Showing posts with label New Year's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year's. Show all posts

Saturday, January 25, 2025

CHINESE NEW YEAR CRIME FICTION


恭賀發財
Gung Hay Fat Choy! This is the Year of the Snake.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, I've updated my list of mysteries that take place during Lunar New Year Celebrations. As always, I welcome any additions. I'd like to include more Asian New Year Crime Fiction, so please send author/titles.

CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES

The Corpses Hanging Over Paris by Cathy Ace

The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers
Between a Wok and a Hard Place by Leslie Budewitz
Year of the Dog by Henry Chang 
Peking Duck and Cover by Vivien Chien
Year of the Dragon by Robert Daley 
Serpent's Doom by Connie di Marco

Neon Dragon by John Dobbyn
Dim Sum Dead by Jerrilyn Farmer 
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara

Chop Suey by Ty Hutchison 
The Skull Cage Key by Michael Marriott
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

Breezy Friends and Bodies: A Raina Sun Mystery by Anne R. Tan
The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Robert Van Gulik (7th Century China) "New Year's Eve in Lan-Fang"

 Children and Young Adult:

The Nancy Drew Notebooks: The Chinese New Year Mystery by Carolyn Keene
The New Year Dragon Dilemma by Ron Roy 
Red Envelope Mystery: The Secret of the Chinese New Year


Short stories:

 "The Lady Fish Mystery" by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, EQMM, September/October 1996.
"Murder Keeps No Calendar" by Cathy Ace.
 

Friday, December 29, 2023

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)

Thursday, December 29, 2022

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)

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

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

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

I wish you a safe, healthy, and better 2021. 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 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)

Sunday, December 29, 2019

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)

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

New Year's Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Thrillers & 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 2017. 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
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
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
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

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

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


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)

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Year of the Ram: CHINESE NEW YEAR CRIME FICTION

恭賀發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy! This is the Year of the Ram (Year of the Goat, Year of the Sheep). Chinese New Year begins today.

O.K. why the confusion of the symbol for this year, as opposed to last year--the Year of the Snake..or prior years: The Year of the Rat, the Year of the Horse, etc.? An article in NBC News explains this  creature confusion in 2015. 

It all stems from the fact that the Chinese use one character for horned animals — translated as "yang" in Mandarin, according to Chinese and linguistics professor Wei Hong. Yang, when used to mean goat, is seen as something strong with a "quiet spirit," Hong said. A sheep is considered softer. 

The NBA's Golden State Warriors unveiled Chinese New Year-themed uniforms that they will wear Friday to celebrate what the team calls the Year of the Goat. Meanwhile, the New York City Council is hosting a Lunar New Year event next week touting a Year of the Ram revelry. Geography can also make a difference. Sheep are raised in northern China, while goats are more common in southern China, which plays into what the year is called depending on one's location.
Generally, people in mainland China seem to be keen on calling it the Year of the Goat — a nod to the country's culinary past, Hong said after reading news reports on the confusion. But she suggests English-speakers don't need to lock horns over the debate, and might want to go authentic: Year of the Yang.

I've put together Chinese New Year's Mystery Lists for the past few years, as well as some titles (scroll down) that take place in China, not necessarily during the New Year. As always, I welcome any additions.

CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES

Year of the Dog, Red Jade by Henry Chang 

Year of the Dragon by Robert Daley 
Neon Dragon by John Dobbyn
Dim Sum Dead by Jerrilyn Farmer 
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
Chop Suey by Ty Hutchison

The Skull Cage Key by Michael Marriott
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley
The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Robert Van Gulik (7th Century china) "New Year's Eve in Lan-Fang"

Short story by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer: "The Lady Fish Mystery", EQMM, September/October 1996.

The Nancy Drew Notebooks: The Chinese New Year Mystery by Carolyn Keene
The New Year Dragon Dilemma by Ron Roy

A good reference book for contemporary crime fiction in China: Chinese Justice, the Fiction: Law and Literature in Modern China by Jeffrey C. Kinkley (Stanford University Press)

Not specifically about Chinese New Year, here's a short list of authors/mysteries that are set in China:

Ralph Arnote, Hong Kong, China
Biggers, Earl Derr, Charlie Chan: The House Without a Key, The Chinese Parrot, Behind the Curtain, The Black Camel, Keeper of the Keys
Lisa Brackmann, Rock Paper Tiger, Hour of the Ram
Stephen Coonts, Hong Kong
Charles Cumming, Typhoon
Jim Michael Hansen, Bad Laws
S.G. Kiner, The Hong Kong Connection
Diane Wei Liang, The Eye of Jade
Paul French, Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China
John L. Mariotti, The Chinese Conspiracy
Peter May, The Firemaker
Xiaolong Qiu, Death of a Red Heroine (and other titles)
Wang Shuo, Playing for Thrills
Eliot Pattison, Many novels set in Tibet
Catherine Sampson, The Pool of Unease
Lisa See, Flower Net
Deborah Shlian, Rabbit in the Moon
Eric Stone, Shanghaied
Nury Vittachi, The Feng Shui Detective
Christopher West, Death of a Blue Lantern

Yin-Lien C. Chin, The "Stone Lion" and Other Chinese Detective Stories
Chen Xiaoquing, Sherlock in Shanghai

Here's a wonderful blog on Writing in China by Bertrand Mialaret (in French) http://www.mychinesebooks.com/

Also I'll have recipes on my other blog, Dying for Chocolate, for a Chocolate Chinese New Year...Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Goat and Sheep Truffles..

Monday, December 29, 2008

New Year's Mysteries

2009 is almost upon us, and I wish you a safe, prosperous and happy New Year. I have a short list of a few books that take place on or around New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Enjoy.

Harris, Lee. The New Year’s Eve Murder
Meier, Leslie. New Year’s Eve Murder
Sayers, Dorothy. The Nine Tailors (begins on New Year’s Eve)
Keene, Carolyn. The Chinese New Year Mystery (not the same date but a New Year's celebration)
Todd, Charles. A Long Shadow.
Padura, Leonardo. Havana Blue (stars with a New Year’s Eve hangover)
Deaver, Jeffery. The Devil’s Teardrop.
Cleeves, Anne. Raven Black
Jance, J.A. Name Withheld.
Kirkwood, James. P.S. Your Cat is Dead. (not really a mystery but a very good read!)
Farjeon, J. Jefferson. Death in Fancy Dress (The Fancy Dress Ball, U.k.)
Meredith, David William. The Christmas Card Murders