Valentine Fun Topics

• More mystery book fan Valentine Cards on Janet Rudolph’s blog here.
• Many mystery authors have given their protagonist’s romantic partner a prime place in their book series. Spenser and Susan come immediately to mind along with Nick and Nora Charles and others.

• Once again, premier mystery fan Janet Rudolph has an even more extensive list of mystery authors with their protagonist and romantic supporting characters. Check out her list; maybe you will see some gaps in her list? I did.
• She also has a list of scores of mystery books with a Valentine’s Day plot. Rudolph is a big supporter of the mystery genre and posts fun mystery fan info 4-5 times a week!

• Flowers are always nice for Valentines’ gifts. They can also be a murder weapon. Cynthia Riggs is an amazing author of Martha’s Vineyard cozies and was a favorite guest writer at the library back in 2006 (at the time she was 75 years old and had just published her first 6 books having begun when she was 70). Her most recent book, Widow’s Wreath came out in 2018. Most all of her books have a flower in the title. The first book was Deadly Nightshade. Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) or belladonna), is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes and potatoes. The foliage and berries of belladonna are extremely toxic when ingested, containing tropane alkaloids. These toxins can cause delirium, hallucinations, and death. Not the nicest Valentine.
• For more on flowers, love, and death, enjoy this article.

February 14 – This date’s trivia thanks to Kevin Burton Smith —

• In honour of St. Valentine’s Day, here’s Raymond Chandler commenting in a letter on his relationship with his wife, Cissy, who had recently passed away.
• Dick Francis died of natural causes on this day in 2010 at his Caribbean home in Grand Cayman, survived by both sons. A professional steeplechase jockey, he went on to win over 350 races, rode for the Queen, and wrote close to 40 much-loved mystery novels and thrillers, including four featuring one-handed jockey-turned-P.I. Sid Halley.

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre – Remains an Unsolved Crime

To this day, it is not known for sure who is responsible for what happened in the North Side of Chicago on February 14, 1929. The cartoon below, however, brings us back to fiction!

Showing love for favorite female characters and authors

• Just love Miss Fisher? What would it be like if people from all over the country gathered to share their enthusiasm for the show and the books? Attend Miss Fisher Con 2023 to find out! It is scheduled for July 27-29 in St Paul Minnesota.
• Just love Agatha Christie and her characters – Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Tuppence and Tommy Beresford? Love her idea of a mystery as enunciated by the beloved conference for cozies – Malice Domestic? “Malice celebrates the Traditional Mystery, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries which contain no explicit sex, or excessive gore or violence.” Malice Domestic is coming up in just 2 months (April 28-30 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland). Right now about 60 mystery book fans are registered, along with at least 60 authors. Among the MANY benefits of attending, is you get to help select the winners of the “Agatha” Awards. Participants have already determined the winning nominations for last years’ books here; at the conference, each attendee gets a ballot to choose winners.
• Still a Nancy Drew fan? Fans will be meeting twice in the months ahead: Cooperstown, NY during July 13-15, and then… in Salem, MA !! That will be during Oct 4-8. What do they do for all those days? Check it out here.

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