Bouchercon: A Chance to Reconnect

(This is the first installment in our two-part wrap-up of Bouchercon in New Orleans, September 3-7. Part II can be found here.)

(Above) Sherlock Holmes authorities Leslie S. Klinger and Nicholas Meyer (Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing) flank fellow author Jamie Mason (Hidden Things) at the Mysterious Press’ 50th-anniversary party, held upstairs at the historic Maison Bourbon, on Bourbon Street. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

I like something author Craig Johnson, a guest of honor at this year’s Bouchercon, said about New Orleans, that it’s “a big party waiting for a city to happen.” It seems that everywhere you go in Louisiana’s largest burg on a sunny day, there’s a jazz combo performing, tourists ambling through the streets with drinks in hand, and a festival either in full swing or near on the horizon. “If there was no New Orleans,” journalist-author Chris Rose once said, “America would just be a bunch of free people dying of boredom.” Even at more than 300 years old, the Big Easy hasn’t forgotten how to have a good time.

But the hundreds of writers, reviewers, readers, and literary publicists who descended upon New Orleans for Bouchercon 2025 (September 3-7) weren’t necessarily looking to kick up their heels or kick back with frosty mint juleps; they were hungry for the fellowship of people claiminng similar tastes in storytelling. It’s not every day you can carry on polite dinner conversations about kidnapping, body-snatching, or precisely how much strychnine is required in a cup of tea to do away with one’s abusive spouse. Yet those are the very sorts of topics one hears bandied about at crime-fiction conventions.

This month’s Bouchercon was the ninth of these popular annual gatherings I’ve been able to attend, and my second in New Orleans. The last time it was held there was in 2016 (see here and here). Bouchercon was supposed to return to the city in 2021; however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation. Four more years had to pass before the co-chairs of the previous event, author Heather Graham and Connie Perry, could bring it back to Louisiana. Luckily, Donald Trump did not spoil things at the last minute by following through on a threat he made in early September to send the U.S. military into the streets of New Orleans, ostensibly for “crime-fighting” purposes.

Due to other obligations, I didn’t arrive in New Orleans for the start of Bouchercon activities. I was able, though, to fly in on Day Two—a Thursday—in time for the evening opening ceremonies. I spent the next few days seeing new authors and old friends; watching panel discussions in meeting rooms at the downtown Marriott Hotel (this year’s conference venue, as it also was in 2016); applauding winners of the Anthony Awards and other prizes; and partaking of the city’s countless Southern eateries. This month’s trip to New Orleans marked my fifth sojourn there (including one not long after Hurricane Katrina devastated the town), and while there are some restaurants I always patronize, there are ever more to sample. Happily.

If you were not able to make Bouchercon this year, never fear: I’ve brought back many photographs, and borrowed others from colleagues to create a fairly representative sample of what this convention provided. To those, I have added images that capture some of what I got up to outside of the scheduled happenings, most often with affable compadres such as Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim and Shots editor Mike Stotter, both from Great Britain, who had taken part in Bouchercon 2016 and returned for a second round.

There was no chance that I should have died of boredom during those days away at Bouchercon. Quite the opposite. It lifted my spirits greatly, as I hope the photo captions below confirm.

To start things off with a beat, as well as a bang, a small fleet of pedicabs showed up on Thursday evening outside the Marriott Hotel on Canal Street, to carry this year’s guests of honor to the convention’s opening ceremonies. (See Michael Connelly, Craig Johnson, Brad Thor, Charles Todd, and Alafair Burke among those riders.) With a police escort and New Orleans’ Big Fun Brass Band leading that second line parade, the taxis and hundreds of conventiongoers made their way through the streets to the renowned National WWII Museum, where event organizers officially welcomed attendees, and winners of several 2025 book awards were announced. (Photo by J. Kingston Pierce.)

The event’s Toastermaster Guest of Honor was author and comic-book writer Alex Segura (Alter Ego), shown on the right here with The Rap Sheet’s own Ali Karim, who was also Fan Guest of Honor. Ali is seen sporting only a few of the umpteen Mardi Gras-style necklaces he amassed during Bouchercon. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

Those days in New Orleans were few, but they provided ample opportunities for crime-fiction readers to mix with big-name authors in the genre. Here, for instance, we find Lou Berney (Crooks) inking a fan’s stack of bookplates. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

Shots editor Mike Stotter took the chance to meet I.S. Berry, pseudonymous author of the Edgar Award-winning espionage novel The Peacock and the Sparrow. Being a former CIA operations officer, it was not surprising that she was rather cagey about the need for that cast on her right wrist. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

British thriller writer Alex Shaw (Wolf Six, Kill Code) shot this selfie with Michael Connelly at the conclusion of Thursday’s second line parade. (Photo by Alex Shaw.)

