Here’s the November issue of SinC Links, a succinct summary of news you can use from the worlds of publishing, writing, and crime.

NEWS

Book sales have soared since the pandemic, but the industry must adapt to engage with new readers, Claire Squires writes. 

Demand for books is way up this year. Supplies are way, way down . The great book shortage of 2021 explained.

Shipping delays, printer backups and worker shortages are forcing publishers to postpone new titles and leaving booksellers in a lurch for some old ones.  It can be frustrating for authors, too.

In the new literary landscape, readers are “customers” and authors are “service providers,” and books are expected to offer instant gratification. Parul Sehgal wonders: Is Amazon Changing the Novel ?

In the wake of the pandemic, intellectual property (IP) has become the new frontlist , but traditional publishers don’t seem to “get it.”  Indie authors take note!

You read about it in last month’s Links, now take a look inside the real-life succession battle at Scholastic. The powerhouse children’s publisher, known for Harry Potter, had always been passed from father to son until Iole Lucchese, a top executive, was given control.

A bestselling female author was revealed to be three men . But the episode tells a deeper story. Maria Ramirez writes that women are successful authors in their own right and are not bound by the limits of literary genres and stereotypes.

“Reviewing books while Black often means being given books with no relation to your field. You and the author are both black so … good enough! That [expletive] gets tiring.” In this article, Jay Caspian Kang discusses the reductive practice of assigning books reviews by identity.

Got that Gothic feeling? Here’s a list of eleven masterpieces of romantic suspense . 

A woman with 20 stab wounds died of suicide, an autopsy found in March 2011. For the victim’s parents, that conclusion never sat right. Suicide or homicide? You be the judge.

Gabby Petito’s disappearance and death have drawn the attention of the world. Amateur sleuths have scrutinized social-media feeds to try to find her. Experts have gone on television to pick apart, second by second, the police body-camera footage from an incident before her death. A reality-TV bounty hunter has vowed to track down her boyfriend . . . Had family and law enforcement been able to recognize the subtle signs of coercive control might this tragedy have been prevented?

Emma Berquist insists that you shouldn’t have a “favorite murder.”  True crime, she says, may be rotting our brains .

‘A is for Arsenic’ to ‘Z is for Zarutin,’ take a peek inside Alan Bradley’s (and Flavia deLuce’s?) 500-page secret book of poisons .

Clive Thompson invented a web tool that lets you “spy your hidden literary style.” What did he learn about his writing by seeing only the punctuation ?

Otto Penzler, the owner of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, built his dream house, and of course it includes a two-story library — modeled on the Bodleian at Oxford University— to house his massive collection of books.

Steph Cha is mentioned as the new editor for The Best American Mystery and Suspense, a more inclusive annual collection of short stories in the genre.

Unpublished novelist? There’s still time to enter one of these excellent St Martin’s contests that have given many winning Sisters their big break.

And don’t miss this timely seminar on Crime Fiction, Policing and Racial Injustice (November 10) where Frankie Bailey, a renowned criminal justice academic and crime novelist, Steph Cha, crime novelist, winner of the 2019 LA Book Prize; and academic and pop culture expert David Schmid discuss the capacities of crime fiction to critically reflect on the failures of policing in the US and the ongoing search for racial justice.

SISTERS IN CRIME REMEMBERS:

Carole Nelson Douglas passed away on October 16 following a stroke.  She was 77 years old.  A favorite of authors and fans alike, she will be greatly missed.  Read Janet Rudolph’s tribute to Carole and her impressive career. 

DEALS

Samantha Jayne Allen's HARD RAIN, returning to Garnett, Texas, where a small-town investigator searches for a mysterious figure who saved a woman from a deadly flood, but instead discovers a murder victim shot dead, to Joseph Brosnan at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2023, by Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret 

Lynn Cahoon's next three books in the Kitchen Witch Mystery series, set in fictional Magic Springs, Idaho, the story of a caterer who is learning to use her witchcraft and newfound investigation skills to solve murders that may be linked to the local coven, to Esi Sogah at Kensington, in a three-book deal, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Amber Camp's THE HORSE WHISPERED MURDER, in which a horse rescue owner is suspected of murdering her cranky neighbor and must solve the murder before she ends up in jail, or worse, to Terri Bischoff at Crooked Lane, in a two-book deal, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Edgar finalist and journalism professor Julia Dahl's I DREAMED OF FALLING, pitched as EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU meets Mare of Easttown, about the death of a young mother which is at first not seen as a crime, until a family's secrets begin to spill into the open in a small town on the Hudson River, to Kelley Ragland at Minotaur, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Rostan

Author of MURDER IN AN ENGLISH GLADE Jessica Ellicott's books seven and eight in the Beryl and Edwina Mysteries series, continuing the adventures of two women ahead of their time operating a PI agency in post-World War I England, uncovering the secrets and scandals of their sleepy country village, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2023 and summer 2024, by Christina Hogrebe and Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency

Navajo filmmaker Ramona Emerson's SHUTTER, set between Albuquerque and the reservation, the story of a crime scene photographer whose ability to see ghosts sends her on a quest for justice for a murdered cartel victim, to Juliet Grames at Soho Crime, for publication in summer 2022

Tony Hillerman Prize winner and Emmy award-winning reporter Christina Estes's OFF THE AIR, when a controversial radio talk show host is murdered, the last thing a local TV reporter expects is to be fighting for her job and her life, to Joseph Brosnan at Minotaur, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Author of ROCK PAPER SCISSORS Alice Feeney's DAISY DARKER, a locked room mystery set on a windswept tidal island where a family assemble on Halloween night to celebrate the matriarch's 80th birthday, until one by one family members begin to die, to Christine Kopprasch at Flatiron Books, for publication in 2022, by Kari Stuart at ICM, on behalf of Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown UK

Ruth Hartman's FELINES AND FATALATIES, the second book in The Kitty Beret Cafe Mysteries, in which a small-town young woman runs a cat cafe, only to become embroiled in intrigue and murder as one of her cats supplies her with clues to a killer's identity, to Dana Grimaldi at Harlequin Worldwide Library, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Cheryl A. Head's TIME'S UNDOING, based on the author's family history, exploring the inherited trauma and pain wrought by white supremacy, and the power of a community coming together to fight for change, told in alternating timelines: in 1929, a Black man and his family in Birmingham encounter racially motivated violence, and in 2019, a young Black reporter investigates the unsolved murder of her great-grandfather in Birmingham almost 100 years ago, to Lindsey Rose at Dutton, at auction, by Lori Galvin at Aevitas Creative Management

Tara Lush's PRETTY LITTLE LATTES, the next in the Coffee Lover's mystery series, to Toni Kirkpatrick at Crooked Lane, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency

Journalist and screenwriter of the horror film Harvesters Pamela Mones's A DEADLY MERMAID FETISH, in which a homicide detective in Florida investigates the murder of a young girl who washed up on the beach dressed as a mermaid, to David LeGere at Woodhall Press, in a nice deal, for publication in winter 2022,

Linda Richards's DEAD WEST, in which both love and danger are in the air when the nameless protagonist from ENDINGS finds herself charged with trying to discover who is out to kill an Arizona rancher who has been fighting a losing battle to save the last wild horses in his region, and a sequel, to Pat Gussin and Bob Gussin at Oceanview, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2023 and 2024, by Kimberley Cameron at Kimberley Cameron & Associates

Kaira Rouda's THE WIDOW'S MANDATE, where a cheating congressman's demise allows his wife to take power, to Megha Parekh at Thomas & Mercer, by Meg Ruley and Annelise Robey at Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Gretchen Rue's STEEPED TO DEATH, the first two books in a new cozy mystery series centering around a woman as she takes over her aunt's book and tea shop and discovers that her aunt may have had some magical help for making her delicious scones and teas, to Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2022

Canadian archivist and the author of HONEYBEE EMERALDS Amy Tector's SPEAK FOR THE DEAD, in which a coroner is sent to investigate an apparent suicide but stumbles upon what she believes to be a hidden murder plot, sending her into a world of military secrets, contentious Indigenous protests, and a 70-year-old mystery with deadly implications, to Stephanie Beard at Keylight, in a two-book deal.

We use the industry scale of euphemisms for advances:

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up

Have you sold a book recently? Do you believe your information could help a Sister in Crime make a wise business decision? Please send all the pertinent facts to Marcia Talley at sinclinks@sistersincrime.org

Thanks to the pandemic, a surprising number of consumers are once again devouring books — in print — and Barnes & Noble seems to be cashing in.

What happens when the oldest of our media industries collides with the great technological revolution of our time? Jennifer Howard discusses the publishing ecosystem in the digital era in her lengthy review of John B. Thompson’s recent book, Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing.

Increasingly, books are something that libraries do not own but borrow from the corporations that do. Although Daniel Gross glosses over the role authors play in the process, his discussion of the surprisingly big business of library E-books is informative.

Book banning isn’t a thing of the past. Hannah Good spoke to authors who have experienced it. From chapter books to graphic novels, challenged literature provides a snapshot into some of the anxieties that are driving media censorship.

There have never been more sophisticated tools for making polished, professional books on your own … and (thanks to layoffs) it’s never been easier to find publishing pros to help with that process.  But that’s not “publishing.” As Patrick Nielsen Hayden once said, “Publishing is identifying a work and an audience and doing whatever it takes bring the two together.” In other words, asks Cory Doctorow in this recent podcast, how do you convince people to give a s*** about your book?

Get on Twitter. Be on Instagram. Post frequently. Try TikTok. Develop an online presence. Curate a grid. Respond to followers. Post about your book, but don’t only post about your book. Be genuine.  Such advice is given to authors starting the moment they sign their book contract, and it can quickly become overwhelming.  What are some of the consequences of being accessible?

TikTok niche #BookTok is turning some decades-old books into bestsellers for the first time as it inspires a reading renaissance.

David Kipen asks, why not resurrect the Federal Writers Project, part of the New Deal’s Works Project Administration in the 1930s that provided work for writers, historians, librarians, editors and teachers and employed more than 6,000 people nationwide? 

“Cancel culture” seems to be everywhere these days. Young-adult books in particular are being targeted in intense social-media callouts, draggings, and pile-ons — sometimes before anybody’s even read them. It’s something to bear in mind if you’re planning to write for the YA market these days. These articles explain why.

• Teen Fiction and the Perils of Cancel Culture.
• How a Twitter Mob Destroyed a Young Immigrant Female Author’s Budding Career
• The Toxic Drama on YA Twitter

Trigger warnings started to appear frequently on feminist Web sites in the early two thousands, as a way to warn readers of fraught topics like sexual assault, child abuse, and suicide, on the theory that providing warnings would reduce the risk of readers experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.  But, what if trigger warnings don’t actually work? New psychological research suggests they may do more harm than good.

Your latest novel gets panned by the New York Times? Got an Amazon 1-star review? Take heart!  These books may be renowned now, but when they first appeared in the pages of the Book Review, they were dismissed as unoriginal, weak or even unreadable.

Interesting cases in the TRUE CRIME DEPARTMENT this month include:

How the recent and still on-going case of Gabrielle Petito’s disappearance galvanized the Internet.

And this mesmerizing story of how a sketch artist and a grieving mother set out to solve a cold case.  And the more they dug, the more terrifying the truth became. 

Alex Murdaugh, a 53-year-old South Carolina lawyer, is at the center of an astounding web of criminal activity and suspected criminal activity, much of it fatal. There’s material here for at least a dozen novels, before you even get to recent developments.

IN MEMORIAM

Sisters in Crime and the entire mystery community mourns the loss of Bill Gottleib who passed away on September 28, 2021.  Janet Rudolph offers this touching tribute to her friend Bill.

https://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2021/09/bill-gottfried-rip.html?fbclid=IwAR1wlWVe4kTtt_IsU9f1bNwxWBrsShCf7i1oLljNTN6B6RRNrG7zPV21l9k&m=1

DEALS

Olivia Blacke's VINYL RESTING PLACE, the first in a new mystery series following three sisters as they reopen their parents' record shop outside Austin, Texas and get wrapped up in a murder investigation on their opening night, to Nettie Finn at St. Martin's, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, in a three-book deal, by James McGowan at BookEnds.

VM Burns writing as Valerie Burns's BAKER STREET MYSTERIES, featuring a woman who fortuitously inherits her great aunt's bakery in Michigan (along with a 130 pound bullmastiff), where she relocates, bakes, and solves murders, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a three-book deal, by Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Winner of the 2019 CWA Debut Dagger Award Shelley Burr's WAKE, centering on a cold case involving a nine-year-old girl who disappeared from her remote Australian farm, and a PI with darker motivations who investigates the disappearance nearly 20 years later, to Rachel Kahan at William Morrow, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2022, by Sarah Brooks at Hachette Australia on behalf of Sarah McKenzie at Sarah McKenzie Literary Management.

Ellen Byron has signed a nice deal with Kensington Publishing for a 4th book in her Catering Hall Mystery series, which she writes under the pen name Maria DiRico.

May Cobb's A LIKEABLE WOMAN, about a 34-year-old who returns to her Texas hometown to finally discover if her mother really died by suicide 20 years ago or was murdered, and why, to Danielle Perez at Berkley, in a two-book deal, by Victoria Sanders at Victoria Sanders & Associates. 

