Mystery Melange

John Verdon has won the 2015 Nero Award for Peter Pan Must Die, the fourth novel in his series about retired homicide detective Dave Gurney. This announcement was made this past weekend during a banquet hosted by the New York City-based Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin fan organization, The Wolfe Pack. Also in contention for this year’s prize were Herbie’s Game, by Timothy Hallinan; The Detective & the Pipe Girl, by Michael Craven; First Light, by Al Lamanda; and The Detective, by James Patrick Hunt. (Hat tip to the Gumshoe Site.)

The "Best of 2015" lists continue apace with the New York Times' "100 Notable Books of 2015"; the Boston Globe's "Best Books" list; The Guardian's Best crime and thriller books of 2015; and Marilyn Stasio's picks for the NYT of what are essentially her standout crime fiction books of the year.

Writing for the Rap Sheet, author and podcaster Steven Nester put forth his choices for Favorite Crime Fiction of 2015, Part One.

French publisher Gallimard has published C'est l'histoire de la Série Noire to mark the 70th anniversary of its crime fiction series Série Noire, which helped establish the literary reputation of hardboiled authors such as Chester Himes (Coffin Ed Johnson/Grave Digger Jones series) and Charles Williams (Dead Calm). The Bibliothèque des littératures policière in Paris is hosting an exhibition in conjunction with the book.  (Hat tip to Elizabeth Foxwell.)

In the aftermath of the recent horrible and tragic San Bernardino shooting, USA Today took a look at other couples and crime that go back decades and far beyond Bonnie and Clyde.

Chanuka began on December 6, and Janet Rudolph compiled a list of Chanuka-themed crime fiction books on her Mystery Fanfare blog.

We have to say good-bye to two more crime fiction authors in 2015, with news of the death of Scottish writer William McIlvanney at age 79 and Hazel Holt at age 87. In addition to earning the title "the godfather of tartan noir," McIlvanney was also an influential poet, journalist and broadcaster. He penned the Laidlaw trilogy and numerous other Glasgow-based works such as Docherty, The Big Man, and The Kiln. Holt was best known for her Mrs. Malory series and Dear Charlotte, a British mystery based on the letters of Jane Austen.

Pulp Modern editor Alec Cizak posted a notice that he'd contemplated shutting down the 'zine but has since decided he's going to continue publishing and is actively seeking short stories through the end of this month. He prefers crime stories on any subject matter, "the most shocking, outrageous crime stories ever written."

The Bad Sex in Fiction Award this year went to former lead singer of The Smiths, Morrissey, for his writing in List Of The Lost. Other finalists include George P. Pelecanos for his book The Martini Shot. You'll have to read the article for excerpts from all the "winning" entries.

A new UK site, Armchair Investigator, features top crime investigators who are all passionate about crime fiction and are keen to review latest titles and be part of the crime fiction community. Reviewers include the first woman to ever reach Detective Chief Supt in Greater Manchester Police; a top Met Police officer; a former CIA agent who now lives in Israel; a top private investigator well-known for his work in tracking down missing people in France; and one of the country’s leading forensic academics from Derby University.

This week's featured crime poem at the 5-2 is "Cell Block 5" by Olivia Romano.

In the Q&A roundup, Jeff Cohen stopped by the Promoting Crime blog to talk about his career and writing four mysteries a year; Redbrick culture critic Holly Reaney chatted with author Marnie Riches, the award winning author of The Girl Who Wouldn't Die about life, books and advice for 18 year olds; Phyllis Entis was featured at Omnimystery News talking about the second entry in her Damien Dickens, P.I. series, The White Russian Caper; the International Thriller Writers snagged an interview with Janet Hutchins, editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, to talk about the publication's past, present, and future as it looks to its 75th anniversary in 2016; the Mystery People welcomed Tom Pitts to talk about his new novel Hustle; Karin Slaughter stopped by the Atlanta Journal Constitution to discuss true crime and her latest thriller, Pretty Girls; Tim Hallinan survived "Twenty Questions" via Dana King's blog One Bit at a Time; and The Mystery People sat down with James Lee Burke to talk about his latest novel, House of the Rising Sun that features Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland.