APRIL MYSTERY READING LISTS: Crime Fiction set during April Holidays!

April has so many holidays and that means many crime fiction 'holiday' lists. I share these lists on the Mystery Readers website and on this blog, but maybe you've missed them? Or maybe you have some titles/authors to add? (Make a comment below).

Stay tuned for May lists: May Day, Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Nurses Week, Memorial Day, and More!

Subscribe to Mystery Readers Journal for 'themed' issues filled with articles, reviews, and author essays on specific mystery themes. 2025: London Mysteries II; Retail Murder; Northern California Mysteries; Cross-Genre Mysteries. 

So here are links to my April Mystery Lists. Enjoy!

April Fool's Day Mysteries

National Library Week: Librarian Mystery Series

Bookmobile Day: Bookmobile Mysteries 

Passover Crime Fiction

National Gardening Day: Gardening Mysteries

Death & Taxes: Tax Day & Accountant Mysteries

Easter Crime Fiction 

Earth Day Mysteries: Environmental/Ecological Mysteries & Drowned Towns

****

Subscribe to Mystery Readers Journal for 2025: 

Themes: London Mysteries II; Retail Murder; Northern California Mysteries; Cross-Genre Mysteries.

Back issues of Mystery Readers Journal are available: printed & PDF download. 

***

Subscribe to Mystery Readers Journal for 2025: Themes: London Mysteries II; Retail Sales; Northern California Mysteries; Cross-Genre Mysteries.

 

Cartoon of the Day: Let's Create a Movie for Netflix by Tom Gauld

 Tom Gauld is the best!

Grandma? Nope. Only Tūtū for me! Guest Post by Tori Eldridge

After receiving the blessed news of an approaching grandbaby, I—like every expecting grandparent—faced the all-important decision of what to be called. With a multicultural and international family like mine, the decision required thoughtful consideration and care.
My daughter-in-law is Chinese from Hong Kong, so my assumption was that our wee one would call me Ah-ma or Maa-maa‚—common choices for a paternal grandmother in Cantonese—or Nāinai, the grandma name used in Mandarin. This would have been fine by me since I’m almost half Chinese.

But I’m also Native Hawaiian, born and raised.

Much to my surprise and insurmountable joy, my son and daughter-in-law decided to name our granddaughter Moana after the empowering heroine in the Disney movie they both loved! And since they would be honoring my Native Hawaiian heritage, I knew only Tūtū would do.
 
Not only would Moana and any future grandchildren call me by the affectionate Hawaiian name for grandma, I would consciously and lovingly share our Hawaiian heritage with them.
 
The only wrinkle? Moana was born in Shanghai!
 
How could I possibly share my aloha for Hawai‘i with her when China, during the pandemic, would not let me in?
 
Fortunately, they moved back to Portland, Oregon, before her second birthday. Unfortunately, I was still living thousands of miles away in Los Angeles. Not only was I still separated from her, I had been separated for decades from my ancestral roots.
 
Writing Kaua‘i Storm gave me a way to reconnect with my homeland and heritage—and, by extension, my granddaughter and new grandson, Nahele—in a deep and meaningful way. It was also paramount that I dive below the cultural surface that is more commonly revealed and write about Hawaiians in Hawai‘i as well as those of us who have moved away and might try to come home.
 
As with my protagonist, Ranger Makalani Pahukula, I left the islands to attend college and pursue a career, which for me involved performing on Broadway, television, and film. Makalani, on the other hand, became a law enforcement ranger at Oregon’s Crater Lake National Park. As with many people who move away from their home town, state, or country, we both became a little out of step with what was happening back home.
 
The challenges of returning home and feeling out of place are universal and play a major theme in Kaua‘i Storm.
 
The experiences for Hawaiian diaspora are especially nuanced and fascinating since Hawai‘i is a formerly sovereign nation with its own kānaka maoli (true people), ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language), and a rich history with valuable traditions that our conquerors sought to subdue. We may be considered the fiftieth state, but unlike the other forty-nine, our origin story, ancestry, and struggles are unique.
 
If I was going to write a novel set in Hawai‘i, it had to be written from a Native Hawaiian’s ancestry and point of view—Makalani’s and my own.
 
One way in which I did this was to give Makalani her own “Tūtū” who could serve as the family’s cultural touchstone and remind Makalani where she comes from and the values by which she should live. I gave Makalani’s Tūtū the knowledge I wanted to possess and the empowering influence I hoped to be.
 
Now, to my endless joy, my husband and I live in Portland, Oregon where I can greet my mo‘opuna (grandchildren) with “Kakahiaka nō!” —Good morning! — and remind them that Tūtū loves them, “Aloha o Tūtū iā ‘olua.”

Needless to say, writing this new book series about Makalani and her multigenerational ‘ohana has enriched my life and influenced my role as Tūtū in my grandchildren’s lives.
 

 ***

Tori Eldridge is the bestselling author of the newly re-released Lily Wong mystery thriller series—The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, The Ninja Betrayed, and The Ninja’s Oath—as well as a two-time Anthony Award nominee, Lefty and Macavity Awards finalist, and winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe Award for Best Book of the Year. Born and raised in Honolulu—of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norwegian descent—she lived in New York and Los Angeles before settling in Portland, Oregon, where her mo‘opuna live. Kaua‘i Storm is the first of her new Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mysteries.

Cats! Dansons La Capucine - Parole de Chat

 Be sure and watch all the way through....

2025 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Mystery/Thriller Category

The 45th annual L.A. Times Book Prize Winner in the Mystery/Thriller Category. Congratulations!

See the full list of winners in 12 categories here. 

