Mystery Melange

The Los Angeles Times Book Awards were presented at the annual LA Times Festival of Books this past weekend during a ceremony at the University of Southern California’s Bovard Auditorium. The 2025 winner of the Mystery/Thriller category was Danielle Trussoni for The Puzzle Box. The other finalists include: Christopher Bollen, Havoc; Michael Connelly, The Waiting: A Ballard and Bosch Novel; Attica Locke, Guide Me Home: A Highway 59 Novel; and Liz Moore, The God of the Woods.

A longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year was also revealed last weekend. Harrogate International Festivals announced the 18 titles competing for the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty-first year. The longlist, selected by an academy of journalists, reviewers, booksellers, bloggers, an podcasters and representatives from within the industry, "showcases innovative, original and entertaining stories, with global bestsellers and new talent vying for the coveted award." Readers are now encouraged to vote for their favorite novels to reach the shortlist, with the winner crowned on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday, July 17.

Kensington's Cozy Con heads to Marietta, Georgia on Sunday, May 4, from 10am to 4pm at the Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center. Authors Ellery Adams, Valerie Burns, Lynn Cahoon, Kemper Donovan, Dianne Freeman, Debra H. Goldstein, Traci Hall, Molly Macrae, Roz Noonan, and Allie Pleite will be on hand for talks and book signings. Refreshments and swag bags will also be available for attendees. You can register via the following link.

National Crime Reading Month in the UK (held throughout June) will kick off with a free online panel event, "The Lives of Crime," on June 4, featuring bestselling authors Vaseem Khan, Adele Parks, Fiona Cummins, and Penny Batchelor. The panel will explore the genre’s universal appeal – from psychological thrillers to cozy mysteries – and how it creates accessible pathways to reading for audiences who might otherwise never discover the joy of books. You can register for this free event by following this link.
 

Although this one will be a bit pricey for most of us, the Sonoma Valley Authors Festival, held from May 2-4 in San Francisco, will include appearances by best-selling authors Isabel Allende, Michael Connelly, Percival Everett, and many more, using a "TED Talk" style format that includes the main tent and breakout sessions. Passes for the three-day event start at $1,500.

On May 5, the popular literary event Noir at the Bar comes to Buffalo, New York, at Charlie’s Boatyard, located at 1111 Fuhrmann Boulevard. This event brings together crime fiction fans and authors for an unforgettable evening of live readings, cocktails, and conversation. Hosted by Jim Creahan and Tom McDonnell, this installment of Noir at the Bar will include Gary Earl Ross, Sandra Block, Stephen G. Eoannou, A.M. Loweecey, John Schreier, Lissa Marie Redmond, Jeff Schober, Bill Metzger and special guest, poet Kate McGreevy.

BBC Studios, the commercial arm of British broadcaster BBC, and the Agatha Christie estate have teamed up to launch a writing course on the educational streaming service BBC Maestro taught by Christie herself—although to be fair, it's actually actress Vivien Keene aided by AI, using the author’s own words. (The actress was chosen primarily by considering the biometrics of her face for the visuals, and for the audio, Christie’s and the actress’ voices were put together). The project's creators used meticulously restored archival interviews, private letters, and writings researched by a team of Christie experts for the pioneering course, which reconstructs Christie’s own voice and insights, guiding you through the art of suspense, plot twists and unforgettable characters. Nicki Sheard, CEO of brands and licensing at BBC Studios, added, “Agatha Christie was an icon of British storytelling, and to be able to deploy this technology in a way that is ethical and thoughtful, to both honor her legacy and bring her genius to a new generation in a fresh and different way, is a great thing to be able to do."

This is a fun event I'd like to see more of: the 16th edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) at the Expo Centre Sharjah, in the UAE, includes the Sherlock Holmes Exhibition, recreating iconic scenes from Sherlock’s world and encouraging children to solve clues and crack mysteries just like the legendary detective. Through hands-on exploration, kids build critical thinking skills while enjoying an exciting adventure and hopefully developing an appreciation for the mystery genre.

It seems a little early to start with the "best" lists, but Irenie Forshaw at The Week, Jamie Canaves at Book Riot, and editors at The Times compiled lists of their picks for the best crime fiction "so far" in 2025.

Happy anniversary to Stark House Press, celebrating 25 years of bringing many authors and their work back into print, particularly from the hardboiled and noir era of the fifties and sixties.

In the Q&A roundup, thriller author Kay Sparling chatted with Lisa Haselton about her new feminist cold war spy thriller, Mission THAW; Karen Rose Smith (Daisy’s Tea Garden Mysteries, Caprice De Luca Home-Staging Mysteries, and the Tomes & Tea Mystery Series) applied the Page 69 Test to her latest Tomes & Tea mystery, Booked for Revenge; U.S. playwright, Ken Ludwig, spoke with The Guardian about adapting Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile; S. A. Kazlo was interviewed by E. B. Davis over at the Writers Who Kill blog about A Pawsome Summer For Murder, the seventh book in the Samantha Davies mystery series; and Anne Hillerman spoke with Cowboys & Indians about her father's legacy, finding her own voice, and Dark Winds.