Cartoon of the Day: TBR Pile

Department Q: New Series on Netflix

The new "Department Q" series, starring Matthew Goode, will be available exclusively on Netflix and will premiere on May 29, 2025. The series is based on the books of the same name by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It is comprised of three separate thrillers based on the books: The Keeper of Lost Causes, The Absent One, and A Conspiracy of Faith. All nine episodes will be released on the same day, making it bingeable. Yay! 

FYI: There was another production of Department Q that came out in 2016.  It is available to rent or purchase on AppleTV and other streaming services. It was previously on PrimeVideo.

Matthew Goode stars in this new Netflix crime thriller series Department Q, based on the book series of the same name by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen.The series follows Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck, a brilliant but troubled detective who is put in charge of a special police department focused on cold cases.   

Department Q was filmed on location in Edinburgh. 

The trailer for Department Q

2025 Derringer Awards: Short Mystery Fiction Society Awards

The 2025 Derringer Awards: Short Mystery Fiction Society

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words): “Kargin the Necromancer,” by Mike McHone (Mystery Tribune, December 15, 2024)

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words): “The Wind Phone,” by Josh Pachter (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2024)

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words): “Heart of Darkness,” by Tammy Euliano (from Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson; Down & Out)

Best Novelette (8,001-20,000 words): “The Cadillac Job,” by Stacy Woodson (Chop Shop, Episode 1, edited by Michael Bracken; 
Down & Out)

Best Anthology: Murder, Neat: A SleuthSayers Anthology, edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman (Level Short)

The Silver Derringer for Editorial Excellence goes to Janet Hutchings, former Editor in chief of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. 

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement goes to short-story writer and English professor Art Taylor. 

The 2025 Hall of Fame recipient is O. Henry.

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HT: The Rap Sheet & Kevin Tipple

MOTHER'S DAY CRIME FICTION // MOTHER'S DAY MYSTERIES

Mother's Day: So many Mothers in Mysteries. The following is a sampling with emphasis on the Mother's Day Holiday. If I listed all the mysteries and crime fiction with famous and infamous mothers, the list would be way too long. This is an updated list, so let me know if I've missed any titles or authors.

MOTHER'S DAY MYSTERIES

Death by Windmill by Jennifer S. Alderson
Angel at Troublesome Creek by Mignon F. Ballard

The Mother's Day Mystery by Peter Bartram
Mother's Day by Frankie Bow 
Mother's Day Mayhem by Lynn Cahoon 
How to Murder Your Mother-in-Law, Mum's the Word by Dorothy Cannell

Mother's Day Murder by Wensley Clarkson
A Holiday Sampler by Christine E. Collier
A Catered Mother's Day by Isis Crawford 
A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow
Motherhood is Murder (Short Stories) by Mary Daheim, Carolyn Hart, Shirley Rousseau Murphy and Jane Isenberg
The Mother's Day Mishap by Kathi Daley
Murder Can Upset Your Mother by Selma Eichler
A Mother's Day Murder by Dee Ernst
Bon Bon Voyage by Nancy Fairbanks
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney

Botched Butterscotch by Amanda Flower
Murder for Mother: Short Story collection, edited by Martin S. Greenberg
Murder Superior by Jane Haddam
A Gift for Mother's Day by K.C. Hardy
The Mother’s Day Murder by Lee Harris
"Pull my Paw"(short story) by Sue Ann Jaffarian
Mother's Day Murder by Tonya Kappes

Mother's Day: A Short Story by Renée Knight  (short story)
Every Day is Mother's Day by Hilary Mantel (not exactly a mystery, but a good read)
Mother’s Day by Patricia MacDonald
Mother's Day Out by Karen MacInerney
Mother's Day by Dennis McDougal
Mother’s Day Murder by Leslie Meier
Mother's Day by Joshua Quittner & Michelle Siatalla

Mom, Apple Pie & Murder: A collection of New Mysteries for Mother’s Day, edited by Nancy Pickard
Mother's Day, Muffins, and Murder by Sara Rosett

A Mother's Day Murder by Genevieve Scholl
The London Monster by D. Scott

Mother’s Day by Joshua Quittner and Michelle Slatalla
Comfort Me by Debbie Viguie
Mother's Day by Ron Vincent

True Crime: 

The Mother's Day Murder by Wensley Clarkson

Any titles/authors missing?

Bouchercon 2025: Anthony Nominees

Bouchercon 2025 just announced the Anthony Nominees. Winners will be announced at Bouchercon in New Orleans in September. Congratulations to all!

