We're celebrating May as Mystery Month at the Library

May is Mystery Month and we’re celebrating at the library with several displays devoted to the mystery genre. Mystery is one of the most popular genres in fiction – I counted 16 different mystery awards when I searched online. 

“The Edgar” is probably the most prestigious of these awards. Sponsored by the Mystery Writers of America, the Edgar Awards were held and announced on April 25. I always peruse the list of nominees each year – especially for the category “Best First Novel” – to find new mystery authors to read. 

I thought you might be interested to learn about some of our area mystery authors who have been nominated for or awarded the “Edgar.” David Liss is a San Antonio author who won an Edgar for “A Conspiracy of Paper.” If you like books filled with well-researched and often forgotten history, you might want to check out this author’s historical mysteries. 

Jay Brandon is a well-known San Antonio lawyer and author. One of his early novels, “Fade the Heat,” was short-listed for an Edgar. Ben Rehder is a good friend of the Patrick Heath Public Library and lives in the Dripping Springs area. His first novel in the Blanco County mystery series, “Buck Fever,” was nominated for an Edgar. 

Do you like humor in your mysteries? Rehder is your “go to” guy for that. His Blanco County series and newer Roy Ballard series are both fun to read for their wacky characters and familiar settings in the Texas Hill Country. 

Rick Riordan is known for his children’s books, and now has his own publishing imprint with Disney. But the San Antonio native got his “feet wet” in publishing with mysteries. In 1999 Riordan won the Edgar for best paperback original for “The Widower’s Two-Step.” 

Deborah Crombie grew up in the DFW area and still lives there. But you wouldn’t know it if you read her Duncan Kincaid & Jemma James mysteries. You would swear you were reading a book written by someone living in London or the Cotswolds. Crombie was short listed for the Edgar with one of the novels in this series, “Dreaming of the Bones.” 

Another author I love but is a little farther up the road is Carolyn Hart. She’s a native of Oklahoma and was the Grand Master of the Edgar Awards in 2014. She is a prolific author and her books are always fun. Books by the above authors can be found in our library. 

Speaking of the Edgar, a mischievous library staff member made off with the mini-Edgar Allan Poe figurine that was sitting on our National Poetry Month display for April! Please help me locate him! 

If you happen to spot him in our library during May, take a photo of him and e-mail the photo to me at the library: creech@boernelibrary.org. I have a feeling the culprit might torment me by hiding poor mini-Poe in different spots through the library during the month. 

Take a photo wherever you find him and send the photo along to me. For each photograph of mini-Poe in a different location, you will be entered for a chance to win a basket of autographed books that will be given out at the end of May. 

If you are a serious fan of mysteries, you might consider joining our “Mysteries for Lunch” Book Discussion Group. They have been meeting together for 20 years, and their next discussion will be on Jane Harper’s “The Dry,” if you would like to join in. 

They will meet in our conference room on Thursday, May 2, at noon. The group always meets the first Thursday of the month, in the library. To celebrate their 20^th anniversary, the Mysteries for Lunch group will have a few special programs taking place later in the year. 

San Antonio author Joe McKinney will join them for a special event in August, and a retrospective of Edward Gorey’s artwork will be featured in the gallery – also during August! Please stay tuned!