The Strand Magazine’s 2022 Critics Award winners were announced via a virtual ceremony held on Monday, September 19. Best Mystery Debut went to Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka (translated by Sam Malissa); Best Mystery Novel was won by Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby; Publisher of the Year: Morgan Entrekin, president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic in New York City; Lifetime Achievement Awards: Sandra Brown and Nelson DeMille.
Unfortunately, there is bad news coming from another publication, Mystery Scene Magazine. I was initially unable to get direct verification after rumors started to fly, but according to Jeff Pierce of the Rap Sheet blog who spoke with editor-in-chief, Kate Stine, the 'zine is apparently going to shut down this year. However, Stine did add they are putting the word out to anyone interested that the magazine is for sale, and she would be willing to work closely with any new owners. The publication, started by Ed Gorman and Robert Randisi in 1985, has become a fixture of crime fiction news, reviews, interviews, and features for some twenty years, and it will be sorely missed if new arrangements don't come through to save it.
The Joffe Books Prize was launched last year by independent publisher Joffe Books "as a direct response to the paucity of diverse voices being published in crime fiction" and invited submissions from unagented authors with Black, Asian, indigenous, and minority ethnic backgrounds. The winner of the prize (which was Christie J Newport in 2021), receives a two-book publishing deal with Joffe Books and a £1,000 cash prize. Now, they will also receive a £25,000 audiobook offer after it was announced that Audible has stepped up to fund the additional prize. The second year of the Joffe Books Prize launched on May 1, and in celebration of the new partnership with Audible, the submission period has been extended to midnight on October 31. This year, the judging panel includes Oyinkan Braithwaite, award-winning author of My Sister, the Serial Killer, and Ella Diamond Kahn, co-founder and partner of the Diamond Kahn & Woods Literary Agency.
From September 18-24, crime fiction authors and other donors are hosting a Mystery Loves Democracy online auction in support of voting-rights organization Fair Fight Action, founded in 2014 by then-Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams. The organization advances voter education; coordinates de-escalation trainings that teach "rapid response strategic support for political violence-related threats"; pursues litigation (Fair Fight Action v. Raffensperger); and establishes task forces to combat electoral injustice in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin, as well as in its home state of Georgia. Writers have donated signed books and ARCs, consultations, and manuscript critiques for consideration by auction bidders who can also check the event’s Twitter feed for midweek additions to the roster. Mystery Loves Democracy’s fundraising goal is $100,000, and as the auction concludes, Catriona McPherson will host a Zoom-a-thon with surprise author appearances. (HT to Publishers Weekly)
Following in the footsteps of other former politicians (e.g. Bill Clinton partnering with James Patterson; Hillary Clinton with Louise Penny; Norwegian minister of justice, Anne Holt, et al.), former FBI Director James Comey has secured a deal to write two novels for The Mysterious Press, an imprint of Penzler Publishers. The first is called Central Park West, and it features an assistant U.S. Attorney looking into ties between the Mafia and the murder of a local politician. The book is scheduled for next spring.
The Terror Australis Readers and Writers Festival is planning the exhibition "Tasmania: A Century of Mystery" in honor of the centenary of Agatha Christie's visit to Tasmania. The exhibition, which will be on view from October 2–30, 2022, will focus on mysteries written by Tasmanians or set in Tasmania. In addition, it was announced that there will be a new branch of Sisters in Crime in Tasmania. (HT to The Bunburyist)
The Hower House Victorian Mansion was built in Akron, Ohio in 1871 and was the long-time home of one of Akron’s leading industrial families. The mansion was deeded to UA and turned into a museum in the 1970s. The Hower House is currently presenting a new exhibit: "Poe & Doyle Victorian Crime Fiction," with each room featuring information and displays dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and their contribution to crime writing.
In a case of literal life imitates art, a woman who copied the plot of Gone Girl and staged her disappearance has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "The Intellectual Stripper" by Charles Rammelkamp.
In the Q&A roundup, Writers Who Kill spoke with Lori Roberts Herbst about Photo Finished, the fourth book in her Callie Cassidy mystery series, and also with Marie Sutro about her series with SFPD Detective Kate Barnes; Indie Crime Scene chatted with Daniella Bernett, author of A Mind to Murder, part of the Emmeline Kirby/Gregory Longdon Mysteries, and also with S.K. Waters about The Dead Won’t Tell, which features freelance historical researcher, Abbie Adams; and Crime Reads interviewed S. A. Cosby, who has won practically every award this year for Razorblade Tears, about his upcoming novel, All the Sinners Bleed.
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