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Welcome to the official home of Sarah Weinman, writer, editor, and Crime Lady.

I’m the editor of WOMEN CRIME WRITERS: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 50s (Library of America, 2015); …

1933

Some said he was
the greatest clarinetist to grace the Earth. Others tempered that praise,
proclaiming him to be the brightest star ever to shine upon Second Avenue. Naftule …

Remember that time, months ago, when I promised to do something with this website after years of not doing anything?

Well, man plans, God laughs, you know the drill. Here’s what else you …

The post explaining it all is here, but this is the short version:

• I started a new gig as the News Editor for Publishers Marketplace, the first time I have had something approximating a full-time …

Ruth Cavin, the legendary crime fiction editor for St. Martin’s Press who was instrumental in the founding of the company’s Minotaur Books imprint, died Sunday at the age of 92. Mike Shatzkin has an …

(x-posted from <a href=“http://offonatangent.tumblr.com/" target=”self”>Off on a Tangent, which is my more reliable bloggy home of late.)_

Nobody asked me to contribute a …

As has been widely reported, Otto Penzler and his well-traveled imprint is on the move again, after being domiciled at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the past six years. As of Fall 2011, he’ll …

My newest Q&A at Currency is with Adam Levin, whose debut novel THE INSTRUCTIONS has been receiving a ridiculous amount of buzz. A lot of it has to do with the sheer length of the book (it clocks …

In Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, I wrote about one of my all-time favorite books: BY GRAND CENTRAL STATION I SAT DOWN AND WEPT, Elizabeth Smart’s prose poem published in 1945. It is …

My newest column for the Los Angeles Times travels through the Appalachian region, looking specifically at recent novels published by Sharyn McCrumb and Vicki Lane. Here’s now the piece opens: …

For many years crime fiction fans have clamored for the return of Patrick Kenzie & Angela Gennaro, Dennis Lehane’s private-eye duo first introduced in 1994’s A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR and …

I admit I arrived at Bouchercon with a faraway look in my eye. A day late, with family obligations past and nostalgia trips and unexpected meetings with old friends to come, this year’s …

This more or less dormant* blog will be even more dormant this week thanks to the chock-full-of-wonder that is Bouchercon. It officially starts on Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency …

My newest Dark Passages column for the LAT heaps praise on Tom Franklin’s new novel CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, which bowled me over in a big, big way, even more so than his previous work, …

Starting today, I’ve begun a new column at Currency, an American Express-sponsored personal finance site geared towards the so-called Millenial Generation (aka those aged 21-32 or thereabouts.) …

Shel Silverstein’s 80th birthday was last Saturday, and since my admiration (okay, uh, general fannishness) is hardly a secret in these quarters, it seemed like as good a time as any to write …

I’ve spent the better portion of the afternoon racking my brain trying to remember when I first met David Thompson. And I can’t. Which says less about the state of memory and more about …

Over the weekend, my newest Dark Passages column ran online at the LAT, featuring my take on new books by Elizabeth Brundage and Chandra Hoffman. Although the books don’t seem connected, I found …

My newest – and final – column for The Barnes & Noble Review focuses on Yunte Huang’s new book about the famed fictional Chinese detective, one whose influence has ranged wide …

My review of Martin Cruz Smith’s newest novel featuring his iconic Russian detective, Arkady Renko, appeared in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times (but was only put online this afternoon.) …

So the busy summer (and year) continues but a couple of new and upcoming publications featuring work of mine that I should draw your attention to. First up is FOLLOWING THE DETECTIVES: REAL LOCATIONS …

I read many books annually, so that means I don’t reread all that much. But for Don Winslow’s SAVAGES, I couldn’t help but make an exception. The book was, at least for me, the …

So Richard Price will be writing a series of detective novels for Henry Holt under a pen name – Jay Morris – starting in fall 2011. It’s the same publisher that John Banville has for …

My newest column for the Los Angeles Times looks specifically at Justin Peacock’s new novel BLIND MAN’S ALLEY and at the seeming dearth of crime fiction centered around real estate. …

With the hype and phenomenal success of the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, a lot of news outlets have been asking the natural but obvious question: who’s the next big breakout star? Is he …

At the Barnes & Noble Review, I delve into crime and mystery fiction for young adult readers, discovering that there are some real gems in the mix but even so, there could be so many more. I …

My newest column for the Los Angeles Times takes a close look at HAILEY’S WAR by Jodi Compton, her first book in several years. Only a small number of people read her earlier books, but I was …

