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Mysteries and London go together like tea and cake or jeans and Converse. Although not all of my favourite English mysteries take place in London, many do. Here are three (okay, maybe a few more than just three) of my top mystery novels set in London.

Dynamite Entertainment has established a new partnership with Humble Bundle. The two collaborators will offer a deal called the “Best-Selling Authors Bundle.”

Customers can choose between the publisher or a non-profit as the recipient of their money. They will have three charity options: the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Doctors Without Borders (a.k.a. Médecins Sans Frontières), and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Here’s more from the press release: “The ‘pay what you want’ model offers readers the chance to unlock over 120 comics, and over 3,500 pages of content. This will give graphic lit fans access to: Charlaine Harris’ Grave Sight Part 1 by Charlaine Harris, The Shadow Vol 1: Fire of Creation by Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thomson: Hopcross Jilly by Patricia Briggs, The Complete Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Leah Moore, and John Reppion, Sherlock Holmes: Year One by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Scott Beatty, The Spider Vol. 1: Terror of the Zombie Queen by David Liss and Francesco Francavilla, and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Echoes by Tom Clancy. As the bundle progresses, there will be a running average.”

BBC One has unveiled a video on “Taking Sherlock Back To Victorian Times.” The video embedded above showcases a behind-the-scenes look at the Sherlock: The Abominable Bride special.

Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter: “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, the much-anticipated 90-minute special of the BBC hit show starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, on Friday drew an average audience of 8.4 million in Great Britain, according to overnight data. That made the drama the day’s most-watched show in the U.K. and amounted to a share of 34.7 percent of people watching TV in the country at the time, according to the BBC.”

Click on these links to see the first trailer and the second trailer. Follow this link to download a free digital copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. (via The Wall Street Journal)

The BBC has unleashed a second trailer for a Sherlock special. The Independent reports that this Victorian-themed episode is called “The Abominable Bride.”

Here’s more from Digital Spy: “Over 100 cinemas will be simulcasting the highly-anticipated Sherlock special on January 1, 2016, and now BBC is sharing further details of what fans can expect from the screenings…In addition to showing the one-off, 90-minute Victorian special, those who book their seats will also get to see extra filmed material, including a guided tour of 221B Baker Street from co-creator Steven Moffat and a look behind the scenes at how the episode was made, featuring the lead cast and crew.”

The video embedded above features scenes with Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role and Martin Freeman playing Dr. John Watson. Follow this link to see the first trailer. Click here to download a free digital copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. (via io9)

In celebration of The BBC Proms 120th anniversary we have created a comprehensive reading list of books, journals, and online resources that celebrate the eight- week British summer season of orchestral music, live performances, and late-night music and poetry.

The post Happy 120th birthday BBC Proms appeared first on OUPblog.

The cover has been unveiled for Brittany Cavallaro’s A Study in Charlotte. We’ve embedded the full image for the jacket design above—what do you think?

This story explores what a friendship between the progeny of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson. Click here to download free eBook editions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works about the original detective duo.

According to EpicReads.com, Katie C. Fitch served as the designer for this project. Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books, has set the release date for March 1st.

The estate of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have filed a copyright and trademark lawsuit against Miramax for the movie, Mr. Holmes. The film stars Sir Ian McKellen (pictured, via) as an elderly Sherlock Holmes.

The story for this film adaptation, based on Mitch Cullin’s novel A Slight Trick of the Mind, served as the inspiration for the script. Variety.com reports that Cullin and Penguin Random House, the publisher of Cullin’s book, have also been named defendants in the complaint.

Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter: “According to the complaint, Doyle’s public domain works ‘make references to Holmes’s retirement,’ but the ones still in copyright tell ‘much more about Sherlock Holmes’ retirement and later years,’ such as the detective’s attempt to solve one last case, how he ‘comes to love nature and dedicates himself to studying it,’ and how Holmes develops ‘a personal warmth and the capacity to express love for the first time.’ Mr. Holmes screenwriter Mitch Cullin allegedly took ‘protected elements of setting, plot, and character’ to create his work, setting up a defense that will likely explore what was covered in earlier Doyle work and what might be generic ideas not worthy of copyright protection.”

