Showing posts with label Mystery Readers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mystery Readers. Show all posts

Friday, April 6, 2018

Janet Dawson & Wendy Hornsby Literary Salon

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an evening Literary Salon in Berkeley (CA) with mystery authors Janet Dawson and Wendy Hornsby.

When: Thursday, April 19, 7 p.m.

Where: Berkeley. RSVP by making comment below with your email
 
Janet Dawson is the author of twelve novels featuring Oakland private investigator Jeri Howard. She was the winner of the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America contest for best first private eye novel and has been nominated for the Shamus, Macavity and Anthony Awards. Her latest novel is The Ghost in Roomette Four, the third in her California Zephyr mystery series.

Edgar Award-winning author Wendy Hornsby has written thirteen mystery novels and many, many short stories. She taught ancient and Medieval history at Long Beach City College for 38 years. Her latest mystery featuring filmmaker Maggie MacGowen takes the intrepid investigative filmmaker across Europe in Number 7, Rue Jacob.

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Mystery Readers Journal: Subscribe for 2018 and receive a Bonus Issue


Mystery Readers Journal: Subscribe to Mystery Readers Journal for '18 by January 15, 2018 and receive a bonus issue (Volume 33:4). 

MRJ is going into its 34th year of publication! Themes in '18: Gardening; The Far East; Spooks & Spies; The American South! 

Mystery Readers Journal: Quarterly themed review periodical. 80-120 pages each issue: Reviews, News, and Author! Author! essays

Call for Articles
We're looking for articles and Author! Author! essays for the 2018 issues: Author! Author! essays are 500-1000 words, first person, upclose and personal about yourself, your books, and the "theme" connection. Themes in '18: Gardening; The Far East; Spooks & Spies; The American South.

For more info, email: janet@mysteryreaders.org

Many back issues of Mystery Readers Journal are available as single copies in hardcopy or PDF.

UPCOMING LITERARY SALONS IN BERKELEY, CA. 
RSVP for address and TO ATTEND.

January 18: Jeff Siger. 7 p.m. 
January 29: Sujata Massey. 7 p.m. 

***
Holiday Mystery Lists

I love lists, and I post holiday themed lists on my blog Mystery Fanfare. It's a great place to look for the most up-to-date list -- from Halloween to Mother's Day to Veteran's Day to Christmas (which is actually split into 5 posts).

Find all the Holiday Mystery Lists in one place on the Mystery Readers International website. Find any titles or authors missing? email me at: janet@mysteryreaders.org ***

BLOGS 
Mystery Fanfare 
Dying for Chocolate

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Literary Salon - August 3: R. Franklin James & Susan Spann


Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an afternoon Literary Salon on Wednesday, August 3 at 2 p.m. in Berkeley CA with mystery authors R. Franklin James and Susan Spann. Comment below or send email for directions and to RSVP.

R. Franklin James
R. Franklin James grew up in the San Francisco East Bay Area and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. Her career path shifted to Southern California where she was appointed Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles by Richard Riordan. After a career of public service she focused on her first love, writing, and in 2013 her debut novel in the Hollis Morgan Mystery series, The Fallen Angels Book Club, was published by Camel Press. The fourth book in the series, The Trade List, was released this past June 2016. She is on the board of Bouchercon, an international non-profit organization that has produced mystery conventions for almost fifty-years. She also serves as vice-president of the Sisters In Crime – Sacramento Capitol Crimes Chapter. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Northern California Publishers and Authors and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. James lives in Northern California with her husband. You can find her online on Facebook, Twitter and at her website: www.rfranklinjames.com.


Susan Spann
Susan Spann is a California attorney and the author of the Hiro Hattori Novels featuring master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo. Her first novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur, 2013) was a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month and a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for Best First Novel. Her fourth Hiro Hattori mystery, THE NINJA'S DAUGHTER, released on August 2 from Seventh Street Books. Susan is the 2015 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Writer of the Year and a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Historical Novel Society, and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Association. When not writing or representing clients, Susan enjoys traditional archery, martial arts, horseback riding, and raising seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium. She lives outside Sacramento with her husband, two cats, a cockatiel, and a multitude of assorted aquatic creatures. You can find Susan online at her website (www.susanspann.com), on Facebook and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Literary Salon: Alexandra Sokoloff & Craig Robertson 6/29

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an evening Literary Salon in Berkeley, CA, for award winning authors Alexandra Sokoloff and Craig Robertston. 7 p.m. Comment below to RSVP & directions.