Still sporadic, expect to be so for the foreseeable future. But links, they do pile up…

At DailyFinance this weekend, I wrote about Rick Riordan and his extremely successful Percy Jackson …

So the crime fiction imprint that Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch first talked about at Bouchercon last fall, and for which he hired John Schoenfelder from Thomas Dunne/SMP to oversee, finally …

One of the advantages of being lazy sporadic about blogging these days is that it affords me the longer view on some matters I never would have given all that much thought to before. To wit, My …

One of America’s greatest writers has passed on, and even though I shouldn’t have been surprised – he was 82 years old and not in the greatest of health the last few years – I …

Marilyn Stasio focuses her attention on new mysteries and thrillers by Deborah Coonts, Michael Koryta, Lee Child, Sophie Littlefield, Elaine Viets and Tarquin Hall.

Also in the NYT, Charles McGrath …

The kind folks at Salon.com asked me to contribute a list of crime novels worth spending your time with this summer, and with the usual caveats – not enough room, some great books I’m …

I think I’m pretty well recovered from BEA now, though as happens every year, it split my brain in several directions and will take a little while to put everything back together. But one of the …

My newest Dark Passages column for the Los Angeles Times had a small agenda, I must admit. Most reviews and profiles concerning Michael Koryta, who debuted with quite the deserved splash in 2003 with …

The Daily Beast has been running a series devoted to emerging writers, and their first two choices – THE INVISIBLE BRIDGE by Julie Orringer and EVERYTHING LOVELY, EFFORTLESS, SAFE by Jenny …

Of course I was going to write about Stieg Larsson. I haven’t been able to shut up about the Millenium books since January of 2008, when the UK edition of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO arrived …

Oline Cogdill has her say on Paul Doiron’s excellent debut novel THE POACHER’S SON in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Margaret Cannon reviews new crime fiction by Donna Leon, Olen …

Thursday morning from 10 AM to 11 AM Eastern, I’ll be on Minnesota Public Radio’s Midmorning along with Jason Pinter to talk with host Kerri Miller about favorite characters in mystery …

Sometime soon, Julie Bosman will move beats and report on the publishing industry for the New York Times, replacing Motoko Rich (who will now report on the economy.) Bosman’s a familiar face, …

Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime fiction by Paul Doiron, Michael Harvey, Donna Leon and Jassy MacKenzie for the NYTBR.

Oline Cogdill has some fun with Elaine Viets’ new “Dead End …

The Daily Beast asked me to list what I consider to be the best books in the true crime genre, and I obliged. Many offerings are what you’d expect – IN COLD BLOOD, THE EXECUTIONER’S …

My newest LA Times column looks at THE SINGER’S GUN, the new novel from Emily St. John Mandel that will very much appeal to crime fiction readers, though it doesn’t quite fit neatly inside …

INNOCENT, the long-awaited sequel to Scott Turow’s 1987 novel PRESUMED INNOCENT, won’t actually be in stores until Tuesday, but boy, the media blitz has begun in earnest. There’s the …

Edgar Week is soon upon us! There’s the Mysterious Bookshop/MWA party on Tuesday, the symposium on Wednesday, EQMM/AHMM’s early Thursday afternoon party and then the Big Show Thursday …

I wasn’t able to make it to this year’s Festival of Books, which is ongoing throughout the weekend and, if you’re in the area, very well worth your time. But last night the Book …

This damn volcano. Scrapping flights, stranding travelers, giving John Cleese a hell of a story to incorporate into his comedic act, scuppering research trips, canceling tours, and if this drags on …

My newest column at the Barnes & Noble Review looks at the lineup so far from Vertigo Crime, which kicked off last summer with Ian Rankin’s DARK ENTRIES and Brian Azzarello’s FILTHY …

Right, I didn’t do one of these last week! Which made me realize that I do miss the link roundups, as long as it’s not obligation and still fun. So here we go:

Marilyn Stasio reviews new …

My newest column at the Los Angeles Times muses on unreliable narrators – a device I love, but not everyone does – and specifically, those employed in new novels by relative newcomers …

Janet Maslin rightly reviews new thrillers by Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay in tandem, since both cover a lot of the same ground with varying degrees of success (I haven’t read CAUGHT yet, so …

When I read Lisa Reardon’s THE MERCY KILLERS some years ago, I felt like I was in the company of a writer whose work matched my general tastes. The writing was spare yet evocative, the story …