Winner: Mystery/Thriller Category

Danielle Trussoni for The Puzzle Box (Random House)

2024 Finalists in the Mystery/Thriller Category

AGATHA AWARD WINNERS 2025: Malice Domestic

The Agatha Awards were presented last night at Malice Domestic. Congratulations to all.

Best Contemporary Novel: Gigi Pandian for A Midnight Puzzle

Best First Novel: K.T. Nguyen for You Know What You Did 

Best Non-Fiction: Phyllis M. Betz for Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors' Perspectives on Their Craft

Best Children's/YA: K.A. Jackson for Sasquatch of Harriman Lake

Best Historical Novel: Amanda Flower for To Slip the Bonds of Earth

Best Short Story: Barb Goffman for "The Postman Always Flirts Twice" in Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy

Authors & their Cats: Ursula K. Le Guin

Happy Caturday! Authors and their Cats: Ursula K. Le Guin. What an amazing writer. What a fascinating woman! I was so lucky to be on a panel with her once--a highlight of my 'literary' career. Be sure and scroll down to read about her 'cat' books.

In addition to an incredible number of books on fantasy and science fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin wrote Catwings, a children's book, illustrated by S.D. Schindler.

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Down an alley in a dumpster, Mrs. Jane Tabby gives birth to four kittens. But these are no ordinary offspring. Each has a pair of wings. Although Mrs. Tabby is unperturbed by her kittens' appearance, her neighbors are not so charitable; when the kittens are old enough to fly, Mrs. Tabby sends her children out into the world. Because both winged and four-footed creatures mistrust them, the kittens have trouble finding a place to live, but eventually discover a loving home. Dark watercolor etchings by Schindler further convey the plight of these airborne felines as they go in search of a home.

Le Guin also wrote Cat Dreams, illustrated by S.D. Schindler, Jane on Her Own: A Catwings Tale, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings, and Catwings Return.

Ursula K. Le Guin: 

Arguably one of the canonical writers of American science fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin was born in Berkeley, Calif., in 1929, the daughter of Alfred L. and Theodora Kroeber. After earning an A.B. degree from Radcliffe College and an A.M. from Columbia University, Le Guin was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in 1953.

The genre formerly classified as 'science fiction' has become divided into sub-genres, such as fantasy, realistic fiction, alternative history, and other categories. Le Guin resists classifying her own work in any one area, saying that some of it may be called 'science fiction', while other writings may be considered 'realist' and still others 'magical realism' (her term). Le Guin is one of the few writers whose works (which include poetry and short fiction) can be found in public libraries' collections for children, young adults, and adults.

Le Guin's published works include a novel, A Wizard of Earthsea, that won an American Library Association Notable Book citation, a Horn Book Honor List citation, and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979. She has been nominated several times for the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award--the highest honors in science fiction/fantasy writing--and has won both awards. Her Earthsea Trilogy is a mainstay of fantasy fiction collections.

CRIME WRITERS OF CANADA 2025 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLIST AND DERRICK MURDOCH AWARD RECIPIENT

4/26 Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the Shortlists for the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors, including citizens abroad and new residents. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 30, 2025.

DERRICK MURDOCH AWARD RECIPIENT

The Derrick Murdoch Award is a special achievement award presented at the discretion of the Board Chair of Crime Writers of Canada. It recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to developing crime writing in Canada.

Crime Writers of Canada is also pleased to announce William H. Deverell, a distinguished Canadian novelist, activist, and criminal lawyer, as the recipient of the 2025 Derrick Murdoch Award. Deverell’s bibliography includes nineteen novels, many drawing from his extensive legal experience. Notable works include Trial of Passion, which earned the Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing in 1997 and Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Canadian Crime Novel in 1998. Trial of Passion introduced readers to Arthur Beauchamp, QC, a character who became central to a series that includes titles such as April Fool (2003 Arthur Ellis award winner) and Kill All the Judges. He is the author of A Life on Trial – The Case of Robert Frisbee, based on a notorious murder trial in which he was defense counsel. Street Legal, which aired on CBC Television from 1987 to 1994, was the longest running one-hour scripted drama in the history of Canadian television. The show was based on an original pilot, Shellgame, which Deverell authored.

Beyond his writing, he continues to be a pivotal figure in Canadian literature, inspiring readers and mentoring emerging Canadian writers within the crime and mystery genres.

Deverell is the founder and honorary director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. He served as chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada in 1994 and 1999 and is a life member of the Writers Guild of Canada, a Member Emeritous of Crime Writers of Canada and a member of PEN International.

THE 2025 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SHORTLISTS

The Miller-Martin Award for Best Crime Novel
Sponsored by the Boreal Benefactor with a $1000 prize

Colin Barrett, Wild Houses, McClelland & Stewart
Jaima Fixsen, The Specimen, Poisoned Pen Press
Conor Kerr, Prairie Edge, Strange Light, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada
John MacLachlan Gray, Mr. Good-Evening, Douglas & McIntyre
Louise Penny, The Grey Wolf, Minotaur Books

Best Crime First Novel
Sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1000 prize

Suzan Denoncourt, The Burden of Truth, Suzan Denoncourt
Peter Holloway, The Roaring Game Murders, Bonspiel Books
Jim McDonald, Altered Boy, Amalit Books
Marianne K. Miller, We Were the Bullfighters, Dundurn Press
Ashley Tate, Twenty-Seven Minutes, Doubleday Canada

Best Crime Novel Set in Canada
Sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize

Brenda Chapman, Fatal Harvest, Ivy Bay Press
Barry W. Levy, The War Machine, Double Dagger Books
Shane Peacock, As We Forgive Others, Cormorant Books
Greg Rhyno, Who By Fire, Cormorant Books
Kerry Wilkinson, The Call, Bookouture

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery
Sponsored by Jane Doe with a $500 prize

