Mystery Melange

On September 12, Writers Online, Writing Magazine, and Alex Davis Events are teaming up for Make Crime Pay, a lively online (via Google Meet) one-day writing workshop for crime and thriller fiction. Panels and workshops will be led by Jane Bettany, Paul Finch, Louise Jensen, and there also be an interview with author Sarah Pinborough. For registration information, follow this link.


The Richmond Walking & Book Festival taking place in the UK on Friday, September 25 will include a Peter Robinson Memorial event at Richmond Town Hall in North Yorkshire. Crime writers Robert Rutherford, a founding member of the Northern Crime Syndicate Crime Writers group, Chris Speck, and Ben Kennedy will participate in a panel discussion beginning at 7:30. Peter Robinson (1950-2022), was a British-born Canadian crime writer who was best known for his crime novels set in Yorkshire featuring Inspector Alan Banks. (HT to Shotsmag Confidential.)


Westminster, Colorado will be the site for a two‑night celebration of mystery writing, featuring an Authors Panel on September 25, discussing emerging trends in contemporary mystery, from new subgenres to emerging female protagonists. Then on September 26h, there will be an after‑hours Whodunit Evening with author meet-and-greets, mysterious activities, themed prizes, and refreshments. To register, follow this link for the panel and this link for the Whodunnit Evening.


Noir at the Bar heads to the South Tyneside Libraries in the UK as part of the the Write Festival (at The Word) on Friday, September 25 from 6pm. The event, organized by Vic Watson-Logan, is free and open to the public. The slate of authors scheduled to appear will be announced later this month.


The Whitby Lit Fest unveiled its program with over 50 author events scheduled across four days from November 19–22. Crime fiction authors scheduled to take part include former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin (Isolation Island, Last Breath), Ann Cleeves (the Vera and Shetlands series), Diamond Dagger winner Mark Billingham, Elly Griffiths (The Case of the Christmas Card), and Jo Murray, Martin Edwards, and Sarah Hilary.


HarperCollins Publishers UK's One More Chapter has launched a new crime and thriller imprint, Cliffhanger, with Jennie Rothwell and Katie Sadler leading the imprint. The list will include existing OMC authors, including Michael Wood, Fiona Leitch, Jackie Kabler, and DB Stephens, plus new acquisitions. Rothwell said, “I could not be more excited to build a list that will keep readers up past their bedtimes and have them reaching for the next book before they have even finished the last.”


Following on the heels of the NYT list of "Best Thriller Books of the 21st Century," (chosen by 291 crime novelists, editors, booksellers, librarians and other book lovers) the editors also had readers pick their "100 Best Thrillers of the Century." The core of the list included nine novels by Tana French, and five novels each from John le Carré, Kate Atkinson, and Mick Herron.


Mystery Readers Journal editor Janet Rudolph has extended the deadline to August 30 for essay and article submissions for the upcoming themed issue on "cross-genre mysteries." Cross-genre mysteries retain a central investigation or puzzle at its heart, but layers in other distinct genre such as science fiction, fantasy, true crime, and Westerns. For more information follow this link.


Art Taylor's "The First Two Pages" featured Josh Pachter discussing how he co-wrote a short story with William Bankier...twelve years after Bankler passed away.


Kevin Tipple's Thursday Treats blog has news of short crime fiction in Yellow Mama, Black Cat Weekly, the upcoming Capital Crime Writers Presents: A Capital Mystery, and also new releases from James L'Etoile, D. V. Berkom, and Colin Conway.
 

This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "Murder One" by David Bond.


In the Q&A roundup, author and screenwriter Gloria Chao applied the Page 69 Test to her latest novel, The Mortal Enemy Murder Club; Jasper Fforde spoke with Publishers Weekly about his mind-bending Thursday Next series and Dark Reading Matter, the series’ eighth and final installment, which will be published in October; Carolyn Haines stopped by Kevin's Corner to discuss her novel, Joy to the Bones, and why she decided to stop writing this very successful thirty-odd book series; and Crime Fiction Lover interviewed debut author Neville Blackwood about Covert, a novel based on his experience of working as an undercover cop in 1990s London.