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Friday, September 5, 2025

SPECIAL EVENTS

Speed Dating
7:30 am - 9:30 am
Carondelet Ballroom

Author Speed Dating – Connect with New Readers!

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Curious about Author Speed Dating at Bouchercon? This fun and fast-paced event is a great way for authors to introduce their books to a fresh audience! Forty authors will circulate in pairs while 144 fans sit back and enjoy a series of engaging two-minute pitches. Les and Leslie Blatt will be your hosts for this exciting session.

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Sign-ups for Speed Dating will open after panel assignments have been announced. This ensures that participating authors can avoid scheduling conflicts. Stay tuned for more details on how to register!

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Important Note: If you are a Debut Mystery Author, please sign up for the Debut Mystery Authors Breakfast instead of Speed Dating.  Email: debutauthor2025@bouchercon.com

Bouchercon Anthony Mixer
Carondelet Ballroom
12:00 pm - 12:55 pm

Join us for a special reception to celebrate and congratulate the 2025 Anthony Award nominees at Bouchercon New Orleans!

This exclusive event honors outstanding achievements in mystery and crime fiction across the following categories:

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  • Best Hardcover Novel

  • Best First Novel

  • Best Paperback Original/E-Book/Audiobook Original Novel

  • Best Short Story

  • Best Juvenile/Young Adult

  • Best Critical or Nonfiction Work

  • Best Anthology or Collection

  • Best Historical (Set before 1949)

  • Best Paranormal

  • Best Cozy or Humorous

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Mingle with acclaimed mystery authors, connect with fellow fans, and toast to the best in the genre. Enjoy light snacks and a cash bar in an atmosphere filled with excitement and literary talent.

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Don’t miss this unforgettable event—see you there!

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Bouchercon Murder Mystery Dinner Theater
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Carondelet Ballroom
A Spectacular Host of Characters
Starring
Heather Graham
Jeff Ayers
Lisa Black
Jon Land
Alexandra Sokoloff
Clay Stafford
Kelli Stanley

We’ve gathered as mystery writers to dine and listen to an amazing speaker! Someone who knows about criminal procedures, forensics, a speaker who has worked with just about every law enforcement agency out there!

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But of course, we’re at Bouchercon.

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Dinner can’t quite go completely as planned!

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There will be a crime to solve and suspicious people who have joined with us, those who probably have knowledge about what’s happened, who are, at the very least, suspicious . . .

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With one of them being completely criminal in a most deadly fashion!

But then again, it’s Bouchercon.

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And the guests at the table  who can first solve the crime will all receive a $50 dollar gift certificate, good with our Bouchercon bookseller.

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Solve a crime, read a crime . . . it all works together!

Underrepresented - Voices in Crime Fiction: A Celebration
Bissonet Ballroom
Friday, September 5th, 8:45 pm - 9:45 pm

Sponsored by Queer Crime Writers & Sisters in Crime

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Join us for a celebration of diverse voices in crime fiction! Enjoy dessert while mingling with writers. Play Writer Bingo for a fun, interactive way to engage with the authors shaping the future of the genre. Connect with authors, discover new writers, and explore emerging trends and themes in mysteries and thrillers. Help us all raise up the voices of queer writers, disabled writers, crime writers of color and other marginalized voices.

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