In Reference to Murder

Mystery Melange

Maureen Corrigan of The Washington Post picked her list of "The 10 best thrillers and mysteries of 2018." Check out all of the ten titles via this link.

Amazon announced its editors’ picks of the best books of 2018 this past weekend. To check out all of the top 20 honorees, hop on over here.

Scots crime writer Val McDermid has been appointed as the new patron of the Scottish Book Trust, an organization that tries to transform lives through reading and writing. Val will lend her support to Trust to help inspire and support the people of Scotland to read and write for pleasure through programs and outreach work.

Prometheus Books, which is nearing its 50th anniversary, has decided to refocus on nonfiction titles and sold its two genre imprints to Start Publishing. One of those, the crime fiction imprint Seventh Street Books, currently has a backlist of about ninety titles including award-winning books by Allen Eskins, Adrian McKinty, Lori Rader-Day, and Terry Shames. Start Publishing began has an exclusively digital publisher but has expanded to include print editions as well. Start will publish both print and digital editions of the newly acquired Seventh Street titles.

A new book suggests that Arthur Conan Doyle based Moriarty on the real-life mathematician, George Boole.

The Guardian profiled Endless Night, one of Agatha Christie's favorite of her works that "still has shock factor." As the article author, Sam Jordison, notes, the 1967 novel isn’t so much a "whodunnit," as a "who gonna get done."

The latest issue of Mysterical-E is available online for your reading pleasure, with eleven new crime stories; Gerald So's regular column takes a look at the Cloak and Dagger TV series and more media crime notables, while Anita Page looked back at the 1997 classic, Wag the Dog; plus new book reviews from Christine Verstraete and new interviews and more.

More fun with amazing bookstores to put on your bucket list: "Living 11 Of The Dreamiest Bookstores To Get Lost In Across Canada"

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "I Believe Her" by John Kaprielian.

In the Q&A roundup, Alexander McCall Smith (author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series) sat down for a chat with the Globe & Mail about his writing and how, at age 70, he has no desire to slow down; the Sudbury Star spoke with Sam Wiebe who edited the latest addition to the Akashic Books noir series titles, Vancouver Noir; and Writers Tell All welcomed Jeff Abbott talking about his novel The Three Beths and what it was like trying to contine to write after his house burned down.

Mystery Melange

The shortlist was announced for a controversial new prize which recognizes thriller novels in which no women are beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered. The Staunch Book Prize was founded by Bridget Lawless in order to create an alternative to the “overload of violence towards women in fiction.” The six nominations include Anna Porter’s The Appraisal; If I Die Tonight by A L Gaylin; East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman; On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong; The Kennedy Moment by Peter Adamson; and Cops and Queens by Joyce Thompson, who is currently seeking a publisher.

Ruth McIver has won the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for her "atmospheric and chillingly entertaining" crime novel, I Shot the Devil. The Richell Prize, supported by Hachette Australia, Guardian Australia and the Emerging Writers’ festival, was established in 2015 and is open to emerging writers of both fiction and narrative non-fiction. The winner receives $10,000 and a 12-month mentorship with publisher Hachette Australia.

The 10th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards have announced the contenders, including the twenty semifinalists for Best Mystery & Thriller. Readers can vote during the process to weed the lists down to semifinalists and the finalists, who will be announced on December 4. To see the list of all fifteen books and to vote, hop on over to this Goodreads link.

Several authors are auctioning character names in upcoming books in an effort to raise funds for the charity Freedom from Torture. Along with Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes, and others, thriller writer Lee Child is also offering a chance to name a character in his next book, with money raised from the auction used to help survivors of torture rebuild their lives. "Torture victims are the most damaged and demoralised people among us, so any move to embrace, console and help them is to be applauded and supported," Child said of his decision to choose this above other charity requests he receives.

Suspense Magazine is dedicating the fall issue to the late Anthony Bourdain, who was not only a travel and food journalist but also a crime fiction author. The magazine speaks with Joel Rose, Bourdain's co-writer and long time friend, on the graphic novel, "Hungry Ghosts." The issue also has an interview with former Federal Prosecutor and author Allison Leotta; Dennis Palumbo offers up, "When your writing doesn't love you back"; plus, Kaye George, J.B. Toner, Phillip Frey and John Sims-Jones share exclusive short stories.

Thriller writer James Patterson has launched an interactive novel titled The Chef in the UK with Facebook's Creative Shop and experiential content producer 1stAveMachine. Designed for use on mobile and social media, the adapted novel's narrative unravels in a series of interactive audio and visuals in Facebook Messenger. It reads like a chat conversation, but at key moments, the narrative switches to a video, image, or audio recording.

Dr. Rachel Franks, an instructor with a Ph.D in crime fiction, created a brief primer on Australian Crime Fiction for the blog Punk Noir Magazine.

