Mystery Melange

I missed this bit of award news back in March, but at the annual Krimimessen (Crime Fair) in Denmark, four crime honors were revealed, including the Palle Rosenkrantz prize (best foreign crime/thriller novel), won by Carl-Johan Vallgren for Din tid kommer. Also announced were the Harald Mogensen award (best Danish crime/thriller novel), won by Dennis Nørmark for Harare; the Debut Prize, Kim Hundevadt for Porcus; the The Lasse Holm diploma (historical crime novel of the year), which went to Jacob Jonia for Troldmanden; and the Tage la Cour Diploma (best non-fiction book) was given to Ulrik Skotte for Paraplymordet. Hopefully, we'll see all of these works in English (and other) translations soon.


The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers announced the finalists for the 2026 Scribe Awards, which acknowledge and promote those working in this often overlooked and underrepresented area of publishing and the entertainment industry. The crime fiction nominees in the Original Novel – General category include Murder, She Wrote: Snowy With a Chance of Murder by Barbara Early; Return of the Maltese Falcon by Max Allan Collins; The Hook and the Eye by Raymond Benson; and Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees by Terrie Farley Moran. IAMTW President Jonathan Maberry will announce the winners at this month's San Diego ComicCon.


Joseph RG Demarco, a retired librarian, prolific novel and short story author, and editor or co-editor of Mysterical-E and two Sisters in Crime NY anthologies passed away recently at the age of 88. He was best known for his Marco Fontana, and Doyle and Kord detective mystery series, the Vampire Inquisitor books, and many stories, articles, essays, and columns about LGBTQ+ life in Philadelphia,


In more sad news, as reported by Mystery Fanfare, Gail Bowen, a Canadian crime writer, passed away this week at age 83 after a brief bout with cancer. Bowen, whose Joanne Kilbourn mystery series garnished multiple awards, also gave back to the literary communities, serving as writer-in-residence at the Toronto Reference Library, Calgary’s Memorial Park Library, and the Regina Public Library, and was a member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.


This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "Apocalypse Now" by Jennifer Lagier.


In the Q&A roundup, former investigative reporter Caitlin Rother chatted with Deborah Kalb about her new novel, Staged, featuring Katrina Chopin and Ken Goode; Canadian Eva Gates, also known as Vicki Delany who writes four cozy mystery series, applied the Page 69 Test to Whose Body in the Library, the latest in her Lighthouse Library mystery series; Peter Colt, author of the Detective Tommy Kelly series and the Andy Roark Mysteries, also applied the Page 69 Test to his latest Kelly novel, novel, The Driftwood Bones; and Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman spoke with Deborah Kalb about their new novel The Kings of Vegas, where a prodigal daughter of a Las Vegas casino empire returns to take over her family business, only to discover she’s up against the Mob, the Feds, and her own brothers.