Of course I’m leading off with this piece of news: a new collection of Shel Silverstein poems will be published by HarperCollins’ Childrens Books in Fall 2011. This is awesome. What would …

The work of Walter Mosley, I suspect, inspires some people to revisit tired old genre wars. To my mind such inclinations have less to do with determining what is supposed to be literature and more …

My newest column at the Barnes & Noble Review focuses on the novels of David Carkeet, many of which are being reissued over the course of this year by Overlook Press. Out now is his first, …

And let’s lead off with the winners of the awards given out last night at Left Coast Crime: Alan Bradley for the Dilys, Rita Lakin for the Lefty, Rebecca Cantrell for the Bruce Alexander, and …

Rodney Alcala has been in jail for almost as long as I have been alive. And yet it took three tries and three decades to get the death penalty to stick: a technicality tossed the verdict, rendered in …

Oline Cogdill looks at Bob Morris’s new mystery novel BAJA FLORIDA for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The G&M’s Margaret Cannon has her say on crime fiction by Philip Kerr, Ian Weir, …

My newest “Dark Passages” column at the Los Angeles Times looks at the first and most recent books by Carol Goodman, which share an upstate NY, secreted girls’ school setting, though …

I have read Sam Tanenhaus’s piece on the Amy Bishop case several times now and still don’t quite know what to make of it. Even though it is clear his frame of reference with regards to …

In the NYTBR, Marilyn Stasio rounds up new crime novels by Mark Mills, Frank Tallis, Matt Beynon Rees, and the late Robert B. Parker.

Oline Cogdill reads James Grippando’s new thriller MONEY TO …

A number of people asked when the memorial service for Robert B. Parker, who died on Martin Luther King day, was held. As it turns out, it was on February 7, and that’s when his son David read …

The finalists for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have been announced, and aside from a new graphic novel category and the inaugural Innovator’s Award going to Dave Eggers, there’s a …

My brief treatise on AGATHA CHRISTIE’S SECRET NOTEBOOKS – as self-explanatory a title as you’re going to get – appears this week in the Barnes & Noble Review. The book is …

Laura Wilson rounds up new crime novels by Jacques Chessex, Jane Casey, Elly Griffiths and Carley Buckley.

The Times of London’s Marcel Berlins has his say on new offerings from Sam Eastland, …

And here they are:

Best Novel:

Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett (Berkley Prime Crime)

Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime) …

My newest column for the Barnes & Noble Review __once more travels the non-fiction route, considering Deborah Blum’s artfully written synthesis of the dawn of the New York City Medical …

Dick Francis, the former champion jockey who found fame and fortune as the author of scores of horse racing novels, died at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, according to a statement released by his …

Marilyn Stasio looks at recent crime fiction by James Hall, Charlie Huston, Elly Griffiths and Robert Crais.

Oline Cogdill reviews P.J. Parrish’s newest Louis Kincaid novel, A LITTLE DEATH, in …

From Janet Rudolph comes the nws that the International Association of Crime Writers has just announced its final flight of five for the Hammett Prize, awarded for literary excellence in crime …

Oline Cogdill has her say on Julie Compton’s new thriller RESCUING OLIVIA.

In the LA Times, Paul Tremblay tells a harrowing story of how his child’s nanny defrauded him and other families …

My newest column at the LA Times looks at a slew of newcomers, including Belinda Bauer, Randy Susan Meyers, Carla Buckley and James Thompson, whose first crime novels come at the dawn of a new decade …

After twenty-four years in business, my hometown mystery bookshop, Prime Crime, is shutting its doors. Its last day of business, according to the store’s website, is March 14. “A sincere …

At the Barnes & Noble Review, I consider John Burdett’s latest Sonchai Jitpleetcheep novel, THE GODFATHER OF KATHMANDU, which is only partially set in Bangkok but still very much in keeping …

Margaret Cannon’s latest crime column features new titles by Steve Hamiton, John Burdett, Stephen Hunter, James Hall, Jonathan Kellerman and Cora Harrison. The column, as has been widely …

Now I can confess: when I first heard the news that J.D. Salinger died, I was instant-messaging with my editor at DailyFinance and said something to the effect of “not to sound crass, but his …

Marilyn Stasio looks at recent crime fiction by Ian Rankin, Belinda Bauer, James Thompson and Ian Sansom.

