In Reference to Murder

Mystery Melange

The University of Otago's Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies announced two new fellowships that will be open to writers of Irish or Scottish birth, residence or affiliation. The inaugural CISS Scottish Writers Fellowship will be held jointly by Scottish crime writer Craig Robertson (the bestselling author of The Photographer and Murderabilia) and American-Scottish novelist and screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff (author of the bestselling Huntress/FBI series). Robertson and Sokoloff will take up their Fellowship in September 2020.

The Guardian profiled Georges Simenon, creator of the Inspector Maigret series, and why the killer ("the most boring part") didn't matter to Georges Simenon. This is particularly evident in Maigret and the Man on the Bench where identifying the culprit is "of scant concern to a writer preoccupied with deeper secrets."

Jeannette Cooperman pondered "What Trends in Crime Fiction Tell Us About Ourselves" for The Common Reader.

The Venetian Vase blog featured the sixth installment in Jason Carter’s series exploring the connections between James Ellroy and the true crime history of Wisconsin.

Crimereads offered up reading recommendations for this month, including the first, "5 Psychological Thrillers You Should Read in February," followed by "February's Best International Crime Fiction," and including "Six Nonfiction Books You Should Read This February."

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported on "Five authors of Korean thrillers you should be reading."

Susan Cook made the case for "How Charles Dickens Presaged the Rise of True Crime Podcasts."

Elizabeth Foxwell noted on her Bunburyist blog that the Library of America is featuring an early Continental Op short story. "The Tenth Clew" (1924), by Dashiell Hammett. The Op finds that his client, who told him that his life had been threatened, has been murdered. He wonders about the young woman who intended to marry the dead man.

Mary Kubica, bestselling author of The Good Girl, Pretty Baby, Don't You Cry, Every Last Lie, and When the Lights Go Out, took the Page 69 test for her latest thriller, The Other Mrs.

In a life-imitates-art meme that's been the buzz of the Interwebs recently, "Did a 1981 Dean Koontz novel predict the Wuhan coronavirus?"

How do you stop a burglary at a bookstore?

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Darulaman Murder Mystery" by Steven Croft.

In the Q&A roundup, Ann Cleeves, author of the Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez series, stopped by the online Annie's Book Stop of Worcester to discuss her new book, The Long Call; Mark Billingham chatted with The Scottish Sun about writing 20 books in 20 years and his latest Tom Thorne crime novel, Their Little Secret; Shots Magazine had a Q&A with Sam Lloyd, author of the new thriller, The Memory Wood; and thriller author Harlan Coben explained to Variety what it's like having your novels adapted for television.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

James Bobin is in talks to direct Clue, the live-action feature adaptation of the Hasbro board game in the works at 20th Century Studios with Ryan Reynolds aboard. The Disney-run studio had previously been in talks with Jason Bateman to direct and act in the movie, but that is no longer the case. Reynolds remains attached to Clue via his production company, and it remains a possible starring vehicle for him.

After winning last year’s Tony for Best Direction of a Musical for Hadestown, Rachel Chavkin is making her feature film directorial debut on Paramount’s psychological thriller Shrew’s Nest, a remake of the 2014 Juanfer Andres-Esteban Roel Spanish movie. The project is said to be in the same vein as Oscar-lauded pics as Misery and Black Swan.

Samuel L. Jackson has been tapped to play a retired hitman in a currently untitled feature, which will be directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. Jackson will star as Morris Stokes, who is not your typical retiree. Once the trusted hitman for a mob boss, he’s got more kills under his belt than he can count and has earned his time out of the game. When his nephew, Leslie, makes a stupid mistake, Morris gets a call from his old boss and must negotiate one last job: either help the kid recover the lost money, or put a bullet in him.

Noomi Rapace is attached to star in the thriller, O2, with Franck Khalfoun (Amityville: The Awakening) directing. The project centers on a woman who wakes up in a cryogenic medical pod, alone, with no memory, and no way out. All she knows is that she has 90 minutes of oxygen left and must figure out how to save herself, while discovering who she really is, who put her there, and most importantly – why?

Megan Fox and Bruce Willis are joining Emile Hirsch in Randall Emmett’s directorial debut, Midnight In The Switchgrass. Set in 2004, the film will follow an FBI agent (Fox) and a Florida State officer (Hirsch) who team up to investigate a string of unsolved murder cases. Willis will play Fox’s FBI agent partner.

Y’lan Noel (Insecure, The First Purge) has signed to star in A Lot Of Nothing, the directorial debut feature from Mo McRae. The Mansa Productions thriller, which was co-written by McRae and Sarah Kelly Kaplan, follows a couple living in a Los Angeles suburb who are compelled to take dangerous actions when they discover their next-door neighbor is the police officer that just murdered an unarmed motorist.

FilmNation has picked up distribution for The Good Nurse, starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, based on the book by Charles Graeber and scripted by 1917 scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Tobias Lindholm (The Hunt) is set to make his English-language feature directing debut. The project tells the true story of the pursuit and capture of Charlie Cullen (Redmayne), a nurse who is regarded as one of the most prolific serial killers in history. Now called "Angel of Death," Cullen has been implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients over 16 years, spread across nine hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Minka Kelly has joined Harvey Keitel, Sam Worthington, and AnnaSophia Robb in the cast of Eytan Rockaway’s upcoming biopic, Lansky, about the infamous gangster Meyer Lansky, a contemporary of Bugsy Siegel. As previously announced, Keitel plays the notorious Lansky.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

The end of Bosch is in sight. Amazon renewed the Titus Welliver-led series, based on the best-selling books by Michael Connelly, for a seventh season but announced it will be the show's last (Season 6 is set to premiere later this year on Amazon Prime Video). Connelly stated, "I’m proud of what we have accomplished with Bosch and look forward to completing the story in Season 7. It’s bittersweet, but all good things come to an end, and I am happy that we will be able to go out the way we want to."

