suspense author Regina Buttner about her new domestic suspense, Down a Bad Road.

In Reference to Excellence

I'd planned on compiling a list of the award-winning nonfiction/reference crime books from last year's awards cycle, oh, somewhere back in January, but somehow that blog post got put on a back burner. At any rate, in keeping with the original theme of this blog, here are the "Crème de la Crème" of those books that were awarded in 2022. I hope to post lists of some of the other finalists titles, too (and be a little more timely with next year's similar posts). These reference and nonfiction books often don't get as much love as the fiction titles, but they make for fascinating reading, and I hope you'll seek them out. (And if I missed one, feel free to post it in the comments, and I'll add it to the list!)

How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Winner of the Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction; the Anthony Award for Best Critical or Nonfiction Work; and the Macavity Award for Best Nonfiction/Critical).  Mystery Writers of America collected essays from 70 of the most successful mystery writers in the business on various aspects of their craft, from character development and plot to procedurals and thrillers, as well as the piece of writing advice they wish they'd had at the beginning of their careers. Kirkus reviewed it as "Everything you wanted to know about how to plan, draft, write, revise, publish, and market a mystery."

Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and an NPR Best Book of the Year). This is a chilling true story, told here for the first time, of the Last Call Killer and the gay community of New York City whom he preyed upon in the '80s and '90s. The murders had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers, but because of the sexuality of his victims, the sky-high murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten.

Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995 by Patricia Highsmith, edited by Anna von Planta (Winner of the CrimeFest H.R.F. Keating Award for Best Biographical or Critical Book). At once lovable, detestable, and mesmerizing, Highsmith put her turbulent life to paper for five decades, acutely aware there must be "a few usable things in literature." A memoir as significant in our own century as Sylvia Plath’s journals and Simone de Beauvoir’s writings were to another time, Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks is an historic work that chronicles a woman’s rise against the conventional tide to unparalleled literary prominence.

The Beatle Bandit by Nate Hendley (Winner of the Crime Writers Awards of Excellence for Best Nonfiction Crime Book). On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario. Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was killed, and Smith escaped―only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. He was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to hang, and his murderous rampage had tragic consequences for multiple families, fuelling a national debate about the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defense.

The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A true story of sex, crime and the meaning of justice by Julia Laite (Winner of the Crime Writers Association Non-fiction Dagger). In 1910, Wellington, New Zealand, Lydia Harvey is sixteen, working long hours for low pay, when a glamorous couple invite her to Buenos Aires. She accepts - and disappears. Later that year in England, amid a global panic about sex trafficking, detectives are tracking a ring of international criminals when they find a young woman on the streets of Soho who might be the key to cracking the whole case. Historian Julia Laite traces Lydia Harvey through the fragments she left behind to build an extraordinary story of aspiration, exploitation and survival―and one woman trying to build a life among the forces of history.

The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (Winner of the Edgar for Best Critical/Autobiographical). Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon—what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. Along the way, White illuminates a vital truth: that Hitchcock was more than a Hollywood titan; he was the definitive modern artist, and his significance reaches far beyond the confines of cinema.

Banquet: The Untold Story of Adelaide’s Family Murders, by Debi Marshall (Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime). Only one suspect, Bevan Spencer Von Einem, has been charged and convicted for The Family Murders of Adelaide, "the City of Corpses." With her combination of investigative skills and sensitivity, award-winning investigative journalist, Debi Marshall, treads a harrowing path to find the truth, including confronting Von Einem in prison, pursuing sexual predators in Australia and overseas, taking a deep-dive into the murky world of pedophiles, challenging police and judiciary, and talking to victims and their families. The outcome is both shocking and tragic.

 

The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek by Kate Holden (Winner of Davitt Award for Best Non-Fiction Book). In July 2014, outside Croppa Creek, New South Wales, 80-year-old farmer Ian Turnbull took out a .22 and shot environmental officer Glen Turner in the back. On one side, a man hoping to secure his family’s wealth and future by farming the richest agricultural soil in the country. On the other side, the object of his obsession–the government employee trying his best to apply environmental laws. The brutal killing of Glen Turner splits open the story of our place on this land, and ultimately what happens when, in pursuit of an inheritance for his family, a man creates terrible consequences.