Helen Cooper's THE OTHER GUEST, featuring two very different women who must question everything—and everyone—they love in order to uncover the truth behind by a shocking death at an Italian resort, to Danielle Dieterich at Putnam, for publication in summer 2022, by Rebecca Folland at Hodder & Stoughton.

Agatha Award-winning and USA Today bestseller Amanda Flower's, BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH, the first in the Emily Dickinson Mysteries, a historical mystery set in 1850s Amherst, Massachusetts with the beloved poet as sleuth and narrated by her fictional maid to Michelle Vega at Berkley by Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency in a two-book deal. Release in July 2022.

Kelly J. Ford's BAD AS ALL THAT, a queer suspense in which a woman returns to her Arkansas hometown to face potentially deadly consequences twenty-five years after her violent stepfather disappeared, to Jessica Tribble Wells at Thomas & Mercer, at auction, in a two-book deal, for publication in summer 2022, by Chris Bucci at Aevitas Creative Management. 

Janice Hallett's THE TWYFORD CODE, told entirely in the form of audio transcriptions, in which a highly unreliable narrator tries to decipher an elaborate code hidden in the works of a famous children's book author, again to Kaitlin Olson at Atria, for publication in 2023, by Markus Hoffmann at Regal Hoffmann & Associates, on behalf of Gaia Banks at Sheil Land.

Kate Lansing's TIL DEATH US DO PORT, the next book in the Vino Valentine cozy mystery series, to Miranda Hill at Berkley, in a nice deal, by Pamela Harty at The Knight Agency.

Historian Joanna Margaret's THE FIANCEE, a Gothic/historical psychological suspense novel set between Scotland, Italy, and France that explores dark machinations in the seemingly incorruptible world of academia, to Luisa Smith at Scarlet, for publication in fall 2022, by Jody Kahn at Brandt & Hochman.

Jeff Mariotte sold the first three books in a new police-procedural series to Wolfpack Publishing, for publication in 2022. The series, MAJOR CRIMES SQUAD: PHOENIX, focuses on detective Russ Temple, head of the brand-new unit. As an Army CID special agent, his partner and best friend was murdered by a corrupt agent causing Russ to leave the army and go home to Phoenix, AZ, where in addition to solving crimes, he's on the lookout for corruption in the Phoenix PD.  The first three books are THE SQUAD, THE STORM, and THE CASTLE.

Valerie Nieman's IN THE LONELY BACKWATER, a Southern gothic YA/crossover. When Maggie, a solitary teenager in the rural South, becomes a prime suspect in her beautiful cousin’s prom night murder, a sympathetic detective tries to unravel her deepest secrets in this tale of memory, responsibility, and how we shape the stories of our lives. To Regal House/Fitzroy Books, for publication in May 2022.

Vanessa Riley's MURDER IN WESTMINSTER, the first book in a diversely cast Regency-set mystery series and featuring an amateur female sleuth who must solve her neighbor's murder after being listed as a prime suspect, to Esi Sogah at Kensington, in a three-book deal, for publication in fall 2022, by Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

Documentarian D.M. Rowell's MY NAME IS MUD, first in a mystery series that combines Native American spirituality with Silicon Valley tech savvy, and features a curly-headed Kiowa woman, to Benjamin LeRoy at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2022, by Elizabeth Trupin-Pulli at JET Literary Associates.

Kate Young's JANE DOE BOOK CLUB MYSTERY book three, set in a sleepy Georgia mountain town, featuring a woman and her true-crime obsessed book club, dubbed the Jane Does, who begin to solve murders in their town, to Tara Gavin at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

 ------------------------

We use the industry scale of euphemisms for advances:

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up

 
Have you sold a book recently? Do you believe your information could help a Sister in Crime make a wise business decision? Please send all the pertinent facts to Marcia Talley.

______________________________

Amazon announces plans to open large physical retail stores in the U.S.  The first stores are expected to be located in Ohio and California and will be about 30,000 square feet in size, which would be smaller than the typical department store.

Book Revue, a longtime Huntington book store in the Bronx is expected to close its doors following the COVID-19 setback.  The popular store has been selling new and used books and welcoming politicians, best-selling authors, major sports figures and celebrities for over 44 years.

The American Booksellers Association is apologizing for sending a publication widely criticized as anti-transgender, Abigail Shrier’s Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, in a recent mass mailing to independent stores. “This is a serious, violent incident that goes against ABA’s policies, values, and everything we believe and support. It is inexcusable,” the trade group tweeted.

Maybe you’ve noticed how things keep disappearing—or stop working—when you “buy” them online. Does corporate publishing want to turn all readers into renters?  Some independent publishers are banding together trying to stop them.

Mark Athitakis pens this sweetly curmudgeonly look at the impact of the pandemic on book culture, though it ignores the jump in reading, increased sales for physical books, and the tremendous support we’ve seen for independent booksellers during these challenging times.

A few months after posting a message on Goodreads about the imminent release of a new book, Indie author Beth Black woke up to an all-caps ransom email from an anonymous server, demanding that she either pay for good reviews or have her books inundated with negative ones. Read how extortion scams and review bombing trolls have turned Goodreads into many authors’ worst nightmare.

Meanwhile, the Authors Guild wants you to let them know if you have been scammed by Silver Ink Literary Agency. Scam letters falsely state that the Authors Guild and leading publishers have formed a task force to solicit book proposals, with Silver Ink acting as an agent, and ask for contributions toward the service's cost. Some authors have reported paying thousands of dollars to the scammers on the promise of publishing their books. The Authors Guild is trying to help authors recoup any money they paid to the scammers.

The filming of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is changing life in a small community on the Kansas border.  The film, based on the Edgar Award-winning non-fiction book by David Gann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, relates the tragic story of Mollie Burkhart, a full-blood Osage, whose headrights made her one of the wealthiest women in Oklahoma. In the early 1920s, her mother died of an odd wasting illness, and her sister Anna was found shot to death. Mollie’s other sister, Rita, and Rita’s husband, William Smith, were killed along with their housekeeper when their house exploded. Mollie was suffering from the same strange symptoms that claimed her mother when the Osage Tribal Council called for help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, then in its infancy.

More than thirty years on, a suspect confesses to the murder of Lois Duncan’s daughter. Duncan, known for her young adult thrillers of the 1970s and early ’80s, includingI Know What You Did Last Summer, quit writing books of that ilk after her daughterKaitlyn Arquette was brutally murderedin 1989. Duncan wrote two books covering the crime, includingWho Killed My Daughter?in 1992 andOne To The Wolvesin 2013.  Sadly, Lois died in 2016 with the case still unsolved.

Westchester County New York’s newly-created cold case bureau solves the 30-year-old homicide of a victim known only as “Jane Doe Mount Vernon.”

