Thursday, April 30, 2026

Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award Longlists


 

Harrogate International Festivals today announced the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty second year. The longlist, voted for by an academy of journalists, reviewers, booksellers, bloggers, podcasters, and industry representatives, showcases stories that transport readers from gangland Yorkshire to a haunted Dartmoor country house, from wartime Glasgow to a remote Scottish island, and features a host of remarkable sleuths – from the world’s first AI detective, to a time-travelling cold case investigator. Crime fiction fans are now invited to help whittle 18 down to 6 by voting for their favorite novels to reach the shortlist, with the winner of the coveted award announced on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on Thursday July 23rd.

The Longlist includes:

  •  What Happens in the Dark by Kia Abdullah (HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)
  •  The Midnight King by Tariq Ashkanani (Profile Books, Viper)
  •  The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer (Penguin Random House, Bantam)
  •  What The Night Brings by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere)
  •  Human Remains by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster)
  •  The Death of Us by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press)
  •  The Chemist by A.A. Dhand (HarperCollins, HQ Fiction)
  •  Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Pan Macmillan, Pan Fiction)
  •  The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (Quercus Books)
  •  The Examiner by Janice Hallett (Profile Books, Viper)
  •  The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins (Penguin Random House, Doubleday)
  •  Clown Town by Mick Herron (John Murray Books, Baskerville)
  •  Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan (Bonnier Books, Zaffre)
  •  Paperboy by Callum McSorley (Puskin Press, Vertigo)
  •  The Good Liar by Denise Mina (Penguin Random House, Harvill)
  •  Gunner by Alan Parks (John Murray Books, Baskerville)
  •  We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)
  •  A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins, Hemlock Press)

Mystery Melange

PEN America is offering the opportunity to be in your next favorite book or show via an auction to win a chance to have your name or a loved one’s name in an upcoming work by one of the participating writers and receive a signed copy. All proceeds from the auction directly support PEN America's new Author Safety Program, a program designed to protect writers facing harassment, threats, and intimidation both online and in person. The participating crime fiction authors include Lee Child, David Baldacci, and Jean Hanff Korelitz. Emmy Award-winning writer and director Scott Frank (Dept Q, Monsieur Spade) will also name a character after you (or someone you love) in his next project if you're the highest bidder. The bidding closes on May 15th.


The Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Mystery Bookshop's one-day iScream for Mysteries conference is back this Saturday, May 2, from 11-4. New and returning authors taking part include Laura Bradford, Ellen Crosby, Barbara Early, Robert Swartwood, and more, with panels, author trivia, and book signings. For registration information, follow this link.


The third annual Murder She Wrote Festival returns to Mendocino, California from May 1-3. The event celebrates the TV series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer-turned amateur sleuth, Jessica Fletcher, which ran for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996, and was also continued in movies and tie-in novels written by various authors, including Donald Bain, Jon Land, Terrie Farley Moran, and Barbara Early. The heroine’s fictional hometown of Cabot Cove was actually Mendocino, at least for the show’s exterior scenes, including the Blair House Inn, which represented Jessica Fletcher’s home in Cabot Cove, Maine, where the series was allegedly set.


Three of the UK’s most celebrated crime writers, Clare Mackintosh, Vaseem Khan, and Cally (C.L.) Taylor, have joined forces with UK Finance’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign to create a trilogy of original short stories designed to help the public spot scams. Read Between the Lies uses the power of storytelling to bring fraud prevention to life - tapping into the nation’s love of crime fiction to expose how scams really work. Each story is inspired by real fraud tactics and encourages readers to "think like a detective" and apply the same instincts they use in crime books, TV, and podcasts to everyday situations. To find out more about the Take Five to Stop Fraud’s Read Between the Lies campaign and how to protect yourself from fraud, visit this link.


Mystery Writers of American revealed the winners of the Edgar Awards last night, and in honor of that occasion, Molly Odintz of Crime Reads asked nominees to contribute to a roundtable discussion on the state of the crime world today and to weigh in on the pleasures and pitfalls of the writing life. You can read part one of that roundtable here and part two via this link.