Cathy Ace, The Corpse with the Pearly Smile, Four Tails Publishing Ltd.
Raye Anderson, The Dead Shall Inherit, Signature Editions
Susan Juby, A Meditation on Murder, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Thomas King, Black Ice, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Jonathan Whitelaw, Concert Hall Killer, HarperNorth/HarperCollins Canada

Best Crime Novella
Sponsored by Carrick Publishing with a $200 prize

Marcelle Dubé, Chuck Berry is Missing, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
Liz Ireland, Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper, Kensington
Pamela Jones, The Windmill Mystery, Austin Macauley Publishers
A.J. McCarthy, A Rock, Black Rose Writing
Twist Phelan, Aim, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Best Crime Short Story

Catherine Astolfo, Farmer Knudson, from Auntie Beers: A Book of Connected Short Stories, Carrick
Publishing
Therese Greenwood, Hatcheck Bingo, from The 13th Letter, Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem,
Carrick Publishing
Billie Livingston, Houdini Act, Saturday Evening Post
Linda Sanche, The Electrician, from Crime Waves, Dangerous Games, A Canada West Anthology
Melissa Yi, The Longest Night of the Year, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Best French Language Crime Book

J.L. Blanchard, La femme papillon, Fides
R. Lavallée, Le crime du garçon exquis, Fides
Jean Lemieux, L’Affaire des montants, Québec Amérique
Guillaume Morrissette, Une mémoire de lion, Saint-Jean
Johanne Seymour, Fracture, Libre Expression

Best Juvenile / YA Crime Book
Sponsored by Superior Shores Press with a $250 prize

Sigmund Brouwer, Shock Wave, Orca Book Publishers
Meagan Mahoney, The Time Keeper, DCB Young Readers
Twist Phelan, Snowed, Bronzeville Books, LLC
David A. Poulsen, The Dark Won't Wait, Red Deer Press
Melissa Yi, The Red Rock Killer, Windtree Press

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book
Sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize

Denise Chong, Out of Darkness: Rumana Monzur's Journey through Betrayal, Tyranny and Abuse,
Random House Canada
Nate Hendley, Atrocity on the Atlantic: Attack on a Hospital Ship During the Great War, Dundurn
Press
John L. Hill, The Rest of the [True Crime] Story, AOS Publishing
Dean Jobb, A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue, HarperCollins
Publishers Ltd.
Tanya Talaga, The Knowing, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Best Unpublished Crime Novel manuscript written by an unpublished author
Sponsored by ECW Press with a $500 prize

Robert Bowerman, The Man in The Black Hat
Luke Devlin, Govern Yourself Accordingly
Delee Fromm, Dark Waters
Lorrie Potvin, A Trail's Tears
William Watt, Predators in the Shadows

***

About Crime Writers of Canada
Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the
profile of Canadian crime writers. Our members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers,
librarians, reviewers, and literary agents as well as many developing authors. Past winners of the
Awards have included such major names in Canadian crime writing as Mario Bolduc, Gail Bowen,
Stevie Cameron, Howard Engel, Barbara Fradkin, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson and Eric Wright. We
thank our sponsors and volunteers, and the many participating publishers, authors and judges for their
continued support.

2025 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award Longlist

2025 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award Longlist. Winner will be announced  July 17 at the opening night of this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England. What a great list. Get reading! Anyone can vote to establish the shortlist. Go here to cat your ballot (and check out the covers). Congratulations to all!

The Cracked Mirror, by Chris Brookmyre (Sphere)
Our Holiday, by Louise Candlish (HQ)
A Stranger in the Family, by Jane Casey (Hemlock Press)
The Mercy Chair, by M.W. Craven (Constable)
The Wrong Sister, by Claire Douglas (Michael Joseph)
The Last Word, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Estella’s Revenge, by Barbara Havelocke (Hera)
Redemption, by Jack Jordan (Simon & Schuster UK)
The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby, by Ellery Lloyd (Pan)
Finding Sophie, by Imran Mahmood (Raven)
The Woman on the Ledge, by Ruth Mancini (Century)
The Kill List, by Nadine Matheson (HQ)
Hunted, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
Blood Like Mine, by Stuart Neville (Simon & Schuster UK)
To Die in June, by Alan Parks (Canongate)
Deadly Animals, by Marie Tierney (Zaffre)
The Last Murder at the End of the World, by Stuart Turton (Raven)
All the Colours of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker (Orion)

HT: The Rap Sheet

GRANTCHESTER, SEASON 10 Info & Trailer

Grantchester returns to MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS with Season 10! on Sunday, June 15 at 9/8c. 

In the new episodes, Alphy (Rishi Nair) has really found a home in Grantchester. In Geordie (Robson Green), he’s found a best friend and his intellectual equal. Love proves more elusive, until a case throws him in the path of a romance. But before he can let anyone else in, he must confront truths about himself. Geordie, meanwhile, wrestles with his expectations for his own son and Cathy takes steps to better her career with the help of Mrs. Chapman.

 

Season 10 of Grantchester premieres on Sunday, June 15 at 9/8c. The eight-episode season will also be available to stream on the PBS app, PBS.org, and with PBS MASTERPIECE on Prime Video.

How the Mystery of a Missing Father Inspired a Debut Novel: Guest Post by A.C. Adams

My wife and creative partner, Christina Adams, and I met in San Diego in our early twenties. I was the composer and book writer for an original rock opera, An Eye In Each Head, which was being staged locally, and she had just returned from touring India and Europe as the lead singer of Vrindavan, a world music ensemble. Our artistic and personal connection was instantaneous, and we wrote dozens of songs and stories before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue careers in the entertainment industry. After years of writing, producing, and developing projects for television, film, and theatre, we decided to write our debut novel, inspired by the true story of Christina’s family. 