Fleabag producer Two Brothers Pictures is making the cat-and-mouse thriller, The Tourist, for the BBC and Australia’s Stan. The six-part series is set in the Australian outback, where a British man is pursued by a vast tank truck trying to drive him off the road. An epic cat and mouse chase unfolds and the man later wakes in hospital, hurt, but somehow alive, except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, the man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback.

Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Calm With Horses, the Irish crime drama from Nick Rowland (Ripper Street) in his feature film directing debut. The Joe Murtagh-penned script is set in darkest rural Ireland, where ex-boxer Douglas "Arm" Armstrong (Cosmo Jarvis) has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers family, while also trying to be a good father to his autistic 5-year-old son. Torn between these two families, Arm’s loyalties are tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.

CBS is mulling a CSI event series to mark the 20th anniversary of the original series’ October 2000 premiere. The idea is for new installment, from writer Jason Tracey (Elementary), CBS TV Studios, and Jerry Bruckheimer TV, to be set in Las Vegas and be a sequel to the mothership CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The hope is that the new incarnation would feature original cast members including William Petersen and Jorja Fox, although sources stress planning in the very early stages.

Netflix is in talks with Warner Bros. Television to extend the supernatural procedural, Lucifer, beyond the previously announced (and forthcoming) fifth and "final" season, although neither Netflix nor Warner Bros. has yet to comment officially. The series stars Tom Ellis as the Devil who partners with Los Angeles homicide detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German).

James Lesure has been cast as a series regular opposite Katey Sagal in Rebel, ABC’s drama pilot inspired by the life of activist Erin Brockovich. Rebel centers on Annie "Rebel" Bello (Sagal), a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree and a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. Lesure plays Benji, a corporate lawyer who was Rebel’s second husband, and joins recently cast John Corbett who plays Rebel’s third husband.

A major new character is coming to CBS’s long-running series, Hawaii Five-O. Lance Gross is joining the crime drama as a guest star in the final two episodes of Season 10, with a series regular option pending renewal. Gross will play Lincoln Cole, a decorated war hero and ex-Marine Gunnery Sergeant with the Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team. Lincoln’s actions as an anonymous good Samaritan now have him in the cross-hairs of some very dangerous people, and McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and Five-0 are determined to protect him at all costs.

Paul Adelstein (Scandal), Medina Senghore (Happy!) and Gina Gallego (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) have been cast as series regulars opposite David Oyelowo in The President Is Missing, Showtime’s drama series adaptation of the novel by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson.

John Carroll Lynch (American Horror Story) is set to co-star in The Big Sky, ABC’s straight-to-series drama created and executive produced by David E. Kelley. The project, based on The Highway, the first book in C.J. Box’s Cassie Dewell series of novels, is a procedural thriller in which private detective Cassie Dewell (played by recently cast Dedee Pfeiffer) partners with ex-cop Jenny Hoyt on a search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana.

Orange Is The New Black’s Adrienne C. Moore and Meredith MacNeill are to star in the detective drama Lady Dicks for Canada’s CBC and NBCUniversal International Studios. The pair will play two radically different female detectives in their early 40s in the ten-part series co-created by Rookie Blue exec producers Tassie Cameron and Sherry White.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO

Bonnier Books UK is launching a new podcast series, Listening to the Dead, with bestselling crime author Lynda La Plante and former Met detective Cass Sutherland. The series will explore the secrets of today’s real CSIs and will launch in late February.

The Guardian Books podcast welcomed Sophie Hannah to talk about taking on Agatha Christie’s mantle for three Poirot novels, impossible premises, the secret of great crime fiction and why it’s such fun to step into Christie’s shoes.

The new episode of Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast features the mystery short story, "Sand Dollar Secrets," by Maggie Toussaint read by actor Leigh Ratliff.

Special guest co-host Meg Gardiner (the Unsub thrillers) joined regular Writer Types host Eric Beetner to talk with thriller writers Brad Taylor (Hunter Killer) and Dana Haynes (St. Nicholas Salvage and Wrecking). Plus an Elevator Pitch from Glen Dyer.


Self-Publishing Advice spoke with Chris Calder, a writer who discovered his writing voice later in his 70s after a cancer diagnosis and has since penned five thrillers starting with Payback, which features a brilliant designer of electronic controllers for anti-burglar systems.

Read or Dead hosts Katie McClean Horner and Rincey Abraham picked out some mysteries with a romantic element to them to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Beyond The Cover asked, "Where is Jack Reacher?" with special guest Andrew Child.

Meet the Thriller Author spoke with Matt Coyle, the author of the best-selling Rick Cahill crime novels.

Criminal Mischief: Episode #33 with Dr. D.P. Lyle featured the second part of his series on "Toxicology." (Transcript is here.)

Wrong Place, Write Crime hosts Frank Zafiro and Colin Conway chatted with Deborah Coonts about her successful Lucky O'Toole series, mystery conferences, the publishing world, fast cars and first lines.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club welcomed Canadian Vicki Delany, author of three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, Year Round Christmas mysteries, and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series.

THEATRE

The Gothic thriller, The Woman in Black, continues its UK tour at King's Theater in Glasgow, February 18-22, and moves to the Cambridge Arts Theater February 24-29.