Rare-book theft has been in the news a lot lately, but Raptis Rare Books in Palm Beach, Florida, is the first bookseller in the United States to employ a new loss prevention technology known as synthetic DNA. The technology comes from SelectaDNA, whose vice president Joe Maltese, explained, "Each application of Synthetic DNA generates a unique code, providing clients with the ability to identify and recover lost or stolen rare books." Raptis places a letter R in each of their books, "stamped" in the synthetic DNA serum, which helps them identify each unique item. The serum stamp can last five years inside of a book and can also be incorporated into an alarm system that sprays attempted burglars, leaving a trace on their skin that can be identified up to six weeks later.

As if you didn't need more reasons to like Canada's personable Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, he dressed up as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved character Sherlock Holmes for Halloween, donning the fictional detective's signature deerstalker hat, pipe, and clue-hunting magnifying glass.

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Trump and the Mail Bombs" by Robert Cooperman.

In the Q&A roundup, Promoting Crime Fiction blog host Lizzie Hayes chatted with TV journalist and women's fiction author Kate Helm about first crime novel, The Secrets You Hide; Criminal Element spoke with Julie Hyzy about her latest novel, Virtual Sabotage, which marks her transition from cozies to thrillers; and the Mystery People welcomed Timothy Hallinan, promoting the release of Nighttown, the latest book in his Junior Bender series.

Mystery Melange

The UK Crime Writers Association announced winners of the annual Dagger Awards for excellence in crime fiction, including:

Diamond Dagger, Lifetime Achievement: Michael Connelly
Gold Dagger: The Liar, by Steve Cavanagh
Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke
John Creasey Dagger: Lola, by Melissa Scrivner Love
International Dagger: After the Fire, by Henning Mankell, translated by Marlaine Delargy
Historical Dagger: Nucleus, by Rory Clements
Short Story Dagger: “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit,” by Denise Mina (from Bloody Scotland; Historic Environment Scotland)
Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction: Blood on the Page, by Thomas Harding
Dagger in the Library: Martin Edwards
Debut Dagger (unpublished writers): The Eternal Life of Ezra Ben Simeon, by Bill Crotty

The finalists in the AN Post's Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year were also announced this past weekend. The public are now being asked to cast their votes online for the best books of the year on the Irish Book Awards website - voting runs until Friday, November 23rd. The finalists include:

Skin Deep – Liz Nugent
A House of Ghosts – W. C. Ryan
The Confession – Jo Spain 
One Click – Andrea Mara 
The Ruin – Dervla McTiernan 
Thirteen – Steve Cavanagh

Publishers Weekly announced their "Best Of 2018" lists including mysteries and thrillers. For a slideshow of all 12 of the selected books, follow this link.

Award-winning author Ann Cleeves will be featured in an exhibition launch tonight in North Shields in the UK. Cleeves won crime-writing’s Gold Dagger award for her novel Raven Black in 2006, and has seen her books transformed into hit series with ITV shows Vera and Shetland. She'll kick off the Find Your Voice exhibition, which features pictures of female crime writers taken by local professional photographer Donna-Lisa Healy, as well as excerpts from the authors’ novels. Cleeves will take to the stage to talk about her writing exploits and take questions from crime fans.

The Noir at the Bar series is heading to Boston on Thursday, November 8, at the Trident Booksellers & Cafe. The evening's lineup of readings and signings will be hosted by Rusty Barnes and include doungjai gam, Ed Kurtz, Rick Ollerman, Clea Simon, E.F. Sweetman, and JM Taylor.

Three of Chicago's "Mavens of Crime Fiction," Sara Paretsky (Shell Game), Libby Fischer-Hellman (High Crimes) and Lori Rader-Day (Under a Dark Sky), will read from and discuss their most recent books on Wednesday, November 14, at Women & Children First.

There were two conference headliner news items this past week: It was announced that bestselling writer Jeffery Deaver, author of the popular Lincoln Rhyme series that includes The Bone Collector and The Cutting Edge, will deliver the keynote address at the 2019 Washington Writers Conference. Also, top US thriller writer James Patterson has been signed to headline next year's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. Patterson has sold more than 375 million books and has been the most-borrowed author of adult fiction in UK libraries for the past 11 years.

