Mystery Melange

The book awards season has begun with the announcement of the 2016 Edgar Award nominations, handed out annually by the Mystery Writers of America. The Best Novel finalists include The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter; The Lady From Zagreb by Philip Kerr; Life or Death by Michael Robotham; Let Me Die in His Footsteps by Lori Roy; Canary by Duane Swierczynski; and Night Life by David C. Taylor. For all the various nominees, follow this link to the official Edgar Awards page.

The Left Coast Crime Conference also announced their "Lefty" Award nominations. The 2016 finalists for Best Humorous Mystery Novel include Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews; Plantation Shudders by Byron Ellen; February Fever by Jess Lourey; Dying for a Donut; and Crushed Velvet by Diane Vallere. For all the nominees, check out the conference blog link.

ITW’s Thriller School, an online seven-week program that begins March 14th, 2016, still has a few open slots available. Each instructor will teach an aspect of craft though a podcast, written materials that include further reading and study suggestions, and an entire week of on-line Q&A with the registered students. Authors scheduled to lead the classes include David Corbett, Meg Gardiner, F. Paul Wilson, Hank P. Ryan, James Scott Bell, Peter James, and Lee Child.

Tami Hoag was named as the 2016 Writers’ Police Academy Guest of Honor. Hoag has eighteen consecutive New York Times bestselling thrillers to her credit, with more than 40 million books in print published in more than thirty languages worldwide.

The Seattle Mystery Bookshop posted a plea online for help in keeping the store going. They have set up a GoFundMe account with a target goal is $50,000 in hopes of getting to a stable financial footing and continue to serve the mystery reading community. They have some nifty rewards as thank you gifts in various funding categories, including art work, signed books and general bookstore swag.

The History Channel online posted "10 Things You May Not Know About Agatha Christie."

Illustrator Brian Joseph Davis decided to see what kind of faces literary descriptions of characters would create by using a law enforcement composite sketch software called FACES ID.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Habitual" by Ruth Danon.

In the Q&A roundup, the Mystery People grilled Terry Shames about her latest Samuel Craddock novel, The Necessary Murder Of Nonie Blake; Sara Paretsky named her "5 Favorite Pieces of “Mysterious” Classical Music" for WFMT; Omnimystery News welcomed Carolyn Mulford to talk about the latest book in her "Show Me" series, Show Me the Ashes, and also Rebecca Marks to discuss her new mystery series opener, On the Rocks; and Ian Hamilton spoke with the CBC about The Princeling of Nanjing, his new novel with globetrotting forensic accountant and martial arts expert, Ava Lee.