Malice is one of my favorite conferences. This year was no exception. I had a great time in the Malice Go Round. Twenty tables, eight people and two minutes at each table to describe my books. )No pictures from that. A participant barely has time to breathe.) A shout out to my wonderful tablemate – Jacqueline Bouldin.
I also moderated a panel on the importance of setting. ( am on a Saturday morning, ugh.) But quite a few brave souls attended.
My wonderful panel consisted of Heather Weidner,, Cathi Stoler, Judy Murray and Paula Charles.
Since these are all funny ladies, we had a great time.
We all signed afterwards. Very pleased to see several people from the panel audience and from Malice Go Round turn up and ask me to sign some books.
I also attended the panels for all the nominees. I have not read everything – but I will.
I met Mindy Quigley at Malice Domestic and, as usual, following my practice of reading something by every author I meet. I read Six Feet Deep Dish.
And what fun it was too.
Delilah O’Leary can’t wait to open her gourmet pizza restaurant in beautiful Geneva Bay, Wisconsin.. This has always been her dream. But the day before opening, her wealthy boyfriend dumps her, leaving her with an armful of bills.
Then, on opening night, Delilah finds her aunt’s caregiver Jeremy shot dead – and her aunt holding the gun.
To make matters worse, the detective, Calvin Capone (yes, the great grandson of THAT Capone) closes the restaurant while the investigation is ongoing. Needless to say, sparks fly between Delilah and Capone.
Written in a snappy style with several engaging characters – Delilah’s Aunt Biz is my favorite – this cozy is a treat.
I urge everyone to attend Malice Domestic. It is not just for writers but for fans as well. Here, fans can meet their favorite authors and have their books signed.
A wonderful feature of Malice is the panels.I did not the pictures of all the panels I attended; I thought of it too late. But I do have a few.
The above is from The role of Cozies in a non Cosy World. Delightful!
One of the panels, on the Role of Identity in your characters, sourced quite dry. But it turned out to be fascinating.
Malice 2023 will be held in late April in North Bethesda, Maryland.
Although I spent this past weekend in North Bethesda, MD for Malice Domestic, I still managed to read two books. The first was Ninja’s Blade by Tori Eldridge, the second in her Lily Wong series. The second was a book I bought at Malice. Murder in First Position, by Lori Robbins, features a ballerina as the main protagonist/detective.
Ninja’s Blade is even more exciting than Ninja’s Daughter.
Lily Wong is hired to find a young woman, Emma, who was rescued from the streets and prostitution. While Lily is searching, she becomes aware of the trafficking of minors. Dolla is a recruiter for Manolo, a really terrifying pimp. Lily struggles to find out what she needs to know and finally goes undercover as a streetwalker to rescue the girls. Exciting and gritty. Highly recommended but Not for the faint of heart.
The second mystery was Murder in First Position.
Leah Siderova is coming back from a serious knee injury. She is in competition for a lead role but when her rival is found stabbed with a pair of scissors, she goes from ballerina to murder suspect. Former friends and fellow dancers treat her like a pariah. When the police are poised to arrest her, Leah goes on the run. She finds new friends in a band of ladies on their way to Atlantic City. Leah’s sister plays decoy and in a final scene at the theater the murderer is finally revealed.
What an interesting, albeit disheartening, view of the ballet world. Rivalry, backstabbing, out and out cruelty. And the ballerina’s struggles to stay at ninety pounds certainly put my diet struggles in perspective. Recommended.
Now that I have completed reading the books for my Malice Domestic panel, I am branching out. This week I read the newest book by an old and favorite author (Ann Cleeves – The Heron’s Cry), and a book by a new author, to me at least (Nancy Allen – the Code of the Hills).
Cleeves’s new book is the second in her Matthew Venn series.
Venn is called to an artist’s colony. Dr. Nigel Yeo has been stabbed to death by a shard of glass from one of his daughter’s glass creations. Dr Yeo is an unexpected victim. A good man, and very concerned about the treatment of mental health patients, he has been investigating the suicide of young man.
Then the owner of the artist’s colony is found murdered in exactly the same way. Since Matthew’s husband Jonathan is connected to this colony, he must tread carefully.
