Mystery Melange

 

Viola Davis and bestselling crime fiction author James Patterson have signed with Little, Brown and Company to co-write a novel. Davis has won the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy, and she has already made the bestseller lists with her memoir, Finding Me. Set in the present-day rural south, the novel follows a dynamic and brilliant female judge on the brink of a decision with seismic repercussions for her small county, and potentially the whole nation. It puts her career, principles, and ultimately her life at stake. The yet-to-be-titled novel will be published by Little, Brown and Company in 2025 or 2026.

Frank Price will moderate a conversation between Gregg Hurwitz (of the Orphan X series) and Kevin Compton, both experts in "Thrillers, Tech, and Ethics in a Rapidly Changing World," on July 18 at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club of California. The program is sponsored by the San Francisco Commonwealth Club/World Affairs Council and is in-person only. Potential attendees are requested to sign up by July 10. (HT to Mystery Fanfare)

Mystery Readers Journal has a call for articles on the topic of Partners in Crime. They're looking for articles, reviews, and author essays about mysteries that focus on either "Partners in Crime: A Surfeit of Sleuths" or "Partners in Crime: Writing Teams." Author essays are first person, about yourself, your books, and the "Partners in Crime" connection (500-1000 words); reviews are 50-250 words; and articles are 500-1000 words. The deadline is August 1, 2024. For more information, follow this link.

Happy Anniversary to the Mystery Lovers Kitchen blog, which is celebrating 15 years of eating and writing. Members are sharing remembrances, stories, recipes, and offering some giveaways, too.


In the Q&A roundup, Crime Fiction Lover chatted with Joachim B. Schmidt, a Swiss author who writes a series set in his adopted home of Iceland featuring Kalmann, a charming, quirky neurodivergent man who has been told he has the academic capacity of a six-year-old but equally has the capacity for heroism, acting as Sheriff in the tiny community of Rauferhöfn, where he hunts arctic fox and Greenland shark with his grandfather; and Jeff Pierce over at The Rap Sheet blog spoke with Dean Jobb, author of A Gentleman and a Thief, a new biography about the notorious 1920s gentleman cat burglar, Arthur Barry.