“Good as Gold” book installation by Donald Lipski at a branch of the Kansas City Public Library.
It's always hard to say good-bye to beloved authors in the crime fiction community, but last week we lost another fine writer when Robert Barnard passed away. Martin Edwards has a nice remembrance of his friendship with Barnard over on his blog.
Another Bouchercon mystery conference has come and gone, but that means we now have the winners of the awards presented there, including the Anthony, Macavity, Barry, and Shamus Awards. You can check out the winners via the Recent Mystery Awards link on the top right-hand side of this blog.
The Crime Writers’ Association and the Margery Allingham Society are launching a competition for previously unpublished short stories with a top prize of £1,000. The contest is open to anyone in the world aged over 18, as long as stories are written in English and under the word limit of 3,500 words. Stories must be submitted by March 2014, with the winner announced at Crimefest in May in Bristol. (Editorial note: there is an entry fee.)
Over at the GeoCurrents website, Asya Pereltsvaig compiled an interesting geographical study on crime rates versus detective fiction, in a state-by-state comparison. It's a fun look at where crime novels are set, showing disparities in settings versus real life statistics. Plus, you can check out where your state stands.
Speaking of geographical fiction, if you've been thinking of getting acquainted with the popular Nordic crime scene, Barry Forshaw compiled his list of the "Top 10 Nordic Classics."
The Q&A roundup this week includes Jeffery Deaver, which is actually a transcription of the speech he gave at the recent Creatures, Crime and Creativity Conference; Richard Lange joined Fiction Writers Review to talk about his literary crime novels, including his latest, Angel Baby; Hank Phillippi Ryan chatted with Kiss and Thrill about The Other Woman; Carla Norton joined My Bookish Ways to talk about her writing and her latest book, The Edge of Normal; and thriller author Barry Eisler was interviewed for the Huffington Post.
Why do some libraries have that "library smell"? According to Popular Science, it's all in the cellulose.
Sorry, librarians. If you were hoping to compete for the title of "cutest librarian," this bow-tie-wearing candidate is a lock.
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