April Fool's Day Mysteries List & International Edible Book Festival

Tomorrow may be April Fool's Day, but it's no joke that there are several mysteries set at April Fool's! Let me know if I've forgotten any titles.

The first of April, some do say,
Is set apart for All Fools' Day.
But why the people call it so,
Nor I, nor they themselves do know.
But on this day are people sent
On purpose for pure merriment.
--Poor Robin's Almanac, 1790

April Fool by William Deverell
The April Fool by Robert J. Fields
April Fool Dead by Carolyn G. Hart
April Fool's Day Murder by Lee Harris
A Remarkable Case of Burglary by H.R.F. Keating
April Fool's Day, A Novel by Josip Novakovich
The New Aventures of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 3: "The April Fool's Day Adventure" and "The Strange Adventure of the Uneasy Chair" by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green

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Don't miss the results of the Edible Book Festival at the University of Texas (Austin) School of Information.  Or check out the International Edible Book Festival site: Books2Eat.

The International Edible Book Festival is held annually on April 1st. The following countries have held this festival: Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States of America, Russia and Hong Kong. Every year the list expands.

April 1st is the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), famous for his book Physiologie du goût, a witty meditation on food. April Fool's Day is also the perfect day to eat your words and play with them as the "books" are consumed on the day of the event. This ephemeral global banquet, in which anyone can participate, is shared by all on the internet and allows everyone to preserve and discover unique bookish nourishments. This festival is a celebration of the ingestion of culture and a way to concretely share a book; it is also a deeper reflexion on our attachment to food and our cultural differences.

Everyone is invited, individually and collectively, to this world banquet where delicious, surprising bookish foods will be consumed.

If you search the web, you'll find many festivals, especially at libraries and library schools. Great Photos!

Thriller Writers Award Nominees

2010 Thriller Awards Finalists announced by ITW (International Thriller Writers).
Congrats to all!

Best Hard Cover Novel:
VANISHED by Joseph Finder
LONG LOST by Harlan Coben
FEAR THE WORST by Linwood Barclay
THE NEIGHBOR by Lisa Gardner
THE RENEGADES by T. Jefferson Parker

Best Paperback Original:
SHADOW SEASON by Tom Piccirilli
URGE TO KILL by John Lutz
VENGEANCE ROAD by Rick Mofina
THE COLDEST MILE by Tom Piccirilli
NO MERCY by John Gilstrap

Best First Novel:
FRAGMENT by Warren Fahy
DEAD MEN'S DUST by Matt Hilton
COLLISION OF EVIL by John J. Le Beau
DRACULA: THE UN-DEAD by Dacre Stoker
RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL by Jamie Freveletti

Best Short Story:
THE DESERT HERE AND THE DESERT FAR AWAY by Marcus Sakey
A STAB IN THE HEART by Twist Phelan
AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS by F. Paul Wilson
ICED by Harry Hunsicker
BOLDT'S BROKEN ANGEL by Ridley Pearson

Easter Crime Fiction: A List of Mysteries

Being a list-maker, it's no surprise that I have an Easter Crime Fiction list. This list has been greatly expanded from last year, but, as always, I welcome any additions.

Antiques Bizarre by Barbara Allan
Death and the Easter Bunny by Linda Berry
Easter Weekend by David Bottoms
The Last Enemy by Grace Brophy
Do You Promise Not To Tell? by Mary Jane Clark
Little Easter by Reed Farrel Coleman (I love Reed's books, and I must confess I haven't read this-yet. Not sure how much Easter is in it. Reed?)
Last Easter by Caroline Conklin
Holy Terrors by Mary R. Daheim
The House of Death by Paul Doherty
Cue the Easter Bunny by Liz Evans
Precious Blood by Jane Haddam
The Good Friday Murder by Lee Harris
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Do Not Exceed the Stated Dose (short stories) by Peter Lovesey
And Four To Go aka The Easter Parade by Rex Stout

Passover Mysteries

With the Jewish holiday of Passover just around the corner (starts sundown March 29 this year), I thought I'd update my Passover Mysteries list from 2009, but I have only one two new entries.

Since it's such a short list, I'm supplementing with a few Passover Chocolate Recipes.

Mystery Author Rabbi Ilene Schneider Guest Blogs Mystery and Passover Chocolate recipes on my other blog DyingforChocolate.com   Don't miss my flourless chocolate cake recipe. It'll take about a half hour to make and bake. No mystery there.  And last, a great recipe for Chocolate Matzo Brittle. Fabulous and easy.

Passover Mystery Novels 

The Passover Murder by Lee Harris
The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield
Never Nosh a Matzo Ball by Sharon Kahn
The Samaritans' Secret by Matt Beynon Rees
Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman
The Fifth Servant by Kenneth Wishnia

Love to have more books to add to this list. Feel free to comment.

