The Crime Writers of Canada announced the longlist for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Award for Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing in the best novel category. This is the first time the organization has released a 10-book novel longlist, a move made in light of the growing number and quality of submissions. Shortlists in all categories will be announced later this month.
The new issue of the Film Noir Foundation's publication Noir City is out, with an appraisal of the hommes fatale of noir; an in-depth survey of the career Ray Milland; a look at the high school noir of Brick and Veronica Mars; and the latest book and television reviews. (Hat tip to Vince Keenan.)
The Arthur Conan Doyle estate tapped author Anthony Horowitz to pen a new Sherlock Holmes novel back in 2011, and now they've tasked him with writing a follow-up novel about Moriarty, working from the premise that the Holmes villain didn't die at Reichenbach Falls. Horowitz revealed on Twitter that "Sherlock Holmes does not appear (until the very end)", that "a vicious murder is investigated by Inspector Athelney Jones (from The Sign of Four)" and that "nearly all the policemen Holmes ever worked with, including Lestrade, appear in my new book."
Jake Kerridge wrote an article for The Telegraph on Golden Age mystery author Margery Allingham, whom he calls "the Dickens of detective writing." (Last week I reported that author/blogger Mike Ripley has completed a partial manuscript left unfinished by Allingham's husband and writing partner, titled Mr. Campion's Farwell.)
If you've read Les Miserables (or seen the movie) or read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," you've seen characters inspired by Eugène François Vidocq, a French reformed criminal-turned-crime fighter. Bob Couttie, over at the All Things Crime blog, offers up a brief bio of this fascinating character.
Coming up in early June in Manchester, United Kingdom, is a conference titled True Crime: Fact, Fiction, Ideology, an "interdisciplinary conference seeking to explore this genre in its myriad incarnations." Organizers are seeking proposals for 20 minute papers on topics such as "Forensic psychology and criminology" and "Serial killers and profiling," and have extended the deadline to April 18th.
Mystery Writers of America's MWA University is heading to Phildeaphia on Saturday, June 28. Open to the general public, these one-day seminars are geared toward all writers, novice or pro, with experts offering their strategies for all aspects of writing and publishing. Authors scheduled to lead workshops include Jess Lourey, Hallie Ephron, Daniel Stashower, Reed Farrel Coleman, Kathleen George, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.
A bit later this year, the The Watermill resort at Posara in Tuscany is holding its second annual Meg Gardiner Crime Writing course from October 4-11. The course features modules on plot, characters, generating suspense, writing dialogue, and tips on getting published in the 21st century, and author Gardiner will analyze a synopsis of your current work-in-progress.
The Missouri writers group Sleuths Ink is taking submission for their annual Whodunnit? mystery writing contest. Stories are fun and interactive with a maximum word count of 700, including the narrative and the solution. There is a small entry fee for stories, with a deadline of May 31.
Sadly, w'eve lost another mystery writer; Diana Ramsay (the pen name of Rhoda Rebee Brandes), died recently at her home in Vermont. The Collins Crime Club published five suspense novels by Ramsay, and her novel Descent Into the Dark was the basis for the motion picture Noise, starring Ally Sheedy.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Fear as Loud as a Mugging" by Linda Lerner, while the latest pulp story at Beat to a Pulp is "Morgantown Massacre" by Fred Blosser and Bill Davis.
The Q&A roundup this week includes John Mantooth taking the "short, sharp interview" at Paul D. Brazill's blog, chatting about his novel The Storm, which contains horror along with "a healthy dose of mystery, Southern-fried grittiness, and some narrative experimentalism; fantasy short story writer Laird Barron is interviewed in Weird Tales Magazine; and Swedish crime fiction bestseller Camilla Lackberg discusses her love affair with crime that began at age seven.
Love to see your crime fiction on the big screen? Kenneth Wishnia chose "10 Great Crime Fiction Characters on Film" for the Huffington Post.