What's New - 2006
Archive
Click here
for more information about this page.
12/22/06
Updated
the Calendar page to include the Backspace
Writers Conference and the web link for Left
Coast Crime in Denver in 2008.
12/12/06
The
December/January 2007 issue of Mystery News was mailed yesterday,
Dec 11th. Our cover interview (by James Clar) is of Ace Atkins, whose newest
novel, White Shadow, is based on the real-life, unsolved murder of
a South Florida racketeer in the 50s. Steve Miller catches up with "In
the beginning" alumni Libby Hellman, I.J. Parker, Mark Coggins and Victor
Gischler. Tim Davis, who once lived in Iceland (who knew?) interviews Arnaldur
Indridason, whose Jar City was published in the US in 2005 to great
acclaim. Marv Lachman's "Out of the Past" column highlights the
work of Lillian de la Torre, who was one of the earliest practitioners of
the historical detective story - and who drew praise from Ellery Queen and
Anthony Boucher. Dave Magayna reviews the audio version of The Altman Code,
by Gayle Lynds. And, of course, our usual columns, reviews, previews and convention
calendar.
Updated the Back Issues, Authors
and Calendar pages.
12/6/06
The
Mystery Writers of
America has announced that the recipients of the 2007 Raven Awards for
outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative
writing are Kathy Harig, owner of Mystery
Loves Company (Baltimore, MD and Oxford,
MD), and Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books
& Books (various locations in FL) and co-founder of Miami
Book Fair International.
The MWA also announced
the results of their annual election. The new national President is Nelson
DeMille; six new members were elected to MWA’s Board, one from within
commuting distance of New York, and five at-large directors. The new board
members are Linda Fairstein, Sandy Balzo, Lee Goldberg, Jeremiah Healy, D.P.
Lyle and Michele Martinez. These board members will begin serving their two-year
terms in January
of 2007.
Updated
the Calendar page to include lots of events in
2007.
11/20/06
Added
some photos of Lowell, MA that were taken during a visit there for the New
England Crime Bake a week ago. Click here
to see them.
The American Crime Writers
League announced that Dick Adler, reviewer for the Chicago Tribune, is
the recipient of the 2006 Ellen Nehr Award for mystery reviewing.
The
UK’s Crime Writers Association has announced that the Short Story Award
was presented to Robert Barnard for "Sins of Scarlet"
(in ID: Crimes of Identity)
The second annual Quill Awards were presented in October. The winner and nominees
in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category were:
Twelve
Sharp by Janet Evanovich
The
Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (edited by
Leslie S. Klinger)
Promise Me by Harlan Coben
Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
Udated
the Calendar page to delete obsolete info and fixed
the link to the current issue Table of Contents on the home page.
10/23/06
The
October/November 2006 issue of Mystery News was mailed today.
Our cover interview (by Chris Aldrich) is of Reed Farrel Coleman, whose newest
book Hose Monkey was just published under the pseudonym of Tony Spinosa.
Steve Miller is back with his "In the beginning" column on Patrick
Quinlan, author of Smoked, a thriller set in Maine. Lynn Kaczmarek
interviews Sarah Stewart Taylor, whose sleuth Sweeney St. George is an expert
in funerary art. Anthony winner Marv Lachman's "Out of the Past"
column is on Eleazar Lipsky, who was a NY Assistant DA and legal counsel for
MWA when not penning mysteries. Dave Magayna's audio reviews include Double
Indemnity by James M. Cain and Peter Michale Robotham's Lost.
And, of course, our usual columns, reviews, previews and convention calendar.
Updated the Back Issues, Authors
and Calendar pages. Added the First
Annual Delaware Book Festival to the Calendar.
The
Mystery Writers of America announced that Stephen King has been named
the 2007 Grand Master. The award, which represents the pinnacle of achievement
in the mystery field and was established to recognize important contributions
to the mystery field over time as well as a significant output of consistently
high quality, will be presented at the MWA's Edgar Awards Banquet in New York
City on April 26, 2007.
10/10/06
The
Crime Writers' Association has announced that the winner of this year's CWA
Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award - the
prize for the best historical crime novel of 2006 - is Red Sky Lament by
Edward Wright. The
award was presented by Sir
Bernard Ingham, who represented the judges, at an evening champagne reception.
Mr Wright received £3000, sponsored by the Estate of Ellis Peters and
her publishers, the Headline Book Publishing Group and the Little, Brown Book
Group.
Added
links to Euro Crime,
Australasian
Crime and Detectives
Beyond Borders on the General Mystery Links
page and updated the Calendar.
