In Reference to Murder

August Book Signing Roundup

It's time for the latest monthly roundup of author events at mystery book stores around the U.S. and Canada. Be sure and check the web site links for all the book and event details, noting that schedules are always subject to change. Some of the "big" names with books coming out each month aren't signing at independent stores but mostly at Borders or Barnes and Noble; for those tour dates, you can check out sites like booktour.com.

**************************************
Aunt Agatha's
Ann Arbor, MI

Author: Michael Koryta
Title: Envy the Night
Event Time: Friday, August 15th at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Book Carnival
Orange, CA

Author: Edward Wright
Title: Damnation Falls
Event Time: Saturday, August 16 at 1 p.m.

Author: Eric Van Lustbader
Title: First Daughter
Event Time: Sunday, August 24 at 1 p.m.

**************************************
Book Passage
Corte Madera, CA

Author: Alice Wilson-Fried
Title:  Outside Child: A Novel of Murder and New Orleans
Event Time: Friday, August 1 at 7 p.m.

Author: Tana French
Title: The Likeness
Event Time: Sat, August 2 at 7 p.m.

Author: Daniel Silva
Title: Moscow Rules
Event Time: Tuesday, August 12 at 12 noon

Author: Adrienne Barbeau
Title: Vampyres of Hollywood
Event Time: Tuesday, August 12 at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Booked for Murder
Madison, WI

Author:  Chris Grabenstein
Title: Hell Hole
Event Time: Tuesday, August 5 at 6 p.m.

**************************************
Centuries and Sleuths
Forest Park, IL

Author: Max Allan Collins (a.k.a. Patrick Culhan)
Title: Red Sky in Morning
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at 2 p.m.

**************************************
Cheesecake and Crime
Henderson, NV

Author: Marja McGraw
Title: A Well-Kept Family Secret
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Foul Play Books
Westerville, OH

Author: Michael Koryta
Title:  Envy the Night
Event Time:  Wednesday, August 13 at 6 p.m.

**************************************
M is for Mystery
San Mateo, CA

Author: Kelli Stanley
Title: Nox Dormienda - A Long Night for Sleeping
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at 2 p.m.

Author: David Waltner-Toews
Title: Fear of Landing 
Event Time: Sunday, August 3 at 2 p.m. 

Author: Tana French
Title: The Likeness
Event Time: Monday, August 4 at 7 p.m.

Author: Adrienne Barbeau
Title: Vampyres of Hollywood 
Event Time: Saturday, August 9 at 2 p.m.

Author: Daniel Silva
Title: Moscow Rules
Event Time: Monday, August 11 (drop-by signing only)

Author: Derek Haas
Title: The Silver Bear
Event Time: Saturday, August 16 at 2 p.m.

Author: Camille Minichino (writing as Margaret Grace) / Priscilla Royal
Title: Mayhem in Miniature / Forsaken Soul
Event Time:  Saturday, July 23 at 2 p.m.

Author: Marcus Sakey
Title: Good People
Event Time: Sunday, August 24 at 2 p.m.

Author: Eric Van Lustbader
Title: First Daughter
Event Time: Monday, August 25 at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Murder by the Book
Portland, OR

Author: Ron Lovell
Title: Yaquina White
Event Time: Sunday, August 5 at 5 p.m.

**************************************
Murder on the Beach
Delray Beach, FL

Author: P. J. Parrish
Title: South of Hell
Event Time: Friday, August 1, at 7 p.m.

Author: Edna Buchanan 
Title: Legally Dead
Event Time: Friday August 15, at 7 p.m.

Author: Randy Rawls
Title: Jeb's Deception
Event Time: Friday, August 22 at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Mysteries to Die For
Thousand Oaks, CA

Author:  Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Embrace
Event Time: Saturday, August 2, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Daniel Silva 
Title: Moscow Rules
Event Time: Wednesday, August 13, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Lee Goldberg
Title: Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
Event Time: Saturday, August 16, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Eric Van Lustbader
Title: First Daughter 
Event Time: Saturday, August 23, 12:30 p.m.

Author:  Edward Wright
Title: Damnation Falls
Event Time: Saturday, August 23, 2:00 p.m.

