The Los Angeles Times announced the finalists of the 42nd annual Book Prizes. Honorees in the Mystery/Thriller category include The Turnout: A Novel by Megan Abbott; The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly; Razorblade Tears: A Novel by S.A. Cosby; The Collective: A Novel by Alison Gaylin; and Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Winners in the various categories will be announced at USC’s Bovard Auditorium on Friday, April 22, in a prologue to the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. The festival, which is the nation’s largest in-person literary event, will return to the USC campus during the weekend of April 23-24.
Mystery Writers of America announced the first two recipients of the Barbara Neely Grants, Jonathan Brown and Necole Ryse. Barbara Neely was the author of the "Blanche" series, one of the first crime fiction series to feature a Black woman as the protagonist. Mystery Writers of America named her a Grand Master in November of 2019 to recognize her enormous contributions to the genre as well as her impact on the crime fiction community. After her passing, MWA created a scholarship program for Black crime fiction writers in her name; one for an already published author, and another for one just getting started in publishing. The grant comes with a $2,000 award to assist each recipient with any aspect of their career as they see fit.
More incredibly sad bookstore news: After 25 Years in South Florida, Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore will be going out of business as of April 15, 2022. As the owners posted, "Although we have tried our best to keep the store alive, Covid and its aftermath have done us in." In 2018, travel site Atlas Obscura declared it one of the World’s Best Independent Bookstores. James Patterson, Carl Hiaasen, Randy Wayne White, Michael Connelly, Stuart Woods, Tim Dorsey, and other nationally touring mystery-thriller-crime authors drew customers through special events at the store through the years.
Scotland's Granite Noir conference starts today, and if you can't make it in person, you're still covered via livestreaming. Following on from the 2021 digital Granite Noir, which saw audiences tune in from 52 countries including Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Greece, Canada, Mexico, Bangladesh and the US, streamed events this year will include panels today through Sunday. Special guests for those online panels include authors Louise Welsh, Ann Cleves, Lin Anderson, Alex Gray, Oyinkan Braithwaite, LV Matthews, Lexie Elliot, Anders de la Motte, Kjell Ola Dahl, Silje Ulstein, Stuart MacBride, Alan Parks, and Marion Todd. For more details and ticket info, click on over here.
Crime Writers of Canada announced that 21 stories have been selected for inclusion in Cold Canadian Crime, the 40th anniversary anthology, scheduled for release in May 2022. The anthology will include crime stories in a variety of sub-genres, both fiction and true crime. In all, 46 stories were submitted for consideration, and all submissions were anonymously read and selected by three independent judges.
Over at CrimeReads, Valerie Wilson Wesley discussed "Crime Fiction's Pioneering Women of Color," and racism in publishing.
The Baltimore Sun reported on the Johns Hopkins curators who investigated a musical mystery linked to Edgar Allan Poe.
Mystery Scene Spring Issue #171 is here, with profiles of CJ Box, Kellye Garrett, Leslie Meier, and Candice Fox; a look at celebrities turned mystery writers; Fave Raves of the Past Year (2021); the Capitol Crimes column; essays by Lucy Burdette and Catherine Maiorisi, and the usual reviews sections.
Ever wonder how a print book was made? Although this is behind a paywall, if you have a New York Times subscription, you should check out this article to learn how vats of ink and 800-pound rolls of paper become a printed book.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "The Dating Game" by Peter Mladinic.
Rob Hart, author of the Ash McKenna crime series and The Warehouse (which sold in more than 20 languages and was optioned for film by Ron Howard), applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, The Paradox Hotel.
In the Q&A roundup, Terry Korth Fischer chatted with Lisa Haselton about her new novel, Gone Before, featuring Small-town detective, Rory Naysmith; Friday Magazine interviewed attorney-turned-bestselling-author David Baldacci about how thrillers are born, why writers should always be afraid, and what aspiring writers need to keep in mind when crafting a book; and CrimeReads chatted with David Lagercrantz about his new thriller, Dark Music, inspired by Sherlock Holmes.
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