Mystery Melange

 

The Margery Allingham Short Story Mystery Competition shortlist has been announced. The mission of the annual contest is to find the best unpublished short mystery – one that fits into legendary crime writer Margery’s definition of what makes a great story. The finalists include Antony M Brown for "For Laura Hope"; Chris Curran for "All the Little Boxes"; Camilla Macpherson for "Heartbridge Homicides"; and Hazell Ward for "As Dead as Dodo." The winner will be announced on July 1.

Book Industry Charitable Foundation (Binc) has been stepping up its game to help provide a lifeline to indie booksellers during the pandemic. The Unlikely Bookstore is sponsoring an online auction to help raise funds for Binc so they can continue to help more indies. Some of the fun items include an autographed basketball and book by John Grisham; a chance to have a character named after you in an upcoming novel by Hank Phillippi Ryan or book club Zoom call with Ryan; a signed copy of Lisa Unger's Confessions on the 7:45; some thriller book bundles, and much more.

The Nick Linn Lecture Series in Collier County, Florida, announced it will return to its luncheon-and-lecture format at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in North Naples, as well as also offering virtual access. The upcoming featured lecturers include Brad Taylor, a retired Special Forces lieutenant colonel and author of American Traitor and End of Days, on Monday, February 28, 2022; and also Scott Turow, the master of legal thrillers from Presumed Innocent to The Last Trial, on Monday, March 21, 2022.

The Guardian is sponsoring an online masterclass for aspiring crime writers to help take you from idea to publishing deal. Novelist and screenwriter, Claire McGowan, will offer actionable and practical advice for creating a compelling, page-turning and marketable crime novel from start to finish. Sign up here for the workshop, which takes place July 17-18.

Crime fiction author Harlan Coben is apparently taking over Netflix. Fourteen of Coben’s best-sellers will soon be on the streamer, including several adaptations of his books already on Netflix, such as Safe, starring Michael C. Hall, The Stranger, starring Richard Armitage and Spanish-language series, The Innocent. Unfortunately for Myron Bolitar fans, no projects based on the author's series books featuring the sports agent detective are part of the Netflix deal.

Years before becoming one of America’s most celebrated authors, John Steinbeck wrote at least three novels which were never published. Two of them were destroyed by the young writer as he struggled to make his name, but a third – a full-length mystery werewolf story entitled Murder at Full Moon – has survived unseen in an archive ever since being rejected for publication in 1930. Although Steinbeck’s literary agents, McIntosh & Otis are still stating they will not be releasing the book, there are growing cries for the author's estate to relent and allow the book to be published. One of those is Professor Gavin Jones, a specialist in American literature at Stanford University, who writes about the work in his own upcoming nonfiction book, Reclaiming John Steinbeck: Writing for the Future of Humanity.

The New York Times took at look at the first mentions of famous authors in the newspaper through the years. Included among those is Agatha Christie, first mentioned in the gossipy Books and Authors column from Aug. 8, 1920, in which the Book Review reported, "An interesting story is told about how ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ by Agatha Christie, a detective novel announced for Fall publication by the John Lane company, came to be written. The author had never before attempted to write a book, but made a wager that she could write a detective story in which the reader would not be able to pick out the murderer, although having knowledge of the same clues as the detective. She was at least successful enough to have her work chosen by The London Times as a serial for its weekly edition.”

Some new research shows that with clever science, a single fingerprint left at a crime scene can be used to determine whether someone has touched or ingested class-A drugs.

Speaking of drug offenders, maybe all the police need is a good hand selfie.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Joan of Arc (Or the Law of Unintended Consequences)" by Tony Dawson

In the Q&A roundup, Murder & Mayhem spoke with British crime writer, Zoë Sharp, about her Charlie Fox series; Writers Who Kill's E.B. Davis interviewed author Debra H. Goldstein about her cozy mystery, Four Cuts Too Many; and Author Interviews chatted with David Gordon, whose first novel, The Serialist, was a finalist for an Edgar Award and made into a major motion picture in Japan.