Cartoon of the Day: The Family of Writers

 

FLEA MARKET, GARAGE SALE, AND ESTATE SALE MYSTERIES

After a year of pandemic imposed closure, the Alameda Flea Market aka the Alameda Point Antiques and Collectibles Faire, reopened yesterday. I'm an avid Flea Market goer, and the first Sunday of every month is pretty sacred in our household. One time, I even took a 6 am flight back from the Dallas Bouchercon to be at the Alameda Flea by 8 a.m (even that was late for me). Having been to Flea Markets all over the world, the Alameda Flea Market remains one of my favorites. It can't be beat for a spectacular view of San Francisco, either. The Flea Market is located on the old Alameda Navy Base and is surrounded by the Bay and estuary. It's a stunning place to spend a Sunday morning! The Flea Market is about 2 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. My health app tells me I usually walk 5+ miles when I'm there. Going to the Flea Market is like visiting a museum filled with treasures.

When I'm in London, I always go to Portobello Road. Not sure I'd call Portobello Road a flea market, but I've been there early on a Saturday morning when the stalls are setting up. I adore the Paris Flea Markets, too, and I have many finds from there, including a huge hand-knit rabbit, Pierre, whom I carried all over Europe one summer. I love flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, boot sales, garage sales, jumble sales, and collectible shows. I also won't turn my nose up at a dumpster. Lots of treasures to be found.

So it should come as no surprise that I enjoy reading mysteries with flea market, boot sale, picker, or garage sale themes. I've posted a list before, but this is an update. Some of the books in the following list do not focus as much on the 'flea market' as an item found at a flea market, that becomes the springboard for the story. And an FYI: flea markets are great places to find mysteries and crime novels at great prices.

FLEA MARKET and GARAGE SALE MYSTERIES

The Flea Market by Randal Adam

Antiques Flee Market by Barbara Allan
Savannah Blues, Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews
Flea Market Fatal by Brianna Bates
The Flea Market Folly by B.J. Belekis
Mobbed by Carol Higgins Clark

Murder at the Estate Sale by Lily Charles
Death is a Bargain by Nora Charles 
Mrs McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie
The Unraveling of Violeta Bell by C.R. Corwin
Wig Betrayed by Charles Courtley
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie by Sharon Dunn
Never Tell a Lie; Careful What You Wish For by Hallie Ephron
The Flea Market Mystery by Virginia Besaw Evansen

Flea Market Magic by Bella Falls
Buried Stuff, Dead Guy's Stuff, The Wrong Stuff by Sharon Fiffer
The Toyotomi Blades by Dale Furutani
Tight as a Tick by Toni L.P. Kelner
Killer Stuff, Dead Guy's Stuff, The Wrong Stuff, Buried Stuff by Sharon Fiffer 
The Emma Chizzit Mysteries (several titles starting with Emma Chizzit and...) by Mary Bowen Hall
First Monday Murder by Lisa Love Harris
Tagged for Death, A Good Day to Buy, All Murders Final!, The Longest Yard Sale by Sherry Harris
Something to Kill For by Susan Holtzer
Unidentifed Woman #15 by David Housewright

A Dress to Die For by Dolores Johnson
The Executor by Jesse Kellerman
Double Dealer by Barbara Taylor McCafferty & Beverly Taylor Herald
Resolution by Denise Mina
Leave a Message for Willie by Marcia Muller
Thursday Night Widows by Claudia Pineiro
Murder, by George by Jeanne Quigley
Next Week Will Be Better by Jean Ruryk

Flea Market Felony by Tricia L. Sanders
Murder of a Smart Cookie by Denise Swanson
Garage Sale Stalker; Garage Sale Diamonds; Garage Sale Riddle by Suzi Weinert

YA:  The Flea Market Mystery by Virginia Besaw Evansen

Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy is an antiques dealer, but he employs a wonderful picker, so I should probably include his books on this list. He and his sidekick do a lot of foraging at sales and in stalls looking for valuable antiques.

There is definitely a difference between Flea Markets and Antique Shops, but often the same characters inhabit both worlds. If I put together a list of Antique Mysteries, I'll certainly include books by Jane Cleland, Anthony Oliver, Lea Wait, Tamar Myers, and many others.

Mystery Readers Journal has had several issues focusing on Art & Antiques Mysteries. Have a look at the Tables of Contents: HERE and HERE.

DERRINGER AWARDS: Short Mystery Fiction Society

The Short Mystery Fiction Society announced the winners of the 2021 Derringer Awards.

Congratulations to all!

