SLEUTHFEST 2025

Sleuthfest, a conference for mystery, thriller, and suspense fiction writers, was postponed because of bad weather (hurricane!), but here's the new date: May 15-18, 2025. Don't miss this fun conference!

Click here to register. 

MIDWEST MYSTERY CONFERENCE AUTHOR LINE-UP

Midwest Mystery Conference. 

November 9, 2024, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00p.m 

Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan, 2nd fl, Chicago, IL

In-person conference! This one-day event is ideal for crime fiction readers, writers, and publishing pros. With a single track of panels and keynote conversations, the Midwest Mystery Conference is a great opportunity to connect with your favorite authors, and meet a few new ones!

The venue is fully accessible and registration includes a tote bag full of books and goodies!

Register Here. 

The full lineup :  Eric Beetner Connie Berry Kristin Kisska Daniel Kraus Libby Cudmore Jenna Jankowski Joanna MacKenzie Juan Martinez Cynthia Pelayo Abby Saul Daphne Silver Jeremy Wagner James D.F. Hannah Maria Kelson Molly MacRae Lina Chern Kaitlyn Kennedy Mallika Narayanan Hannah Morrissey PJ Tracy Maggie Blake Bailey  Kelsey Rae Dimberg Catriona McPherson Delia Pitts Kate Robards Amy Pease Ellen Byron Mia Manansala Rob Osler Julia Dahl Sara Paretsky Tracy Clark Lori Rader-Day

2024 McILVANNEY PRIZE Longlist

The longlist for the McIlvanney Prize has been announced by Bloody Scotland. The award, previously known as the Bloody Scotland Prize for Scottish Crime Writing, will be presented on Friday, September 13, on the first night of the Bloody Scotland Festival. Congratulations to all!

McILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLIST

D V Bishop – A Divine Fury (Pan Macmillan) 
Chris Brookmyre – The Cracked Mirror (Sphere) 
Val McDermid – Past Lying (Sphere) 
Charles Cumming – Kennedy 35 (HarperCollins) 
Andrew James Greig – The Girl in the Loch (Storm Publishing) 
Doug Johnstone – The Collapsing Wave (Orenda) 
S G Maclean – The Winter List (Quercus) 
Abir Mukherjee – Hunted (Vintage) C S Robertson – The Trials of Marjory Crowe (Hodder & Stoughton) 
Kim Sherwood – A Spy Like Me (HarperCollins) 
Doug Sinclair – Blood Runs Deep (Storm Publishing) 
Douglas Skelton – The Hollow Mountain (Polygon)

MIDWEST MYSTERY CONFERENCE: November 11, Chicago.

Midwest Mystery Conference, November 11, 2023, 9:00-5:00p
Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan, 2nd fl, Chicago, IL
Formerly Murder and Mayhem in Chicago

The Midwest Mystery Conference is a bi-annual event featuring some of the Midwest’s top mystery/crime writers and a few of their friends, too. This event is perfect for crime readers and librarians hoping to find new books to read and aspiring crime writers hoping to learn about the mystery community and writing and publishing careers. With a single track of panels and keynote conversations, the Midwest Mystery Conference is a great opportunity to connect with your favorite authors, and meet a few new ones!
The venue is fully accessible and registration includes a tote bag full of books and goodies!

Schedule

8:30a-9:15a: Check in / Registration

9:15a – Opening remarks from Midwest Mystery Conference organizers Dana Kaye, Lori Rader-Day, and Tracy Clark

9:30-10:15a – Starting with a Bang: Thrillers

• Jen Collins Moore, moderator

• Tracy Clark

• Tori Eldridge

• Mindy Mejia

• Nick Petrie

10:30-11:15a – Murder Among Friends; Cozies

• Julie Hennrikus, moderator

• Juneau Black (Sharon Nagel and Jocelyn Cole)

• JC Kenney

• Mia Manansala

• Mindy Quigley

11:30a-12:15p – First-Time Thrills: Debuts

• Tracy Clark, moderator

• Lina Chern

• Cindy Fazzi

• Rebecca McKanna

• Kate Robards

12:15-1:45p – Lunch on your own or with Sisters in Crime Chicagoland and Cheryl Head 

• This is a paid event which you can add on when you register for the conference.

