Mystery Author Extravaganza in Reston, VA

 

Sisters in Crime Chesapeake (Chessie) Chapter is hosting a mystery author extravaganza Saturday, December 13 at 1pm at the Reston Regional Library. Come meet the authors and get a head start on your holiday shopping.

It's a great line up!

Dictionary of Imaginary Places

 

My new favorite used bookstore find courtesy of the Second Story Books used book warehouse in Maryland (they also have a smaller DC location) is...The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, by Alberto Manuel and Gianni Guadalupe. More fantasy than mystery, I still find it fascinating. 

This heavy reference book features fictional places from fantasies including maps and detailed descriptions of places. The copy I found had an artist who used a highlighter to color certain maps. 

You can find descriptions of Eastwick, as detailed in John Updikes, The Witches of Eastwick; Earthsea as depicted in Ursula LeGuin's, A Wizard of Earthsea; and Jurassic Park from Michael Crichton's novel of the same name. 

This edition was published in 2000, and I've been unable to find a reference to a more recent edition. 

Launching The Most Dangerous Games Saturday in Alexandria

Come celebrate with us as we launch The Most Dangerous Games short story anthology in Alexandria, VA at noon at Elaine's Restaurant in Old Town. 

Authors with stories in the anthology including: Daphne Silver, K.C. Selby, LaToya Jovena, Jane Limprecht, Rebecca Lugones, Kirlagh James, L.L. Kaplan, and Maya Corrigan will join editor, Deborah Lacy, for the event. 

Hope to see you there. 

Short Story Podcast from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

Super busy, but still need a little mystery in your life?

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine has a podcast of my short story, Taking Care, available on their website. They also have other free stories available by podcast on their site. Perfect to listen while you sneak in a walk, or finally get that closet cleaned. 

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine also recently announced that they are launching a bigger podcast beyond the website. So stay tuned for more great mystery shorts. 

Russell & Holmes Day with Laurie R. King

 

It's the 30th anniversary of the beloved Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. Laurie is celebrating with Russell and Holmes Days before major mystery conventions. I recently went to the Maryland edition and it was great fun. In addition to hearing from Laurie, we heard from a 1920s costume historian and Holmes expert Peter Blau. We were also treated to a knife throwing demonstration.  

I've been a big fan of the Mary Russell series starting with book number one, The Bee Keeper's Apprentice. The heroine, Mary Russell, is an intellectual match for Sherlock Holmes and the stories are great adventures. The time period and Mary's problem solving is always fun. 

Laurie's latest book is The Lantern's Dance. This mystery involves secrets involving Sherlock's son, Damian, and Sherlock's uncle. Lots of puzzles and mystery. 

The last Russell and Holmes Day is in Nashville at Bouchercon on Tuesday, August 27th. Russell fans won't want to miss this one. 

Speakers include:

Andrew Gulli has been the editor of the revived Strand Magazine since 1999. He has published hundreds of new and established mystery writers, and in his role as literary sleuth, has discovered and published previously unknown stories by masters ranging from Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck to James M. Cain and Joseph Heller. He uncovered fifteen previously unknown short stories by Dashiell Hammett, a J.M. Barrie play spoofing Sherlock Holmes, an H.G. Wells ghost story, and a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Ciciley Hoffman is an award-winning costume designer, wardrobe stylist, image consultant, and fashion editor who designs costumes for film, television, and music videos, advises for fashion brands, and consults with artists and recording artists, creating looks from rock to vintage, avant garde to country, haute couture to period, and everything in between.  She volunteers with Fashion Is for Every Body, committed to normalizing inclusion in life through the art of fashion. She is an embroiderer and vintage enthusiast with extensive knowledge of the history of fashion, clothing customs, and construction. She holds BA degrees from Oberlin College in Theatre and German Studies with Honors, with an enduring interest in cats and hats.