The King's Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland is presenting Dial M for Murder February 24-29. Tom Chambers stars in this brand-new production as the charismatic and manipulative Tony Wendice, a jaded ex-tennis pro who has given it all up for his wife Margot, performed by Sally Bretton. When he discovers she has been unfaithful his mind turns to revenge and the pursuit of the "perfect crime."

The Theatre Royal Plymouth, UK will stage Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap February 24-29. The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover to their horror that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be?

Mystery Melange - Valentine's Edition

Happy Valentine's Day week to all! If you're in the mood for loving on some criminally good reading, check out Janet Rudolph's list of Valentine's Day Crime Fiction (and note that Janet also has another appropriate blog titled Dying for Chocolate).

Hardboiled Wonderland has been featuring a two-week series of "My Felonious Valentine" - crime movies with a touch of romance.

The Mystery Lovers Kitchen has a variety of recipes from the blog's authors, including a few Valentine's Day offerings: Cleo Coyle's Festive Valentine Side Dish and Valentine's Day Chocolate Heart Cookies from Ellie Alexander.

AudioFiles Magazine has a list for you of "Audiobooks for Valentine’s Day: Crime-Solving Couples."

This Saturday, February 15, Mystery Writers of America's Northern California branch will feature a panel on "The Why of Where: Crime Writers Talk About the Sense of Place in Crime Fiction." The event will include Nancy Tingley (moderator), Glenda Carroll, Priscilla Royal, Susan C. Shea, and Domenic Stansberry at the Petaluma Regional Library in Petaluma, CA. And coming up February 19, the chapter will present NorCal Noir: An Evening with Mystery Writers of America featuring Reece Hirsch (moderator), Michael Nava, Claire Ortalda, and Lisa Towles at the Oakland Public Library.

The Mystery Writers of America announced the schedule of Edgar Week activities coming up in New York City this spring. On April 29th, a symposium will feature several panels on various aspects of writing crime fiction with moderators Alex Segura, S.J. Rozan, Laurie R. King, Susan Breen, Nora McFarland, and James L’Etoile. And the evening includes Oline Cogdill (2013 Raven Award winner) interviewing the MWA 2020 Grand Master, Barbara Neely. Thursday, April 30 will see the annual Edgar Awards banquet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel emceed by current MWA president, Meg Gardiner. More information and tickets are available via the MWA website.

The stories of locked-room king Seishi Yokomizo, considered the master of ingenious plotting with a reputation in Japan to rival Agatha Christie’s, were long unavailable to English-speaking audiences. The first English version of The Honjin Murders was only published last year when Pushkin Vertigo released Louise Heal Kawai’s translation - 73 years after the original novel first appeared in Japan. And now, the indie press is also publishing Yumiko Yamazaki’s translation of Kindaichi’s second outing, The Inugami Curse. The Honjin Murders novel won Yokomizo the first Mystery Writers of Japan award in 1948, and its protagonist, the scruffy amateur sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi, went on to star in another 76 novels, selling more than 55 million books and appearing in numerous television and stage adaptations.

There's a call for abstracts for "Through a Glass Darkly: European History and Politics in Contemporary Crime Narratives." The publication seeks to uncover the ways in which the crime genre, in all of its multiple guises, has "investigated and interrogated the concealed histories and political underpinnings of national and supranational societies and institutions in Europe," particularly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. If you are interested in submitting a proposal to be considered for inclusion in this volume, send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short biography to info@detect-project.eu by May 31, 2020.

Organizers of the upcoming Granite Noir conference in Aberdeen, to be held February 20 to 23, asked some of the authors who will be appearing, "why women matter in crime fiction," with a selection of their favorite female sleuths.

Via the Washington Times: "How Dashiell Hammett put true crime to paper." Hammett’s stories took on a feel of realism and authenticity thanks to his experiences as a Pinkerton detective which he used to craft his fictional stories - true crimes, nicknames, slang, dramatic situations, and characters based on people he met.

Elizabeth Foxwell pointed out a fun link: History Extra of BBC History Magazine looked at the history of Scotland Yard including Charles Frederick Field (the model for Dickens's Inspector Bucket in Bleak House). The article also covers fictional Yard representatives such as Wilkie Collins's Sergeant Cuff, John Creasey's George Gideon, Andrew J. Forrester Jr.'s Mrs. G, and P. D. James's Adam Dalgleish.

Robert Dugoni, bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series, the Charles Jenkins Series and the David Sloane series, took the Page 69 Test to his new Tracy Crosswhite novel, A Cold Trail. Not to be outdone, Hilary Davidson also took the challenge with her new standalone thriller, Don't Look Down.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Marks" by Peter M. Gordon.

In the Q&A roundup, Writers Who Kill blogger E. B. Davis Interviewed Rhys Bowen about Above The Bay of Angels, set in London and Nice during the last years of Queen Victoria’s reign; The Book People's Scott Montgomery welcomed Nick Petrie for a discussion of the author's new book, The Wild One, which features Peter Ash, a drifting marine vet who suffers from PTSD; Peter Burke chatted with Will Shindler, author of the debut crime novel, The Burning Men; the Dirty Books Blog had a Q&A with Daniel Vlasaty about his new book, Stay Ugly; and Liz Moore spoke with Libro.fm about her audiobook, Long Bright River.

Mystery Melange

As many of you may already know, Mary Higgins Clark, the "Queen Of Suspense," passed away this past weekend. Simon & Schuster President and CEO Carolyn K. Reidy said that "Beginning in 1975 with the publication of Where Are The Children?, each of her 56 books has been a bestseller...[and] there are more than 100 million copies of her books in print in the United States." Higgins Clark didn't began publishing in her late 40s, but her formula of "placing her characters into perilous situations and often triumphing," proved to be a winner with her legions of fans. Higgins Clark was 92.