Author: Joe Lansdale 
Title: Leather Maiden
Event Time: Sunday, August 24, 1:00 p.m.

Author: Debra Ginsberg 
Title: The Grift
Event Time: Saturday, August 30, 1:00 p.m.

**************************************
Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA

Author: Timothy Hallinan
Title: The Fourth Watcher
Event Time: Friday, August 1, 2008 7 p.m.

Author: Nalo Hopkinson
Title:  The New Moon's Arms
Event Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 7 p.m.

Author: Tod Goldberg 
Title:  Burn Notice: The Fix
Event Time: Friday, August 8 at 7 p.m.

Author: Lee Goldberg
Title: Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
Event Time: Friday, August 8 at 7 p.m.

Author: Brent Ghelfi 
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time: Saturday, August 9, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Author: Kat Richardson
Title: Underground
Event Time: Saturday, August 16 at 2 p.m.

Author: Debra Ginsberg
Title: The Grift
Event Time: Thursday, August 21 at 7 p.m.

Author: Chris Grabenstein
Title:  Hell Hole and The Crossroads
Event Time: Friday, August 22 at 12:00 noon

Author: Evan Kilgore 
Title: Children of Black Valley 
Event Time: Saturday, August 23 at 2 p.m.

**************************************
Mystery Bookstore
Los Angeles, CA

Author: Raymond Benson
Title: A Hard Day's Death and Metal Gear Solid
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at 12:30 p.m. 

Author: James Scott Bell
Title: Discusses/signs Try Darkness & will present a workshop on plotting & structuring your novel
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at 3:00 p.m.

Author: Tana French
Title: The Likeness 
Event Time: Wednesday, August 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Author: Karin Slaughter
Title: Fractured
Event Time: Thursday, August 7 at 6:00 p.m.

Author: Edward Wright
Title: Damnation Falls
Event Time: Saturday, August 9 at 3:30 p.m.

Authors: Daniel Silva 
Title: Moscow Rules
Event Time: Tuesday, August 12 at 7:00 p.m.

Authors: Kate Thornton moderates the panel: Harley Jane Kozak, Gary Phillips, & G.B. Pool
Event Time: Thursday, August 14 at 7:00 p.m. (off-site) 

Author: Gary Braver 
Title:  Skin Deep
Event Time: Saturday, August 16 at 2:00 p.m.

Author: Lee Goldberg / Tod Goldberg
Title: Mr. Monk Goes to Germany / Burn Notice: The Fix
Event Time: Saturday, August 16 at 4:00 p.m.

Author: Chris Grabenstein
Title: Hell Hole and Crossroads
Event Time: Friday, August 22 at 7:00 p.m.

Author: Eric Van Lustbader
Title: First Daughter
Event Time: Saturday, August 23 at 4:00 p.m.

**************************************
Mystery Company
Carmel, IN 

Author: Michael Koryta
Title: Envy the Night
Event Time: Tuesday, August 5 at 7 p.m.

Author: Chris Grabenstein
Title: Hell Hole and Crossroads
Event Time: Wednesday, August 6 at 7 p.m.

Author:  S.D. Tooley a.k.a. Lee Driver
Title: Chasing Ghosts 
Event Time: Friday, August 8 at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Mystery Lovers Bookshop
Oakmond, PA

Author: Heather Terrell
Title: The Map Thief
Event Time:  Friday, August 1 at at 7 p.m.

Author: Linda Greenlaw 
Title: Coffee & Crime breakfast for Fisherman's Bend
Event Time:  Saturday, August 2 at at 10 a.m.

Author: Chris Grabenstein 
Title: Coffee & Crime breakfast for Hell Hole & Crossroads
Event Time:  Saturday, August 9 at at 10 a.m.

Author: Martin Clark
Title: Coffee & Crime breakfast for The Legal Limit
Event Time:  Saturday, August 16 at at 10 a.m.

