A Mysterious (and Delightful) Affair in Princeton

Annamaria on Monday

It was the first (many us are hoping the first annual) event sponsored by The Cloak and Dagger, the Ivy League town's distinctive mystery book store.   For me and my writer buddies SJ Rozan, Nancy Bilyeau, and Ann Aptaker, the day began at Penn Station and the train to Princeton.

 

Then, a stroll through the university's splendid campus.

Toward the commercial district and a bite of lunch.  

Then on to the Community Arts Center, where our event took place.  The view from the upstairs windows was appropriate for our topic.

After registration and a glance at the books display...

...The sold-out crowd started gathering in the auditorium.

The bookstore's owner and our event organizer Jerry Lenaz welcomed the fans of crime fiction and introduced the panels.

First up, my great pal Jeff Markowitz and his line-up of "Regional Mystery Mavens"

 

That's Jeff Cohen at the end, so the others on this panel were between parentheses
of two Jeffs, who are the funniest, most suspenseful possible crime writers.  

Next Me and my cohort of authors of "Historical-International Sleuths.

Last came the best part, our best-selling, award winning guest of honor, who spoke about "The Mystery Genre Revolution" in a lecture worthy of our Princetonian venue and our determination to be entertaining as well as literary.  SJ's thesis was the state of our genre--why fans crave our stories and why people in the USA who want to cast themselves as highbrow distain genre fiction.  We loved it.

After some book signing, we all repaired to a local watering hole for drinks, some supper, and to revel in the fun of being a members of the New York area mystery writing tribe.

My dear friend Ann Aptaker (pictured above) offered a ride home to NYC, during which the full moon kept us company until we reached our home beautiful hometown.