Mystery Melange

The Mystery Critics Award (Prix Mystère de la critique), one of France’s most prestigious crime fiction honors, hands out two awards each year, one for best French Fiction, the other going to an international author. This year's winners are Nicolas Mathieu for Aux animaux la guerre and Shannon Burke, for 911.

A collection of letters addressed to crime novelist Agatha Christie have been published for the first time. Dating back to the 1950s and '60s, they not only praise Christie for her writing, they also thank her for helping them through hard times. They include a letter from author PG Wodehouse, as well as a note from a Polish woman in London, who told how one of Christie's novels helped her survive a war-time labor camp in Germany. This is part of the celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the author's birth, which will also include new BBC novel adaptations later this year.

British historian Walter Elliot may have unearthed the first unseen Sherlock Holmes story in more than 80 years, which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote to help save a town bridge. The 1,300-word story is titled "Sherlock Holmes: Discovering the Border Burghs and, by deduction, the Brig Bazaar" and is in a collection of short stories written for a local bazaar. There is some controversy over whether the story was actually penned by Doyle, according to The Mirror.

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes, HarperCollins has signed two Sherlock Holmes continuation novels by Hollywood screenwriter Bonnie MacBird. Art in the Blood: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure will be published in September, and the sequel to follow is titled Unquiet Spirits. These are separate from the two Sherlock Holmes novels by Anthony Horowitz, both of which had the backing of the Conan Doyle estate.

Book Expo America unveiled the roster for its 2015 Adult Author Breakfast on Thursday, May 28, including bestseller Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher thriller series.

The new double issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine welcomes back Doug Allyn’s Detective Dylan LaCrosse working a cold case; S.J. Rozan’s private detectives Lydia Chin and Bill Smith solve a problem with the help of Lydia’s mother; Julius Katz and Archie are back with a job that proves terrifying and life-changing; plus there are first-rate stories from Mason Cross, Loren D. Estleman, Lucy Ribchester, Meg Opperman, Marilyn Todd, Paul Halter, David H. Hendrickson, and Williams Burton McCormick.

Meanwhile, the new Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine edition features Martin Limón's new series character, Il Yong, an American soldier turned freelance security specialist who operates in the highly contested cultural zone where North Korea and China operate; two Cold War-era stories by Terrie Farley Moran and John C. Boland; and the return of some favorite characters including Madame Selina and her young assistant Nip in Janice Law’s “The Ghostly Fireman,” Eureka Kilburn as a teen in Jay Carey’s “We Are All Accomplices,” and big-hearted fixers Akin and Jones in Dan Warthman’s “Mr. Smartphone.”

The latest issue of the online 'zine Yellow Mama is out, with new crime fiction stories and poetry.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Snow over Kabul: The Bagram Airbase Bombing" by Aja Beech.

Sixty percent of folks in Britain poll said their dream job would be "author." According to the poll-sponsor, YouGov, "Instead of actors and musicians, it seems that an aura of prestige still surrounds the quiet, intellectual life enjoyed by authors, librarians and academics." Somehow, though, I imagine they had more of the career and lifestyle of a JK Rowling or James Patterson in mind, since most authors barely eke out a living or are only able to write part time.

The Q&A roundup includes Torquil MacLeod talking about his Scandinavian-based Malmö Mysteries series with Paul D. Brazill at Out of the Gutter; Crime Fiction Lover welcomed James Craig, author of the popular London-based crime thrillers featuring Inspector John Carlyle; Laura Lippman stopped by the Do Some Damage blog to discuss her latest work, Hush Hush; and Craig Sisterson's Crime Watch blog featured a "9mm: interview" with Jeffery Siger, talking about his Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series set in Greece.