1/24/1977 Elmore Leonard stops drinking

January 24 1977.  On this date Elmore Leonard, after years of trouble with the bottle, gave up booze for good.

1/19/1809 Edgar Allan Poe is born

January 19, 1809.  Edgar Allan Poe is born in Boston, Massachusetts.  In forty mostly miserable years he managed to invent the mystery story (including such now-cliches as the master detective, the narrating assistant, the least-likely suspect, the roman a clef, the obvious clue, the inverted mystery, and on and on).  He also earned some credit for the formation of horror and science fiction, and wrote a pretty good poem about a birdie.

1/1/2015 Today in MYSTERY HISTORY begins

January 1, 2015

A new blog begins.  Today in MYSTERY HISTORY will report on some event related to mystery fiction every day.  It could be an author's birthdate, the anniversary of a book's publication or a movie's release, the date of some event in a crime novel, or much more.

If you have a suggestion for something you would like to see commemorated, leave it in the comments.  One warning: I don't list the birthdays of living individuals.

Enjoy!