The Captivating Criminality Network announced its sixth conference will be held in Abruzzo, Italy, from June 12 to 15, 2019. Metamorphoses of Crime: Facts and Fictions will examine the ways in which Crime Fiction as a genre incorporates elements of real-life cases and, in turn, influences society by conveying thought-provoking ideas of deviance, criminal activity, investigation and punishment. Scholars, practitioners and fans of crime writing are invited to participate in this conference that will address these key elements of crime fiction and real crime, from the early modern to the present day. (HT to Ayo Onatade at Shots)

A crowdfunding campaign by Texas public defender Amalia Beckner has been raising money to buy books for inmates at the Harris County Jail in Houston. For years, Beckner had been bringing her clients books from her own collection but the jail would only allow five books at a time per “pod” of more than two dozen inmates. The Harris County Jail and others have been in the news lately for a crackdown down on access to books, although public outcry and efforts like Beckner's have led to changes in some of those policies.

The CBC posted a list of "25 things you might not know about Lee Child and his bestselling Jack Reacher series."

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Thank You, Mr. K" by Nancy Scott.

In the Q&A roundup, Craig Sisterson chatted with British-Australian thriller writer LA (Louisa) Larkin, whose storytelling has been likened to Michael Crichton by The Guardian and Alistair MacLean by The Times; the Mysteristas welcomed Mark Stevens, author of the Allison Coil mysteries, the latest of which is The Melancholy Howl; Lynda La Plante spoke with the Irish Independent about her rookie days mixing with gangsters and her four-decade career in crime fiction; and the latest victim of Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Shart Interview" challenge is Tom Pitts, whose new book about the Northern California pot business is titled 101.

Mystery Melange

University of East Anglia creative writing student Femi Kayode has won the £3,000 Little, Brown Award for crime fiction for his "shocking and emotional story, Lightseekers. It’s the second year the publisher has run the award in partnership with the UEA Creative Writing crime fiction MA. Last year's winner, Merle Nygate, won the award with the novel, A Righteous Spy.

The International Crime Fiction Association has announced a new annual book prize to recognize ingenuity, innovation, and scholarship in the academic study of crime fiction and crime writing in its widest sense. Monographs and edited collections can be nominated by publishers, members of the association, and authors. There will be one winner who will receive £100 plus a write-up from the independent judges which can be used for publicity purposes. (HT to Ayo Onatade at Shots Magazine)

For a very Halloween-y literary conference, try the Bram Stoker festival in Dublin, Ireland, from October 26-29. Stoker, the author who gave us Dracula, is celebrated through performances, workshops, theater, live music, podcasts, audio tours, film screenings, and parades. One of the most inventive events of the weekend may be the festival’s NYsferatu: Symphony of a Century. Taking place at St. Anne’s Church – the Church where Stoker married Florence Balcombe in 1878 – this reimagining of the classic 1922 horror film Nosferatu is instead an animated interpretation, accompanied by a live score that was specially composed for the festival by Irish musician Matthew Nolan.

The deadline for the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grants Program for Unpublished Writers is fast approaching, on November 1. Writers must not have published a book, short story, or dramatic work in the mystery field, either in print, electronic, or audio form. Candidates must submit a letter of application, short bio and short synopsis and three consecutive chapters of the writer’s Malice Domestic genre work-in-progress. Each grant may be used to offset registration, travel, or other expenses related to attendance at a writers' conference or workshop within a year of the date of the award. You can read all the details here.

A "Mystery Author Extravaganza" rolls into Maryland's Howard County Library (Miller Branch) on Saturday, November 3rd, where sixteen authors from the Sisters in Crime Chessie Chapter will be speaking about their new books and short stories published this year. Those scheduled to appear include Donna Andrews, Mary Ann Corrigan (Maya Corrigan), Barb Goffman, Sherry Harris, Mary Ellen Hughes, Maureen Klovers, Sujata Massey, Alan S. Orloff, Susan Reiss, Colleen Shogan, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Karen Neary, Lane Stone, Robin Templeton, Cathy Wiley Stegmaier, and Rebecca York.

The Bible in Crime Fiction and Drama one-day conference heads to the University of Edinburgh on January 8, 2019. This conference brings together multi-disciplinary scholarship from the fields of biblical interpretation, literary criticism, criminology, and studies in film and television to discuss international texts and media spanning the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. The Keynote Speaker is Professor Liam McIlvanney, University of Otago and author of The Quaker, winner of the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2018.

The Morgan Library and Museum in NYC is commemorating all things Frankenstein on this 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley's classic tale. Exhibits include a digital interactive version of Shelley’s annotated book, as well as the actual physical manuscript; Gothic artifacts that inspired the horror elements, including paintings and illustrations; movie and theater posters; comic books; and even what are possibly fragments of P. B. Shelley’s skull. If you can't make it in time for Halloween, don't despair - the exhibit runs through January 27, 2019. (HT to Book Riot)

Criminal Element is sponsoring a Halloween sweepstakes to enter for a chance to win a copy of The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, plus a bookplate signed by the author. Entries will be accepted through October 31st.