As long-time co-writers in various mediums, we are frequently asked about our creative process and how a married couple can work together daily without killing each other. Our answer is simple: it’s easy when you find the right person and a living hell if you don’t. We are fortunate to enjoy working and creating together, sharing a seamless partnership based on respect and collaboration rather than competition. The quality of the storytelling is our priority. If one of us likes a particular plot point or line of dialogue and the other doesn’t, we continue discussing it until we reach a new solution that satisfies both of us. Since we can practically read each other’s minds and have developed a singular voice as a writing team, we’ve adopted the nom de plume, A.C. Adams, for Chasing Shadows and our future novels. 

Chasing Shadows required more research and a deeper collaboration than our previous projects. The story was inspired by the quest to find Christina’s father, who vanished shortly before we met, leaving a chilling message stating he had a new life and must never see her or her siblings again. Christina’s world was turned upside down. He was a brilliant university professor and a loving parent whom she idolized. How could he justify such cruel and unfathomable behavior? She needed to find out, and I was committed to the challenge, so we embarked on an international search to uncover his secrets. The process took years, but what we learned about his past unraveled everything she thought she knew about her family history. For years, her father had led a covert life as a Catholic priest and a member of an elusive, powerful society that operates in the shadows of world affairs. Although we interviewed many of his friends and colleagues, the details of his extraordinary life remained a Gordian knot that was impossible to untangle. Her estranged mother also had a hidden past of trauma and deceit, and one of the best outcomes of the journey was their reconciliation. 

When we realized our search had reached an impasse and there were crucial details about Christina’s father we couldn’t verify, we decided to write a novel inspired by true events. We would change the names and locations in the novel to protect our sources while preserving many incidents from his life and our search. Our goal was to remain true to his essence while revealing the dramatic truth of the story. 

It was time to outline, and after months of effort, we discovered a structure that perfectly suited the narrative, incorporating three points of view to tell a multi-generational family drama spanning seventy years across three countries and various locations. Sixty-two taut chapters provided the fast pacing we desired, and now that we had the framework, it was time to flesh it out. As usual, we divided the work in half and started writing, with Christina beginning with Chapter One and I with Chapter Thirty-One. 

After completing the first draft, we read it aloud and took detailed notes. Then, we revised our chapters and read the book aloud again, creating a new set of notes. Next, we exchanged chapters—I revised the first half while Christina worked on the second half. We repeated this process several times until we were ready to share it with a few trusted colleagues who read the manuscript and provided invaluable feedback. 

Writing our first novel was liberating, allowing us to explore the story and characters with greater depth and detail than was possible in a screenplay. We’re hooked and eagerly anticipate writing many more. However, we are not quite finished with Chasing Shadows; the characters still have more of their story to share, and we envision a sequel. 

***

A.C. Adams is the nom de plume of co-authors Anthony Leigh Adams and Christina Adams. They have written and produced film and television projects for studios including Disney, ABC, CBS, NBC, and OWN. Their production company, Adams Entertainment, is based in La Jolla, California. For more information about Chasing Shadows and A.C. Adams’s other projects, visit adamsentertainment.com

Cartoon of the Day: Nevermore

 

Cabin Crimes: Guest Post by Mike Cobb

What is it about a cabin in the woods that practically screams menace? Is it the way the trees press in too close? Is it how the silence seems to stretch for miles? Maybe it’s just the remoteness—a place where help won’t come, and secrets don’t echo. It’s the perfect backdrop for a crime, and the perfect crucible for the characters who survive it. It’s also the kind of book that keeps me turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. 

When I began writing Muzzle the Black Dog, I knew the setting had to be remote, raw, and unforgiving. The cabin in my novel isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a character in itself. It isolates, it exposes, and it becomes a mirror for the unraveling mind of my protagonist, Jack Pate. After a mysterious stranger appears at Jack’s isolated cabin door, his life is forever changed. The stranger’s cryptic message sets off a chain of events that take Jack on a harrowing journey to uncover the true meaning of his own existence, leading to self-discovery and redemption. 

Turns out, I’m not the only one drawn to these shadowy hideaways. Below, I’ve gathered some of my favorite crime novels where cabins and woodland retreats become grounds for murder, mystery, and survival. 

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware 

A bachelorette party gone awry in a forest retreat in the English countryside. Ware is a master of psychological tension, and here she uses the isolation to full effect. Secrets, betrayal, and a haunting sense of déjà vu. 

One by One by Ruth Ware 

A corporate retreat in a luxurious ski chalet. Snowed in, of course. What possibly could go wrong? A lot, as it turns out. The staff starts dying, and paranoia reigns. Ware has proven again that she knows how to weave a compelling mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. 

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 

Seven friends decide to spend New Year's Eve at a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands. Like the characters in One by One, they become snowbound. By the end, one ends up dead, indelibly changing all their lives. Foley deftly conveys a chilly, claustrophobic mood that delivers a tightly wound tension. 

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay 

Imagine a secluded cabin in New Hampshire. Imagine an idyllic family vacation. Idyllic, that is, until three strangers invade the cabin, forcing seven-year-old Wen and her parents to make impossible choices. Tremblay plays on primal fears—strangers at the door, no way out, and desperation. 

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena 

What is it about snowstorms? I guess they just fit naturally with menacing cabins in the woods. In Lapena’s mystery, a group of friends get together at a Catskills lodge. A blizzard snows them in. Then one of the guests is found dead. At first, they think it’s an accident. But when other guests start dying one by one, the survivors begin to suspect the killer is among them. 

No Exit by Taylor Adams 

Okay, so this one isn’t about a cabin in the wood, but I’ve included it because it’s still a “trapped in the wilderness” story. And there’s a blizzard again! A young woman is desperate to outwit a psychopath and save a kidnapped young girl locked in a van at a snowed-in rest stop. 

