P.O. Box 8251
Portland, OR 97207
503-244.5271
www.friendsofmystery.org

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FRIENDS OF MYSTERY BLOODY THURSDAYS XXIV

Join us on January 28th at 7:00pm for Oregon Attorney General John Kroger, this year's Oregon Book Award winner for Creative Non-Fiction for his book Convictions: A Prosecutor’s Battles Against Mafia Killers, Drug Kingpins, and Enron Thieves.

Check out our feature on John Kroger in the current issue of The Blood-Letter.

The event will begin with a reception at 7:00 pm, followed by the program at 7:30 pm. The meeting is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the lots just east across 6th Avenue from the lower level entrance. Handicapped parking is available at the upper level entrance. Tri-Met bus #8, Jackson Park, stops just in front of the lower level entrance.

Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 7:00pm
Location: Terwilliger Plaza, 2545 Terwilliger Blvd, Portland, OR

2009-2010 Season

• Thursday, September 24, 2009
  Sharan Newman (appearing in place of Carola Dunn)
• Thursday, November 19, 2009
  Dr. Nici Vance, Oregon State Police Crime Lab
• Thursday, January 28, 2010
  Oregon Attorney General John Kroger
  Oregon Book Award winner for Creative Non-Fiction for
  Convictions: A Prosecutor’s Battles Against Mafia Killers, Drug Kingpins, and Enron Thieves
• Thursday, March 25, 2010
  Phil Margolin will accept the 2009 Spotted Owl Award and will be joined by Robert Dugoni to discuss writing legal thrillers.
• Thursday, May 27, 2010
  Fresh Blood, a panel of up-and-coming authors hosted by best-selling Portlander Chelsea Cain.
  

Terwilliger Plaza—Our New Home

We are indeed fortunate to have been offered meeting space in Terwilliger Plaza. FOM member-author and resident, Harley Sachs, approached the management at Terwilliger Plaza about the use of the conference areas for the Friends of Mystery Bloody Thursday lectures series. Terwilliger Plaza was delighted to accommodate our meetings. Harley and fellow resident, Robert McDaniel, are our host sponsors.

Most of the meetings will be held in the White Auditorium, with its sweeping views of mountains and the river. Our November meeting will be held in their new conference center located on the P3 level. Click here for directions to Terwilliger Plaza.

2008-2009 Dates

• Sept. 25, 2008: Kate Wilhelm and the Spotted Owl presentation (Chelsea Cain graciously joined us in Kate's stead)
• Nov. 20, 2008: Det. James Lawrence - Portland Police Cold Case Unit
• Jan. 22, 2009: Larry Rosson - Fingerprint Expert
• Mar. 26, 2009: Barbara Pope - Debut Author of Cezanne's Quarry
• May 28, 2009: Jessica Morrell - Author/Lecturer on Villains and Anti-heroes

Contact Friends of Mystery by mail at:
P.O. Box 8251
Portland, OR 97207
503-244.5271
www.friendsofmystery.org

Previous Events

Dr. Nici Vance

Photo: Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

On November 19, 2009, Dr. Nici Vance, a forensic scientist who has been with the Oregon State Police Lab for more than 12 years, spoke on blood pattern analysis. She works as a crime scene analyst and analyzes physical evidence from violent and high profile cases from all around the state. Dr. Vance also conducts continuing education courses for lawyers. She recently held classes on how to tell the difference between human and non-human remains for search and rescue members in Southern Oregon.

Dr. Vance works as a liaison between the lab and the State Medical Examiner’s Office as a forensic anthropologist. She has recently been featured in the media for her work to identify the remains of a victim killed about eight years ago by a train in Tigard. The body of the man, believed to be a transient, has been in the morgue since then. Dr. Vance has reopened the cold case hoping to bring closure to the case and the victim’s family.

Sharan Newman

Due unforeseen circumstances, our scheduled speaker for the September 24 Bloody Thursday, Carola Dunn, had to cancel.

However, Sharan Newman, author of The Shanghai Tunnels and many other historical mysteries, graciously agreed to appear instead. An award-winning writing, Sharan Newman is also a medieval scholar whose writings include both fiction and non-fiction. Her Catherine Levendeur mysteries have been nominated for many awards. Sharan won the Macavity Award for best first mystery for Death Comes As Epiphany and the Herodotus Award for best historical mystery of 1998 for Cursed in the Blood. The most recent book in the series The Witch in the Well won the Bruce Alexander award for best Historical mystery of 2004. Learn more about Sharan at her website.

Carola Dunn is a English-American writer who began by writing historical romances but later switched to crime stories. She lives and works in Eugene, Oregon. The hero of her crime novels is the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple, a freelance writer, and her beau and later husband Chief Detective Alec Fletcher. Her most recent books are Manna From Hades, and her forthcoming title Sheer Folly appearing in Fall 2009.

Chelsea Cain

Best-selling Portland author Chelsea Cain, of the just-released Sweetheart joined us in Kate Wilhelm's place to discuss her life as a writer, mother, and wife. She gave a delightful, warm and often hilarious talk comparing being a parent and even giving birth with writing a thriller.