Northern Virginia Noir at the Bar returns February 16 at Busboys and Poets in Shirlington, co-sponsored by Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Sisters in Crime Chessie Chapter, and Level Best Books Day. There will be readings and signings from Kathleen Barber, Karen Cantwell, Shawn Cosby, Patrick Hyde, Ellen Clair Lamb, Ken Lawrence, Shawn Simmons, and Art Taylor. Josh Pachter will also be on hand to serve as host of the proceedings.

Join a panel discussion Saturday, February 22 at Clean Prose, London's first co-working space for writers. Lucy Foley (The Hunting Party), Andrew Wilson (A Talent for Murder) and Mia Emilie (The Watchers Trilogy), will be in discussion with J C Bernthal and Brittain Bright to explore how crime and detective novels are constructed and what makes the perfect ending.

On Saturday, February 29th, at the Paisley Book Festival in the UK, the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers (composed of Mark Billingham, Stuart Neville, Val McDermid, Christopher Brookmyre, Luca Veste, and Doug Johnstone) will "murder songs for fun hither and yon" as well as sign books.

CrimeFest 2020 announced that Lynda La Plante, Laura Lippman, and Robert Goddard will be among the authors headlining the crime fiction convention this summer. Up to 150 authors will descend on Bristol appearing in over 50 panels delving into diverse topics from politics to historical crime, the golden age of crime fiction to police procedurals, serial killers to cozy crime. There will also be a panel on crime fiction reviewers, honoring the late Marcel Berlins, and a "Ghost of Honour" remembering Dick Francis. Other authors on the bill for CrimeFest's 11th year include Dreda Say Mitchell, Sarah Pinborough, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Lynne Truss and Zoë Sharp. Sponsored by Specsavers, CrimeFest will take place from June 4th to 7th at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel.

Think your book has a knock-'em-dead opening sentence? If so, you can submit it to the ThrillerFest Best First Sentence Contest. To qualify to enter, you must be an ITW member or registered for ThrillerFest XV (2020). Winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at the CraftFest luncheon.
 

Otto Penzler has taken sole ownership of the Mysterious Press and added it to his publishing company, Penzler Publishers. Penzler founded Mysterious Press in 1975 but it has been an imprint at Grove Atlantic for the past nine years (which will bring out 10 titles this year). Beginning in 2021, the Mysterious Press will be distributed by Norton, which also distributes two other imprints of Penzler Publishers: American Mystery Classics, which is issuing hardcover and trade paperbacks of Golden Age detective novels; and Scarlet, which will release its first list of psychological and domestic suspense titles in the fall. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

It's no secret I adore libraries and librarians (thanks, Mom!). Even the humble bookmobile has a fascinating history.

It's getting harder for crime writers to keep up with all the latest technology for their books. Case in point, a new proof-of-concept study used a highly sensitive mass spectrometry method to date fingerprints. If the techniques works, crime lab scientists will be able to pin down the exact time the fingerprint was left.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Hugh Chaffin" by David Cranmer.

In the Q&A roundup, The Guardian spoke with Nora Roberts, a/k/a JD Robb, about her writing routine and how she's managed to publish 220 novels in two different genres; The Telegraph of India featured an interview with Ann Cleves about her writing and the "recipe for creating the perfect sleuth"; and C.J. Tudor chatted with Crime by the Book about The Other People, her inventive new thriller following a father on the hunt for his missing daughter.

Mystery Melange

Registration is now open for the International Thriller Writer's Seventh Annual Online Thriller School. The eight-week program begins March 23, 2020, where the craft of thriller writing will be front and center. Each instructor will teach an aspect of craft though a Facebook Live video, written materials that include further reading and study suggestions, and an entire week of on-line Q&A with the registered students. Featured author-instructors include Allison Brennan, Grant Blackwood, Raymond Khoury, Karen Dionne, Steven James, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Peter James and Kathleen Antrim.

Perfect Crime, the first crime writing festival set in the heart of Liverpool, is gearing up for its inaugural convention on November 14 with a new website. Ann Cleves is the special guest, with more authors and evnets to be announced soon.

More good conference news: Noireland 2020 is returning with a one-day festival packed full of panels, workshops, tours, and screenings on Saturday, March 28 in Belfast at the Clayton Hotel. Organizers plan to announced the program soon with more information about registration and tickets.

Level Best Books is partnering with Lee and Denene Lofland to launch New Arc Books, a new imprint. Lee, a veteran police investigator, has served as a consultant for Slate Magazine, Spike TV and for many well-known bestselling authors. As an expert, he has appeared on BBC television, CNN, NPR radio’s Talk of the Nation and Public Television. Denene received a Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and while her career is focused on science, her life-long passions are fantasy and science fiction. They are actively seeking submissions, from agents or authors, of novels between 70,000 and 100,000 words with a tilt toward crime titles, both fiction and nonfiction.

Faber will celebrate the 100th anniversary of P D James’ birth by publishing her short story "The Part-Time Job" in book form for the first time. August 3 will mark what would have been the 100th birthday of James, which Faber published for over 50 years following the publication of her first novel, Cover Her Face, in 1962. In celebration of this centenary, Faber will publish short story "The Part-Time Job" in book form, which editorial director Angus Cargill described as "an ingenious, dark-treat of a story." Faber will also publish a specially designed new paperback edition of A Mind to Murder, the second novel in James' Adam Dalgliesh series. Faber said it hopes to draw a new generation of readers to "this great character and classic series."