The longtime head of Scholastic Corp., M. Richard Robinson Jr., died suddenly in June while on a hike in Martha’s Vineyard. He left behind a surprising succession plan. He didn’t give control of the $1.2 billion publisher (think “Harry Potter”) to either of his two sons, or his siblings, or his ex-wife, with whom he had rekindled a friendship during the pandemic. Instead, control went to Iole Lucchese, Scholastic’s chief strategy officer. She also inherited all his personal possessions.

The Spine Collector!  For years,a mysterious figure has been stealing books beforeheir release.Is it espionage? Revenge? Or a complete waste of time?

The high country of southern Australia is “remote and beautiful and unpredictable,” a place where visitors can be swallowed up without a sound. And as hikers vanish, these mountains hold tight to their mysteries.

Are fictional characters protected under copyright law? Intellectual property attorney, Kathryn Goldman explains how to protect your rights and those of your characters.

Have you ever thought of ten different ways your story could go? Maybe you should consider writing for the gaming industry. 

You don’t need to be an historian to get your novel’s historical setting right. Research, imagination, empathy, and an open mind make for a good start says Dana Cameron in this helpful article on How to Bring History Alive in Your Fiction.

Can technology help an author write a book?  Michael Green creates Lynit, a digital platform that helps authors visualize, plan and weave together various story elements. 

Ever consider donating your body to The Body Farm?  One woman explains why she’s ready to hand off her corpse to the forensic center. “I never liked tombstones anyway.”

Sisters in Crime congratulates D. Ann Williams, the 2021 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award recipient.  Williams’ novel in progress titled Murder at the Freeman Hotel is set in 1920s California and features Minnie Freeman, a woman on a mission to move to a new city, open a hotel, and stay independently wealthy. Her plan is hindered by the dead body found at the bottom of the new automatic elevator shaft and a sigil linking it to other deaths in the city.

Every year about this time, we look forward to the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest Winners.What a wonderful celebration of creative purple prose! 

LOSSES IN THE FAMILY

Actress Pat Hitchcock, the only child of iconic director Alfred Hitchcock, who died on August 8 at age 93. The actress appeared in some of her father’s most famous films, including Strangers on a Train and Psycho.

We deeply mourn the loss of Sister, friend and fellow writer, Caroline Todd.  Her son and collaborator, Charles Todd writes: “It is with a heavy heart that I along with my sister Linda and Caroline’s sister Martha must tell you we lost Caroline this morning 8-27-21 at 10 am. She passed peacefully and was with Linda at the end. Caroline left the world a better place and was immensely happy to have met and gotten to know so many readers, authors and booksellers. She was to the very end a class act. I am delighted we have completed A Game of Fear featuring Ian Rutledge and the next in the Bess Crawford series. Caroline will always be alive in the hearts of all she touched. Everyone’s notes have been greatly appreciated.” Condolences are pouring in from the world over, including these touching tributes from Janet Rudolph, Martin Edwards, and the latest issue of Shelf Awareness.  A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family has designated Faithful Friends for memorial contributions. 

DEALS

Bailee Abbott's KILL THEM WITH CANVAS, the second in the Paint by Murder series, in which Whisper Cove's Paint with a View shop owners host a Halloween-themed event for the Chautauqua Sisterhood's local chapter that turns out more frightening than the ghost on canvas when one of the guests ends up murdered and the shop owners' dear aunt, president of the chapter, is framed for the crime, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Cordy Abbott's DEAD MEN DON'T DECORATE, the first in the Old Town Antiques Mystery series, in which the heroine buys an antique shop and the former owner is found dead in the shop under mysterious circumstances, to Tara Gavin at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Allison Brook's DEWEY DECIMATED, in which a body is discovered in the building adjoining the Clover Ridge Library, and a woman has to contend with a wayward ghost as well as find his murderer, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Psychotherapist and editor-in-chief of Plympton Yael Goldstein-Love's THE POSSIBILITIES, mining the soaring joys and plunging anxieties of early parenthood—with a speculative twist, in which a new mother must enter and explore different versions of her life in order to save her missing child, to Caitlin McKenna at Random House, at auction, by Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company

Megan Hart writing as Mina Hardy's THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, about one family's dark secrets and the lengths they take to keep them, to Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane, for publication in fall 2022, by Lynnette Novak at The Seymour Agency

Ruth Hartman's HAIRBALLS AND HOMICIDE, in which a small-town young woman runs a cat cafe, only to become embroiled in intrigue and murder as one of her cats supplies her with clues to the killer's identity, to Dana Grimaldi at Harlequin Worldwide Library, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

Dana Haynes's THE SAINT OF THIEVES, the third book about the illegal, under-the-radar globetrotting operation based in Cyprus that is tasked with finding extra-legal means when traditional law enforcement won't do, to Vikki Warner at Blackstone Publishing, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2022, by Janet Reid at JetReid Literary Agency

Full-time librarian M. E. Hilliard's SEVEN FOR A SECRET and WHITE RABBIT, books three and four in the author's Greer Hogan Mystery series, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in April 2022, by Julie Gwinn at The Seymour Agency

Marilyn Levinson's MURDER A LA CHRISTIE, the first in The Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mysteries, in which a professor conducts book club discussions of books written by authors of the Golden Age of Mysteries as she solves murder, to Dana Grimaldi at Harlequin Worldwide Library, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Irish author Dervla McTiernan's three crime novels, starting with THE MURDER RULE, about a law student working for the Innocence Project to save the life of a convicted murderer, who has an agenda of her own, to Liate Stehlik and Emily Krump at William Morrow, with Phoebe Morgan at Harper Fiction in the UK and Anna Valdinger at Harper Australia also editing, for publication beginning in March 2022, in a major deal, in a seven-figure deal, by Shane Salerno at The Story Factory

This fall, renowned storyteller and Mister in Crime, Walter Mosley, known for his definitive and bestselling international work in mystery and crime fiction, brings his signature fiction writing style to a sweeping saga of Yancy Street’s favorite son in THE THING. Featuring guest appearances from throughout the Marvel Comics universe, the six-issue series debuts in November 2021.