And during one of Friday’s panel discussions, Ali found himself seated near Rhode Island resident and author C.B. “Chris” Bernard, who, the night before, had received the 2025 Barry Award for Best First Mystery Novel for Ordinary Bear. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

Virginia fictionist S.A. Cosby, who has gained renown (and more than a few awards) with novels such as Razorblade Tears and King of Ashes, was among the panelists chosen to discuss Southern influences on crime fiction. (Photo by Peter Rozovsky.)

An effervescent Holly West, Northern California author of the Mistress of Fortune series, welcomed Ali and yours truly (right) to the convention’s closing ceremonies. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

Reed Farrel Coleman, who penned Blind to Midnight and half a dozen novels extending Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series, greets Ali on one of the hotel’s convention floors. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

The Bouchercon schedule is always packed with panel presentations, which give authors additional exposure to readers and give readers a chance to either question or compliment their favorite wordsmiths. Considering myself a poor public speaker, I generally eschew taking part in such discussions, but I was persuaded by George Easter, the editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine (DP), to break my prohibition in New Orleans. So last Friday, I joined Easter (who acted as the panel’s moderator), along with DP associate editor Larry Gandle, Oline H. Cogdill of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, and DP reviewer Meredith Anthony for a presentation titled “Crime Rave: Mystery Reviewers Talk About Their Favorite Mysteries.” In advance, we had put together individual lists comprising five of our favorite recent crime novels, plus one “classic” favorite and one forgotten or overlooked work in the genre. (See all of our choices here.) Despite my reservations, the hour-long discussion went quite smoothly, and audience members appeared to enjoy themselves, though my mic apparently made my already loud voice deafening. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

I’ve been to enough Bouchercons over the years, that I no longer feel the need to obsess over attending panel talks. But one presentation I would like to have seen this year (had I not been otherwise engaged) was “Blending Genres: Mash-ups That Make the Story,” about how mystery and thriller authors can “layer in elements of other genres for a unique read.” Joining that debate were—left to right—K.T. Nguyen (You Know What You Did), Cynthia Pelayo (Vanishing Daughters), and Laura Picklesimer (Kill for Love). Creativity is always encouraged! (Photo by Peter Rozovsky.)

Among the most favored sessions this year was “Book to Screen: Worth the Journey?” It was held early on Saturday afternoon, and focused on novelists whose work has been translated to television or film. The moderator was Jeff Ayers, a book critic who also co-authors novels as “A.J. Landau” and “J.B. Abbott.” He was joined (left to right) by Michael Connelly; writer and TV/film producer Tony Eldridge; Craig Johnson, creator of the Sheriff Walt Longmire series; crime novelist and legal scholar Alafair Burke; and Dope Thief author Dennis Tafoya. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

Wyoming’s Craig Johnson, inevitably accessorized with his classic cowboy hat, turned out to be one of the conference’s most entertaining and interesting personalities. Choice among the many stories he told followers was one about a supposed attempt to steal the corpse of Buffalo Bill Cody from Denver, Colorado, not long after that Old West showman died in 1917, and relocate it to Cody, Wyoming—a town he had helped found and put on the map. Here he poses for a quick pic with Ali Karim. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

As gratifying as it is to meet new authors at Bouchercon, and to listen to them talk about their creative process (or publishing frustrations), it’s at least as enjoyable to hang out with old friends, some of them made during previous conventions. Following on a tradition we established during the last New Orleans Bouchercon, in 2016, Ali, Mike Stotter, and I began each morning with breakfast at the Ruby Slipper on Magazine Street, just a couple of blocks from the Marriott Hotel. Over plates of fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, or biscuits and gravy, we talked books and the vicissitudes of life with an ever-changing roster of guests, including Alex Shaw and Joseph Finder (both seated on the left in the shot above), George Easter, Philadelphia copy editor and photographer Peter Rozovsky, and English cop-turned-writer Steve Packwood (The Dissection Murders). As happened nine years ago, I asked about buying a Ruby Slipper T-shirt, only to learn they were out of stock. Rats!