 

Author R&R With Katie Graykowski

Texas writer, Katie Graykowski, is a #1 Amazon and international bestselling author of 20+novels, including several romance and young adult series. She's also the author of the PTO Murder Club mystery series featuring Mustang Ridges who lives in the small town of Lakeside, Texas and whose police-chief husband fled to Grand Cayman with his mistress and a million dollars in diamonds he stole from the police evidence lockup. Now a single mother and chair of the Bee Creek Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, Mustang and her friends often find themselves in the middle of unexpected crime investigations.

In the fifth book in that series, Puzzled Pieces, Mustang finds the body of her son’s school bus driver, Imogene Puzzle. Mustang and her best friends Haley and Monica are on the hunt for anyone who might want Ms. P. dead, but she was seemingly loved by everyone. The only possible lead is Ms. P.’s true crime group, The Puzzlers, who were investigating the Hill Country Strangler, a twenty-year-old cold case. When two other bus drivers from surrounding school districts also end up with their throats cut, Mustang begins to think that the Hill Country Strangler might have decided that throat-cutting was a better way to kill. How many more people will die before Mustang, Haley, and Monica puzzle out the killer?

Katie stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about her research and writing process:

 

My mystery novel series, the PTO Murder Club Mysteries, is set in the fictional town of Lakeside, Texas. My heroines are three mothers who ran the PTO (parent teacher organization) at their children’s elementary school. I like to incorporate current events into my mystery novels which means research.

I love research. Whether it’s reading everything ever written about a particular subject or binge-watching hours of the History Channel, listening to hours of podcasts, or searching the internet, I could happily OD on research. If I’m in an active writing phase, I have to limit my research because it’s a rabbit hole I will gladly dive into.

I tend to do my research either while I’m writing or if the words are really coming, I’ll make a note on the manuscript of what needs to be researched. After I finish the book, I go back and add in the researched information.

When I’m not in an active writing phase, I’m off the chain and down the research rabbit hole. I’ll find an interesting topic and immerse myself in it.

For example, female spies in World War II. Many women from all over the world risked their lives to help the allied forces. There are some really good books on that subject. While I haven’t written or have plans to write about women spies in WWII, it’s filed away in the back of my mind and will get worked into story at some point.

Or, Artificial Intelligence and how it will change our world. We are watching history in the making. This technology is in its infancy. Whether it’s good or bad remains to be seen. As a mystery writer, AI could be an incredible research tool. As far as AI as a character in a story, there is so much trouble it can get into.

It’s interesting, in 1889 Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of US Patent Office at that time, said that the patent office would soon shrink in size and close, because “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Man was he wrong.

See how random facts can pop up in a story?

For new writers wondering how to go about research, do it your way. Find what makes sense to you. Because I’m an auditory learner, I love listening to biographies and nonfiction audio books. If you’re a visual learner, try a site visit. If the smell of books helps you focus, go camp out at your local library. There’s no right or wrong way to research. Just remember, writing is about the journey and the destination. So, make it a fun ride.

 

You can learn more about Katie and her books via her website and also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The ebook of Puzzled Pieces is available now via Amazon and the print book can be ordered from all major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

The French murder mystery film, Anatomy of a Fall, took the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Director Justine Triet won the Palme d'Or for her tense courtroom drama, which tells the story of a writer accused of her husband's murder. Triet becomes the third female director ever to win the prestigious prize, which was first awarded in 1955. Her thriller stars German actress Sandra Hüller, who also stars in the Cannes runner-up, The Zone of Interest.

Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino (American Crime Story: Impeachment) and Geza Rohrig (Son of Saul) have joined the spy thriller, Fog of War, which Michael Day is directing from a screenplay by Luke Langsdale. Also starring are Jake Abel (Walker), Briana Hildebrand (Lucifer), and John Cusack (Love & Mercy). Set during WWII, the story follows an injured American pilot Gene (Abel), and his OSS agent fiancée Penny (Hildebrand), who retreat to a remote estate in Massachusetts to visit her extended family (Cusack and Sorvino). Unbeknownst to Penny, the OSS has recruited Gene to spy on the family and the surrounding community, including Belgian immigrant Viktor (Rohrig), as top-secret documents related to the D-Day Invasion have been stolen, and an enemy mole is somewhere nearby preparing to turn these plans over to the Axis Powers.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

On June 24 at the Billy Wilder Theater, the UCLA Film & Television Archive will salute Ida Lupino's directing contributions to TV mystery and horror through the program "Directed by Ida Lupino: Macabre Television," showing the episodes "A Crime for Mothers" (Alfred Hitchcock Presents), "Guillotine" (Thriller; screenplay by Charles Beaumont, based on a story by Cornell Woolrich), and "The Masks" (Twilight Zone). One of the few women directors working in TV in the 1950s and 1960s, and the most prolific in primetime, Lupino defied barriers to helm over fifty network episodes in a wide variety of series across genres, from rugged westerns to the fantasy-themed sitcom Bewitched. But Lupino’s artistic mark on the medium is perhaps best illustrated by her directorial work in a trio of iconic crime/horror-tinged television series: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller and The Twilight Zone. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell)

Amazon Prime Video has ordered the spy thriller, Butterfly, to series, with Daniel Dae Kim set to star and executive produce. Amazon has given the show a six-episode order, but production will not commence until all guild negotiations have been resolved. The show is based on the graphic novel of the same name created by Arash Amel, written by Amel and Marguerite Bennett, and illustrated by Antonio Fuso and Stefano Simeone. Per the official logline, the series centers on David Jung (Kim), "an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former US intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca, a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him.”

AMC Networks’ Acorn TV and UK's Channel 5 are serving up a third season of The Madame Blanc Mysteries, including a Christmas special and six regular episodes. Filming is currently underway, with the Christmas special set to air on Acorn TV and Channel 5 in 2023, while the rest of the season will continue in 2024. Starring and created by Sally Lindsay, The Madame Blanc Mysteries see renowned and respected antiques dealer Jean White (Lindsay) return with her expertise in the world of antiquities, proving to be the key to solving a series of murders and mysteries against the backdrop of the beautiful French village of Sainte Victoire. Also reprising their roles are Sue Vincent, who returns as Gloria Beaushaw and as series co-writer, as well as Steve Edge, Robin Askwith, Sue Holderness, Alex Gaumond, and Tony Robinson.

Apple TV+ unveiled the trailer for Hijack, the upcoming thriller starring and executive produced by Idris Elba (Luther). Created by George Kay (Lupin; Criminal), who penned the script, and Jim Field Smith (Criminal; Truth Seekers), who will direct, the seven-part series also stars Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife; Blindspot). Told in real time, Hijack follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven-hour flight, and authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Elba stars as an accomplished negotiator in the business world who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers—but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing. Panjabi will play the role of a counter-terrorism officer who is on the ground when the plane is hijacked and becomes part of the investigation.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

The 100th episode of the Red Hot Chili Writers podcast featured a chat with crime writer, Robert Dugoni; a reflection on the British Book Awards; and a discussion of appropriate behavior at literary festivals.

Speaking of Mysteries welcomed Jordan Harper to talk about his latest crime novel, Everybody Knows, featuring black-bag publicist Mae Pruett, who doesn’t worry about the truth, only "The Story."

The Books & Looks podcast spoke with debut author Mary Ann Miller, who at age 63 has penned the enthralling murder mystery, Bones Under the Ice, set in a small Indiana town

On Crime Time FM, Paul Burke reviewed a selection of the April and May crime fiction releases.

Pick Your Poison tackled the topics of "what to know about the dangers of black-market butt lifts," and "what hotels and hardware stores have to do with health care."

Friday's "Forgotten" Books - The Cape Cod Mystery

At this time of year, my thoughts turn to summer vacations that bubble up from my memories of bygone days. My family always managed to travel somewhere, like the year we made it up to Cape Cod and rented a beach-side cabin. So naturally, a book I came across in the library titled The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor ended up in my book bag.