**************************************
Mystery Loves Company
Baltimore and Oxford, MD

Author: Ellen Crosby
Title: Bordeux Betrayal
Event Time: Saturday August 16 at 1 p.m. (at the Oxford store)

**************************************
Once Upon a Crime Books
Minneapolis, MN

Author: Rick Shefchik
Title: Green Monster Launch Party 
Event Time: Wednesday, August 6 at 7 p.m. 

Author: Bart Schneider
Title: The Man in a Blizzard
Event Time: Tuesday, August 12 at 7 p.m.

Author: Michael Koryta
Title: Envy the Night
Event Time: Saturday, August 16 at 12 noon

Author: Victoria Houston
Title: Dead Hot Shot Publication Party
Event Time: Tuesday, August 19 at 7 p.m.

Author: Carl Brookins
Title: The Case of the Deceiving Don Launch Party
Event Time: Thursday, August 28 at 7 p.m.

***********************************
Poisoned Pen
Scottsdale, AZ

Author:  Tana French 
Title: The Likeness
Event Time: Friday, August 1 at 7 p.m.

Author:  Christopher Reich 
Title: Rules of Deception
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at 6 p.m.

Author: JA Jance 
Title: Damage Control
Event Time: Tuesday, August 5 at 7 p.m.

Author:  Aaron Elkins  
Title: Uneasy Relations 
Event Time: Tuesday, August 12 at 7 p.m.

Author:  Chris Grabenstein
Title: Hell Hole 
Event Time: Thurday, August 21 at 7 p.m.

**************************************
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Seattle, WA

Author: Ron Lovell 
Title: Yaquina White
Event Time: Friday, August 1 at noon

Author: David Waltner-Toews
Title: Fear of Landing
Event Time: Saturday, August 2 at noon  

Author: Gabriella Herkert / Matt Richtel 
Title:  Doggone / Hooked
Event Time: Saturday, August 9 at noon

Author: Kat Richardson
Title: Underground 
Event Time: Tuesday, August 12 at noon

Author:  Trevor Scott 
Title: Burst of Sound and The Cold Edge
Event Time:  Saturday, August 16 at noon

Author: Kelli Stanley 
Title: Nox Dormienda: A Long Night for Sleeping
Event Time: Friday, August 22 at noon 

Author: Chris Grabenstein
Title: Hell Hole 
Event Time: Saturday, August 23 at noon 

Author: Caitlin Kittredge
Title: Pure Blood
Event Time: Tuesday, August 26 at noon

Author: Cricket McRae
Title: Heaven Preserve Us
Event Time: Saturday, August 30 at noon

*************************************
Vrooman's
Pasadena, CA

Author: James Scott Bell
Title: Try Darkness
Event Time: Friday, August 1 at 7 p.m.

Author: Dennis Palumbo
Title: Writer's workshop and book signing of From Crime to Crime
Event Time: Sunday, August 3 at 4 p.m.

Author: Tana French
Title: The Likeness
Event Time: Wednesday, August 6 at 12 noon

Author:  Daniel Silva
Title: Moscow Rules
Event Time: Wednesday, August 13 at 7 p.m. 

Author: Edward Wright 
Title: Damnation Falls
Event Time: Friday, August 15 at 7 p.m. 

Author: Eric Van Lustbader 
Title: First Daughter
Event Time: Thursday, August 21 at 7 p.m.

Author: Debra Ginsberg
Title: The Grift
Event Time: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 7:00 p.m.

***********************************

END

New Mystery & Crime Fiction Novels Coming in August

Here's a partial listing of new mystery and crime fiction books to be released in August, arranged alphabetically by author (and check out the links at the bottom for more, as the titles are too numerous to list here):

Sam Baker: Deadly Beautiful (August 19, 2008). Baker, the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan (U.K.), once again explores the fashion world's dark side in her second crime novel.

Jo Bannister: Closer Still (August 5, 2008).  Although she has been trying to put her work running a one-woman detective agency on hold while she cares for her new baby, Brodie soon learns that taking time off is not as easy as it sounds. Not only does Jonathan have a rare disease that may leave him blind, his father, Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, is going after the nastiest crook in town, who quickly retaliates by threatening Brodie and little Jonathan.