Continuing a long tradition begun with the publication of Ian Fleming's short story, "The Hildebrand Rarity," in the March 1960 issue, James Bond will again appear in the pages of Playboy Magazine this fall. The brand new short story—in comic book form—is written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Bob Q. It takes place in March 1941 when "James is dropped off the coast of Belgium to help a Resistance cell take out a supply train that's important to the Nazis."

We marked another passing this week, as the Rap Sheet noted: author Tom Kakonis, who published six crime novels before retiring for over a decade, then resumed fiction writing with the novel Treasure Coast, has died. He was often called the heir-apparent to Elmore Leonard and the “master of the low-life novel," and Kirkus Reviews lauded his "exhilaratingly tough yet deeply humane storytelling."

As the Express notes, Agatha Christie learned about the properties of everything from cyanide to strychnine by working in a hospital dispensary in wartime, as her newly released volunteer service card reveals.

Writing for the Daily Beast, Allison McNearney looked at the "haunting mystery" of Edwin Drood that Charles Dickens left behind, and how various authors and productions have tackled the unfinished novel through the years.

Speak of the Dickens, here are some "Spooky Charles Dickens Quotes for Halloween."

Erica Wickerson delves into the reasons people still love a good whodunnit.

Kings River Life ezine has a couple of online Halloween mystery short story for you, "The House of Screams" by Guy Belleranti, and "The Yard Police Meet Their End."

Although I mentioned it last work, Mystery Fanfare's list of Halloween-themed crime fiction bears repeating, because have you seriously been able to read all of those books in just one week?

Mystery Lovers Kitchen has holiday-themed recipes for you, including Spider Donuts, via author Daryl Wood Gerber, and Pumpkin Apple Cake from Krista Davis.

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "He Likes His Beer" by Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozabal.

In the Q&A roundup, The Daily Mail profiled John Grisham and got his take on the death penalty, Hollywood, and writing in the era of Trump; Deborah Kalb interviewed Webb Hubbell about the latest in his Jack Patterson thriller series, The Eighteenth Green; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lyndsay Faye discussed Arthur Conan Doyle, Mycroft, and the world of Holmes pastiches for Crimereads; and Karin Slaughter spoke with Molly Odnitz of Crimereads on the evolution of the thriller genre and its treatment of women.

Mystery Melange

The musical crime fiction 'supergroup', The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers, will perform in Belfast on November 2 as special guests of the NOIReland International Crime Fiction Festival. Group members, which include Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Christopher Brookmyre, Luca Veste, Doug Johnstone, and Stuart Neville, will perform a set of crime-themed hits at Oh Yeah preceded by a Q&A with Belfast author Steve Cavanagh, who will probe the players on their careers, musical passions and latest books.

Midnight Ink Acquisitions Editor Terri Bischoff posted on her Facebook page that the publisher will be shutting its doors after the Spring/Summer 2019 season. Since its launch in 2005, the company has released crime fiction in all subgenres by authors such as Jess Lourey, Brendan DuBois, G.M. Malliet, Steve Hockensmith, Catriona McPherson, E.J. Cooperman and Jeff Cohen, Sue Ann Jaffarian, Kellye Garrett, Keith Raffel, J.D. Allen, Gwen Florio, Leonard Goldberg, Patricia Smiley, and Bill Cameron. (HT to the Rap Sheet)

Mystery Fanfare has a list of Halloween-themed crime fiction to give you all the thrills and chills you want to celebrate the holiday.

The latest issue of Yellow Mama is up on the web, filled with gruesome tales, creepy poetry, and plenty of Halloween noir fitting for October.


Last week marked the passing of author Evelyn Anthony at the age of 92. A prolific author of more than 50 novels, including The Tamarind Seed, which was turned into a hit film in 1974, Anthony also wrote spy thrillers, having spotted a gap in the market for such books. She was aided by contacts made through her father, Lt Commander Henry Stephens, the inventor of a top-secret anti-aircraft gunnery simulator, who'd worked with British intelligence officers in the war. Among them was Desmond Bristow, who, with Kim Philby, had recruited one of the most important double agents of the war, and his stories inspired Anthony's books The Rendezvous (1967) and The Poellenberg Inheritance (1972).

We also lost writer Margaret Hinxman, who has died aged 94. She was one of the influential band of female critics who did much to encourage film in postwar Britain then turned her hand to crime novels at the age of 60. Between 1976 and 1991 she published, under the Collins Crime Club imprint, nine thrillers, including One-way Cemetery (1977), The Night They Murdered Chelsea (1984) and Nightmare in Dreamland (1991).

