Mystery Melange

 

The 32nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards, which celebrate LGBTQ books and authors, announced the shortlists in 24 categories. The finalists were selected by a panel of over 60 literary professionals from more than 1,000 book submissions representing 300+ publishers. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony, hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang, the evening of Monday, June 8, 2020 in New York City. The crime fiction categories include:

Best Lesbian Mystery

The Blood Runs Cold, Catherine Maiorisi, Bella Books
Galileo, Ann McMan, Bywater Books
The Hound of Justice, Claire O’Dell, Harper Voyager
The Mirror of Muraro, Amelia Ellis, Newton Pryce Ingram
Twisted at the Root: A Jane Lawless Mystery, Ellen Hart, Minotaur Books

Best Gay Mystery

Carved in Bone: A Henry Rios Novel, Michael Nava, Persigo Press
ChoirMaster: A Mister Puss Mystery, Michael Craft, Questover Press
Death Takes a Bow, David S. Pederson, Bold Strokes Books
The Fourth Courier, Timothy Jay Smith, Arcade Publishing
The Nowhere, Chris Gill, PRNTD Publishing
The Quaker, Liam McIlvanney, Europa Editions/World Noir
Rewind, Marshall Thornton, Kenmore Books
Royal Street Reveillon, Greg Herren, Bold Strokes Books

 

The coronavirus scare is taking its toll on the publishing community. Most bookstore events are still moving forward, although a few in harder-hit areas like Seattle have been canceled. The 2020 Tucson Festival of Books, scheduled for March 14-15, has been canceled; the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, originally scheduled for April, has been rescheduled and will be presented October 3-4, and the Book Prizes awards ceremony, planned for April 17, will not be held this year; the 2020 Virginia Festival of the Book (including Crime Wave) scheduled for March 18-22 in Charlottesville, has also been canceled; however, the Malice Domestic conference schedule for May 1-3 in Maryland, sent out an email notice this morning that the conference is planning on moving forward but to keep checking back. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

Sadly, we lost another member of the crime fiction community last week; Brash Books reported that Barbara Neely had passed away after a brief illness. Neely was best known as author of the Blanche White mystery series, the first black female series sleuth in mainstream American publishing, and Neely had been named the 2020 Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. In an official statement, MWA noted, "She was an inspiration, a trailblazer, and a remarkable talent and voice whose loss is deeply felt. We are grateful we had the opportunity to let her know how much she meant to the mystery community before she left us. Her talent and memory will live on forever in her wonderful books. She will be missed."

The New York Review of Books profiled crime writer James Ellroy and the forces from his childhood and early adult years—including his mother's murder—that shaped his writing, including his iconic LA Quartet series.

Jeff Pierce, over at the Rap Sheet blog, has published "A Spring Shower of Reading Choices," listing new crime fiction novels to look forward to from March through May, both in the U.S. and the U.K.

One of the "Big Five" publishers (Big Six, if you count Amazon's imprints) is up for sale after ViacomCBS announced it was going to find a buyer for Simon & Schuster. Although the publishing company’s CEO, Carolyn Reidy, told employees the impending sale will not disrupt business, the true impact still remains to be seen. Simon & Schuster has published such crime authors as James Lee Burke, Catherine Coulter, Jeffery Deaver, JA Jance, Stephen King, Kathy Reichs, and many more.

A couple of anniversaries of note: it's been sixty years since the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock psychological horror film, Psycho, which was based on the Wisconsin killer and graveyard robber, Ed Gein; and it's also the 50th anniversary of Tony Hillerman's The Blessing Way, the first book to introduce Navajo police officer Joe Leaphorn.

A manuscript by the infamous Marquis de Sade (for whom the word sadism was later coined) can be yours for around a hundred grand. It's actually a historical novel, Histoire secrète d'Isabelle de Bavière reine de France, which tells the story of Isabelle of Bavaria (1371-1435), the queen consort of Charles VI. Bonhams is auctioning the document, but you'd better hurry since bids are due today.

Can you really hire a hitman on the Dark Web? As the New York Times reports (free limited subscription required), several online stores offer murder for pay, but even though some researchers say they are scams, people who want someone dead aren’t listening.

If you are fortunate enough to live to celebrate your 100th birthday, as this woman did, you can always add to your bucket list to be arrested and taken to jail.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Cadillac Prey" by Rena J. Worley.

In the Q&A roundup, crime author Michael Koryta and suspense author Alma Katsu spoke with Crime Reads about "Horror, Craft, and Reinvention"; and Jason Pinter spoke with the Mystery People's Scott Montgomery about his new book and the start of a new series, Hide Away.