Dolly Parton and James Patterson's RUN, ROSE, RUN, about a young woman who comes to Nashville to pursue her music-making dreams; the source of her heart-wrenching songs is a brutal secret she has done everything to hide but the past she has fled is reaching out to control her future—even if it means destroying everything she has worked for, to Michael Pietsch at Little, Brown, for publication in March 2022, by Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell at Williams & Connolly

Misha Popp's MAGIC, LIES, AND MURDER PIES, pitched as Pushing Daisies meets Dexter, about a bisexual baker whose mission to protect wronged women by delivering deadly pies to their abusers is threatened by a blackmailer from her past, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, in a two-book deal, for publication in spring 2022, by Rebecca Podos at Rees Literary Agency

Susan Richards's THE EDGE OF THE MOON, about the death of a young woman and the family secrets that are revealed upon investigation by the woman's sister, to Tara Gavin at Crooked Lane, for publication in fall 2022

Annelise Ryan's A MONSTER AT DEATH'S DOOR, the first in a new series about a Wisconsin-based cryptozoologist and bookstore owner who is called in to investigate a series of suspicious deaths around Lake Michigan, that just might be proof of a fabled lake monster, to Michelle Vega and Jenn Snyder at Berkley, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in fall 2022, by Adam Chromy at Movable Type Management

Harlequin’s WWL Mystery Line has acquired the mass market paperback rights to WHERE THERE’S A WILL, Judy Penz Sheluk’s third Glass Dolphin Mystery for publication in 2022 

Karen C. Whalen's TOES ON THE DASH, in which confirmed shoe-a-holic Delaney Morran receives an unexpected inheritance, a tow truck from a dad she’s never known, but hidden in the trunk of her first tow is the dead body of her jerk-of-an ex-boyfriend; a multi-book deal to Frances Sevilla at The Wild Rose Press, with Ally Robertson editing.

We use the industry scale of euphemisms for advances:

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up

Have you sold a book recently? Do you believe your information could help a Sister in Crime make a wise business decision? Please send all the pertinent facts to sinclinks@sistersincrime.org

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up
  

Sad news in the publishing world: Perseverance Press is closing its doors after long run. Read Meredith Phillips’ statement, originally sent to the Dorothy-L Listserv. 

Are your books hard to find on Amazon? Maybe you’re using words in your description or keywords that trip Amazon’s restricted list.

The SFWA offers a reality check on advances and why they are either very low or quite high, trending away from the middle.

In Britain, authors will receive royalties on some used book sales.

The #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement is no longer using the #OwnVoices hashtag it inspired. Here’s why.

Audiobook narrators are rethinking how they voice characters to avoid inaccuracies and offensive stereotypes.

People of Color in Publishing and Latinx in Publishing have released results of a survey of BIPOC in the book publishing industry. It’s not encouraging. The entire report is worth a read. Bonus: lots of recommendations and resources.

Laura Miller is not happy that some authors are altering their books in response to social media pressure.

It may feel like a publisher’s need to balance opposing views about whether declining to publish a controversial book is a principled stand or caving to political pressure has reached a tipping point – but it’s nothing new.

In a twist, an author decides to “cancel” her own books – burning copies of reissued works packaged in a manner she felt evoked “wimmin’s fiction of the worst kind.”

State legislatures are beginning to frown at publishers that won’t license their ebooks to libraries. Last month, both Maryland and New York state lawmakers passed laws that require ebooks available to consumers be also made available to libraries.

Thinking about launching a podcast? There’s a newly-published guide for that based on NPR’s experience. (And if you’re a teacher, NPR has handy curriculum materials, too.)

Is the journey of the hero overrated? Are singular protagonists crowding out stories that celebrate ordinary people working together?

How do you bust international crime rings when they can communicate using encrypted apps? Get them to use one you provide yourself and sit back. The FBI, working with Australian authorities, was able to listen in on criminals talking to one another in 90 countries. 

INTERPOL is launching a forensic DNA database for identifying missing people through family relationships across national boundaries, normally challenging for such cases.

A murder committed in Illinois fifty years ago was finally solved, using genetic genealogy to track down the killer in Minnesota. Also, two murders committed in 1956 were just solved using genetic genealogy, possibly the oldest case solved this way.

Long before DNA analysis was used in prosecutions, a physician was so disgusted with the ways women reporting rapes were treated by the system, he started a clinic for women who had been assaulted – and preserved evidence that could be used years later for both prosecutions and exonerations.

An engineer living in France wanted a distraction during Covid, so he cracked the Zodiac Killer’s ciphers – though members of online groups devoted to the case dispute his claim.

Why did we have to have a dead girl in Mare of Easttown when there’s so much else going on with the women in the drama? Well, it’s complicated . . .

But if you want more female detectives, a group of scholars has curated a list of recommended television shows featuring women investigators.

Sara Paretsky has some things to say about Dorothy Hughes’ novel Ride the Pink Horse and how it treats both matters of race and the nature of good and evil.

Longtime New Yorker essayist and critic Janet Malcolm has died. Revisit her 1990 meditation on the differences between fiction and journalism – and how sometimes they’re not entirely distinct.

No, banks aren’t where the money is – libraries and archives are a better bet for thieves, unless nerdy bibliophiles come to the rescue.

John Steinbeck’s unpublished mystery with werewolves, Murder at Full Moon  was recently in the news. His estate has no plans to publish it, though some would like to see it made more widely available; meanwhile the typescript can be studied at the University of Texas’ Harry Ransom Center. Alexandra Petri, with tongue in cheek, imagines an editor faced with coaxing the author to take out some of the werewolves.

It’s not great, but it’s not that bad. What happens if you let artificial intelligence finish your novel?

Your prose is original, of course, not machine-generated – but are you curious to know which famous writer writes like you?

DEALS

Christin Brecher's PHOTO FINISHED, the first in a new mystery series incorporating the social media posts of an up-and-coming photographer whose influencer status doesn't pay the bills, but does provide shocking clues into the murder of one of New York's wealthiest businessmen, to Norma Perez-Hernandez at Kensington, by Christina Hogrebe at Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Mindy Carlson's debut HER DYING DAY, in which a true-crime filmmaker stumbles through an investigation into the disappearance of a famous mystery author, pitched as Janet Evanovich meets My Favorite Murder, to Terri Bischoff at Crooked Lane, by Abby Saul at The Lark Group.

Victoria Gilbert's THE MURDER INDEX and A CATALOG OF DEATH, books eight and nine in her Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, where a library director uses her research skills, courage, and determination to help investigate murders in a historic Virginia town, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, in a nice two-book deal, by Frances Black at The Literary Counsel.

Elizabeth Hand's HOKULOA ROAD, in which a young man arrives in Hawaii to work as a caretaker for a mysterious luxury property, only to find himself drawn into the island's dark secrets when a woman from his flight in goes missing, to Josh Kendall at Mulholland Books, with Helen O'Hare editing, by Nell Pierce at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Linda O. Johnston's BEAR WITNESS, the first in the Wild Alaska series, featuring a naturalist and tour boat guide who is forced to investigate a murder in the Klondike, to Terri Bischoff at Crooked Lane, by Paige Wheeler at Creative Media Agency.

Michelle Hillen Klump's MURDER SERVED STRAIGHT UP, in the Cocktails and Catering Mysteries series, featuring a former reporter-turned-amateur mixologist, to Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

Cindy Kovacik's MY DADDY, THE SERIAL KILLER, in which a six-year-old descends cellar steps, viewing the first of her father's many horrors down below, and must learn to survive her abusive environment, to Sheri Williams at TouchPoint Press.