Nancy Drew debuted in 1930 in The Secret of the Old Clock and has been busily solving crimes ever since. She has become an icon as few other characters have. But while you’ve certainly heard of the celebrated girl detective, how much do you really know about her? This quiz poses 15 questions about the characters and cases that appeared in the original 56 Nancy Drew books.

Speaking of Nancy Drew, her fans might not be thrilled to learn that a new graphic novel by Anthony Del Col just killed off the teen detective. But Bustle came to the rescue with a list of "15 Female Detective Novels To Read While You Mourn Nancy Drew."

If you work a lot of crossword puzzles (guilty!), then you've probably come across the word "yegg." Ever wonder how this unusual crime-associated term came about? Grammarphobia has you covered.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Xannie" by J.B. Stevens.

In the Q&A roundup, Deborah Kalb spoke with Tanen Jones about her new thriller, The Better Liar; the Irish Examiner chatted with Jo Spain, author of Six Wicked Reasons, about how she multitasks to get a lot done; and the Washington Times interviewed Otto Penzler, a long-time champion of short crime fiction through his Mysterious Press imprint.

Mystery Melange

There are 37 titles on the longlist for the 2020 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year. The award honors books in translation published in English in the UK during the preceding calendar year that are written by a Scandinavian-born author or feature a Scandinavian setting. The winner of the Award will be announced at CrimeFest in June.

Lee Child is passing the baton of his Jack Reacher novels over to his younger brother, with the first book in the new partnership, The Sentinel, to be published October 29. Publisher Transworld announced a new four-book deal in the series, to be co-authored by Lee and Andrew Child, who writes thrillers under his birth name Andrew Grant, with Grant set to take over the series thereafter. Lee Child said he has been searching for a way to kill off the title character, portrayed on film by Tom Cruise, for years but has ultimately decided his fans deserve to see him live on in books.

From February 21-23, CrimeCon will host CrowdSolve: Chicago at the Hilton Palmer House in Chicago, Illinois. Citizen sleuths and true crime enthusiasts will gather to delve into a real-life cold case alongside industry experts and seasoned investigators in hopes of reaching a breakthrough. Now in its second year, CrimeCon CrowdSolve selects a special cold case for each event, which this year will focus on two open cases from Thurston County, Washington.

J. Kingston Pierce shared the work of the late cover artist Tom Adams (March 29, 1926 – December 17, 2019), who painted the covers for many Agatha Christie and Sue Grafton mysteries.

Speaking of book covers, do you ever think you're having déjà vu? Maybe not.

Writing for Crimereads, M.L.Huie discussed the shadowy noir of the postwar thriller, from 1945 to the Cuban missile crisis, and how crime fiction is the perfect space to ponder the long aftermath of the Second World War.

You think that you have a tough job? Crimereads focused on the "Hostile Work Environment: Women in Today's Thrillers."

Dutch art detective Arthur Brand, lauded as the Indiana Jones of the art world, has done it again: he solved another major case, recovering an ancient manuscript known as the Diwan of Hafez. Featuring the collected works (or diwan) of the 14th-century Persian lyrical poet Hafez, the handwritten and gold leaf-embellished book was stolen in 2007 and is worth €1 million ($1.1 million), according to German authorities

In yet another plot straight out of a mystery novel, two men were accused of stealing and reselling more than $500,000 worth of rare books, maps and other artifacts from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Speaking of libraries and librarians, they have to put up with a lot, including this.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Smoking in Jail" by Richard Spillman.

In the Q&A roundup, Sophie Hannah (The Monogram Murders) spoke with the Cambridge Independent about how "People can do pretty damaging stuff behind closed doors"; Chip Scanlan asked author Bryan Gruley (the Starvation Lake mystery series) three questions about his writing; Richie Narvaez stopped by the Verge Le Noir blog to chat about crime short stories and his novel, Hipster Death Rattle; and Fiona Mcvie interviewed Scottish crime author, Craig Russell, about his gothic psychological thriller set in 1930s Czechoslovakia, The Devil Aspect, the film rights of which have been bought by Columbia Pictures in Hollywood.

Mystery Melange

The finalists for the Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards were announced this week. The fan awards, chosen by registered members of the Left Coast Crime convention, include the Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel, Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel, Lefty for Best Mystery Novel, and the Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel. For all the nominees in the various categories, check out this list from the Left Coast Crime conference's official website.

John le Carré has been named the latest recipient of the $100,000 (£76,000) Olof Palme prize, an award given for an “outstanding achievement” in the spirit of the assassinated Swedish prime minister. In announcing Le Carré’s win, the prize organizers praised the 88-year-old author (whose real name is David Cornwell), “for his engaging and humanistic opinion-making in literary form regarding the freedom of the individual and the fundamental issues of mankind,” calling his career “an extraordinary contribution to the necessary fight for freedom, democracy and social justice.” Le Carré said he would donate the winnings to the international humanitarian NGO Médecins Sans Frontières.

The National Book Award finalists were announced and include The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, based on the horrific events that transpired at the real-life Dozier School for Boys, in the Best Fiction category. The Best Nonfiction category nods include Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe and No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder.

Coming up this weekend, Baltimore will celebrate the 211th birthday of the inventor of the detective novel and an early master of the horror genre, Edgar Allan Poe. Festivities include the free PoeZella Birthday Bash with food and a display of Poe-themed photographs (courtesy of the Baltimore Camera Club); a free Edgar Allan Poe House Literary Landmark Dedication; and the Edgar Allan Poe Birthday Celebration at Poe’s final resting place, Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, with the Poe Project’s “Poe-pourri!” staged adaptations of three of Poe’s works: “The Coliseum,” “Eldorado” and “The Raven.”