Hallie Ephron analyzes new mystery releases by Lori Armstrong, Leighton Gage and Michael …

At the age of 77, “just sitting at his desk” at his home in Cambridge, Mass., according to an email sent out by a representative of his U.K. publisher Quercus, Robert B. Parker is dead. …

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 201st anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan
Poe, its Nominees for the 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, …

I’ve long wanted to write about the work of Dorothy Uhnak, a police officer with the NYPD who wrote procedurals before Joseph Wambaugh put his stamp on cop novels in the early 1970s, but the …

Oline Cogdill chats with Robert Crais about his new Joe Pike novel, THE FIRST RULE, which she also reviews, as does the LA Times’ Paula Woods.

In the Guardian, Laura Wilson raves about Belinda …

Knox Burger, who died on January 4 at the age of 87, wore a great many career hats throughout his life. as editor of Collier’s, he introduced Kurt Vonnegut to the world. As an editor at Dell and …

This year’s recipient of the CWA’s Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, which honors outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing, is Val McDermid. Margaret Murphy, chair of the CWA, …

Laura Hruska, co-founder, longtime publisher and editor-in-chief of Soho Press, died on Saturday after a long illness. She was 74 years old. Hruska had been at Soho, which began publishing literary …

Julia Keller’s newest “Lit Life” column in the Chicago Tribune focuses on the still-strong appeal of Scandinavian crime fiction, and quotes, among others, Andrew Gulli, Centuries …

My newest LA Times column finishes up a two-part look at the state of contemporary fiction by being just about the last person to analyze PD James’ analysis of the genre, TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE …

Two and a half years in the making, my essay on the complete works of Don Carpenter runs in the January 2010 issue of The Believer, which should be on newsstands very soon if it isn’t already. …

I’m not sure if the lateness of this post and the lack of posts between this and last week’s roundup is indicative of how 2010 will go, but expect posting to be – more or less …

Marilyn Stasio’s last crime fiction column of 2009 rounds up new crime fiction by Sue Grafton and Christopher Fowler, and new-to-US books by Pierre Magnan and Ken Bruen.

Also in the NYT is an …

Earlier this fall, Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch announced that the company would start its own imprint devoted to crime and suspense fiction. Back when I reported the news they were still …

Oline Cogdill selects her best mysteries of all stripes in 2009 for the Sun-Sentinel.

The Guardian’s Laura Wilson rounds up new crime offerings from Linwood Barclay, Catriona MacPherson and …

The Los Angeles Times runs my profile with Sue Grafton today, based on a fairly wide-ranging conversation about her writing methods, why she’s never content to rest on her laurels, and why …

At the Barnes & Noble Review, my newest column looks at the wonderfully entertaining Bryant & May novels by Christopher Fowler. The plots harken back to the Golden Age of mystery but are very …

Marilyn Stasio looks at recent mysteries and thrillers by Joseph Wambaugh,Charles Finch and Stan Jones, as well as PD James’ TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION.

Margaret Cannon rounds up new crime …

Pursuing such a subject is utter madness, of course, which is why I decided to crowdsource things last night. And boy, did people deliver! But being an unenlightened despot, I want to list my own …

The Mystery Writers of America won’t give out the Edgar Awards until April 29, but today they announced the 2010 Grandmaster, Raven and Ellery Queen Award recepients. Dorothy Gilman, the author …

When THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST, the final book in Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy, was published in the UK in October, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy almost …

So many best-of lists! So many gift guides! So many favorite books! So I’ll keep it to a minimum:

Marilyn Stasio’s notable crime fiction picks for the NYTBR are wide-ranging and expansive …

My newest column for the Los Angeles Times reflects what was some unconscious gravitation on my part towards non-fiction that looks at contemporary detective fiction, and so it’s the first of a …

For those who need a quick recap, Harlequin, the romance publisher who also publishes thriller and commercial fiction writers including Elizabeth Flock, Jason Pinter, Heather Graham, Susan Wiggs, J.T. …

I can list caveats until the cows come home about not having enough space to expound on all the very good books I read this year, but in the end, I whittled my “Best of 2009” list to eight …

Okay, that’s not at all the most accurate headline, but just as Russia embraced detective fiction as if it was a brand new genre when Boris Akunin’s Erast Fandorin novels started selling …

The G&M’s Margaret Cannon reviews new crime fiction by Reginald Hill, Nevada Barr, Kenneth Cameron, James W. Nichol, Jill Edmundson, Janet Kellough, and Mary Jane Maffini, among others, and …

