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Friday, June 13, 2025
Thursday, June 12, 2025
FATHER'S DAY MYSTERIES. //FATHER'S DAY CRIME FICTION
Even now after he's been gone these many years, I find myself finishing a mystery and saying to myself, "I have to send this to Dad. He'll love it." It always makes me sad to remember I can't. My father engendered my love of mysteries through his collection of mystery novels and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines. I like to think he's up there somewhere in a comfortable chair surrounded by books, reading a good mystery.
FATHER'S DAY MYSTERIES
Father’s Day by John Calvin Batchelor
Father’s Day by Rudolph Engelman
Father's Day: A Detective Joe Guerry Story by Tippie Rosemarie Fulton
Father’s Day Keith Gilman
Dear Old Dead by Jane Haddam
The Father’s Day Murder by Lee Harris
Day of Reckoning by Kathy Herman
Dead Water by Victoria Houston
Father’s Day Murder by Leslie Meier
On Father's Day by Megan Norris
Father’s Day by Alan Trustman
Murder for Father, edited by Martin Greenberg (short stories)
"Father's Day" by Patti Abbott --short story at Spinetingler
Collateral Damage: A Do Some Damage Collection e-book of Father's Day themed short stories.
"Where's Your Daddy?" by Sue Ann Jaffarian
**
And a list of Crime Fiction that focuses on Fathers and Sons and Fathers and Daughters. Have a favorite Father / Son Father/Daughter Mystery? Post below in comments or send me a note.
FATHERS AND SONS and FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS in CRIME FICTION
The Stay at Home Dad series by Jeffrey Allen
His Father's Son by Tony Black
Her Father's Secret by Sara Blaedel
The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian
The Lonely Witness by William Boyle
Secret Father by James Carroll
The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L. Carter
The Hasidic Rebbe's Son by Joan Lipinsky Cochran
The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne
The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron
Killings by Andre Dubus
The Dead Daughter by Thomas Fincham
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig
Damage by Josephine Hart The Good Father by Noah Hawley
1922; The Shining by Stephen King
Cold in July by Joe R. Lansdale
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Charlie Chan Returns by Dennis Lynds
Darksight by D.C. Mallery
The Son by Jo Nesbo
The Roman Hat Mystery; other novels by Ellery Queen (Manfred B. Lee and Frederic Dannay)
My Son, the Murderer by Patrick Quentin
The Senior Sleuths: Dead in Bed by Marcia Rosen
Baby's First Felony by John Straley
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
SHAMUS AWARD NOMINEES 2025: Private Eye Writers of America
BEST PI HARDCOVER
- Kingpin by Mike Lawson
- The Hollow Tree by Phillip Miller
- Farewell, Amethystine by Walter Mosley
- Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
- Death and Glory by Will Thomas
- Geisha Confidential by Mark Coggins
- Quarry’s Return by Max Allan Collins
- Not Born of Woman by Teel James Glenn
- Bless Our Sleep by Neil S. Plakcy
- Call of the Void by J.T. Siemens
- The Big Lie by Gabriel Valjan
- Twice the Trouble by Ash Clifton
- The Devil’s Daughter by Gordon Greisman
- Fog City by Claire M. Johnson
- The Road to Heaven by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson
- Holy City by Henry Wise
- “Deadhead” by Tom Andes (Fall 2024, Cowboy Jamboree Magazine)
- “Alibi in Ice” by Libby Cudmore (July/August 2024, AHMM)
- “Drop Dead Gorgeous” by M.E. Proctor (Janie’s Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith)
- “Under Hard Rock” by Ed Teja (October 2024, Black Cat Weekly #164)
- “The Five Cent Detective” by S.B. Watson (November 2024, Crimeucopia)
GRANTCHESTER, Season 10: MASTERPIECE Mystery!
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
FREDERICK FORSYTH: R.I.P.
Frederick Forsyth, author of The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, and The Dogs of War, died Monday, at the age of 86. Forsyth was the master of the geopolitical thriller populated with spies, mercenaries, and political extremists. He wrote 24 books, including 14 novels, and sold more than 75 million copies. He will be missed, but remembered.
