CHAMPAGNE STILETTO: NEW YEAR'S EVE COCKTAIL

Happy National Champagne Day: Toast the New Year with Cara Black's recipe for  Champagne Stiletto. Cara Black's Aimee Leduc mystery series is set in Paris. Champagne and Paris? Mais oui!

Mysteries Set at the New Year: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

Happy New Year! Wishing you the best for 2025! May Mystery and Mayhem only happen in crime fiction! 

Today's list features Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies that take place at the New Year. This is an updated list. Let me know if I've forgotten any of your favorites! 

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year

Allyson K. Abbott: A Toast to Murder

Anthony Abbott: About the Murder of the Night Club Lady
Jennifer Alderson: Death on the Danube

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
Bain, Donald and Jessica Fletcher. Murder She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
George Bellairs: The Case of the Headless Jesuit

Virginia K. Bennett: The Toast of New Year's Eve. 
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Eileen Brady: Last But Not Leashed
Paul Brazil: Guns of Brixton; Cold London Blues
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past

Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Anna Celeste Burke: Gnarly New Year!
Lynn Cahoon: Have A Deadly New Year.

Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight
Lee Child (ed): Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Colette Clark: A Sparkling Case of Murder

Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Maning Coles: They Tell No Tales.
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions

Michael Connelly: The Dark Hours
Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men

Elisabeth Crabtree: Death Takes a Holiday.

Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming

P. Creeden: Murder on New Year's Eve.

M. Culler: A New Year's Cat-aclysm
Maddie Day: Murder in a Cape Cottage

Isis Crawford: A Catered New Year's Eve

M. Culler: A New Year's Cat-aclysm.
Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Rose Donovan: The Mystery of Ruby's Roulette

Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
D.B. Elrogg: Murder Again! Happy New Year

Loren D. Estleman: Stress
James Ellroy: This Storm
Ifeanyi Esimai: Her Last New Year's Eve

Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
D.M. Flexer: New Year's: The Night of All Nights.

Lynn Florkiewicz: The New Year's Eve Mystery

Lucy Foley: The Hunting Party

Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Claire Gardner: New Year's Eavesdropping

Tess Gerritsen: The Silent Girl.

Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
Kerry Greenwood: Murder in the Dark
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard

Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Hannah, Sophie: The Last Death of the Year: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (coming in 2025)

Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
Tom Hindle: The Murder Game.

Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger: Smoke Screen

Liz Ireland: Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's

Graham Ison: Hardcastle's Traitors

J.A. Jance: Name Withheld

Tonya Kappas: New Year Nuisance
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide

Harper Lin: New Year's Slay
J.K. Litton: Caught Dead 

Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer; Let Dead Enough Alone
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Clair Mackintosh: The Last Party

Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Ellie McDougan: Homicide and a Happy New Year
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News

Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: The Body Wore Brocade

David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Jack Murray: The New Year's Eve Murders
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned

Nick Oldham: Bad Tidings
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Denis Pitts: This City is Ours

Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Raquel Reyes: Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal

Craig Rice: The Right Murder
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)

Madelyn Scott: Poison and Party Hats: New Year's Eve

Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance
Jeffrey Shields: New Year, New Prosciutto

Sofia Slater: Auld Acquaintance

Paige Sleuth: Cherry Hills Case Files
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Kat Stone: New Years Dog-Tastrophe
Kathleen Suzette: New Year, New Murder

Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
David C. Taylor: Night Life

Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Carolyne Topdjian: The Hitman's Daughter
Auralee Wallace: Ring in the Year with Murder
Sarah Ward: The Sixth Lie

Patricia Wentworth: The Clock Strikes Twelve

Whiting, J.A. & Nell McCarthy: The Horse Knows the Way; A Fatal New Year
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)
Rachel Woods: Happy New Year Murder
James Ziskin: Stone Cold Dead
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Short Story:
Q. Patrick: "Murder on New Year's Eve"

Children's:
Ron Roy: New Year's Eve Thieves

You might also want to check out my Christmas list (Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-Z). Some of the action spills over into New Year's.

Mystery Movies that take place at the New Year.

Happy Viewing!

After the Thin Man (1936)
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Entrapment (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Little Caesar (1931)
Money Train (1995)
New Year's Evil (1980)
Night Train to Paris (1964) 
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Strange Days (1995)
Survivor (2015)

Cartoon of the Day: New Year's Eve Party!

I'm sure my dogs do this! Remnants of party hats and biscuits on my return! 