The Daily Beast runs my profile of Al Roker, the TODAY Show’s weatherman and feature reporter, on the day that his first mystery novel, THE MORNING SHOW MURDERS, is published. Here’s how …

In this week’s Publishers Weekly, Jordan Foster looks at what happens when mystery becomes literary fiction and vice versa – aka, we’ve got another round of the genre wars debate, …

Maj Sjowall, in this amazing profile by Louise France of the Observer, talks about the ten-book Martin Beck series, her life with Per Wahloo, and why the money she’s made off the books is …

Over at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Rege Behe gathered an impressive number of writers like Anne Rice, Gregg Hurwitz, Ayelet Waldman, Alafair Burke and Hallie Ephron to talk about authorial …

A couple of choice items at The Bookseller today. First up, Otto Penzler re-establishes his self-named imprint in the UK, moving from Quercus to Atlantic. The common thread? Anthony Cheetham, who used …

Declan Burke’s post this morning at Crime Always Pays is a real heartbreaker, and while I hope (as I suspect many do) that he will change his mind, there is a sense of resoluteness about his …

Oline Cogdill chimes in with her thoughts on Louise Penny’s newest neo-traditional mystery THE BRUTAL TELLING.

Adam Woog rounds up recent crime fiction by Michael Connelly,Patrick McManus, …

In an act of serendipity, both of my crime fiction columns appeared online on the same day. At the LA Times, my newest “Dark Passages” column looks at how authors try to freshen up a …

I suspect reading Motoko Rich’s story on “the Glenn Beck effect” on thriller writers might have caused a trace of discomfort among many writers and publishing industry types. …

Jason Pinter, as part of his new gig as a columnist for the Huffington Post’s recently launched books section, gathered together an excellent group of crime fiction critics, observers and …

When I left GalleyCat a couple of years ago the prospect of covering the publishing industry on a daily basis had become something of a grind. There were other projects to pursue – some …

Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime fiction offerings by Michael Connelly, Ruth Rendell, Archer Mayor, and Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom.

Oline Cogdill hears the McBain-like echoes in Lou …

Lionel Davidson, a notable British writer of thrillers who was a three-time Gold Dagger winner – not to mention the 2001 recepient of the CWA’s Diamond Dagger – died on October 21 at …

I first heard about this piece of news a little while ago but yesterday, the news was more or less official: Don Winslow has been tapped to write SATORI, a prequel to Trevanian’s excellent 1979 …

In the September issue of Standpoint Magazine, Jessica Mann – a regular reviewer for the Literary Review and a writer of crime fiction for over 35 years – expressed her disgust over how a …

Hallie Ephron reviews new mysterious tales by Ruth Rendell, Emily Arsenault and Keith Raffel for the Boston Globe.

At the Sunday Times, Peter Millar rounds up recent thrillers by Michael Robotham, …

To close out Tablet Magazine’s Jewish Body Week, I wrote about the autopsy – spefically, religious objections, technological innovations, and the conflicts that come up. Here’s how …

As presented tonight at a gala event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, which will be televised on October 27th:

Gold Dagger: A WHISPERED NAME, William Brodrick (Little, Brown)

Steel Dagger: …

So Howard Unruh is finally dead. I think I’ve been waiting for the news all year, ever since his longtime lawyer, James Klein, informed me some time ago that Unruh’s health was in very bad …

This is the last thing any author should have to deal with a new book coming out, as Patricia Cornwell is now doing while getting ready for today’s publication of THE SCARPETTA FACTOR, her …

Tonight at 7 PM, Scandinavia House hosts Norwegian crime novelists Kjell Ola Dahl (THE FOURTH MAN, THE MAN IN THE WINDOW, THE LAST FIX) and Anne Holt (WHAT IS MINE, WHAT NEVER HAPPENS) as well as …

The NYTBR’s Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime fiction by Patricia Cornwell, Reginald Hill, Emily Arsenault and Karen Maitland. 

Oline Cogdill raves about Michael Connelly’s NINE …

At a panel on publishing held this morning at Bouchercon, Little, Brown president Michael Pietsch announced that the company would be launching a crime fiction imprint in the near future. The details …

Thursday night in Indianapolis, a slew of awards were handed out during the Opening Ceremonies.

