Mystery Melange

On Friday, January 15, from 6 to 8 p.m., The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City will host the new board of the Mystery Writers of America with a multi-author book signing. Authors scheduled to appear include Donna Andrews, Craig Faustus Buck, Laura K. Curtis, Ray Daniel, Hannah Dennison, Brendan DuBois, Laura Durham, Daniel Hale, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ted Hertel, Linda Joffe Hull, Harry Hunsicker, Julie Hyzy, Kay Kendall, Allison Leotta, Larry Light, Nick Mamatas, Tony Perona , Lori Rader-Day, Randy Rawls, Mark Stevens, Jaden Terrell, and Elaine Viets.

If you'll be near Berkeley, California, on January 16, make your reservation for a rare crime fiction opportunity:  Join other mystery and science fiction fans at the home where famed editor and writer William Anthony Parker White (best known by his pen name, Anthony Boucher) lived from 1947 to his death in 1968 and did much of his work. Not only will there be discussions, reminiscences, and potentially some scripted drama, this may be your last chance to tour the home, which will pass from the Boucher family to a new owner soon. Space is limited, so send along your RSVP as soon as possible via the link on the Mystery Fanfare blog, which has additional information on the event.

The Rap Sheet is hosting a giveaway for copies of Ryan Gattis’ gritty thriller, All Involved (enter by January 18), and asked the author to identify five Los Angeles-set works of crime fiction that inspired his writing of this book.

Los Angeles will host a Noir At The Bar event on Sunday February 21 at 8 p.m. at the Mandrake. Authors on hand who will read from their work include Owen Laukkanen, Johnny Shaw, SG Redling, Rob Hart, Patricia Abbott, Tom Pitts, SW Lauden, and Eric Beetner.

If you're in the UK the weekend of April 23 and 24, Erin Kelly, bestselling author of The Poison Tree, will host a workshop on how to write a psychological thriller, a masterclass sponsored by The Guardian at their London headquarters. Other guest speakers will include editor Ruth Tross and crime authors Anya Lipska and Helen Giltrow.

PBS launched The Masterpiece Book Club to serve as the destination for book-loving fans of such programs such as Sherlock and Downton Abbey. Features will include recommended reading related to current Masterpiece shows, insights into what cast and crew are reading, related recipes perfect for a book club meeting, British book news, and much more. Sherlock fans will get reading inspiration from Sherlock co-creator and actor Mark Gatiss, who reveals his favorite Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories and the mystery authors he reads most. Special collections for other Masterpiece mysteries including Endeavour and Inspector Lewis are due later this summer. 

Writing for The Guardian, Sarah Crown profiled Dorothy L Sayers’ classic mystery novel, Gaudy Night, admitting she's developed a bit of an OCD attachment to the book and how it encompasses large questions of life and love.

The mystery of how Sherlock Holmes knew so much about poisons has been cracked in the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, thanks to class rolls dating back to 1877 that prove a connection with Arthur Conan Doyle.

Author Michael Connelly chose The Long Goodbye for the Wall Street Journal Book Club, noting that when he was studying construction engineering in college, Raymond Chandler’s classic title inspired Connelly to start writing.

Book Riot profiled Chick Noir, the literary niche that article author Kelly Anderson dubbed an "awful name, awesome genre."

The Guardian's Tom Gauld posted a tongue-in-cheek look at "the perilous endings that await modern-day murder mystery victims."

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Cain & Abel" by Paul Hostovsky.

In the Q&A roundup, Scottish crime writer Val McDermid spoke with the Miami Herald about her new novel Splinter the Silence, featuring psychologist Tony Hill and police detective Carol Jordan tracking down a possible cyberbullying serial killer; Donna Huston Murray stopped by Omnimystery News to discuss her second mystery to feature ex-cop Lauren Beck, Guilt Trip; and The Courier sat down with Scottish crime author Stuart MacBride, who talks about his series featuring detective sergeant Logan McRae and how the author had a dissecting room named after him.