Happy New Year!!!

Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies that take place at the New Year

Happy New Year! Wishing you the best for 2024! May Mystery and Mayhem only happen in crime fiction! 

Today's list features Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies that take place at the New Year. This is an updated list. Let me know if I've forgotten any of your favorites! 

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year

Allyson K. Abbott: A Toast to Murder
Alderson, Jennifer: Death on the Danube

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
Bain, Donald and Jessica Fletcher. Murder She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
George Bellairs: The Case of the Headless Jesuit

Virginia K. Bennett: The Toast of New Year's Eve. 
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Eileen Brady: Last But Not Leashed
Paul Brazil: Guns of Brixton; Cold London Blues
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past

Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Anna Celeste Burke: Gnarly New Year!
Lynn Cahoon: Have A Deadly New Year.

Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight
Lee Child (ed): Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Michael Connelly: The Dark Hours

Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming

Isis Crawford: A Catered New Year's Eve
M. Culler: A New Year's Cat-aclysm
Maddie Day: Murder in a Cape Cottage

Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
D.B. Elrogg: Murder Again! Happy New Year

Loren D. Estleman: Stress
James Ellroy: This Storm
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Lucy Foley: The Hunting Party

Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Kerry Greenwood: Murder in the Dark

Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger: Smoke Screen

Liz Ireland: Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's

Graham Ison: Hardcastle's Traitors

J.A. Jance: Name Withheld

Tonya Kappas: New Year Nuisance
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide

Harper Lin: New Year's Slay
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer; Let Dead Enough Alone
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Clair Mackintosh: The Last Party

Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Ellie McDougan: Homicide and a Happy New Year
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News

Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned

Nick Oldham: Bad Tidings
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Denis Pitts: This City is Ours

Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Craig Rice: The Right Murder
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)

Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance
Sofia Slater: Auld Acquaintance

Paige Sleuth: Cherry Hills Case Files
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Kat Stone: New Years Dog-Tastrophe
Kathleen Suzette: New Year, New Murder

Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Carolyne Topdjian: The Hitman's Daughter
Auralee Wallace: Ring in the Year with Murder
Patricia Wentworth: The Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)

Whiting, J.A. & Nell McCarthy: The Horse Knows the Way
James Ziskin: Stone Cold Dead
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Short Story:
Q. Patrick: "Murder on New Year's Eve"

Children's:
Ron Roy: New Year's Eve Thieves

You might also want to check out my Christmas list (Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-Z). Some of the action spills over into New Year's.

Mystery Movies that take place at the New Year.

Happy Viewing!

After the Thin Man (1936)
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Entrapment (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Little Caesar (1931)
Money Train (1995)
New Year's Evil (1980)
Night Train to Paris (1964) 
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Strange Days (1995)
Survivor (2015)

CRIME FICTION SET AT THE NEW YEAR!

New Year Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies that take place at the New Year.  This is an updated list.

I wish you a safe, healthy, and better 2023. May Mystery and Mayhem only happen in crime fiction! 

Let me know if I've forgotten any of your favorites!

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year
As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Allyson K. Abbott: A Toast to Murder

Alderson, Jennifer: Death on the Danube

 Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
Bain, Donald and Jessica Fletcher. Murder She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
George Bellairs: The Case of the Headless Jesuit
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift

Eileen Brady: Last But Not Leashed
Paul Brazil: Guns of Brixton; Cold London Blues
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past
Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry

Anna Celeste Burke: Gnarly New Year!
Lynn Cahoon: Have A Deadly New Year

Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight
Lee Child (ed): Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Michael Connelly: The Dark Hours

Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming
Isis Crawford: A Catered New Year's Eve

M. Culler: A New Year's Cat-aclysm

Maddie Day: Murder in a Cape Cottage

Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
D.B. Elrogg: Murder Again! Happy New Year

Loren D. Estleman: Stress
James Ellroy: This Storm
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Lucy Foley: The Hunting Party

Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Kerry Greenwood: Murder in the Dark

Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger: Smoke Screen

J.A. Jance: Name Withheld

Tonya Kappas: New Year Nuisance

Rufus King: Holiday Homicide

Harper Lin: New Year's Slay
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer; Let Dead Enough Alone
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Clair Mackintosh: The Last Party

Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Ellie McDougan: Homicide and a Happy New Year

Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News
Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned

Nick Oldham: Bad Tidings
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Denis Pitts: This City is Ours

Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Craig Rice: The Right Murder
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)
Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance

Sofia Slater: Auld Acquaintance

Paige Sleuth: Cherry Hills Case Files
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming

Kat Stone: New Years Dog-Tastrophe

Kathleen Suzette: New Year, New Murder
Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow

Carolyne Topdjian: The Hitman's Daughter
Auralee Wallace: Ring in the Year with Murder
Patricia Wentworth: The Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)

Whiting, J.A. & Nell McCarthy: The Horse Knows the Way
James Ziskin: Stone Cold Dead
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Short Story:
Q. Patrick: "Murder on New Year's Eve"

Children's:

Ron Roy: New Year's Eve Thieves

You might also want to check out my Christmas list (Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-Z). Some of the action spills over into New Year's.

And a list of Mystery Movies that take place at the New Year.

Happy Viewing:

After the Thin Man (1936)
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Entrapment (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Little Caesar (1931)
Money Train (1995)
New Year's Evil (1980)
Night Train to Paris (1964) 
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Strange Days (1995)
Survivor (2015)

CHOCOLATE FRUITCAKE: National Fruitcake Day!

December 27 is National Fruitcake Day, but it seems a bit late for a Fruitcake recipe. I suggest you bookmark this recipe for next year...or make this Chocolate Fruitcake for another holiday?

If you're like me, you're saying Fruitcake? Why bother? It's just an over-inebriated rock hard cake with artificial fruits that gets passed around the family kind of like a white elephant gift? Well, it doesn't have to be. There are actually some wonderful recipes for Chocolate Fruitcake. Aha, your eyes and tastebuds have already picked up.

Of course, I'm all about easy, so here's an easy recipe for Chocolate Fruitcake. One caveat, you won't be able to eat this today. Fruitcake really does need to ferment a bit. Following is a recipe for Chocolate Fruitcake adapted from Diana Rattray at Southern Food. This recipe originally called for candied red and green cherries, but I really don't like those. I use dried cranberries or dried cherries or dried apricots (or a mix), lots of nuts, and different alcohol. This is quite a versatile recipe. The original recipe didn't use booze, but what's a fruitcake without alcohol? Another recipe for Chocolate Fruitcake that I really like is David Lebovitz's Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake.

Either way, if you like chocolate, you'll find this chocolate twist on an old holiday standard quite to your liking! And, you can make this today for serving New Year's Eve!

Chocolate Fruitcake

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter
6 ounces dark chocolate (65-75% cacao, fair-trade), chopped
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1-1/2 cups combination of walnuts and pecans, chopped
1/2 cup rum, whiskey, or amaretto.. (or whatever you like)

Directions:
A day ahead, plump the dried fruits by tossing them in 1/2 cup of amaretto,  rum or whiskey (or whatever alcohol you like!), cover for later use in the cake.

To Make Cake:
Melt butter and chocolate in large heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat, and cool for 15 minutes.
Stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add flour and salt, stirring until blended. Stir in chopped boozy fruits and chopped nuts. Spoon mixture into 4 greased and floured 5 x 3 x 2-inch loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes
Poke lots of small holes in cakes with skewer. Pour 3 Tbsp liquor (see above) onto each cake. Let cool for another 10-15 minutes or so.
Remove from pans, and cool on wire racks.
Wrap in plastic and store for up to 7 days.

If you're making these Fruitcakes ahead, you can brush with more liquor every day. Don't freeze if you're adding alcohol.

CARA BLACK'S CHAMPAGNE STILETTO: New Year's Eve

Happy National Champagne Day: Toast the New Year with Cara Black's recipe for  Champagne Stiletto. Cara Black's Aimee Leduc mystery series is set in Paris. Champagne and Paris? Mais oui!

CRIME FICTION SET AT THE NEW YEAR

New Year's Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies that take place at the New Year.  This is an updated list.

I wish you a safe, healthy, and better 2022. May Mystery and Mayhem only happen in crime fiction! 

Let me know if I've forgotten any of your favorites!

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year
As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Allyson K. Abbott: A Toast to Murder

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
Bain, Donald and Jessica Fletcher. Murder She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
George Bellairs: The Case of the Headless Jesuit
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Paul Brazil: Guns of Brixton; Cold London Blues
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past
Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight
Lee Child (ed): Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Michael Connelly: The Dark Hours

Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming
Isis Crawford: A Catered New Year's Eve

Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
Loren D. Estleman: Stress
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
J.A. Jance: Name Withheld
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer; Let Dead Enough Alone
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News
Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned

Nick Oldham: Bad Tidings
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Denis Pitts: This City is Ours

Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Craig Rice: The Right Murder
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)
Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Auralee Wallace: Ring in the Year with Murder
Patricia Wentworth: The Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)
James Ziskin: Stone Cold Dead
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Short Story:
Q. Patrick: "Murder on New Year's Eve"

You might also want to check out my Christmas list (Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-Z). Some of the action spills over into the New Year.

