Cartoon of the Day: Cat Valentine's Day

Cartoon of the Day: Writer's Life

 

Murder at the Olympics: Crime Fiction set at the Olympics

I hope you're enjoying the Winter Olympics. I am. If you're a mystery reader, it should come as no surprise that the Olympics have actually been filled with drug scandals, sexual intrigue, disappearing athletes, death, murder, and theft! Consequently, the Olympics have played a very important part in crime fiction and in true crime. Here's my updated Olympics Mystery List (both Summer and Winter Olympics). As always, let me know any titles/authors I've missed.

Murder at the Olympics

Skate Crime and On Think Ice by Alina Adams
Rush for the Gold by Susan Carol Anderson

End Game by Jeffrey Archer 
Olympic Sleeper by Tom Barling
Beneath the Rings by Joe Battaglia

Echo of the Reich by James Becker
2012 Olympic Sabotage by D.M. Blowers
Mrs Hudson's Olympic Triumph by Barry S. Brown
Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by F.J. Campbell (YA)

A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell
40 Days 40 Nights by Wendy Cartmell
Bear Pit by Jon Cleary
Gold by Chris Cleave
Sacred Games by Gary Corby
The Rat Catchers' Olympics by Colin Cotterill
No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie
Typhoon by Charles Cummings
See Delphi and Die by Lindsey Davis
Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver
Time Heals No Wounds by Hendrik Falkenberg
Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics by John Feinstein 
Beyond Gold by Elaine Forder
Trial Run by Dick Francis
Legacy by Michael Gillard

The Blue Fence by Jonathan Hales
Death on the Range by Nikki Haverstock

Olympic Sacrifice by John Hocutt
Terror-Olympic Size by George L. Hoffman
Flight from Berlin by David John
March Violets, If the Dead Rise Not by Phillip Kerr
Lights Out by Elise Hart Kipness

Going for the Gold by Emma Lathen
Golden Girl by Peter Lear (Peter Lovesey) 
Olympia '36 by John Lee
The Bomber by Liza Marklund
Peril is My Pay by Stephen Marlowe
The Runner by Peter May
One or the Other by John McFetridge
Nightmare in Nagano; Murder at the Winter Games by Roy MacGregor
Dragon Games by Stephen Mertz
An Olympic Death; Off Side by Manuel Vazquez Montalban

Olympic Nemesis by James Morley
A Medal of Honor by John Morton
A Private Business by Barbara Nadel 

The Judas Goat; Carol Heiss Olympic Queen by Robert B. Parker
Target America: Terror at the 2002 Olympics by Frederick W. Parkins
See How They Run by James Patterson 
Private Games by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
Deadlock by Sara Paretsky

The Black Jersey by Jorge Zepeda Patterson

Death Spiral by Meredith Phillips
Olympic Fusion by Scott Pickard
The Runner by Christopher Reich
Whiz Tanner and the Olympic Snow Caper by Fred Rexroad

Death was in the Blood by Linda L. Richards
Hartliss Protector (Assignment: Prince William at the Olympics) by Mike Scantlebury
Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the Masked Medalist by Maia and Alex Shibutani (Middle School)

Black Rain by David Shone
Red Snow by Michael Slade
The Eighth Day by Alistair Smith
Geronimo and the Gold Medal Mystery by Geronimo Stilton  
Murder at the Olympics by Lee Strauss

Rogue Agent by Sean Sweeney
Lestrade and the Deadly Game by M.J. Trow
The Perfect Blindside by Leslea Wahl
Tess and the Olympic Rings Mystery by C. Wilson and Malcolm Turnbull

Summer Games: An Olympic Murder Mystery by Sabrina Wylly
Not Just a Game by Doug Zipes 

Short Stories: 

 “And Now, an Inspiring Story of Tragedy Overcome” by Joseph S. Walker in Three Strikes--You're Dead!)

Non-Fiction:  
Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas

Cartoon of the Day: Cat Winter Olympics

 

AUTHORS & THEIR CATS: James Joyce

Happy Caturday! Authors & their Cats: James Joyce

Be sure to scroll down for some fascinating information on James Joyces's cat fiction!

You may not know this, but James Joyce was a big cat lover and children's book author, as well as adult fiction writer.

There are two versions of The Cat and the Devil (1981), both based on a letter James Joyce wrote to his grandson Stephen in 1936 and illustrated by French artist Blachon. The UK edition was published earlier and illustrated by Gerald Rose. They're both wonderful, but I prefer the UK edition.

Another wonderful Joyce cat story is The Cats of Copenhagen, also based on another letter to Stephen which was found posthumously and published in 2012. Anastasia Herbert of Ithys Press first published the book in Ireland with a 200 copy illustrated print run. In early August 1936, Joyce had sent his grandson ‘a little cat filled with sweets’ – a kind of Trojan cat to outwit the grown-ups (see above). A few weeks later, while in Copenhagen and probably after hunting for another  gift, Joyce penned ‘Cats’, which begins: ‘Alas! I cannot send you a Copenhagen cat because there are no cats in Copenhagen.’ Surely there were cats in Copenhagen! But perhaps not ones filled with candy. The story proceeds to describe a Copenhagen in which things are not what they seem…There is definitely an adult subtext here: note the 'fat cat'

CWA Diamond Dagger: Mark Billingham

Crime Writers' Association (CWA) 2026 Diamond Dagger. This award “recognises authors whose crime-writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.” 

MARK BILLINGHAM

Sleepyhead introduced Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, leading to a further 18 books in Billingham's series, which was adapted to screen by Sky 1 in 2010, starring David Morrissey as Thorne. The latest Thorne book, What the Night Brings, was published in June 2025 - Billingham’s 25th book.

Mark Billingham said: “Presuming this is not an administrative error, I could not be more thrilled or honoured. To be added to a list that features most of my literary heroes is fantastic. That so many are also friends is the icing on the cake and, for me, a mark of how very special the crime-writing community is.”

HT: The Rap Sheet