HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE MESDAMES!
Although 2019 is winding down the Mesdames are still making news.
This year we had two huge highlights: the very successful launch of our fourth anthology, In the Key of 13 on October 26th and the wonderful, penetrating Short Doc produced by CBC, The Mesdames of Mayhem that premiered on October 25th, one day before our book launch.
BOOKS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Books make terrific holiday gifts, especially the latest books by the Mesdames of Mayhem!
Top of the list is In the Key of 13 (Carrick Publishing 2019). Music from Mozart to Beethoven to Elvis is a sweet accompaniment to sin in 19 wicked tales, ranging from cozy to noir, by 18 acclaimed Canadian crime writers and one talented newcomer.
Can you hear the violins? They may be plotting your demise. Are you an opera lover? Take care, your passion means a revenge served cold. And that tune that refuses to leave your mind? It will truly drive you mad…
Melodie Campbell, our Queen of Comedy, has two terrific offerings for gifts this holiday season: The Goddaughter Does Vegas (Orca Books) and her first YA book, The Crime Club (Orca Books).
The Goddaughter Does Vegas (Orca Books) is the sixth in her award-winning and hilarious Goddaughter series. In this madcap adventure, Gina has left her loopy mob family behind to elope with Pete to Vegas. Except that eloping may be a mortal sin in an Italian family. Gina’s nerves are frayed by a series of weird deliveries and suitors. To make matters worse, Gina has a crime-committing double whose activities are making Gina front-page news. Gina has to track down this fiendish fraud before the police catch up with her.
In Crime Club 16-year-0ld Penny has moved with her mom and huge dog, Ollie, to live above a small-town pub owned by her aunt. It’s a relief to start over in a place where no one knows her father is in prison.
It’s summer, and the only person she knows is her nerdy cousin Simon. Soon she meets Simon’s best friend, Brent, and Brent’s twin sister, Tara, and their pug, Wolfgang.
When Ollie digs up a human bone in the backyard of the pub, police are called. It turns out the bone is over twenty years old. Who can the dead person be? Surely Aunt Stella can’t be involved.
In The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist’s Solution, a seriocomic thriller by Lisa de Nikolits, a post-retirement couple embarks on an unintentionally life-changing around-the-world adventure. Their travel turns into an exploration of the meaning of life, healing from old wounds, romantic love at all ages, and how with love and passion, we can make a difference, at any age.
Look out for a new collection of short stories by Caro Soles coming soon in December. From the spectacular cover reveal, Do You Know Me? looks to be full of intriguing, even spellbinding stories. We can’t wait to read it.
Sherlock Holmes returns to save the world from the evil genius of the brightest mind of his generation. Does time wait for no man or does time, this time, make an exception? M. Kevin P. Thornton‘s story “A Matter of Time” is in the new anthology It Came from the North.
Rosemary McCracken’s short story “Dining Out” is part of the collection for the 2019 Malice Domestic anthology, Parnell Hall Presents Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible (Wildside Press June 2019).
amazon.ca book link
amazon.com book link
Look for Lisa de Nikolits‘s story “Fire Drill” and Rosemary McCracken’s “The Sweetheart Scamster” in the anthology The Best Laid Plans (Superior Shores Press June 2019).
Madona Skaff‘s mystery short story “Backbone” appears in Nothing Without Us, a mixed genre anthology featuring disabled protagonists. “We are the heroes, not the sidekicks.”
Nothing Without Us is available in print, audiobook, and ebook versions on the Press Renaissance Press online bookstore! You can also find the print book and Kindle version on Amazon, the audiobook and ebook on Kobo, and the print book on the B&N website.
Sylvia Maultash Warsh‘s story “The Veiled Heart’ was published in Vol 2, Issue 1 Paperback – Nov 1, 2019, Down and Out The Magazine. The story features a Salvador Dali painting by the same name, coveted by a Toronto psychiatrist.
NEWS AND EVENTS
The Ontario Library Association has named Melodie Campbell‘s The Goddaughter Does Vegas a Forest of Reading 2020 GREAT STORIES! This is book six in the Derringer and Arthur Ellis award-winning humorous caper series featuring a Hamilton Mob goddaughter who doesn’t want to be one, but keeps getting dragged back in to bail out her inept family.
Registration is open for Rosemary McCracken‘s Novel Writing 2: How to Develop Your Novel course at George Brown College. The course starts up again on January 14, running 12 weeks until March 31. You can register online for this course now.
On Wednesday, December 4th, 6:30 p.m. the Mesdames will be out in force to celebrate with 
friends and fellow authors at the annual Sisters in Crime/CWC Holiday Party. This year the party will be held at 60 Collier St, Toronto. Tickets are available online through Toronto Sisters in Crime. The deadline to get tickets is Monday, December 2.
A gentle reminder from Mme. Cheryl Freedman:
The clock is ticking to the December 16 deadline for submissions to the 2020 Bony Blithe Light MysteryAward with its prize of $1000 plus a charming plaque. For the submission rules, visit the Bony Blithe submission rules page at http://bonyblithe.com/submission-rules.
And for both authors and readers: Registration for the 2020 Bloody Words Mini-Con/Bony Blithe Award Gala on Friday, May 22, 2020, is now open. We’re back at the High Park Club in Toronto. Space is limited, so register now for the 2020 Bloody Words Mini-Con.
Mesdames of Mayhem 