Mystery Melange

Book art by Kenji Nakama

In an email via the IACW's J. Madison Davis, The International Association of Crime Writers North American Branch announced the Hammett Award for the book of the year that best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing. The 2025 winner is The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Riverhead Books). The other finalists include Broiler by Eli Cranor (Soho); Rough Trade by Katrina Carrasco (MacMillan); Crooked by Dietrich Kalteis (ECW Press); and The Long-Shot Trial by William Deverell (ECW Press). The winner receives a bronze statuette by artist Peter Boiger, inspired by a famous photograph of Dashiell Hammett, for whom the award is named.


The Palmetto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America are presenting a free online webinar on Saturday, October 18, 2025, from 11:15 am to 2:45 pm ET, titled "Writing Short Mystery Fiction 2025."  Leading off the proceedings is a session on "Plotting Short Stories" by John M. Floyd, whose stories have appeared in AHMM, EQMM, Strand Magazine, Best American Mystery Stories, Best Mystery Stories of the Year, and many other publications. John is an Edgar nominee, a Shamus Award winner, and a six-time Derringer Award winner. Other sessions include "New Voices in Short Mystery Fiction" with N.M. Cedeño, LaToya Jovena, and Tom Milan, and "Intriguing an Editor: So Your Writing’s Remembered Even If Your Story’s Rejected," featuring Barb Goffman, Sandra Murphy, and Josh Pachter. You can register for this free event via this link.


After author John le Carré died in 2020, his comprehensive private archive was donated to the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford. A new exhibition at the library, which runs through April 6, 2026, is appropriately named Tradecraft after the language that le Carré used to depict the workings of the intelligence services in his spy novels. Tradecraft will provide a multifaceted portrait of the author's life and creative process, featuring research, drafts, and corrections for his novels, non-fiction, and adaptations, as well as personal correspondence. Much of the material, which spans Cornwell’s entire life and career, from his time as a student at Oxford to drafts penned in his final weeks, will be on display for the first time.


Dean Street Press announced the release of the second set of reissues (books 6-10) in the Antony Maitland mystery series by Anglo-Canadian author Sara Woods (1916–1985), which will be available starting in December. Originally published in the 1960s and unavailable for four decades, these novels continue to showcase Woods flair for intricate plotting, courtroom tension, and sharply drawn characters. Antony Maitland is a barrister, sleuth, and perennial thorn in the side of the establishment, with his seamless blend of legal acumen and detective instincts. DSP is touting these new editions as perfect for longtime fans and newcomers alike, especially readers drawn to classic legal mysteries steeped in mid-century British atmosphere.


Mystery Fanfare passed along the sad news that British mystery writer Ann Granger has died at the age of 86. Her works include the Mitchell and Markby series, the Fran Varady mysteries, and the Victorian crime series featuring Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ben Ross and his wife Lizzie. Her publisher, Headline, said it has sold more than one million copies of Granger’s novels, and her work has been published in 10 languages, including German. She achieved more than 30 top five appearances on the German bestseller lists.


We also lost Shaun Usher this week, who has died at the age of 88. The former Daily Mail writer later found success as a prolific writer of crime fiction under the pen name of Jeffry Scott, with stories that  regularly appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.


Volume 43, no. 2, of Clues: A Journal of Detection has been published, with a theme issue on Disability and Detective Fiction, guest edited by Susannah B Mintz (Skidmore College) and Mark Osteen (Loyola Univ Maryland). The topics in this latest issue include "The blindest of the blind": Blind Men, Beggars, and Murderers in Catherine Crowe’s Crime Fiction; "Broken Bones": Isolation, Mobility, and Interdependence in Rear Window; “Do you see?”: Disability and “Seeing” Evidence in Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon, and more.

 
Art Taylor's "The First Two Pages" blog feature continues a series of essays on the anthology The Most Dangerous Games, edited by Deborah Lacy, published last month by Level Best Books. This week, it's K.C. Selby's turn, reflecting on the thoughts and decisions behind the opening of “Murder & Mystery: Live in Five,” a story that’s a mystery with a side of speculative fiction.


This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "Federal Communications Censure" by G. Emil Reutter.


In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton spoke with author Paul G. Vecchiet about his newest spiritual sci-fi thriller, The Disclosure Paradox Book 2, Salvation; The Observer spoke with Lee Child about handing over the Jack Reacher reins, being inspired by Enid Blyton, and why he’s still "mad as hell" at being sacked from ITV 30 years ago; Ron Base tasked DCI Lightfoot from the Priscilla Tempest mystery series he writes with Prudence Emery to apply the Page 69 Test to the latest installment, Curse of the Savoy; Lou Berney, author of stand-alone novels like November Road, as well as his series about getaway driver Shake Bouchon, chatted with the Los Angeles Daily News; and the Charleston Post and Courier had Five Questions for Longmire author, Craig Johnson.