A new short story called “Sherlock Holmes: Discovering the Border Burghs and, by deduction, the Brig Bazaar” has been uncovered. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the 1,300-word piece more than 80 years ago.

It appears in a collection entitled The Book o’ the Brig; the money generated from sales of this booklet benefited a small Scottish town called Selkirk. At the time of its publication, the local residents were collecting money so that they could re-construct a fallen bridge.

The Telegraph reports that historian Walter Elliot forgot that he owned a copy of this anthology; it had been sitting in his attic for over five decades. “It is believed the story – about Holmes deducing Watson is going on a trip to Selkirk – is the first unseen Holmes story by Doyle since the last was published over 80 years ago…The booklet will be on show at the Cross Keys Selkirk Pop-up Community Museum from Saturday, along with Mr Elliot’s painting of the replaced bridge.” Click here to read the full story. (via BuzzFeed)

November means Thanksgiving, NaNoWriMo, and Movember!

The executives behind the Scribando website supports this global men’s health movement by encouraging writers to take part. The company has created a special sheet of cut-out moustaches.

The authors who inspired this project include The Jungle Book novelist Rudyard Kipling, The Glass Menagerie playwright Tennessee Williams, Ripostes poet Ezra Pound, Sherlock Holmes series author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and The Raven writer Edgar Allan Poe. Follow this link to download the sheet and pose as the writer of your choice.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Paradigm Studios hopes to raise $20,000 on Kickstarter for the second volume of the Watson And Holmes series. This comics project re-imagines Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective duo as two African-Americans who live in New York City.

The finished book will contain a collection of one-shot stories. We’ve embedded a video about the project above. Here’s more from the Kickstarter page:

“Money earned will go to covering fees, postage, and printing of the exclusive Kickstarter copies. Leftover money will be used to fund future projects, which include adding more stories to this very trade. As always, if the demand is high enough and additional funds are earned beyond our request, we plan to roll out additional investment rewards and incentives as well.”

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

What books did you read with your dad? My dad introduced me to J. R. R. Tolkien, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain and other classic authors. My grandpa had a bookshelf loaded with Reader's Digest Condensed Books and National Geographics. I inherited my life-long love of reading, but I was lucky. The organizers of the #DadsRead Campaign shared some startling statistics: There are studies suggesting that only 19 percent of 16-24 year-old fathers say they enjoy reading at bedtime with their children. What's more, data from Pew Research and other sources demonstrate that fathers are significantly less involved than mothers when it comes to the reading lives of their children. continued...

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

What’s your favorite kind of book? We’ve created a giant flowchart to help you browse the top 50 free eBooks at Project Gutenberg.

Click the image above to see a larger version of the book map. Your choices range from Charles Dickens to Jane Austen, from Sherlock Holmes to needlework. Below, we’ve linked to all 50 free eBooks so you can start downloading right now. The books are available in all major eBook formats.

Follow this link to see an online version of the flowchart, complete with links to the the individual books.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Over the past several months I have been come across some truly incredible advertising campaigns. The aim of each one is to encourage people — young and old — to read. I’ve been so impressed that I couldn’t miss the opportunity to highlight their creativity.

1. Milwaukee Public Library

Milwaukee Public Library

2. Colsubsidio Book Exchange

Come With A Story and Leave With Another: Harry Potter and …

3. Reading Is Fundamental

4. Burning Through Pages

These Are Your Kids On Books

I applaud the minds behind these campaigns for thinking outside of the box. I can’t bring myself to pick a favourite: It’s a tie between Colsubsidio Book Exchange and Burning Through Pages. I love their simplistic approach. How about you? Do you have a favourite?