During noir author Craig Robertson's 20-year career with a Scottish Sunday newspaper, he interviewed three recent Prime Ministers; attended major stories including 9/11, Dunblane, the Omagh bombing and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann; been pilloried on breakfast television, beaten Oprah Winfrey to a major scoop, been among the first to interview Susan Boyle, spent time on Death Row in the USA and dispensed polio drops in the backstreets of India. Craig Robertson has written four novels set on the mean streets of Glasgow and one on the not-so-mean streets of Torshavn in the Faroe Islands.

His debut novel, RANDOM, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger and was a Sunday Times bestseller. The Last Refuge is his latest novel.

Alexandra Sokoloff is the bestselling, Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker and Anthony Award-nominated author of eleven supernatural, paranormal and crime thrillers. The New York Times has called her "a daughter of Mary Shelley" and her books "Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre." As a screenwriter she has sold original suspense and horror scripts and written novel adaptations for numerous Hollywood studios (Sony, Fox, Disney, Miramax), for producers such as Michael Bay, David Heyman, Laura Ziskin and Neal Moritz. She is also the workshop leader of the internationally acclaimed Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workshops, based on her Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks and blog. Bitter Moon, the fourth of the Huntress/FBI Thrillers is now available! The Huntress Moon series is now in development for TV.

Alex will be co-toastmistress at Bouchercon in New Orleans. Craig is the International Rising Star Guest of Honor.

Alex and Craig split their time between Los Angeles and Scotland.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Karim Miské Literary Salon: May 3

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an evening Literary Salon with Award winning French author Karim Miské on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Berkeley, CA. Join us for a special evening arranged by the French Embassy in conjunction with his American publisher. Please RSVPfor address. Space Limited. Make a comment below or send DM or email if you'd like to attend.

Miské's debut novel Arab Jazz is the winner of an English PEN award. It is brilliantly translated by Sam Gordon. The setting – “between the Lubavitch school complex, the Salafist prayer room and the evangelical church” is Paris's Nineteenth Arrondisement.  Ahmed Taroudant, the novel’s main protagonist, is in some respects a typical French Arab – religiously non-observant, confused about his identity, haunted by the past and now set up to take the blame for murder. The 19th arrondissement in Paris is a cosmopolitan district where citizens of disparate backgrounds live, love and worship alongside one another. The peace is shattered when Ahmed Taroudant’s melancholy daydreams are interrupted by the blood dripping from his upstairs neighbor’s corpse. The murder of Laura Vignola, and the pork joint placed next to her, set imaginations ablaze across the neighborhood, and Ahmed finds himself the prime suspect. But detectives Rachel Kuperstein and Jean Hamelot have plenty of other leads. Karim Miské demonstrates a sharp eye for character and an evocative sense of place, moving between the sensual hum of Paris and the gritty streets of Brooklyn to reveal the motives behind the crime.



Karim Miské was born in 1964 in Abidjan to a Mauritanian father and a French mother. He grew up in Paris before leaving to study journalism in Dakar. Miske´ now lives in France, and is making documentary films on a wide range of subjects, including deafness, for which he learned sign language, and the common roots between the Jewish and Islamic religions. Arab Jazz is his first novel.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Mysteries that take place during Holidays: 25 Lists

I spend a lot of time making lists. O.K., I admit it, I'm a bit OCD...but I like to organize. So I decided to put all my Holiday Crime Fiction Lists in one place on the Mystery Readers International website.

If you want to find a book that takes place during Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, or Christmas, or 22 other holidays, you'll want to bookmark this page.

Know some titles that should be there but aren't? Let me know, and I'll add them.

Think another holiday should be represented? Drop me a note or comment below, and I'll put a list together.

Hope you enjoy these lists!

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Craig Robertson & Alexander Sokoloff Literary Salon: 10/26

Join Mystery Readers NorCal on Monday, October 26, at 7 p.m. in Berkeley for a Literary Salon with Craig Robertson & Alexandra Sokoloff. Comment below to RSVP & directions.

During noir author Craig Robertson's 20-year career with a Scottish Sunday newspaper, he interviewed three recent Prime Ministers; attended major stories including 9/11, Dunblane, the Omagh bombing and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann; been pilloried on breakfast television, beaten Oprah Winfrey to a major scoop, been among the first to interview Susan Boyle, spent time on Death Row in the USA and dispensed polio drops in the backstreets of India. Craig Robertson has written four novels set on the mean streets of Glasgow and one on the not-so-mean streets of Torshavn in the Faroe Islands.

