Mystery Melange

 

The Malice Domestic Conference handed out its annual Agatha Awards on Saturday. Congrats to all the winning titles this year (for all the finalists click here):

• Best Contemporary Novel: Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
• Best Historical Novel: The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• Best First Novel Tie: A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
  Curses Boiled Again by Shari Randall (St. Martin's)
• Best Short Story Tie: "All God's Sparrows" by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
  "The Case of the Vanishing Professor" by Tara Laskowski (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
• Best Children's/Young Adult Mystery: Potion Problems (Just Add Magic) by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
• Best Nonfiction: Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers by Jane Cleland (Writer's Digest Books)

 

The Independent Book Publisher Award winners were also announced this past weekend. The crime fiction winners include:

Mystery

• GOLD (tie): The Moving Blade, by Michael Pronko (Raked Gravel Press)
  Shadowed by Death, by Mary Adler (Dancing Dog Books)
• SILVER: Full Service Blonde, by Megan Edwards (Imbrifex Books)
• BRONZE: The Sleeping Lady, by Bonnie C. Monte (She Writes Press)

Suspense/Thriller

• GOLD: High Crimes: A Georgia Davis Novel of Suspense, by Libby Fischer Hellmann (The Red Herrings Press)
• SILVER (tie): The Maw, by Taylor Zajonc (Skyhorse Publishing)
  Big Woods, by May Cobb (Llewellyn Worldwide)
• BRONZE: Death’s Echoes, by Penny Mickelbury (Bywater Books)

 

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine's May/June 2019 issue included the announcement of the 2018 EQMM Readers Award. There were thirteen finalists from which the winning story, voted on by the magazine's readers, was Stacy Woodson's “Duty, Honor, Hammett.” Second Place went to “50” by writer, translator, editor, and instructor Josh Pacther; and Third Place was bestowed upon “Sofee,” by retired New Jersey Police Chief David Dean.

Booklist's May issue marks the beginning of their month-long celebration of mystery, including the Mystery Showcase issue. In honor of the event, Booklist rounded up the year’s best crime fiction (the year running from May 2018 to April 2019), and also offered up top ten lists in both books for youth and audiobooks.

A little late for the 'Zine Scene posting last week, but definitely worth checking out, is Mystery Readers Journal: Mystery in the American South II (Volume 35:1: Spring 2019), which is available now as a PDF and hardcopy. This is the second installment of this theme and features some three dozen Author! Author! essays plus reviews.

StoryADay.org proclaimed May International Short Story Month back in 2013, and to celebrate, the Short Mystery Fiction Society is highlighting one or more members' online stories per day.

What happened to Harper Lee’s unpublished true crime book? Author Casey Cep's new book, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, reconstructed years of investigative work Harper Lee devoted to a series of killings in the 1970s. CBS Sunday Morning's Rita Braver further reported on Lee's fascination with the case and spoke with Casey Cep; and The Guardian also chatted with Cep, who revealed the discovery of a "brimming" cache of research by the Lee into the Alabama preacher suspected of a string of murders.

The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers will play at Glastonbury, in what lead singer Val McDermid described as “a bit like a fairy story”. The rock ‘n’ roll band also includes features author Mark Billingham of the Tom Thorne series, Northern Irish writer Stuart Neville, Scottish crime writer Doug Johnstone, Luca Veste, author of the DI Murphy and DS Rossi series, and Scottish journalist-turned novelist Chris Brookmyre. The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers has headlined at various literary festivals across the country as well as music festivals, after forming at a writers’ convention in New Orleans in the US. As McDermid added, "Bestseller lists are all well and good, but this is a middle-aged wannabe rock star’s dream."

Venetian Vase profiled Sam Stiefel, the producer and conman who inspired James Ellroy.

Many of us grew up with the exploits of boy detective Encyclopedia Brown, the bestselling literary icon created by Donald J. Sobol. But who was Sobol? Craig PIttman, writing for Crimereads, tells us about the most popular mystery author you’ve probably never heard of.

The latest poem at the 5-2 crime poetry weekly is "Mother" by Sanjeev Sethi.