Mystery Melange

On Monday, April 27th, the Mystery Writers of America will launch the MWA Cookbook, edited by Kate White. The launch party will be held at The Mysterious Bookshop in New York, with many of the contributors and 2015 Edgar Award nominees scheduled to appear. Visit the bookstore's website for more information.

London's Goldsboro Books will host the fourth Crime in the Court evening on the 25th June 2015 to coincide with Independent Booksellers Week in the UK. This annual event celebrates crime fiction in an informal setting for crime fans to meet the best crime writers today (with over forty authors scheduled to attend).

The 2015 Adventure Writer's Competition, sponsored by the Clive Cussler Collectors Society is open for submissions through July 2015. The contest welcomes all new novels of the adventure genre, which can be unpublished, self-published, or traditionally published (with limited release). The winner will recieve a $1,000 cash prize, exposure to industry insiders, and a trophy handed out at the Clive Cussler Collector's Society Convention held at the Tuscany Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 9 – 11.

If you have at least ten grand to spend, you can bid through April 11 on the chance to name a character in the upcoming Michael Connelly novel, The Crossing. Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the charity Trinity Cafe, a restaurant for the homeless, hungry and food insecure in Tampa, Florida.

The Radio Spirits blog celebrated the various radio dramas based on the Nero Wolfe novels of Rex Stout in honor the anniversary of the very first radio adaptation, The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, which premiered over a small regional network (The New England Network) on April 7, 1943, and featured J.B. Williams as Wolfe.

Just call him Dr. Walter Mosley. The award-winning author of over forty novels will receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tulane University in May.

UKTV created an almost life-sized statue of Sherlock portrayer Benedict Cumberbatch made entirely of chocolate. Meanwhile, a hidden camera allegedly caught passers-by at the statue's display at the Westfield Stratford shopping center who couldn't help themselves from taking a lick or two.

The tribute to National Poetry month continues at the 5-2 with a celebration of crime poetry. Check out the entire month's schedule here.

In the Q&A roundup, Declan Burke chats with RTE about his new spy thriller The Lost and the Blind; Renee Wright talks with The Telegraph about her highly-anticipated debut novel Girl on a Train, which some are calling "the next Gone Girl"; James O. Born discusses his new novel, which focuses on the work of police K-9 units, with Gerald So; and Chris Bond put Joe Nesbo in the hot seat in an interview ahead of his appearance at the Harrogate conference.