The last carnival

The Carnival of the Criminal Minds winds down this week after a 16-month run that enlisted crime fiction bloggers from around the world to hold forth on the writing they loved.

For the thirty-second and final edition, Carnival Queen Barbara Fister looks back at carnivals past, and a fine list it is, of the straight and the bent, the printed and the screened, monkeyshines and manifestos and all the best of crime fiction everywhere.

Give Barbara a round of applause, if you would, and click here for her biweekly announcements of all 32 carnivals. Thanks, Babs.

© Peter Rozovsky 2009

Summer Carnival of the Criminal Minds

Philadelphia is having the season's second snowfall, with forecasts calling for light flurries of the white stuff but blizzards of coverage of the "news" in local papers and on local television.

Naturally, then, the current edition of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds is full of photos of surfers, scullers and belt racers (see explanation in the comments). The carnival's host, Helen Lloyd of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and the It's Criminal blog, offers a nice-size roster of crime sites to add to your browsing list, including some that will appeal to the ear as well as to the eye.

As always, visit Barbara Fister's carnival archive for summaries of all thirty-one carnivals to date.

© Peter Rozovsky 2009

Carnival of the Criminal Minds: The XXX files

Edition thirty of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds is up, hosted for the second time by Julia Buckley's Mysterious Musings. Among other things, this carnival links to discussions of cozies and crafts mysteries. Now, this is not my preference in crime reading, but it's refreshing to be reminded that the phenomenon is there, with devoted readers and authors. It's a big crime fiction world out there, bigger than most of probably realize in our daily reading. I'm not sure I'll rush out and read books in that category, but I'd sure like to see what their fans and authors have to say.

As always, view summaries of all carnivals at Barbara Fister's carnival archive.

© Peter Rozovsky 2009

Starburst over Sydney: Carnival of the Criminal Minds, #29

Mysteries in Paradise is the current host of Carnival of the Criminal Minds, opening by boldly confronting the propositions that Australia is an upside-down land and that it owes its foundation to criminals.

This installment, titled "Murder in the Outback," will more than most give viewers the sights and sounds of its host country. And Kerrie offers capsule reviews and biographies from Australia's long and rich crime-fiction history. Here is a good chance, in other words, to learn something not just about crime fiction but about culture, geography and history.

As always, visit Barbara Fister's archive for a summary of this and all previous carnivals.

© Peter Rozovsky 2009

Carnival of the Criminal Minds, No. 28

(Photo courtesy Carnaval de Québec)

It's the Christmas edition of Carnival of the Criminal Minds, and boy, does the Rap Sheet ever stuff your stockings on this one with everything from publishing news to seasonal crime to a question about “senior sleuth novels” to a naked magazine-cover photo.

There's enough reading here for the twelve days of Christmas and well beyond. As always, visit the ghosts of carnivals past at carnival mastermind Barbara Fister's Carnival of the Criminal Minds archive.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds No. 27: Buy more books

(Flags from ScandinavianBooks)

Do you really need all that electronic crap that's going to be outdated in six months? Give books as gifts instead.

Carnival Queen Barbara Fister calls on Scandinavian Crime Fiction blogkeeper Barbara Fister for the twenty-seventh edition of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds, and Blogger Babs offers a more than usually hortatory, at times solemn, at times delightfully cranky carnival. This is true both of her own comments and of the blogs to which she links. One special treat: the picture of young girls with candles on their heads.

As always, visit the Carnival archives for a review of the current and all previous carnivals, plus a gorgeous photograph. And buy more books.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Spring carnival

The wind is slicing through my jeans, and temperatures below freezing are forecast for the weekend. So I think I'll warm up with a visit to the latest Carnival of the Criminal Minds, hosted by Karen Chisholm's AustCrime.

The indefatigable Karen, hosting the Carnival for the second time, flings bouquets toward some Australian female crime writers and the people who support them and highlights a couple of fine Australian sites, crime fiction and otherwise. She also points the way to what look like intriguing sources of information on crime fiction from Southern Africa and New Zealand, both of which are probably a good deal warmer than Philadelphia at the moment.

As always, stop by Carnival Queen Barbara Fister's archive for a review of all twenty-six carnivals.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival the twenty-fifth, or the case of the puking pumpkin

Halloween, the Day of the Dead and the World Series have passed, but you can relive the memories of the first two at the latest installment of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds. Your host for this, the twenty-fifth Carnival, is that top-shelf blogosphere library, In Reference to Murder.

Host BV Lawson gets mischievous while remaining highly useful. Thus, you'll find the worst Halloween costumes of all time and a picture of a baleful Pop-Tart cheek by crust with handy information for writers. You'll find an introduction to some of the events planned for Edgar Allan Poe's bicentennial year of 2009 and a whole lot of Halloween-related goodies that will stay fresh long after that odd-looking but harmless light-brown flecking has coated your leftover Mars bars.

My favorite may be a link to a discussion of conspiracy theories and why we love them that includes this credo: "I believe in stupidity, randomness and chaos. That's what causes most of the misery in the world."

