Crime Fiction Grab Bag No. 5: Bouchercon and More

This week's crime fiction grab bag begins with the 2012 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the annual event for crime fiction authors and fans that took place this year in Cleveland, Ohio.

Highlights of the event included Louise Penny receiving her third Anthony Award for Best Novel for A Trick of the Light. Meanwhile, Mystery Readers International awarded their Macavity Award for Best Novel to Sara Gran for Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, the first book in her new "Claire DeWitt" series. As well, Canadian crime fiction authors hosted a Meet the Canucks dessert event, as reported by Linda Wiken.

In other news, Margaret Cannon of the Toronto Globe and Mail provides an encouraging review of Linwood Barclay's new novel, Trust Your Eyes, along with a look at Karin Fossum, Marek Krajewski, and Ian Hamilton.

Meanwhile, Adam Woog of the Seattle Times praises The Cutting Season by Attica Locke, Dan Fesperman's The Double Game, and The Hot Country, "Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler's foray into crime fiction."

Finally, Jack Batten of the Toronto Star provides another series of mini-reviews on Peter Robinson's Watching the Dark, Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs, Barclay's Trust Your Eyes, and Hamilton's The Red Pole of Macau.

Enjoy!

Crime Fiction Grab Bag

Here at The Overnight Bestseller we're very conscious of our duty as a representative of the crime fiction community, and to that end we present a grab bag of notes and links to items of interest to readers.

Author Colin Dexter will receive the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction award on 19 July at this year's Harrogate crime-writing festival. Dexter, who retired from teaching to begin writing mysteries, is the creator of the very popular character Inspector Morse. Read more here, courtesy of the Guardian.

Listen to an excellent interview of Louise Penny, author of A Trick of the Light, conducted not long ago by Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio. I've listened to this interview twice so far with great interest ....

Read Globe and Mail reviewer Margaret Cannon's recent roundup of summer crime fiction reading, in which she looks at six books of interest, including offerings by Canadians John Lawrence Reynolds and Jeffrey Round.

What's new coming off the presses this summer from Scandinavian crime fiction authors? Shots Magazine gives us a preview of new books by Karin Fossum, Jo Nesbo and Arne Dahl.

And don't forget to check out Jack Batten's latest reviews in his Toronto Star blog Whodunit, in which he looks at books by Anne Perry, Morley Torgov, and -- good heavens!-- Michael J. McCann!