More International Mysteries

I'm a big fan of mysteries set in other countries, as you know from reading my blog. I love to 'travel' to other parts of the world through mystery novels. Sometimes I do this before I go to another country in order to familarize myself with the area. Sometimes I read mysteries set in other countries when I return to reinforce my travels. But, more likely, I'll read about countries I'll never get to visit. Whatever the reason, I enjoy reading mysteries set in other places. Mystery Readers Journal has had issues on Irish Mysteries, Scandinavian mysteries, Italy, France, and other countries. I always love finding new books.

Publishers Weekly had an article last week on the rise of thrillers in France and Sweden. This article introduced me to Jean-Christophe Grange (France) and Jan Guillou (Sweden) and several others. Interesting to note that Harlan Coben's The Final Detail (Fleuve Noir) was #3 on the French charts the week ending September 28.

For more info on mysteries set in other countries, go to: Around the World in 80 Sleuths.

Mystery Readers Journal: Around the World in a Magazine

Writing about my Bouchercon panel yesterday, I thought about all the issues of Mystery Readers Journal that were set in other countries. Mystery Readers Journal is a quarterly themed hardcopy magazine, and all reviews and articles focus on the special theme.

I especially enjoy the Author! Author! section of MRJ. Mystery authors write about themselves, their books, and why they chose the theme of the issue to incorporate into their novels. MRJ is like a convention in a magazine. The last issue, Irish Mysteries, showed many sides of Irish mystery writing from noir to cozy . We've also had issues on France, Italy (2 issues), Scandinavia, the Far East, Pacific Northwest, Oxford, Canada, New England and the South (2 issues). Coming up MRJ will have issues on San Francisco, Africa, and Los Angeles. All this in addition to themes such as Art Mysteries, Theatrical Mysteries, Sports Mysteries, History Mysteries, etc.

Mystery Readers Journal is in its 24th year. Subscribe to MRJ