We’re taking the O-bahn to paradise for this entry in the Carnival of the Criminal Minds. Kerrie of Adelaide, Australia (also known as “paradise“) has a serious jones for mysteries and covers them in her blog. She also is part of the mob of addicted mystery readers who do much to promote the crime fiction scene down under.

So this summer . . . er, winter, sorry . . . we’re spending time there, getting to know the many talented writers from that paradise that has a criminal past. For the main events, she offers some of her own antipodean reading, a grand parade of Ned Kelly winners, and an introduction to a few Australian criminal rings (of the Internet variety). Come on, come all, come down under for the paradisaical carnival!

Up next: don’t leave yet, mate. We’re heading to Damien’s Crime Down Under next - see you there around August 1st.

photo of bizarre and mysterious carnival Koalas taken in Adelaide by SpacePotato

Author Martin Edwards hosts the latest carnival at the intriguingly-titled blog, “Do You Write Under Your Own Name?” As the author of a series set in Liverpool (and another in the Lake District) Edwards starts with a lyrical trip down memory lane recalling his close escape as a tiny lad from being trampled by screaming teenaged girls when the Beatles (yes, those Beatles) opened the Northwich Carnival. He also provides some lovely photos from a more recent festival in Wales, where they decided in honor of the event to have a sunny day, unlike every day I ever spent in Wales.

(Photo from the Liverpool Brouhaha Carnvial courtesy of Haversack, who wins the title prize for calling his photo “does my bum look big in this?”)

Along with some of the must-read pantheon, like The Rap Sheet and Eurocrime, Petrona and It’s a Crime, Edwards points out some new-to-me blogs that touch on operas, artwork and other things. Musings from a Muddy Island has some photos of pencils that make me sigh with envy. And who can resist a blog with a title like Books to the Ceiling?

Next up: We’re on our way to Paradise, where Kerrie is one of the remarkable mob of crime fiction fans down under who will keep your winter parlor stocked with, well, books to the ceiling, should you live in the southern hemisphere - or will fill your tote with just the perfect books to take to the beach if your location is more northerly.

Apologies from the archivist for being late with this archival posting for No. 17. She was on a book tour, which she foolishly thought was an effort to buy as many books as will fit in the trunk of your car. D’oh! As soon as she unpacks she will no doubt have books to the ceiling.

And an announcement: in order to have sufficient time to book the acts, set up the tents, and see if the remaining Beatles might be talked into an appearance, the Carnival is shifting to a monthly schedule for the next couple of months.

Our traveling show (or should I say “travelling”?) has set up its tents at the always-intriguing blog of Canadian writer, Sandra Ruttan, and since one of the pleasures of a carnival is the delightfully unhealthy food, we’re serving a Canadian treat for this event. I have a feeling that poutine is not routinely eaten in Sandra’s western province, but the Carnival is nothing if not multicultural.

Ruttan has taken up Bernd’s elegant gauntlet and found some blog posts that belong in the Museum of Memorable Mystery Mutterings. These include a fantastic mystery/crime fiction primer from Brian Lindenmuth’s Mystery Bookspot. (Fair warning - once you enter the maze, you may never come out , there are so many tempting reading possibilities here.) And Anne Frasier’s much-commented-upon post, “Are Writers Broken?” She closed her blog for a time, but recently seems to have reopened it, using the downtime to finish a manuscript - a well-deserved blogging break.

Ruttan also reads widely and connects the dots creatively, so offers a Freakonomics post that might spark some writer’s imagination, as well as rides on the Ferris wheel of her favorite blogs, a food court where mystery readers may safely graze, and an assortment of the weirdly wonderful.

Up next: we’ll be travel(l)ing to the UK again, where host Martin Edwards blogs at Do You Write Under Your Own Name?

yummy photograph courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik.

Krimileser, aka Bernd Kochanowski, is hosting the carnival this Mayday in Germany at Internationale Krimis. His post embraces the classic style of a blog carnival, which is intended to point out interesting, controversial, and/or high quality blog posts. Carnival of the Criminal Minds › Edit — WordPressIn his case, he’s traveled back into the past to created a “museum” of though-provoking blog posts. What a wonderful idea! Instead of looking for the next new thing, the hot topic, the flash in the pan, he gently turns us around to look back, highlighting some extraordinary reviews, some industry analysis, insightful essays, and posts that grew an interesting tail of commentary. And then, to bring us back to the present, he also reviews crime fiction blogs in Germany and Austria. It’s a veritable wunderkammer of crime fiction.

