Mystery Melange

Stella Rimington has died at the age of 90. Rimington was the first female director of MI5 and the first head of the domestic spy agency to be publicly named (and also widely seen as the model for Dame Judi Dench's "M" in the James Bond films). After leaving MI5, Rimington principally became a writer, with her first book the memoir, Open Secret, which was controversial at the time. A series of crime novels followed, including ten with Liz Carlyle, an MI5 officer as the lead character, and two more with Manon Tyler, a CIA agent.

The full program was revealed for the 2025 Agatha Christie Festival taking place from September 13-21 across the English Riviera. The festival kicks off with the popular Fringe Festival, which offers a host of unique experiences that celebrate Christie’s legacy in the very places that inspired her work, including walking tours and mystery-solving events. From September 18th onward, the festival transitions into its Literary Festival slate, with such highlights as Lucy Foley and Sophie Hannah discussing their work continuing the stories of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot; authors Janice Hallett, Vaseem Khan, and broadcaster Steph McGovern exploring how modern writers are reinventing Golden Age detective fiction in "The Never-Ending Golden Age"; Tony Medawar discussing "Agatha Christie and the Occult"; and Icelandic crime fiction star Ragnar Jónasson discussing his new novel Death of a Crime Writer alongside Kelly Mullen, followed by an interactive murder mystery game.

BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, running September 11–13 in Sydney, Australia, has launched its 2025 program. Among the headliners are Michael Robotham, Candice Fox, Jane Caro and Gary Jubelin. The program will feature writing workshops, including the festival’s first offering of manuscript feedback sessions, and industry pitching opportunities across both fiction and nonfiction genres. For the first time, this year’s festival will include young adult crime and mystery writing in the program with authors Amy Doak (Eleanor Jones is not a Murderer) and Troy Hunter (Gus and The Missing Boy), who will both run workshops for high school students.

Noir at the Bar heads to British Columbia on August 28 at Victoria's Caffe Fantastico. The event is hosted by Magnus Skallagrimsson, with authors scheduled to read from their works to include Jean Paetkau, Ardell Holden, Shane Joaquin Jimenez, Jim Bottomley, Christine Cossack, John Farrow, and Judee Fong.

Val McDermid is using the same elements and techniques from her mystery novels to revisit one of history’s most enduring whodunnits:  the mysterious death of Christopher Marlowe. In her new play, And Midnight Never Come, McDermid explores the controversial circumstances around the death of the brilliant and subversive Elizabethan playwright who was stabbed to death in a Deptford tavern at the age of 29. Officially, Marlowe was killed over a row about a bill. But unofficially, espionage, heresy, and a state-sanctioned cover-up have all been put forth as potential motives.

Virgin Voyages is presenting its first true-crime podcast-themed cruise in partnership with iHeartMedia. Departing Oct. 10 from Miami on the Valiant Lady, the one-time five-night itinerary sails to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and Virgin’s Beach Club at Bimini in the Bahamas. The cruise focuses on popular titles including Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know, Betrayal, and Buried Bones. During the special voyage, guests can experience live podcast recordings of their favorite shows, attend "how to podcast" workshops, find meet-and-greets with top hosts, participate in giveaways, and enjoy themed cocktails and bites.

This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "Another N-Word" by Tony Dawson.

In the Q&A roundup, J.T. Ellison, author of the Taylor Jackson and Dr. Samantha Owens series and more, applied the Page 69 Test to Last Seen, her most recent thriller; Vicki Delany, Canadian author of several cozy mystery series including the Lighthouse Library series and Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, also took the Page 69 Test to Tea with Jam & Dread, her newest Tea by the Sea mystery; Shots Magazine interviewed Caroline Fraser, author of Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, and also Travis Kennedy, author of the thriller, The Whyte Python World Tour; and Writers Who Kill spoke with Ellen Byron about her Golden Motel Mysteries.