Mystery Melange

The winner of the Petrona Award 2025 for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year was revealed to be The Clues in the Fjord by Satu Rämö, translated from the Finnish by Kristian London and published by Zaffre. The other finalists include: Samuel Bjørk – Dead Island tr. Charlotte Barslund (Norway, Bantam); Pascal Engman – The Widows tr. Neil Smith (Sweden, Legend Press); Malin Persson Giolito – Deliver Me tr. Rachel Willson-Broyles (Sweden, Simon & Schuster); Óskar Guðmundsson – The Dancer tr. Quentin Bates (Iceland, Corylus Books); Aslak Nore – The Sea Cemetery tr. Deborah Dawkin (Norway, MacLehose Press); and Gunnar Staalesen – Pursued by Death tr. Don Bartlett (Norway, Orenda Books).

The Historical Writers of America announced the shortlists for their 2025 HWA Crown Awards. Of interest to readers of crime fiction are a some titles in the Debut Crown Award category:  The Wicked of the Earth by AD Bergin; Winter of Shadows by Clare Grant; A Poisoner’s Tale by Cathryn Kemp; and Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis. The winners in the various categories will be revealed on November 19th.


Noir at the Bar heads to the Shade Bar in New York City in time for an early Halloween treat, on October 26 from 6-9 pm. Authors scheduled to appear and read from their works include Lee Goldberg, Nick Kolakowski, Will Medearis, Richie Narvaez, SJ Rozan, Dennis Tafoya, Radha Vatsal, Scott Adlerberg, and Jen Conley.


As The Guardian reported, the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie’s works features an unlikely new suspect: Mr Tickle, of Mr Men and Little Miss fame. Joining the likes of Mr Nosey and Little Miss Chatterbox are Mr Poirot and Little Miss Marple, who star in new re-tellings of some of Christie’s most famous stories, including Little Miss Marple: Muddle at the Vicarage and Mr Poirot: Mischief on the Nile, which were published this week. They mark the first time the queen of crime’s works have been re-imagined for preschool and primary school-aged children in illustrated book format. Two further titles will follow in February.


The Guardian also offered up a tribute by Leo Cookman in an obituary for his mother, crime author Lesley Cookman. Lesley Cookman published 26 novels and three short stories in a series with amateur detective Libby Sarjeant, the last of which, Murder Under the Cliff, was released earlier this year. Cookman aged 80, passed away following a bout with cancer.


The Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia offers Sherlock Monthly, a free series of programs delving into the Sherlock Holmes canon. Each month, the videocast focuses on one Sherlock Holmes adventure in the order they were first published. The live shows air on the third or fourth Saturday of each month and are archived afterward. (HT to The Bunbuyist)


On Art Taylor's "The First Two Pages" blog feature, he continues a series hosting contributors to the new anthology, On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology from editor Curtis Ippolito, with Michael Downing discussing his story, Burn."


This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "The Deuce - 1978" by Peter M. Gordon.


In the Q&A roundup this week, Vicki Delany, who is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and currently writing four different mystery series, applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, O, Deadly Night: A Year-Round Christmas Mystery; and Crime Fiction Lover welcomed Shane Peacock to discuss his new novel, A Place of Secrets, the author’s second Northern Gothic Mystery set in a small Ontario town.