Mystery Melange, Valentine's Edition

Just in time for Valentine's Day, the Mystery People posted "(Extremely) Unauthorized Relationship Advice Inspired by Crime Fiction: Part 1."

In the mood for some romantic crime fiction? Check out Mystery Fanfare's list of Valentine's Day Mysteries.

Book Riot also posted a gallery of "23 Valentine's Day Cards for Book Lovers," including this fun one featuring Edgar Allan Poe.

Congrats go to investigator and author John Straley, who was honored with an Alaskan Legislative Citation for his more than three decades of public service to the state of Alaska in the fields of poetry, law, and literature.

Congratulations are also in order for the nominees for the Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a U.S. or Canadian author, handed out annually by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers.

The short list for the UK's inaugural Jhalak prize honoring writers of color includes two crime titles, Abir Mukherjee’s debut thriller A Rising Man and Jacob Ross’s The Bone Readers, as well as Gary Younge's Another Day in the Death of America, a nonfiction title that follows the stories of ten young people murdered on November 23, 2013, in a book about the impact of lax US gun laws.

San Antonio's Gemini Ink is presenting Nights of Noir that begins tonight with a discussion of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and a noir-tinged happy hour. Future events will include The Galton Case by Ross Macdonald on March 8; The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith on April 12; and Shoot the Piano Player by David Goodis on May 10.

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an afternoon Literary Salon with Ian Rankin in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ian Rankin's Detective Inspector John Rebus, on Monday, February 20, at 1 p.m. This is a free event, but you must RSVP for venue address. Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards, the Edgar Award, and has won Denmark's Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir, and the Deutscher Krimipreis.

Registration for the 2017 Writers’ Police Academy will open at noon on February 19, 2017. Craig Johnson, Mr. Longmire himself, is Guest of Honor, joining fellow featured guests, Paul Bishop, author and a thirty-five year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, Dr. Katherine Ramsland, director of the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Program at DeSales University' and Les Edgerton, ex-con-turned award-winning author and teacher. This year's academy will also include giveaways worth over $1,500, with anyone who registers the first day is automatically entered.

There's still time to register for Sleuthfest coming up later this month February 23 through 26.  SleuthFest is an intensive four day conference featuring writing workshops, social events, and pitch session with top literary agents and editors, as well as a chance to meet Keynote Speaker David Baldacci, Forensic Guest of Honor Dr. Vincent Di Maio, legendary publisher Neil Nyren, and authors Jeff Lindsay, Reed Farrel Coleman, SJ Rozan, Jane Cleland, and Jess Lourey.

The Bath Festival in the UK in May will include a Killer Women panel featuring authors Sarah Hilary, Erin Kelly and Mel McGrath talking with Guardian crime reviewer Laura Wilson about the female appetite for crime fiction.

The New York Times had a nice profile of Mysterious Bookshop in the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City. Otto Penzler explained why the shop has managed to thrive for so long, "Detective stories are essentially fairy tales. They’re the battle between good and evil."

Another recent NYT profile investigated the works of Hideo Yokoyama, one of Japan’s most popular crime novelists, who says that he's particularly interested "in the psychology and social dynamics of characters who happen to be affected by crime." Yokoyama's novel Six Four was adapted into a movie nominated for the Japan Academy Prize, that country’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.

Proving that crime fiction is not only a reflection of its time and culture, the Palestianian Authority has banned the crime thriller A Crime in Ramallah on the grounds it contains "violations of  ethics and morals," although it is believed by some to have been censored because it made the Palestinian Authority look bad.

The BBC profiled Guy Hamilton, the James Bond director who went undercover in WWII. Although it's well known that Bond creator Ian Fleming drew literary inspiration from his wartime work in espionage, the heroic war exploits of the director of Bond films including Goldfinger and Live and Let Die are less well documented.

Meanwhile, Listverse compiled "10 Shocking Crimes Of The Real James Bond." Ian Fleming once told a friend he'd had been inspired to create James Bond after reading about the life of Sidney Reilly, known as the "Ace of Spies," who was also a ruthless and dangerous man, loyal to no one but himself, and ready to betray or murder anyone who got in his way.

Via Lithub, we have a profile of "The Asian Detective Novel: from Racist Caricature to Authentic Representation A Short Introduction to 9 Contemporary Asian Mystery Writers."

Mike Ripley's latest "Getting Away with Murder" column for Shots Ezine previewed the long-awaited television adaptation of Len Deighton’s alternative history thriller SS-GB, profiled the Golden Age mysteries of Anthony Berkeley, and compiled the usual entertaining slew of reviews of new and upcoming crime fiction titles.

In this day and age of smart technology being ubiquitous and attached to just about every appliance imaginable, the Time Lives wondered what happens with the "Fridge foils the perfect crime: how tech could murder detective novels."

A mystery benefactor is buying up revolutionary books like George Orwell's 1984 to give away at indie bookstores. Meanwhile, 1984 is also headed for Broadway.

Got the flu? Feeling depressed? Jane Sullivan of The Age takes a look at "The authors you read when you need a bit of comfort," including Raymond Chandler and Georgette Heyer.

Raymond Chandler is also featured in this list from the New York Public Library of "5 Films Noir Inspired by Novels."

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Mother McMuffin" by Kent Peterson.
 
In the Q&A roundup, the Book Club Mom interviewed Debbi Mack about her mystery, thriller, and YA novels and about being an independent author (Debbi also hosts the Crime Cafe podcast); Criminal Element welcomed Chris Ewan, the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Good Thief's Guide to... series and several successful thrillers; and Lisa Haselton spoke with mystery author Deborah Coonts about her new thriller After Me.