As usual, you can browse previous Carnivals, including the eighth, hosted by your humble blogkeeper, thanks to Carnival Queen Barbara Fister's handy archive. And what about the title of this post? Visit the carnival and look at the pictures to find out.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Crime Screen NI: Carnival of the Criminal Minds goes to the movies

Carnival of the Criminal Minds takes yet another new turn in its twenty-fourth installation courtesy of Gerard Brennan and Crime Scene NI. Gerard, working on a screenplay, turns his thoughts to films and offers his readers a guide to ten years of Irish crime movies.

One nice feature is that Gerard doesn't just list the movies, he critiques them. His post ought to beef up your to-watch list. There are some good movies here and some cool titles. I will leave it to those more competent than I to judge the accents.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds No. 23

(Image courtesy of mongolia-pictures.co.uk © 2004 Piers Nicholson.)

Read Michael Walters' novels featuring Inspector Nergui, and you're apt to run into anything from traditional Mongolian ger tents bumping up against modern apartment blocks to a Manchester City fan in the middle of the Gobi desert.

Now it's Walters' turn to host the twenty-third incarnation of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds, for which he takes us to northern England and then on into the wide world of crime-fiction criticism. His carnival offers not just a round-up of crime writing, but also a critical look at the critics. He has insightful things to say about authors' blogs, for instance.

It's nice to see readers taking crime fiction seriously without descending into obscurantist academic sludge. Walters also makes the important point that blogs provide wider, deeper, timelier, more comprehensive and more innovative coverage of crime fiction than do the media still sometimes called mainstream:

"Not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with conventional journalism or criticism – it’s just that it’s operating within the commercial constraints
inevitably associated with conventional mass media."

As always, glimpses of this and all previous Carnivals are available courtesy that pearl among archivists, Barbara Fister.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Neo-Carnival of the Criminal Minds

My two-week escape from Philadelphia has left me huffing and puffing to catch the carnival train, so here's news of two editions of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds, Nos. 21 and 22.

Brian Lindenmuth's edition 21 of the Carnival gives visitors a whole lot to look at even before they start reading. A collection of news items follows, and some are odder than the fantasy illustrations the precede them. When you're done, tale a look at Brian's Observations from the Balcony and see why I think it could just as well be called A Compendious Guide to Everything. Then take a look again tomorrow and each day thereafter.

Carnival No. 22 brings Declan Burke back for a second stint as host, and he turns introspective, reflecting on the state of crime fiction and crime-fiction bloggery:

"By the same token, and speaking only for myself, the last thing I need or want is a pat on the head from the literary establishment. What I AM saying is that the critical work on crime fiction needs to develop of and through its own metier, that the Johnsons of the crime / mystery community require their Boswells, and that I believe heart and soul that crime / mystery fiction needs and deserves the kind of widespread, top-to-bottom critical work that would in turn inspire the writers to strive towards ever-higher standards of work."

As always, a tip of the old hat to the mother of the Carnival, Barbara Fister, and a reminder that you can visit her archive for a look at all 22 Carnivals.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds, the XX-rated edition

The Carnival of the Criminal Minds pulls into southwestern Minnesota, hosted at its twentieth stop by Anthony Neil Smith's Crime Dog One: The Virtual Dive Bar. It's a stop with a difference. Says Mr. Smith:

"Since most sideshows are visually oriented, you'll see a lot of video here.

"So, what exactly is on my mind? Biker pulp, grind-house, Pentecostals, war comics, Minnesota, `transgressive' fiction, and High School Satanists. I can't talk about all of that (some of it deals with the novel I'm currently writing), but on we go into the unlocked passageways of the Freakshow."

Smith is an author, which means he offers not just a guide to some of the more useful and intriguing sites on the dark side of crime fiction, but also some thoughts on genre itself, on noir, on crime fiction and on "transgressive" fiction. (He uses the inverted commas himself; I'm not making fun of him.)

As always, visit Barbara Fister's Carnival archives for summaries of and links to all previous carnivals.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

A cool, clean, well-organized Scandinavian-crime Web site

Barbara Fister, creator of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds, is also a librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Both the name and the place are clues: They take their Swedish heritage seriously there.

That's why Barbara has created a page devoted to Scandinavian crime fiction on the college library's Web site. "Since I work at a Swedish heritage college in Minnesota with a Scandinavian Studies program," she writes, "I thought we had an obligation to host a site for Scandinavian crime fiction." A touchingly simple recognition of a sizable Scandinavian contribution to current culture, I'd say.

The site is clean and well-organized, as one would respect from a librarian, and broken down by authors and countries. This ought to help readers keep track of the tremendous roster of Nordic crime writers, particularly new authors or those whose work is being translated into English for the first time.

Barbara has also started a companion blog, where you are hereby ordered to post comments frequently.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Technorati tags:
Swedish Crime Fiction
Norway Crime Fiction
Finnish Crime Fiction
Danish Crime Fiction
Iceland Crime Fiction
Nordic Crime Fiction
Scandinavia Crime Fiction

"Hail, Hail, Australia!": Carnival of the Criminal Minds XIX

Some call Australia the Land Down Under, but it's really the Land of Crime Fiction Databases and Proud Crime Fiction Fans.