His debut novel, RANDOM, was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger and was a Sunday Times bestseller. COLD GRAVE reached #2 on Kindle.

Alexandra Sokoloff is the bestselling, Thriller Award-winning and Bram Stoker and Anthony Award-nominated author of eleven supernatural, paranormal and crime thrillers. The New York Times has called her "a daughter of Mary Shelley" and her books "Some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre." As a screenwriter she has sold original suspense and horror scripts and written novel adaptations for numerous Hollywood studios (Sony, Fox, Disney, Miramax), for producers such as Michael Bay, David Heyman, Laura Ziskin and Neal Moritz. She is also the workshop leader of the internationally acclaimed Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workshops, based on her Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks and blog.

Alex and Craig split their time between Los Angeles and Scotland.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Macavity Award Winners 2013

The Macavity Awards 2013! Just presented them!

This award is nominated by and voted on by members and supporters of Mystery Readers International, as well as subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. Winners were announced tonight at Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention in Albany. The Macavity Award is named for the "mystery cat" of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats). Congratulations to all!

Macavity Awards 2013

Best Mystery Novel: 

The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel: 

Don't Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman (Minotaur Books-Thomas Dunn)

Best Mystery Non-Fiction: 

Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke (Simon & Schuster - Atria/Emily Bestler)

Best Mystery Short Story: 

"The Lord Is My Shamus" by Barb Goffman in Chesapeake Crimes: This Job Is Murder (Wildside)

Sue Feder Historical Memorial Award: 

An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd (HarperCollins)


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Fall 2013 Mystery Readers List

Our mystery book group meets once a week in Berkeley. We've been meeting longer than any other mystery book group in the Bay Area. Quite a feat! And, every Tuesday from September through June, we read and discuss a book a week. Used to be two a week, but we've gotten older and slower?

So here's the list for anyone who wants to read along. It's a loose theme this session, starting with some nominated or award winning  crime fiction, and then taking a trip around the world! Enjoy. Post comments or send via email, if you read with us.

Mystery Readers International, Norcal Chapter
Fall Mystery Reading List 

September 10: The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan

September 17 (no meeting/Bouchercon)

September 24 The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

October 1 Don't Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman

October 8 The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood

October 15 (possibly no meeting)

Hour of the Rat Lisa Brackmann (China)

October 22 The Crow Road by Iain Banks (Scotland)

 October 29 Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker (France)

November 5 Tropic Moon by Georges Simenon (Gabon)

November 12 The Fire Engine that Disappeared by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (Sweden)

November 19 The Missing File D. A. Mishani (Israel)

November 26 A Donna Leon.. different ones.. (Italy)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Kenneth Wishnia: Lit Salon April 18

Join Mystery Readers NorCal for an evening with mystery author Kenneth Wishnia in Berkeley, CA on Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m. To receive address info and to RSVP, please include your email address in a comment below.

Kenneth Wishnia’s novels include 23 Shades of Black, an Edgar and Anthony Award finalist; Soft Money, a Library Journal Best Mystery of the Year; and Red House, a Washington Post Book World “Rave” Book of the Year. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock, Queens Noir, Politics Noir, and elsewhere. His latest novel, The Fifth Servant, has been nominated for the “Premio Letterario Adei-Wizo” by the Italian chapter of the Woman’s International Zionist Organization. 

From Ken's Website:

Kenneth Wishnia was born in Hanover, NH  to a roving band of traveling academics. He earned a B.A. from Brown University (1982) and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from SUNY Stony Brook (1996). He teaches writing, literature and other deviant forms of thought at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood, Long Island, where he is a professor of English.

Ken’s novels have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity Awards, and have made Best Mystery of the Year lists at Booklist, Library Journal, and The Washington Post. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Murder in Vegas, Long Island Noir, Queens Noir, Politics Noir, Send My Love and a Molotov Cocktail, and elsewhere.

His most recent novel, The Fifth Servant, was an Indie Notable selection, one of the “Best Jewish Books of 2010” according to the Association of Jewish Libraries, a finalist for the Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Award, and winner of a Premio Letterario ADEI-WIZO, a literary prize awarded by the Associazione Donne Ebree d’Italia, the Italian branch of the Women’s International Zionist Organization.