GM Malliet's AUGUSTA HAWKE, in which a mystery writer stumbles upon crime scene & teams with a PI who wants to collaborate on a book about their investigation; can he be trusted? was sold to Carl Smith at Canongate/SevernHouse in a two-book deal by Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.

Olivia Matthews's ISLAND IN THE SUN, the first book in the Spice Isle Bakery Mystery #OwnVoices cozy series set in Brooklyn, in which a rival baker is killed after dishing threats against a family-owned West Indian bakery, to Madeline Houpt at St. Martin's, in a three-book deal, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Lauren Nossett's THE BROTHERHOOD, in which a detective investigates a hit-and-run of a fraternity brother at the University of Georgia, calling attention to the dark side of Greek life, privilege, toxic masculinity, and the dangerous ways the police can uphold these systems of power, to Zack Wagman at Flatiron Books, in a two-book deal, by Hillary Jacobson at ICM.

Rose Pressey's MACARONS CAN BE MURDER, in which a French bakery owner has more than a deflated souffle on her hands when a murder mystery stirs up her hometown of Paris, Kentucky, to Terri Bischoff at Crooked Lane in a two-book deal, by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Barbara Pronin's THE MINER'S CANARY, in which a single mother haunted by a death she might have prevented returns to the brooding Black Hills of South Dakota to turn a Victorian she inherited from her aunt into a B and B where mysterious deaths begin piling up, to Sheri Williams at TouchPoint Press.

Deanna Raybourn's untitled books eight and nine in the Edgar Award-nominated Veronica Speedwell series, to Danielle Perez at Berkley, in a two-book deal, by Pam Hopkins at Hopkins Literary Associates.

Jeneva Rose's ONE OF US IS DEAD, pitched as a Southern Big Little Lies meets Desperate Housewives, in which one of a small-town salon owner's clients ends up dead, only she and her collection of town gossips can help the police solve the murder, to Rick Bleiweiss and Naomi Hynes at Blackstone Publishing, in a very nice deal, by Sandy Lu at Book Wyrm Literary Agency.

The North American Mass Market Paperback Rights to Where There’s a Will, book 3 in Judy Penz Sheluk’s Glass Dolphin Mystery Series, have been acquired by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries (WWL) in a “nice” deal.

Katherine St. John's QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE, in which a former model must travel deep into the Mexican jungle to visit her guru uncle's colossal villa, only to find herself in danger with no way out, to Liz Stein at William Morrow, by Sarah Bedingfield at Levine Greenberg Rostan.

Lynn Chandler Willis's WHAT THE MONKEY SAW, in which a special agent returns to the FBI as a crisis negotiator for the Critical Incident Response Group, to Shawn Reilly Simmons at Level Best, with Verena Rose editing, in a three-book deal.

We use the industry scale of euphemisms for advances:

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up

Have you sold a book recently? Do you believe your information could help a Sister in Crime make a wise business decision? Please send all the pertinent facts to Marcia Talley at sinclinks@sistersincrime.org

This month, Simon and Schuster’s Gallery imprint is launching a new contest for first-time authors of adult fiction, with submissions open from June 1-14. The BOOKS LIKE US First Novel Contest is meant “to facilitate accessibility to underrepresented writers and celebrate the diversity of readers across the United States.” More information here.

We’ve come through a terrible year – but the publishing industry did quite well.

The Hollywood Reporter weighs in on the #DisneyMustPay movement to recover unpaid royalties owed to authors.

Even during a pandemic, printed books outsell ebooks, according to one study.

Dickens did it, but is serialized fiction the way to go in the 21st century? Kill Zone breaks down the options from Amazon’s new Vella to a handful of already-established serializing sites. More on what to expect from Vella.

Here’s some information to share the next time your cousin asks what you’ll do with all those millions you made by publishing a book. How much money does a book make? It all depends.

We did it before, can we do it again? A bill has been introduced to support the idea of reviving the Federal Writers Project for the COVID-19 era.

Amazon has recently been criticized for being the last large publisher to refuse to license ebooks to public libraries. It’s just inked a deal with the Digital Public Library of America to change that. More from Publishers Weekly.

Do you know your elbow strike from a round kick? Here are some tips for making your fight scenes more realistic than what you see at the movies.

Take steps to improve your writing. No, seriously, take some steps.

Are you concerned that you are too optimistic? Is your sunny outlook getting you down? Splash some cold water on those high spirits with some brutal truths about publishing. (Then remember: your Sisters have your back!)

Those canceled books keep getting uncanceled. Last month, Norton made waves when it scrapped a critically-acclaimed new biography of Philip Roth due to allegations of sexual assault by the author. Now another publisher is bringing it back into print.

Saved by a Tweet: How a British bookstore suffering from too few customers before the lockdown began gained an online customer base, thanks to a Tweet being picked up by a writer with a large social following.

Architectural Digest takes us inside the world’s most beautiful bookstores.

Not on the list – a beloved bookshop in Gaza, destroyed in the latest war.

Forensic genealogy helped solve the Golden State Killer case. Now even small police departments are using it to get to the bottom of their cold cases, though it involves a steep learning curve and hours and hours of online sleuthing.

In Colorado, a man who had been rescued from a snowy mountain pass in 1982 has been arrested for a double murder – yet another cold case solved using forensic genealogy.

But with this new technique, some questions arise. Two states, Montana and Maryland, have passed laws to regulate police use of DNA g databases that don’t currently require a court order for the release of genetic data to the authorities.

A selfie with a piece of cheese was enough to help UK police catch a drug dealer.

But maybe social crowd-sourced vigilantism isn’t the best idea. Users of an app spread rumors and led police to make a false arrest.

Criminals keep coming up with new tricks. Florida men track a robbery victim by attaching a cell phone to his car, turning it into an improvised tracking device.

You can make this stuff up. Apparently scammers have cooked up a bizarre scheme to get audiobooks produced from bot-written and web-scraped nonsense in order to cash in on promo-codes.

A true crime, with witches, a hex, and a sensational trial – it’s like fiction.

Famed Voodoo priestess Marie Leveau’s husband went missing two centuries ago, a mystery that gave rise to many a fictional solution, but a graduate student thinks she’s found him for real. 

But this unusual resolution to a missing persons case is much too bizarre to be plausible in fiction.

Don’t judge the book by its cover – especially when the cover artist hasn’t read more than a single quote from the novel.

DEALS

Stacey Abrams's two additional political thrillers, both featuring Avery Keene, the heroine of the just-published WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS, again to Jason Kaufman at Doubleday, by Linda Loewenthal at The Loewenthal Company.