1:45-2:30p – The Inside Buzz on Audiobooks

• Eleanor Imbody, moderator

• Amy Deuchler

• Anne Marie Lewis

• Shaina Summerville

• Marcus Zarco

2:45-3:30p – The Past Isn’t Even Past: Historicals

• Susanna Calkins, moderator

• Dianne Freeman

• Cheryl Head

• Anna Lee Huber

• Mary Winters

3:45-4:30p – From Inside the House: Psychological/Domestic Thrillers

• Keir Graff, moderator

• Sean Doolittle

• Carol Dunbar

• Lori Rader-Day

• Tony Wirt

4:30-4:45p – Closing remarks from Dana, Lori, Tracy

Register Here. 

MIDWEST MYSTERY CONFERENCE: November 5-6, 2021

Midwest Mystery Conference 2021: November 5-6, 2021

Full lineup and schedule! Please note that all times are listed in Central Time! 

Friday, November 5th: Sessions take place on Zoom 

5:00-5:30pm: Welcome with Dana Kaye and Tracy Clark 

5:30-6:15pm:  Keynote conversation with Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman 

6:15-7:00pm: Small group networking at the virtual bar! 

Saturday, November 6th: Sessions take place on Crowdcast 

9:00- 9:15 am:  Welcome with Dana Kaye and Tracy Clark 

9:30-10:15am: Crime and Comedy with Wendall Thomas, Spencer Quinn and Mia Manansala 

10:30- 11:15am:  The Next Generation with Raquel V. Reyes, Wanda Morris and Ashley Winstead 

11:30-12:15pm: Keynote Conversation with Sherry Thomas and Sandra SG Wong 

12:30-12:45pm: Halftime Giveaway with Dana Kaye and Tracy Clark Lunch Break 

1:30-2:15pm: Old-School Crimes with Nev March, Lori Rader-Day, and John Copenhaver 

2:30-3:15p m: Stop the Ticking Clock with Julia Dahl, Matthew FitzSimmons, and Yasmin Angoe 

3:30-4:15p Leave it to the Pros with Alverne Ball, Sarah Stewart Taylor and Joanna Schaffhausen 

4:30-5:00p Closing with Dana Kaye, Tracy Clark and Lori Rader-Day 

Register Now!

St Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend Goes Virtual

St. Hilda's College Crime Fiction Weekend goes Virtual Crime this year, starting on Friday evening and running all day Saturday, live. August 14-15, 2020

Theme: ‘All Our Yesterdays’: Historical Crime Fiction. 

Find yourself unleashed upon the London of the Swinging Sixties, the winding backstreets of 1950s Bombay, the gin shops and brothels of Georgian London, and some dark doings as Brighton hangs out the bunting for the Coronation – and all in pursuit of Murder. They do say Time heals everything…

Participants, subjects, and speakers: 
Val McDermid, Mick Herron, William Shaw, Sarah Hilary, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Khan, Tom Wood, Sara Sheridan, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Jill Dawson, Mary Paulson-Ellis, Elly Griffiths and Anna Mazzola. Alison Joseph and Jake Kerridge will be sharing the chairing with subjects ranging from Christie and Highsmith, Du Maurier and Vine, to CJ Sansom and Dr Who. Andrew Wilson will be celebrating Agatha Christie in this the 100th anniversary of The Mysterious Affair At Styles with Everything Agatha!

Puzzler and prize: 
No event exploring Historical Crime Fiction would be complete without Andrew Taylor. Not only our 2020 Guest Of Honour, he is penning this year's dramatic Whodunnit. The Murder of Lucy Ackroyd is a chillingly implausible whodunit set in Oxford. The demise of a famed literary novelist takes place in a former women’s college located in the academic badlands beyond Magdalen Bridge. Starring: Chief Inspector Taylor, Val McDermid, Sarah Hilary, Triona Adams, Abir Mukherjee, and Mick Herron. Blackwell's Bookshop have provided a splendid prize: a signed, first edition of PD James' The Lighthouse (Faber and Faber, 2005.)

Accessibility: 
One ticket buys access to all of the live sessions, and to all the recordings which will made immediately available and remain accessible for a month. In this way you can be flexible with what you view and when. Further details and simple joining instructions will be sent out to all attendees a couple of days prior to the big event. View the Program here

Register Here: https://www.sthildas.ox.ac.uk/content/book-crime-fiction