So, if you’re itching for a good, scary “cabin in the woods” story, or close to it, one of these books may be just what you’re looking for. 

***

Mike Cobb’s body of literary work includes both fiction and nonfiction. He is the author of four published novels, Dead Beckoning, The Devil You Knew, its sequel You Will Know Me by My Deeds, and Muzzle the Black Dog. A native of Atlanta, Mike splits his time between Midtown Atlanta and Blue Ridge, Georgia. 

Cartoon of the Day: Earth Day Happy Hour

EARTH DAY: Environmental/Ecological Mysteries

Earth Day: Climate change, environmental issues, and how we can save our planet. So important, now even more. Commit yourself to saving this planet! 

A few years ago I started posting a list of environmental/ecological mysteries. The list has grown. Crime fiction is an excellent way to make readers aware of issues.

Mystery Readers Journal (Volume 36:1) focuses on Environmental Mysteries. This issue is available as a PDF download and hardcopy. Take a look at the Table of Contents and order here. 

For Earth Day 2025, I updated my Earth Day/Environmental Mysteries list. There are many more authors, and certainly more books by many of the authors on the list. As always, I welcome additions of your favorites. I took a few liberties on the list, too, but I think they all fall under the umbrella of environmental/ecological mysteries. 

Scroll down for a second list that deals exclusively with Drowned Towns aka Reservoir Noir.

Be kind to the Earth. It's the only one we have!

ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL MYSTERIES

Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang
P.D. Abbey's H2Glo
Liz Adair's Snakewater Affair
Glyyn Marsh Alam's Cold Water Corpse; Bilge Water Bones

Grace Alexander's Hegemon 
Lou Allin's Northern Winters Are Murder; Blackflies Are Murder: Memories Are Murder
Roberto Ampuero's El aleman de Atacama (only in German)

Christine Andreae's A Small Target
Suzanne Arruda's Stalking Ivory
Sarah Andrews' Em Hansen Mystery series
Lindsay Arthur's The Litigators
Anna Ashwood-Collins' Deadly Resolution; Red Roses for a Dead Trucker
Sandi Ault's Wild Inferno; Wild Indigo; Wild Penance; Wild Sorrow
Shannon Baker's Tainted Mountain; Broken Trust; Tattered Legacy; Skies of Fire
Paolo Bacigalupi's The Water Knife

J. G. Ballard's Rushing to Paradise
Michael Barbour's The Kenai Catastrophe; Blue Water, Blue Island
Nevada Barr's Track of the Cat; Ill Wind; Borderline; and others
Lee Barwood's A Dream of Drowned Hollow?
Pamela Beason's Sam Westin wildlife biologist series
Matt Bell's Appleseed

Robert P. Bennett's Blind Traveler's Blues
William Bernhardt's Silent Justice

David Riley Bertsch's Death Canyon
Donald J Bingle's GreensWord
Michael Black's A Killing Frost 
Jennifer Blake's Shameless
Claire Booth's Another Man's Ground
C J Box's Winterkill; Open Season; Below Zero; Savage Run; Out of Range; Trophy Hunt; Free Fire; In Plain Sight; Dark Sky
Lisa Brackmann's Hour of the Rat
Alex Brett's Dead Water Creek
Lisa Brideau's Drift; Amid Rage; Drink to Every Beast

Tobias S. Buckell's Artic Rising

Joe Burcat's Drink to Every Beast
James Lee Burke's Creole Belle
Rex Burns' Endangered Species
Steve Burrow's A Siege of Bitterns
David Butler Full Curl; No Place for Wolverines; In Rhino We Trust
Chester Campbell's The Surest Poison
Christine Carbo The Wild Inside, Mortal Fall, The Weight of Night, A Sharp Solitude
Ann Cleeves' Another Man's Poison; Wild Fire; Blue Lightning; The Crow Trap
Eileen Charbonneau's Waltzing in Ragtime

Rajat Chaudhuri: The Butterfly Effect
Cassandra Clark: Dark Waters Rising

Margaret Coel's The Dream Stalker
Anna Ashwood Collins's Metamorphis for Murder; Deadly Resolutions
Sarah-Jane Collins' Radiant Heat

Kathleen Concannon's A Deadly Bluff
Shawn Connors' Chain Reaction

Robin Cook's Fever
Dawn Corrigan's Mitigating Circumstances
Peter Corris's Deep Water
Donna Cousin's Landscape
Michael Crichton's State of Fear

James Crumley's Dancing Bear
Rich Curtin's Final Arrangements; Deadly Games
Christine D'Avanzo Cold Blood, Hot Sea; Devil Sea; Secrets Haunt the Lobsters' Sea; Glass Eels, Shattered Sea
Cecil Dawkins' Rare Earth
Janet Dawson's Don't Turn Your Back on the Ocean

Mark de Castrique's Fatal Scores
Barbara Delinsky's Looking for Peyton Place
Lionel Derrick's Death Ray Terror
William Deverell's April Fool
Karen Dionne's Boiling Point; Freezing Point; The Marsh King's Daughter, The Wicked Sister
Paul Doiron's The Poacher's Son; Trespasser; Bad Little Falls; The Bone Orchard; One Last Lie, Almost Midnight, Dead by Dawn, and others
David Michael Donovan's Evil Down in the Alley
Mark Douglas-Home's The Sea Detective
Rubin Douglas' The Wise Pelican: From the Cradle to the Grave
Jack Du Brul's Vulcan's Forge; River of Ruin; and others
Robert Dugoni & Joseph Hilldorfer's Cyanide Canary
Toni Dwiggins' Badwater; Quicksilver
Kerstin Ekman's Blackwater
Aaron J Elkins' The Dark Place; Unnatural Selection
Howard Engel's Dead and Buried
Kathleen Ernst's High Stakes in a Great Lake
Eric C. Evans' Endangered