A group of murder-mystery enthusiasts in Canada's Charlottetown is inviting folks to retrace the steps taken by two men convicted for murdering an elderly shopkeeper in 1941. The group, calling themselves the Mystery Gang, has organized a walk based on the route taken by the two men the night of the murder of Peter Trainor. Earl Lund and Fred Phillips were charged and hanged at the Queens County Jail — also called the 1911 jail — for Trainor's murder. Both men went to the gallows denying they did it. The group will be doing two walks on Oct. 28, with money raised to go toward more research into Peter Trainor's murder and shedding light on other Island mysteries. 

 

As the New York Times reported, law enforcement has a new tool in the rapidly expanding use of DNA testing services like 23andMe and Ancestry.com, with data poured into a database called GEDmatch. Within two or three years, 90 percent of Americans of European descent will be identifiable from their DNA tied to relatives who have used the services even if the individual has not. While this revolution has led to the solving of fifteen murder and sexual assault cases, the privacy questions are numerous and troubling.

I don't think this is surprising at all, but parents take note: a new study reveals that growing up in a home filled with books makes kids smarter.

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Nonbeliever, as the Dark of the Year Approaches" by Clarinda Harriss.

In the Q&A roundup, the Los Angeles Review of Books spoke with Sarah Schulman about her new crime novel, Maggie Terry, which follows Maggie, an addict, an alcoholic, and a former police officer who has lost custody of her daughter, as she moves through her first five days back on the job as a private investigator; the Mystery People chatted with Helen Currie Foster about her latest mystery to feature Texas lawyer Alice MacDonald Greer, Ghost Next Door; and the Houston Chronicle interviewed Walter Mosley about his writing, his latest novel, and neighborhood heroes.

Mystery Melange

The Wonderland Ballroom in Washington, D.C., will host an event as part of the "Chilled to the Marrow" Noir at the Bar series on October 27 from 5-6:30. Author Duane Swierczynski is a beloved member of the crime fiction community, and his daughter Evie is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia, which has taken a financial toll. So, Philadelphia crime writer Jon McGoran came up with an idea to have a series of Noir at the Bars as fundraisers, with all the proceeds going to the "Team Evie" GoFundMe. E.A. Aymar will host and wrangle a team of authors including Kathleen Barber, Tara Campbell, Aimee Hix, Eleanor Cawood Jones, Angie Kim, Adam Meyer, Deb Shutika, Erica Wright, and Jenny Yacovissi for readings and book signings. This event will be FREE to attend, but they are asking for donations for Team Evie throughout the night, and all of the book sales will go to that cause.

Also helping out the Swierczynski family is a charity auction thanks to the crime fiction festival Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee. This year's charity auction will raise money for The Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee and make a donation in honor of their daughter "who has been facing her health crisis like a superhero." They're looking for signed books, character names from authors willing to put winners in their next book or anything else you think people might want to bid on. For more information, check out this info from Crimespree Magazine.

Georgia Fancett has been awarded a £20,000 publishing contract with Century for her police procedural The Fifth Girl, her prize after winning the Daily Mail and Penguin Random House's First Novel Competition, now in its third year. The Fifth Girl is described as "a hard-hitting police procedural novel in which four girls have been found murdered in similarly gruesome circumstances" by the Daily Mail, featuring a gay detective, DI Alice Warnes, who is paired with "a lazy, Trump-loving bigot" for her fellow detective partner.

The inaugural Capital Crime festival in London, scheduled to take place September 26-28 of 2019, will begin selling a limited number of specially priced early bird weekend and day passes next week, on October 15. Founded by David Headley and Adam Hamdy, Capital Crime is a new festival dedicated to all things crime and thriller, from book to screen. (HT to Ayo Ontade at Shots)

A bit of sad news this week, as reported by Mystery Fanfare: MaryAlice Gorman, founder and longtime owner of the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Pittsburgh, PA, has passed away. She was a great supporter of the mystery community, and she and her husband Richard Goldman were honored with the Raven Award, handed out annually by The Mystery Writers of America for outstanding achievements and leadership contributions to the mystery genre.

The Five Minute Library blog posted a list of 100 reasons libraries are better than Amazon or Starbucks.

Here are some sites to put on your bucket list: ten of the oldest libraries in the world. Or, maybe you'd prefer some of the "weirdest libraries around the world."

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Lesson Plan" by Charles Rammelkamp.

In the Q&A roundup, UK Climbing magazine chatted with 94-year-old Gwen Moffat about her climbing- and mountain-themed crime novels, which are now being released in electronic form (I featured one of Moffat's books as an FFB); Tana French spoke with Entertainment Weekly about her latest novel, The Witch Elm, and why she loves writing mysteries; Tana French was also interviewed on Crimereads, where she made the case that "we're all unreliable narrators"; and the Mystery People spoke with Reavis Wortham about the latest in his Red River mystery series, Gold Dust, which heads off in different directions with plots involving a CIA experiment, modern cattle rustles, and a fake gold rush.