Honeytree Meadery of Nashville is both an apiary and a meadery: they keep bees, and they use the honey to make a series of fabulous and creative meads (honey wines.) What is so fascinating about bees? How does living with them teach us about our place in the world? Sherlock Holmes would know—and so our speakers from Honeytree. As they say, “At Honeytree Meadery, it starts with the bees and ends with a buzz.”

Mystery Writers of America Announces 2024 Edgar Award Winners

Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the Edgar awards this week. The list is a great place to find new reads for your TBR pile. Congratulations to all of the winners. 

Best Novel: Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best First Novel by an American Author: The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry (Atria)

Best Paperback Original: Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Berkley)

Best Fact Crime: Crooked: The Roaring '20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters (Hachette)

Best Critical/Biopgraphical: Love Me Fierce in Danger: The Life of James Ellroy by Steven Powell (Bloomsbury Academic)

Best Short Story: Hallowed Ground by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)

Best Juvenile: The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas (Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR)

Best Young Adult: Girl Forgotten by April Henry (Christy Ottaviano)

Best Television Episode Teleplay: Escape from Shit Mountain–Poker Face by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman (Peacock)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: The Body in Cell Two by Kate Hohl, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May-June 2023 (Dell Magazines)

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award: Play the Fool by Lina Chern (Bantam)

The G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award: An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)

The Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award: Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux (Pegasus Crime)

Special Awards

Grand Master: Katherine Hall Page, R.L. Stine

Ellery Queen Award: Michaela Hamilton, Kensington Books

The Agatha Award Nominees

Hurray! The Agatha Award nominees have been announced. Winners will be chosen at this year's Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda, MD, April 28-30. It's a great conference for those who love traditional mysteries. 

​​2022
Best Contemporary Novel
Bayou Book Thief, Ellen Byron (Berkley Prime Crime)
Death By Bubble Tea, Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley)
Fatal Reunion, Annette Dashofy (Level Best Books)
Dead Man's Leap, Tina de Bellegarde (Level Best Books)
A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best Historical Novel
The Counterfeit Wife, Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Amanda Flower (Berkley)
The Lindbergh Nanny, Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
In Place of Fear, Catriona McPherson (Mobius)
Under a Veiled Moon, Karen Odden (Crooked Lane Books)

Best First Novel
Cheddar Off Dead, Korina Moss (St. Martin’s)
Death in the Aegean, M. A. Monnin (Level Best Books)
The Bangalore Detectives Club, Harini Nagendra (Constable)
Devil’s Chew Toy, Rob Osler (Crooked Lane Books)
The Finalist, Joan Long (Level Best Books)
The Gallery of Beauties, Nina Wachsman (Level Best Books)

Best Short Story
"Beauty and the Beyotch," Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Feb. 2022)
"There Comes a Time," Cynthia Kuhn, Malice Domestic Murder Most Diabolical (Wildside Press)
"Fly Me to the Morgue," Lisa Q Mathews, Malice Domestic Mystery Most Diabolical (Wildside Press)
"The Minnesota Twins Meet Bigfoot," Richie Narvaez, Land of 10,000 Thrills, Bouchercon Anthology (Down & Out Books)
"The Invisible Band," Art Taylor, Edgar & Shamus Go Golden (Down & Out Books)

Best Non-Fiction
The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators, Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)
The Handbook to Agatha Christie: The Bloomsbury Handbook to Agatha Christie, Mary Anna Evans and J. C. Bernthal (Bloomsbury Academic)
The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie, Carla Valentine (Sourcebooks)
Promophobia: Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Crime Fiction, Diane Vallere Ed. (Sisters in Crime)
Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Crime)

​Best Children's/YA Mystery
Daybreak on Raven Island, Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young People)
In Myrtle Peril, Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
#shedeservedit, Greg Herren (Bold Strokes Books)
Sid Johnson and the Phantom Slave Stealer, Frances Schoonmaker (Auctus Publishers)
Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade, Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)