Vintage Library Poster of the Week: Take along a BOOK

 

Mapback Mondays: Leslie Ford's The Philadelphia Murder Story

Today, I'm revising Mapback Mondays! 

Dell Mapback Books were printed in the 1940s and 50s, and they were something really special! They were great paperbacks, not only for the books themselves, but for the sturdy laminated covers that also had maps of the scene of the crime on the back! How cool is that? 

For a history of Dell Mapbacks, read J. Kingston Pierce's Dell Mapbacks: a History in CrimeReads. 

So to begin Mapback Mondays, here's the cover and mapback from Leslie Ford's The Philadelphia Murder Story! I'm from Philadelphia originally, so I'm drawn to everything Philly! This Mapback features lots of my haunts--well maybe not the Police Station. And the mystery is a 'bibliomystery'. What's not to love?

"The Death of an Author Upsets Society and The SatEvePost in "the Philadelphia Murder Story"  

Cartoon of the Day: Clue

 

SUMMER CAMP MYSTERIES

I was not a big summer camp fan. I hated bugs and outdoorsy stuff -- the woods, the camp fire, the ghost stories, the mean girls. 

When I was young, my Dad would spend his 'summer vacation' as a camp doctor, thus affording my sister and me the 'pleasure' of 2-4 weeks at overnight summer camp. My sister loved it; I hated it. But when I was 13, I went to the best summer camp ever (my father was not camp doctor): The New Hope Academy of the Performing Arts at Ramblerny. Oh my. Great fun with like minds and talented peers. This was not a common overnight camp at the time. Ramblerny was an Arts Camp, a summer camp for the performing arts -- no counselors, little or no supervision, no sports, no bells, or taps. Rather, there were drama workshops, music classes, dance practices, play-writing. Case in Point: The large cracked swimming pool later became an amphitheater!  To be fair, there was archery and swimming and other sports available, but nothing you 'had' to do. 

Ramblerny summer camp was a world to itself, as, most summer camps seem to be, but this one opened a new world for me. I cherished the amount of freedom, but I also learned a lot about various arts: Drama: I will never forget the well-known actors who came down from NYC to teach and encourage us 'misfits' ("Breathe through your diaphragm"), Art: famous artists who worked with us on various projects such as set design, as if we were peers; world famous playwrights who critiqued our work (gently). Wowza. And to date myself, this was a very long time ago, and way before the hippie era.

As I was writing this memory, I thought I should do some fact checking. Memory, as we all know, can be faulty. Thanks, Internet, for copies of the Ramblerny brochure. I wasn't too wrong..I didn't, though, remember ANY sports element. (I did find a further mention that teens could choose their own sports, if they wanted, at any time, with equipment found around the property! Yes! Be sure and check out the Policy statement re: rules. And, who knew that so much later in my life, after a multitude of careers and years of academic study, I would come full circle and establish a theatre company and write and produce plays? Back to my roots, as a 13 year old girl at Ramblerny!

But back to crime fiction. Since I had had a taste of the traditional summer camp, the kind that most of my friends attended for the entire summer (usually for 2 months!!!), I understand why summer camp would be the perfect place to set a mystery. I do realize I missed out on life-long friends who built memories as they reunited every summer. Traditional summer camp had its merits, but not for me at that time. Remember, there were no computer camps (there were no computers!), no French camps (that I knew of), no Writing camps, no CSI or Science Summer Camps. 

So in regards to mystery fiction, there are so many ways to commit crimes at summer camp, and some to those crimes never got reported and festered for years leading way to the unsolved crimes later in life. Summer camp was clearly not all S'mores and the Lake. I've separated out the YA and children's crime fiction from the adult summer camp mysteries on my Summer Camp List, but there really is a cross-over between YA and adult. I didn't include a bunch of horror summer camp mysteries. Sorry..just not my thing. And, FYA, there are a lot of them. No surprise there!

So while you're packing the kids up for camp, throw a few of these books into their trunk! They'll thank you for it. Or better still, ask them to write a mystery about their camp experience for you in their spare camp time!

As always, send me any missing titles/authors. Thanks!

Summer Camp Mysteries: Updated List

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kaylynn Bayron

If You Tell a Lie by Lucinda Berry

The Camp by Nancy Bush

A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas DiDomizio

Summer Camp Culprit by C.K. Fyfe

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman
You Will Pay by Lisa Jackson

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
Fatal Glitch: Camp Zero by Erin Estrada Kelly

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy

The Wild One by Colleen McKeegan
I'll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

The Lake by Natasha Preston

The Girl in the Mist by A.J. Rivers

Don't Lie to Me by Willow Rose

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Summer Camp for Slasher Victims by Steve Simms

YA & Children's Books:

The Summer Camp Mysteries (Cam Jansen Mysteries) by David A. Adler

The Meadow-Brook Girls Under Canvas by Janet Aldridge

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

The Summer Camp Science Mysteries by Lynda Beauregard, Der-shing Helmer

Camp Murder Face by Josh Berk & Saundra Mitchell

Code Name Cassandra by Jenny Carroll (Meg Cabot)