And here's a list of Mystery Movies that take place at the New Year.

Happy Viewing:

After the Thin Man (1936)
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Entrapment (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Little Caesar (1931)
Money Train (1995)
New Year's Evil (1980)
Night Train to Paris (1964) 
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Strange Days (1995)
Survivor (2015)

Cara Black's Recipe for Champagne Stiletto

Toast the New Year with Cara Black's recipe for  Champagne Stiletto. Love Cara's Aimee Leduc mystery series. The books are set in different arrondissements in Paris. What's not to love?

NEW YEAR'S MYSTERIES, CRIME FICTION, THRILLERS, AND MOVIES!

New Year's Mysteries! Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers and Movies that take place at the New Year. 

I wish you a safe, healthy and prosperous 2020. May Mystery and Mayhem only happen in crime fiction!

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year
As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
Bain, Donald and Jessica Fletcher. Murder She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
George Bellairs: The Case of the Headless Jesuit
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Brazil, Paul: Guns of Brixton; Cold London Blues
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past
Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight
Lee Child (ed): Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming
Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
Loren D. Estleman: Stress
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
J.A. Jance: Name Withheld
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News
Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Craig Rice: The Right Murder
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)
Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Auralee Wallace: Ring in the Year with Murder
Patricia Wentworth: Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)
James Ziskin: Stone Cold Dead
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Short Story:
Q. Patrick: "Murder on New Year's Eve"

You might also want to check out my Christmas list (Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-Z). Some of the books' action spills over into the New Year.

And here's a list of Mystery Movies that take place at the New Year.

Happy Viewing:

After the Thin Man (1936)
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Entrapment (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Little Caesar (1931)
Money Train (1995)
New Year's Evil (1980)
Night Train to Paris (1964) 
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Strange Days (1995)
Survivor (2015)

NEW YEAR'S Crime Fiction, Thrillers, and Movies!

New Year's Mysteries! Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers and Movies that take place at the New Year. 

I wish you a safe, healthy and prosperous 2019. May Mystery and Mayhem only happen in crime fiction!

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year
As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
Bain, Donald and Jessica Fletcher. Murder She Wrote: Death of a Blue Blood
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
George Bellairs: The Case of the Headless Jesuit
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Brazil, Paul: Guns of Brixton; Cold London Blues
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past
Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight
Lee Child (ed): Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming
Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
Loren D. Estleman: Stress
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
J.A. Jance: Name Withheld
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News
Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Craig Rice: The Right Murder
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)
Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Auralee Wallace: Ring in the Year with Murder
Patricia Wentworth: Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)
James Ziskin: Stone Cold Dead
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Short Story:
Q. Patrick: "Murder on New Year's Eve"

You might also want to check out my Christmas list (Christmas Mysteries, Authors A-Z). Some of the books' action spills over into the New Year.

And here's a list of Mystery Movies that take place at the New Year.

Happy Viewing:

After the Thin Man (1936)
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Entrapment (1999)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Little Caesar (1931)
Money Train (1995)
New Year's Evil (1980)
Night Train to Paris (1964) 
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Strange Days (1995)
Survivor (2015)

Cartoon of the Day: Fizzacist

Happy New Year! Happy National Champagne Day!

CHAMPAGNE IN CRIME FICTION

If you follow this blog or if you know me in real time, you know that I'm a list maker. Yesterday I put together a New Year's Eve post of different chocolatiers who make champagne truffles, so I thought I'd update my list of mysteries in which Champagne has a prominent role. I know that Champagne figures in Dashiell Hammett's Thin Man books. I remember Nick and Nora drinking lots of champagne in the movies. Here's a short list of 'Champagne' books to toast (and read) on New Year's Eve. I do have a New Year's Crime Fiction list, and champagne is featured in some of them, although not necessarily as the main focus. Please comment with any missed titles.

