Eerie anniversary

A book signing at Kate's Mystery Books has long been a rite of passage for newly published crime authors. Kate Mattes, who opened the shop 25 years ago on Friday, May 13, is a tireless promoter of local writers. Now it's their time to return the favor.

The New England chapters of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America are throwing a party at the shop in honor of its 25th anniversary on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The public is invited.

Earlier this month Mystery Writers of America noted Mattes's devotion to selling the works of Boston crime writers and honored her with a Raven Award. Among Mattes's many fans is Hank Phillippi Ryan, whose "Prime Time" (Harlequin) recently won an Agatha Award for best first novel. Mattes was one of the first people to read the manuscript, and her enthusiasm buoyed Ryan's search for a publisher.

Crafty Yankees
The arts and crafts of immigrants and native-born Americans alike are celebrated in a new book and exhibit.

In "Keepers of Tradition: Art and Folk Heritage in Massachusetts," author Maggie Holtzberg, a folklorist with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, observes the makers of Nantucket lightship baskets, religious woodcarvings, and pottery. She visits Peter Kyvelos, an instrument maker in Watertown known as the "Stradivarius of oud making," and watches James T. Godbolt, also known as Jimmy Slyde and the "grandfather of tap," teach an aspiring dancer in Whitman.

Holtzberg's interviews invariably celebrate a pride in long-held traditions. Irish immigrant Ann Horkan, who crocheted lace collars and embroidered designs for her daughter's step-dancing dresses, told Holtzberg, "I think we need to hold on to old things."

Many of the creations pictured in the book are part of the "Keepers of Tradition" exhibit opening next Sunday at the National Heritage Museum, in Lexington. The book and exhibit are a joint project of the museum and the Mass. Cultural Council.

Local heroes
A debut novel set in Guatemala amid political tumult has won the Boston Authors Club's 11th annual Julia Ward Howe Book Award. "When the Ground Turns in Its Sleep" (Riverhead) is by Sylvia Sellers-Garcia, a Boston native with family in Guatemala.

Psychologist Jerome Kagan, whose latest book is "What Is Emotion?: History, Measures, and Meanings" (Yale University), was recognized for his achievements, and Brian Selznick for his young adult novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" (Scholastic).

The club, with an illustrious past dating to 1899, will give a nod to Colonial Massachusetts during a reception at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Boston Public Library. Award finalist Helen Marie Casey will read a poem from "Inconsiderate Madness" (Black Lawrence), her collection about Quaker martyr Mary Dyer, who was executed in 1660.

Coming out