Publishers Weekly Best of '08

Once again, I need to thank The Rap Sheet for bringing my attention to mystery news. Linda Richards blogged last week about the Publisher's Weekly Best of '08
list.

Not only did PW choose their best mysteries of '08, but there were several mysteries listed under 'general fiction'. Three of the general fiction books made my top 10 mystery list for '08, so far. I haven't finished reading everything, so I haven't put my list together yet.

So the mysterious works PW included under 'general fiction' are:

• When Will There Be Good News?, by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown)
• Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben (Dutton)
• The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Master of the Delta, by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
• The Likeness, by Tana French (Viking)
• Ritual, by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly)
• Flesh House, by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

These are the books PW chose as its best mysteries of 2008:

• Wild Inferno, by Sandi Ault (Berkley Prime Crime)
• Lie Down with the Devil, by Linda Barnes (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• Ghost at Work, by Carolyn Hart (Morrow)
• The Private Patient, by P.D. James (Knopf)
• The Messengers of Death: A Mystery in Provence, by Pierre Magnan, translated from the French by Patricia Clancy (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
• Death’s Half Acre, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central)
• Salt River, by James Sallis (Walker)
• Fear of Landing, by David Waltner-Toews (Poisoned Pen)
• The Calling, by Inger Ash Wolfe (Harcourt)

The entire list with comments about each book is available Here

Michael Crichton, R.I. P.

Went to The Rap Sheet this morning, only to read more sad news. Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park author and numerous mystery novels, died of cancer. He was 66.

Michael Crichton was a real cross-over writer. Crichton was the author of The Andromeda Strain, the Great Train Robbery, and so many more terrific novels. He created the award-winning TV hospital series ER. and wrote for film. A real Renaissance man. Read "The Admirable Mr. Crichton " by Ali Karim in the Rap Sheet (2006) and this from Hillel Italie in the Huffington Post.

More International Mysteries

I'm a big fan of mysteries set in other countries, as you know from reading my blog. I love to 'travel' to other parts of the world through mystery novels. Sometimes I do this before I go to another country in order to familarize myself with the area. Sometimes I read mysteries set in other countries when I return to reinforce my travels. But, more likely, I'll read about countries I'll never get to visit. Whatever the reason, I enjoy reading mysteries set in other places. Mystery Readers Journal has had issues on Irish Mysteries, Scandinavian mysteries, Italy, France, and other countries. I always love finding new books.

Publishers Weekly had an article last week on the rise of thrillers in France and Sweden. This article introduced me to Jean-Christophe Grange (France) and Jan Guillou (Sweden) and several others. Interesting to note that Harlan Coben's The Final Detail (Fleuve Noir) was #3 on the French charts the week ending September 28.

For more info on mysteries set in other countries, go to: Around the World in 80 Sleuths.

Halloween Mysteries

Mystery Readers Journal has done lots of theme issues, and we have one coming up in 2009 on Crime for the Holidays that you won't want to miss. My favorite holiday is Halloween, and I have an incredible list of mysteries set during Halloween. No surprise! I don't really have enough room to list them all, but thought I'd list a few to get you through the day.

Halloween Party by Agatha Christie
Witches Bane by Susan Wittig Albert
The Hunt Ball by Rita Mae Brown
Sympathy For The Devil by Jerrilyn Farmer
A Few Dying Words by Paula Gosling
The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman
Long Time No See by Susan Isaacs
Tricks: an 87th Precinct Mystery by Ed McBain
A Hole in Juan by Gillian Roberts
A Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray Bradbury
Death on Allhallowe'en by Leo Bruce
Ghostly Murders by P. C. Doherty
Trick or Treat by Leslie Meier
The Body in the Moonlight by Katherine Hall Page
Strange Brew by Kathy Hogan Trochek
All Hallow's Eve by Charles Williams
All Hallow's Evil by Valerie Wolzien

Short story mavens don't worry: Here's a list of Halloween Mystery Short Stories:
Trick and Treats edited by Joe Gores & Bill Pronzini
Asking for the Moon (includes "Pascoe's Ghost" and "Dalziel's Ghost") by Reginald Hill
Murder for Halloween by Cynthia Manson
The Haunted Hour, edited by Cynthia Manson & Constance Scarborough
Murder for Halloween: Tales of Suspense, edited by Michele Slung & Roland Hartman.
Mystery for Halloween (an anthology), edited by Donald Westlake

Not enough? Get out your Edgar Allen Poe and read "The Telltale Heart". Not quite Halloween, but in the spirit.

Boo!

Chocolate Cemetery Cupcakes for Halloween

I posted this recipe on Murderous Musing/TeamBuilding Talk, my other blog, but I thought people who read Mystery Fanfare would want to see it--just in time for Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. And, I'm always "dying... for chocolate."

These spooky Halloween cupcakes are fun to make and eat. Use any one of the following decorating ideas on its own, or put several together to create a tray of different treats. Easy to bake, you can use any devil's food cake recipe.

To make a cupcake cemetery, spread devil's food cupcakes with chocolate icing. Dip the top of each frosted cupcake in crushed chocolate wafers to create the look of dirt, then insert shortbread-cookie tombstones, piping them with scary messages like "Boo!" or "R.I.P." in royal icing.

Top more devil's food cupcakes with chocolate ganache and chocolate-wafer "dirt," make a hole in the center of each cupcake with your finger, and position half a gummi worm to look like it's slithering out of the hole.

Happy Halloween! Boo!!!

Tony Hillerman, a helluva guy, R.I.P.

I haven't been able to bring myself to write before about the loss to the mystery community of one of the greatest authors. Award winning author Tony Hillerman died last weekend of pulmonary failure. Particularly sad because Tony had a big heart. He was friendly and supportive to all he met. He was a gentleman and a gentle man.

Tony Hillerman was the acclaimed author of the Navajo Tribal Police mystery series featuring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Anne Hillerman said Sunday that her father was a born storyteller. "He had such a wonderful, wonderful curiosity about the world," she said. "He could take little details and bring them to life, not just in his books, but in conversation, too."

Deanne Stillman wrote a wonderful tribute at LA Observed. Marilyn Stasio, NYT mystery reviewer, also has a wonderful obituary.

I was lucky to meet Tony on many occasions at Bouchercons and other conventions over the years. I remember his cogent thoughts and comments on Native American religion, culture and spirituality on my panel on religion and the mystery at the 1985 Bouchercon. It was a Sunday afternoon, a time when most attendees would have left, but the room was full. They came to hear this great man, this great writer, this great friend who instilled his fans and readers with a respect and knowledge of Native Anmerican culture. He'll be missed.