Linda Barnes: Lie Down With the Devil (August 5, 2008). This is Barnes's 12th mystery to feature Boston PI Carlotta Carlyle. Carlyle is still engaged to her mob-associated fiancé, Sam Gianelli, though she's waiting for Sam to explain why he's disappeared in the wake of rumors linking him to a dead girl.

Nancy Bell: Paint the Town Dead (August 19, 2008). The third installment featuring Texas judge Jackson Crain, in which an old love, a new flame, and the murder of a real estate tycoon thrust  Crain smack in the middle of the most baffling case he has ever seen.

Cordelia Frances Biddle: Deception's Daughter (August 19, 2008). In the second book of this historical series, Philadelphia heiress Martha Beale becomes the unwilling liaison between a missing girl’s aloof and aristocratic parents and Thomas Kelman, Martha’s secret beau, who is overseeing the investigation.

Carl Brookins: The Case of the Deceiving Don (August 20, 2008). In Sean NMI Sean's second PI adventure, he has to deal with a mysterious bomber, a feisty wheel-chair great grandmother and assorted bad guys. 

Kate Collins: Shoots to Kill (August 5, 2008). This is #7 in the Flower Shop Mysteries. Eight years ago, Abby Knight babysat for a problem teen named Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s back, with a new name and a whole new life, one that already belongs to Abby, while Abby finds herself the accused dupe in a bizarre murder plot.

Stephen Coonts: The Assassin (August 5, 2008). Bestseller Coonts's third thriller to star reformed burglar turned CIA operative Tommy Carmellini focuses on a timely issue of the lack of well-to-do Americans on combat duty in the war against terrorism.

Ellen Crosby: The Bordeaux Betrayal (August 5, 2008). Ellen Crosby's third tale of suspense set amid the vines of Virginia wine country involves a two-hundred-year-old bottle of Bordeaux that Thomas Jefferson may have purchased for George Washington and is turning out to be a wine to die for.

Mike Doogan: Skeleton Lake (August 5, 2008). Nik Kane struggles with a killer from his past in this latest entry in the Shamus Award-nominated series.

Charles Finch: The September Society (August 5, 2008). A crime committed in India has consequences in England years later in Finch's second Victorian whodunit to feature amateur detective Charles Lenox.

John Harvey: Easy Meat (August 1, 2008). In this 8th Charles Resnick Mystery, a fifteen-year-old boy  on trial for bludgeoning an elderly couple to death commits suicide. But when the senior investigating officer is then found brutally murdered, DI Charlie Resnick is put on the case.

Michael Harvey: The Fifth Floor (August 26, 2008). Harvey's superb thriller to feature PI Michael Kelly has the ex-Chicago cop taking on what he thinks is a simple domestic violence case. But when he tails Johnny Woods, a fixer for the city's powerful mayor, to what turns out to be a grisly murder scene, Kelly realizes he's stumbled onto a scandal that began with the great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Stuart Kaminsky: People Who Walk in Darkness (August 5, 2008). After a very long absence, Forge is delighted to be bringing back one of Edgar award winning Stuart Kaminsky’s best loved characters, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, who travels to Siberia to investigate a murder at a diamond mine, where he discovers an old secret and an even older personal problem.

Janice Kaplan: A Job to Kill For (August 5, 2008). In Kaplan's second mystery to feature ditzy L.A. interior designer Lacy Fields, Lacy's latest chic client, Cassie Crawford, drops dead while inspecting the decor of the posh penthouse Cassie and her new husband, billionaire Roger Crawford, were planning to buy.

Faye Kellerman: The Mercedes Coffin (August 5, 2008). In the latest Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novel, a fifteen-year-old open murder case bears a striking resemblance to the recent murder of Hollywood music producer Primo Ekerling.

Michael Koryta: Envy the Night (August 5, 2008). This first stand-alone novel from the critically acclaimed Edgar Award-finalist, in which Frank Temple III learn his father's bloody secret: The U.S. marshal maintained a covert career as a contract killer.

Margaret Maron: Death's Half Acre (August 20, 2008). Agatha-winner Maron's outstanding 14th novel to feature Judge Deborah Knott charts the social changes in rural Colleton County, N.C., as housing developments and shopping malls squeeze out small farmers. The apparent suicide of a greedy county commissioner sets Knott's husband, sheriff's deputy Dwight Bryant, on a case that uncovers corruption and murder.

