B.V. Lawson's Blog, page 213
May 22, 2014
Mystery Bestsellers for April
The Seattle Mystery Bookshop is a member of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA), an organization that at one time listed the top-selling novels each month for all member stores. Although the IMBA no longer keeps such lists online, the Seattle store carries on the tradition and posted their most popular books for the past month:
April Hardcover Bestsellers
1. Amanda Quick - Otherwise Engaged
2. Tie:
Kelley Armstrong - Sea Of Shadows
Donna Leon - By Its Cover
4. Mary Daheim...
May 21, 2014
Mystery Melange
Book sculpture by Thomas Wightman
The nominees for the annual Anthony Awards were announced yesterday. The winner will be handed out at the annual Bouchercon conference in November, this year held in Long Beach, CA. The shortlist for Best Novel includes Robert Crais, Suspect; Sara J. Henry, A Cold and Lonely Place; William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace; Hank Phillippi Ryan, The Wrong Girl; and Julia Spencer-Fleming, Through the Evil Days. Check out the Bouchercon 2014 blog for the shorlists...
May 19, 2014
Media Murder for Monday
MOVIES
Warner Brothers has tapped Chris Sparling to adapt the bestselling Jo Nesbo crime novel Blood On Snow as a vehicle for director Daniel Espinosa and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Jake Gyllenhaal's crime drama Nightcrawler has sparked a bidding war at Cannes. It marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy and stars Gyllenhaal as a freelance crime reporter in Los Angeles, with Rene Russo and Bill Paxton also in the cast.
Nicolas Cage and Jack Huston have signed on to star in the...
May 17, 2014
Museum Mania
Tomorrow is International Museum Day! In addition to all the fine Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C., there are a couple of off-the-beaten-path (and fee-based) museums that are unusual and fun.
The Spy Museum has the largest collection of international espionage artifacts ever placed on public display, an exhibit of "50 Years of Bond Villains," and interactive exhibits like Operation Spy.
Not too far away is the National Museum of Crime and Punishment, with forensic science worksho...
May 16, 2014
FFB: Nine Coaches Waiting
Patti Abbott's ongoing Friday's "Forgotten" Book feature this week takes a look at crime fiction from the 1950s. I don't know that I believe in "psychic" connections, but in a bit of irony, I chose a book by Mary Stewart and wrote the following blog post before I learned that Ms. Stewart had died just a few days ago. The Telegraph has a nice obituary.
British author Mary Florence Elinor Stewart was a multi-bestselling author was at the peak of her popularity from the late 1960s through the...
May 15, 2014
Author R&R with Jenny Milchman
Thriller writer Jenny Milchman stops by In Reference to Murder today to take some "Author R&R" (Reference and Research):
Research is Murder: AKA How Not to Do Any For Your Book
I have a confession to make. No, I didn���t bury any dead bodies, but research often feels like it will be the death of me. When I was a child, my research projects would descend all too quickly into flights of fancy. I���m a suspense writer, and I prefer to make things up.
Luckily I don���t write historical novels, or...
May 14, 2014
Mystery Melange
Book sculpture "Bath of Knowledge" by Vanessa Mancini
The winners of the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards ��� the IPPYs ��� were announced. The awards program hopes to bring increased recognition to the "deserving but often unsung" titles from independent, university, and self-published outlets each year. The Gold Medal in the Mystery/Cozy/Noir category went to What's a Witch to Do? by Jennifer Harlow, while the Gold Medal winner in the Suspense/Thriller category was Carved in Darkne...
May 13, 2014
A Little Dark & Stormy
Coming up May 23-25 is the very first Dark & Stormy crime fiction conference in Brighton, UK, "serving up a wicked selection of book, film, music & theatre events." The bestselling, award-winning author ��� Elizabeth Haynes, Lesley Thomson and Lisa Cutts start off the festivities in a panel on independent (small) publishers.
That's followed by a showing of Matthew Vaughn���s 2004 cult classic Layer Cake, starring Daniel Craig, Kenneth Cranham and Michael Gambon, and introduced by the author...
May 12, 2014
Media Murder for Monday
MOVIES
Black List writer Stephany Folsom has been hired to adapt Harlan Coben's novel Missing You for Warner Brothers, with Brett Ratner producing. The story follows a female police detective who encounters a former flame on a dating website, which leads to the discovery of an intricate scheme involving a brilliant sociopathic criminal.
Andy Goddard is set to direct an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel The Blunderer, about a 1960s architect leading a charmed and perfect life. That i...