Crime Writers' Association interview with Frederick Forsyth
Monday, June 9, 2025
Art Detectives: New Series on AcornTV
Sunday, June 8, 2025
SHORTLISTS: Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year & McDermid Debut Award
The Cracked Mirror, by Chris Brookmyre (Sphere)
The Mercy Chair, by M.W. Craven (Constable)
The Last Word, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Hunted, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
All the Colours of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker (Orion)
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Friday, June 6, 2025
Murder in Wartime: D-Day
MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL: Murder in Wartime (Volume 33:2)
Available a downloadable PDF.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- World War II and the Golden Age Tradition by Kate Jackson
- The Making of Heroes by Suzanne M. Arruda
- It Never Happened by Mary Adler
- On Edge by Albert Ashforth
- Between Lost and Dead by Rona Bell
- A Half Century Later, Vietnam Is Still a Mystery by R.G. Belsky
- Harry Lime Was Wrong by James Benn
- My Wartime Connection by Cara Black
- The Secrets of Bletchley Park by Rhys Bowen
- Passing On the Memory of Wars I Never Knew by William Broderick
- Don’t Mention the War by Frances Brody
- Why Care About a Murder in Wartime? by Rebecca Cantrell
- The Green Corn Rebellion by Donis Casey
- War Is Hell… but Hell Makes Good Mysteries by John A. Connell
- Murder and Ancient War by Gary Corby
- The Real and Recent Wars Behind My Fiction by Diana Deverell
- Spoils of War by David Edgerley Gates
- You Say Conflict, I Say War by Chris Goff
- Mystery in The First World War by Dolores Gordon-Smith
- Civil War Crime by Paul E. Hardisty
- War Stories by Libby Hellmann
- Body of Evidence by Graham Ison
- Wartime in England by Maureen Jennings
- The Mysteries of War by Kay Kendall
- From Bomb Shelters to a B&B by Kate Kingsbury
- Bombs and Short Legs by Joan Lock
- Rough Cider in the Making by Peter Lovesey
- If It’s War, It Can’t Be Murder? by Michael Niemann
- Echoes of Vietnam by Neil Plakcy
- When the Investigator Wears Boots by Ben Pastor
- His Debts Were Settled At Last by Mary Reed
- Murder in Wartime by Gavin Scott
- The Time Traveler As Writer by Sarah R. Shaber
- A Coin for the Hangman: The Home Front and the Returning Soldier by Ralph Spurrier
- The Solitary Soldier by Kelli Stanley
- Wartime in New York by Triss Stein
- Writing About War by Charles Todd
- It’s Not Our War: Writing a WWI-Era Mystery Series Set in New York by Radha Vatsal
- Fading Away by Sharon Wildwind
- Bloodshed Behind the Lines by Sally Wright
- Fate, Facts, and War Stories by Ursula Wong
- Mystery in Retrospect: Reviews by Kristopher Zgorski, Craig Sisterson, L.J. Roberts, Sandie Herron, Kate Jackson, Kate Derie
- Khaki Cops by Jim Doherty
- True Crime in Wartime by Cathy Pickens
- The Children’s Hour: War Mysteries by Gay Toltl Kinman
- Just the Facts: The Military Mutilator by Jim Doherty
- Crime Scene: Murder in a Time of War by Kate Derie
- From the Editor’s Desk by Janet Rudolph
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
PATIENCE: PBS series premieres June 15
Monday, June 2, 2025
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Authors & their Cats: Lilian Jackson Braun
Friday, May 30, 2025
Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence Winners
Sponsored by the Boreal Benefactor with a $1000 prize
Sponsored by Melodie Campbell with a $1000 prize
Sponsored by Shaftesbury with a $500 prize
Sponsored by Jane Doe with a $500 prize
Sponsored by Carrick Publishing with a $200 prize
Carrick Publishing
Sponsored by Superior Shores Press with a $250 prize
Sponsored by David Reid Simpson Law Firm (Hamilton) with a $300 prize
Random House Canada
Tanya Talaga, The Knowing, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Sponsored by ECW Press with a $500 prize
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.
Thursday, May 29, 2025
What’s Bred in the Bone: Guest Post by Michael Robotham
I spent more than a year working the graveyard shift for The Sun. The Red-Light district became my regular haunt because it was the only place to get a coffee or something to eat at three in the morning. I befriended pimps, prostitutes, dealers, junkies, coppers, strippers, transvestites, tramps, and ‘colourful local identities’ – a euphemism for gangsters and nightclub owners.
‘Give it twenty minutes and go back,’ he said. ‘They’ll have gone by then.’
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
LEFT COAST CRIME 2026: San Francisco Schemin'
Can't wait for Left Coast Crime 2026: San Francisco Schemin'. Be sure and sign up and reserve your room at the hotel. This is going to be an epic convention. Convention rate includes convention with panels and special events, banquet, two full breakfasts, and opening reception--but so much more. It's all about friends and writers. And, San Francisco--everybody's favorite city!
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
A Low-Commitment Pet for a Low-Commitment Owner: Guest Post by Tom Spencer
Monday, May 26, 2025
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Saturday, May 24, 2025
He Had to Die: Guest Post by Anna Scotti
Friday, May 23, 2025
Memorial Day Mysteries //Memorial Day Crime Fiction
In memory of all who served their country, here's an updated list of Mysteries set during Memorial Day Weekend. Let me know if I've forgotten any titles. You may also want to check out my Veterans Day Mystery List.