Nicholas Evans' The Divide
Nancy Fairbanks's Acid Bath; Hunting Game; and others
Kate Fellowes' Thunder in the Night
Cher Fischer's Falling into Green
Bill Fitzhugh's Pest Control; The Exterminators
Michael J. Fitzgerald's The Fracking War
Mary Flodin's The Death of the Gecko
G M Ford's Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca?
Clare Francis's The Killing Winds (Requiem)
Jamie Freveletti's Dead Asleep 
Sara Hoskinson Frommer's Death Climbs a Tree

Abby Geni's The Lightkeepers
Jean Craighead George's The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo; Who Really Killed Cock Robin?; The Case of the Missing Cutthroats; The Fire Bug Connection (young readers)
Matthew Glass's Ultimatum
Kenneth Goddard's Double Blind; Prey; Wildfire
Chris Goff's A Rant of Ravens; Death of a Songbird; A Nest in the Ashes
Jean Craighead George's The Case of the Missing Cutthroats

Steven Gould and Laura J. Mixon's Greenwar
Alexander M. Grace's Hegemon
Scott Graham's Mountain Rampage, Yellowstone Standoff; Mesa Verde Victim
Robert O. Greer's The Devil's Hatband
John Grisham's The Pelican Brief; The Appeal; The Litigators; Gray Mountain
Beth Groundwater's Deadly Currents; Wicked Eddies
Elizabeth Gunn's Eleven Little Piggies
Jean Hager's Ravenmocker
William Hagard's The Vendettists
James W. Hall's Bones of Coral
Patricia Hall's The Poison Pool
Joseph Hall's Nightwork
Karen Hall's Unreasonable Risk, Through Dark Spaces

A.M. Halvorssen's The Dirty Network
Matt Hammond's Milkshake
Vinnie Hansen's Fruit of the Devil 
Paul E. Hardisty's The Descent

Jane Harper's The Dry; The Lost Man
Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action

Alice Henderson's A Solitude of Wolverines, A Blizzard of Polar Bears, and more.
Sue Henry's Termination Dust
Robert Herring's McCampbell's War
Joseph Heywood's Blue Wolf in Green Fire, Ice Hunter, Chasing a Blond Moon; Buckular Dystrophy; Bad Optics
Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip; Stormy Weather; Sick Puppy; Strip Tease; Scat; Star Island; Double Whammy, Tourist Season, Skin Tight

Anne Hillerman's Song of the Lion
Tony Hillerman's The Blessing Way
Tami Hoag's Lucky's Lady
John Hockenberry's A River out of Eden
Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow
John Holt's Hunted
Dave Hugelschaffer's Day into Night, One Careless Moment
Judy Hughes' The Snowmobile Kidnapping
Mary Ellen Hughes's A Taste of Death
R.J. Jacobs's Always the First to Die

Dana Andrew Jennings' Lonesome Standard Time
Liz Jensen's The Rapture
Craig Johnson's Hell is Empty; Dry Bones

Sylvia Kelso's The Solitaire Ghost; The Time Seam
Emily Kimelman's Unleashed
Thomas King's Cold Skies
M.T. Kingsley's With Malicious Intent

Henry Kisor's Hang Fire
Linda Kistler's Cause for Concern
Lisa Kleinholz's Dancing with Mr. D. 
Bill Knox's The Scavengers, Devilweed, and others in the Webb Carrick series
Dean Koontz's Icebound
William Kent Krueger's "Cork O'Connor" series, including Manitou Canyon, Sulfur Springs
Janice Law's Infected Be the Air

P.J. Lazos' Oil and Water
Leena Lehtolainen's Fatat Headwind
Stephen Legault's The Cardinal Divide, The Glacier Gallows, The Vanishing Track, The Darkening Archipelago
Donna Leon's Death in a Strange Country; About Face; Earthly Remains; Acqua Alta
David Liss' The Ethical Assassin
Sam Llewellyn's Deadeye
Charles & Lidia LoPinto's Countdown in Alaska; Nukes
Robert Lopresti's Greenfellas
Jim Lynch's The Highest Tide
John D MacDonald's Barrier Island (and other titles)
Ross Macdonald's Sleeping Beauty
Jassy Mackenzie's The Fallen
Larry Maness' A Once a Perfect Place
Elizabeth Manz's Wasted Space
John Marsden's A Killing Frost
Margaret Maron's High Country Fall, Shooting at Loons, Up Jumps the Devil, Hard Row
John Martel's Partners
Steve Martini's Critical Mass

Jean Matthews' Bet Your Bones
Keith McCafferty's The Royal Wulff Murders; Dead Man's Fance; A Death in Eden; The Bangtail Ghost; Buffalo Jump Blues
Charlotte McConaghy's Once There Were Wolves

M.J. McGrath's The Boy in the Snow
John McGoran's Drift; Deadout; Dust Up
Karin McQuillan's Deadly Safari; Cheetah Chase; Elephant's Graveyard

Mindy Meija's Leave No Trace
Anne Metikosh's Undercurrent 
Deon Meyer's Blood Safari, Thirteen Hours; Fever
Shannon Michaud's Still Water
Penny Mickelbury's What Could Be More Than Dead? 
Susan Cummins Miller's Chasm
Kirk Mitchell's High Desert Malice; Deep Valley Malice
Laura J. Mixon & Steven Gould's Greenwar