The best change we made to our little Bouchercon “posse” this year was adding Timea “Timi” Cassera, a lively, adventuresome, and Hungarian-born Iowa resident who’s written reviews for Shots. Here we find Mike and Timi appreciating a rest stop at French Truck Coffee in the French Quarter. (Photo by J. Kingston Pierce.)

New Orleans is replete with low-profile restaurants serving rich, wake-your-tastebuds Southern cuisine. Here we see (left to right) Timi, Ali, Mike, and I having lunch at a joint in the French Quarter. I have to say, that plate in front of me contained some of the best jambalaya I’ve ever eaten! (Photo by Timi Cassera.)

After that lunch and some gift-shopping around the Quarter’s historic French Market, we stopped at the famous Café du Monde for beignets. In case you’re unfamiliar with those melt-in-your-mouth wonders, the beignet is a deep-fried pastry of French origin, covered in powdered sugar and best eaten warm. None of my fellow posse members had tasted one before, though Timi said they resemble a Hungarian pastry called csörögefánk. Strangely, Ali never seemed to be able to wrap his tongue around the word “beignet”; this video is for his benefit. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

Friday was definitely cocktail party time at this year’s Bouchercon. We started out at a function in the Marriott sponsored by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. The photo above shows (left to right) critic Oline H. Cogdill, celebrated socializer Ali Karim, Timi Cassera, Mike Stotter, Indianapolis bookseller “Mystery Mike” Bursaw, editor George Easter, and yours truly again.

Then we were off to the Crescent City Brewhouse on Decatur Street and that evening’s second reception, hosted by publisher St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books. Presiding over this gathering of writers and reviewers was the notably tall and genial Hector DeJean, Minotaur’s associate director of publicity. A very normal-size Ali Karim stands to his right. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

Finally, we all wandered down hectic Bourbon Street to Maison Bourbon, where the Mysterious Press was commemorating 50 years in the business of publishing crime, mystery, and thriller fiction. The stars really came out for this fête, among them (shown left to right) Gerald Petievich, author of To Live and Die in L.A. (1984) and a new yarn, 13 Hillcrest Drive; Ted Hertel, a retired Wisconsin attorney and book reviewer for Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine; and Charles Todd, who has two new Inspector Ian Rutledge books due out soon—the first he’s published since his mother and co-author, Caroline, died in 2021. (Photo by Ali Karim.)

Also on hand at the Mysterious Press party was Duane Swierczynski (shown at left, with Ali), whose captivating thriller, California Bear, was in contention for two prizes dispensed during Bouchercon: the Anthony Award for Best Hardcover Novel of 2024 and the Barry Award for the Best Mystery Novel published in that same year. Sadly, it failed to capture either one. (Photo by Mike Stotter.)

In case proof is ever needed that we were rubbing elbows with the great and the good at the Mysterious Press party (instead of, say, committing murder in some Bourbon Street back alley), here’s Timi’s selfie taken there of our clowning cohort.

Although the images included here aren’t all displayed in chronological order, I did embed that photo of the second line parade to the opening ceremonies up top. So let’s conclude with a shot from Sunday’s closing ceremonies at the Marriott. In the wake of the previous evening’s dispersal of the 2025 Anthony Awards, the crowd for this morning event was perceptibly smaller, yet still attentive. Organizers of next year’s Bouchercon—set to take place in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta, from October 21 to 25—took the stage to deliver a spirited presentation about what all their town has to offer visitors. Then it was on to a question-and-answer session with five of this convention’s centerpiece attendees (above, left to right): Fan Guest of Honor Ali Karim, Special Guest of Honor Brad Thor, Toastmaster Guest of Honor Alex Segura, Lifetime Achievement Guest of Honor Craig Johnson, and (on the far right) Thriller Guest of Honor Steph Cha. Author/Bouchercon 2025 chair Heather Graham (shown second from the right) asked them about the roots of their interest in crime fiction, what they wish they’d known when they were getting started in the writing game, their current works-in-progress, and a great deal more. It was an easygoing, humor-filled affair—a satisfying finish to five days of talk about serial slayers, locked-room homicides, back-stabbing spies, and other topics deemed commonplace by this crowd.

(All photographs in this post © 2025.)