Mystery Melange

The CrimeFest Awards shortlist was also announced, which this year features a mix of established names and new talent. You can read the full list of all the nominees here, which include categories for the Audible Sounds of Crime Award (audio books), the eDunnit Award (for ebooks), the H.R.F. Keating Award (nonfiction), Last Laugh Award (humor), Best Crime Novel for Children, and Best Crime Novel for Young Adults.

The Minnesota Book Award winners were handed out over the weekend, and five-time finalist and mystery author Brian Freeman picked up his first win in the Genre Fiction category for The Voice Inside.

The female crime writing group Killer Women is launching a program to support emerging authors from BAME and working-class backgrounds, endorsed by JK Rowling, Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, and Martina Cole. The initiative will offer four women crime writers expert mentoring from synopsis to first draft manuscript, tickets to the Killer Women Festival of Crime Writing and Drama in March 2020, and input on their work from the Good Literary Agency.

Karen Finlay, a national account manager at Chronicle Books and veteran of the publishing industry for more than 15 years, has purchased Vallejo Bookstore in Vallejo, California, and on June 1 will reopen the store under the new name Alibi Bookshop. Finlay has created an Indiegogo campaign asking for $30,000 for startup costs, with plans on including both used and new books for all ages with an emphasis on mysteries and thrillers as well as children's books. Community and author events are also big parts of Finlay's plans. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

Colleen Collins and her Writing PIs blog are giving away a box of mystery novels, mostly hardcover, for fans of private eye tales and amateur detective whodunits. For more information hop on over to the blog and enter through April 13th.

2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival announced the killer lineup for this year's event will include authors James Patterson, MC Beaton, Stuart MacBride, Jeffery Deaver, Belinda Bauer, Eva Dolan, Erin Kelly, Harlan Coben, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, who will be in conversation with Scotland’s First Minister and bookworm, Nicola Sturgeon. Jo Nesbo will also launch his new Harry Hole thriller, Knife, and a special TV panel will feature Jed Mercurio, author of BBC smash-hit, The Bodyguard. Now in its 17th year, the festival will take place at Agatha Christie’s old haunt, The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, from July 18-21. (HT to Shots Magazine)

James Patterson's latest gift for literacy is a $1.25 million pledge to classroom libraries, giving $250 each to 4,000 teachers around the country to help purchase books. He is also distributing $500 grants each to 500 teachers with three years or less experience. Teachers can apply for grants through The Patterson/Scholastic partnership website . The deadline is July 31.

Here's a really great idea: the Netherlands made trains free on national book day for those who showed a book instead of a ticket.

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is “The Fatal Wound” by Charles Rammelkamp.

In the Q&A roundup, Harlan Coben answered the Daily Mail's question of which book he'd take to a desert island; the Yorkshire Post spoke with Mark Billingham about how he went from actor to stand-up comedian to bestselling crime novelist; Lesa Holstein of Lesa's Book Critiques interviewed Catriona McPherson about latest book, Scot & Soda, as well as her life and career; and Jasper Fforde spoke with Locus Magazine about his Thursday Next fantasy police procedural series and his thriller, Early Riser.