Mystery Melange

 

From May 8-10, the Big Book Weekend will arrive online, a three-day virtual festival bringing together the best of the British book festivals cancelled due to coronavirus. Organizers say it will feature the "biggest names in books alongside unknown debut authors and rising talents," and although the lineup hasn't yet been announced, I imagine it will run the gamut and include some crime fiction folks. Participants can expect interviews, panel discussions, "in conversation" debates, performances, and interactive sessions.

Another casualty of the Covid-19 outbreak is Noir at the Bar, the series of in-person events in various cities where crime fiction authors read from their works. But that's not stopping Virtual Noir at the Bar: Queens, to take place online April 3. Book sales generated from the event will also go to support Kew & Willow bookstore in Kew Gardens, Queens, also hard-hit by business shutdowns. Hosted by hosted by local Queens crime writer, Alex Segura, the lineup of authors includes Sarah Weinman; Megan Abbott; William Boyle; John Vercher; SJ Rozan; Hilary Davidson; Reed Farrel Coleman; Scott Adlerberg; Jill Block; Wallace Stroby; Lyndsay Faye; Richie Narvaez; Kellye Garrett; and Jen Conley.

Empire State Center for the Book is inducting mystery pioneer Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) into their Writers Hall of Fame. Author of the landmark mystery novel The Leavenworth Case (1878) and numerous other mystery works as well as a champion of the writing profession, the Brooklyn-born Green was a longtime resident of Buffalo. The ceremony was originally scheduled for June 2 but due to the coronavirus has been moved to September 14. (HT to Elizabeth Foxwell at The Bunburyist blog)

Some sad news to report: Kate Mattes, proprietor of Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge, MA, and a big supporter of mysteries, passed away last week after a long illness. Kate's bookstore launched many a book during its day and hosted the likes of Sue Grafton, Sarah Paretsky, Robert B. Parker, Dennis Lehane, Katherine Hall Page, and Jane Langton.

Some good news for authors and booksellers: book sales have increased in the UK as readers find they have extra time on their hands. Waterstones reported a 400% increase in online book sales. The American Booksellers Association online bookselling sites also saw a 250% increase in digital book sales.

The International Crime Fiction Association just published the first issue of Crime Fiction Studies, edited by Fiona Peters, an "innovative new journal" that is interdisciplinary and international. It draws scholars together through a series of themed and general issues which explore the status of the genre today, its history, social and cultural influences and current popularity. The current plans are to have two issues per year, published in March and September.

As Lee Lofland noted on Facebook, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine will be including a "Case Files" column from Lofland beginning in the May/June 2020 issue. AHMM stated, "We are delighted to introduce a new feature, knowing that our readers often take a keen interest in the realities behind the fiction: former police detective Lee Lofland will offer in each issue insights into the working lives and daily realities of those involved in law enforcement." 

If you're looking for some escapist crime fiction fare to while away your time indoors practicing social distancing, CrimeReads has a list of 14 very long tomes that will keep you entertained for a while.

The Writers Who Kill blog also had interviews with the authors nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Short Story, as well as story links.

The Journalists’ Charity, founded by Charles Dickens in 1864, has launched a competition to find real modern-day characters who could have provided the basis for one of the author’s classic creations. To mark the 150th anniversary of Dickens's death, the charity is asking for written portraits of a modern-day Dickensian character. The subject could be someone in public life, including a politician or and celebrity, or an NHS worker helping to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Entrants have a 300-word limit and are encouraged to take inspiration from Dickens’s prose to bring to life a contemporary figure who could rank alongside Betsey Trotwood, Miss Havisham or Bill Sykes. The writing competition is free to enter, although organizers encourage entrants to donate to the charity, which will direct support to journalists in need.

Patricia Marcantonio, a journalist and author of children's fiction, applied the Page 69 Test to Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace, her first Felicity Carrol mystery.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Down Like a Hammer" by J Rohr.

In the Q&A roundup, Criminal Element's Book Series Binge continued with interviews featuring Carolyn Haines on her Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries ; Paul Doiron on his Mike Bowditch series; Jane Cleland on her Josie Prescott antiques mysteries; Joanna Schaffhausen on her Ellery Hathaway series; S.C. Perkins on his ancestry detective series; and Daniel Friedman on his Buck Schatz series.