Peter May: Literary Salon in Berkeley

Peter May: Literary Salon in Berkeley (CA) Wednesday, April 7, 7 p.m.

Thriller Writer Leads a Double life

International thriller writer Peter May has been described as the Marlon Brando of the writing world. Just as Brando was famous for method acting, May is renowned for taking his research seriously and never writes about a subject or a place, unless he has experienced it personally.

This year, to satisfy his growing following of fans, May's U.S. publishers are taking the unprecedented step of releasing 3 brand new hardcover and 5 paperback editions of his China Thrillers and Enzo Files series along with his new standalone thriller Virtually Dead. 

Behind the Scenes with the Chinese Police

For his award-winning China Thrillers featuring a Beijing detective, and an American pathologist from Chicago, May managed to gain the trust of the Chinese police and got behind the scenes at their forensic science laboratories, pathology departments and morgues, even shadowing the work of Beijing homicide cops. The research paid off - a hit with critics and readers, his China Thrillers are a success around the world, winning May the prestigious French Prix Intramuros in 2007


From Michelin-Starred Kitchens to Sewers in France

May's critically-acclaimed Enzo Files series featuring a Scottish forensic scientist working on French cold cases has taken him from the heights of a 3-star Michelin chef's kitchen and the elite college where future presidents are groomed, to the depths of the French sewers and beyond. He explored a network of catacombs filled with skeletons, hundreds of feet under Paris in. When one story was set among French vineyards, he even took and passed a course in wine-tasting and was actually inducted as a "Chevalier" of French wine.


Leading a Second Life

His latest book, the standalone thriller, Virtually Dead involved his most in-depth research to date. May opened a private detective agency, and spent a year under another identity working on real cases and mastering surveillance techniques. Just one thing in it was in the online world of Second Life. The world was virtual but the people and their cases, were real, and May is proud of his 100% success rate.

May not only gained an insight into the life and work of a private detective, but discovered how important the online virtual world is to some of its residents.

"The cases bring you into very intimate contact with clients and their lives.  People fall in love, get married, and move across the real world to be closer to their 'virtual' partners.  These relationships become real in both worlds. And virtual infidelity hits people just as hard as in real life," says May. "The private detective is the only person with whom they can discuss their fears.  And sometimes the truth is the thing they fear the most.  I was unprepared for just how involved I would get.  Sometimes you feel you hold people's lives in your hands."

ABOUT PETER MAY
Peter May is the award-winning author of 15 novels including two series: The China Thrillers, and The Enzo Files, his standalone thriller Virtually Dead set in the online world of Second Life was published in January 2010.

Prior to concentrating on his novels, Peter established himself as one of Scotland's most prolific and popular television dramatists, garnering more that 1,000 credits in 15 years, he was responsible for the creation of several prime-time drama serials for the BBC and Independent television in the UK.

Born in Scotland, he now lives in France.  Frequent research trips; advisors at the top of their fields in criminology, pathology, genetics, politics, from around the world; and high-speed internet keep him well-connected from his isolated French farmhouse.

RSVP to attend this Literary Salon in Berkeley. Can't make it? Check out Peter's U.S. Tour.

Robert Culp: R.I. P.

Robert Culp, the star of I Spy, died today. He was 79.

I Spy aired from 1965 to 1968 and was a television milestone in more ways than one. Its combination of humor and adventure broke new ground, and it was the first integrated television show to feature a black actor (Bill Cosby) in a starring role.

Culp played Kelly Robinson, a spy whose cover was that of an ace tennis player. In real life, Culp actually was a top-notch tennis player who showed his skills in numerous celebrity tournaments. Cosby was fellow spy Alexander Scott, whose cover was that of Culp's trainer. The pair traveled the world in the service of the U.S. government.

Culp and Cosby also costarred in the 1972 movie Hickey and Boggs, which Culp also directed. This time they were hard-luck private detectives who encountered multiple deaths. Audiences who had enjoyed the lightheartedness of I Spy were disappointed, and the movie flopped at the box office.

After years of talking up the idea, they finally re-teamed in 1994 for a two-hour CBS movie, I Spy Returns.

I always liked Culp, in lots of roles including Bob & Carol &Ted &Alice. It was sad to hear that he died, and possibly of an accident. No foul play suspected, but he collapsed outside his Hollywood home and hit his head. He may have had a heart attack, but the head injury may have been the main factor. 

Read the NYT Obit HERE.
Read the LA Times Obit HERE.

Read Duane Swierczynski's post on Secret Dead Blog from March 18 about Hickey. Boggs. On The Big Screen.