The Virginia Festival of the Book announced its full schedule this week including the annual Crime Wave. In addition to previously announced author Ian Rankin to be featured at the Crime Wave Brunch, mystery author Cara Black (Murder in Bel-Air) will be on hand, along with fellow crime writers Deborah Crombie (A Bitter Feast), Joe Ide (Hi Five) and many more. Check out the full schedule on March 20-21 here.

Ian Rankin is going to one busy fellow this year, as it was also announced he'll serve as the programming chair for Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival July 23-26 at Harrogate’s Old Swan Hotel, the venue synonymous with the 1926 disappearance of crime writing icon, Agatha Christie. Festival manager Helen Donkin noted that "the Programme Chair, which changes each year, is responsible for the various themes the discussion panels debate, as well as which authors sit on them. And by having a different chair each year this helps keep the festival fresh and exciting."

Capital Crime has launched a digital festival to showcase crime and thriller writers and offer readers can't attend the physical event an opportunity to connect with authors. The digital festival comes just three months after the success of the inaugural event in London, with Ian Rankin scooping two awards at the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Awards. Capital Crime co-founder Adam Hamdy said: "The Capital Crime Digital Festival is packed with fascinating video content. It features authors talking about themselves and their work, writing tips and book recommendations." The digital festival will features sessions with Mark Edwards, Claire McGowan, and Winnie M Li. Available is free to view worldwide.

The Debut Dagger deadline is fast approaching. The Crime Writers Association's Debut Dagger competition is open to anyone who has not had a full-length novel published by a traditional publisher and who, at the time of the competition closing on the last day of February, has not got a contract with a publisher or literary agent. Submissions are judged by a panel of top crime editors and agents, and the shortlisted entries are presented to publishers and agents. Entries should include the opening of a crime novel not exceeding 3,000 words and a synopsis of up to 1,500 words.

As I previously reported, after a seven-year hiatus, the All Due Respect zine is back with plans to release one story each month that will also be published in an anthology later this year. The vision remains the same as always: crime fiction from the perspective of the criminal. The very first story of the year is "Mad Dog" by Stephen D. Rogers, who's been a fixture in the short mystery fiction community for years, publishing more than 800 stories and the collection, Shot to Death.

The famous muscle car that Steve McQueen drove in the classic 1968 mob movie, Bullitt, gave birth to the modern-day car chase scene, but the 1968 Mustang GT also became a legend for another reason - it disappeared from the public for decades. Now, it's resurfaced in Kissimmee, Florida, where the rusted, dented highland-green car just sold for $3.4 million at auction.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "I Died a Thousand Times: Death #556" by Richie Narvaez.

In the Q&A roundup, Jacqueline Seewald interviewed mystery author Jan Christensen about the latest in her Paula, PI series; over at the Do Some Damage blog, David Nemeth chatted with Matt Phillips about his new novel, You Must Have a Death Wish; Crime Fiction Lover quizzed Dreda Say Mitchell, a CWA New Blood Dagger award winner in 2005, about her latest psychological thriller, Trap Door; Jo Nesbø, author of the Harry Hole detective series, spoke with The Guardian about Tom Jones, the "Nordic noir" label, violence against women in fiction, and his soft spot for a crime cliché; and Peter May discussed Scottish crime fiction with the Press and Journal, offering up appreciation for William McIlvanney's influence in spurring an interest in crime writing in that country.

Mystery Melange

The Audio Publishers Association announced that they will be presenting bestselling author Stephen King with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Audie Awards in March in New York City. King is known for his horror novels such as The Shining and Carrie but also for his crime novels, the Mr. Mercedes Trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch), The Outsider, The Colorado Kid, and Joyland.

One of the judges for this year's Booker Prize is to be best-selling thriller writer Lee Child, author of the 24 Jack Reacher novels. He will be joined by author Sameer Rahim, writer Lemn Sissay, and classicist Emily Wilson, with publisher Margaret Busby as chairperson. The selection of a commercially successful author like Child is something of a departure for the Booker Prize Foundation, although Lee himself has been openly critical of the snobbery in the world of literature shown towards popular crime novels.

If you're in the UK, you might want to check out some of these upcoming Crime Fiction Bookish Events on the handy list from Ayo Onatade via Shots Magazine, including several book signings, panels, and the York Literature Festival. Although I don't have a corresponding list in the U.S., as a reminder, this blog does have an Upcoming Conferences link I try to keep updated.

The second volume of The Mystery Readers Journal's two-part series on private eyes is out and available as a PDF or hardcopy, featuring essays by Kevin Burton Smith, Reed Farrel Coleman, Alison Gaylin, and dozens more. The next issue (Volume 36:1) will focus on mysteries featuring Environmental & Wildlife Mysteries, and editor Janet Rudolph is seeking reviews, articles, and Author! Author! essays.

Writing for The Guardian, Alison Flood takes a look at the women who are breaking into publishing’s long established boys’ club in espionage fiction. Following on the work of previous pioneers such as Helen McInnes (1907-1985), the new school includes authors Stella Rimington, Manda Scott, and Charlotte Philby.

The Page 69 test featured J. T. Ellison's new thriller, Good Girls Lie, in which Ash Carlisle leaves the U.K. after the death of her parents to attend a prep school for young women located in a small Virginia town that is a stepping stone to the Ivy League. Initially unprepared for the mean girls and the hazing, things get worse when students start dying...and suspicion falls on Ash.

The BBC profiled Dundee University's MLitt in Crime Writing and Forensic Investigation, which was launched in 2017 and is the first course of its kind in the UK.