Margaret Mizushima's Killing Trail; Stalking Ground
Skye Kathleen Moody's Blue Poppy; and other Venus Diamond mysteries
C. George Muller's Echoes in the Blue
Marcia Muller's Cape Perdido
Sandy Neill's Deadly Turn; Deadly Trespass

Judith Newton's Oink
Michael Norman's Skeleton Picnic; On Deadly Ground
Dan O'Brien's Brendan Prairie
Michael Palmer's Fatal
Sara Paretsky's Blood Shot
Brad Parks' The Player
T. Jefferson's Parker's Pacific Beat

James Patterson's Zoo

Ridley Pearson's Killer View
Louise Penny's A Better Man

Cathy Pickens' Southern Fried
Carl Posey's Bushmaster Fall
David Poyer's As the Wolf Loves Winter, Winter in the Heart
Richard Powers' Playground

Katherine Prairie's Thirst
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Reliquary
Kwei Quartey's Murder at Cape Three Points; Gold of our Fathers
Peter Ralph's Dirty Fracking Business

Ben Rehder's Bum Steer; Holy Moly; Hog Heaven; Fat Crazy, and more
Bob Reiss's Purgatory Road
Ruth Rendell's Road Rage 
Geoffrey Robert's The Alo Release
Carolyn Rose's An Uncertain Refuge
Leonard Rosen's The Tenth Witness
Simon Rosser's Tipping Point

Rebecca Rothenberg's The Shy Tulip Murders; The Bulrush Murder
Patricia Rushford's Red Sky in the Mourning
Alan Russell's The Forest Prime Evil 
Kirk Russell's Shell Games
Nick Russell's Big Lake Blizzard

Louis Sachar's Fuzzy Mud
Brenda Seabrook's The Dragon That Slurped the Green Slime Swamp (Children's)
Frank Schätzing's The Swarm
L.J. Seller's Crimes of Memory
Paige Shelton's Cold Wind
Patricia Skalka's Death Stalks Door County

Barry Siegel's Actual Innocence
Sheila Simonson's An Old Chaos 
Jessica Speart's Bird Brained, Blue Twilight, Gator Aide, Tortoise Soup
Dana Stabenow's A Cold Day for Murder, A Deeper Sleep, A Fine and Bitter Snow, Midnight Come Again, A Taint in the Blood, and many others
John Stanley's The Woman Who Married a Bear, The Curious Eat Themselves, 
Neal Stephenson's Zodiac
Mark Stevens' Buried by the Roan; Antler Dust; Lake of Fire 
David Sundstrand's Shadow of the Raven
William Tapply's Cutter's Run
Peter Temple's The Broken Shore

Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Petals of Blood
Craig Thomas's A Wild Justice
Olga Tokarczuk's Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Antti Tuomainen's The Healer
Judith Van Gleson's "Neil Hamel" series, including The Wolf Path & Parrot Blues
David Rains Wallace's The Turquoise Dragon
Lee Wallingford's Clear-Cut Murder; Cold Tracks
Joseph Wambaugh's Finnegan's Week
Sterling Watson's Deadly Sweet
Betty Webb's Desert Wind; The Anteater of Death 
Randy Wayne White's White Captiva
Robert Wilson's Blood is Dirt

K.J.A. Wishnia's The Glass Factory; 23 Shades of Black; Red House Soft Money
Qiu Xialolong's Don't Cry, Tai Lake
Brooks Birdwell Yeager's Chilly Winds

John Yunker's The Tourist Trail; Where Oceans Hide Their Dead
Greg Zeigler's Rare as Earth; Some Say Fire; The Straw That Broke

Anthology: 
Crimes Against Nature: New Stories of Environmental Villainy, edited by Robert Lopresti

Reservoir Noir

Crime Fiction that deals with intentional flooding of towns and villages because of building dams and reservoirs for water supply, irrigation, power and other reasons--a sad addition to the environmental crime fiction list.

Stephen Bacon's Murmured in Dreams; "The Summer of Bradbury" in Terror Tales of Yorkshire, edited by Paul Finch 
Andrea Barrett: The Forms of Water
Alan Dipper's Drowning Day
Eileen Dunlop's Valley of the Deer (YA)
Lee Harris's The Christening Day Murder
JoeAnn Hart's Arroyo Circle
Carl Hiassen's Star Island; Skinny Deep

Mabel Esther Allan: Pendron Under the Water  (YA)

John Blackburn: Bury Him Darkly

Scott Carson's The Chill

Matthew J. Costello's Beneath Still Waters (horror)

Reginald Hill's On Beulah Height
Donald James' Walking the Shadows
Jane Langton's Emily Dickenson is Dead
Tim Lebbon's "The Flow" in Terror Tales of Wales, ed. by Paul Finch

James D. Landis' The Taking (Artist of the Beautiful)

Julia Wallis Martin's A Likeness in Stone
Sharyn McCrumb's Zombies of the Gene Pool
Michael Miano's The Dead of Summer
Nicholas Olde's "The Monstrous Laugh" in The Incredible Adventures of Rowland Hern

Ron Rash's One Foot in Eden
Rick Riordan's The Devil Went Down to Austin
Peter Robinson's In a Dry Season
Lisa See's Dragon Bones
Nova Ren Suma's Imaginary Girls (YA)

Paul Somers' Broken Jigsaw
Julia Spencer-Fleming's Out of the Deep I Cry
Jonathan Thomas's The Color Over Occum

John Milliken Thompson's The Reservoir Reservoir 13
Donald Westlake's Drowned Hopes
John Morgan Wilson's Rhapsody in Blood
Robert Wilson's Blood is Dirt
Stuart Woods's Under the Lake

*** 

Non-Fiction about Drowned Towns

Thomas Conuel: Quabbin: The accidental Wilderness
James L. Douthat: Cherokee Reservoir Grave Removals by T.V.A.
David and Joan Hay: Mardale, The Drowned Village: Being a Lakeland Journey into Yesterday
Allen Holt: Watergrove: A History of the Valley and Its Drowned Village
David Howarth: The Shadow of the Dam
Elizabeth Peirce: Quabbin Valley: People and Places
Joyce Hunsinger Pogany: Austintown
Les Ross, Editor: Before the Lake: Memories of the Chew Valley

***

Let me know any other author/titles that should be included. Make a comment below.

