By Teresa Peschel: This year Murder As You Like It returned after a three-year hiatus. It’s a small, one-day mystery convention sponsored by the Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop, one of the few mystery-focused bookshops in the country. This convention was the ninth one.

Deb Beamer, the owner, is a long-time mystery fan. She hosts numerous authors along with a wide variety of programs. I’ve spoken there on 13 Poirots and 7 Miss Marples.

Fifteen authors participated: Nicole Asselin, R.G. Belsky, Matty Dalrymple, Annette Dashofy, John DeDakis, Peter W.J. Hayes, Sarah Ickes, Con Lehane, Liz Milliron, Sandy Nork, Tj O’Connor, Lissa Marie Redmond, Dennis Royer, Karen Shugart, and Greg Stone. Bill Peschel emceed the event.

The authors are a varied bunch with some very diverse backgrounds. R.G. Belsky in particular is someone you already know in a roundabout way: he worked for the New York Post and helped develop the most famous headline in the world: Headless Body Found in Topless Bar. The authors’ books range from cozies to police procedurals, historicals to thrillers, suspense to insurance fraud, soft-boiled and hardboiled.

There were three panels: “Why research is important”; “Cops, crimes, and the blurred lines”; and “Country vs. city crimes”.

The panels were interspersed with author roundabouts, where each author moved from table to table, giving about five minutes to chat with the mystery fans.

There was time to buy books and get them signed.

It’s a friendly group. It’s small enough you can talk to the authors and other fans but just large enough that you’ll run out of time before you talk to everyone, whetting your appetite for next year.