Call for Articles: Mysteries set in France: Mystery Readers Journal (42:2)

Call for Articles: Mystery Readers Journal: Mysteries set in France(42:2); Summer 2026

For our next issue, we are looking for articles, reviews, and author essays about crime fiction set in France.

DEADLINE: May 20, 2026

If you have a mystery that fits this theme, please consider writing an Author! Author! essay: 500–1500 words, first person, up-close and personal about yourself, your books, and the theme connection. 

We’re also looking for reviews and articles. 

Send submissions to janet @ mysteryreaders . org 

Deadline: May 20, 2026. 

Author Essays are first person, about yourself, your books, and the "French setting" connection. 500-1000 words. Treat this as if you're chatting with friends and other writers in the bar or cafe (or on zoom) about your work and France in your mysteries. Be sure and cite specific titles, as well as how you use France in your books. Add title and 2-3 sentence bio. 

Reviews: 50-250 words. 

Articles: 500-1000 words. 

Deadline: May 20, 2026  

Send to: Janet Rudolph, Editor. janet @ mysteryreaders . org  

Subject Line:  Mysteries set in France.

Please let me know if you're planning to send an article, review, or author essay--or if you have any questions! 

Past issues on Mysteries set in France still available.  Check out the Tables of Contents and sample articles or order now.

Mysteries set in France (28:1) 2012

Mysteries Set in France (16:2) 2000

Subscribe to Mystery Readers Journal for 2026.

Themes in 2026: Fairs, Fetes, & Festivals; Mysteries set in France, Cross-Genre Mysteries; Mysteries set in India.

Many back issues available as PDF downloads. Here are just a few. 

Southern California: Mystery Readers Journal

Senior Sleuths: Mystery Readers Journal

Irish Mysteries: Mystery Readers Journal

Hobbies & Crafts in Mysteries: Mystery Readers Journal

And so many more... We are now in our 42nd year. 4 themed issues a year! 

Have a look at our index of fabulous issues with articles, reviews, and essays from your favorite authors and reviewers. 

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NATIONAL BOOKMOBILE DAY: Bookmobile Mysteries

Saturday was National Bookmobile Day! What a great source of library outreach. I've posted several photos of Bookmobiles before, but thought in honor of the day, I'd post a few more!

National Bookmobile Day celebrates our nation's bookmobiles and the dedicated library professionals who provide this valuable and essential service to their communities every day. We honor the access to information and resources our nation’s bookmobiles make available to our communities and the professionals who work diligently to provide these services. For over 100 years bookmobiles have brought a library to those who otherwise would not have access to one. 

Read a Bookmobile Mystery today!

B.B. Cantwell's Portland Bookmobile Mystery Series

Laurie Cass's Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series

Nora Page's Bookmobile Mystery Series

Ian Samsom's Mobile Library Mystery series

Sheila Simonson's Beyond Confusion

Cartoon of the Day: Why We Write

From Grant Snider

 

GRANTCHESTER FINAL SEASON: PBS

Masterpiece (PBS) has confirmed the premiere date and released a trailer for the eleventh and final season of Grantchester. 
 
The Mystery! series will debut its last season on Sunday, June 14, 2026 streaming on the PBS app, PBS MASTERPIECE on Prime Video and broadcasting at 9/8c on your local PBS station.
 
The final season kicks off in the momentous summer of 1963. Alphy reconnects with his estranged mother and questions his faith. Geordie faces a promotion that could end his crime-solving partnership with Alphy, and Cathy’s career soars. As Leonard discovers his paternal side and Miss Scott faces a life-changing event, the Grantchester family must face love, loss, and forgiveness one last time.

Mystery Readers Journal: Fairs, Fêtes, & Festivals in Mysteries (42:1)

Mystery Readers Journal: Fairs, Fêtes, & Festivals in Mysteries (42:1) is now available. 

Buy this issue or subscribe to Mystery Readers Journal for 2026 and receive all 2026 issues. 

If you're a PDF subscriber, you should have received your copy.

Contributor PDF copies will go out tomorrow.

Print-on-Demand issues will be available shortly. We'll post here and elsewhere with a link when each print-on-demand issue is ready. First issue for 2026 will be out later this month.

Fairs, Fêtes, & Festivals in Mysteries

Volume 42, No. 1, Spring 2026

Buy this back issue! Available as a downloadable PDF.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ARTICLES

• May Day, Maypoles, and Morris Dancing Mysteries (and a Recipe for Maypole Chocolate Cake) by Janet Rudolph

• The Fête of Mortals—The Trigger for Crime by Alan Cassady-Bishop

• Graham Greene: The Man for a White Elephant Stall by Moira Redmond

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

• The Welsh Have a Word for It… by Cathy Ace

• Murder Can’t Stop de Carnival—or Writing About It! by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier

• Spectacles, Sangria, and Selkies by Rowan Dillon

• Celebrating Crime on the Page, with the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries by Leslie Budewitz

• There is Nothing Better Than a Fair or Festival by Nancy Coco

• Searching for Carnevale by Yves Fey

• Faire at a Fire Station Sparks a Mystery Plot by Nancy Lynn Jarvis

• Summer Festivals Are Hot in a Wintry City by Janice MacDonald

• Why I Set My Murder Mystery at an English Literary Festival by Mark McCrumb

• World’s Fairs as Bookends to a Mystery Series by Frances McNamara

• Asian Festivals & Fairs by Larry and Rosemary Mild

• It Takes a Village Fair: Setting the Stage for Murder by Paula Munier

• Murder Under the Bunting: Festivals as Crime Scenes by Neil S. Plakcy

• Round and Round: Why We Can’t Resist a Carousel by Bernard O’Keefe

• Murder Midst the Bunting by Ann Sutton

• Mardi Gras State of Mind by Martha Reed

• Come Taste My Wine: The Balmetto Festival in Borgofranco d’Ivrea by D.R. Ransdell

• What’s Fair About It? by Nancy Wikarski

• Comic Cons Make Murder Mysteries More Fun! by Melissa Westemeier

COLUMNS

• Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by Lesa Holstine and Aubrey Nye Hamilton

• Children’s Hour: Fairs, Fêtes, & Festivals in Mysteries by Gay Toltl Kinman

• Real Crime at Fêtes and Festivals by Cathy Pickens

• Crime Seen: Fun—and Fear—at the Fair by Kate Derie

• From the Editor’s Desk by Janet Rudolph

LIBRARY POSTER OF THE MONTH

 WPA Library Project