CHAMPAGNE IN MYSTERIES

Murder & Champagne by Ashok Banker
The Charlemagne Connection by R.M. Cartmel
Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie
Tug of War by Barbara Cleverly
The Champagne Conspiracy by Ellen Crosby
Champagne Fuhrern by Kare Hallden (in Swedish)
Champagne: The Farewell by Janet Hubbard
Secret Lies and Champagne Highs by Jeanette Hubbard
The Curse of Tenth Grave by Darynda Jones
Champagne Blues by Ivan and Nat Lyons
Dry Bones by Peter May
Design for Dying by Renee Patrick
Champagne for Buzzards by Phyllis Smallman
Murder by Champagne by Keith Spicer
Champagne and Cocaine by Richard Vetere
Champagne for One by Rex Stout

And here's a true mystery related story about Champagne, especially for history mystery folks. This was reported in The Daily Mail (UK) July 2010. Talk about a vintage that holds its own!

Divers have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.

  They have already tested out the contents of one bottle and claim it tastes 'fantastic' despite dating back to the late 18th century.

   Diving instructor Christian Ekstrom said the bottles are believed to be from the 1780s and likely were part of a cargo destined for Russia.

   'We brought up the bottle to be able to establish how old the wreck was. We didn't know it would be champagne. We thought it was wine or something,' he said.

   Ekstrom said the divers were overjoyed when they popped the cork on their boat after hauling the bubbly from a depth of 200 feet (60 meters).

   'It tasted fantastic. It was a very sweet champagne, with a tobacco taste and oak,' Ekstrom said.

   The divers discovered the shipwreck near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland. About 30 bottles are believed to be aboard the sunken vessel.

Read More Here.

And, then, of course, there's always Sabering Champagne, as opposed to savoring Champagne. Sabering is opening the champagne bottle with a saber. A talent a mystery reader and writer might have or at the very least figure in a plot---sabering gone wrong!

Nick & Nora: New Year's Eve Libations

Happy New Year! My final post for 2016 includes drinks and Nick & Nora film clips to help you celebrate!

Several years ago I blogged about Detectives and their Drinks. I also posted about James Bond's Vesper Martini. Detective team Nick and Nora Charles always come up on top for detectives with a pension for drink. The constant drinking of this bantering couple never hampers their investigative skills - quite the opposite. "Can't you say anything about the case?" a detective asks. "Yes," Nick grumbles. "It's putting me way behind in my drinking."

Be sure and scroll down for some Nick & Nora drinks video clips!


The Bronx Cocktail (Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man)
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1 oz orange juice
Shake well (to a two-step time, as Nick suggests). Strain and garnish with orange peel. (recipe from Nightcapped)

Knickerbocker from The Thin Man (1934)
50ml gin
Large dash dry vermouth
Small dash sweet vermouth
Add the gin and both vermouths to a mixing glass filled with ice. Once well mixed, strain into a frosted martini glass. 

What will you be drinking tonight?  Pick Your Poison and Toast 2017! Enjoy!

New Year's Eve Thin Man Marathon

Don't miss TCM's New Year's Eve Thin Man Marathon. What a great way to celebrate. After the Thin Man takes place at New Year's Eve, so it's a double celebration. Grab a glass of bubbly and settle in for a great evening of top notch entertainment.

Check your local listings. The schedule below if for information only. No links to buying anything. LOL!

New Year's Mysteries: New Year Crime Fiction

Time again for another holiday list: New Year Mysteries! This is an updated list for 2012! I wish you a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year. May mystery and mayhem only happen in crime fiction!

Crime Fiction Set at the New Year
As always, let me know if I've missed any titles.