Phoebe Atwood Taylor (1909-1976) was born in Boston, the child of Cape Cod natives who were also descendants of Mayflower Pilgrims. After Taylor married a Boston surgeon, they had a summer home on the Cape, which explains why the author would choose that setting for her first novel, published in 1931 when she was all of 22. She puts that inside knowledge to good use in recreating the local culture there in the 1930s and 1940s.

Taylor has my undying respect for her work ethic of writing her novels between midnight and three a.m. after her "housekeeping day" had ended, although her habit of waiting to start a book until three weeks before the publisher's deadline would give me a heart attack. (The Passing Tramp has a nice rundown of her interesting family.)

The Cape Cod Mystery was fairly successful in its day, selling 5,000 copies, and introduced  the "Codfish Sherlock", Asey Mayo, who went on to star in 24 of Taylor's novels. Mayo retired in Cape Cod, following his world travels as a sailor,  to serve as a general assistant to the heir of Porter Motors. He uses his wits and wit to solve murders with the help of a very fast car.

In the novel, the muckraking author, philanderer and occasional blackmailer Dale Sanborn is murdered one hot August weekend, leaving behind a long list of enemies, including an old girl friend, his fiancee, an outraged husband, a long-lost brother and a few more. Asey Mayo gets involved when his friend and mentor Bill Porter is accused of the crime, even though Mayo only has one clue to go on:  a sardine can.

There are a few oddities, such as the narrator being not Mayo but rather Prudence Whitsby, who has a cottage on Cape Cod she shares with her niece and a cook (and also serves as the sight where the victim was murdered). Taylor wrote Mayo with a very heavy Coddish (Codlian?) accent that sometime a bit difficult to wade through, particularly when he's offering up his homespun sayings like "They ain't many whys without becauses."

The earlier Mayo titles are a little darker (it's been suggested this was due to the Depression at the time), but as the series went on, the tone apparently lightened enough that critic Dilys Winn called Taylor "the mystery equivalent to Buster Keaton," and one reviewer added that Asey Mayo does for Cape Cod what Travis McGee does for Southern Florida. Apparently Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind) was even a fan of Taylor's Mayo character, encouraging Taylor to "pack the books with Cape Cod details."

The Cape Cod Mystery has been reissued several times, most recently as part of Otto Penzler's American Mystery Classic series.

Canadian Accolades

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the winners for the 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents. On behalf of CWC, Hyacinthe Miller, Board Chair, noted that “This year’s Awards of Excellence is the biggest ever, with over 200 entries in ten categories. Our thanks to everyone who entered and our thirty volunteer judges, who adjudicated the submissions.” Congrats to all the winners and finalists!

 

Best Crime Novel - sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize: Anthony Bidulka, Going to Beautiful, Stonehouse Publishing

Also nominated:

• Linwood Barclay, Take Your Breath Away, William Morrow
• Nicole Lundrigan, An Unthinkable Thing, Viking Canada
• Catherine McKenzie, Please Join Us, Simon & Schuster Canada
• Shelly Sanders, Daughters of the Occupation, HarperCollins Canada

Best Crime First Novel - sponsored by Melodie Campbell, with a $1000 prize: Sam Shelstad, Citizens of Light, TouchWood Editions

Also nominated:

• T. Lawrence Davis, The Pale Horse, Friesen Press
• Bill Edwards, Killer Time, Friesen Press
• Adam Frost, The Damned Lovely, Down and Out Books
• M.Z. Urlocker, The Man from Mittelwerk, Inkshares, Inc.

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada - sponsored by Charlotte Engel and CWC, with a $500 prize: Joanne Jackson, A Snake in the Raspberry Patch, Stonehouse Publishing

Also nominated:

• A. J. Devlin, Five Moves of Doom, NeWest Press
• S. M. Freedman, Blood Atonement, Dundurn Press
• Maureen Jennings, Cold Snap, Cormorant Books
• Amy Tector, The Foulest Things, Keylight Books

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery - sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize: Thomas King, Deep House, HarperCollins Canada

Also nominated:

• Alice Bienia, Knight in the Museum, Cairn Press
• Anne Emery, Fenian Street, ECW Press
• Mary Jane Maffini, Death Plans a Perfect Trip, Beyond the Page
• Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire, Touchwood Editions

