The shortlists for this year’s British Book Awards or "Nibbies" (administered by The Bookseller) have been announced, including those in the Crime & Thriller category: Bamburg by L.J. Ross; Murder Before Evensong by Reverend Richard Coles; The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman; The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley; The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett; and Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister. Winners will be announced on Monday, May 15, both in person and streamed live online.
Martin Edwards, the CWA Diamond Dagger-winning author of the Lake District Mysteries, as well as other novels and nonfiction works such as The Golden Age of Murder, is the recipient of the 2023 George N. Dove Award, named for the past president of the Popular Culture Association (PCA). Presented by the PCA, the prize honors "'outstanding contributions to the serious study of mystery, detective, and crime fiction." Previous winners include Professor Doug Greene, Janet Rudolph of Mystery Readers International, P.D. James, H.R.F. Keating, and Julian Symons.
The inaugural Hamptons Mystery & Crime Festival (a/k/a Hamptons Whodunit), debuts April 13–16 in the Village of East Hampton, New York, led by founding Honorary Co-Chairs Alafair Burke and A. J. Finn. There will be a packed schedule of panels including Q&As with Guests of Honor, Anthony Horowitz and Michael Connelly, as well as book signings, the "The Goody Garlick" Tour, a Hamptons Crime Scenes Bus Tour, Free Escape Rooms, a Forensics World-sponsored realistic simulated crime scene challenge, and much more. For information, check out the event's official website.
Good news for book lovers: According to a Forbes Advisor analysis, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Google Trends, bookstores are projected to be the most recession-proof type of U.S. business in 2023, followed by PR firms, interior design services, staffing agencies, and marketing consulting services.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "A Few Small Nips" by Jennifer Lagier.
In the Q&A roundup, Ann Cleves, creator of Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez, and Matthew Venn crime fiction series (all of which have been turned into TV productions) stopped by the Crime Fiction Lover blog to chat about her latest installment in the Vera series, The Rising Tide; crime writer Lynda La Plante opened up to The Express about turning 80 and why she's not ready to retire quite yet; and the Austin Mystery Writers chatted with prolific and award-winning crime short story writer, John M. Floyd.
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