Here is the mystery surprise of the year – and a joyous one it is! Putnam has announced that there will be a new Dick Francis novel in the fall, “Under Orders,” to be published in September.It will be a happy day indeed for the legion of fans of one of the best and most loved mystery writers of the past half-century.

For many years Dick and Mary Francis had a great thing going. Beginning with his first novel, “Dead Cert,” in 1962, and continuing for 40 more books, up to “Shattered,” in 2000, Mary did the research for the rich backgrounds of many of her husband’s novels. Mr. Francis didn’t need help with the horse racing material, as he had been one of Britain’s great jockeys,becoming so successful that he was chosen to ride the horses of the Queen Mother. Mr. Francis incorporated Mary’s background material into the mystery novel,and then she edited it.

After Mary died, six years ago, Mr. Francis quit writing. They had been married for more than a half-century, and he thought he just couldn’t do it without her. Fortunately, their son, Felix, was able to persuade his father to get back in the saddle, taking on the accomplice role previously filled by his mother. He handled the research, Mr. Francis wrote the thriller, and then Felix did the final tweaking that editors inevitably do.

It’s too early to know if the new book will be another winner, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Past performances matter, and with Dick Francis, we’re talking about the Secretariat of mystery writers.

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While on the subject of Mr. Francis, here’s a quotation from his 1987 novel “Bolt”that resonates throughout all the history of crime literature: “The law doesn’t always deliver justice. The victim mostly loses. Too often the law can only punish; it can’t put things right.”

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Every now and then, it’s easy to look smart, to give the appearance that you actually know what you’re doing. In my year-end column devoted to the best books of the year, I ranked “Red Leaves” by Thomas H. Cook (now in trade paperback, Harvest/Harcourt, 289 pages, $14) as the no.1 novel of 2005.A few weeks later, it was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award. Okay, it didn’t win, but still … Then it was nominated for a Barry Award, which will be announced at the Bouchercon this fall. It’s not the most important award in the mystery writing community, but still … Now, it has also been nominated for a Dagger by the (British) Crime Writers’ Association in the Best Novel category.

CWA is the British equivalent of the Mystery Writers of America, and the Dagger has just become a bigger deal than ever. For the first time, what in the past has always been called the Gold Dagger now has a sponsor and is known as the Duncan Laurie Dagger.Prizes are nice, but so is L20,000 (the rough equivalent of $35,000), the rather heady sum offered by the private bank – one of the largest cash prizes in the history of mystery fiction. The awards banquet, a black-tie event, will be held tomorrow.

Mr. Cook is the only American nominee. His book is vying with these five British writers: Simon Beckett, “The Chemistry of Death” (Bantam); Ann Cleeves, “Raven Black” (Macmillan); Frances Fyfield, “Safer Than Houses” (Little, Brown); Bill James, “Wolves of Memory”(Constable); LauraWilson,”A Thousand Lies” (Orion).

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Just in case you don’t know how to pronounce the name of the perennial best seller John Lescroart (as I didn’t for a decade), it’s less-kwah (the opposite of more-kwah). More-kwah is right. His works have been published in 75 countries.

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Among the most influential writers of the past 20 years or so is James Patterson, who revolutionized fiction writing by employing short sentences in short paragraphs in short chapters. His two- and three-page chapters have become his signature style, since emulated by (too) many writers.

He knew what he was doing and became one of the best-selling writers in history. But the development of that style turns out to have been accidental, much like the famous story of Sir Isaac Newton discovering the nature of gravity when an apple fell off a tree onto his head.

Mr. Patterson had written about 100 pages of his 1988 novel “Midnight Club,” racing through a first draft while planning to flesh it out at a later time. When he reread the pages, he thought he had something interesting and was clearly right. He followed Elmore Leonard’s self-analysis of his own writing (albeit before Mr. Leonard published the dictum): “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”

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If you happen to be traveling in the South and want to visit an interesting and unusual mystery-related tourist at traction, go to the John Grisham Room at Mississippi State University, from which the enormously popular author graduated in 1977. On display are the manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, books in all languages, and other material donated by the courtly lawyer, writer, and Southern gentleman. The university reports that about 6,000 visitors a year come to examine the treasure trove.

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If you are an aspiring mystery writer and willing to travel, consider the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference: Focus on Mystery. It will be held November 2 to 5 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Albuquerque, N.M. Among the authors scheduled to help you solve the mystery of writing a mystery are Mr. Hillerman, J.A. Jance, and Michael McGarrity.

One cool feature is the new Tony Hillerman Mystery Short Story Contest, with a $1,500 prize. For more information, visit www.hillermanconference.com.

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Among those attending the Kentucky Derby was O.J. Simpson, who took a much-needed respite from the exhausting search for his wife’s murderer. He bet on a horse named Lawyer Ron because, he said, “I love lawyers.”

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And may I leave you with this thought? He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

Mr. Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan and the series editor of the annual “Best American Mystery Stories.” He can be reached at ottopenzler@mysteriousbookshop.com.