Mystery Melange

On January 25, 2018, Friends of Mystery will welcome Ellie Alexander (Bakeshop Mysteries), Cindy Brown (Ivy Meadows series), and Angela Sanders (Joanna Hayworth Vintage Clothing mysteries) for a Women of Mystery Panel at TaborSpace in Portland, Oregon. The fun kicks off with a reception at 7pm followed by what the bookstore "promises to be a lively panel discussion with these delightful women of mystery."

Another event to add to your calendar: the Virginia Festival of the Book's Crime Wave event is set for March 21-25, with a lineup that includes Rob Hart, Alex Segura, Alison Gaylin, Steve Weddle, Kate Moretti, Attica Locke, Deanna Raybourn, Lyndsay Faye, and many more. The festivities kick off with a brunch with Attica Locke, to be followed by a series of panels and booksignings, with the full schedule to be announced in a few days. (HT to Do Some Damage)

The Rap Sheet’s 10th Best Crime Fiction Book Cover of the Year contest is still taking votes on the list of 15 shortlisted contestants, all with eye-catching and memorable covers. As blog proprietor Jeff Pierce adds, "As usual, I’ve been collecting prospective nominees for the last 12 months now, browsing bookstores and book-oriented Web sites in search of qualified contenders, and watching design-attentive blogs."

Clues editorial board member Rachel Schaffer needs a few more essays for her edited collection on Walt Longmire (both the TV series and books by Craig Johnson) to be published by McFarland. Elizabeth Foxwell has contact information on her blog for those who are interested in contributing.

According to Nobel archives, author Graham Greene might have won 1967 prize for literature, with the novelist backed by the chairman before losing out to Miguel Angel Asturias. Greene is known for literary thrillers such as The Third Man, Our Man in Havana, The Heart of the Matter, Brighton Rock, The Power and the Glory, and A Gun for Sale.

The Telegraph profiled Betsy Reavley, co-founder of Bloodhound Books, on surviving and thriving as an indie publisher of crime fiction titles.

Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine’s new web-only column Stranger Than Fiction is a brand new free feature of the zine's website. Written by award-winning Canadian author and journalist Dean Jobb, the new department explores the true-crime field through reviews of true-crime books and occasional articles about real-world crimes and criminals. Editor Janet Hutchings offered a sneak peak of upcoming topics and explains why it took a while to add true crime to the lineup.

Speaking of true crime, research published in the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice found that the "CSI effect" is a myth: forensic detective series do not make criminals better at crime.

Prince Harry’s rhino conservation charity is appealing for help with a new year challenge, naming a rhino. Fans of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels by Alexander McCall Smith are being asked to pick one of three animals which will be given the name of the author’s heroine, Precious Ramotswe. The prince is UK patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana (RCB) which has selected three female rhinos for the naming competition, that match McCall Smith’s description of his lead character, “traditionally built and beautiful”. Black rhino are classed as critically endangered with fewer than 5,000 left in the wild, while white rhino are near threatened with an estimated population of around 20,000. Voting to choose one of three white rhinos to be named will remain open until June 30.

The late David Bowie was “a beast of a reader," and his son, Duncan Jones, has started a book club in his father's honor. Although he didn’t give it a name, the official Instagram account of the late rock star dubbed it the Bowie Book Club. For the first book selection, Jones chose Peter Ackroyd's 1985 postmodernist crime novel, Hawksmoor, which follows two parallel storylines: one follows an 18th century church builder in London who performs human sacrifices, while the other is about a detective who is investigating murders in the same churches in the 1980s. Readers have until Feb. 1 to read the novel before an online discussion of the book - if they can find a copy, since it's out of print.

As part of "an epic birthday surprise," Carina Greyling of Johannesburg, South Africa, realized a lifelong dream recently when she spent the night locked inside an Exclusive Books store. Greyling had apparently listed being "locked inside an Exclusive Books for the night" as her top birthday wish, and the store granted her wish on January 7. Greyling was surprised with a pop-up bedroom, snacks and drinks, "and the freedom to roam the store all night, browsing and reading to her heart's content." (HT to Shelf Awareness)

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "January" by Donora Rihn.

In the Q&A roundup, Criminal Element spoke with Aimee Hix, about her debut mystery, What Doesn’t Kill You and also sat down for a chat with C.J. Tudor, author of The Chalk Man; the Jungle Red Writers' Ingrid Thoft grilled Nick Petrie, whose newest book in the Peter Ash Series, Light It Up, will released January 16; Chillers, Killers, and Thrillers held a "cheeky Q&A" with Lori Anderson – the main protagonist from Steph Broadribb's latest novel.