Detective James Lawrence

Detective Lawrence shared his fascinated work in Portland Police Bureau's cold case unit at our November 2008 meeting.

Larry Rosson

Fingerprint expert Larry Rosson appeared in January 2009.

Barbara Pope

Debut author of Cezanne's Quarry Barbara Pope joined us in March 2009.

Jessica Morrell

Jessica Morrell, noted editor and author, will discuss villains and anti-heroes, as well as her newest book, Bullies, Bastards And Bitches: How To Write The Bad Guys Of Fiction.

2007-2008

The dates for the 2007-2008 Season were:

• Thursday, November 15, 2007 - Kris Nelscott, Spotted Owl award-winning author of Days of Rage.
  
• Thursday, January 24, 2008 - Dr. Frank Colistro, forensic psychologist and serial killer profile
  
• Thursday, March 27, 2008 - New Authors Panel, featuring Bill Cameron, Gregg Olsen, Doc Macomber, Ashna Graves and Bob Napier.
  
• Thursday, May 22, 2008 - Steven Saylor, best selling author discussing his new book, The Triumph of Caesar

Friend of Mystery Steven Saylor

The May 22 Bloody Thursday welcomed best selling author Steven Saylor, who discussed his work and his new Gordianus novel, The Triumph of Caesar. The presentation was delightful and free-ranging, as Steven discussed the genesis of Gordianus, the re-release of the series in trade paperback, and his work on his epic historical novel Roma and its sequel.

The Triumph of Caesar is set against the background of Julius Caesar’s stupendous quadruple triumphs in Rome in 46 BC, full of color and spectacle. Caesar is now dictator for life. But Caesar’s wife Calpurnia, having fallen under the spell of an Etruscan soothsayer, is convinced of a plot on her husband’s life. Once again, murder and intrigue draw Gordianus into the vortex of history.

In a starred Review, Publishers Weekly says of The Triumph of Caesar, "Stellar...compelling...a triumph!" The Toronto Globe and Mail calls it "Superb! . . . a treat to read."

Also look for Saylor's superb historical novel, Roma, now available in trade paperback.

November 15th Blood Thursday Festivities

It will be Awards Night at the November 15 Bloody Thursday meeting of Friends of Mystery. Kris Nelscott (Rusch) will be accepting her Spotted Owl plaque for the 2006 Smokey Dalton novel Days of Rage. This is the second Spotted Owl award for Kris, having won in 2005 for a previous Smokey Dalton mystery novel. She joins Seattle author Lowen Clausen as a two-time Spotted Owl winner.

Kris has also won numerous awards for science fiction, writing as Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She won a Hugo science fiction award for both writing and editing. She writes romance novels under the name of Kristine Grayson. Her Smokey Dalton mystery series has also received the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery Novel. Kris is a frequent contributor to the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. She and her author husband, Dean Wesley Smith live on the central Oregon coast.

Alaska author Mike Doogan was also named a Spotted Owl winner for his debut novel Lost Angel. This is the first Spotted Owl award for a first novel. Mike has planned to attend the November 15 meeting to accept his award. However, he is also a state legislator and was called into a special session at this time. Our own Bill Cameron presented Mike with his plaque at the September Bouchercon in Anchorage. His latest mystery, Capitol Offense has been receiving excellent reviews Mike is a native of Alaska having been born in Fairbanks and now lives in Anchorage with his wife and family.

Both of our Spotted Owl winners were short-listed for Shamus awards. Kris’s Days of Rage was nominated for best PI novel and Mike’s Lost Angel for best debut PI novel.

Forensic Psychologist Dr. Frank Colistro in January

Dr. Frank Colistro is a consulting psychologist for several law enforcement agencies including the Behavioral and Risk Services Unit of the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Cold Case Unit of the Portland Police Bureau as well as a criminal profiler for several agencies. He also works with the Oregon Board of Parole, providing psychological assessment of inmate’s potential of recidivism. Dr. Colistro has consulted with prosecution and defense attorneys on topics such as homicide investigations, major sex crimes and domestic violence cases.

As a criminal profiler, he has been involved in a number of highly publicized local cases including the Forest Park Rapist, KOIN Tower Shooter and the NE Portland Rapist. He was featured on national news as a commentator on the Ward Weaver case. He is often heard on local TV and radio.

Please join us to hear Dr. Colistro discuss his experiences of more than 25 years. It promises to be an enlightening evening. The meeting will be held in the auditorium of Good Samaritan Medical Center, 1040 NW 22nd Avenue (corner of NW 22nd and Marshall). The event will begin with a reception at 7:00 pm. The meeting is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in the parking structure adjacent to the auditorium. The Portland Streetcar and Tri Met run on nearby routes.

New Authors Panel in March 2008

Our March 27 Bloody Thursday meeting is a not-to-be missed event. We have a panel of debut mystery novel authors to tell us how they did it. It will feature:

• Bill Cameron author of Lost Dog
• Ashna Graves author of Death Pans Out
• Doc Macomber author of Wolfs Remedy
• Bob Napier author of Love, Death and the Toyman
• Gregg Olsen author of A Wicked Snow and A Cold Dark Place

John Walsdorf moderated the panel.