Mystery Melange

 

This past weekend, the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers announced that The White Devil, by Domenic Stansberry, was the winner of the annual Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a US or Canadian author. The other finalists included The Second Life of Nick Mason, by Steve Hamilton; The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie; Revolver, by Duane Swierczynki; and The Big Nothing, by Bob Truluck.

Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Center for Fiction in New York City, Paul Vidich (An Honorable Man; The Good Assassin) and Joseph Kanon (Defectors; The Good German) will explore the literary spy novel, its trademarks, place in history, and interplay between fact and fiction.

It's rare that we have two posthumous works from legendary crime fiction authors being released at the same time, and even rarer still when those works are story collections. As The Guardian notes, collections from the late queens of crime fiction, P.D. James and Ruth Rendell, each spanning 40 years of publication, are not only terrific stories but " are ideal for long autumn evenings."

Sisters in Crime has been celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Francine Paino had a brief retrospective of the national organization as well as one of the many chapters around the country that have formed during the group's three decades.

As someone who writes a music-related crime fiction series, I'm always interested in music-writing connections such as this piece from the New York Times which profiles Gregory Brown, the brother of author Dan Brown, and how Dan's latest novel features one of Gregory's works, "Missa Charles Darwin."

Did the deerstalker-wearing Dr William Neale inspire Sherlock Holmes? A photo from July 1880 may offer an important clue.

There are many subgenres of crime fiction, but some don't get quite as much attention as others - in fact, you may not be aware of the fantasy crime novel category, but Mulholland Books can get you started with a list of ten such titles work checking out.

Is there someone rotten in Denmark? If news reports are to be believed, the bizarre case of the murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall aboard a submarine may end up leading police to a serial killer.

Writers, here's something for your next spy thriller project: In order to tempt nuclear scientists from countries such as Iran or North Korea to defect, US spy agencies routinely send agents to academic conferences – or even host their own fake ones.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "On the Road" by Charles Rammelkamp.

In the Q&A roundup, Mystery People Crime Fiction Coordinator Scott Montgomery chatted with Adam Sternberg about his novel, The Blinds, described as "if Sheriff Walt Longmire’s jurisdiction was Twin Peaks" and also sat down with J. M. Gulvin to discuss his new novel featuring Texas Ranger John Q; Tess Gerritsen, the author of the "Rizzoli & Isles" thriller series, spoke with WBUR public radio about writing crime fiction; and Mystery Lovers Kitchen welcomed Ellen Byron, author of the Cajun Country Mysteries.