Best Crime Novella - sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize: Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson, The Man Who Went Down Under, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines

Also nominated:

• M.H. Callway, Amdur's Ghost, In the Spirit of 13,Carrick Publishing
• Hilary Davidson, Dangerous to Know, A Grifter's Song Vol. 8, Down & Out Books
• Julie Hiner, Dead End Track, Julie Hiner
• Matt Hughes, The Emir's Falcon, Shadowpaw Press Premiere

Best Crime Short Story - sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $300 prize: Craig H. Bowlsby, The Girl Who Was Only Three Quarters Dead, Mystery Magazine

Also nominated:

• M.H. Callway, Must Love Dogs - or You're Gone, Red Dog Press
• Blair Keetch, To Catch a Kumiho, In the Spirit of 13, Carrick Publishing
• Sylvia Maultash Warsh, The Natural Order of Things, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
• Donalee Moulton, Swan Song, Cold Canadian Crime, Crime Writers of Canada

Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction): Richard Ste-Marie, Monsieur Hämmerli, Éditions Alire

Also nominated:

• Geneviève Blouin, Le Mouroir des anges, Éditions Alire
• Isabelle Lafortune, Chaîne de glace, Éditions XYZ
• Guillaume Morrissette, Le dernier manège, Saint-Jean éditeur
• Suzan Payne, Modus operandi, Éditions Perce-Neige

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) - sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize: Jo Treggiari, Heartbreak Homes, Nimbus Publishing Limited

Also nominated:

• Natasha Deen, Lark Steals the Show, Orca Book Publisher
• Marthe Jocelyn, Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse, Tundra Books
• H.N. Khan, Wrong Side of the Court, Penguin Teen
• Wesley King, Butt Sandwich & Tree, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book - sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm, Hamilton, with a $300 prize: Rosemary Sullivan, The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation, HarperCollins Canada

Also nominated:

• Michael Arntfield, How to Solve a Cold Case: And Everything Else You Wanted to Know About Catching Killers, HarperCollins Canada
• Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson, The Castleton Massacre, Dundurn Press Ltd.
• Harley Rustad, Lost in the Valley of Death, Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada
• Sarah Weinman, Scoundrel, Knopf Canada - Penguin Random House Canada

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript - sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize: Mary Keenan, Snowed

Also nominated:

• Jan Garnett, No Safe House
• Joanne Kormylo, Two Knots
• Joel Nedecky, The Broken Detective
• Michael Pennock, The Peaks

Mystery Melange

The Nebula Awards sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and celebrating "the writers of the most outstanding speculative fiction," announced this year's winners. There are several titles of note for crime fiction fans among the finalists and winners, including Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk, winner of Best Novella, which is about a magical detective who dives into the affairs of Chicago's divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life; and "Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness," by S.L. Huang, a finalist in the Best Novelette category. You can check out all the finalists and winners here.

The Chicago Tribune reported that after "more than 30 years of reading books, loving books, selling books, and hosting authors and readers, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore in Forest Park, Ill., has been put up for sale. Owner Augie Aleksy and his wife are in their 70s and ready for a quieter retirement. He added that the decision was not prompted by any pandemic-related business troubles: "It was surprising, but 2021 was one of the best years we've ever had. A lot of customers bought gift certificates for family and friends. A lot of people were cooped up and doing more reading. There was a real hunger for reading." The bookstore, which has a focus on crime fiction and historical fiction, will remain open while seeking a buyer, with store events scheduled into the summer and beyond.

On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, noting that "Writers are facing the most comprehensive assault on compensation and working conditions that they have seen in a generation...The studios have taken advantage of the transition to streaming to underpay entertainment industry workers, including writers in every area of work. Like too many working people across our economy, as corporate profits grow, writers are just not keeping up."  Mystery Writers of America released a statement in solidarity with the WGA that they support the right of writers in all genres to be treated as professionals. "We support our many members who are also WGA members. We stand with the WGA."

The Golden Donut submission deadline has been extended to June 24 due to an online technical glitch. The contest, which is sponsored by the Writers' Police Academy conference, is open to all writers who are tasked with creating a micro-fiction story of exactly 200 words, including the title. Stories are judged by the editors at Bookouture, a division of Hachette UK, with the top five stories to be posted in the fall on The Graveyard Shift blog. Entrants may submit up to three stories per submission fee.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Secrets" by Charmaine Arjoonlal.

In the Q&A roundup, Author Interviews chatted with Samantha Jayne Allen, author of the Annie McIntyre Mysteries and the latest installment, Hard Rain; Crime Fiction Lover spoke with Elle Marr about her latest psychological thriller, Lovely Bones; and crime fiction writer Dennis Lehane was interviewed by Boston Magazine about his decade in Hollywood and his first new book in six years.

Author R&R with Simon Marlowe

British author, Simon Marlowe, often uses the thriller genre to tell stories which combine realism with a blend of the surreal. He published his debut novel, Zombie Park, in 2017, an intense and darkly comic drama set in a dysfunctional psychiatric hospital during the social and economic turmoil of the 1980s. Since then, Simon has published short stories and flash fiction while completing his second novel, The Dead Hand of Dominique. This is a post-Brexit crime thriller that centers on Steven Mason, a young career villain, and his journey through the underbelly of London and Essex searching for answers to his boss’s AWOL mistress and a way out of a heartless world to fulfill his own dreams. Marlowe's latest novel, Medusa and the Devil, continues the adventures of Steve Mason.

In Medusa and the Devil, Essex rogue Steven Mason has decamped to the Mediterranean, to escape his low life gangster world and start afresh. Keeping his head down while still laundering money for his old boss, Steven’s plans go awry when a former associate turns up and asks him to retrieve an unassuming ivory sculpture. As the story unfolds and Steven unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in an illegal immigration case, his attention turns to more pressing issues—being buried six feet under but still breathing.

Simon Marlowe stops by In Reference to Murder to talk about researching and writing the book:

Medusa And The Devil (Pub Cranthorpe Millner 23^rd May 2023) is book two of my darkly comic crime thriller trilogy Mason Made, and starts with the protagonist, Steven Mason, six feet under. The only problem is, he’s not dead. And that posed a question for me, one that initiated my first bit of research for this novel: how long can you survive buried alive in a coffin? I won’t spoil the outcome for you, but it is long enough for Steven to tell the story of his latest villainous adventure on a Mediterranean island.

Perhaps the best example I can give regarding my current approach to research and storytelling can be found in a key narrative event in Medusa. I had always envisioned a sea journey for my central characters that was going to be a choppy ride, in part because I’d had such an experience on a catamaran crossing the Med—and that was a vomit fest. What I didn’t know was anything about sailing, and our plucky involuntary sailors needed to sail. I knew this had to sound convincing, because imagination might get me through the storm, but it wouldn’t pass muster with anyone who had a crow’s-nest knowledge of the task of sailing. I read articles about sailing, making notes on the technical side and experiences of navigating storms and capsizing. Once I had enough detail, I could write this section of the novel by blending, or integrating, fact with fiction, the technical with the narrative, so much so that I could even enable the central character to tutor others in how to sail.

However, this approach of research integrated into the storytelling was not on my radar when I started seriously committing to fiction and creative writing. For instance, I did no research for my first novel, Zombie Park (Pub Matador 2017). It was based on my experiences of working in a psychiatric hospital in the mid-1980s. I fictionalized some things, dramatized others, and let loose a few surreal literary flourishes to create a mega-busting epic that was so intense even I struggle to re-read it! It took me seven years to write because I was also learning how to write, having earlier dropped out of my Masters in Creative Writing (there’s probably a good plot there for a self-conscious-author-led murder mystery!)

Anyway, I sold a few copies, and was resolute about using my life experience as the basis for my further fiction. Why? Because the thought of research tended to send shivers down my spine—I had spent far too long in academic study and believed that fiction meant the application of the imagination. It was only through my attempts to produce a second novel that I began to realize that things were not that simple. A failed novel followed next (which will never see the light of day) before I finally reached an understanding of what my creative writing was naturally suited to in terms of genre, and that research was necessary if the narrative required it, and if I wanted authenticity to back up some of the surreal and thematic content.

