The deadline for the Crime Writers’ Association Margery Allingham Short Mystery competition is fast approaching. Authors have until February 26 to submit their short stories in the annual event, which attracts entries from around the globe. Entrants are asked to focus on specific elements to match Margery Allingham’s definition of a mystery, namely, "The Mystery remains box-shaped, at once a prison and a refuge. Its four walls are, roughly, a Crime, a Mystery, an Enquiry and a Conclusion with an Element of Satisfaction in it." The longlist for the prize will be revealed online and at the CWA conference on April 23, followed by the shortlist online in May, and the winner will be announced at this year’s international crime writing convention, CrimeFest, on May 13. The winner receives £500 and two passes for CrimeFest in 2023. (HT to Shots Magazine)
The Book & Film Globe has a nice tribute to the late crime writer, Andrew Vachss, who passed away late last year. Vachss was the author of 33 novels, including his best-selling "Burke" series, as well as three collections of short stories, and several graphic novels as well as poetry, plays, and song lyrics. But he was also a lawyer who specialized in child abuse and neglect cases, custody disputes, and other child-related cases, whose advocacy helped lead to the National Child Protection Act of 1993. Vachss was 79.
HT to Elizabeth Foxwell for noting the "Mapping Fiction" exhibition at Los Angeles' Huntington Library, featuring the role of maps in fiction, which will be on view until May 2. It includes Loren Latker's "Shamus Town" map of the Raymond Chandler Mystery Map of Los Angeles and an orange crate label from Tarzana Hills (originally named in honor of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan).
In case you're one of the few folks who have never read an Agatha Christie novel, you can find out where to start via crime novelist Janice Hallett, who kicks off The Guardian's new monthly guides to an author’s work, putting the spotlight on the creator of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.
As winter continues full force in the Northern Hemisphere, it seems like the perfect time to check out these "Five Great Blizzard Thrillers," courtesy of Heather Gudenkauf at CrimeReads.
James Bond fans, take note: A first edition of Diamonds Are Forever, in which Ian Fleming thanks his friend and fellow author Paul Gallico for "spread[ing] his wings over my first-born [Casino Royale]," is set to be auctioned on Friday as Gallico’s private library goes up for sale. Gallico, who died in 1976, worked with Fleming as a journalist on the Sunday Times. The James Bond author sent him the initial typescript of Casino Royale to see if it was publishable; Gallico told him it was a "knockout."
Ever wondered how the FBI's art theft crime team operates? Here's your chance to find out.
This is distburbing news, but it's also a cautionary tale to those who take libraries and librarians for granted - and to those who hate censorship and book banning.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Delicacy" by Peter Mladinic.
In the Q&A roundup, Sarah Bonner chatted about her debut novel, Her Perfect Twin, new this month; and Peter James talked about his writing with The Argus, as well as discussing his animal menagerie (revealing that he's named his pets after serial killers).
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