As a six-year reissue project of George Simenon's Inspector Maigret book series reaches completion, Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet explains why Simenon’s Parisian sleuth still matters, 90 years after his first case

Last week, I mentioned the coin the Royal Mint produced in 2019 in honor of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and this week brings news that the new year's batch of coins will include one honoring Dame Agatha Christie. The £2 piece will mark 100 years since her first crime novel was released and will include illustrations of a handgun and a bottle of poison framed against a missing puzzle piece. As designer David Lawrence explained, "At the heart of every Agatha Christie Mystery there is a missing component – a missing piece to the puzzle – which, when finally and ingeniously deduced, completes the picture and brings resolution.”

Love out of the way, unusual bookshops? Nicknamed Bookseller’s Row, Cecil Court is a hidden gem in the heart of central London. Packed with twenty-odd secondhand bookshops and antiquarian booksellers, it's paradise for literature lovers only moments away from the hustle and bustle of Leicester Square.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Oklahoma's Open Carry Law" by Robert Cooperman.

In the Q&A roundup, Punk Noir Magazine chatted with Joe Clifford, author of the Jay Porter Series and his latest standalone novel from Down & Out, Skunk Train; the Writers Who Kill welcomed Barbara Ross to chat about the eighth installment in the Maine Clambake mystery series; and the Book People interviewed Jay Brandon about his new legal thriller, From the Grave, once again featuring Edward Hall, a one-time hotshot Houston lawyer.

Mystery Melange

It's never enjoyable to start off a new year with sad news, but readers should delight in the many books of author MC Beaton (Marion Gibbons) even as they mourn her passing on December 30th at the age of 83. Beaton penned the popular Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth mystery series, both of which have been adapted for TV. Her publisher Little, Brown noted that "Success came to her later in life but she made up for lost time - since 2011 she had been the most borrowed UK adult author in British libraries and her M C Beaton titles have sold in excess of 21 million copies worldwide."

Crime novelist Richard Price is set to receive the Writer Guild of Americ East's Ian McLellan Hunter Award. The author of nine novels, Price also wrote the original screenplay for Al Pacino’s 1989 New York City-noir film Sea of Love; 1993’s crime-comedy Mad Dog and Glory; 1994’s Kiss of Death; and 1995’s Clockers, which he adapted from his novel, with co-writer/director Spike Lee. The award is named after longtime WGA East member Ian McLellan Hunter, who fronted for Dalton Trumbo during the Hollywood Blacklist before he was blacklisted himself.

The Famous Author Lecture Series at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers will feature Alex Segura on Monday, January 13, with a lecture and lunch followed by a writing workshop titled "The Elements of the Private Eye." Segura is the author of the Pete Fernandez Miami Mystery novel series, which has been nominated for an Anthony Award, and also co-writes the Letal Lit podcast.

The Killer Women Festival for Crime Writing & Drama, which takes place in London on March 15, will offer exclusive early bird day tickets on sale as of January 1. Early bird tickets are available only to Killer Women Club members, but anyone can join the club for free. Special guests will include Ann Cleeves, Sarah Hilary, Erin Kelly, and many more authors, along with experts from various law enforcement disciplines.

There are certainly plenty of others things to look forward to in 2020, including the extensive list of upcoming new book releases, which the Shots Magazine blog has been covering over the past few weeks, organized by publisher.

Linda Landrigan, editor-in-chief of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, will serve as judge for the 2020 Golden Donut 200-Word Short Story Contest, part of the annual Writers Police Academy. Conference director Lee Lofland encourages all writers and even nonwriters to "sharpen your pencils, warm up the erasers, and be ready to trim your twisted tales into a mere 200 words." And he means exactly 200 words, including the title. For more information, head on over to the official WPA page for general information to get you started since the submission open period doesn't start until February.

True crime afficionados will want to take note of mystery novelist Denise Mina hosting a series on BBC Radio 3 focusing on famous legal cases in Scottish history. The latest episode is on Madeleine Smith, accused of poisoning a former suitor and placed on trial in 1857. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell via the Bunburyist blog)

And in a life-imitates-art-imitates life kind of thing, one Dutch police department has created its own true-crime podcast to solve a 1991 murder case.

Book Riot's ongoing United States of a Mystery headed to the southern coast for "Essential Louisiana Crime Fiction."

Archaeologists recently unearthed the remains of a 4,000-year-old "Book of Two Ways" — a guide to the Egyptian underworld, and the earliest copy of the first illustrated book.

Speaking of things "old," caveat emptor on eBay, as this article attests regarding a bogus sale for a "rare" Sherlock Holmes coin. However, 2019 did indeed see the Royal Mint printing a real Sherlock Holmes 50p coin timed to coincide with the 160th anniversary of Arthur Conan Doyle's birth and designed by textual artist and designer Stephen Raw, a longtime fan of the fictional detective.


This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Alembic" by Bruce Robinson.

In the Q&A roundup, the Mystery People welcomed Matt Coyle to discuss Lost Tomorrows, the latest novel to feature Coyle’s haunted San Diego private detective, Rick Cahill; Cleo Coyle, the husband-and-wife writing team of Alice Alfonsi and Marc Cerasini, were interviewed for Forbes about writing their bestselling Coffeehouse Mystery Series together; and the Washington Times chatted with Craig Johnson, author of the Sheriff Walt Longmire series (adapted as a TV series first on A&E then Netflix).

Mystery Melange - Holiday Edition

The Mystery Writers of America announced the 2020 Grand Master, Raven, and Ellery Queen recipients. MWA’s Grand Master Award, which represents the pinnacle of achievement in mystery writing as well as for a body of work, is Barbara Neely, who's best known for her Blanche White mystery series featuring the first black female series sleuth in mainstream American publishing. The Raven Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing, and will be presented to the Left Coast Crime mystery conference. The Ellery Queen Award honors "outstanding writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry," and will go to Kelley Ragland, associate publisher and editorial director of Minotaur Books.

