The British Book Awards, or "Nibbies," were handed out this week. The Crime and Thriller Book of the Year was won by Janice Hallett’s The Twyford Code, in which a teacher's former pupil tries to find out why the teacher disappeared after finding a secret code in a famous children’s author’s work. The other finalists included Bamburgh by LJ Ross; Murder Before Evensong by Reverend Richard Coles; The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman; The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley; and Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister.
This past Saturday, Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore of San Diego, California, celebrated 30 years of "magic, martians, and mayhem, embracing the store's history while celebrating the future." Festivities included author panels on the importance of independent bookstores and on genre fiction; a story time; games; and of course, cake. The store is also offering 30th anniversary mugs, tote bags, T-shirts, and sweaters. (HT to Shelf Awareness)
The "Noir at the Terroir" event will be held June 9 at the Valley Road Vineyards, 9264 Critzers Shop Road, in Afton, Virginia. Wine by the glass and bottle will be available for purchase, and you can bring a picnic supper or order pizza from Sal's of Crozet by calling 540-456-6350 on June 8. Authors scheduled to read from their works include Paul Awad, Matthew Iden, Kristin Kisska, Lisa Nanni-Messegee, Adam Meyer, Kathryn O'Sullivan, and Josh Pachter.
The Sisters in Crime's Innocence Project Auction begins today, and if you haven't already headed on over to check out the offerings, you can follow this link and bid through May 21. The project hopes to raise $35,000 "to restore freedom for the innocent, transform the systems responsible for their unjust incarceration, and advance the innocence movement."
China Daily brings word that the National Museum of Classic Books in Beijing is hosting an exhibition on Sherlock Holmes until November 2. Authorized by The Conan Doyle Estate, the exhibition includes crime scenes from the Holmes canon and a late-19th-century Chinese newspaper that printed Holmes tales translated into Chinese. According to Gu Heng, director of the National Library of China's exhibition department, the library has in its collections many versions of the Holmes books. These include early English, Chinese from different eras, as well as Japanese and French versions, a number of which can be seen at the exhibition. (HT to The Bunburyist)
Agatha Christie's Burgh Island in South Devon, where the author wrote several novels (and The Beatles also stayed), can be yours for the sum of £15 million (about $18.7 million US). Described as "the best hotel west of The Ritz" by its current owner, Giles Fuchs, the island served as a writer’s retreat where Dame Agatha was inspired to write And Then There Were None and Evil Under The Sun.
Can You "Match The Mystery Novel to Its Opening Line?" Try this fun little quiz from BookRiot.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Hawk's Day in Court" by Peggy Landsman.
In the Q&A roundup, Public Radio East chatted with journalist Tim Rodriguez about his new mystery novel, Never is Now; and author Michelle Gagnon spoke with The Nerd Daily about her latest novel, Killing Me, along with inspiration, writing, and much more.
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