The Audio Publishers Association (APA) announced the winners of the 25th annual Audie Awards competition, recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.
In the Mystery category, the winner was The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup, narrated by Peter Noble. Other finalists included:
- Along Came a Spider (25 anniversary edition) by James Patterson, narrated by Taye Diggs
- The Boy by Tami Hoag, narrated by Hillary Huber
- The Lost Man by Jane Harper, narrated by Stephen Shanahan
- The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke, narrated by Will Patton
In the Thriller/Suspense category, the winner was The Institute by Stephen King, narrated by Santino Fontana. The other finalists included:
- Blood in the Water by Jack Flynn, narrated by Dion Graham,
- Freefall by Jessica Barry, narrated by Hillary Huber
- Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman, narrated by Susan Bennett
- Winter Dark by Alex Callister, narrated by Ell Potter
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival announced its 2020 Special Guests at one of the world’s largest and most prestigious crime fiction festivals. Crime writing royalty Martina Cole, Mark Billingham, Lisa Gardner, Kathy Reichs, Elly Griffiths, Mick Herron and Michael Connelly will be appearing as part of the killer line-up curated by this year’s Festival Programming Chair and Inspector Rebus author, Ian Rankin. The event is currently set to take place July 23-26 at Harrogate’s Old Swan Hotel – the legendary scene of Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance in 1926.
Heffers bookstore in Cambridge, UK is presenting Murder Will Out: A Day of Crime, Thriller and Mystery Fiction on Saturday March 14th at The Old Library, Emmanuel College. There will be a series of panels on the craft of writing crime fiction and a pop-bookshop at the event for booksignings. Authors scheduled to appear include Stephanie Austin, Lesley Kara, Gytha Lodge, Alison Bruce, Elly Griffiths, Christina James, Carol Ramsay, Deepa Anappara, Mick Finlay, Sam Lloyd, Caro Ramsay, Christopher Fowler, Nicola Upson, Steve Cavanagh, and MW Craven.
Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge, UK, will also be hosting "Trace Elements: An evening with Donna Leon" on Thursday, April 2. Queen of crime fiction Donna Leon returns to Heffers with her latest book, the twenty-ninth installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Commissario Guido Brunetti series. Donna Leon was named by The Times as one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers and has won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction.
Crime Story, a series of events for crime fiction fans, will take place at Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle this spring. Celebrated writers AA Dhand, Oliver Harris, Jessica Moor, Judith O’Reilly, and Mim Skinner will be paired with experts including Dr. Nicci MacLeod, a forensic linguist; Professor Mike Rowe, a criminologist who specialises in policing culture and reforms; and Professor Lars Holmquist, an internationally-leading researcher in human-computer interaction. A podcast inspired by Crime Story is now being developed by BBC Newcastle and is due to launch on BBC Sounds in Summer 2020. (HT to Shots Magazine)
There's a call for papers from the journal Mai: Feminism and Visual Culture on "The Female Detective on TV," with plans for a publication date in the first half of 2021. Academic authors with expertise in television studies and other related disciplines are invited to contribute to the issue that editors hope will not only examine the figures and representations of women crime investigators on the screen, but also situate their work in related social, cultural and political contexts. The definition of the female detective is broad and inclusive and can include but doesn't have to be a private eye or a police professional, just as long as she pursues social justice or truth. (HT to Ayo Ontade)
A sad note via Mystery Fanfare: we lost author Laura Caldwell last week after a long bout with breast cancer. She was not only a novelist but also a former civil rights trial attorney, law professor, and the founding director of Life After Innocence, a project that works with wrongfully convicted individuals affected by the criminal justice system to get cases overturned, help with re-entry to society, and to reclaim their lives. Her crime fiction books, including the Izzy McNeil series, have been published in over 25 countries and her books have been translated into more than 13 languages.
Through April 19, 2020, the Postal Museum in London is presenting the exhibition "The Great Train Robbery: Crime and the Post," which provides a history of the Post Office Investigation Branch (established in 1683) and the notorious August 1963 robbery of a Royal Mail train, in which thieves made off with £2.6 million (approximately $71 million in today's dollars). "The Great Train Robbery: Crime and the Post" has been two years in the making and uncovers over 150 objects, recordings and films, some of which are displayed for the very first time. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell)
For the Smart Set, Benjamin Welton discusses Raymond Chandler's service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and short-lived time in the RAF in World War I in an article titled "From Trenches to Trenchcoats."
Care to live in the former apartment of another crime fiction icon? Dashiell Hammett's apartment is available for rent in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco where he spent 1926 to 1929 while writing his first three novels: Red Harvest (1929), The Dain Curse (1929), and The Maltese Falcon (1930). (He also modeled the apartment of The Maltese Falcon detective Sam Spade on it.) It's obviously been renovated, so the experience wouldn't quite be the same, but perhaps a little of Hammett's aura can still be found there.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Eyes the Color of Tobacco Smoke" by C.W. Blackwell.
In the Q&A roundup this week, John Simenon, son of famous Belgian novelist Georges Simenon and manager of his father's literary estate (as well as working in the film industry himself), participated in a Q&A with The Guardian; author Donna Leon spoke with the Boston Globe about why "Greek and Roman Tragedies are Still Relevant." (subscription required); Bookpage chatted with Peter Swanson about his thriller, Eight Perfect Murders, where a killer takes inspiration from classic mysteries; and the Mystery People spoke with Russ Thomas about his debut, Firewatching, featuring D.I. Adam Tyler.
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