Mystery Melange

If you are a Sherlockian or know someone who is, head to New York City for the Baker Street Irregulars week, January 13-17, an annual event that celebrates the birth of the world's greatest fictional detective. This year's Distinguished Speaker is Jeffrey Hatcher, who wrote the screenplay for the film Mr. Holmes as well as the plays Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club and Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders.

Speaking of Sherlock, Merriam-Webster online noted that the language in Sherlock Holmes is as intriguing as the stories and chose a list of "10 Sherlock Holmes Words Worth Investigating."

If you've already seen the BBC Sherlock Christmas special, check out the network's behind the scenes video on "Taking Sherlock Back To Victorian Times."

For more Sherlock goodness, Trinity professor Clare Clarke looks at writers and characters in Sherlock’s shadow and selects 12 of the best, including "the Irish Sherlock," to satisfy your cravings.

In not-so-happy Sherlock news, a UK high court challenge against a plan to redevelop the Victorian house where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles has failed. Plans are now for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former home Undershaw, in Surrey, to be used as a school; it had formerly served as a hotel until 2005. John Gibson, a Conan Doyle scholar, had won an initial legal challenge nearly two years ago to prevent the building being turned into eight apartments, and was joined in his opposition by Ian Rankin, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Gatiss, co-creator of the BBC's Sherlock.

Megan Abbott penned an essay for The Guardian about the blockbuster successes of Girl On a Train and Gone Girl and how they underline a desire among female readers for stories that speak to their experiences.

Montreal's Pointe-a-Calliere museum is paying homage to the Agatha Christie, the "Queen of Crime" with an exhibit on her writing, life, and the many years Christie spent on archaeological dig sites in the Middle East with her second husband, Max Mallowan.

Although the Christmas season has come and gone, some Christmas mysteries linger on: for seventy years, the true identity of the author behind the popular book Murder for Christmas was a real whodunnit. But now the name of the man who wrote the 1949 novel - which was a hit again when it was reissued last year - has been revealed by his daughter. Writing under the pen name Francis Duncan, lecturer William Underhill wrote about 30 books but kept his identity secret.

Authors including Jon Ronson and Ian Rankin have joined efforts to help a bookshop badly hit by the floods that have swept the north of England. The Book Case in the West Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge was one of the businesses in the town wrecked when the town was hit by the severe rain battering the region.

Keeping track of the end of the year "best novel lists"? Here's another one to add to your collection: journalist and critic Oline Cogdill chose her top mystery novels of 2015.

The December issue of Suspense magazine includes the editor's "best" of the year awards, including the winner of the "Crimson Scribe" award given to one author. There are also interviews with Patricia Cornwell, Ron Ripley, Tasha Alexander, Linda Fairstein, Sue Grafton, and over 20 pages of book reviews, short stories, and other articles.  

And for a wrap-up of all (or almost all) of the various "Best Crime Fiction" lists, the Rap Sheet has a handy reference guide.

For a different kind of "best of" list, GalleyCat compiled links to the best "2015 TED Presentations From Writers."

The new issue of Yellow Mama has some holiday-themed crime short stories, as well as other original full-length fiction, flash fiction, and poetry.

The latest issue of ThugLit features eight new original tales of love, losers, larceny, lacerations, and lunatics.

The January/February issue of The Big Click is themed around Country Noir, guest edited by Court Merrigan.  (Hat tip to Sandra Seamans).

The January issue of Flash Bang Mysteries, edited by B.J. Bourg, has new mystery/suspense fiction from Neil De Noux, Ruth M. McCarty, Kaye George, and more.

New to Scandinavian crime fiction and don't know where to start? Petey Menz compiled "The Scandinavian Crime Fiction Starter Kit" for the Deadspin Book Club.

The Guardian asked several authors, including Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz and many more, to send along questions for the Literary Quiz of the Year. Test your knowledge of books and literature, old and new, with part one and part two of the quiz.

The new crime poem at the 5-2 is "Gunsels Need Not Apply" by Richard Manly Heiman.

In the Q&A roundup, Sophie Hannah spoke with The Guardian about snobbery towards genre fiction, bringing Hercule Poirot back from the dead, and how Mother Goose got her hooked on rhyme; former prosecutor turned professor and author Alafair Burke c
hatted with The Mysterious People about her two series featuring NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher and Portland Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid; and the Mystery People also welcome Jeff Abbott to discuss The First Order, the fifth book in his thriller series featuring Sam Capra.