Mystery Melange

This Saturday, March 28, the Coronado Public Library will host the San Diego Writers Festival. One of the panels included in this one-day event is "Mystery Authors Writng Across Genres," moderated by Matt Coyle, with authors AC Adams, Dennis Crosby, Gary Phillips, and Caitlin Rother.


Also on March 28, the Northland Local Author Fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will feature author talks, panels, and signings. One of the featured panels is "Writing Can Be Murder," a chat with mystery authors Annette Dashofy, Liz Milliron, and Joyce Tremel. Registration is free.


On Tuesday, March 31, the Goshen Publish Library and Historical Society will present "Dangerous Minds: Women Who Write Crime." Mystery writers will talk about how mystery writers imagine the perfect crime, how they craft the ultimate whodunit, plotting murder (fictionally, of course!), building suspense, and bringing unforgettable characters to life.


The deadline is fast approaching for the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, an annual grant of $2,000 for an emerging writer of color administered by Sisters in Crime. This grant is intended to support the recipient in crime fiction writing and career development activities. The grantee may choose to use the grant for activities that include workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses, and research activities required for completion of the work. Grant information and submission requirements can be found via this link, but you'd better hurry since submissions are due by March 31.


Although I haven't seen such news hit the crime fiction community just yet, the AI controversy is already taking its toll on other genres. Case in point, the publisher Hachette cancelled the US release of the horror novel, Shy Girl, by Mia Ballard and withdrew the UK edition after weeks of online speculation about the novel’s origins, as reported by both the New York Times and The Guardian. Plus, late last year, two novels up for the prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Award were disqualified on the basis of their AI cover art (which the authors in question claimed they weren't aware of).


The Guardian's Laura Wilson had a roundup of its recommended list of the latest crime fiction books, including Whidbey by T Kira Madden; Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughan; Killing Me Softly by Christie Watson; The Dangerous Stranger by Simon Mason; and Astronaut! by Oana Aristide. Sarah Weinman did the honors for the New York Times, reviewing A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford; My Grandfather, the Master Detective by Masateru Konishi; Still Life by Malin Persson Giolito; and The Tree of Light and Flowers by Thomas Perry. Plus, Paula L. Woods profiled new mystery titles for the Los Angeles Times, including Jackson Alone by Jose Ando; Cruelty Free by Caroline Glenn; The Exes by Leodora Darlington; and To Kill a Cook by W.M. Akers. Finally, Jordan Snowden profiled new mysteries and thrillers for the Seattle Times, including Masateru Konishi’s My Grandfather, the Master Detective, translated by Louise Heal Kawai; Sujata Massey’s The Star from Calcutta; Avery Curran’s Spoiled Milk; J.R. Thornton’s Lucien; Frances Crawford’s debut A Bad, Bad Place; and Kirsten King’s A Good Person.


This fall, Titan Comics is publishing Ian Fleming’s James Bond Signature Comic Strip Collection Vol. 1, a brand-new book bringing together the first seven feature-length James Bond newspaper comic-strip adventures, that originally ran from July 1958 to May 1961 and helped inspire the James Bond cinematic universe. The comics by acclaimed artist John McLusky gather Ian Fleming’s earliest literary adventures in comic strip form compiled into a hardcover edition with some additional unique features. The new James Bond book can already be pre-ordered directly through Titan Comics or via Ian Fleming's official website.


Writing for the Sleuthsayers blog, John Floyd shined a light on Pulpwood Fiction, which he notes "isn't an established genre, but it's a definite—and different—area of storytelling, one that focuses on the gritty, blue-collar people of the rural South, where the setting plays a central role."


Fans of crime fiction related to art heists may enjoy reading about the real-life Arthur Brand, a Dutch art detective who tracks down stolen masterpieces, sometimes called the "Indiana Jones of the art world."


In the Q&A roundup, Author Interviews welcomed Rob Phillips, an Emmy-winning sportswriter covering the Dallas Cowboys, whose debut novel, Stakeouts and Strollers, won the Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Award; Deborah Kalb spoke with J.R. Thornton about his new novel, Lucien, a psychological drama in the tradition of Patricia Highsmith and Donna Tartt, and Kalb also interviewed Michelle Kaminsky about her new book, Murder on the Trail: Mysteries, Deaths & Disappearances in National Parks.