Noir at the Bar
SEPTEMBER 26TH AT 6:30 P.M.
On the night before the Maine Crime Wave, join us for a night of suspense, betrayal, and retribution from Maine's crime writing community at Novel Bar & Café. Hosted by Matt Cost and Jule Selbo, the night will feature a criminally phenomenal line up of writers including Brenda Buchanan, Richard Cass, Bruce Robert Coffin, Paul Dorion, Mo Drammeh, Julia Spencer Flemming, Kate Flora, Chris Holm, Barbara Ross, Gabriela Stiteler, and Katie York.
Doors open at 6:30, but the event starts at 7:00! The event will take place in the Speakeasy at Novel Bar and Cafe, not in the main area.
Arrive at 6:30 to grab a drink, connect with members of the crime writing community, purchase some books from Kelly's Bookstore, and settle in for twisted tales read by masters of the craft, trivia, and prizes.
Investigate the featured writers below!
Hosts:
Matt Cost has owned a video store, a mystery bookstore, a gym. Matt taught junior high, and coached just about every sport imaginable. Now he writes histories and mysteries. He has eighteen published books and is busy writing his twenty-second.
Jule Selbo loves stories in all forms; she started as a playwright, became a screenwriter in Los Angeles, and then moved to Maine to write novels. 7 DAYS, A Dee Rommel Mystery, is the fourth of a crime/mystery series that follows 10 DAYS and 9 DAYS, 8 DAYS. The books have received recognition that includes being listed on Kirkus’ Top 5 Mysteries from Small Publishers, winning the Silver Falchion Award, a Foreword Review Honorable mention, a Maine Literary Award nomination, and more
Featured Crime Writers:
Brenda Buchanan sets her novels in and around Portland. Her three-book Joe Gale series features a contemporary newspaper reporter with old-school style who covers the courts and crime beat at the fictional Portland Daily Chronicle. Brenda’s short story, “Means, Motive, and Opportunity,” was in the anthology Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories 2021 and received an honorable mention in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. Her story “Assumptions Can Get You Killed” appeared in Wolfsbane: Best New England Crime Stories 2023 and a new short story, “Cape Jewell,” will be included in Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025, to be released in November. An active member of Sisters in Crime, Brenda also serves on the organizing committees of both the New England Crime Bake and the Maine Crime Wave. She's also a longtime member of the Maine Crime Writers blog.
Richard Cass is the author of seven Elder Darrow jazz mystery books and The Last Altruist, a crime novel. His books have won the Maine Literary Award and the Nancy Pearl Librarian’s Award for Genre Fiction. Hard as a Headstone will be published by Islandport Press in 2026.
Bruce Robert Coffin is an award-winning novelist and short story writer. A retired detective sergeant, Bruce is the author of the Detective Byron Mysteries, co-author of the Turner and Mosley Files with LynDee Walker, and author of the forthcoming Detective Justice Mysteries. Winner of Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Awards for Best Procedural, and Best Investigator, and the Maine Literary Award for Best Crime Fiction, Bruce was also a finalist for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. His Anthony Award nominated short fiction has been published in a dozen anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories, 2016.
Paul Doiron is the best-selling author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels set in the Maine woods. His first book, THE POACHER'S SON, won the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award and was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel. PopMatters named it one of the best novels of the year. His second, TRESPASSER, won the 2012 Maine Literary Award. His novelette “Rabid” was a finalist for the 2019 Edgar in the Best Short Story category. Paul’s twelfth book, DEAD BY DAWN won the New England Society's 2022 Book Award for Fiction, as well as his second Maine Literary Award. It was also a finalist for the Barry Award. Paul is the former chair of the Maine Humanities Council, Editor Emeritus of "Down East: The Magazine of Maine," and a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing. He lives on a trout stream on the Maine midcoast.
Mo Drammeh is a student at the University of Maine and a member of the Honors College. He was among Maine Magazine's Mainers of The Year in 2022 for his writing, was the winner of the 2022 Crime Flash Competition, and is a 2023 Macklin Fellow. Mo grew up in Bangor, Maine, and has lived there all his life.
Julia Spencer Fleming is the New York Times bestselling author of One Was a Soldier, and an Agatha, Anthony, Dilys, Barry, Macavity, and Gumshoe Award winner. She studied acting and history at Ithaca College and received her J.D. at the University of Maine School of Law. Her books have been shortlisted for the Edgar, Nero Wolfe, and Romantic Times RC awards. Julia lives in a 190-year-old farmhouse in southern Maine.
Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. The author of twenty-eight books spanning many genres, including crime fiction, true crime, memoir, and nonfiction, and many short stories. Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction.
Chris Holm is the author of the cross-genre Collector trilogy, which recasts the battle between heaven and hell as old-fashioned crime pulp; the Michael Hendricks thrillers, which feature a hitman who only kills other hitmen; thirty-odd short stories that run the gamut from crime to horror to science fiction; and the standalone CHILD ZERO, a biological thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton. His work has been selected for THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES, named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, garnered praise from Stephen King, and won a number of awards, including the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel. He lives in Portland, Maine.
Barbara Ross is the author of twelve mystery novels and six novellas in the Maine Clambake series, all published by Kensington. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She has also written the Jane Darrowfield Mysteries. In her former life, Barbara was a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of successful start-ups in educational technology. She and her husband live in Portland, Maine.
Gabriela Stiteler is a writer and educator based in Portland, Maine. She has been shortlisted for the Robert L. Fish Award and inclusion in the Best American Mystery and Suspense twice. You can find her writing in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Rock and a Hard Place, Stone's Throw, and Dark Yonder as well as numerous anthologies.
Katie York writes queer thrillers. She was nominated for UCLA’s James Kirkwood Award in 2023 and received both the 2024 StoryStudio PubCrawl Scholarship and the 2024 Darcy Scott Award.
Top Row from L-R: Jule Selbo (Host), Matt Cost (Host), Paul Doiron, Bruce Robert Coffin, Kate Flora
Middle Row from L-R: Richard Cass, Brenda Buchanan, Katie York, Chris Holm, Gabriela Stiteler
Bottom Row from L-R: Mo Drammeh, Julia Spencer Fleming, Barbara Ross