THE BARRY AWARD

Best Novel: DRAINING LAKE by Arnaldur Indridason

Best First Novel: CHILD 44 by Tom …

I’m not going to Bouchercon this year. “It’s the economy, stupid” is a flippant way to express my reasons but it’s the truth, more or less – not to mention ironic …

Oline Cogdill is impressed with David Ellis’s THE HIDDEN MAN, the start of a new series of legal thrillers.

Robin Vidimos has much the same reaction about Michael Connelly’s new Harry …

Stuart Kaminsky, a former Grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America and author of dozens of critically acclaimed and well-regarded detective novels, passed away earlier today in St. Louis. He was …

My first column for the Barnes & Noble Review under the banner of “The Criminalist” – which allows me to indulge in some fantasy that the pesky forensic science master’s …

The mystery community’s known for roughly a year that Dennis Lehane’s current work-in-progress was a return to the universe of his series characters, Boston-area private detectives Patrick …

Marilyn Stasio reviews recent crime fiction by Nancy Mauro, Robert Parker, Dick & Felix Francis and Sophie Hannah (for those who wonder, THE WRONG MOTHER was published in 2007 in the UK as THE …

Trouble usually comes with the newest iteration of the “literary vs. genre” discussion, but two recent posts at Murderati have come at this solutionless quandary with more thought and …

It’s been two days since Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland and I still can’t let go of the subject. The firestorm of comments and opinions has been understandable. A 43 year old …

And so, the final completed volume of the Millenium series, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST, has been published in the UK. The Times of London profiles Stieg Larsson anew, Marcel Berlins …

I admit, self-promotion here has been kind of rampant, but such is the convergence of several pieces written at different times appearing almost simultaneously! To wit, my newest Dark Passages column, …

The fine folks at New York Magazine invited me on board for the newest edition of the Vulture Reading Room, their occasional online book club. And just when you thought THE LOST SYMBOL had reached its …

My review of HARDBALL, the 13th installment of the V.I. Warshawski series by Sara Paretsky, appears at the Barnes & Noble Review today. Here’s how it opens:

To understand the current …

Several years ago, one of my favorite blogs was “The Literary Dick”, run by Michael Wood but hosted by Jonathan Ames, and every few days there’d be some new and strange literary …

Rosh Hashanah’s done, so more or less back to business…

James Ellroy’s BLOOD’S A ROVER publishes tomorrow, and naturally there’s already a ton of coverage. Art Taylor …

The Bookseller reports today on what Maxim Jakubowski, who shut down London mystery bookshop Murder One at the beginning of this year, is up to: spearheading a new crime imprint, maXcrime, for John …

We’re in the middle of a weeklong commemoration of Agatha Christie, and it’s worth highlighting some of the more notable celebrants. John Curran, who sifted through Christie’s …

Can you stop a speeding juggernaut? When it comes to THE LOST SYMBOL, I’m sure many would like to try, but I’m not one of them, as my review of the book in the Barnes & Noble Review …

So begins what might well be the craziest, “most important” week in publishing: Ted Kennedy’s memoir TRUE COMPASS finally drops tomorrow – well, the print edition, anyway …

When a writer signs a deal to publish more than, say, four books, it usually gets some attention in the press. But James Patterson’s new deal, which keeps him with longtime publisher Little, …

I cannot even begin to describe what a goldmine of information Paul Krassner’s “impolite interview” with Shel Silverstein in the August 1961 issue of THE REALIST is. References to a …

Or, you know, the “Daggers”:

ITV3 BESTSELLER DAGGER

Harlan Coben
Martina Cole
Dick Francis
Nicci French
Alexander McCall Smith

CWA GOLD DAGGER 2009, SPONSORED BY BOOKSDIRECT – for …

It’s been a bit fallow this week, hasn’t it? The transition from summer to fall will do that, as will the usual excuses (deadlines, cleaning the house, going outside, stress, spending too …

On October 21, the Crime Writers Assocation will be under a whole different spotlight, thanks to their previously announced association with Cactus TV (aka Amanda Ross’s production company, …

Evidently Celia Fremlin, whose 1958 novel THE HOURS BEFORE DAWN won the Edgar Award for Best Novel and who wrote more than 20 works of fiction and non-fiction, died on June 16 in a nursing home in …

Marilyn Stasio pays tribute to Donald Westlake and the Dortmunder novels in her NYTBR review of GET REAL.