The Top Five Classic Noir Novels Ever Written: Guest Post by Art Bell

I turned to classic noir novels in high school after finishing all the Sherlock Holmes stories (annotated, no less). I thought I would never love any mysteries or thrillers more than I loved Holmes, but I was so taken with noir that I read some of the classics several times. Many novels written today are counted as noir, so the genre survives. But, I wondered, what makes “noir” noirish?

Recently, as I was reading a noir novel written in the 1950s by an author unknown to me, I spent time thinking about classic noir novels and how their writing established the genre’s conventions. Below are my top five classic noir novels and how they defined noir.

            

The Maltese Falcon—Written by Dashiell Hammett; 1941 film directed by John Huston.

Having read The Maltese Falcon twice as a teenager and seen the movie countless times over the years, The Maltese Falcon defined noir for me for several reasons, including the dark urban setting and the tough-guy detective (Sam Spade, played by Humphrey Bogart in the film). And I loved the downbeat ending: Spade, investigating his partner’s murder, learns that the murderer is the woman he’s fallen in love with. Despite her begging him not to turn her in, Spade tells her, “You’re taking the fall,” and the cops handcuff her. It doesn’t get more downbeat or noirish than that!

 

When I think of The Maltese Falcon, a big part of what I found so enjoyable was the snappy dialog. One of Spade’s most memorable lines (for me, anyway) comes in a conversation with a punk kid played by Elisha Cooke, Jr., who is sent to corral Spade for a meeting with his gangster boss. When Spade laughs at his imperious tone, the kid says, “Keep on riding me and they’ll be picking iron out of your liver.”  Spade responds, “The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.” I’ve remembered the line ever since I first heard it. The way the characters speak to each other, even in the most stressful situations, is a big part of what makes noir fun for me. Hammet was a master of this tough guy repartee, and John Huston, who wrote the screenplay, was clever enough to lift much of the dialog directly from the book. 

 

Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain.

Both of these classic novels have a story kicked into motion by a beautiful, beguiling woman seducing the average guy narrator into helping her murder her husband. The insurance money is part of the motivation. But it’s the narrator’s smoldering desire for the wife that ensnares him and causes him to do her bidding, even when it involves murder. In both books, things end badly for these poor guys. Having been taken for a ride and duped, they suffer the ultimate punishment. One is left awaiting execution (The Postman Always Rings Twice) while the other is killed by his co-conspirator seductress—a literal femme fatale (Double Indemnity).

 

The Big Sleep—Written by Raymond Chandler; 1946 film directed by Howard Hawks.

Does writing a thriller require tying up all the loose ends? Doesn’t the reader deserve that? Maybe not! I couldn’t help thinking of Raymond Chandler’s classic, The Big Sleep, in which the chauffeur is murdered, but by whom? Chandler fails to reveal the identity of the killer. It didn’t diminish the novel in my mind, but it was confounding for director Howard Hawks. During the filming in Hollywood, an exasperated Hawks called Chandler from the movie set and asked him who killed the chauffeur. Chandler responded, “I have no idea.” 

Often, the plots in noir are complex or filled with shady characters who play only a minor role. Sometimes, as in the case of The Big Sleep, even the killer’s identity is left hanging. Given all the complications, twists, and turns in many classic noir novels, as well as in modern mysteries and thrillers, sometimes things aren’t neatly tied up at the end. And according to the great noir novelist Raymond Chandler, that’s okay.

 

The Moon in the Gutter by David Goodis.

A couple of years ago, I happened to read Goodis: Five Noir Novels of the 1940s & 50s. I had never read David Goodis before, nor had I even heard his name, but the novels were beautifully written and great examples of noir storytelling and characters. One novel, The Moon in the Gutter, stood out for me. It’s the story of William Kerrigan, a dockworker in Philadelphia whose sister supposedly committed suicide in a dark alley. He suspects she was murdered and is obsessed with finding her killer. A high-society woman who enjoys photographing handsome dockworkers is drawn to Kerrigan, and they begin a love affair. It turns out she may know something about the death of Kerrigan’s sister. 

 

The Moon in the Gutter is a wonderful novel full of colorful characters, and after reading it, I had a revelation: So many noir stories are, at their heart, love stories. Sometimes, the romance between the main characters is doomed by circumstance, as it was by the clash of high and low Philadelphia society in The Moon in the Gutter. Sometimes, it’s a victim of deception, double-dealing, or murder. Sometimes, it’s a love triangle, as is the case in The Moon in the Gutter. Often, in keeping with the downbeat nature of noir, the hero chooses to give up the woman he truly desires in favor of someone less problematic. After all, a romance with a femme fatale doesn’t seem to be a great foundation for a sustainable marriage. Whatever the reason, the love story in noir thrillers is often as important as the crime.

 

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Art Bell's first novel, What She’s Hiding—A Thriller, is now available wherever books are sold.