Dick Cass calls them shameless plugs, but I call them opportunities!
Crime Wave is coming to Portland, Maine. Writers, readers, and criminals can all benefit from this fortuitous occurrence. Come meet the people who snake chills and thrills into our homes, bookstores, and libraries. The cast (or police lineup) of participating authors is incredible.
If research is your thing, digging into the archives, and discovering hidden treasures of the past, well then, on Friday afternoon, May 29th, at 1:00 PM, the Maine Historical Society and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliances are joining together for a special pre-conference tour and discussion with author, historian, and professor Elizabeth DeWolfe at the Brown Research Library in Portland. DeWolfe will demonstrate how writers can pull archival research to support their fiction and nonfiction writing. REGISTER HERE.
If your schtick tends more to drinking a beer and listening to some fabulous writers read short excerpts of their work, well then, you might just be interested in Noir at Belleflower on Friday night, May 29th, at 7:00 PM. Jule Selbo and Matt Cost (that’s me) will be the Mistress and Master of Ceremonies for a crazy-fantastic group of authors, including Tess Gerritsen, Allison Keeton, Travis Kennedy, Robert Kelley, Joanna Schaffhausen, James Ziskin, Zakariah Johnson, Gabriela Stiteler, Mo Drammeh, and Rebecca Turkewitz. There is no charge for entry, but you reserve a spot and find out more information at Belleflower Brewing Company.
And that brings us to the big event! Drum roll, please. Crime Wave will host the second-most famous roundtable, after the one King Arthur dabbled in. Not just one roundtable, but twenty-four of them. The theme of the 2026 Maine Crime Wave is Sharpening the Blade: Craft. Community. Career. There will be three sessions of eight roundtables focused on honing our craft, strengthening our community, and polishing our approach. Each of these roundtables will be moderated by two great writers, as showcased in the image above. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON THE AUTHOR MODERATORS.
CLICK HERE FOR A SCHEDULE OF THE ROUNDTABLES.
The guest of honor for Crime Wave this year is Ron Currie, who will be interviewed in the middle of the day by Jule Selbo. Currie’s most recent book, The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne, is an INDIE NEXT pick, an Amazon Editors’ pick, and an Apple Books Editors’ pick. It was named a best book of 2025 by The Guardian, NPR, Real Simple, Vulture, Barnes and Noble, The Times of London, Bookpage, Publishers Weekly, and the Wall Street Journal. Of Babs, Bookpage notes, “With a top-notch blend of gritty mystery and bighearted drama, it’s Dennis Lehane meets Ann Patchett.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ON RON CURRIE.
Throughout the day, Kelly’s Books to Go will be selling books by the fantastic list of table moderators. These authors will have time slots to sign copies of their books and chat with attendees.
The day will conclude with a rousing panel of authors where anything goes! Gibson Fay-LeBlanc will moderate and preside over the jungle and try his best to keep the chaos within the room and off the streets of Portland.
How could you possibly miss CRIME WAVE?
Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014, he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.
Cost has published six books in the Mainely Mystery series, starting with Mainely Power. He has also published six books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series, starting with Wolfe Trap. There are two books in the Brooklyn 8 Ballo series, starting with Velma Gone Awry. For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. The Not So Merry Adventures of Max Creed began a new series this past April. Glow Trap is his eighteenth published book.
Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. Cost now spends his days at the computer, writing.
