This year I attended my tenth Left Coast Crime conference. This in and of itself is unremarkable. Before  COVID knocked the world off its axis I could usually be found at every year’s Left Coast Crime. This year was different for a couple of reasons. First off, LCC 2024 was my first conference of any kind since the advent of COVID. Secondly, this time around I helped plan the whole thing in my capacity as one of LCC 2024’s three co-chairs. My major endeavor was to set up the panel schedule, and populate said panels with panelists/moderators. Here's a bird's eye view: Sixty-four pa ..read more

  Another movie post, because I’m still in the geosynchronous orbit of Tarantino’s brain candy, Cinema Speculation. Brit noir hit its stride in the immediate postwar years, just as American film noir did, but the Brits had an extra serving of world-weary.  American tough-guy pictures in the late 1940’s laid on the cynicism and corruption, with no small helping of conspiracy and nuclear paranoia (Kiss Me Deadly took the atom bomb metaphor literally); the British style was more inward and furtive, and just plain creepy.  American noir was about lost innocence, Brit noir was about ..read more

When Stacy Woodson offered to write a pre-Malice guest post, this isn’t what I was expecting. You’ll understand why when you read it. — Michael Bracken The Magic of Malice By Stacy Woodson My first Malice Domestic was in 2018. The day of the convention I overslept. Yep—right through the alarm (which is unusual for me). I’m an early morning writer, at the computer, fingers poised by 4 a.m. Not that day. Stacy Woodson surrounded by other writers at Malice Domestic. Flustered, I dressed quickly and rushed downstairs. The first event of the morning was author speed dating. Inspired by ..read more

I love France, and many of the French, though they can be annoying like anyone else.  I find their language confounding, even as I love the way it sounds.  One of my good friends is fluent, as is my niece, and I’ll always marvel at their achievements.  The problem with French, to me, is there are far too many vowels, which to my ear all sound the same.  Though while I understand virtually nothing French people say, I respect their determination to preserve their native tongue, to maintain it exactly as it is for all eternity. I also think they are completely, foolishly and ..read more

My parents used to rebuke us: “Enunciate!” Humph. I didn’t think I spoke badly, but they would’ve instructed the nation with resolutely precise enunciation if they’d had their own Discord and YouTube channels. A couple of decades later found me in France at a colleague’s dinner table talking about the weather. I mention the harsh winter in Minnesota and my French friend stopped me. “The harsh what?” he asked. “Harsh winter,” I said. At his request, repeated it yet again. He said, “I don’t understand.” “Spring, summer, autumn, winter.” He looked puzzled. “I thought winter had a T in it.” He ..read more

  The Man in the Velcro Mask. Every morning since January 1 of this year, I have observed the same ritual to start my morning. I get to the office early and slip into an inflatable jacket and helmet. The radiation treatment I underwent in 2022 damaged the lymph nodes in my face. If I don’t pump my face free of the excess liquid, over time I’ll wake up mornings looking like a bullfrog. When the motor kicks on, the suit squeezes my chest and face, filling my ears with the breath of an unseen giant. In the 32 minutes it takes to run my cycle, I read a page from three books in quick ..read more

by Eve Fisher We do get some interesting crimes in South Dakota.  Some of it is that, when you have a very few people scattered over very large distances, privacy can lead to... odd behavior.  Or criminal behavior.  As Sherlock Holmes once said,  “It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.” “You horrify me!” “But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. Th ..read more

  I just spent a long  weekend in Bellevue, WA for Left Coast Crime: Seattle Shakedown, and I had a great time. More than 500 mystery writers and readers. Saw a lot of old friends (including SleuthSayers Michael Bracken and Brian Thornton) and made some new ones.  Excellent organization and a very nice hotel. If I have a complaint it is that the out-of-staters will get a completely false idea about our weather.  It was dry and fiftyish the whole time.  I don't suppose the committee is responsible for that, though. A few things you should never miss at LCC: The firs ..read more

Recently, Agatha Award-winning short-story author Toni L.P. Kelner asked if she could run a guest post here on SleuthSayers, highlighting this year's Agatha Award finalists. Toni will be moderating our short story panel next week at Malice Domestic. I happily agreed. — Barb Goffman Killing in Different Ways by Toni L.P. Kelner Television performer Stephen Colbert says, “I used to write things for friends. There was this girl I had a crush on, and she had a teacher she didn’t like at school. I had a real crush on her, so almost every day I would write her a little short story where she would ..read more

Recently my six-month-old Bouvier puppy mistook one of my Sue Grafton books for a chew toy. I apologize to anyone who is squeamish about crime scene photos, but this is what I had to deal with. During her life and since her death, I cannot count the number of conversations I’ve had about Sue Grafton and her character, Kinsey Millhone.  Women detectives in novels get me every time. My bookshelf and bank account concur. Like any love affair - I’m committed, invested and have opinions. After I taped the cover of the book, I looked at Sue Grafton’s site and found a quote from N Is ..read more