The Folio Society is presenting a newly illustrated edition of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to celebrate the novel’s 100th anniversary. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was published in June 1926, six months before Agatha Christie famously vanished for eleven days. Proclaimed by the Crime Writers' Association as "the finest example of the genre ever penned," the title is consistently voted among Agatha Christie's best novels.  (HT to Shots Magazine)


On Art Taylor's "The First Two Pages" blog feature, he welcomed P.M. (Pamela) Raymond to talk about her linked-stories collection, Things Are as They Should Be and Other Words To Die For.


This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "Senseless Acts of a Madman" by G. Emil Reutter.


In the Q&A roundup, author John Cheshire spoke with Crime Fiction Lover about his debut novel, System Lockout, which centers around a ransomware attack on National Health Services across London; Author Interviews spoke with Catherine Mack, the pseudonym for Catherine McKenzie, about This Weekend Doesn't End Well for Anyone, the new novel in her Vacation Mystery Series; and Deborah Kalb chatted with author/screenwriter Gregory Poirier, about his new Max Starkey thriller, A Thousand Cuts, and also with author/attorney Marc S. Perlman about his new espionage thriller, The Riddle of the Trees.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Edgar Distinction


 

Mystery Writers of America revealed the winners of the 2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2025. The 80th Annual Edgar® Awards were celebrated tonight at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Congrats to all the winners and finalists!

BEST NOVEL: The Big Empty by Robert Crais (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Also nominated:

Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein (Penguin Random House – Doubleday)
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (Penguin Random House – Pantheon Books)
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books)
Hard Town by Adam Plantinga (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)
The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha (Penguin Random House – Pamela Dorman Books)
Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow (Hachette Book Group – Grand Central Publishing)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR: Dead Money by Jakob Kerr (Penguin Random House – Bantam Books)

Also nominated:

Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Johnny Careless by Kevin Wade (Macmillan Publishers – Celadon Books)
History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook (Soho Press – Soho Crime)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL: The Backwater by Vikki Wakefield (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)

Also nominated:

Listen by Sacha Bronwasser (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
Broke Road by Matthew Spencer (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
One Death at a Time by Abbi Waxman (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

BEST FACT CRIME: Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Random House – Penguin Press)

Also nominated:

They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals by Mariah Blake (Penguin Random House – Crown)
Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation by Michael Cannell (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home by Gregg Olsen (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold (Penguin Random House – Dutton)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL: Edgar Allan Poe: A Life by Richard Kopley (University of Virginia Press)

Also nominated:

V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury – Sigma)
The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness by Andrew Klavan (HarperCollins Christian Publishing – Zondervan)
Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard by C.M. Kushins (HarperCollins Publishers – Mariner Books)
Criss-Cross: The Making of Hitchcock’s Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train by Stephen Rebello (Hachette Book Group – Running Press)

BEST SHORT STORY: “Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush,” by Dave Zeltserman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)

Also nominated:

“Reading at Night,” by Graham Greene (The Strand Magazine)
“The One That Got Away,” by Charlaine Harris (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
“Orphan X: A Mysterious Profile,” by Gregg Hurwitz (Penzler Publishers – Mysterious Press)
“Lucky Heart,” by Tim Maleeny (Blood on the Bayou – Case Closed, Down & Out Books)
“The Kill Clause,” by Lisa Unger (Amazon Original Stories )

BEST JUVENILE: Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson (Scholastic Press)

Also nominated:

Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King (Candlewick Press)
What Happened Then by Erin Soderberg Downing (Scholastic Press)
A Study in Secrets by Debbi Michiko Florence (Simon & Schuster – Aladdin)
The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell (Penguin Young Readers – Dial)
Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave by Ally Russell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT: Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray (Macmillan Publishers – Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)

Also nominated:

Catch Your Death by Ravena Guron (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire)
This is Where We Die by Cindy R.X. He (Sourcebooks – Sourcebooks Fire)
The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson (HarperCollins Children’s Books – Quill Tree Books)
Codebreaker by Jay Martel (St. Martin’s Publishing Group – Wednesday Books)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY: “Pilot” – Paradise, Written by Dan Fogelman (Hulu)

