Mystery Melange

UK's Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate July 21-24 announced their Special Guest lineup, which includes authors Peter James, Jeffery Deaver, Martina Cole, Neil Cross, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Val McDermid, and Gerald Seymour. Conference organizers encourage fans to "grab a pint of Yorkshire’s finest ale, and dip into an intoxicating mix of comedy, heated debate and scintillating socialising" at Agatha Christie’s old haunt, the luxurious Old Swan Hotel.

The Romance Writers of American announced the 2016 RITA Award finalists, including the Romantic Suspense category.

Mystery Readers NorCal's Literary Salon will welcome Rhys Bowen on Wednesday, April 6 in Berkeley. Rhys Bowen has been nominated for every major award in mystery writing, including the Edgar, and has won many, including the Agatha, Macavity, and Anthony awards. In addition to her titles in the Royal Spyness series, she is the author of the Molly Murphy Mysteries set in turn-of-the-century New York, and the Constable Evans Mysteries set in Wales.

The Florida Book awards handed out recently included a Gold Medal to the thriller After the Fall by Patricia Gussin in the Popular Fiction category, with a Silver Medal to The Price of Justice by Marti Green, and a Bronze Medal to Perception of Power by Bruce Thomason.

Time's running out for a chance to submit your manuscript to the Mystery Writers Key West Whodunit Writing Competition. The winner will claim a book-publishing contract with Absolutely Amazing eBooks, free Mystery Writers Key West Fest 2016 registration, airfare, hotel accommodations for two nights, and a Whodunit Award trophy to be presented at the 3rd Annual Mystery Writers Key West Fest, June 10-12 in Key West, Florida.

West Hollywood, California, has launched a grant program for residents to build a Little Free Library. In addition, Friends of the West Hollywood Library will "donate a starter set of books to each person who receives a grant from the city to build one."

In not-so-happy library news: the BBC reported on the alarming state of libraries and the librarian profession, especially in the UK where 8,000 jobs in UK libraries have disappeared in six years, although there are still a few bright spots that offer up hope.

In response to the popular new BBC adaptation of the John le Carré novel Night Manager, The Independent posted a list of the "10 best spy books."

But if you want to stick the spy thriller master's works only, The Guardian chose "Five of the best Le Carré novels."

At the 68th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science in Las Vegas, one of the big topics hanging over everyone's heads was the spate of recent scandals and flawed convictions based on shaky forensics "expertise."

Sherlock Holmes will soon be immortalized in a Japanese manga series based on the BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as his sidekick Watson. “It’s really interesting seeing such a British thing being reinterpreted in Japanese manga,” said Titan Comics editor Andrew James, who acquired the manga series for the publisher.

Author Chris Callaghan offered up "Ten reasons why you should eat chocolate while reading." (Hear, hear!)

Authors take heart: Robert Galbraith, a/k/a JK Rowling, Tweeted some of the rejection letters she'd received for both her Galbraith crime fiction books and the Harry Potter series.

Authors take warning: a bizarre tale of one author's battle fighting a plagiarist who stole all of her out-of-print crime fiction novels and uploaded them as her own.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Better Call Yahweh" by Catherine Wald.

In the Q&A roundup, the latest 9mm interview at Crime Watch is Susan Moody, author of 34 crime and suspense novels over the past three decades; Omnimystery spoke with authors Nancy Herriman (No Comfort for the Lost) and Robert Richter (Something To Die For); journalist and novelist Michelle Davies spoke with Shots Magazine about the first novel in her new crime series, Gone Astray; Do Some Damage welcomed Neely Tucker, author of Only the Hunted Run; The Mystery People chatted with Sarah Weinman, editor of the Library of America’s publication, Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 40s and 50s; and the Financial Times snagged Chris Pavone for a quickie Q&A.