Arts & Entertainment Community

Crime Con founder hoping for a killer weekend

The inaugural West Sound Crime Con is this weekend at locations from Bainbridge Island to Gig Harbor.

Crime Con is the brainchild of Olalla resident and New York Times best-selling author Gregg Olsen.

“I’ve wanted to do this for several years, (since) back before COVID,” Olsen said. “But then all the plans got put on hold.”

It’s not an actual “convention” he added. It’s a way to bring together fans of the true crime genre of which Olsen is a master.

Author and Olalla Bay Market owner Gregg Olsen organized West Sound Crime Con. Photo courtesy of Gregg Olsen

Crime Con begins Friday, Aug. 1

The three-day weekend kicks-off at 2p.m. Friday with a presentation by author and true crime addict James Renner at the Manchester Library, 8067 E. Main Street in Port Orchard. Renner will talk about his latest book “Scout Camp.” The presentation is free; RSVP here.

Friday’s main event is a 7 p.m. conversation between Olsen and author Andrea Dunlop, dubbed “Out of the Woods.” That is also the title of Olsen’s latest book, due to hit bookstores the same day.

Olsen and Dunlop will discuss the Idaho kidnapping of Shasta Groene and her brother, Dylan. This ticketed event will be at Bainbridge Performing Arts, 299 Madison Ave. N. on Bainbridge Island. Purchase tickets here.

Saturday events

Events on Saturday, Aug. 2, include:

• Seattle investigative journalist Rebecca Morris will dig into unsolved cases that continue to haunt her. They include the 1961 disappearance of 8-year-old Ann Marie Burr in Tacoma, and the disappearance of Kryon Horman, 7, in Portland in 2010. Morris’s books include “Ted and Ann,” “If I Can’t Have You” and “Boy Missing.” This free event takes place at 2 pm. at the Kitsap Regional Library, 1301 Sylvan Way in Bremerton.
• Also at 2 p.m., Anne Jaeger will talk about the stories behind her just-released biography of her longtime friend, Seattle true crime author Ann Rule. This event takes place at Harbor History Museum, 4121 Harborview Drive in Gig Harbor. At press time, this event is wait-listed.
• Saturday at 5 p.m. at Olalla Bay Market, novelist D.D. Black discusses his bestselling set-in-Kitsap series about Thomas Austin and FBI Task Force S.W.O.R.D. Olalla Bay Market is located at 13965 Crescent Valley Road S.E.
• Saturday at 7 p.m., Bremerton’s Admiral Theatre, 515 Pacific Ave., will host “PNW Unsolved” with writers Lindsey Wade, Anne Bremner, Richard Renner and Olsen discussing the region’s most notorious unsolved cases, including the disappearances of Oakley Carlson, Lindsay Baum and Susan Cox Powell. Buy tickets here.

Sunday events

Events on Sunday, Aug. 3, include:

• Jaeger will sign copies of “The Rule of Crime,” her biography of Rule, the “Queen of True Crime,” at Olalla Bay Market, 13965 Crescent Valley Road S.E in Olalla. This free meet-and-greet starts at noon.
• At 2 p.m. at the Olalla Grange, “Paranormal Pete” Orbea, an expert on Port Gamble legendary ghosts, will talk about the apparitions said to haunt crime scenes throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Olsen will introduce Orbea and will answer questions about the hauntings at Starvation Heights, the Olalla site of Dr. Linda Hazzard’s “hospital” where several people starved to death taking her “fasting cure.” The Grange is located at 7554 S. E. Fragaria Road. Free.
• Sunday evening, Olsen will lead a murder mystery experience at a sold-out event at Olalla Vineyard and Winery.

Gregg Olsen

Olsen has spent his career writing “mostly crime stories,” he said. Many focus on unsolved crimes; others re-create gruesome details and dig into the “whys” of the crimes.

“The world is changing fast, but people are still fascinated by crime stories,” Olsen said. “In fact, true crime has never been hotter. It’s not just for entertainment. People know stuff. And they like to share what they know – and that can lead to new clues and even solutions. Cold cases can be solved.”

More than 600 people already signed up for Crime Con events. Several events are already sold out. He hopes to make it an annual event.

Click here for information and tickets.