Also nominated:

“End of the Line” – Ballard, Written by Michael Alaimo & Kendall Sherwood (Amazon/Fabel)
“Episode 101” – The Lowdown, Written by Sterlin Harjo (FX on Hulu)
“These Girls” – Long Bright River, Written by Nikki Toscano & Liz Moore (Peacock)
“Ye’iitsoh (Big Monster)” – Dark Winds, Written by John Wirth & Steven Paul Judd (AMC)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD: “How It Happened,” by Billie Kay Fern (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Also nominated:

“A Textbook Example,” by Luis Avalos (Sacramento Noir, Akashic Books)
“Baggage,” by Rick Marcou (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
“Bloodsurf,” by Tiffany D. Plunkett (Hollywood Kills, Level Best Books – Level Short)
“Grand Theft Auto in the Heart of Screenland,” by Robert Rotstein (Hollywood Kills, Level Best Books – Level Short)


THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD: All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Also nominated:

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
No Comfort for the Dead by R.P. O’Donnell (Crooked Lane Books)
Last Dance Before Dawn by Katharine Schellman (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)


THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD: Gone in the Night by Joanna Schaffhausen (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)

Also nominated:

Cold as Hell by Kelley Armstrong (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
Rage: A Novel by Linda Castillo (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer)
The Red Letter by Daniel G. Miller (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)


THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD:  A Senior Citizen’s Guide to Life on the Run by Gwen Florio (Severn House)

Also nominated:

Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amandah Chapman (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (Macmillan Publishers – Minotaur Books)
Murder Two Doors Down by Chuck Storla (Crooked Lane Books)
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Penguin Random House – Berkley)

SPECIAL AWARDS  (previously announced)

Grand Master

  • Donna Andrews
  • Lee Child

Raven Award

  • Book Passage, Corte Madera CA

Ellery Queen Award

John Scognamiglio, Kensington Books

Monday, April 27, 2026

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

In a competitive situation, Fifth Season has landed rights to High Rise, the 2025 thriller novel from bestselling Australian author Gabriel Bergmoser. Bergmoser will pen the feature adaptation, and Patrick Hughes is set to direct, in a reunion with Hidden Pictures and Huge Film following their work on the recent Netflix hit War Machine. Billed as "Die Hard meets The Raid," High Rise follows a rogue ex-cop who tracks down his estranged daughter to a grimy high-rise — only to find she doesn’t want to be rescued, least of all by him. Before either can react, the entire city’s criminal underworld descends on the building with a bounty on his head and no concern for her survival. Floor by floor, a broken father and daughter must fight their way through fifteen stories of killers with only each other to rely on.


Two-time Academy Award nominee Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Bridesmaids) is in talks to star in Turpentine, a new thriller directed by The Penguin and Mare of Easttown's Craig Zobel. Based on a script by Justin Varava that made the 2024 Black List, Turpentine follows a deadbeat son who hires friends to rob his own parents to pay off a bookie, with disastrous results. Connor Storrie (Heated Rivalry) is also currently in talks to star in the thriller.


Universal Pictures’s upcoming Miami Vice movie officially has its Tubbs and Crocket as well a new title as Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler are set to star in Miami Vice ’85 with Joseph Kosinski directing. The film will be shot for Imax and is slated for a release date of August 6, 2027. The film explores the glamor and corruption of mid-80’s Miami in an all-new version of Miami Vice, inspired by the pilot episode and first season of the landmark Universal Television series that influenced culture and set the style of everything from fashion to filmmaking.

After working together on The Beekeeper and A Working Man, David Ayer and Jason Statham are reteaming on action-thriller John Doe, with Ayer directing from a script by screenwriter Zak Penn (Ready Player One, The Avengers). Statham is set to play the Man With No Name in the film, which will chart the story “of a man with no memory, no past, and no name — and only one face he can’t forget: Eliza. As fragments of his identity return, he discovers he was trained for a mission still in motion and is being hunted by the very people who sent him. With enemies closing in, John must choose between finishing what he started… or protecting the one thing that makes him feel human: love.” 