The Dead Hand of Dominique (Pub Cranthorpe Millner Nov 2021) was the result and is the first novel in this comic crime thriller trilogy. But my approach to research has evolved. I don’t head to the Reading Room at the British Library and emerge months later with a Pukka Pad full of illegible notes. Instead, I search for articles and news stories that give me just enough substance, however tenuous, to hopefully convince the reader that what they are reading is probable, likely, or just about possible. I also like to have sources that can be used to prove that fact is stranger than fiction. I haven’t yet resorted to producing documentary evidence when a reviewer has doubted the integrity of the plot, although I have been tempted. I would also like to add that, in The Dead Hand of Dominique, a process for smuggling illegal immigrants that I had invented without reference to news stories became a news story six months later! ‘Intriguing, don’t you think, Dr Watson…’

Finally, the preparation starts way back. My process of writing a novel does not consist of a eureka moment wherein I bury myself in my author grotto, emerging, bruised and battered, with a literary masterpiece (if only!). There is inspiration, the sparking of ideas, but those ideas take time to brew, ferment and mature. In other words, the process of transforming my ideas into a novel can take months, even years. I use a notebook (one of the few good pieces of advice I gleaned from my creative writing course), so I am constantly jotting down and developing story ideas.

Therefore, for me, the key preparation is thinking.

But not all ideas come to fruition, especially if I think the research required to realize the story is too great. That is where the conflict comes in for me. If there is too much research, and not enough scope for the imagination, I will abandon the project—at least for the time being anyway. As such, I like to believe it is in the hands of the author to convince the reader that a character can commit some egregious act, given certain predispositions and the right circumstances. Also, descriptively, I tend not to spend a lot of time on a murderous act, but I appreciate there is literary mileage in exploring how difficult it can be to murder someone.

That’s not to say I have experience of being overtly murderous. But, as someone who has done far too many jobs, I have had the experience of working with murderers—in a professional sense and not as an accomplice! And the murderers I have come across were all obsessed with their life sentences, perceiving the time they had to spend incarcerated as an injustice. They were generally evasive, with an inability to empathize. And dare I say it, they were also quite boring, ‘trapped people’ who were damaged beyond repair.

And that isn’t very exciting.

Which brings me to one more point I would like to make. Crime thriller authors, and I include myself in this category, make murder interesting. I use it as a vehicle to produce drama, to hopefully say other things that are more important—at least that’s what I try to do.

And with that, I must go and see my neighbour, who has been annoying me about the height of my garden hedge. In fact, I’m just going to take a hammer with me, not to use, of course, but this guy… I mean… he kind of deserves it…

You can learn more about Simon Marlowe and his writing via his website and follow him on various social media platforms. Medusa And The Devil is now available from Cranthorpe Millner Publishers and via all major booksellers.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Isla Gie (The Sandman) will star alongside Martin Freeman (Sherlock) in the upcoming feature film adaptation of Alan Bradley's bestselling novel, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery. Adapted by Susan Coyne, the story follows the adventures of 11-year-old Flavia de Luce (Gie), who is both an amateur detective and an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. When she discovers a dead body in her family’s decaying British manor house and her father is accused of the murder, Flavia launches her own investigation to uncover family secrets and bring the true murderer to justice. The film will be directed by Emmy and BAFTA-nominated director, Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day).

American Beauty and The Walking Dead actress, Thora Birch, will make her feature directorial debut on an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s 2004 crime novel, Mr. Paradise. The works of Leonard (1925-2013), one of the masters of the hard-boiled crime novel, have previously been the inspiration for movies such as Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, 3:10 to Yuma and the TV series, Justified. The story for Mr. Paradise centers on Kelly, an aspiring model, who witnesses a murder and gets caught in a web of intrigue.

Shia LaBeouf has joined the action thriller, Mace, directed by Jon Amiel from a script by David Chisholm. Mace is the harrowing story of two very different types of cops—a veteran officer Mace (LaBeouf), dangerous and corrupt, and Virgil Woods (Trevor Jackson), a young rookie who believes that he can change the system that fosters cops like Mace from within. It’s inspired by the recent racial injustice on the streets of America, with Woods refusing to be bullied and pitting his principles against the amoral Mace—risking everything to stop Mace from destroying the city by unleashing a gang war to cover up his crimes.