Cartoon of the Day: Easter Crime!

Authors & Their Cats: Lilian Jackson Braun

Happy Caturday! What better author to highlight today on my Authors & their Cats series than Lilian Jackson Braun, author of the Cat Who series. Be sure to scroll down and see both photos.

EASTER MYSTERIES // EASTER CRIME FICTION

Just in time for Easter, here's my updated Easter Crime Fiction list. As always, I welcome any additions. I've also added some Good Friday mysteries, rounding out the weekend.

EASTER CRIME FICTION/
EASTER MYSTERIES

The Easter Evader by Mathiya Adams

Death by Flamenco by Jennifer S. Alderson

Antiques Bizarre by Barbara Allan
Ship of Danger by Mabel Esther Allan
Aunt Dimity: Detective by Nancy Atherton
Bunny Donuts and a Body by Cindy Bell
Show Me the Bunny by Laurien Berenson

Death and the Easter Bunny by Linda Berry
In a Gilded Cage by Rhys Bowen
Easter Weekend by David Bottoms
The Last Enemy by Grace Brophy

The Faberge Easter Egg by Sharon E. Buck

Wycliffe and the Last Rites by W.J. Burley
The Chocolate Bunny Brouhaha by JoAnna Carl
Papa la-Bas by John Dickson Carr
Do You Promise Not To Tell? by Mary Jane Clark
Easter Hair Hunt by Nancy J. Cohen
Easter Buried Eggs by Lyndsey Cole
Little Easter by Reed Farrel Coleman
A Holiday Sampler by Christine E. Collier
Last Easter by Caroline Conklin
Absolute Certainty by Rose Connors
Murder on Good Friday by Sara Conway
Holy Terrors by Mary R. Daheim
Big Bunny Bump Off, Easter Escapade, Hippity Hoppity Homicide by Kathi Daley
Death of a Harlequin by Mary-Jane Deeb

KittyKai's Easter Mystery by Debbie De Louise
The House of Death by Paul Doherty
Cue the Easter Bunny by Liz Evans
Root of All Evil by E.X. Ferrars

Death at the Wheel by Kate Flora
The Chocolate Kiss by Laura Florand
Lord James Harrington and the Easter Mystery by Lynn Florkiewicz

Toxic Toffee; Criminally Cocoa by Amanda Flower
Eula May and the Easter Kandy Killer by Amy Mull Fremgen

Lord James Harrington and the Easter Mystery by Lynn Florkiewicz
Deadly Sin by P.J. Grady
Hop 'Til You Drop by J. M. Griffin

Precious Blood by Jane Haddam
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
The Good Friday Murder by Lee Harris 
Server Down by J.M. Hayes
Semana Santa by David Hewson
Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy

Killer Easter Pie by Carolyn Q. Hunter
Easter Murders by Bryant Jackson & Edward Meadows
Death of a Dumb Bunny by Melanie Jackson
Easter Eggs and Shotgun Shells by Madison Johns
On the Lamb by Tina Kashian

Murder on the Eightfold Path by Diana Killian
Beauty Expos are Murder by Libby Klein

Bunny Drop by Linda Kozar
Chef Maurice and the Bunny-Boiler Bake Off by J.A. Lang
Forest of Souls by J. G. Lewis

Do Not Exceed the Stated Dose (short stories) by Peter Lovesey
Dyeing Season: Basket Case by Karen MacInerney
Shot Cross Buns by Tegan Maher
Pagan Spring by G. M. Malliet
Some Like It Lethal by Nancy Martin
Alibis & Angels by Olivia Matthews
Easter Bunny Murder; Easter Bonnet Murder by Leslie Meier
The Chocolate Easter Baking Challenge by M'Lissa Moorecroft

Devil's Door by Sharan Newman
The Easter Mystery by Joan Lowery Nixon
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

The Easter Sunday Slaughter by Imogen Plimp
The Wolf and the Lamb by Frederick Ramsey
Chicory is Trickery by Sheri Richey

The Chocolate Egg Murders by David W. Robinson

The Baritone Wore Chiffon; The Soprano Wore Falsettos by Mark Schweizer
Easter's Lily by Judy Serrano
Prey on Patmos by Jeffrey Siger
Tourist Trap by Julie Smith

Wicked Egg to Crack by Lotta Smith
Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming
And Four To Go includes "The Easter Parade" aka The Easter Parade Murder" by Rex Stout
Easter Breakfast by John Stuart

Nickeled-and-Dimed to Death by Denise Swanson
The Quarry by Johan Theorin
Midnight at the Camposanto by Mari Ulmer
The Lord is My Shepherd by Debbie Viguie
Of Crocuses and Confessions; On Borrowed Time; Baa'd to the Bone by Sarah Jane Weldon

The Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson
Easter Egg Murder by Patricia Smith Wood
Easter Egg Hunt Murder by Rachel Woods

Short Story: 

"The Man on the Cross" by Bill Crider from the collection Thou Shalt Not Kill, edited by Anne Perry.
"The Rabbit Died" by Sue Ann Jaffarian.

Looking for Easter Chocolate to eat while reading? Stop by my other Blog, DyingforChocolate.com for some great Chocolate Easter Recipes and the History and Culture of the Chocolate Easter Bunny.

Look Magazine, April 16, 1957