James Gray's anticipated next film, the gritty crime thriller Paper Tiger, has joined the Palme d’Or race at the Cannes Film Festival, while Neon has snagged North American rights. Written and directed by Gray, the film stars Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller and follows two brothers who pursue the American Dream, only to become entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true. As they try to navigate their way through an ever-more dangerous world of corruption and violence, they find themselves and their family brutally terrorized by the Russian “Mafiya.”


TELEVISION/STREAMING

A24 UK won a bidding war to option rights to Nick Brucker’s upcoming heist novel, White Smoke (set to be published in 2027), with plans to adapt it into a TV series. Benedict Cumberbatch is set to star in the film, which centers on a group of duplicitous con men and thieves determined to steal the Vatican’s most remarkable treasures during a papal conclave. Nick Brucker is the pseudonym of speculative fiction writer Nicholas Binge, whose latest novel Dissolution was hailed as one of the best books of 2025 by the New York Times and is being adapted at Sony Pictures with Eric Heisserer penning the screenplay.


James Mangold is set to co-write, direct, and executive produce a series adaptation of his 1997 movie, Cop Land, from Paramount Television Studios and Miramax Television. The film starred Sylvester Stallone as the sheriff of a small New Jersey town who comes into conflict with the corrupt New York City police officers who live there. The cast also included Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Annabella Sciorra, Noah Emmerich, and Cathy Moriarty.


The Night Agent  has lined up Bosch star Titus Welliver, Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Li Jun Li (Sinners), and Elizabeth Lail (You) as new series regulars opposite star Gabriel Basso in Season 4 of the Netflix action thriller, which is relocating from New York to Los Angeles for its fourth installment. Welliver is said to be playing Duval, a special DOJ prosecutor; Rhodes is believed to be playing Dom, Peter Sutherland’s (Basso) new partner; while Li is thought to be playing Dom’s wife Min. And, in a reveal The Night Agent fans have long been waiting for, Lail will play Peter’s ex-fiancée Zoe. Dedicating himself to his new career as a Night Agent, Peter swore off romantic relationships after his job had put Rose Larkin, his love interest for the first two seasons, in danger. He may now be thrown back into that arena with his ex-fiancée, Zoe, re-entering his life.


Helena Bonham Carter is departing the latest installment of the HBO drama series, The White Lotus, just over a week after filming began in France. An HBO spokesperson said that, "With filming just underway on season four of ‘The White Lotus,’ it had become apparent that the character which Mike White created for Helena Bonham Carter did not align once on set. The role has subsequently been rethought, is being rewritten and will be recast in the coming weeks." Carter was among the first cast members announced for Season 4 of the Mike White-created murder mystery, following weeks of speculation about her casting. Details on her character remain under wraps, though it was reported to be a central role in Season 4’s plot. The recasting won’t impact production timing, with schedules shifting to focus on the rest of the cast’s stories while recasting takes place.


MASTERPIECE PBS has announced that Marble Hall Murders, the final Susan Ryeland mystery adaptation from best-selling author Anthony Horowitz, will premiere on Sunday, September 6, 2026 at 9/8c. Joining the previously confirmed leads of Lesley Manville (The Crown) as Susan Ryeland and Tim McMullan (The Crown) as Atticus Pünd, are Jamie Blackley (The Last Kingdom), Mark Bonnar (Dept. Q), Daniel Cerqueira (A Gentleman in Moscow), Patricia Hodge (A Very English Scandal), Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones), Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks), Anneika Rose (Line of Duty), Danny Sapani (Killing Eve), and Zubin Varla (Andor). In Marble Hall Murders Editor Susan Ryeland is hired to work on a continuation novel of the Atticus Pünd series, written by a troubled young author (Blackley). When the job leads Susan into another murder case, she unexpectedly finds herself a suspect. PBS MASTERPIECE also announced the premiere date for The Marlow Murder Club Season 3 (starring Samantha Bond) as being Sunday, September 6th.


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

On NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, Scott Simon spoke with Anthony Horowitz about his new book, A Deadly Episode.