He is married to a wonderful Catholic woman from Ecuador, and they have two children who are completely insane.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

FALL MYSTERY GROUP READING LIST

The Mystery Readers NorCal Book Group has been meeting every Tuesday night, September-June, for over 30 years. Thought I'd post the books for this Fall. We meet in Berkeley (CA) on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. Feel free to read along and make comments. We have one book group member joining us on a regular basis via Skype!

FALL MYSTERY BOOKLIST

Most of the books this session came out in 2011 in the U.S.

September 11: Jacqueline Winspear’s A Lesson in Secrets

September 18  Camilla Lackberg's The Ice Princess

No Meeting September 25 or October 2 

October 9:   Emily Arsenault’s In Search of the Rose Notes

October 16: Lawrence Block A Drop of the Hard Stuff 

October 23: George Pelecanos’ The Cut

October 30: Val McDermid’s Trick of the Dark 

 November 6: Harry Dolan’s Bad Things Happen

November 13: Possible: Mo Hayder’s Gone or Reginald Hill’s The Spy’s Wife 

November 20: Steven Wetta’s If Jack’s in Love 

November 27: Philip Kerr’s Field of Gray

Friday, July 27, 2012

Ann Littlewood Zoo Mysteries: Lit Salon August 2

Are you fascinated by wild animals?
Ever wonder what it would be like to work at a zoo?
Do you enjoy a mystery with unusual characters and a a good puzzle?

Then join Mystery Readers NorCal in Berkeley on Thursday, August 2 at 2 p.m. for a Literary Salon with Ann Littlewood, author of Endangered, the third in the Zoo Mystery series.
... where not all the characters are Homo sapiens
... where an animal's behavior can provide a crucial clue
... and where "the inside scoop" is not a metaphor.

Slideshow!

Where: Berkeley, CA (Comment below to RSVP and for directions)
Potluck Sweets or Savories

Ann Littlewood was a zoo keeper in Portland, Oregon for twelve years. She raised lions and cougars, an orangutan; and native mammals, as well as parrots, penguins, and a multitude of owls. The financial realities of raising primates (two boys of her own) led Ann to exchange a hose and rubber boots for a briefcase and pantsuit in the health care industry. Ann has maintained her membership in the American Association of Zookeepers and has kept in touch with the zoo world by visiting zoos and through friendships with zoo staffers.  http://zoomysteries.com/

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Janet LaPierre/Nadia Gordon May 6

Join Mystery Readers International NorCal East Bay chapter for an At Home, an intimate afternoon event with Janet LaPierre and Nadia Gordon, in Berkeley, CA, Wednesday, May 6, 2:30. RSVP. for directions.

Janet LaPierre, author of the Port Silva mysteries, has a new stand-alone, Run a Crooked Mile (Perseverance Press). The new mystery set in the inland mountainous area of Trinity County and the real town of Weaverville, CA, has a strong amateur sleuth and a host of fully drawn characters including Tank, a yellow lab. The mystery is fast-paced with lots of plot twists. LaPierre is the author Family Business, Death Duties, Keepers, Baby Mine, Old Enemies, The Cruel Mother and Children's Games,Grandmother's House, and Unquiet Grave, as well as short stories. She lives in Berkeley, CA.

Nadia Gordon is the author of the Sunny McCoskey Napa Valley mystery series, including Sharpshooter, Death by the Glass, Murder Alfresco, and, new this month, Lethal Vintage, all published by Chronicle Books. Gordon's culinary mystery novels have been called "jolly, high-calorie pleasure" by the Chicago Tribune, "highly enjoyable" by the Washington Post, and "rapturous" by the Los Angeles Times. Writing under her real name, Julianne Balmain, she is the author of numerous books on sex, travel, and generally having a good time, including the Kama Sutra Deck: 50 Ways to Love Your Lover. Her web TV telenovela, Acts of Love & Sex, can be seen at Acts.tv. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Fiction Reading on the Rise: Good news

At last there's some good news. The National Endowment for the Arts Report Found Fiction Reading on the Rise. Yahoo! Of course, if you read ONE book a year that counts as reading. But reading is reading, and hopefully this study and the attention it's getting will send some kind of message to publishers. Hope springs eternal.

On the subject of reading, Mystery Readers International and Mystery Fanfare has a listing of mystery reading groups all over the world. Check to see if your group is listed, and if not, let me know, and I'll add it. Authors enjoy talking to book clubs, and I know many use our listing to let groups know when they'll be in their area. Send name, contact, location, and time.