What can readers look forward to in 2018 from the Maine Crime Writers? Take a look below.

From Kaitlyn Dunnett: The first book in my new “Deadly Edits” series, Crime and Punctuation, will be out in June. The amateur detective is Mikki Lincoln, a retired teacher. Newly widowed, she moves back to her old home town in the foothills of New York’s Catskill Mountains after fifty years away and sets up shop as a book doctor to make ends meet. When one of her first clients is murdered, how can she not get involved in the investigation, especially after she discovers a clue to the killer’s identity in the dead woman’s manuscript? There will also be another Liss MacCrimmon mystery (Overkilt) coming out toward the end of 2018 and in other news, in April I’ll be doing a group signing in Portland, Maine and attending Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland.

From Vaughn C. Hardacker: The second novel, and prequel to BLACK ORCHID, in my Ed Traynor series, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER (chapter one available on my website http://www.vaughnhardacker.com/MBK_Chap_1.html) is scheduled for release on October 12, 2018.

I am seeking representation (so any recommendations will be greatly appreciated) for my latest novel, THE EXCHANGE . I will be at The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance in the spring and the Jesup Library’s Murder By The Book in the fall (I’m open to any recommendations for venues where I can speak).

I will be moderating Local Writers At The Library on the second Thursday of the month from January to April at the Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle. The event is an open forum for local writers to meet, do a reading, and discuss their work.

From Lea Wait: In 2018  I’ll be at Malice Domestic and Crime Bake, speaking at Dick Cass’ class at the University of Southern Maine in January, excited about having the Portland Stage Company do a short reading from TWISTED THREADS March 5, doing a group  signing at Print in Portland April 10 … and many other events throughout the year.

June 12 will be the debut of DEATH AND A POT OF CHOWDER: A MAINE MURDER MYSTERY, my first book under the name Cornelia Kidd. Set on a Maine island, with two major characters – two very different sisters who have just met for the first time. Anna has grown up on Quarry Island, married a lobsterman, and has a teenaged son; Izzie is from Connecticut, is ten years younger, half-Korean, and a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. They bond over (what else?) solving a murder, and food. I had fun including lots of recipes! Available now for pre-order.

And in early November the 7th in my Mainely Needlepoint series (THREAD HERRINGS) debuts. Sarah and Angie buy several pieces of antique needlepoint at an auction and find a mysterious paper from the mid-eighteenth century behind the stitching. Curious, Angie starts investigating … and one of her friends is murdered. When she’s put under police protection, she must find the killer …. from a distance.

From Kate Flora: I am just coming into the end zone of a first draft of the 9th Thea Kozak mystery, Schooled in Death, which I hope to have out sometime in the spring of 2018 (unless my beta readers say I’ve really blown it). I am also putting together a collection of my crime stories, published and unpublished, working title Domestic Violence and Other Stories, and thinking about the order of the stories is going to be really fun. When Thea is tweaked, I am looking forward to diving into the sixth Joe Burgess mystery, as yet untitled, a sordid world of sex trafficking and tattooed bodies. I hope to knock of a big chunk of that during my residency at The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in April. I can usually write at least 120 pages while I’m there, and the opportunity to do such obsessive writing is a great gift. I haven’t suggested it to the others yet, but don’t you think a Maine Crime Writers holiday story collection would be fun? You’d read it, wouldn’t you?

From Barbara Ross: Stowed Away, my latest Maine Clambake Mystery, came out this week, so it will be awhile until the next one. I think the novella collection Yule Log Murder with Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis will come out at the end of October and the next Maine Clambake, Steamed Open, at the end of December 2018, but neither is official. Because Stowed Away came out over the holidays, I’m doing a blog tour, not actual appearances. You can follow along here. Come the spring I’m doing some real appearances, including the Portland Stage, March 5, 2018 with Lea, Dick, Brenda and Chris Holm. On March 12, I’ll be giving a talk for the Friends of the Key West Library Series, and on April 10, I’ll be at Print bookstore in Portland with Lea, Kaitlyn/Kathy and Jessie.

From Dick Cass: My biggest plan for 2018 is to finish and publish the third Elder Darrow mystery, tentatively titled Burton’s Folly. It’s well along and out to Beta readers at this point. I also have a political thriller I’m shopping separately. I’m appearing at the South Portland Library on January 13th, the Thomas Memorial Library in Cape Elizabeth on the 18th, and the Vose Library in Union in May. Portland Stage will be performing a short piece of In Solo Time on March 5, along with the work of other Maine crime writers: Brenda Buchanan, Barbara Ross, Lea Waite, and Chris Holm.

On the “author” side of the ledger—I’ve been asked to help judge the Edgar awards for Best Young Adult Mystery, an honor I accepted with pleasure. I’m also running a course on Maine Mystery Writers for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USM, with the help of Brenda Buchanan, Bruce Coffin, Chris Holm, Gayle Lynds, and Lea Waite, where we’ll discuss various mystery subgenres and introduce OLLI students to some of the many excellent crime writers our state is blessed with.

From Bruce Robert Coffin: 2018 will see a summer release of the third installment of the Detective Byron mysteries, tentatively titled Beyond the Truth. And for those fans of hardcover novels, Thorndike Press will be releasing Among the Shadows in large print format on February 7th. Additionally, Thorndike has also purchased the rights to reprint Beneath the Depths in the same format, date of release TBD.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2018!

This is the proposed cover art for Bad News Travels Fast, my next Bernie O’Dea mystery. We’ll see if it makes the cut.

From Maureen Milliken: Finishing up the third in the Bernie O’Dea mystery series, Bad News Travels Fast, which should be out in late spring. The writer should be coming much faster now that I’ve moved back to Belgrade Lakes after 14 months in South Portland. The story of getting back into my house over the first two weeks of December also gave me some great plot ideas for the fourth Bernie O’Dea mystery, which will definitely not take two years to get finished like its predecessor.

On a personal note, once again will be employed full time, as a reporter at Mainebiz, where I’ve been freelancing since March. It’s a great gig, but sadly will provide much less fodder for mysteries than three decades of daily newspapers did.

I’m with Bruce on wishing everyone a health and happy 2018, and look forward to lots of fun stuff with the Maine Crime Writers!

From Jessie Crockett: August, 2018 will bring the release of the trade paperback version of Murder in an English Village written as Jessica Ellicott. October, 2018 will be the release month for the second in the Beryl and Edwina series, Murder Flies the Coop. Wishing you ll a year of happiness and wonderful reading!

From Susan Vaughan: In late winter, early spring, Dark Vision will be released. The book is a new addition to my DARK Files series and features Matt Leoni, a character introduced in Dark Vengeance. I’m also looking forward to more clients for my newish copy-editing & proofreading service.

Here’s to a wonderful 2018 with lots of great posts on Maine Crime Writers and lots of new books to read!