RA for All Roadshow: Crime Fiction

Today from 1-4, I will be presenting a training session on Crime Fiction. As part of my commitment to being "green," I do not provide paper handouts.  Therefore, this post will serve as the "handout" for today's presentation.  That means everyone gets full access to my resource list.  Please note: this is now the most up to date of my crime fiction lists.

Murder and Mayhem @ Your Library

Crime Fiction  Reader' Advisory

Becky's Favorite Crime Fiction Resources:

Books

• Caught Up in Crime: A Reader's Guide to the Criminous in Fiction by Gary Warren Niebur (LU, 2009)
• Read On...Crime Fiction by Barry Trott (LU, 2007)

Web

• Everything tagged "Crime Fiction" here on RA for All (includes original book reviews with readalike options)
• All Readers-- to check the levels of sex and violence
• The Berwyn Public Library's Suggested Reading Lists
• Booklists' May 2010 Crime Fiction Webinar
• Best Crime Novels of the 2000s
• Crime Time (Homepage and Database of British Magazine), including their Crime Scene series in partnership with the International Association of Crime Writers.
• Overbooked's Crime Fiction Section
• 10 Best Modern European Crime Writers
• The Rap Sheet: An Award winning blog that covers all things Crime Fiction from books to TV to movies, old and new.
• Criminal Element: A blog which has stories, reviews and crime info.  Updated daily.
• From 2009 this interesting round table discussion on the State of Crime Fiction from the Huffington Post
• Daily Beast articles by Sarah Weinman, crime fiction book expert
• The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers (blog)
• Nordic Bookblog: All things Nordic Noir in one place (also search RA for All for specific mentions of the very popular Nordic Noir trend)
• Spinetingler Magazine publishes fiction and nonfiction that could be called crime, msytery, thriller, suspense or horror.  They also have awards.  They especially focus on new talent.

Becky's Favorite Mystery Resources:

Books

• The Readers' Advisory Guide to Mystery, Second Edition by John Charles et al. (ALA Editions, 2011)
• Make Mine a Mystery II: A Reader’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction by Gary Warren Niebuhr (LU, 2011)
• Murder in Retrospect: A Selectvie Guide to Historical Mystery Fiction by Michael Burgess and Jill H. Vassilakos (LU, 2005)

Web

• Everything tagged "Mystery" here on RA for All (includes original book reviews with readalike options)
• Stop You're Killing Me-- just go there; you'll be glad you did.
• DorothyL mailing list for writers and readers
• The Gumshoe Site 
• Historical Mysteries
• Mystery Net: An online resource for mystery lovers
• Mystery Reader: includes Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thrillers. Rated reviews
• Mystery Readers International
• And just for fun...Murder by Toaster a Fiction-L list of surprisingly lethal weapons

Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, and Psychological Suspense Resources:

Books

• Blood, Bedlam, Bullets, and Badguys: A Reader’s Guide to Adventure/Suspense Fiction by Michael Gannon (LU, 2004)

Web

• Everything tagged Suspense, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Adventure, or Psychological Suspense here on RA for All: click on each genre for a specific list (includes original book reviews with readalike options).
• Becky's Psychological Suspense Handout (pdf of a tri-fold brochure)
• International Thriller Writers-- covers suspense, adventure, mystery, and even some horror.
• Mystery Reader: includes Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thrillers. Rated reviews
• NPR's Top 100 Killer Thrillers
• 100 Greatest Adventure Stories of All Time from National Geographic

True Crime Resources:

Books

• The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction by Neal Wyatt. (ALA Editions, 2007)
• The Real Story: A Guide to Nonfiction Reading Interests by Sarah Statz Cords (includes fiction read-a-likes.) (LU, 2006)

Web

• Overbooked’s True Crime Reading List
• Book Browse’s Recent True Crime List
• Popular True Crime Books via GoodReads
• 25 Best True Crime Books
• True Crime Book Reviews
• Top 50 true crime blogs
• Queen of True Crime, Ann Rule's homepage

Awards for Crime Fiction Books in All Genres Mentioned Above:

Award lists, both the winners and nominees, are a great way to identify popular and critically acclaimed novels and authors for your crime fiction fans. Many of these awards include a category for best debut.  This is an excellent resource for your readers who claim they have already read "everything."

• RUSA's Reading List-- highlights outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them.
• Agatha Award–Malice Domestic Convention
• Macavity Awards–Mystery Readers International and given annually at Bouchercon
• Anthony Awards–awarded at Bouchercon by vote of members of convention
• Edgar Awards–Mystery Writers of America
• Shamus Awards–Private Eye Writers of America
• Daggers–awarded by Crime Writers Association of Britain
• Mary Higgins Clark Award-- for books most like Clark's
• International Thriller Writers Annual Awards
• Shirley Jackson Award-- "for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic."
• Black Quill Awards-- "honor those works of dark genre literature – horror, suspense, and thrillers"

Becky's 5 RA Resources You Cannot Live Without:

• Amazon: Plot summaries, possible read alikes, but most importantly, customer comments! 5 star and 1 star reviews are the most helpful.
• NoveList: EBSCO Database: subscription required, check your local library.
• Kent District Public Library’s What’s Next: Easy to retrieve and print lists of books in series order. Makes patrons happy. Brings them back!
• Gnooks: When you are desperate…distract them.
• RA for ALL: where you are right now