George Pelecanos: The Turnaround (August 1, 2008). On a hot summer afternoon in 1972, three teenagers drove into an unfamiliar neighborhood and six lives were altered forever. Thirty five years later,
one survivor of that day reaches out to another, opening a door that could lead to salvation. But another survivor is now out of prison, looking for reparation in any form he can find it.

Donald Pfarrer: A Common Ordinary Murder (August 5, 2008). Steven McCord, a lieutenant of police in a fairly large midwestern city, has been coarsened by twenty years’ exposure to violence and cruelty. At forty-two, he has reached a crossroads in his career and in his life when a murder brings a personal crisis and draws him deeper into the lives of the victim and his family, pulling McCord back to a place where he will know again the passion and pain of being alive.

David Skibbins: The Hanged Man: A Tarot Card Mystery (August 19, 2008). In the fourth book of the Tarot Card Mystery series, the peaceful Marin countryside provides a sharp contrast to the scandalous alternative lifestyles of some of its inhabitants.

Eric Van Lustbader: First Daughter (August 19, 2008). In this political thriller, ATF Agent Jack McClure receives a call from his old friend Edward Carson, who is just weeks from taking the reins as President of the United States, when his daughter, Alli, is kidnapped.

Michael Walters: The Shadow Walker (August 5, 2008). As winter falls upon the streets of Ulan Bataar, Mongolia, a serial killer is just getting warmed up. When the mutilated body of a fourth victim is found in one of the city’s most expensive hotels, Nergui, the former head of the Serious Crimes squad, calls in Drew McLeish, a senior British CID officer.

For more of the new hardcover, trade paperback, and paperback releases (as well as reissues), check out the following sites from The Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, Books N Bytes, San Diego's Mystery Books, Powells Books, and the Bloodstained Bookshelf.

Mystery Writers’ Festival on Hold Until 2010

Recent news articles have reported how the hotel industry is being negatively affected by the general economic downtown as folks stay home more and travel less. Apparently, that trend has affected tourism in Owensboro, Kentucky, which in turn led to the closing of the Executive Inn, associated with the River Park Center. Thus this cascade effect led the organizers of the International Mystery Writers Festival, which has been held for the past two years at the Center, to announce they will be skipping 2009 and won't hold the festival again until 2010. This year, the festival brought in stars like Gene Hackman and author Mary Higgins Clark and an estimated $5 million to the local economy. The 2008 festival was so successful, director Zev Buffman says it's good to go out on a high note and just prepare for the next event. Several of the plays presented at last month's festival have already garnered attention in Chicago and New York, and all of the Edgar-nominated plays last year came from this festival.

Media Murder for Monday

On Morning Edition's "Crime in the City" series, they profiled Joseph Wambaugh (The Onion Field) who is now working with Sony Pictures to turn his Hollywood trilogy into a TV series. He says he plans to continue writing about the cops in Los Angeles, "because I'm an LAPD cop, now and forever."

"Fresh Air" from NPR and WHYY rebroadcast a program from 1997 which featured mystery novelist Janwillem Van de Wetering, who died July 4th of this year at the age of 77. The interview focused on his colorful past (which included stints as a motorcycle gang member in South Africa, an aspiring monk in Kyoto, Japan, and a policeman in Amsterdam) and how that all contributed to a masterful storyteller.

The Independent profiled podcast guru Scott Sigler, who is "changing the way we read." He broadcasts his science fiction novels, most of which have never been published, via a small cubicle containing an Apple Macintosh and some recording equipment, which is all he's needed to become the world's most famous podcast author. His first, Earthcore, notched up 10,000 listeners. Its sequel, Ancestor, managed 30,000. After building an audience via the Internet, this week, he will try to reach the traditional book-buying public with Infected, a physical book. "The only way to get people's attention these days is to give them something for free. If someone walks into a bookstore, why would they pick up a Scott Sigler when there's a Stephen King? They won't. So I give my content away, give readers a chance to try it for free. And if they like my stuff, then guess what: they'll go out and buy the book." We'll have to wait and see how his experiment plays out and what it means for other authors.

