I am heading to New England’s main mystery book conference next week; it’s known as the New England Crime Bake. This is my fourth time going to the “Crime Bake.” In 2018, I also went to the largest national mystery book conference known as Bouchercon. These are just two of 15 different mystery book conferences scheduled annually here and in Northern Europe.
Why go to a mystery book conference? Like any vacation, it is a way to be fully immersed in what one enjoys the most. So if you are a fan of mystery books, it will be a fun experience. It’s a way to meet and chat with many different authors and fellow fans.
Not all mystery book conferences are the same; each has its own unique traditions, activities, and vibe. Most are inclusive of all of the crime fiction categories and genres, but others lean toward a single category of books; Malice Domestic favors the cozy tradition and Thrillerfest features thrillers. (Of course, there is overlap.) Going to different conferences is great for widening ones appreciation for the many different crime fiction genres.
Most importantly, mystery book conferences are generally geared for two groups of people: those who write mystery books, and those who read them but don’t write them, that is mystery book fans. While I can have fun and learn a few things from any of the conferences, the more the conference focuses on the needs of authors, the less it will focus on my needs as a fan.
Publicity materials for any given conference are apt to say: “This conference is for mystery book authors and their fans.” And truly some sessions of the conference will have equal value for both writers and fans. Everyone enjoys the featured authors’ interviews or presentations. But the bulk of time at the conference is spent at various panels. By looking at the individual panel topics, one can infer which audience the panel is intended for. In general, as a fan, I will not be attending conferences that are entirely focused on helping new writers. Instead, I am looking for mystery book conferences that do their best at finding ways to enhance the experience for fans.
On the other hand, some conferences are mainly for writers. If, in addition, their main speakers are not well known, then there is little for me as a fan and I rate them (on my downloadable list) as low value for fans.
All of this is to say that on my list of 15 conferences, I have added my rough evaluation of how well each conference focuses on mystery book fans. As a fan, I am interested in how writers go about their craft, but I’m not there to learn the particulars of how they do it. Some conferences find a way to separate the specifics of publishing and writing into events that occur prior to the main conference; the best example is ThrillerFest (2-3 days) which is preceded by CraftFest, QueryFest, and PitchFest (1 day each) all three of which help new authors with specific skills to write and to get published.
Location of the event is a factor. The closer it is, the lower the cost in attending. On the other hand, many sites are geographically inviting! San Diego is an appealing location to me. My visit to St Petersburg FL for Bouchercon was extremely pleasant. Iceland?! Ireland?! These are not business trips for fans – they are for fun experiences. So choose a good location.
Another factor in choosing a mystery book conference to attend, is to check on their list of featured authors or guests of honor. If the conference will have one or more authors that I especially like, that will be a draw for me. Here are two examples of conferences in 2023 that have some terrific authors lined up as speakers or guests of honor.
Malice Domestic, in Bethesda MD, April 28-30
The event website touts four authors who have been invited to give a featured presentation or will be interviewed on stage by another published author. I recognize all four of them, so that’s big for me. Of course, Ann Cleeves has published many best selling novels and her words have been converted to television series seen by millions of people; she is going to be the star. Our mystery book club read and highly rated Abir Mukherjee’s first novel and Vaseem Khan is an author whose first book I am anxious to read. So they are both a big draw for me.
According to its website, Malice Domestic is an annual fan convention that takes place each year in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. 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.
As yet the Malice Domestic website has not posted the 2023 “list of authors” attending; it only shows the list from 2022. But even that is instructive as an example: there were a total of 235 authors who attended not including the featured / “invited” authors. Roughly 170 of those attending authors volunteered and were assigned to speak on some 38 panel discussions.
Since I do not read many mysteries of this type, it is unsurprising that I only recognize seven of the other 235 authors who attended. Curious who those were? Frankie Bailey, Bruce Robert Coffin [who is our June 2023 author], Charlaine Harris, Edith Maxwell, Catriona McPherson, Barbara Ross, Mo Walsh.
In all, I rate Malice Domestic as a very good choice for fans.
Thrillerfest, New York City, NY, May 30 – Jun 3
“ThrillerFest is the annual conference of the International Thriller Writers. This unique, popular, and rapidly expanding organization was created in 2005 by several bestselling authors in order to bring thousands of writers, readers, publishers, producers, editors, and agents together to promote and support thriller authors everywhere.” So says their website. Fortunately, all of the writers, publishers, editors, and agents stuff is done in the days preceding Thrillerfest itself. This way, I am able to evaluate Thrillerfest as one of the better conferences for fans.
I recognize all five of their featured / invited authors. The first three are old hands having many published works. Strangely, I don’t think of them as “thriller” writers. Harris is most certainly a cosy writer, Mosely’s characters like Easy Rawlins are noirish private eye stories and pretty much the opposite of cosy, and Connelly is best known for his suspenseful police procedurals in the person of Harry Bosch. Carr and Braithwaite both became published authors more recently. Carr is known for his political-action thrillers featuring former Navy SEAL James Reece. Braithwaite is known for her 2018 award winning novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer. ThrillerFest would be fun just with just these very popular authors, so I give hit a high grade for fans. But there will be more fun and many other authors participating.
My List of 15 Mystery Book Conferences
Below is the brief version with a conference name, month of year, and location. For my comments about each of these, a more specific date for the upcoming year, a note about which conferences give out awards, and a link to the conference website – download my PDF list of 15 Mystery Book Conferences. (Link at bottom of list.)
- Left Coast Crime, [location changes each year], March
- Malice Domestic, Bethesda, MD, April
- Crime Fest, Bristol, UK May
- Thrillerfest, NYC, NY, May-June
- Maine Crime Wave, Portland ME, June
- CrimeConn, Stamford, CT, June
- Sleuthfest, Boca Raton, FL, July
- Killer Nashville, Nashville, TN, August
- Bouchercon, [location changes each year], September or October
- Bloody Scotland, Stirling, Scotland, September
- Capital Crime, London UK, September
- Murder One, Dublin suburb, Ireland, October
- Mid-West Mystery Conference, Chicago, IL, November
- New England CrimeBake, Dedham, MA, November
- Iceland Noir, Reykjavik, Iceland, November
DOWNLOAD MY PDF: LIST OF MYSTERY BOOK CONFERENCES
