by Sunny Frazier

Details on how to enter to win a copy of a previous Coming Attractions selection by Andrew Grant at the end of this post!

It’s not beach blanket bingo but Murder on the Beach. That’s the theme of this year’s Bouchercon, set in Long Beach, California, Nov. 13-16.

Bouchercon is the Annual World Mystery Convention. It’s named after Anthony Boucher, aka William Anthony Parker White. He was a writer, editor and critic. Some consider him the cornerstone of modern mystery analysis. Like the Olympics, the convention is bid on by different cities. The convention attracts major mystery authors and fans from across the globe.

I plan to attend Bouchercon this year. To prep for the event, I will be doing a Coming Attractions column every week spotlighting authors who will also be attending. It’s going to be a “cyber-con” for those of you who can’t make it this time. Next year it will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Start planning!

Script doctor, Lauren Atwill, is tasked to bring a scandalous novel to the silver screen. The book has everything–betrayal, greed, corruption and murder, but life begins to imitate art when a beautiful actress is found dead. Just how far will the studio and police go to cover up the crime? There are No Broken Hearts in the fourth Lauren Atwill Mystery by Sheila York.

Hairstylist Azalea March was looking forward to a wild Vegas weekend at the biggest hair show on the West Coast. The weekend got crazier than expected when a major hair celeb is found dead. Next thing she knows, her best friend confesses to the deed. Azalea suspects her friend is trying to protect someone and has to get a sexy detective from her past to help uncover the truth. Dyed and Gone is the first hair-raising mystery starring Azalea March, by author Beth Yarnall.

Remember the housing boom of 2005? Hillary Broome does. That was the year her cousin and heir to the most powerful real estate development corporation in California died at an Irish Wake. The timing couldn’t be worse, as Hillary is on the fence as to whether to marry the detective in her life. Now she has to figure out if the death was an accident or fratricide. It’s a House of Dads in June Gillam’s second mystery, starring Hilliary Broome.

Someone I wish was attending Bouchercon is T.C. LoTempio. She’s introducing a new Nick and Nora Charles–not the Thin Man version this time. Nora was a crime reporter but now is moving back to Cruz, CA, for a quieter life. But you can’t put a good journalist down, so she finds herself writing for an online magazine (like this one!). Nick is a feline formerly owned by a P.I. who disappeared while investigating the death of a socialite. Now Nora is on the case and Nick puts his paw in by spelling out clues on a Scrabble board. Nick’s got nine lives–Nora only has one on the line. Meow If It’s Murder is the beginning of a series.

To enter to win a copy of Run by Andrew Grant from last week’s Coming Attractions, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Run,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen October 11, 2014. U.S. residents only.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section. Check back every month for Coming Attractions!

Click on this link to purchase any of these books & a portion goes to help support KRL!

Sunny Frazier worked with an undercover narcotics team in Fresno County for 17 years before turning her energies to writing the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries. Based in the San Joaquin Valley of California, the novels are inspired by real cases and 35 years of casting horoscopes.