Ask the winning authors to make you some tea—they've got the gear! This weekend, during the Malice Domestic convention in Maryland, the winners of this year's Agatha Awards were announced. (Shhh- This pic of a beaming Hank Phillippi Ryan and her award comes via our flat-out theft from the Tweetstream of @JSpencerFleming, a sister nominee.)…
2014 promises to be chock full of wonderful mystery conventions and conferences ranging from Bouchercon— the world’s largest crime fiction convention—to more tightly-focused conferences like Malice Domestic, which specializes in traditional and cozy mysteries. Thrillerfest is, of course, primarily about thrillers, and Left Coast Crime is regional, but also offers the year's only humorous mystery…
The Malice Domestic convention celebrating traditional mysteries will be held for the 26th year, from May 2nd through May 4th, 2014, in Bethesda, Maryland. And keeping to tradition, they'll also be honoring some of the fan favorite reads of the year, as voted upon by attendees. Without further ado, here's the shortlist of nominees for…
First it was The Edgar Awards, announced on Thursday night: Best Novel: Live by Night by Dennis Lehane Best First Novel: The Expats by Chris Pavone Best Paperback Original: The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters Best Fact Crime: Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days…
Mystery conventions (aka conferences) can be a great way to meet some of your favorite authors and to find kindred crime fiction friends. There are so many different fan conventions to choose from, ranging from those that focus on traditional mysteries and cozies (Malice Domestic) to thrillers (ThrillerFest), up to the big daddy of them…
A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry is the second traditional mystery following journalist Troy Chance (available February 5, 2013). Freelance writer Troy Chance is snapping photos of the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival ice palace when the ice-cutting machine falls silent. Encased in the ice is the shadowy outline of a body—a man…
This past weekend was the Malice Domestic conference, whose motto is “If traditional mysteries are your cup of tea…” And, as they do annually, they gave out the Agatha Awards for the best published in 2011: Best Novel: Three Day Town by Margaret Maron …
The annual Agatha Awards are also known as The Hardest Possible Way to Get a Ceramic Teapot. If most of us wanted such an item, we’d go to a swanky kitchen shop or even seek out an artisanal potter. Rather than doing that or stealing someone else’s—which would seem like a natural for crime fans—all…
Yes, I read cozies. No, I don’t own a cat or an antimacassar. I don’t grow roses, I can’t knit and I once owned a teapot, but it broke. I prefer coffee anyway. Crime fiction readers feel it’s their right, if not their obligation, to malign cozy mysteries in the same way that genre fiction…
