Mystery Melange

From Peter Rozovsky at Detectives Beyond Borders, comes word about the publication of The Cultural Detective: Reflections on the Writing Life in Thailand by Christopher G. Moore. Moore is the author of the Vincent Calvino crime novels about an American private investigator in Bangkok, as well as various other books about Thailand, where Moore lives. Rozovsky provides the intro to the book and will have a chance to win a copy on his blog soon.

Janet Rudolph sent along a reminder that there's still time to sign up for Left Coast Crime, to be held March 24-27 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you register now, you can also nominate books for the awards categories. Guests of honor this year are Margaret Cole and Steven Havill, and there will also be day trips available to the spectacular Sante Fe cultural and scenic sites.

Editor Kate Stine notes that Mystery Magazine has some special web-only features during the month of January. Contributor Oline Cogdill shares some of her favorite group author blogs, Gary Phillips takes a look at how e-media is changing the landscape for writers and readers and Lawrence Block is scheduled to talk about his one-man backlist blitz. To kick off the new year, Mystery Scene has set a goal of 1000 Twitter followers, and on the day they reach that target, they'll celebrate by giving away five one-year subscriptions to five lucky Twitter followers drawn at random.

Last week, the crime fiction community was in mourning when news came that the Mystery Book Store in Los Angeles was closing. Now it appears there may be a potential buyer in the wings, according to a report in the UCLA Daily Bruin. Bookstore co-owner Kirk Pasich said a publisher has made an offer, but Pasich will only sell if the new owner agrees to keep it as a bookstore and maintain its character.

Congratulations to crime novelist Peter James, who was named the new Chair of the Crime Writers' Association (CWA) in the UK, following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Ian Rankin, Dick Francis and Lady Antonia Fraser.