Compendium of Mystery News 080122

A compendium of recently published mystery news articles:

• Reporting for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Regis Behe talks to Steve Berry about his latest novel, The Venetian Betrayal. Berry, a practicing attorney who doesn't outline books before writing them, admits, "The problem with doing it this way is you can write yourself into corners you've got to be prepared to write yourself out. ... In the course of a trial, if things aren't going right with Plan A, you go to Plan B."

• A new television series debuted this week in Canada, Murdoch Mysteries. Set in 1895 Toronto, Murdoch Mysteries explores the world of William Murdoch, a dashing young detective who uses then-radical forensic techniques, such as fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve the city's most gruesome murders. Call it a 19th-century version of CSI. (MBN note: Visit Mysteries on TV for a list of television mystery series available on DVD.)

• Here's a site we'll be checking out in the near future: GoodReads.com. Jim Washington of The Virginian-Pilot reported on the website this week, noting that is has almost 1 million members who have recommended (or not) more than 10 million books. The site was mentioned as one of Time magazine's 10 top sites of 2007.

• Several Australian news organizations have reported that non-fiction crime writer Sandra Harvey has died of cancer. She was only 49. Last year Harvey was awarded the Ned Kelly Award for her body of work in the genre.

• In a press release, Borders Books has announced it will launch an internet television channel in collaboration with Simply Media, owner of BookZone.tv which will be rebranded as Borders Book Zone. Borders Book Zone will feature interviews with authors and have other original content. (MBN note: The press release specifically refers to the Borders UK site; it isn't clear if it extends to the US or not, but it's hard to believe it won't. Borders has previously announced it is launching its own website which to date has been managed by Amazon.com.)

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