Eileen Brady's debut DR. KATE VET MYSTERIES books one and two, where the protagonist combines humorous animal stories and real veterinary medicine then tops it all with a healthy dose of murder, to Anna Michels at Sourcebooks, in a two-book deal, by Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Lucy Burdette, aka Roberta Isleib, has sold books 12 and 13 in the Key West Food Critic Mystery series, to Matt Martz at Crooked Lane, in a two-book deal, by Paige Wheeler at Creative Media Agency.

L.R. Dorn's untitled book, featuring a journalist/podcast host who falls into a psychological game of cat-and-mouse as she investigates the savage killing of two parents and the college lovers accused of the murders, again to David Highfill at William Morrow, in a significant deal, by Paul Bresnick at Bresnick Weil Literary Agency.

Katrine Engberg's ISOLA, to Scout Press, by Federico Ambrosini at Salomonsson Agency.

Peggy Ehrhart's books nine and 10 in her Knit & Nibble cozy mystery series, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a two-book deal, by Evan Marshall at Evan Marshall Agency.

Kellye Garrett's LIKE A SISTER, in which no one bats an eye when a Black reality TV star is found dead in the Bronx--except her estranged half-sister, whose refusal to believe the official story leads her on a dangerous search for the truth, pitched as for fans of Megan Miranda and Jessica Knoll, to Helen O'Hare at Mulholland Books, in a six-figure two-book deal, by Michelle Richter at Fuse Literary.

Tess Gerritsen's LISTEN TO ME, the 13th installment with Boston city detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, who are back to investigate the gruesome and seemingly random murder of a nurse who was adored by all who knew her, to Jenny Chen at Ballantine (NA), and to Sarah Adams at Transworld (UK), by Meg Ruley and Rebecca Scherer at Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Kate Khavari's debut SAFFRON EVERLEIGH AND THE LIGHTNING VINE, in a historical mystery series set in 1920s England where a research assistant uses her knowledge in botany to investigate a murder, to Melissa Rechter at Crooked Lane, in a nice two-book deal.

Kathryn Lasky's LIGHT ON BONE -- A GEORGIA O'KEEFE MYSTERY, an adult amateur sleuth mystery set in New Mexico in the 1930s when the artist discovers the slain body of a priest in the desert; including an international espionage plot involving Charles Lindbergh, to Christopher Madden at Woodhall Press, by Paul Bresnick at Bresnick Weil Literary Agency.

Stacie Murphy's THE UNQUIET DEAD, in which a Gilded Age psychic must rush to solve a notorious kidnapping and murder to save the teenage boy accused of the crime while she is being hounded by a reporter who wants to expose her as a fraud, to Victoria Wenzel at Pegasus Crime, by Jill Marr at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Ashton Noone's SUBURBAN ANIMALS, an #OwnVoices queer suspense thriller where a woman on the run from a violent ex finds herself thrust back into a troubling mystery that haunts the town of her youth, to Luisa Smith at Scarlet, in a nice deal, by Penelope Burns at Gelfman Schneider/ICM.

Sophie Perinot writing as Evie Hawtrey's AND BY FIRE, featuring a dual timeline, in which a pair of detectives track an arsonist-artist by decoding clues past and present, and a lady of the Queen's court investigates a murder committed during the Great Fire of London, to Toni Kirkpatrick at Crooked Lane, by Michael Carr at Veritas.

Maggie Robinson's FAREWELL BLUES, the final book in the Lady Adelaide Mystery series, in which a lady's prim and proper mother is accused of murdering her secret lover and there can't be enough ghosts and gentlemen detectives on hand to find the truth, to Anna Michels at Poisoned Pen Press, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

Laura Joh Rowland's RIVER OF FALLEN ANGELS, the seventh in the Sarah Bain Victorian mystery series, in which Sarah and her cohorts investigate the true-life Thames Torso murders, to Terri Bischoff at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, for publication in winter 2023, by Pam Ahearn at Ahearn Agency.

Halley Sutton's THE HURRICANE BLONDE, in which a former child actor who now leads a showbiz true crime tour discovers a starlet's body on the site of the still-unsolved murder of her actress sister, to Danielle Dieterich at Putnam, by Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

We use the industry scale of euphemisms for advances:

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up

Have you sold a book recently? Do you believe your information could help a Sister in Crime make a wise business decision? Please send all the pertinent facts to Marcia Talley at sinclinks@sistersincrime.org

Here we go again. HarperCollins is buying Houghton Mifflin’s trade publishing unit, further concentrating the book business. The good news is that global book consumption is up; the bad news is that authors will have fewer options among a few publishers looking for the next big thing.

The Authors Guild has released a model book contract for those who are negotiating with trade publishers. You don’t need to be a member to check it out.

They are also leading the charge (with Sisters in Crime) against Disney for unpaid royalties. More from Book Riot about the problem.

What’s it like to launch your debut mystery in the middle of a pandemic? Kathleen Marple Kalb learned lessons she’s going to use for the second book in the series.

What does it mean for the book business when celebrities drive book sales? The New York Times wonders if there a dire lesson to be learned from the success of Snoop Dogg’s cookbook.

Jane Friedman thinks the Times has the wrong end of the stick: book culture is doing very well, thank you, with greater sales going to smaller publishers and the backlist.  She bolsters her own analysis with a report on the pandemic’s impact on the book business and projections for 2021.

Barnes & Nobles is open for business, has been renovated over the shut downs, and will give local managers a greater say in what book to carry – with books taking up a growing percentage of stock than other items, according to a PW interview with CEO James Daunt.

British booksellers and book lovers celebrate the reopening of bookshops after a long pandemic shutdown. Business in England and Wales is booming – sales up 33 percent in the first week of opening.

Do you want your book dollars to support new authors? Publishers? Or are you looking for the best selection or the lowest cost? The New York Times suggests where you should buy your books.

When Amazon drops a book for being homophobic or anti-Semitic, authors cry censorship. But it’s still all too easy for conspiracy theory books to be recommended by algorithms.   

Last month, some criticized Simon & Schuster for distributing a Post Hill Press book by controversial congressman Matt Gaetz. This month, when the same publisher announced the publication of a book by one of the Louisville police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor, S & S decided to draw the line. They won’t be distributing this one.

Philip Roth’s biographer Blake Bailey was earning stellar reviews – until he was accused of sexual assault. W.W. Norton immediately pulled the book from the market and his agent dropped him. Slate offers additional disturbing details about the case. Ron Charles of the Washington Post thinks publishing may never be the same – and maybe that’s a good thing if it makes room for new voices.

Matt Bai feels otherwise, fearing that free expression is being undermined.

A woman biographer who has written about a woman author muses about why men – both authors and subjects - dominate the biography category.

