Mystery Melange

On February 9 - 11, 2018, Southern California will host the nation's largest rare book exhibition as thousands of book lovers, dealers, and scholars converge at the 51st California International Antiquarian Book Fair. The Book Fair also celebrates the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with a special exhibit spotlighting holdings from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; Occidental College Library's Ned Guymon Mystery and Detective Fiction Collection; University of California Riverside Library's Eaton Collection of Science Fiction & Fantasy; and a guest appearance by Sara Karloff, the daughter of Boris Karloff.

On March 31 at University Centre Shrewsbury, Dr. Lucy Andrew and Sam Saunders will discuss their forthcoming research project, A Study in Sidekicks: The Detective’s Assistant in Crime Fiction, which explores the significance of the sidekick across a wide range of crime narratives from the 19th century to the present day.

The University of Tampere, Finland, is soliciting papers for an upcoming conference titled "Murder, She Tweeted: Crime Narratives and the Digital Age." Organizers invite proposals for presentations on crime narratives and the digital age from different language and cultural spheres covering a variety of contemporary crime narratives (novels, films, TV series, adaptations, true crime, fan fiction, vlogs, blogs and other social media). The event will be held August 23-24, 2018.

Registration has opened for Iceland Noir, which returns to Reykjavik on November 16-17, 2018. In addition to the two days of panels and readings, there will also be the Icelandic Crime Disco Night and an Iceland Noir Excursion day trip into the Icelandic wilderness.

The Guardian's Tim Adams set out to discover more about Daniel Mallory (a/k/a AJ Finn), the editor-turned-author behind the debut crime novel, The Woman in the Window, which spawned a bidding war, a worldwide rights frenzy, and a movie deal. The work is described as in the same vein as Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, and Mallory says he never would have written his book without the other two.

Fortunately, there are also plenty of good books other than The Woman in the Window worth looking forward to adding to your To Be Read pile. The Rap Sheet has a handy listing for you of upcoming titles set for release in the first quarter of the year.

The New York Times took a look at the annual Sherlock Holmes conference in Manhattan that takes place every January. This year's festivities included a costume constest (won by an English teacher from Germany dressed as the Scottish moor, a setting from the Doyle classic The Hound of the Baskervilles), a ball held by a female group of Holmes devotees called the Baker Street Babes, the 16th annual Christopher Morley Walk, and the usual discussions about all things Sherlockian.

The New York Post profiled several crime fiction authors who were hired by the estates of deceased authors and how these authors risk the wrath of readers to keep book franchises alive.

If you're in the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin area, you might consider submitting to a murder mystery writing contest sponsored by The Rogue Theater. The theater is seeking submissions of plays approximately sixty to ninety minutes with clues hidden in the script that will help the audience guess "who done it" (and a touch of comedy) by February 28. The winner will receive a cash prize and have their play staged by the theater.

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside the FBI’s Hazardous Devices School? Here's your chance.

Sometimes, using books as a design element in your home can go just a bit too far.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Thought Crime" by Joe Nazare.

In the Q&A roundup, Crime Fiction Lover spoke with Jonathan Lyon, a young British author who has suffered from chronic and seemingly incurable pain for many years, an affliction which served as the inspiration for his debut Carnivore featuring a tortured anti-hero who diffuses his myalgia by inflicting pain on others; the Mystery People welcomed Terry Shames to discuss A Reckoning In The Back Country, which has her hero Samuel Craddock looking into a murdered doctor’s dark double life; Nick Dorsey stopped by Indie Crime Scene to share insights about his writing and new thriller, Bleeding Levee Blues; and Criminal Element hosted a Q&A with Christopher Reich, the New York Times bestselling thriller author whose latest novel, The Take, marks the launch of a new series featuring spy Simon Riske.