Memorial Day Mysteries
Death is Like a Box of Chocolates by Kathy Aarons
Last Man Standing by David Baldacci
The Twenty Three by Linwood Barclay
Treble at the Jam Fest by Leslie Budewitz
The Decoration Memorial Day War by David H. Brown
Memorial Day by Sandra Thompson Brown and Duane Brown
Flowers for Bill O'Reilly: Memorial Day by Max Allan Collins

Absolute Certainty by Rose Connors
One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer Fleming (not technically Memorial day, but it fits the theme)
Memorial Day by Vince Flynn
Memorial Day by Harry Shannon
Beside Still Waters by Debbie Viguie
Who Killed the Neanderthal by Cheryl Zelenka
Children's Mysteries:
Trixie Belden: The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire by Kahryn Kenny
Sam's Top Secret Journal: Memorial Day by Sean Adelman, Siri Bardarson, Dianna Border & Andrea Hurst
Rosemary is for Remembrance. Check out the recipe for Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies on my other blog: DyingforChocolate.com
Thursday, May 22, 2025
INFORMATION ON THE MACAVITY NOMINATING BALLOT
Just an FYI:
If you're a member of Mystery Readers International, subscriber to Mystery Readers Journal, or a Friend of Mystery Readers, you should have received a Macavity Nominating ballot. Check your spam filter, or send me a note, if you'd like to nominate.
The coveted Macavity is awarded in five categories.
Check out the past winners and nominees.
Thanks to Gabriel Valjan for this great 'reminder' graphic! One more category not lists: Best Non-Fiction/Critical.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Cultivating that Old Sense of Place: Guest Post by Christopher Deliso
In the following brief summary, I will provide three examples from well-known works where the travel or journalistic aspect can be discerned. In the bigger picture, this cross-pollination of approaches is practically useful to authors today, I believe, specifically for the strengthening of the literary character of a mystery story—in terms of both characters and settings, and the spirit that permeates the tale.
That is: the singularity of any given story should have just as much to do with its setting and its people as it does with its ciphers, locked-room ingenuity, or other devices of the genre that could be plotted anywhere. The best mystery (and other) stories are memorable to a large extent because authors succeed in convincing readers that the story happens, of necessity, to the characters involves, and in the places and times in which they are set. The informed articulation of a specific topos and a convincing historicity (even if the story is not ‘historical,’ in the broadest sense) create additional nuance and depth to a mystery story, elevating the most memorable beyond what might otherwise be simply a generic puzzle absent of topical and character necessity.
Note: for the reader’s enjoyment, and to better demonstrate the stories discussed here, I will include a special shout-out, in the form of relevant links to recitations by British voice actor Tony Walker of the Classic Detective Stories channel on YouTube.
I tested my observation in yet another listening of the genre’s honorary original, and still one of the most remarkable literary detective stories, Poe’s ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue.’ For both his great puzzle-solver, the Frenchman Dupin, and his native city of 1840s Paris, are so deftly described in passing, in a thousand accidental (yet essential) details that the magic of the piece comes to life. For the eventual explanation of an escaped orangutan with a razor blade to be at all believable, the author must conjure sufficient images of a city in which both the architecture and personalities make it possible. In order for Poe’s city to be fit for the genius of Dupin the occasional detective, it must also be habitable for that hapless Maltese sailor with his strange pet.
Further, and most extraordinary, is how Poe manages to encapsulate both the mood of the characters and their location while foreshadowing and mimicking the very concept of the locked-room mystery that he is about to detail, in the early descriptive scene, in which Poe’s narrator first discusses life in Paris with Dupin:
A second story in which sense of place and character struck me, for a different reason, was Dorothy L. Sayers’ ‘Murder at Pentecost.’ This story of mad professors and a murder at an apocryphal Oxonian college not only reminded me of Oxford (and perhaps, how much has remained the same there over time). Yet it also really emphasized the value that a good narrator can bring in terms of reinforcing character identities through proper reading of dialogue. In the story, Tony Walker does an excellent job of narrating the subtle tonal differences between the aaimless upper-class English undergraduate, the (perhaps) mad professor, and the working-class English policeman on the case. This comprehension of character dialogue through regional accents adds great depth and richness, bringing us closer to Sayers’ original intent and making the story more singular in its new reading.
A separate mention of another Classic Detective Stories recitation comes from a book I very much hope to cover in more detail for the Mystery Readers Journal next year. That is the classic 1939 thriller by Eric Ambler, The Mask of Dimitrios (published in the US as A Coffin for Dimitrios). The excerpt is called Belgrade 1926
https://christopherdeliso.substack.com/about |
Since 2021, I’ve brought on board the lessons of stories like these into the writing and editing of my own Detective Grigoris novel, which is set in Southeast Europe at the turn of the 21st century. I’ve applied my own diverse writing and research experience to the novel. At the same time, I’ve observed from the classics of the genre that ‘fleshing out’ a mystery with ekphrasis and richly-local characters are things of long-standing.
Such an observation gives me hope not only that my work will be published, but that my approach confirms and complements a pre-existing (if under-discussed) dimension of what makes the mystery genre so interesting for diverse groups of readers.