Mystery Melange

The submission deadline for articles for the Clues: A Journal of Detection issue "Interwar Mysteries: The Golden Age and Beyond" is coming up soon on October 12. Guest edited by Victoria Stewart (University of Leicester),the issue will look at the important crossroads of mystery, detective, and crime fiction between the two world wars which saw the emergence of new genres like hard-boiled, noir, and true crime.

The St. Martin's Minotaur/ Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition is open for submissions. You're invited to submit a manuscript if you've never been published and your novel is at least 40,000 words with a murder or serious crime at the heart of the story. The deadline is January 19, and the winner will receive a publishing contract and a $10,000 advance against royalties.

Noir Nation magazine, a crime fiction journal (available in print and Kindle editions) that was founded in 2011 by Eddie Vega, Alan Ward Thomas, and Cort McMeel, has been on a bit of a hiatus since fall of last year. But the publication recently announced it's ramping up again and will begin opening submissions for Issue #7 by the end of the year.

The New York Times Book Review profiled crime Joe Ide, whose debut 2016 novel, IQ, won widespread critical acclaim and was optioned for a television adaptation. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Ide's protagonist who's named Isaiah Quintabe draws from the author's rough upbringing as well as his passions for Sherlock Holmes and Hollywood icons like Steve McQueen in Bullitt and Sidney Poitier in The Heat of the Night.

Mike Ripley’s latest “Getting Away with Murder” column for Shots includes word of CrimeFest’s move to a different venue in 2019; a crowd-funding project to republish Adam Diment’s vintage Philip McAlpine thrillers; reviews of new novels by Dominick Donald, Robert Galbraith, and John Simpson; and a look at forthcoming works by theJane Harper, Christian White, and Ben Pastor. (HT to the Rap Sheet)

Rob Lopresti profiled the new annotated version of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, edited by Owen Hill, Pamela Jackson, and Anthony Dean Rizzuto, which offers literary and geographical context, as well as language and symbolism explications.

Writing for Crimereads, Anna Lee Huber compiled a listing of "10 Female Spies In Historical Mysteries and Thrillers," who take the topic up a notch after real-life women spies of the past have been given short shrift.

Does an obsession with crime thrillers have a psychological impact on readers? Maybe, or maybe not.

More from the "truth is stranger than fiction" department: The French gangster, Rédoine Faïd, who escaped from jail on a hijacked helicopter has finally been captured. Faïd has said he is a fan of gangster films, which he credits with teaching him how to pull off raids from the age of 12, especially Tony Montana from Scarface. He is also a fan of Michael Mann’s crime thrillers and once approached Mann at a Paris film festival and told him, "You were my technical adviser."

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "World's Rocky Rim" by Nick Kolakowski.

In the Q&A roundup, the Mystery People spoke with George Pelecanos about his latest novel, The Man Who Came Uptown, something of a bibliomystery; David Nolan took Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview" challenge about his debut novel, Black Moss; and Robert Crais spoke with Writers' Digest about "Passion, Process and Plot Twists."

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Liam McIlvanney has won the Scottish crime fiction award named in honor of his father, William McIlvanney, the late "godfather of tartan noir," with his novel The Quaker, based on the Bible John murders. McIlvanney won over the other shortlisted writers including Lin Anderson and former winners Chris Brookmyre and Charles Cumming.

The annual ThrillerFest conference announced that early bird registration is open for next year's event and also that Harlan Coben will be the 2019 recipient of the Silver Bullet Award. For more info and to keep track of all the special guests and participating authors as they are posted, check out the official conference website.

Mystery Writers of America NorCal and Lit Quake are sponsoring a Noir at the Bar on October 20 as part of MWANorCal's Mystery Week. Authors scheduled to appear include moderator Laurie R. King, Heather Haven, Terry Shames, Mary O’Shaughnessy, Pamela O’Shaughnessy, Gigi Pandian, Kirk Russell, Sheldon Siegel, and Jacqueline Winspear.

On Sunday October 21st, the historic Courtrooms above Browns Restaurant in Covent Garden will be the site of a series of panels devoted to crime novels, crime audio, crime television, and true crime, for the Killer Women Festival 2018. In addition to bestselling authors, events will include true crime documentaries and podcasts, a live CSI, and talking to police experts, forensic scientists and criminologists.

Terry Gilman and Maryelizabeth Yturralde, longtime owners of Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego, have put the 25-year-old store up for sale to "pass the torch to a new owner, someone who can write the next chapter of Mysterious Galaxy's story." They reassured customers there was no threat of store closure, and they will be available to help the new owner through the transition. Gilman and Yturralde plan to focus on their other main venture, an events business and bookstore in Redondo Beach that brings books and authors to various community and corporate venues. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

London’s newly launched crime and thriller festival Capital Crime is preparing a new social outreach initiative to provide school students with insights into how they might be able to pursue careers in writing or publishing. In early 2019 Capital Crime will ask ten London comprehensive schools to each select two sixth-form students with "some recognised ability in creative writing." In spring 2019, those 20 students will then be invited to attend a seminar evening in central London where they will have the opportunity to hear from authors and publishing professionals and be given an insight into how they might be able to pursue writing/publishing careers.