Marian Babson: Line up for Murder
T. L. Barnett: Murder for the New Year
George Baxt: The Marlene Dietrich Murder Case
Nero Blanc: A Crossworder's Gift
Jon L. Breen: Touch of the Past
Rita Mae Brown: Full Cry
Alison Cairns: New Year Resolution
Lillian Stewart Carl: The Blue Hackle
Lee Child, ed: Killer Year: Stories to Die for
Anne Cleeves: Raven Black
Anna Ashwood Collins: Deadly Resolutions
Patricia Cornwell: Cause of Death
Mark Costello: Bag Men
Alisa Craig: Murder Goes Mumming
Jeffrey Deaver: The Devil's Teardrop
Colin Dexter: The Secret of Annexe 3
Carter Dickson: Death and the Gilded Man
Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
Loren D. Estleman: Stress
Janet Evanovich: Plum New Year
J. Jefferson Fargeon: Death in Fancy Dress (aka The Fancy Dress Ball)
Quinn Fawcett: Siren Song
Jerrilyn Farmer: Dim Sum Dead
Frederick Forsyth: The Fourth Protocol
Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box
J.M. Gregson: The Lancashire Leopard
Jane Haddam: Fountain of Death
Karen Harper: The Queene's Christmas
Lee Harris: The New Year's Eve Murder
Ellen Hart: Hallowed Murder, Merchant of Venus
Roy Hart: Seascape with Dead Figures
Lauren Henderson: Pretty Boy
Reginald Hill: Killing The Lawyers
J.A. Jance: Name Withheld
Rufus King: Holiday Homicide
Frances and Richard Lockridge: The Dishonest Murderer
Heather Dune Macadam: The Weeping Buddha
Ed McBain: Lullaby
Johnston McCulley: New Year's Pardon; New Year's Duty
Philip McLauren: Scream Black Murder
Elisabeth McNeill: Hot News
Leslie Meier: New Year's Eve Murder
James Melville: Body Wore Brocade
David William Meredith: The Christmas Card Murders
Miriam Ann Moore: Stayin' Alive
Tamar Myers: A Penny Urned
Leonardo Padura: Havana Blue (starts with a New Year's Eve hangover)
Elizabeth Peters: The Golden One
Edward O. Phillips: Sunday's Child
Ellery Queen: Calamity Town
Gillian Roberts: The Mummer’s Curse
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Date
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year's Eve)
Joan Smith: Don't Leave Me This Way, Why Aren't They Screaming
Meg Taggart: Murder at the Savoy
Kathleen Taylor: Cold Front
Charles Todd: A Long Shadow
Patricia Wentworth: Clock Strikes Twelve
Valerie Wolzein: 'Tis the Season to be Murdered (aka And a Lethal New Year)
Mark Richard Zubro: The Truth Can Get You Killed

Want some Chocolate with your Mystery? Check out my Chocolate Blog: Dying for Chocolate for Champagne Truffles to make. Rather buy some? Here's a link to a Variety of Champagne Truffles. Later this week I'll post a recipe for New Year's Eve Chocolate Rockets!

Charles Todd: New Year's Eve Guest Blog

With New Year's Eve fast approaching, Charles Todd (Caroline and Charles Todd) guest blog about A Long Shadow! Thanks, Caroline and Charles, for stopping by! Happy New Year! 

Charles and Caroline Todd are the best selling authors of the post-WWI historical Inspector Ian Rutledge series and the WWI series featuring Bess Crawford. The latest Inspector Ian Rutledge, A LONELY DEATH, comes out Jan. 4, 2011.

Charles Todd (Caroline and Charles Todd):

When we wrote the New Year’s Eve scene in A LONG SHADOW, we were thinking about the fact that the turn of a year is in a way a very emotional time. Auld Lang Syne is written in a minor key because at the stroke of midnight as people sing it, they aren’t looking forward to the upcoming year, they’re looking back, after the first flush of excitement and champagne as the ball drops.

In Inspector Ian Rutledge’s case, this was the end of a troubled year, and it’s brought home to him at a dinner party he’s attending on December 31st, 1919. The guest of honor, a young woman named Meredith Channing, invited to conduct a séance later for the amusement of all the guests, appears to know too much about his past for him to be quite comfortable in her presence. And when a call from the Yard interrupts his evening, he leaps at the chance to leave early, before the séance where he might well make a fool of himself if somehow Hamish is brought into it. He knows how unlikely that is, but the emotional burden of the past is too strong for reason. He makes his excuses and walks out—only to stumble, almost literally, into a worse reminder of the past, a machinegun shell casing left on the house steps. He recognizes the sound as it tumbles into the gutter, and he looks for it. When he finds it, he realizes that the design of poppies and skulls is intended to bring back the Great War in a threatening and terrifying way. What he doesn’t know is that someone is trying to break him by putting his life and his sanity in jeopardy.

Even as he goes about his duties as a policeman, this invisible stalker follows him, seeming to know even before he does where he will be, and how to test his courage and his mettle.

New Year’s Eve seemed to fit this theme as Rutledge moves into the dark, bleak depths of winter, facing the powerful forces of the case he must solve, and always, at his back, feeling the presence of his enemy, unseen, unknown, and seemingly unstoppable. Somehow the bright warmth of high summer or the wildflowers of spring or even the golden sunlight of autumn would have lessened, not enhanced, this story as it unfolds.