2008 Writers: Bright Lights that have been Extinquished

The Good and the Bad. The good, of course, is that there were a phenomenal number of great books in 2008. The Bad is that we lost a lot of wonderful writers in the mystery community. B.V. Lawson of In Reference to Murder has a pretty complete list.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
--Emily Dickinson

I note several friends and acquaintances in the group: Elaine Flinn, Tony Hillerman, Ed Hoch, Arthur Lyons, Meg O'Brien, JanWillem van de Wetering. May they all rest in peace.

Hillary Waugh, R.I.P.

Hillary Waugh, pioneer of the police procedural, died on December 8. Last Seen Wearing, his debut novel, was on just about every top 100 mystery list. Hillary Waugh's Guide to Mysteries and Mystery Writing is an important book for the mystery reference shelf. NYTimes obit.

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

More Christmas Mysteries

Karen Meek of Euro Crime fame--what a great blog!- does a series on Christmas Reads every year. Be sure to check out Euro Crime for her comments. I'll be updating my Mistletoe Mystery list, but to save you time, here are a few more titles:
Holidays are Murder by Charlotte Douglas, The Dead of Winter by Lisa Appignanesi, Voices by Arnaldur Indridason. I loved this novel. I forgot to list it on the Christmas list, probably because I forgot it takes place during the holidays. It's dark, like all of his novels, but an excellent read. Not sure how many more days and books (12 days of Christmas) she'll be doing, but be sure to subscribe to Euro Crime.

Please send me--or post--any other titles for the list!

Janet Rudolph on Jungle Red Writers Blog

Want to find out more about me (Janet Rudolph)? and about 6 fabulous writers? Go to Jungle Red Writers. Hallie Ephron interviewed me yesterday on this great Blog. O.K., I'm not all that interesting, but check out the other interviews and blogs and websites.

Hallie Ephron just got a starred review in PW for her new stand-alone Never Tell a Lie (HarperCollins 1/09). Rhys Bowen is Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime 2009. Other members of Jungle Red Writers: Rosemary Harris, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Jan Brogan and Roberta Isleib.

Chanukah (Hanukkah) Mysteries

Chanukah is a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, so it's not surprising that there are not a lot of Hanukkah mysteries. I'm using all the different transliterated spellings for Chanukah here, in the hopes that someone will come up with a few more titles. I found a few, and although this list doesn't even begin to compare with my Christmas list of mysteries, I hope you'll find it helpful. Feel free to send any titles to add to this list.

Festival of Deaths by Jane Haddam
Chanukah Guilt by Ilene Schneider

Children's Hanukah Mysteries:
Rabbi Rocketpower and the Mystery of the Missing Menorahs - A
Hanukkah Humdinger! by Rabbi Susan Abramson and Aaron Dvorkin and Ariel DiOrio (thanks to Lois Hirt for sending this title)

Short Stories:
"Mom Lights a Candle" by James Yaffe, appeared in Mystery: The Best of 2002, ed. by Jon L. Breen.
For more info on Jewish short story mysteries, check out Steven Steinbock who blogs on Criminal Brief, the Mystery Short Story Web Log Project.

Here's a children's software mystery game: Who Stole Hanukkah? offered in five languages: English, Hebrew, Russian, French and Spanish