Anthony Boucher, Bouchercon’s namesake, was a respected book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1942-1947. Mystery and crime fiction readers rely on book reviews to help us select our next reads, and mystery writers thrive on positive critical reception of our work. But, in recent years, the book review section of The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Associated Press have been eliminated or downsized. In this literary salon, book critics discuss what it will mean for both authors and readers, if book reviews are now harder to find, and how literary criticism can remain relevant in an era of algorithms, influencers, and byte-sized information.

Discussants: Ron Charles, Oline Cogdill, Maureen Corrigan, Paula L.Woods, Jenny Yacovissi, Kris Zgorski Moderator: E.A. Aymar.