Mystery Melange

Peter James was awarded the Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger, handed out each year by the CWA to a writer with a career marked by sustained excellence. James, who joins previous winners such as Elmore Leonard, Lee Child, Simon Brett, Lindsey Davis, and Val McDermid, is best known for his series of novels about the adventures of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace.

The inaugural issue of Dead Gun magazine is out, with new short tales of mayhem and murder from Paul Heatley, T. Fox Dunham, Bill Baber, Jeremy Estes, Robin Wyatt Dunn, Dusty Wallace, Christopher Davis, S.W. Lauden, J. David Jaggers, Jay Helmstutler, Bruce Harris, and Mark Sim. (Hat tip to Sandra Seamans.)

Writing for The Independent, author Benjamin Black discussed why The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler is not only the book of a lifetime but without question Black's favorite novel, even if it's not the best or most technically accomplished of the Marlowe novels.

If you are unfamiliar with Raymond Chandler's "Rules for Writing Mysteries," here's a refresher.

The Crime Fiction Ireland Blog profiled Dublin-born author Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957), one of the "big five" in the Golden Age of detective fiction who is largely unknown now, but whom Raymond Chandler described as "the soundest builder of them all when he doesn't get too fancy."

The International Crime Fiction blog noted there is a tendency in Western culture to present the evolution of crime fiction during the 20th century "as a purely Western phenomenon," and pointed out the genre was not exactly absent in Soviet Russia.

The Los Angeles Times profiled "A place where crime is often stranger than fiction."

Are you addicted to the true crime-based series Making of a Murderer? If so, Jeff Somers compiled a list for B&N of "7 Books to Read After You Binge-Watch Making a Murderer."

Speaking of true crime, researchers and trial consultants worry that shows like Making of a Murderer, along with fictional shows like Law & Order, may transmit undue biases onto future juries.

Meanwhile, The Guardian tapped author Rohan Gavin to opine on red herrings, maguffins, and double identities, in his "Top tips for writing detective fiction."

If you were one of those unlucky (like me) not to be able to join the recent Agatha Christie-themed cruise that followed the crime-writer’s visit to Tenerife in the late 1920s, travel writer and Christie fan Allis Moss has a summary for you, complete with Christie’s grandson Mathew Prichard and on-board plays.

Flavorwire took a look at "Bizarre Hollywood Murder Cases," some that remain unsolved.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Minnesota Jump" by Kurt Nimmo, and the new monthly story at Beat to a Pulp is "Fundamental Breach" by William E. Wallace.

In the Q&A roundup this week, Criminal Element sat down with Suzy Spencer, author of the book Breaking Point, which deals with the case of Andrea Yates, who drowned all five of her children in 2001; the Mystery People ensnared Josh Stallings to talk about his novel Young Americans, a heist novel set in the glam-rock scene of seventies-era San Francisco; Omnimystery News welcomed Jim Stewart (author of Ochoco Reach) and Rebecca Marks (On the Rocks); Libby Cudmore took Paul D. Brazill's "Short, Sharp, Interview" challenge about her debut novel, The Big Rewind; Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson talked with Eurodrama about his influences and being published in the UK; and Karin Slaughter interviewed fellow author Alifair Burke about Burke's new thriller, The Ex.