Mystery Melange

The winners of the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards — the IPPYs — were announced. The awards program hopes to bring increased recognition to the "deserving but often unsung" titles from independent, university, and self-published outlets each year. The Gold Medal in the Mystery/Cozy/Noir category went to What's a Witch to Do? by Jennifer Harlow, while the Gold Medal winner in the Suspense/Thriller category was Carved in Darkness by Maegan Beaumont.

The Shirley Jackson Award nominees were also recently announced. The awards recognize "outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic." (Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

Do you have a legal-themed short story under 5,000 words in your desk drawer (or desktop folder)? If so, consider entering it in the 2014 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction, with a top prize of $3,000. Entries will be judged by a panel on the basis of creativity, plot exposition, legal insight and character development. (Thanks to Elizabeth Foxwell for the link.)

Happy Birthday to the Mysterious Galaxy independent genre bookstore, which just celebrated its twenty-first year (since Saturday, May 8, 1993). Store owners added, "We look forward to moving into an exciting future together with you. We appreciate each and every one of you, without whose support we would not be here to share our passion for books of Martians, Murder, Magic, and Mayhem, and More!"

I hadn't noticed this sad note, but this year's Bloody Words conference, Canada’s oldest and largest gathering of mystery readers and authors, will apparently be the last. Better hurry and get your tickets if you want to see this year's Special Guests – Vicki Delany, Michael Jecks, and Melodie Campbell – and be present for the last awarding of the Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award.

Omnimystery News noted that the new Hercule Poirot novel by Sophie Hannah (authorized by the Agatha Christie estate) will be titled The Monogram Murders and published on September 9th. The publisher also released a video with Hannah talking about the book. In case you're one of the few people on the planet who haven't read any Agatha Christie novels, Hannah has some suggestions on five "entry points" for reading her works, and why you should start there.

Speaking of Poirot, a retired UK Naval Commander's research leads him to believe that a Belgian gendarme billeted near the young Agatha Christie could have been the inspiration for the great fictional detective.

Dead Gun Press is a new online ezine that's seeking short stories of 500 to 2500 words in the genres of crime, noir, detective, westerns, horror, and sci-fi. Although this is a non-paying market, the press also has a Showcase Selections branch, which is looking for short story collections, novellas, and novelettes of 25,000 to 45,000 words, with royalties paid to authors. (Hat tip to Sandra Seamans.)

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Gentle Men," by Dalton Day, and the weekly story at Beat to a Pulp is "Murder by the Book" by Cathi Stoler.

The Q&A roundup this week includes Philip Kerr and Ace Atkins chatting with The Mystery People – Kerr about his new non-Bernie Gunther novel, which focuses on an FBI agent going after religious extremists in Texas and Atkins about his new novel, Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot; John Connolly stopped by Pulp Curry; Garrard Hayes takes Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp, Interview" challenge; and the Seattle Mystery Bookshop interviews Mary Daheim.