The Lindisfarne Prize for Debut Crime Fiction recognizes outstanding writing in the genre of crime or thriller fiction and is sponsored by author L J Ross in association with the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival. It is open to all new writers who are from, or whose work celebrates, the north of England and who have not previously had a crime or thriller story published in any form. The winning entry will be awarded a prize of £2500 to support the completion of their work, as well as free editorial and mentoring services from a local independent publisher and funding towards a year’s membership of industry associations. Entries are open through March 31, 2020 and the winner will be announced at a ceremony forming part of the Newcastle Noir Crime Writing Festival in May 2020. (HT to Shots Magazine)

Some good news, just in time for the holidays: San Diego's Mysterious Galaxy bookstore has been saved. The store lost its lease last month and said it would have to close unless a new buyer was found, but help arrived in the form of Jenni Marchisotto and Matthew Berger, who announced not only are they buying the store, it will move to a new location in the city in January. They added that they were "ready to take Mysterious Galaxy into the next decade and beyond!" (HT to Shelf Awareness)

Writing for The Guardian, Tayari Jones profiled the unfairly neglected African-American author Ann Petry and her 1947 literary crime novel, The Street, which was marketed as a tale of vice and violence in Harlem and sold more than a million copies. (Jones had a similar article for the New York Times in 2018.) Virago Modern Classics released a new edition of The Street this week with a new introduction by Jones, author of An American Marriage and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019.

Martin Edwards noted that regarding reissues of classic crime titles in general, it's been a pretty good year.

Country Life Magazine in the UK profiled the great country houses which inspired the tales of Britain’s greatest-ever crime writer, Dame Agatha Christie.

Janet Rudolph has posted her ever-growing list of Christmas crime fiction on her Mystery Fanfare blog, which is so extensive now, it's divided into several parts, including Authors A through E; Authors F through L; and finally, Authors M through Z. There's also a handy listing of Hanukkah mysteries, too.

Paul French, writing for Crimereads, has more thoughts on the "Crime Novels of Christmas," and a guest post by Nigel Bird on Martin Edwards' blog mused on the appeal of Christmas mysteries.

If you're looking for last-minute crime books for Christmas gifts, the latest "Best of 2019" lists may be helpful, from The Rap Sheet contributors Kevin Burton Smith, Ali Karim, Jim Napier, and J. Kingston Pierce; Crimereads; Aunt Agatha's bookstore; Murder by the Book bookstore; and Dead Good Books.

The Mystery Lovers' Kitchen has their usual tasty holiday offerings of recipes for you, including One Pot Gingerbread from Shari Randall; Caramel Almond Cookies from Maryanne Corrigan; and Cranberry Bliss Bars via Leslie Budewitz.

In a recent Page 69 test, New York Times bestselling author James Lovegrove applied the Page 69 Test to his latest Sherlock Holmes novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon.

Yellow Mama's holiday issue is out, featuring fifteen full-length and four flash fiction stories, several related to the Christmas season, including: Dini Armstrong’s "Glitter in the Dark," in which a girl and her dad spend Christmas in a Dutch detainment camp; Gary Clifton’s "Angel," a pooch-loving hooker, who tries escaping from her abusive pimp on Christmas Eve; and Hillary Lyons’ "Red Velvet, White Lies," where a scorned girlfriend has the perfect gift for her philandering beau.

King's River Life magazine has a free holiday short for you, "Two Worlds: A Christmas Story" by Paula Messina.

Manning Wolfe exlains why "short is sweet" in a brief look at the history of brief crime books, including the new imprint he's spearheading, Bullet Books Speed Reads.

The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine podcast featured "My Christmas Story" by Steve Hockensmith. And as I noted on recent Media Murder for Monday posts, you can also hear the holiday stories, "A Christmas Trifle," a Meg Langslow story by Donna Andrews and "Crime Dog On the Road," by mystery author Neil S. Plakcy, on the Mysteryrats Maze podcast.

Charles Dickens’s stoic response to the destruction of his Christmas turkey in a train fire has been revealed in a letter rediscovered at the National Railway Museum in York, in which the author says he "bore the loss with unbroken good humour towards the Great Western Railway Company." Dickens was sent the turkey in Christmas week of 1869 by the manager of his reading tours, George Dolby, but alas the conveyance carrying the 30-pound bird subsequently caught fire. According to Dolby, Dickens was initially annoyed, but later saw it as a blessing that what was left of the bird had not been wasted, said Anne McLean, an archive volunteer at the museum (the charred remains were later offered to the people of Reading for sixpence a portion.)

Here's an idea that I think the U.S. (and all countries) should emulate: every Christmas, Iceland has the Jolabokaflod, or Christmas Book Flood, a much-loved tradition that has been celebrated in Iceland since 1945. Two-thirds of books in Iceland are published in November and December, and on Christmas Eve, Icelanders traditionally exchange books and spend the evening reading. Among their favorites are the crime novels of Arnaldur Indridason, who’s topped bestseller lists for the past two decades in his native country.

You've probably seen its literary yummy goodness on the Interwebs, and Bookriot has the surprising history of the infamous "Library Cake" that is still making the rounds.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Wondering About the Real Crime" by J.H.Johns.

In the Q&A roundup, Clea Simon has "Five Questions With Art Taylor"; Alana Meike Interviews Joyce Carol Oates on editing Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery & Crime By Women Writers; and Mystery Tribune spoke with to Parnell Hall, author of the Puzzle Lady and the Stanley Hastings series.