Journalist Gary Baumgarten's daily online show, News Talk Online, recently featured Stephen J. Cannell as guest. Cannell discussed his new novel, a thriller, At First Sight, the fact he overcame dyslexia to become a writer, and that he still uses a typewriter to tap out his work ("and probably always will").

And the U.S. Census Bureau, of all things, has an online Radio America series called "Profile America," which recently took a look at two important detective fiction birthdays this month, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler.

To the Library!

Yesterday I celebrated my mathematician father's 80th birthday with a look at math in the world of crime fiction. So it's only fair that I post a few words today about librarians in mysteries, seeing as how my mother is a retired librarian, and today is her birthday (not her 80th, I must hasten to add, since my father "robbed the cradle" and she's perpetually 39, anyway). Yes, my parents have back-to-back birthdays. And in two days, the hubster gets to star in his own bday fete, which is why I refer to July as my Month of Continuous Celebrations. Poor little VISA card.

As it turns out, there are SCADS of mysteries and crime fiction works that feature librarians and libraries in some fashion, which surprised me a bit. My mother might be disturbed to note the large number of mysteries in which a librarian is either murder victim or suspect, although it might make for some fun party fodder. As you might imagine, most of these novels fall into the cozy subgenre (fitting since that's Mom's favorite), but occasionally you'll find a librarian who actually finds his/her way into something a little darker. (Library Noir, anyone?)

Some of the most famous series authors on the list include Charlaine Harris, with her protagonist, the former librarian-turned-sleuth Aurora Teagarden; Charlotte MacLeod's Professor Peter Shandy and librarian wife, Helen, and the academic librarian Jacqueline Kirby, created by Elizabeth Peters.

You can find lists of librarian-oriented mysteries here and here, and a very long "BlblioMystery" listing here, which includes crime fiction involving not just libraries and librarians but books of all stripes.

1 + 1 = A Mystery

Today just happens to mark the anniversary of the 80th year of my father's birth. Intrepid man that he is, this "officially retired" college math professor is still teaching "part-time" (although 2-3 classes per term doesn't really sound all that part-time, to me). So, in honor of his special day, here's a look at the mysteries of math, i.e., crime fiction works that have used math or mathematicians as a central theme.

It might surprise some to realize how often math and mathematicians have been used throughout the history of the genre. The father of the modern mystery, Edgar Allan Poe, brought the subject into his 1845 short story "The Purloined Letter," in which C. Auguste Dupin solves the case and engages the Prefect of Paris in a discussion of mathematics and the nature of reasoning. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who once told a reporter that Poe’s Dupin "is the best detective in fiction," made Professor Moriarty, the archenemy of Sherlock Holmes, a mathematician.

Other giants of the genre followed suit, with S.S. van Dine’s Philo Vance in 1929’s The Bishop Murder Case, which deals with a series of killings in the house of a senior mathematics professor where most of the victims and suspects are mathematicians. Agatha Christie in The Bird with the Broken Wing 1930), has her protagonist Mr. Satterthwaite deal with "a most brilliant mathematician" who had authored a book "totally incomprehensible to ninety-nine hundredths of humanity." Even Rex Stout’s Nero Wolf crossed paths with a mathematician in two stories, And Be a Villain (1948) and The Zero Clue (1952) where a mathematician uses operations research to solve mysteries and may be usurping Wolfe’s reputation in the process, until he’s promptly murdered.

When it comes to series fiction, there have been fewer takers. A few novelists have taken on the task, the most prolific being John Rhode, one of the pen names of Cecil John Charles Street (1884-1964). His protagonist Dr. Lancelot Priestley, a British mathematician and former professor who was forced to resign after an argument with university authorities, was featured in fifty books, starting with The Paddington Mystery. His writing is fairly representative of the Golden Age of detective fiction, but the writing utilizes an understated sense of humor (two of his books included murder committed respectively with a squash and hedgehog). 