Being a forensic pathologist can be very rewarding work and is a much-needed service for the community and families of victims, but the UK's Richard Shepherd points out the darker side, noting that his career let him to a diagnosis of PTSD. During his 30 years of work on some of the most high-profile cases, he says it's hard to describe the steady buildup of emotional damage from putting 23,000 dead bodies under the knife.

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Terracide" by Gerard Sarnat.

In the Q&A roundup, Felix Francis, son of legendary crime writer Dick Francis, spoke with the Daily Record about the "daunting task" to keep his father's crime legacy alive; Craig Johnson chatted with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about how he's not all that far removed from his his character Walt Longmire; Liam McIlvanney, the newly-crowned winner of the Bloody Scotland festival's McIlvanney Prize (named after the author's father), stopped by the Live and Deadly blog to talk about his prize-winning book, The Quaker; and the Mystery People welcomed Sara Gran to chat about her latest Claire DeWit novel, The Infinite Blacktop.

Mystery Melange

Sisters in Crime NorCal is sponsoring a Mystery Writing Intensive Workshop, October 6, in Daly City, CA. The special guest authors and workshop leaders include Jessica Lourey, Catriona McPherson, Gene Brenek, and Marla Cooper. The one-day event includes craft workshops and discussions geared toward writers at any stage of their journey, a wine reception, and even door prizes.

Belfast’s NOIRELAND International Crime Festival is switching to spring (March 8-10) for the 2019 conference and will once again take place once again at Belfast’s iconic Europa Hotel. Although the full guest lineup won't be named until November, the weekend event will feature interviews and discussions with some of the greatest names from page and screen. The October 2017 included a Line of Duty event with its BAFTA-winning creator Jed Mercurio and star Adrian Dunbar, author panels with Robert Crais, Benjamin Black, Adrian McKinty, Arne Dahl and Liz Nugent, and a closing event with internationally renowned actor Aidan Gillen. 

Canongate is launching the crime fiction imprint Black Thorn in May 2019. The Bookseller reported that Black Thorn will publish a wide range of titles from Severn House, which Canongate acquired in 2017, in paperback for the first time. Two of the list's titles will be released each month, marking "the first time that many of these Severn House titles have been available to the trade." The 2019 lineup will launch with Catherine O'Connell's The Last Night Out and The Savage Shore by David Hewson. Publishing Coordinator Holly Domney said the variety of titles within Black Thorn's catalogue will "feed the hungriest of crime fiction readers who need to devour one mystery, then reach for the next one."

Oldcastle Books is launching a new digital-only genre imprint, Verve Books, which aims to publish "great, original, page-turning fiction." The imprint will launch with the spy thriller The Righteous Spy by Merle Nygate. (HT to the Bookseller)

The next issue of Mystery Readers Journal (Volume 34:3) will focus on mysteries that take place in the Far East, and editor Janet Rudolph is looking for Reviews, Articles, and Author! Author! essays. The deadline for submissions is October 10.

An army veteran and longtime detective-turned true crime writer who helped in the Ground Zero relief efforts has died following a long battle with a 9/11-related illness. Mark Gado would work his shift for the police department and then head to Ground Zero, where he’d spend the night volunteering before sleeping in his van. He was a proud Army combat veteran who also spent two years with the Drug Enforcement Agency, and became a true crime writer later in life. He authored several books, including Killer Priest: The Crimes, Trial, and Execution of Father Hans Schmid, about the only Catholic priest to be executed for murder in American history.

Writing for the Paris Review, Anne Diebel took a look at Dashiell Hammett's strange career path from messenger boy to Pinkerton National Detective Agency operative, to crime author.

Authors on the shortlist for this year's McIlvanney Prize For Crime Fiction offered up their respective takes on "the perfect crime."

The city of Wallingford in the UK may be getting its own Agatha Christie statue. The Queen of Crime lived in town, and the Wallingford Museum sponsors an annual Agatha Christie festival in the author's honor. Now, the same artist who created a memorial to Agatha Christie in London (a memorial in the form of a large bronze book, featuring the crime writer’s face) is being asked to complete a similar tribute in Wallingford which will likely take the form of the author seated on a bench reading a book.

Spy novelist Tom Clancy's 537-acre Chesapeake Bay estate could be yours for $6.2M

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Four More Years" by Robert Cooperman.
 

