The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, This Weekend April 21st and 22nd

This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 14th and 15th, 2012, the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held at the University of Southern California.

This is, to say the least, a very large event with a seemingly endless list of things to see and do. Here is a program schedule, which we've glanced through to pick out those with a mystery theme.

Warner Bros. is presenting Scooby-Doo Storytime, where children can listen and be a part of the story as the mystery-solving dog's adventures are read. (Saturday and Sunday, the Hoy Stage at 1 PM and noon, respectively.)

Four crime fiction panels are being held on Saturday. The titles are "A Haze of Mystery" with Cara Hoffman, Alice LaPlante, and Scott O'Connor, moderated by Donna Rifkind (12:30 PM); "Tangled Webs" with Dan Barden, Miles Corwin, T. Jefferson Parker, and Denise Mina, moderated by Dick Lochte (2 PM); "Out of the Box" with Nelson George, Gary Phillips, P. G. Sturges, and Paul Tremblay, moderated by Celeste Fremon (3:30 PM); and "Catch Them If You Can" with Barry Eisler, Tom Epperson, and Stuart Woods, moderated by Tom Nolan (4:30 PM).

Four more crime fiction and fantasy panels are being held on Sunday. The titles are "Buried Secrets" with Denise Hamilton, Gregg Hurwitz, Thomas Perry, and Dan Pyne, moderated by Tod Goldberg (11 AM); "California Noir" with Joel Engel, Gar Anthony Haywood, Bart Schneider, and Kelli Stanley, moderated by Susan Kandel (12:30 PM); "Listening In" with Joseph Kanon, Philip Kerr, and Olen Steinhauer, moderated by Paula L. Woods (3:30 PM); and "Mystery and Magic in Mind and Matter" with K. C. Cole, Deborah Harkness, and Tim Page (3 PM).

Most festival activities are free, but tickets are required for all indoor panels. Panel passes have been sold out, but a limited number of individual panel tickets will be available on site, while supplies last.

Tonight, Friday April 20th, the 32nd Annual Presentation of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes honoring the best books of 2011 will be held. Gar Anthony Haywood will be presenting the award in the Mystery-Thriller category.