CRIME BOOK FESTIVAL PREVIEW: BOUCHERCON 2019

Bouchercon 2019 // October 31 - November 3

Dallas, Texas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Bouchercon time! Every fall, crime writers and readers gather for Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. Last year’s Bouchercon took place in St. Petersburg, Florida, and this year we’ve traveled to Dallas, Texas for the festival’s 50th Anniversary convention! I went to college in Texas, so I’m particularly excited to be back down south for this year’s convention. As an added bonus, this year marks Bouchercon’s 50th Anniversary—it’s going to be a very special convention, filled with big-name author appearances, parties, awards, and a whole lot more. I’m here in Dallas, Texas, ready for the convention fun to begin, and I can’t wait to take you along for the adventure with me!

There’s something so special about getting a bunch of crime writers and readers together, and Bouchercon has become a personal highlight of every fall for me! From author panels and interviews to Noir at the Bar and the Anthony Awards, there is so much to look forward to at Bouchercon. I’m especially excited because this year, I’ll be moderating my very own panel with one of my favorite authors - Lars Kepler! For more information on Bouchercon, be sure to check out their website, and stay tuned here on my blog and on my Instagram for updates from Bouchercon this weekend. If you’re in Dallas for Bouchercon, I can’t wait to see you!

Read on for an overview of Bouchercon 2019, including a list of my most-anticipated panels and author appearances, and the conference “extras” I can’t wait to attend!

Bouchercon 2019 Preview

What an incredible lineup of author events this year’s Bouchercon has in store! There are so many different components that go into each year’s Bouchercon, and this year is no exception. Highlights from the weekend will include:

Guests of Honor: Bouchercon 2019 will include special interviews with and appearances by Guests of Honor including Hank Phillippi Ryan, James Patterson, Deborah Crombie, and more!
Author Panels: There will be three and a half full days of author panels - a.k.a. tons of opportunities to learn from - and about - some of the biggest stars in the crime writing world (and a lot of up-and-comers, too!).
Anthony Awards: an annual (and highly esteemed!) set of crime writing awards handed out at Bouchercon every year.
Author Interviews for CBTB: Stay tuned, because I’ll be sitting down with a number of crime writers for exclusive interviews just for CBTB readers!
Special Events: From Noir at the Bar to a crime fiction quiz and a whole lot more!

Bouchercon 2019 Most-Anticipated Author Appearances

Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Over the past few years, Yrsa (aka Iceland’s Queen of Crime) has become one of my favorite authors. Her most recent US release are a fantastic police procedural series, and she also has a number of spine-tinglingly creepy standalone novels under her belt, too! She’s a must-read for crime fiction fans, and she’s also a hugely funny and intelligent person. I can’t wait to catch up with her again!

Panel: Show Me The Evidence

Ragnar Jonasson

Another Icelandic favorite! Ragnar is known for writing mysteries that blend Icelandic atmosphere with plots inspired by Golden Age detective novels. His books are stylish, clever, and incredibly well-crafted—I absolutely love them, and am so excited to hopefully learn a bit more about his next book here at Bouchercon!

Panel: Detectives Overseas

Lars Kepler

Kepler (a pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing duo) has been a favorite author of mine for years now, and I’m so unbelievably fortunate to now work for their US publisher and get to work with them on a regular basis! Kepler writes gripping serial killer thrillers set in Sweden. Their books are fast-paced and utterly gripping.

Panel: Being an Insider in a Foreign Land

Panel: Lars Kepler in Conversation (I’m moderating this one!!)

Dervla McTiernan

You know those authors where you just know you’d love their work, and can’t believe you haven’t read it yet? That’s how I feel about crime writer Dervla McTiernan. I’ve heard amazing things about her books (The Ruin and The Scholar) and can’t wait to learn more about them here at Bouchercon.

Panel: From the Page to the Screen and Back Again

Panel: Crime From Down Under

Lisa Unger

Lisa Unger is one of my favorite authors to see at Bouchercon, and I’m especially excited to see her this year, given that I just recently read and loved her newest release, The Stranger Inside. (By the way, that book is absolutely worth checking out - it’s a psychological thriller that gets up-close-and-personal with the psychology of its villain.) Lisa is also just an all-around inspiring human being, and I can’t wait to see her again!

Panel: Hank Phillippi Ryan Interviewed by Lisa Unger

Shaun Hamill

Shaun is another author I’m lucky enough to work with, and I’m so excited that he’s joining Bouchercon this year! Shaun’s debut is a literary horror novel set in Texas -- aka the perfect book to spotlight at a Texas-based convention happening on Halloween.

Panel: Ghost in the Machine

Carter Wilson

Last but certainly not least is Carter Wilson, the author of some truly unique and inventive thrillers including Mister Tender’s Girl and The Dead Girl in 2A. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Carter at a couple of crime conventions now, and he’s one of those people you can’t help but have fascinating conversations with, so I’m looking forward to learning even more about the inspiration behind his books here at Bouchercon!

Panel: Keep Those Pages Turning

The Anthony Awards

The Anthony Awards are a set of crime fiction awards handed out yearly at Bouchercon. They are named after the late Anthony Boucher, a well-known critic from the New York Times who helped found the Mystery Writers of America. For more information on the Anthony Awards, head over to the Bouchercon website!

BEST NOVEL

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown and Company)
November Road by Lou Berney (William Morrow)
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books)
Sunburn by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
Blackout by Alex Segura (Polis Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday)
Broken Places by Tracy Clark (Kensington)
Dodging and Burning by John Copenhaver (Pegasus Books)
What Doesn’t Kill You by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin (Ecco)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL

Hollywood Ending by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin (William Morrow Paperbacks)
Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books)
Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day (William Morrow Paperbacks)
A Stone’s Throw by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

“The Grass Beneath My Feet” by S.A. Cosby, in Tough (blogazine, August 20, 2018)
“Bug Appétit” by Barb Goffman, in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (November/December 2018)
“Cold Beer No Flies” by Greg Herren, in Florida Happens (Three Rooms Press)
“English 398: Fiction Workshop” by Art Taylor, in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (July/August 2018)
“The Best Laid Plans” by Holly West, in Florida Happens (Three Rooms Press)

BEST CRITICAL OR NONFICTION WORK

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin (William Morrow Paperbacks)
Mastering Plot Twists: How To Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure To Captivate Your Readers by Jane K. Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)
Pulp According to David Goodis by Jay A. Gertzman (Down & Out Books)
Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books)
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (HarperCollins)
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman (Ecco)

And that’s a wrap on my Bouchercon 2019 Preview! I can’t wait to take you along with me to Bouchercon this weekend. Stay tuned! xx A

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