FLASH (ranges up to 1,000 words)

TIE:

Blackwell, C.W. “Memories of Fire.” Pulp Modern Flash. August 3, 2020.

 

Richardson, Travis. “War Words.” Punk Noir Magazine. December 3, 2020.

SHORT (ranges from 1,001 to 4,000 words) 

 

TIE:  

 

Jones, Eleanor Cawood. “The Great Bedbug Incident and the Invitation of Doom." Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder.    

 

Woodson, Stacy. “River.” The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell.

LONG (ranges from 4,001 to 8,000 words)

Chen, Sarah M. “Hotelin’.” Shotgun Honey: Volume #4: Recoil.

NOVELETTE (ranges from 8,001 to 20,000 words)

 

Taylor, Art. “The Boy Detective and the Summer of ’74.” Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. January/February 2020.

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement is annually awarded to an outstanding living writer of short mysteries, selected by a five-member panel. This year's recipient: Brendan DuBois.

 

MAY DAY CRIME FICTION: May Day, May, and Morris Dancing Mysteries

"What potent blood hath modest May."- Ralph W. Emerson

For the past few years, I've posted a list of May Day Mysteries. I love May Day with its Morris Dancing and the Maypole, dating back to pagan Celtic times. And, although May may seem idyllic with its flowers and showers, it can actually be murderous! Later this month, I will have an updated list of Cinco de Mayo Mysteries, Mother's Day Mysteries, and Memorial Day Mysteries. All take place in May.

I've expanded my May Day list to include a few other May mysteries. Let me know if I've forgotten any titles. Be sure and check out the Morris Dancing Mysteries at the end of the list.

May Day Mysteries

The Art of Betrayal by Connie Berry

The May Weeks Murders by Douglas G. Browne
Five Days in May by Paul Eiseman
The Nutting Girl by Fred DeVecca
30 Days in May by Wayne Hancock
Five Days in May by Christopher Hartpence
Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel 
The Moonlit Door by Deryn Lake  
May Day by Jess Lourey
May Might Mean Murder by Bill McGrath 
A Hearse on May-Day by Gladys Mitchell  
May Day in Magadan by Anthony Olcott 
The Merry Month of May by Elvi Rhodes
A Hot Day in May by Julian Jay Savarin
May Day Murder by Julie Wassmer
The May Day Murders by Scott Wittenburg

Morris dancing is one of the Great English Mysteries, like cricket and warm beer. 

--Rosemary Edghill, mystery writer, in Book of Moons


Morris Dancing Mysteries

The Case of the Missing Morris Dancer: A Cozy Mystery Set in Wales by Cathy Ace
As the Pig Turns; Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate; Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton
Murder of a Straw Man by Robyn Beecroft
Blind to the Bones by Stephen Booth
Thieves by Hannah Dennison
Dumb as Morris Dancing by Scott Hunt
The Moonlit Door by Deryn Lake
The Shortest Day by Jane Langton
Stone Cold Sober by Rebecca Marks
Death of a Fool (Off with his Head) by Ngaio Marsh
Dead Men's Morris by Gladys Mitchell 
The Death-Cap Dancers by Gladys Mitchell
The Lazareth Pit by Elizabeth Patterson
All of a Winter's Night by Phil Rickman

***
May Day also has a more Activist meaning. For more information and a great list, check out Molly Odintz's Radical Noir: 26 Activist Crime Novels on CrimeReads.

Cartoon of the Day: May Day at the Police Academy

EDGAR AWARD WINNERS: Mystery Writers of America

MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES WINNERS 

OF THE 2021 EDGAR ALLAN POE AWARDS

 

Mystery Writers of America announced the Winners for the 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2020. The Edgar® Awards were presented via a live presentation on Zoom and can be found here: You Tube or Facebook
 
 
BEST NOVEL

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (Penguin Random House – Random House)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
 
Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen (Simon & Schuster – Gallery Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
 
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole (HarperCollins Publishers - William Morrow)

BEST FACT CRIME

Death in Mud Lick: A Coal Country Fight Against the Drug Companies that Delivered the Opioid Epidemic by Eric Eyre (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
 
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
 
Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

"Dust, Ash, Flight," Addis Ababa Noir by Maaza Mengiste (Akashic Books)

BEST JUVENILE

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing - Algonquin Young Readers)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
 
The Companion by Katie Alender (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Episode 1, Photochemistry” – Dead Still, Written by John Morton (Acorn TV)

 ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"The Bite,” Tampa Bay Noir by Colette Bancroft (Akashic Books)
 
 * * * * * *
 
THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
 
The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart (Minotaur Books)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD
 
Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht (Tin House Books)