Paul Burke interviewed Matthew Carr on Crime Time FM about his latest historical crime thriller, The Emperor of Seville; Bernardo de Mendoza; sixteenth-century Spain; terrorism; financial thrillers; and white ruff crime.


On Murder Junction, Vaseem Khan and Abir Mukherjee spoke with undercover policeman-turned-crime writer Neil Lancaster about his latest Max Craigie novel and the mysterious Scottish grave that led to the series. They also chatted about Neil's previous life guarding nuclear reactors - in the company of dogs.


On Criminal Mischief, DP Lyle spoke with retired detective and story consultant Adam Richardson, who spent seventeen of his twenty-eight years in law enforcement as a detective in California, including assignments to state and federal task forces. He has been helping screenwriters, fiction authors, TV shows, and film productions with the cop stuff in their stories since 2015.


Spencer Quinn discussed his latest novel, Cat on a Hot Tin Woof, with  Barbara Peters for the Poisoned Pen podcast.

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Agatha Ascendant

 


Winners were announced last night at the Agatha Awards Banquet during Malice Domestic, which this year was held from April 24-26 at the North Marriott Hotel & Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The annual Agatha Awards celebrate the traditional mystery, best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore, or gratuitous violence, and would not be classified as "hard-boiled." ​Everyone who is registered for the Malice Domestic conference or becomes a Friend of Malice of any given year will receive a nomination ballot in early January, with finalists voted on during the convention. Congrats to the winners and finalists!

Best Contemporary NovelAt Death's Dough, Mindy Quigley, Minotaur

Other finalists: 

A Grave Eeception, Connie Berry, Cooked Lane
Murder in Fifth Position, Lori Robins, Level Best Books
The Devil Comes Calling, Annette Dashofy, One More Chapter
Waters of Destruction, Leslie Karst, Severn House

Best Historical NovelThe Case of the Christie Conspiracy, Kelly Oliver, Boldwood Books

Other finalists: 

Bye Bye Blackbird, Elizabeth Crowens, Level Best
The Girl in the Green Dress, Mariah Fredericks, Minotaur
Murder at the Moulin Rouge, Carol Pouliot, Level Best
The Hindenburg Spy, I.A. Chandlar, Oliver Heber Publishers

Best First NovelWhiskey Business, Adrian Andover, Chestnut Avenue Press

Other finalists:

Murder in the Crazy Mountains
, K.L. Borges, Epicenter Press/Camel Press Imprint
Player Elimination, Shelly Jones, Tule Press
Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Minotaur
Voices of the Elysian Fields, Michael Rigg, Leveltru

Best Short Story“Six-armed Robbery,” Ashley-Ruth Bernier, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Humorous

Other finalists:

“Baby Love,” Barb Goffman, Double Crossing Van Dine Anthology, Crippen and Landru
“Boss Cat Fules,” Nikki Knight, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Humorous
“Lola's Last Dance,” Kerry Hammond, Celluloid Crimes, Level Best
“When the Iron is Hot,” Maddie Day, EQMM Mar/Apr 2025

Best Non-fictionVacations Can Be Murder: a True Crime Lover's Travel Guide to New England, Dawn M. Barclay, Level Best

Other finalists:

Bone Valley
, Gilbert King, Flat Iron Books
Story of a Murder: the Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen, Hallie Rubenhold, Dutton
The Dinners all bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne, Kate Winkler Dawson, G. P. Putnam

Best Children’s/YA MysteryDeath in the Cards, Mia P. Manansala, Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Other finalists:

Missing Mom, Lynn Slaughter, Fire and ice YA
Risky Pursuit, Nancy G. West, Fire and Ice YA
Rufus and the Dark Side of Magic, Marilyn Levinson, Level Best
Hurricane Heist, James Ponti, Aladin Books

Sunday Music Treat

Can you really play Chopin's "Minute Waltz" in a minute? Not that I've ever seen, although Ignaz Friedman tried his very best in this recording from 1923, which clocks in at the fastest time I've found thus far, 1:21 (although Scott Drayco in his prime might have been able to pull it off).