Although the Vera and Jimmy Perez mysteries are my favorites, the Matthew Venn books are very enjoyable as well.
The second of the two is The Code of the Hills by Nancy Allen.
Although she is probably more well – known as a co-writer with James Patterson, this mystery that she wrote alone is great as well. Elsie Arnold is a state prosecutor tasked with trying an incest case. Kris Taney has been accused of the rape of his two oldest daughters.
Everyone lies to Elsie, including Kris’s wife and the two daughters. Then a Evangelical group becomes involved – and Elsie is targeted. Her car is vandalized in some particularly horrible ways.
Elsie herself is not entirely admirable. She drinks too much and her choice of men leaves a lot to be desired. But she works on the case to the best of her ability.
The author, who spoke to my Sisters in Crime group via Zoom, referred to her early series as ‘Hillbilly noir” and noir it is.
Besides the panel I moderate (Historical Mysteries – the Rapture of Research on Friday, April 23, 2pm), there are a number of fascinating offerings.
Some of the fascinating topics:
Blurring Genres: Blending a Cozy with Romance? With Fantasy? Solves a Crime or Feed the Cat? Can you Google the Killer?
And these are all on Friday, in addition to a panel on The Agatha Best Contemporary Novel Nominees with: Ellen Byron Edwin Hill Louise Penny Gabriel Valjan
On Saturday, panels range from:
Women in Historical Mysteries: Grappling with Gender Expectations (One I will surely attend) to How Strong Characters Make a Strong Mystery and How Do Bookstores and Libraries Foster Community? And these are all at 9 am.
At ten, I plan to attend Farms, Fields and Felonies: Crime in Remote Settings.
Panels continue through out the day with one interviewing debut novel nominees, discussion of the effects of Covid on the in-person experience, and, of course, the awarding of the Agatha at the banquet.
On Sunday, Hank Phillippi Ryan will interview the International Guest: Sophie Hannah, another not to be missed event.
After the long dry spell of no conferences or in-person activities, I plan on trying to get to as much as I physically can. I will be happily exhausted.
This week I finished the final two books that my panel authors will be discussion at Malice Domestic. I always enjoy finding new authors.
The first book I read was The Murderess Must Die by Marlie Wasserman.
This is a fictionalized account of a true crime. Martha Place was accused of the murder of her stepdaughter Ida and the attack with an axe on her husband William, She was poorly represented by counsel and became the first woman to be executed via the electric chair. Horrifying and Thought provoking.
The second book is one that I read when it was first released: Death at the Emerald by R.J. Koreto.
This is the third in the Lady Frances Folks Edwardian mysteries. Frances Is asked by Lady Torrance to look for her daughter Louisa, who ran away to become an actress. I really hope the author pens a few more in this series. Beautiful written and charming.
The full program for this year’s conference has been posted on their website – malicedomestic.org. More about this later.
They are also offering day passes. So, if you are in North Bethesda any day from April 21 to 24, the conference is being held at the Marriott.
Readers, and attendees at Malice, vote on the Agatha Awards. This year’s nominees are:
The 2021 Agatha Award Nominees
Best Contemporary Novel Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books) Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington) The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur) Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge) Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)
Best Historical Novel Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington) Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime) The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime) Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins) The Devil’s Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)
Best First Novel The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books) A Dead Man’s Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books) Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley) Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books) Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)
Best Non-Fiction The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press) Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books) The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press) How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)
Best Children’s/YA Mystery Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers) The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan) I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books) Leisha’s Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books) Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)
I’ve read several of these books and the nominations are well deserved.
I am happy and excited to announce Malice Domestic 2022. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, this will be an in-person conference.
I will be moderating a panel on Historical mysteries, naturally, on Friday, April 22. My panel consists to Frances McNamara (the Emily Cabot mysteries) Death on the Homefront; Julie Bates – The Innocent’s Cry, Marlie Wasserman – The Murderess must Die, and finally R.J. Koreto – Death at the Emerald.
The honored guests are Rhys Bowen and Julia Spencer-Fleming. Lifetime Achievement Awards will be given to Ellen Hart and Walter Mosley.
