Mystery Melange

 

The Goodreads Readers Choice Awards were announced this week, including the Mystery/Thriller category where The Guest List by Lucy Foley came out on top. You can read more about that book and check out the other 19 mystery and thriller finalists via this link. In all, 5,674,480 votes were cast for the most popular books across 20 categories during the annual literary spectacle, in which Goodreads users are invited to vote for their favorites among finalists from books published between Nov. 16, 2019 and Nov. 17, 2020.

Sisters in Crime announced the creation of the new SinC Pride Award for Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writers. The SinC Pride Award will be a $2,000 annual award to support an emerging writer of the LGBTQIA+ crime fiction writing community with both financial and practical career guidance and support. Similar to the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, the recipient of the SinC Pride Award may use funds for activities including workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of the work. An unpublished writer is preferred, however, publication of not more than 10 pieces of short fiction and/or up-to two self-published or traditionally published books will not disqualify an applicant. John Copenhaver, Cheryl Head, and Kristen Lepionka will serve as judges for the inaugural award. Applications will open on January 15 and run through March 15, with the winner announced in early April. For more information, contact grants@sistersincrime.org.

A group of mystery authors calling themselves Mystery Loves Georgia have been inspired to help the Georgia Senate Runoff election. They're sponsoring an auction featuring a chance to bid on signed books, named characters, ARCs, critiques, services, arts/crafts, zoom consulting sessions, and more. All proceeds will support Fair Fight’s efforts to combat voter suppression. The auction runs through Friday, December 11 (6p PST/9p EST).

Inspector Rebus creator, Ian Rankin, has been tapped to complete Williams McIlvanney's final novel, The Dark Remains. McIlvanney, regarded as "the father of Tartan noir," died in 2015 at the age of 79, leaving behind a trilogy of novels that Val McDermid says "changed the face of Scottish fiction." The manuscript of The Dark Remains was found by his widow Siobhan Lynch among his papers. Set in October 1972, it was intended to be a prequel to the author’s hardboiled, Glasgow-set detective novels featuring Jack Laidlaw, about his first case.

The latest issue of All Due Respect is online with its featured December story, "Quaking in My Boots" by BV Lawson (disclosure: yours truly). ADR editors, Chris Rhatigan and David Nemeth have also collected up the twelve featured stories for 2020 (one is chosen for each month) in a print anthology, which is available online from Down & Out Books.

The latest story up at Punk Noir Magazine "Where The Buck Stops by John Patrick Robbins."

Some lucky James Bond fan just made the winning bid at a movie memorabilia auction. A Walther PP pistol used by Sean Connery in the 1962 film Dr. No sold for $256,000 at auction, topping expectations of a sale between $150,000 to $200,000 prior to the event. (Its collector’s value was perhaps enhanced by Connery’s death on Oct. 31.) The winning bidder asked to remain anonymous, according to Julien’s Auctions. However, they were described as an American who had seen every James Bond movie with his or her children. Also sold in the lot: a helmet created for Tom Cruise in Top Gun, for $108,000, while a sword used by Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction went for $35,200.

The latest crime poem at the 5-2 Weekly is "Strawberry Shortcake" by Sharon Waller Knutson.

In the Q&A roundup, Author Interviews welcomed S. J. Rozan, winner of multiple awards including the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award, to discuss her latest novel, The Art of Violence; and Janet Evanovich, creator of the Stephanie Plum series, chatted with CrimeReads about craft, art, and selfhood.