Mystery Melange

Book sculpture by Mike Stilkey

Finalists for the Macavity Awards were announced yesterday. The nominees are voted on by members and friends of Mystery Readers International and subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, with the winners announced at Bouchercon on November 13. The nods in the Best Novel category include Sandrine’s Case by Thomas H. Cook; Dead Lions by Mick Herron; Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger; The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood; How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny; and Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin.

Author Rex Stout (1886-1975) was recently inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. His Nero Wolfe books have been in print continuously since they were published, translated into dozens of languages, and been the subject of numerous adaptations. Rex Stout also waged a personal campaign against Nazism during World War II (serving as Chairman of the War Writers Board and writing and broadcasting the CBS radio program "Our Secret Weapon"), and was a tireless advocate for the rights of authors.

Angry Robot Books announced they are shutting down their crime imprint, Exhibit A and YA Imprint, Strange Chemistry. Angry Robot started as an imprint of Harper Collins UK in 2008 and spread to the U.S. in 2010, when it was acquired by Osprey and specialized in niche markets. Angry Robot said in a statement that these two particular niche areas weren't selling well enough for them to continue. Still, it leaves editors like Bryon Quertermous and authors like Daniel O’Shea, Karen Sandler, Bartholomew Daniels, Terry Irving, and Patti Abbott high and dry. You can still buy some of their books, for now.

Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke are teaming up to co-write a novel that will be published in November. Titled The Cinderella Murder, the book will continue with the adventures of Higgins Clark's television producer Laurie Moran and her investigations into cold case murders.

Amazon released a list of its choice for the "Best Books" so far in 2014, including the Mystery, Thriller & Suspense category.

Jessy Randall continues the "Reference Book Grudge Match" for the Hey, Dead Guy blog, this time pitting The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing edited by Rosemary Herbert to Wikipedia. So who won?

Thuglit's latest issue has brand-spanking new stories by Mathew McBride, Jessica Adams, Hector Luis Colon, Scott Grand, Kenneth Levine, Michael Cebula, J. David Gonzalez, and Max Sheridan.

The new issue of Yellow Mama is out, with new dark fiction, poems, illustrations and reviews.

The latest crime poem at the 5-2 is "Girls' NIght Out" by Kayla Wheeler.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Michael Koryta chatting with Omnivoracious about his writing and self-proclaimed "warped and twisted mind"; Earl Emerson drops by the Sons of Spade blog to discuss his private eye Thomas Black; Megan Abbott chats with the Mystery People; and Merry Jones joined Omnimystery News for a conversation about the second in her Elle Harrison series.