The Bouchercon Mystery Convention announced that the recipients of the 2015 David S. Thompson Award are Bill and Toby Gottfried. The award is bestowed on writers, publishers, readers, editors, and fans to recognize extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community. Bill and Toby have attended almost every Bouchercon since 1985 and also participated on several Bouchercon committees as well as chairing two Left Coast Crime Conventions. (HT to Mystery Fanfare.)
Criminal Element is sponsoring a Murder on the Menu Sweepstakes to win fourteen mysteries from Janet Evanovich, M.C. Beaton, Leslie Budewitz, and more.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Patricia Highsmith's death and the 40th anniversary of Per Wahlöö's death, the latest issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection profiles the work of Highsmith, plus reveals Wahlöö's plans for another Martin Beck novel near the end of his life.
The first Imagine Crime Writing Award will be presented to Irish novelist John Banville during this year’s Imagine Arts Festival in Waterford, which runs from from October 15th to 25th. The Irish city has strong family ties to Raymond Chandler and is launching the new award in recognition of Irish writers who have made an outstanding contribution to crime fiction.
There's still time to apply for the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers, offered by the Malice Domestic Conference. The grant includes a $2,500 award plus a comprehensive registration for the upcoming convention and two nights’ lodging at the convention hotel. Unpublished writers with a traditional mystery novel they're working on can send a letter of application, short bio, plot synopsis of no more than 300 words an three consecutive chapters of the work-in-progress by November 1. For more information check out the official grants webpage.
Otto Penzler, editor and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, made a list of "5 Most Under Appreciated Crime Writers."
RIP this week to author Jackie Collins, who died at the age of 77 after a battle with breast cancer. Although best known for her steamy novels about the rich and famous, she also branched out into writing crime fiction, charting the lives of the Santangelo mafia family.
If you're a member of the Oyster ebook subscription service, the company announced the news that the service is shutting down. However, since several of the employees were hired by Google, the rumor mill has it Google Play will soon be starting up a similar service on its own.
The latest crime poem at the 5-2 is "Trophy Hunting" by Robert Cooperman.
In the Q&A roundup, Chris F. Holm talked with The Mystery People about his new novel The Killing Kind, which introduces Michael Hendricks, a hitman who kills other hitmen at the behest of the intended victim; Kalyan Lahiri takes Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Short Interview Challenge"; D.H. Montgomery joined Omnimystery News to discuss his new mystery and the first in a new series, Karma Dead Ahead; HuffPo interrogated Lawrence Block about his longevity in the business and his latest book, The Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes; and the Mystery People grilled author Bill Crider about his series with Clearview Sheriff Dan Rhodes.
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