Martin Scorsese and the cast of Killers of the Flower Moon, which is based on David Grann's book of the same name, received a golden reception and enthusiastic standing ovation at the film's premiere at Cannes. The real-life story chronicles members of the Osage Native American tribe in Oklahoma in the 1920s, who are murdered after oil is found on their land, prompting the FBI to investigate.

TELEVISION/STREAMING

The story of the horrific murders of four students in the Idaho college town of Moscow in November 2022 is in the works for the page and the small screen. Bestselling author, James Patterson, and award-winning journalist, Vicky Ward, are teaming up on a nonfiction book about the crime, and Skydance Television is optioning the rights to the book for development as a docuseries. The book, which does not yet have a title or release date, will be published by Little Brown and Company, which stated that Patterson and Ward will give a dramatic account of the murders and the investigation of suspect, Bryan Kohberger. Patterson and Ward will draw from dozens of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, upcoming court transcripts, and also will attend Kohberger’s trial. Kohberger was indicted last week on burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.

ABC has handed a series order to Drew Goddard’s pilot, High Potential, starring Kaitlin Olson. The drama is based on the popular French detective series HIP (High Intellectual Potential) and follows Morgan (Olson), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind, who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department. When they discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with a by-the-book seasoned detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team. The series also stars Javicia Leslie as Daphne, Deniz Akdeniz as Lev "Oz" Osman, Amirah J as Ava, Matthew Lamb as Elliot, and Judy Reyes as Selena.

FX has announced the summer premiere dates for some of its most critically-beloved shows including the return of Justified: City Primeval on July 18, with Timothy Olyphant returning as Rayland Givens. Having left the hollers of Kentucky fifteen years ago, Givens now lives in Miami, a walking anachronism balancing his life as a U.S. marshal and part-time father of a 15-year-old girl. A chance encounter on a desolate Florida highway sends him to Detroit where he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, a/k/a The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent, sociopathic desperado who’s already slipped through the fingers of Detroit’s finest once and aims to do so again. Mansell’s lawyer, formidable Motor City native, Carolyn Wilder, has every intention of representing her client, even as she finds herself caught between cop and criminal, with her own game afoot as well. These three characters set out on a collision course in classic Elmore Leonard fashion, to see who makes it out of the City Primeval alive.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the prologue and first chapter of Last Liar Standing by Danielle Wong, as read by actor Molly Heng.

Read or Dead regular host, Kendra Winchester, and special guest Liberty Hardy, discussed mysteries and thrillers for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month 2023.

On the Crime Writers of Color podcast, Robert Justice interviewed Cheryl Head, author of the Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries and her new standalone novel, Time’s Undoing.

On the All About Agatha podcast, co-hosts Jenni Bishop, Tina Hodgkinson, and Emma (last name withheld) stopped by for a discussion about ableism in Agatha Christie's novels.

On Crime Time FM, Tim Weaver (the David Raker series) and Heather Critchlow (Unsolved) joined Victoria Sellman to discuss the topics of missing persons in crime fiction and going off the grid.


There's a new podcast titled Pick Your Poison, hosted by "JP," an ER doctor and toxicologist with a passion for poisons. She’s been interviewed as a toxicology expert for television, online, radio, and print media. Her work ranges from cocaine, sports supplements, internal concealment of drugs for smuggling, to suicide, and has been recognized both nationally and internationally.

THEATRE

A Nancy Drew musical adaptation, Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor, is in development, featuring music by Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar winner Alan Menken, lyrics by Tony nominee Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde; Mean Girls), and a book by two-time Oscar winner Sarah Kernocha. Three-time Tony winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient, James Lapine, will direct. Lapine said, "After 175 Nancy Drew mysteries that span from her small town of River Heights to exotic locales around the world, the teen detective is about to tackle perhaps the most exotic locale of all to her: a musical theatre camp, Spotlight Manor. Alan, Nell, Sarah, and I have been having a ball letting Nancy and her pals take to the stage and sing for the first time." (HT to Shelf Awareness)