Patricia McElroy (P.M.) Carlson, who taught psychology and statistics at Cornell University before deciding that mystery writing was more fun, has published books with different protagonists, but her first featured a New York professor of statistics, Maggie Ryan. Carlson penned eight works in the series, starting with Audition for Murder in 1985 and ending with Bad Blood in 1991. 

Erik Rosenthal is another intrepid author who created a mathematical hero in Dan Brodsky, who obtained his Ph.D. from the mathematics department at U.C. Berkeley in 1976, teaching part-time and working part-time as a P.I.  Rosenthal’s two books featuring Brodsky, The Calculus of Murder (1986) and Advanced Calculus of Murder (1988) include an inside look at life on the Berkeley campus in the 60s and 70s. They also feature an unlikely pet, the guinea pig Hypatia (named after the female Greek mathematician), and a romantic interest for Brodsky in the form of Eileen St. Cloud, a mathematician on the faculty at Rice University.

Desmond Cory, the pseudonym used by British mystery and thriller writer Shaun Lloyd McCarthy, is best-known for his British secret agent, Johnny Fedora and the TV and movie screenplays.  But his
last-published works are a series of four novels with protagonist John Dobie, Professor of Mathematics in Cardiff, Wales (known as "Columbo with a chair in mathematics"), starting with Strange Attractor in 1991.  Although some mathematicians might take exception with Cory’s claim that mathematicians are terrible cooks the series manages to bring in a blend of chaos and set theories, logic, and probability, especially in The Catalyst. (1991)

There are many other stand-alone mysteries featuring mathematics, although not as many from an academic standpoint. One of the most unusual would have to be After Math (1997) by Miriam Webster, the non de plume of Amy Babich, a Ph.D. in mathematics. Her book features the ghost of math professor Ray Bellwether who tries to solve the mystery of his own murder. Along the way he crosses paths (so to speak) with other curious mathematicians, some living, some dead.

Another contemporary, and unconventional work, is the brainchild of Jeff Adams, a 2005 short story published in "Math Horizons." It’s titled "Cardano and the Case of the Cubic" and is a parody of the stereotypical early 20th century hard-boiled PI, set within the framework of 16th century mathematician Gerolamo Cardano. ("That's what had me worried. Girls with quiet elbows can't be trusted. I deduce these things. I'm a mathematician. My name's Cardano.")

And you don't have to look much farther than your TV to see how mathemathics can be used in criminal detection—the CBS drama Numb3rs, which even tries to make math sexy, is still going strong and was renewed for the Fall 2008 season.

Can't Live Without 'Em

Editors and agents, I mean. If you really want to have the maximum impact in the world of book publishing, it definitely pays to get the best advice and support you can from your friendly agent and editor. If you don't have either yet (like moi), there are some very helpful blogs written by agents and/or editors out there which you might check out:

Arcaedia
With the motto, "Saving the world, one book sale at a time," literary agent Jennifer Jackson shares news, notes and opinions on the industry, and includes sample queries. She also keeps a running tally of how many queries she receives each week and how many were rejected--an eye opener, in case you didn't already know about such grim statistics.

Evil Editor
Authors with books they feel are ready for publication prepare query letters or synopses, which they plan to send to publishers or literary agents, then email them to Evil Editor. Evil Editor prints them exactly as they came to him, adding his own comments--thick skin recommended.

Janet Reid
Janet Reid, a literary agent with FinePrint Literary Management in New York City, specializes in crime fiction and shares query pitfalls to help avoid rookie mistakes.

Miss Snark
Ah, Miss Snark, we hardly knew ye. One of the best blogs for awhile, she has since hung up her blogging shingle. Still, you can read archived postings of how she "vented her wrath on the hapless world of writers and crushed them to sand beneath her T.Rexual heels of stiletto snark."

Mysterious Matters
The creation of an editor-turned-publisher, Mysterious Matters is designed to "educate and entertain both writers and readers of mystery and suspense novels with tips, comments, and the inside story of the mystery publishing business."

Nathan Bransford
San Francisco agent Nathan Bransford dishes the dirt on being an agent, including his series called "The Essentials (Please Read Before You Query)."

