Murder Mystery Texas is holding its upcoming gala in Dallas, TX on February 16, 2019. Titled St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, the event is described as a "360 degree immersive theatrical experience, designed especially for amateur sleuths with a twisted sense of humor." The themed gala consists of an evening of delicious cuisine, enlivened with a despicable crime enacted by professional stage, TV, and film actors. The company said that it is up to guests to figure out who carried out the grisly murders.
Dead men are heavier than broken hearts, according to Raymond Chandler and also Matthew Coleman Turbeville, writing for Crime Reads, who offers up some tips on "How To Use Crime Fiction to Recover from Heartbreak."
Barbour Publishing is launching a new fiction series titled True Colors, which will explore true, riveting stories of American criminal activity layered in historical romantic suspense. This six-book series will kick off in March 2019 with the release of The White City by debut author Grace Hitchcock, involving disappearances during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (and based on crimes of infamous serial killer H. H. Holmes).
It's not too late to celebrate your Valentine's Day with some Valentine's themed mysteries, courtesy of this list from Janet Rudolph over at Mystery Fanfare.
The Mystery Lovers' Kitchen had some yummy Valentine's Day treats for mystery fans, including this Happy Valentine's Cake from Krista Davis and Pretty in Pink Coffeehouse Cookies via Cleo Coyle.
The Brandeis National Committee, Tucson Chapter, is presenting its 23rd annual Book & Author event on February 27 and 28 with four acclaimed authors: internationally best-selling mystery writer Elizabeth George, author of the Inspector Lynley series; Reed Farrel Coleman, called the "noir poet laureate" by the Huffington Post; Lauren Grossman, writing her third mystery featuring a globe-trotting author-turned-sleuth; and trailblazing television sitcom writer Susan Silver, author of a candid Hollywood memoir.
On February 22, 2019, mystery author Laurie R. King and journalist Wallace Baine will be featured in conversation during an evening of food, drinks, and music at the Food Lounge in Santa Cruz, CA to raise money for the Young Writers Program. The writers initiative began in 2012 and has worked steadily to support students in their writing with projects that culminate in a publication of student work or a public reading.
Belfast’s NOIRELAND crime fiction festival returns March 8-10, with a line-up of international and domestic writers that includes Belinda Bauer, Stuart Neville, Ann Cleeves, Adrian McKinty, Eoin McNamee, Andrea Carter, Anthony Horowitz, Olivia Kiernan, Stuart MacBride, Denise Mina, Jo Spain, William Ryan, Steve Cavanagh, and many more. A new addition to NOIRELAND this year is Jack-A-Noir-Y, billed as a "bedtime story for grown-ups," in which Irish actor Adrian Dunbar will be reading an exclusive except from A Book of Bones, the forthcoming new novel from best-selling author John Connolly. (HT to Declan Burke via Crime Always Pays)
The Leonardslee Crime Festival in the UK on March 2-3 still has tickets for some of its events, although they are selling out quickly (including the Killer Women Murder Mystery tea). The weekend-long affair, created by the Book Lovers’ Supper Club, combines the exceptional food of Leonardslee’s award-winning chefs with the talents of local crime writers. Authors scheduled to participate include Erin Kelly, Dorothy Koomson, Graham Bartlett, Simon Brett, Debbie Howells and Julie Corbin.
The Mystery Writers of America's annual Edgar Awards Symposium is now open for registration. It's to be held in conjunction with the awards ceremony and is scheduled for Wednesday, April 24, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. The day-long event will feature panels on topics like "Suspicion: The Shady Characters of Crime Fiction," with an all-star author lineup of Meg Gardiner, Mike Lawson, Sujata Massey, Alex Segura, Lisa Unger, Paul Doiron, and many more.
Hat tip to The Rap Sheet for a bit of sad news this week: William E. Butterworth III—better known as military thriller writer "W.E.B. Griffin"—has died at age 89, following a lengthy battle with cancer. The author's bibliography includes more than 250 books published under more than a dozen pseudonyms, all of which have made The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and other best-seller lists. More than fifty million of the books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian.
Amazon Crossing, the translation imprint of Amazon Publishing, has announced its purchase of The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin by Jan Stocklassa. The work is translated by Tara F. Chace and is scheduled for release on October 1. Ten years after Larsson’s 2004 death at age 50, Stocklassa, a journalist, gained exclusive access to Larsson’s private archive, uncovering an unknown project by the late author investigating the unsolved 1986 assassination of the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. The author also executive-produced a documentary on Larsson’s research into extreme right-wing groups, which was was directed by Henrik Georgsson and premiered at Sundance last month.
A landmark mystery fiction collection owned by editor and Mysterious Bookshop owner Otto Penzler will be offered by Heritage Auctions. The initial offering includes 231 lots, including rare volumes such as the 1845 first printing of "Tales" by Edgar Allan Poe and James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice, a coveted 1934 first edition association copy, inscribed by the author. Other highlights include Penzler's 1929 first edition copy of Hammett's Red Harvest, which may sell for at least $60,000, and a first edition of The Big Sleep, signed by Chandler himself, may sell for more than $30,000. The entire collection on offer March 6 is now open for preview and bidding.
The Winter 2018/2019 issue of Mystery Readers Journal, with the theme "Mystery in the American South," is now available as a PDF and and soon-to-be hardcopy. Editor Janet Rudolph said they had so many articles, reviews, and author essays, the themed issue had to be split into two, and the second volume, Mystery in the American South II, will be available later this year. Online articles from the first edition include "Making Peace with the 'Southern Writer' Label" by Donna Andrews; "Over the River and Through the Woods" by J.T. Ellison; and "On a Sunny Sea Island" by Carolyn Hart.
The latest edition of Occult Detective is out, with new tales by Tim Waggoner, Brandon Barrows, Cliff Biggers, Cody Shroeder, Megan Taylor, Loren Rhodes and many more including new book reviews. (HT to Sandra Seamans)
A new book, A Lie Too Big to Fail, alleges that the CIA may have used a contractor who inspired Mission: Impossible to kill RFK. The book's author, Lisa Pease, spent 25 years researching her book that posits Howard Hughes aide Robert Maheu was such a colorful character, the television show Mission: Impossible was based on him and his private investigative agency—and the CIA tasked him with jobs it wanted to steer clear of, including the assassination of Robert Kennedy.
Writing for Mystery Tribune, Nick Kolakowski made the case for why "Real Serial Killers Are Dumber Than Their Fictional Equivalents."
Laura Benedict, the Edgar- and Thriller-nominated author of The Stranger Inside, profiled "The Best Unreliable Narrators in Suspense Novels" for Novel Suspects.
The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Tomcat" by Ben Szakovits.
In the Q&A roundup, the Sacramento Bee snagged Greg Hurwitz to talk about his writing and his quirky hero, the Nowhere Man; the Mystery People welcomed David Swinson to chat about, Trigger, the final installment of David Swinson’s trilogy featuring Frank Marr, a private detective who is also a drug addict.
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