Crime Reads interviews Marilyn Stasio, the long-term mystery book reviewer for The New York Times who recently retired – or was she pushed? Whatever the case, she thinks Agatha Christie is still the greatest.

Milo Todd recommends reading (and writing) “outside your lane.” It may be a bit challenging, but experiencing a narrative that isn’t centered on people like you can be rewarding. 

Do you want to better understand the social issues of the day? Crime Reads offers five ways to think about social injustice through crime fiction.

And finally, M.E. Hilliard suggests librarians have the qualities that make for the perfect amateur sleuth.

Laura Gail Black's MURDER BY THE BOOKEND, the second in the Antique Bookshop Mystery series, in which a new bookshop owner throws a grand reopening party in her bookshop, only for one of the guests to be murdered with a weapon she supplied, to Faith Black Ross at Crooked Lane, in a nice deal, by Dawn Dowdle at Blue Ridge Literary Agency.

Rhys Bowen teaming up for the first time with her daughter Clare Broyles's WILD IRISH ROSE, the 18th book in the Molly Murphy series, set in New York City in the early 20th century, featuring an amateur sleuth and Irish immigrant; and book 19 in the series, to Kelley Ragland at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, by Christina Hogrebe and Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Patricia Bradley's STANDOFF, OBSESSION, and CROSSHAIRS, three romantic suspense novels set in the Natchez Trace, involving drugs, murder and a dangerous stalker, with a National Park ranger as the hero, to Rachel McRae at Revell, in a nice three-book deal, by Julie Gwinn at The Seymour Agency.

Catherine Bruns's THERE'S NOTHING SWEET ABOUT MURDER, and the next two books in the Maple Syrup Shop own voices mystery in which a young Lebanese-American woman returns to her hometown of Sugar Ridge, Vermont, and takes over running the family maple syrup business after her father is killed in a robbery; but when the police can't figure out whodunnit, she begins her own investigation, to MJ Johnston at Sourcebooks, in a nice three-book deal, by Nikki Terpilowski at Holloway Literary.

Megan Collins's THICKER THAN WATER, about a pair of sisters-in-law whose close friendship is tested when the man connecting them is accused of murdering a coworker, to Kaitlin Olson at Atria, by Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

Elle Cosimano's next two books in the Finlay Donovan adult series, about a struggling crime novelist whose fiction treads dangerously close to the truth when she becomes entangled in real-life murder investigations, to Catherine Richards at Minotaur, in a good two-book deal, by Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency.

Krista Davis's PAWS & CLAWS, next in the cozy mystery series, to Michelle Vega at Berkley, in a two-book deal, by Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Christi Daugherty writing as Ava Glass's ALIAS EMMA, in which a British spy has one night to get the son of a former Russian secret agent across London to safety, without being captured on the Russian-hacked CCTV network, to Anne Speyer at Bantam Dell, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Madeleine Milburn at Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency.

Trish Esden has sold ART OF THE DECOY, in which a folk art antique specialist and appraiser must find a missing waterfowl decoy collection worth millions or be accused of the theft, to Toni Kirkpatrick at Crooked Lane, in a two-book deal, by Marlene Stringer at Stringer Literary Agency.

Biba Fielding, writing as Biba Pearce, has sold her Detective Rob Miller series to Joffe Books in a four-book deal. The series is set in and around Surrey and west London, and begins with THE THAMES PATH MURDERS, in which young women are being preyed upon by a deadly stalker.

Jody Gehrman's THE SUMMER WE BURIED, about an unthinkable crime and the tattered threads of an obsessive female friendship gone wrong that come roaring back to terrible new life, to Jessica Renheim at Crooked Lane, by Jill Marr at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Megan Goldin's STAY AWAKE, in which a woman with a unique form of amnesia wakes up next to a dead man and must figure out who he was and who killed him before her memory and the cops catch up with her, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, in a major two-book deal, by David Gernert at The Gernert Company.

Kathy Harris's DEADLY CONNECTION and DEADLY CONCLUSION, in the Deadly Secrets series, about the frightening world of illicit drugs, where ordinary lives are lost, and families are changed forever, to Ramona Richards at Iron Stream Media, in a nice two-book deal, by Julie Gwinn at The Seymour Agency.

Betty Hechtman's books three and four in the Writer for Hire series, featuring a ghostwriter sleuth, to Carl Smith at Severn House, in a two-book deal, by Jessica Faust at BookEnds.

Naomi Hirahara's EVERGREEN, a follow-up to the forthcoming CLARK AND DIVISION, about a Japanese American family returning to Los Angeles after incarceration in Manzanar, to Juliet Grames at Soho Crime, by Susan Cohen at PearlCo Literary Agency.

Victoria Houston's WOLF HOLLOW: A LEW FERRIS MYSTERY, in which a woman's campaign for sheriff is derailed by two unexplained deaths and a search for a sexual predator, to Benjamin LeRoy at Crooked Lane, in a two-book deal, by Nell Pierce at Sterling Lord Literistic.

Lisa Renee Jones's A PERFECT LIE, a stand-alone thriller; plus two titles previously published separately: PROVOCATIVE and SHAMELESS to be combined in print for the first time as a single title as WHITE LIES, to Liz Pelletier at Amara, in a two-book deal, by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.

Sandie Jones's THE BLAME GAME, a domestic suspense about a psychiatrist who becomes dangerously entangled in her patients' lives, to Catherine Richards at Minotaur, in a two-book deal, by Tanera Simons at Darley Anderson.

Diane Kelly's THE MOONSHINE SHACK MURDER, the first in the Southern Homebrew mystery series, in which a Chattanooga moonshiner opens the family's first storefront, but when a dead body draws law enforcement to her doorstep, she must find the killer herself to avoid getting busted like her bootlegging ancestor, to Michelle Vega at Berkley, with Miranda Hill editing, in a three-book deal, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary.

Carlene Thompson's SUCH A WINTER'S DAY, in which a young woman, returning home 10 years after her brother's murder, finds that her father has died by suicide, and is determined to prove that this too was murder and to solve both crimes, to Sara Porter at Severn House, in a nice deal by Pam Ahearn at Ahearn Agency.

Darcie Wilde's two new books in the Rosalind Thorne mystery series, about murder and manners, ballrooms and banter, to Wendy McCurdy at Kensington, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Lucienne Diver at The Knight Agency.

We use the industry scale of euphemisms for advances:

• "nice deal" $1 - $49,000
• "very nice deal" $50,000 - $99,000
• "good deal" $100,000 - $250,000
• "significant deal" $251,000 - $499,000
• "major deal" $500,000 and up

Have you sold a book recently? Do you believe your information could help a Sister in Crime make a wise business decision? Please send all the pertinent facts to Marcia Talley at sinclinks@sistersincrime.org