You can see it a bit of both as Damien Gay's Crime Down Under hosts the 19th installment of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds. Damien links to those two wide-ranging resources: his own Australian Crime Fiction Database and to Australasian Crime.

He also links to and discusses a number of Australian authors' Web sites, and he offers a more ringing statement of mission than do most carnival hosts:

"Now, when you get a whiff of all of the mouth-watering reading sitting in front of you there grows a burning desire to track down those books and read them all. And then, when you’ve read those books and you know that those authors are largely unknown, there’s another urge to let everyone in on the rewarding reading they may be missing out on.

"So here’s my opportunity to again sing it to the world about Australia’s fine collection of authors, largely unheralded and probably unknown outside our shores."

Once the initial gush of Aussie fervor has passed, and you're done singing "Waltzing Matilda" and gorging yourself on Vegemite, you can read about and link to all 19 carnivals at the Carnival of the Criminal Minds archive.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Technorati tags:
Australian crime fiction

Carnival of the Criminal Minds, #18

The summer's first Carnival of the Criminal Minds takes place in the winter, in Australia, with the evocatively named Mysteries in Paradise as host. Step onto Kerrie's specially fitted crime-fiction bus, and get ready for a guide to one of the world's liveliest crime-fiction scenes. The lists of Aussie crime-fiction titles, authors awards and Web sites are longer that a rabbit-proof fence and a lot more fun.

As always with this carnival that never closes, visit the previous carnivals at the Carnival of the Criminal Minds archive.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds, #17

It's been to Canada, Germany, Ireland, Texas and South Philadelphia. Now the Carnival of the Criminal Minds puts down stakes in England in the form of Martin Edwards, author of mysteries set in the Lake District and Liverpool and blogger under his own name at Do You Write Under Your Own Name?

Martin's carnival begins with a Beatles memory before taking readers on a tour that includes the Byzantine empire and a muddy island, among other stops in Crimefictionville. The tour includes a number of stops outside the world of crime fiction for those of us who need reminders that there is such a thing. I'll see you on the midway.

As always, visit the Carnivals of the past at carnival queen Barbara Fister's carnival archive.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds, No. 16

The sixteenth edition of Carnival of the Criminal Minds promises a thrill-filled ride through the world of crime fiction from a woman who actually writes the stuff: Sandra Ruttan.

She writes novels. She writes stories. She edits Spinetingler Magazine. She doesn't mince her punches or pull her words, and she likes authors, bloggers and commentators who do the same.

I don't quite know where to start, so I'll just tell you that her carnival offers a heady mix of controversy, thrills, exotica and fun that looks worth several visits. I shall see you there. And when you're done, visit past Carnivals at the archive maintained by the founder, Barbara Fister.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Bernd gets burned on the Edgars, then bounces back to host Carnival of the Criminal Minds

If you bet your salary on Bernd Kochanowski' s picks for the top three Edgar awards, announced last night in New York (the awards, not Bernd's picks), you'll have to work some overtime to make up for it.

In a guest appearance on Crime Always Pays Tuesday, the keeper of the Internationale Krimis blog favored Cruel Poetry almost head to head with Blood Paradise for best paperback original, Pyres for best first novel by an American author, and Priest followed by The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Soul Patch, Down River and Christine Falls for best novel.

In fact, the winners were Queenpin for best paperback original, In the Woods for best first novel, and Down River for best novel. Find a complete list of nominees at the Mystery Writers of America Web site.

Not one to be discouraged, though, Bernd delivers an interesting lot of links as the fifteenth host of Carnival of the Criminal Minds. He is the carnival's first German host, and he delivers (in English) a guide to some crime-fiction sites (in English and German) I had not seen before.

He is also the first Carnival host to offer a blog museum: a guide to memorable posts of the past. His rundown may encourage other bloggers to compile their own such lists. And why not start your walk down Random Access Memory lane with a browse through the previous editions of the carnival, courtesy of host Barbara Fister?

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

All hail the Carnival (of the Criminal Minds) queen

The fourteenth and latest host of the Carnival of the Criminal Minds is Barbara Fister, who started the carnival way back in 2oo7. Barbara offers a wide-ranging guide to crime-fiction blogs, as one might expect from a librarian. She also ventures outside the field for some glimpses at intriguing non-mystery blogs, as one might expect from a librarian.

The best thing about this carnival is that it never folds its tents. When you're done reading Barbara's Carnival of the Criminal Minds, Part 14, visit the Carnival Web site for a carnival archive.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

Carnival of the Criminal Minds' Lucky Thirteenth

The carnival hoists its tents in Texas, courtesy of author/blogger/odd-news collector Bill Crider and his Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine. As befits that state, the latest edition is a biiiiiig carnival, with a loooooong list of sites about crime fiction and other interesting topics.

When you're done, revisit the previous hosts at the Carnival of the Criminal Minds site. And check Bill's site periodically for its coverage of Madonna, Anna Nicole Smith, alligators, weird uses of body parts, Emmylou Harris ...

© Peter Rozovsky 2008