The Irish Book Awards shortlists for 2024 were announced, including the titles vying for Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year: A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey (Hemlock Press); Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh (Headline); Where They Lie by Claire Coughlan (Simon & Schuster); Someone in the Attic by Andrea Mara (Bantam, Transworld); Somebody Knows by Michelle McDonagh (Hachette Books Ireland); and When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips (Bantam, Transworld). The public are now being asked to have their say and cast their votes through November 14th for the best books of the year on the An Post Irish Book Awards website.
Scrawl Books, the new indie bookstore in Reston, Virginia, is presenting a Cozy Halloween Mystery Panel on Thursday, October 31 at 7pm. Participating authors include Olivia Blacke (A New Lease on Death); Mindy Quigley (the Deep Dish Mysteries); Donna Andrews (the Meg Lanslow Series); and Korina L. Moss (the Cheese Shop Mysteries).
On November 1, AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland will show the silent film, The Bat (1926), directed by Roland West, with live musical accompaniment by Ben Model. Based on the play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood (adapted from the author's 1908 mystery novel, The Circular Staircase), this suspenseful picture sees a masked criminal dressed as a bat spread fear and terror among the guests staying at a lavish mansion rented by a mystery writer. Hidden somewhere in the estate is a vast sum of money aching for the taking. The Bat served as inspiration for the creation of DC Comics' Batman. (HT to The Bunburyist)
Dallas Noir At The Bar returns to The Wild Detectives on Sunday, November 3rd. Authors currently scheduled to read from their mystery, thriller, and suspense works include Jim Nesbitt, Kevin R. Tipple, Trang Vu, Graham Powell, Scott Montgomery, and Harry Hunsicker.
Janet Rudolph has published an updated list of Halloween Mysteries that take place on or around Halloween, from full-length novels to short story anthologies.
A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up, featuring the Halloween mystery short story "Floating Past the Graveyard" by Pamela Ebel, read by actor Theodore Fox.
Kings River Life published two free online Halloween short stories, "Clown-O-Phobia" By Bobbi A. Chukran, and "The Mystery of the Mirror" By Shari Held.
The authors at Mystery Lovers Kitchen have some scary treats and reads for the season, including Warm Spiced Cider by Maya Corrigan; Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bars via Peg Cochran; Halloween Carrot Cake from Alison Roman by way of Lucy Burdette; Edible Witches' Brooms, courtesy of Cleo Coyle; Spooky Blood Orange Spritizer from Leslie Karst; and Mummy Hand Pies from Molly MacRae.
Brian Cleary, a clinical pharmacist in Dublin, was trawling through the archives at the National Library of Ireland when he stumbled across something extraordinary: a virtually unknown short story by Bram Stoker, author of the Gothic masterpiece, Dracula. The story takes place in Surrey, England, at a spot that became infamous when three men who had murdered a sailor were hanged there in the 18th century (a gibbet is a gallows). In it, a young man goes for a stroll and comes upon a trio of eerie children who perform a strange ritual, tie the man up, and menace him with a sharp dagger. Though he passes out and isn’t sure what happens next — they are gone when he wakes up — the unsettling experience has repercussions that do not bode well for his future.
Robert Lopresti is the latest guest at "The First Two Pages" on Art Taylor's blog, talking about his new anthology, Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy, a collection spurred on by his continuing interest in ecological issues. (Taylor took over hosting duties of the column after its originator, B.K. Stevens, passed away in 2017.)
Comments