In the Q&A roundup, Lizzie Sirett chatted with Louise Penny on the eve of her appearnace at the Bloody Scotland festival coming up this weekend; it was the battle of the Pauls as Paul Heatley took the "Short Sharp Interview" challenge from Paul D. Brazill; and Sarah Weinman spoke with NPR's Scott Simon about her new book The Real Lolita, which makes the case that Vladimir Nokokov's inspiration for his classic Lolita novel was derived from a real-life kidnapping.

Mystery Melange

With each annual Bouchercon convention comes news of a cornucopia of award winners, including the Anthony, Macavity, Shamus, and Barry Awards. This past weekend, the 2018 Anthonys were awarded to:

• Best Novel: Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
• Best First Novel: Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett
• Best Paperback Original: The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day
• Bill Crider Award for Best Novel in a Series: Y is for Yesterday (Kinsey Millhone #25) by Sue Grafton
• Best Short Story: "My Side of the Matter" by Hilary Davidson from Killing Malmon
• Best Anthology: The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, Gary Phillips, editor
• Best Critical/Non-Fiction Book: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
• Best Online Content: Jungle Red Writers

This year's Macavity nods were as follows:

• Best Mystery Novel: Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz
• Best First Mystery Novel: The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal
• Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards
• Best Mystery Short Story: “Windward,” by Paul D. Marks, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea
• Sue Feder Memorial Award: Best Historical Mystery: In Farleigh Field, by Rhys Bowen

The Shamus winners include:

• Best Private Eye Novel: The Room of White Fire, by T. Jefferson Parker
• Best First Private Eye Novel: The Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka
• Best Original Private Eye Paperback: Lights Out Summer, by Rich Zahradnik
• Best P.I. Short Story: “Rosalie Marx is Missing,” by Robert S. Levinson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

The Barry winners this year are:

• Best Novel: The Marsh King's Daughter, by Karen Dionne
• Best First Novel: The Dry by Jane Harper
• Best Paperback Original: The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens
• Best Thriller: UNSUB, by Meg Gardiner

In honor of the Bouchercon conference, Crime Reads rounded up nominees for the Anthony Awards for their thoughts on the state of crime fiction today. You can read the first part here and the second part via this link.

Canongate is launching a new crime fiction imprint called Black Thorn in May 2019, following its acquisition of fiction publisher Severn House in 2017. Publishing a wide range of titles from Severn House’s list into paperback for the first time, Black Thorn will release two of the list's paperbacks each month, beginning with Catherine O’Connell’s The Last Night Out, and The Savage Shore by David Hewson, author of The Killing trilogy.

Penn State Professor of English Emeritus Richard Kopley was recently presented with the Lifetime Achievement and Service Award by the Poe Studies Association at the 2018 International Poe and Hawthorne Conference in Kyoto, Japan. Kopley is an internationally known author and literary scholar with expertise in classic American literature and one of the world’s foremost experts on Edgar Allan Poe. His published works include Edgar Allan Poe and the Dupin Mysteries, which takes an in-depth look at Poe’s detective stories that helped inspire the entire detective genre.

Internationally acclaimed thriller author Ken Follett has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Hertfordshire. More than 160 million copies of his 31 books have been sold in more than 80 countries and in 33 languages. In June this year, Follett was also made a CBE for services to literature and charity and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

From the truth is stranger than fiction department: Nancy L. Crampton Brophy, a romantic suspense author, was arrested for the murder of her culinary-instructor husband. Before her arrest, she had posted on Facebook about how devastated she was by his death and attended a candlelight vigil.

The New York Post reported on a political columnist, who also penned a spy novel, who was secretly a government spy.

Here's some happy bookseller news: Nearly one year after wildfires devastated communities in Northern California, bookstores have largely recovered, thanks to loyal customers, community support, and the Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc). The Ann Arbor-based nonprofit aids booksellers around the country in times of need, but the foundation faced what it called unprecedented demand last year due to wildfires, floods, and mudslides. In 2017, the foundation distributed more than $234,000 to support 94 booksellers and booksellers’ families in need—more than Binc had distributed the two previous years combined.

The Feedspot website has a listing of crime fiction blogs and I'm pleased In Reference to Murder is listed among them. If you check out the link, you might find some new blogs of interest to follow.

Some "fun" true crime, for a change; is this quite possibly the worst robber of all time?

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "The Good Old Days" by Etta Abrahams.
 

In the Q&A roundup, Alex Aster quizzed The Woman in Cabin 10 author Ruth Ware about her writing process, next novel, and advice to young writers; authors Dietrich Kalteis (Poughkeepsie Shuffle) and Alex Shaw (Cold East) took Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp Interview" challenge; and Reed Farrel Coleman chatted with the Mystery People about his latest novel, Colorblind.