Crime fiction from the Maghreb.

Whitefly, by Abdelilah Hamdouchi

On Al-Fanar Media,  M. Lynx Qualey discusses with Nadia Ghanem, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at University of London's SOAS, the evolution of crime fiction in the Maghreb (discussing, for example, works by authors from Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia).

Sherlock Holmes, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Tiny Tim.

On February 22, the Westport Country Playhouse (CT) will offer the virtual "Script in Hand: A Sherlock Carol," a reading of a play by Mark Shanahan in which Tiny Tim asks the Great Detective to look into the death of Ebenezer Scrooge.

About the images. Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget. "The Boscombe Valley Mystery." The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (New York, 1892), p. 93. Ebenezer Scrooge by Arthur Rackham. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Philadelphia, 1843), frontispiece.

The popularity of Inspector Maigret.

Georges Simenon,
10 May 1965.
Anefo, Dutch Nat Archives

On The Conversation, Véronique Duché (A. R. Chisholm Professor of French at the University of Melbourne) explains why Inspector Maigret is her favorite detective: "Sucking on his pipe, Maigret observes from a distance, inhaling the soul of people and places. Then he slowly closes in."

Edgar nomination for the Rankin companion.

The Edgar Award nominations were announced on January 25, and in the Best Critical/Biographical category is Ian Rankin: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Erin E. MacDonald (edited by me). 

This is volume 10 in the McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction series. It marks the second Edgar nomination for a book in the series (the first was for the James Ellroy companion by Jim Mancall).