Mystery Melange

Book art by Anita Francis

The winners of the Lammy Awards from the Lambda Literary society for LGBT fiction were announced on Monday. The nod for Best Gay Mystery went to The Prisoner of the Riviera: A Francis Bacon Mystery, by Janice Law, while the winner of Best Lesbian Mystery was High Desert by Katherine V. Forrest. For all the nominees, click here.

The Audie Awards for excellence in audiobooks handed out top honors last week. Unleashed by David Rosenfelt (read by Grover Gardner) won in the mystery category, while The Hit by David Baldacci (read by Ron McLarty and Orlagh Cassidy) won in the thriller category. Sherlock Holmes was also a big winner (in a way), with The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read by Simon Vance) winning the "classic" award, and Sherlock Holmes in America by John L. Lellenberg et al. (read by Graham Malcolm) winning for short stories.

The Hogarth Shakespeare's project of updating the classics for a new era expanded again with the announcement that author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) will take on Hamlet. She joins other writers like Jo Nesbo (Macbeth) and Margaret Atwood (The Tempest).

The Paris Review profiled the classic pulp magazine Black Mask in honor of Dashiell Hammett's birthday last week.

The Boston Globe wrote an article on bestselling thriller author Joseph Finder and his risky decision to buy out his publishing contract and leave his longtime publisher and agent, writing his next novel without a signed deal in place.

Author/blogger Martin Edwards discusses the new book #Youdunnit, with three stories from Nicci French, Tim Weaver, and Alastair Gunn that involved suggestions for plot, character and such from crime fans via Twitter.

The latest issue of All Due Respect is out, with a profile of Jake Hinkson, who has a new book from Crime Factory titled Saint Homicide. Plus there is new fiction from Angel Luis Colon, Patti Abbott, Jessica Adams, Mike McCrary, Chris Leek, Rob Hart, Alec Cizak, and Jen Conley, an interview with Beat to a Pulp publisher David Cranmer, and a plethora of reviews. 

The Writers Police Academy is once again sponsoring its Golden Donut Short Story Contest. Entrants are challenged to write an entire story using exactly 200 words (including the title) and must use the photo provided on the contest website as inspiration. There's a surprise guest judge this year, with details coming soon.

The latest sweepstakes over at The Criminal Element is the "Seven Deadly Reads." Enter to win books by Lawrence Block, Michael Craven, Robert Rotstein, Katherine Hall Page, Jonathan Holt, Jane Casey, and Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris.

At the 5-2 this week, you can read the latest crime poem, titled "Muse Noir" by Mehnaz Sahibzada, while this week's featured pulp story at Beat to a Pulp is "The Pastor's Boy" by Jay Nunnery.

RIP to Honora (Honey) Finkelstein, who co-wrote the Ariel Quigley series with Susan Smily. Their book The Chef Who Died Sautéing was a finalist for the 2006 Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Michael Zimecki and Bracken MacLeod, both taking Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview" challenge; Clare Donoghue chats with Crime Fiction Lover about her debut novel, Never Look Back; Sean French and Nicci Gerrard (the husband and wife team working as Nicci French), engaged in a "micro interview" with Crime Fiction Lover.

The Guardian posted a listed of "12 Literary Insults to Make You Weep."

Downton Abbey saved a library after it donated £20,000 to villagers for the under-funded library in Bampton, in Oxfordshire for "for putting up with shooting of" the show.

If you have a few minutes and need a brain break, check out Mystery Soduku over at Omnimystery News.