Next up: The Carnival will be hosted by Canadian blogger Sandra Ruttan whose life and other inconveniences have recently relocated to the US.

photo courtesy of Ennor.

The carnival has come to your humble archivist’s blog today. The focus this time around is on ways to figure out what to read next - highlighting the many blogs that can help you feed your addiction expand your horizons and discover books you might enjoy. Though most carnival followers probably have mountainous piles of books waiting to be read, there’s always room for more, isn’t there? We’re aiming for the Himalayan range, here. So come on, come all - come find the next several thousand mysteries that you just have to read.

Up next: We’ll be packing for Germany as we travel to Internationale Krimis!

photo courtesy of smcgee

The lucky thirteenth installment of the Carnival is pulling your leg at Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Magazine. Setting up the rides and freak shows on April Fool’s Day should not reflect on Mr. Crider’s dignified self. No indeed. In fact, if he ever had any pretense of dignity, posting items about large gator sightings, crocodile thefts, and the progressive nature of his home state should have disabused everyone of that idea some time ago.

Come along for the rides as Mr. Crider shows us around his personal list of the blogs every crime fiction aficionado should read.

Up next: the carnival is traveling to my backyard - to Barbara Fister’s Place.  Obviously, I was not feeling terribly clever the day I named that particular corner of the internets.

photo courtesy of  StevenM-61

There’s something very heartwarming about our dozenth carnival. This one celebrates the victim - what would we do without him? It’s the Dead Guy Carnival. To be specific, it’s partying in the blogspace of the Hey, There’s a Dead Guy in the Living Room, an ensemble effort that covers books from writing to publishing to promoting to reviewing. Which is sort of where the Dead Guy comes in, because it is reviewer Sharon Wheeler (aka Shaz) who is our mid-March host. As a professional critic, she is a self-proclaimed “fussy blogger.” Her creme-de-la-carnival picks are Eurocrime, Crime Always Pays, and AustCrimeFiction for their excellent international book coverage, Hedgehog and EvilE for chutzpah, and “must-read” Murderati. especially pointing out Thursdays when the dynamic duo, Ken Bruen and Louise Ure, post.

Next up: We’re taking our lucky thirteenth carnival to the Republic of Tejas, where Bill Crider publishes his Pop Culture Magazine. Check it out around April Fool’s Day - no pun intended.

photo of Dia de los Muertos sugar skulls courtesy of digiyesica.

The Jungle Red Writers are hosting the “in like a lion” edition of the Carnival. And, in keeping with lions and with women’s history month, they are highlighting blogs that feature Strong Women. And yes, there are lots of them. Lady killers. Good girls who kill for money. Lipstick chroniclers. Writers who plot, and have momentary lapses. All that and more. Come one, come all - see the strong women of the carnival!

Up next: Sharon Wheeler will entertain the carnival at Hey, There’s a Dead Guy in the Living Room, around March 6th.

Love is in the air at this Valentine’s Day edition of the Carnival. BV Lawson, the VB genius behind the awesome In Reference to Murder site, has pulled together a selection of blog treats as scrumptious and healthy as a box of special dark chocolate. There are short stories specially written for the day that feature the slings and arrows of love and crime, celebrations of crime fiction that features romantic duos, appreciations of romantic suspense, and some cover art you have to check out. Right now.

How many titles can you come up with that get to the heart of the matter? The Women of Mystery have started a list. All this - plus some heart-warming images from Bad Astronomy. It’ll make your heart go pitter-pat.

Next up: continuing with the color scheme, the Carnival travels next to the lair of the Jungle Red Writers around March 1st.

photo courtesy of russelldavies

Crimespot has managed to host a second edition of the Carnival - this one all singing, all dancing! There’s some wonderful listening to be had here, from Angie’s incomparable In for Questioning, to a peek Behind the Black Mask, to . . . well, you’ll just have to dance on over to the carnival to find out.

Is this what happens when you’re up to your you-know-what in aggregators?