Pub Rants
Kristin is a "a very nice literary agent [who] indulges in polite rants about queries, writers, and the publishing industry." Topics range from Author Panic to Publishing Contracts to Career Suicide.

The Rejecter
This anonymous assistant at an NYC literary agency rejects 95 percent of the queries that cross her desk and blogs happily about them. She also answers questions about the process, offering advice on getting your query past her (or any editor's) desk.

Don't see your favorite? Add in the comments, and it may be included in The List.

Oh Happy Day!

For me, this is definitely a birthday and anniversary month. Over the next few days, you'll see what I mean, but for now, we'll just focus on this date, July 23, which happens to be not only the birthday of Raymond Chandler but the official one-year anniversary of this blog.

Raymond Chandler, of course, needs no introduction as the creator of Philip Marlowe, one of the quintessential figures in private detective fiction. Although Chandler had a troubled personal life, he nonetheless contributed many stories and novels to the genre which are now considered classics, including the seven completed novels featuring Marlowe. As to his own writing process, Chandler once said, "A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled."

This blog, on the other hand, is a little bit of both—it was devised to be a research and news/entertainment tool for writers and readers of mysteries and crime fiction by distilling the plethora of resources and web sites out there and trying to cover as many topics of interest as possible. To date, there are close to 3,000 links under The List (on the left-hand side of the blog), which have hopefully been some help to visitors out there over the past year.

Big Thank-Yous to the thouands of visitors who have hit the blog and associated web site, and especially those who have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. To paraphrase a popular ad campaign:  this blog is for you.

Where Have All the Men Gone?

Shelf Awareness recently featured a discussion about the importance of book groups to the publishing world, and one of the questions pondered was, "Why don't more men join book groups?"

"Fact is, like it or not, men just don't share their feelings easily," Mary Alice Gorman, owner of Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, Pennsylvania, observed. "Book groups often fall into discussion of how they feel about what they read. Let's face it, the shared experience of growing up to be a woman in this culture bonds these groups in a unique way and is the reason they go on for so long."

Random House New England district sales manager Ann Kingman added, slightly tongue-in-cheek, that people often "join a book group for the social aspect in the beginning. As for men? I have no idea. I hear a rumor that a man is coming to our next book group. I'll let you know how that goes."

There's just no clear answer, says novelist Joshua Henkin: "One thing I've been struck by is that, though some women when I ask them say that they wouldn't want their husbands/men in general in their book groups, others say they'd be happy to but that the men they know aren't interested or don't read fiction, and that seems to me a shame."

Valerie Koehler's Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston has a book group called "Couples & Bob, senior couples and one widower. She says, "I don't know why more men don't join book groups. The men in my life are nonfiction readers by and large and I don't know if the discussion can be as lively as it can be when you are dissecting a completely made up world."

There are a few bright spots. Marie Leahy, Northshire Bookstore's marketing director, notes that "men in book groups have not been in short supply since my time here. When we had a book group evening with Random House in February, about 15% of the 80 or so participants were men."

And the book club that Ami Greko, marketing director for Folio Literary Management, belongs to "has more men than women, and we have yet (thank god) to read a biography of a Civil War general."

(Photo credit goes to The Men's Book Club of Canada—another bright spot.)

We Like Mike

A Happy Birthday shout-out to Michael Connelly, whose next book The Brass Verdict is released October 14, 2008, featuring Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller and LAPD Detective Harry Bosch teaming up. Connelly's books have been translated into 35 languages and have won the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), Grand Prix Award (France), and Premio Bancarella Award (Italy).

On his web site, Connelly says in response to the frequently-asked question, "What are your favorite and least favorite things about being a writer?" that "The main thing is being able to do what you want to do and just having to walk down the hallway to do it. The least favorite is knowing there is no one to blame but yourself when it's not going well. Somebody once said writin' is fightin' and I think that is very true. It is not easy. You have to fight to get what you want to say out. So this means that when it is going well, the feeling is almost euphoric. It also means that when it is going bad, the feeling is proportionately opposite. So there are lots of highs and lows."

We wish you a "high" today, Michael. And thanks for giving us the gift of Harry.