At the Daily Beast, David Montgomery rounds up new crime fiction by Joseph Finder, Daniel …

At the LA Times, my newest Dark Passages column focuses on the first two installments of the adventures of modern-day globetrotter Gabriel Hunt, the brainchild of Charles Ardai (who wrote book #2) but …

“The Capture of Cerebrus” was the title of a short story Agatha Christie published in 1947. But as it turns out, that story cannibalized the title from a completely different story, one …

Ian Rankin’s new novel THE COMPLAINTS is just out in the UK, that means a whole lot of media coverage. See Jonathan Brown’s profile in the Independent, Marcel Berlins’ review in the …

The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) is proud to announce the

nominees for the 28th annual Shamus Awards, given annually to recognize

outstanding achievement in private eye fiction. The 2009 …

The subject header says it all, but here is the letter that Chris Aldrich just sent out tonight:

A Thomas Pynchon novel’s not supposed to be read in a single sitting. And yet, with one large interruption to attend a tribute for Donald Westlake at Mysterious Bookshop Tuesday night, …

Marilyn Stasio reviews new crime fiction by Stieg Larsson, Karin Fossum, Steven Thomas, Margaret Maron and Matthew Dicks for the NYTBR.

Oline Cogdill takes on Joseph Finder’s new thriller …

It’s kind of ridiculous how much mystery-related content there’s been on the radio of late, including:

• Lee Child, Reggie Nadelson and George Dawes Green talk about NYC-set crime fiction …

At Significant Objects, Josh Glenn and Rob Walker’s fabulous site devoted to people like Nicholson Baker, Luc Sante, Stewart O’Nan, Lizzie Skurnick and many, many others inventing …

For months, Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai has been hinting at a “surprise” book to be published in December, and even when news broke that the paperback line would be bringing …

Links have piled up over the course of the week, and finally I can round them up in something of an orderly fashion:

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson debuted this week at #1 on the NYT …

At the Barnes & Noble Review, I look at the newest novel by Spanish crime writer Carmen Posadas, an odd yet often enjoyable brew of mystery and post-modernism. Here’s how it opens:

Newsweek has a smorgasbord of stuff related to real-life crime, starting with Walter Mosley’s essay on why America has a long-running obsession with all things illegal, criminal and murderous: …

The news of Current TV journalists Euna Lee & Laura Ling’s pardon after former President Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il provokes an incredible …

Most of the reviews to date of Lev Grossman’s new novel THE MAGICIANS understandably liken it to a cross between HARRY POTTER and BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY, or a generalized version of kiddie …

To the Guardian’s credit, they get John Banville to respond to post-Harrogate genre controversies, and it is kind of awesome.

Marilyn Stasio has her say on new mysteries by Rennie Airth, …

My newest column for the LA Times looks at recent crime fiction involving, shall we say, damaged women who are still strong enough to overcome their pasts and take some control of their future. …

William G. Tapply, the author of over two dozen mystery novels (including the long-running Brady Coyne series) and 40 books overall, died last night in Hancock, NH after a two-year battle with …

I think the Guardian’s Stuart Evers is making mountains out of molehills, but it does sound like John Banville rubbed some folks the wrong way at Harrogate last weekend:

About mid-way through …

The New Yorker couldn’t have known that Nicholson Baker’s fascinating essay about his use of various e-reading devices would come out just as rumors pinpoint the Apple Tablet’s …

Right now is not the time for authors to settle for traditional ways of book promotion, i.e. hoping and praying that their newest book on offer will be noticed and magically sell copies. Publishers …

Deadlines and other major events have pretty much reduced my brain to 140 characters or less and to watching YouTube clips off the WTF charts*. But then along comes a story too strange and too bizarre …

I’m not quite ready to dub this the Week of Westlake, but the plethora of news and reviews of late certainly makes the aphorism a good one. First up is Robert Crais’s consideration of GET …

The NYT’s Marilyn Stasio rounds up new crime novels by James Lee Burke, S.J. Bolton, Michael Genelin and Fred Vargas.

Also in the Book Review is Sam Tanenhaus’s rather pained …

While I can’t say I am surprised, the news that Kate’s Mystery Books in Cambridge will be closing its doors next month still saddens me greatly. Owner Kate Mattes explained her reasoning …

Last night the Crime Writers’ Association announced the winners of several of its annual Dagger Awards:

International Dagger: Fred Vargas, THE CHALK CIRCLE MAN (Harvill Secker)

The Dagger in …

Jeffery Deaver picks his top ten novels featuring computers of all kinds for the Guardian, which is why his last choice is my favorite: