Let’s start with some great news: Independent bookshops defy expectations during the Covid-19 pandemic with hundreds of new stores opening
Self-soothe with this video of a 120-year-old book of fairy tales being restored.
This Turkish library is shaped like a shelf of giant books.
What Fiction Can Teach Journalists: A Reading List From Maurice Chammah
Stating the obvious: Every Mystery Writer Knows, You Can Kill Anyone But The Dog
My Nudist, Holocaust-Survivor Grandma Spied on the Nazis
Suspect in Kim Kardashian’s Paris Robbery Writes Book … About Robbing Kim Kardashian
And something new and ridiculous: the final Daniel Craig 007 movie may have to have some re-shoots due to delays making product placement deals problematic!
Serious Stuff
Pharmacist Arrested, Accused Of Destroying More Than 500 Moderna Vaccine Doses
The 1954 Attack On The Capitol And The Woman Who Led It
How Online Sleuths Identified Rioters At The Capitol
A Serial Rapist Terrified a Black Sorority for a Decade. Police Just Cracked the Case.
Netflix’s Night Stalker Doc Details the Hunt For Richard Ramirez. But There’s More to the Story.
How a Whistleblower Helped Launch a Landmark Prosecution in the Battle Against the Opioid Epidemic
‘The Internet Is a Crime Scene’
A Scoop About the Pentagon Papers, 50 Years Later
On the banned German novelist who disappeared herself from the Nazis.
Local Stuff
Saving Seattle’s National Archives will take a team effort
Melinda Gates has donated $250,000 to the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.
Powell’s Books says Andy Ngo’s book will not be in store
Mossback’s Northwest: The Washington outlaw who couldn’t be caught
[and we include this just for fun: Mossback’s Northwest: The Palouse cowboy who inspired John Wayne]
Orca Post-Mortems Tell the Story of a Population Facing Numerous Threats
DNA puts a name to one of the last unidentified victims of the Green River Killer
Department of SPECTRE
Amazon and major publishers colluded to keep e-book prices high, lawsuit says
Amazon Is Helping to Fund a Militia That Stormed the Capitol
UW study:Amazon algorithms promote vaccine misinformation
Words of the Month
CHANTAGE – the extortion of money by threats of scandalous revelations aka Blackmail. French, from chanter to yield to extortion, be compliant, literally, to sing + -age
This word is first recorded in the period 1870–75. Other words that entered English at around the same time include: Mafia, fifth wheel, giveaway, immobilize, upgrade
Awards
ALA Youth Media Awards (Caldecott, Newbery, Coretta Scott King, and many more!)
Mystery Writers of America Announces 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominations
3 books by Oregon authors win Pacific Northwest Book Awards
Book Stuff
The Great Gatsby and All Your Favorite Works from 1925 Have Now Entered the Public Domain
Shelf Life: Tana French:the famed mystery writer takes our literary survey.
American Dirt: How one of publishing’s most hyped books became its biggest horror story — and still ended up a best seller.
My First Thriller: Lawrence Block
The Life and Wild Times of O. Henry
You’re using the term ‘Orwellian’ wrong. Here’s what George Orwell was actually writing about
‘Invisible Men’ chronicles pioneering Black artists of the early comic book industry
At the Library: Spare some time for the overlooked books
Ernest Cline Was ‘Raised by Screens.’ Look How Well He Turned Out!
Penny dreadfuls were the true crime podcasts of their time
The Thrill of Researching Your Crime Novel
The dramatic — and embellished — life of Graham Greene
Closure of an iconic Paris bookshop alarms French bibliophiles
Why do books have prices printed on them?
Open letter calls for publishing boycott of Trump administration memoirs
How Teaching Writing Makes Jonathan Lethem’s Own Writing Better
Patricia Highsmith – Jan 19, 1921
~ Patricia Highsmith at 100: the best film adaptations
~ Patricia Highsmith: the ‘Jew-hater’ who took Jewish women as lovers
~ Upgrade your writing soundtrack with Patricia Highsmith’s favorite songs.
Exploring the People of Middle-earth: Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, an Unexpected Hero
Indie bookstore to open a block away from recently shuttered Barnes & Noble
Rare Devon fabric book found in London archives
Here’s what you need to know about the book club service that just raised $40 million.
This new indie bookstore categorizes books by emotion.
Merriam-Webster just added 520 new words to the lexicon, but these are the best ones.
Paul Yamazaki on Fifty Years of Bookselling at City Lights
Today in cool internet passion projects: the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.
John le Carré Offered a Piece of Advice to a Struggling Novelist. She’ll Never Forget It.
It Takes a Village To Keep a Book In Print: A Chat with the Collins Crime Club
My First Thriller: Randy Wayne White
Other Forms of Entertainment
Sex and the City: New series announced but Kim Cattrall won’t return
The secret artists creating miniature buildings for street mice
His Vaccine Story Inspired His Father To Write A Disney Classic
The people who want to send smells through your TV
Don’t Toss Your Christmas Tree Yet! Here’s How You Can Cook With It
‘Where Are The Women?’: Uncovering The Lost Works Of Female Renaissance Artists [When JB was in college, he took an art history class entitled “Women in Art”, taught by Dr. Jeanne Stump. It was one of the first such classes in the US and he’s thrilled the painters he studied over 40 years ago are finally getting the attention they have always deserved.]
The True Story Behind Why the Original ‘The Twilight Zone’ Got Canceled
John Bishop Boards the TARDIS for Season 13 of Doctor Who
Car Concerts Offer Choirs A Way To Rehearse And Perform
PI Storytelling Through the Ages: Books, Blogs and Podcasts by Real Private Eyes
‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 3 Unveils Cast For Sparrow Academy Which Includes… A Telekinetic Cube?
Hollywoodland: The Best Neo-Noir You Probably Haven’t Seen
Kevin Feige Confirms ‘Deadpool 3’ Is an MCU Movie
Evil Incarnate: The Aesthetics of On-Screen Villainy
What Happened To Michael Peterson From The Staircase?
Classic bands accused of crowding out new music on streaming services
Radiohead: School band demo up for auction
‘SNL’ And ‘Second City’ Announce Scholarships For Diverse, Emerging Comic Talent
‘Artists, Weirdos, Hellriders And Homies:’ Thrasher Magazine Turns 40
Timothy Dalton had Three Unmade James Bond Movies That Influenced the 007 Franchise After He Left
Words of the Month
RUB BUBBERS (OR CLANK NAPPERS) – A dexterous person/people who steal silver tankards from inns and taverns.
Links of Interest
December 31: Serial squirrel: Neighbors keep eye out for fierce rodent
January 4: Inside the U.S. Army’s Warehouse Full of Nazi Art
January 4: Sherlock Holmes and the case of toxic masculinity: what is behind the detective’s appeal?
January 5: HG Wells fans spot numerous errors on Royal Mint’s new £2 coin
January 5: Hemingway’s Politics Were No Secret—Just Read His Only Crime Novel
January 5: Sword Taken 4 Decades Ago Is Returned To Mass. Community
January 5: Fishermen rescue naked fugitive from Australian tree
January 6: Irving “Gangi” Cohen: The Man Who Escaped Murder, Inc. and Hid Out in the Movies
January 10: Split in two ~ magicians to celebrate 100 years of sawing people in half
January 11: Megalodons gave birth to large newborns that likely grew by eating unhatched eggs in womb
January 11: A level results: Why algorithms aren’t making the grade
January 13: Gurlitt’s last Nazi-looted work returned to owners
January 13: Tower of London’s ‘queen’ raven Merlina missing
January 13: Italy ‘Ndrangheta group: Biggest mafia trial in decades opens
January 13: For Sale: Papers From the Planning of the 1963 March on Washington
January 14: Lizzie Borden’s House Is Up For Sale
January 15: A productivity tool company has solved writing by . . . reinventing the typewriter.
January 18: Man found ‘living in airport for three months’ over Covid fears
January 19: Stolen 500-year-old painting found in Naples cupboard
January 19: Those Guillotines are awfully close to your neck
January 27: Marie Dean Arrington: The Woman Who Fled From a Florida Electric Chair
January 27: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Murder: A Roadside Killing and The Novel That Captured an Era
Words of the Month
MASK OF SANITY – Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy—these serial killers were famous not only for their crimes, but their deceptively charming dispositions. This is what crime experts refer to as the Mask of Sanity. Coined by psychiatrist Hervey M. Cleckley in his 1941 book, this describes the phenomena of psychopaths easily blending in with their peers because they don’t typically suffer from more noticeable mental symptoms like hallucinations and delusions.
RIP
December 29: ‘Columbo,’ ‘Murder, She Wrote’ co-creator William Link dies
January 8: Michael Apted, Director Of The ‘Up’ Documentary Series, Dies At 79
January 8: Legendary Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda Dies At 93
January 9: Remembering Journalist And Friend Neil Sheehan
January 9: Marion Ramsey: Police Academy and Broadway star dies at 73
January 14: Siegfried Fischbacher: Member of magic duo Siegfried and Roy dies
January 17: Phil Spector, famed music producer convicted of murder, dies at 81 after contracting COVID-19
January 23: ‘Barney Miller,’ ‘Sanford and Son’ actor Gregory Sierra dies at 83
January 26: Cloris Leachman, Oscar-winning actress and prolific TV star, dies at 94
January 28: Cicely Tyson, Who Brought Grace And Gravitas To The Screen, Has Died At 96
What We’ve Been Up To
Amber
While working the shelves of Seattle Mystery Bookshop, several series caused me no end of dismay when trying to space them out, so they looked pretty for you all!
Agatha Christie often clogged the classics section with the sheer variety of sizes publishers used to reprint her mysteries. Earle Stanley Gardner also had his moments of causing classic section consternation due to the sheer volume of books he wrote – 82 in the Perry Mason series alone!
M.C. Beaton and Alexander McCall Smith (in the general mysteries) eventually got their own sections due to the ever-expanding series.
However, there’s one writer who often lead me to tear my hair out – J.D. Robb.
Due to Robb’s overwhelming popularity, we needed to keep the majority of the In Death Series on hand at all times. Meaning? When Robb released a new book or we received a batch of used mysteries…We often needed to move entire rows & sections of books around, so Eve and her cohorts didn’t scrunch, encroach, or simply dominate the neighboring authors!
Now that Robb’s hit book number 51 in her In Death series, I shudder to think how we’d struggle to fit her prodigious output on the shelves!
Speaking of book 51, Shadows in Death…Robb delivers yet another page-turning, read-late-into-the-night thriller you can devour in a single (long) sitting. One that will leave Eve & Roarke fans with a pleasant taste in their mouths; as we learn more about Roarke’s past, watch Eve work with her team and visit Ireland!
Feeney had stars in his eyes.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the mystery’s culmination teetered on the edge of sensationalism. But really, it only ever teetered, but Robb never actually jumped the shark, so we’re still fine!
Did you know the Western tradition of a bride wearing white didn’t come about until Queen Victoria wore a white dress to her wedding in 1840? The trend soon caught on amongst the elite across Europe as it became a symbol, not of the bride’s ‘purity’ but her family’s wealth. (i.e., they could afford to purchase an easily ruined dress.) Prior to this point, brides wore all kinds of colors – red being a particular favorite.
It wasn’t until prosperity hit the middle classes after WWII, helped along by the silver screen, that white wedding gowns became commonplace across the US and Europe.
In 1981 the tradition received a significant boost when soon-to-be Princess Diana walked down the aisle in a stunning ivory dress which sported 10,000 pearls, a 25 ft train, and a 153-yard tulle veil. As one-in-six people around the entire world watched the wedding – her gown inspired generations of brides.
Beyond the fact, it undoubtedly took some serious spine and determination to pull the weight of the dress down the aisle. The train and veil caused one wedding day hiccup. The designers failed to consider the size of the glass coach Princess Diana would ride in to St. Paul’s Cathedral. So, despite the bride’s best efforts, the dress became badly wrinkled on the ride over.
I know a few wrinkles in a dress doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but I know from experience, trying to create a perfect day – something like this can easily spin one out.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your view, Lindsey Norris doesn’t need to wait until the big day for something to go wrong! Not only did the guest list accidentally triple overnight – she and Sully find their officiant washed up on the beach of their wedding venue…dead!
So it’s a race against time as Lindsey & Sully work to solve a friend’s murder, find a new officiant, and expand their wedding venue – all before the big day!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading One For The Books.
The murder and the practicalities behind throwing a wedding provide an excellent counterpoint to well – the wedding. An event, which handled by a less deft mystery author, can edge towards the overly sweet – a trap McKinlay, thankfully, never falls into!
In addition, the possible motives of our cast of suspects are, for lack of a better word – intriguing. As no one, not even our victim, is innocent. It’s this tangled set of relationships, ones that neither Lindsey nor Sully ever suspected, and their revelations that make this mystery.
Then there’s The Lemon, Ms. Cole, who since announcing her aim to become Briar Creek’s next mayor – is endeavoring to loosen up and smile more….neither of which is precisely in her wheelhouse – thus adding an extra layer of sharp mirth to an already engaging read.
All in all, One For The Books was a fun, fast-paced, and diverting book I would recommend to anyone looking for a biblio-mystery or a fun way to escape an afternoon or two!
This last week we’ve met Squiddy, The Brownie Stealing Bench and Phoebe’s Silver City Operative!
Fran
One of the questions we routinely got at the bookshop was, “Have you read every book here?” It was generally accompanied with a laugh, although sometimes it was a serious question.
We always grinned and responded that there was no way to read all of them, and that we all had areas of specialty. The fact is, of course, that not only could we not have read all 10,000+ titles, but we honestly had so many new titles coming in every week, we didn’t even pretend to try.
That didn’t mean we couldn’t sell books we hadn’t read. A good working knowledge of the standards and classics worked well, and the quality of writing helped several series sell themselves.
That’s why I was pleased to finally get around to reading my first book by Charles Todd. I prefer to start at the beginning of a series, and I should have begun with A Test of Wills, but it turns out that I had an Advance Reader Copy of The Red Door, so that’s what I read.
It was obvious there were ongoing things I would have gotten had I started at the beginning, and I will enjoy filling in the backstory, but the delight of Charles Todd is that each story stands by itself. So I got to meet Ian Rutledge and his internal companion, Hamish, and I’m thoroughly hooked.
The Red Door has two inquiries, one concerning a street thief who attacked Rutledge on a bridge, and escapes. However the thief, known as Billy, becomes more aggressive, and it’s up to Rutledge to stop him.
But a missing person case takes precedence, since the Talley family is very important, and finding Walter Talley is deemed to be of utmost importance. Rutledge is given the assignment to find Talley, and to keep news of his disappearance out of the press, to protect the family’s privacy. What Rutledge finds in his investigation will leave death and sorrow as secrets are revealed.
The combined talents that comprise Charles Todd are wonderful, and I am looking forward to reading them all. The depth of understanding they bring to our shell-shocked hero steeped in the times and turmoil of Great Britain in the wake of the Great War makes this book, and I can only assume all the rest, absolutely compelling.
Have we read them all? Not even hardly, but it’s great to start in on some of the ones I know I missed!
BUY SMALL ~ SUPPORT SMALL
Lindsey Norris, Library Director of Briar Creek Library, didn’t seek out trouble this time. She just gazed out the window during the weekly crafternoon meeting, when she witnessed the hit-and-run of one her patrons. The weird thing? Lindsey is pretty sure the car sped up and swerved into Theresa Huston. But who would want to hurt the former tennis pro? When the driver turns up dead in the car with a stack of library materials in the passenger’s seat – Lindsey can’t help but do her own investigating…
Okay, I know you don’t like short stories. I get it, I do.