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan

Mystery at Camp Windingo by Lisa Eisenberg

The High School Boys in Summer Camp by H. Irving Hancock

The Girls from Hush Cabin by Marie Hoy-Kenny

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Dig Two Graves by Gretchen McNeil

Detective Camp by Ron Roy (Scholastic)

Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin

Lights Out; The Horror at Camp Jellyjam by R.L. Stine

The Summer Camp Mystery (The Boxcar Children) by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Scatter: Her Summer at Girls Camp by Leslie Warren

Camp Creepy by Kiersten White

Short Stories:

"Evil Little Girl" by Barb Goffman in Don't Get Mad, Get Even 

New Hercule Poirot Series featuring the young Hercule Poirot

Edward Bluemel has been cast as the youngest Hercule Poirot for a new series starting in 2027. The BBC shared that it plans to run for three seasons, with the first season slated for release in 2027 with six episodes.  

The iconic detective, who once described himself as "the greatest detective in the world" in Agatha Christie's The Mystery of the Blue Train, will get its youngest iteration, with the BBC making it clear that the younger generation is who to turn to for successful TV shows. The  new series will follow Poirot's earlier years. The idea is that it will be "an intimate study of Hercule," looking at the character's growth between the wars. With the time period, it means we're getting a look at the sleuth before he became the well-known detective everyone turned to for help with solving crimes. 

There have been many great actors in this role before Bluemel, with David Suchet being the man everyone immediately thinks of. Suchet took on the role in 1989 and continued for 24 seasons across a total of 70 episodes. Most recently, Kenneth Branagh has played the iconic character, and before him, Peter Ustinov played the role for the 1978 movie Death on the Nile and the 1982 release Death Under the Sun. David Suchet played the Belgian detective for nearly 25 years in the ITV series; Kenneth Branagh, Albert Finney, and Peter Ustinov, among others, have also played Poirot. 

Whether the new series asks Bluemel to adopt Poirot’s appearance —  waxed moustaches and a fastidious sense of fashion — remains to be seen. 

BritBox and the BBC have titled the new production 'Hercule'. The new six-part series will follow the the young Hercule Porot as he solves his first-ever cases before becoming the world’s most iconic sleuth. Filming begins this summer with a 2027 air date. 

POSTER OF THE WEEK: A Library Champ

 Love this Vintage Library Poster!

Cartoon of the Day: House Hunting

 People like me!

Authors & their Cats: Edward Gorey

Happy Caturday! Authors & their Cats: Edward Gorey!

PRINT EDITION NOW AVAILABLE: Fairs, Fêtes, & Festivals in Mysteries- Mystery Readers Journal

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

Purchase the Print Edition here.

This issue is also available as a PDF. 

Fairs, Fêtes, & Festivals in Mysteries

Volume 42, No. 1, Spring 2026

Buy this print edition! Also 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

***

Going to a State Fair this summer? Will you be in D.C?  Don't miss the State Fairs: Growing American Craft at the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian. Through September 7. 

Cartoon of the Day: The Perp

 

Cartoon of the Day: The Stacks

From Rhymes with Orange

 

2026 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Writers of Color Award: Jackie Yap

Sisters in Crime, an inclusive international community for all who write and love crime fiction, announced the winner of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color, which is bestowed by the organization annually.

 

The winner of the 2026 Award is Jackie Yap, a self-described “neurodivergent Australian-born, Malaysian-Chinese-Filipina emerging writer on Gadigal Country (Sydney), Australia.” Her winning submission, “Isabelle Gomez is Innocent, She Swears!,”  is a YA cozy murder mystery set in Manila. The story is part-murder mystery, part-fish-out-of-water, part coming-of-age—with universal themes of humor, heart, and belonging.

 

Established in 2014, The Eleanor Taylor Bland Award is strongly aligned with SinC's mission to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of current and prospective members and intends to support a recipient at the beginning of their crime writing career. The grantee may choose to apply the grant toward workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses and research activities to assist in completion of their work. 

 

The award is named after beloved crime writer Eleanor Taylor Bland, who was a trailblazer in the genre - giving voice to complex and diverse characters in her many acclaimed novels and works. 

 

“This grant is a game-changer,” Yap said. “It allows me to invest deeply in my craft and development through SinC, with its world-class workshops and amazing community, and to more deeply engage with Australian and international crime and mystery organisations.”

 

Yap described her story as a “ love letter to diaspora kids everywhere—to those who live in the liminal space between worlds, still discovering who they are, where they fit, and what 'home' truly means. I hope for Izzy Gomez to become a fresh, modern-day Filipina-Aussie Nancy Drew for readers everywhere, offering a protagonist who reflects their experiences against the backdrop of a (cozy) YA murder mystery.”

 

In addition to Yap's achievement, Sisters in Crime also named five runners-up. The recipients were Uju Asika of London, United Kingdom; Billie Hanson-Dupree of Oakland, CA; Nina Michiko Tam of Houston, Texas; D. S. Mori of Orange County, California; and DeAnna Yvette of Chicago, IL.