10/5/06
Our
Bouchercon photos are now up - click here
to view them. I got a bit ambitious and also put up photo albums from other
past conventions. We hope you enjoy the trip back in time. There are a few
pix from Left Coast Crime 2006 buried in the England/Paris album...although
LCC was the impetus for the trip I seem to have forgotten to take the camera
out of my bag that weekend!
The Bouchercon Standing Committee has given Jim Huang and Mike Bursaw the
go-ahead to pursue an Indianapolis, IN location for Bouchercon 2009. Tentative
dates: September 10 - 13.
9/30/06
The Anthony
Awards were presented at a special ceremony this afternoon:
Lifetime
Achievement Award: Robert B. Parker (not in attendance)
Best
Mystery Novel: Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
Best First Mystery: Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein (Carroll
& Graf)
Best
Paperback Original: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman
(Plume)
Best
Short Story: "Misdirection" by Barbara Seranella
(Greatest Hits, Carroll & Graf)
Best Critical/Nonfiction: The Heirs of Anthony Boucher by
Marv Lachman (Poisoned Pen Press)
Best Fan Publication: Crimespree
Magazine, edited by Jon and Ruth Jordan
Special Service to the Field: Janet Rudolph, for Mystery Readers
International
We
congratulate all the winners, especially Marv Lachman, who has been a longtime
contributor and good friend to Mystery News!
9/29/06
The Shamus
Awards were presented tonight by the Private Eye Writers Association:
The
Eye - Award for Lifetime Achievement: Max Allan Collins
Best
Hardcover: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little,
Brown)
Best
Paperback Original: The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman
(Plume)
Best
First Novel: Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure (Mysterious Press)
Best
Short Story: "A Death in Ueno" by
Michael Wiecek (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine,
March, 2005)
9/28/06
News
from Bouchercon.
Beginning
next year Mystery News will become the co-sponsor of the Barry
Awards and the Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery
Fandom at the invitation of George Easter, the publisher of Deadly Pleasures
Mystery Magazine, the founder of the awards. We are very glad to join
in commemorating Barry Gardner and Don Sandstrom who were longtime contributors
to Mystery News as well as Deadly Pleasures. We'll
post more on this subject after Bouchercon.
Earlier
this evening the following awards were presented:
The
Independent Mystery Booksellers Association presented the Dilys Award for
the book IMBA members most enjoyed selling in 2005 to Colin Cotterill for
Thirty-Three Teeth. This award had been announced at Left Coast Crime
in March, but Cotterill had not been present.
The
Macavity Awards, voted on by the members of Mystery Readers International:
Best
Novel: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Best
First Novel: Immoral
by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's)
Best
Nonfiction: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)
Best
Short Story: "There Is No Crime on Easter Island"
by Nancy Pickard (EQMM, Sept-Oct 2005)
Sue
Feder Historical Mystery Award: Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline
Winspear (Henry Holt)
The
Barry Awards, voted on by the readers of Deadly Pleasures:
Best
Novel: Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
Best
First Novel Published In The U.S. in 2005: Cold Granite
by Stuart Macbride (St. Martin's)
Best
British Novel Published In The U.K. in 2005: The Field of Blood
by Denise Mina (Bantam Press)
Best
Thriller: Company Man by Joseph Finder (St. Martin's)
Best
Paperback Novel: The James Deans by Reed Farrell Coleman (Plume)
Best
Short Story: "There is No Crime on Easter Island"
by Nancy Pickard (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine,
Sept/Oct 2005)
Don
Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery
Fandom: Janet A. Rudolph (voted on by previous recipients)
The
American Crime Writers League announced that Dick Adler
is the recipient of this year's Ellen Nehr Award for mystery reviewing.
Adler reviews for the Chicago Tribune.
9/25/06
We'll
be on our way to Bouchercon shortly - if you're attending, come see us in
the dealer's room. Once again we will be hosting a series of Meet & Greet
signings with some of the authors who have been interviewed in Mystery
News. Click here to see the schedule.
The
UK Crime Writers' Association has announced the shortlist for this year's
CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award - the prize for the best historical
crime novel of 2006.
The
winner will be announced at a champagne reception on Monday, October 9th.
The winning author will receive £3000, sponsored by the Estate of Ellis
Peters and her publishers, the Headline Book Publishing Group and the Little,
Brown Book Group.
The
Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard (John Murray)
Nefertiti & The Book Of The Dead by Nick Drake (Bantam)
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (Faber & Faber)
Sovereign by CJ Sansom (Macmillan)
The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White (Weidenfeld & Nicholson)
Red Sky Lament by Edward Wright (Orion)
After
a long hiatus, there's a new "issue" of The Thrilling Detective
Web Site up. Click here
to see the latest!
The
Edinburgh Book Festival has posted audio recordings and transcripts of selected
events from this year's festival. Click here
for more info.
The International Thriller Writers has announced the guidelines for submission
of works for the ITW 2007 Thriller Awards. Click here
for more information.
Updated
the Calendar to include Virginia
Festival of the Book, No
Crime Unpublished Conference and Bloody
Words VIII.
9/1/06
Updated
the Calendar to include the 4th annual MysteryFest
on September 15th and 16th.
Corrected the year in the 7/25 post below. Thank you to J. Alec West for bringing
the error to my attention.
8/26/06
Updated
the Calendar to include the 2007 LA
Times Festival of Books.
8/25/06
According
to Dave Zeltserman, the Western Noir Summer issue of Hardluck Stories guested
edited by Ed Gorman is now online at: http://www.hardluckstories.com
and features western hardboiled and noir crimes stories by Trey Barker, Jon
Breen, Jan Christiansen, Bill Crider, Jeremiah Healy, Steve Hockensmith, Bentley
Little, Norman Partridge, James Reasoner, Jerry Raine, Harry Shannon,
Terry Tanner and T. L. Wolf.
8/21/06
The
August/September 2006 issue of Mystery News was mailed today.
Our cover interview (by Gary Warren Niebuhr) is of Harry Hunsicker, whose
second book in the Lee Henry "Hank" Oswald series, The Next Time
You Die, was published in July by St. Martin's Minotaur. Lynn Kaczmarek
subs in at the helm of Steve Miller's "In the beginning" column,
which takes a look at Louise Penny, author of Still Life, winner of
the UK's New Book Dagger and the Arthur Ellis Award in Canada. Virginia R.
Knight interviews Australian author Kerry Greenwood, recipient of the Ned
Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award, whose Phryne Fisher series is being reprinted
in the US by Poisoned Pen Press. James Clar contributes an article on Raoul
Whitfield's seventy-five year old noir classic, Death in a Bowl. Marv
Lachman's "Out of the Past" column is on Dick Francis, whose second
career as a writer spans nearly 45 years and who, happily, will have a new
book out this autumn. Dave Magayna's audio reviews include To the Power
of Three by Laura Lippman and Michele Martinez's The Finishing School.
Along with our usual columns, reviews, previews and convention calendar.
Updated the Back Issues, Authors
and Calendar pages.
The International
Thriller Writers, Inc (ITW) has announced that the 2007 ThrillerMaster
Award for outstanding contribution to the thriller genre will be presented
to author James Patterson during ThrillerFest
2007 in New York.
Words
Without Borders: The Online Magazine For International Literature presents
their second "noir" issue, TEMPERS AND TEMPERATURES RISE, featuring
short fiction from around the world.
The Agatha
Christie website has news of a contest for librarians only, with a Grand
Prize of a trip to London for two, including tea with Dame Agatha's grandson,
Mathew Prichard. Runners-up receive the complete AGATHA CHRISTIE COLLECTION,
24 hardcovers in all, to be published between September 2006 and September
2007. Click here
for more info.
7/26/06
Corrected
the Calendar page dates for the New
England Crime Bake, which is held in November, not October!
7/25/06
Updated
the Calendar page to include the new website for
Bouchercon 2008 - Charmed
to Death - in Baltimore. (9/1/06 - corrected the year from 2003 to 2008
- whatever was I thinking a month ago??)
Mystery
News travels the globe - click here
to see our audio book reviewer, Dave Magayna, with MN in Vienna.
7/24/06
The
organizing committee for Bouchercon 2006 has announced the nominees for the
2006 Anthony Awards as follows:
Lifetime
Achievement Award: Robert B. Parker (who will not be attending the convention)
Best
Mystery Novel:
Bloodlines by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
To the Power of Three by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
Best First Mystery:
The Baby Game by Randall Hicks (Wordslinger Press)
Die a Little by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Tilt-a-Whirl by Chris Grabenstein (Carroll & Graf)
Best
Paperback Original:
The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Susan McBride (Avon)
The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
A Killing Rain by P. J. Parrish (Pinnacle)
Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie (Hard Case Crime)
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston (Ballantine)
Best Short Story:
"Driven to Distraction" by Marcia Talley (Chesapeake
Crimes II; Quiet Storm Press)
"House Rules" by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Murder
in Vegas, edited by Michael Connelly; Forge)
"Killer Blonde" by Elaine Viets (Drop-Dead Blonde;
Signet)
"Misdirection" by Barbara Seranella (Greatest
Hits, edited by Robert J. Randisi; Carroll & Graf)
"There is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard
(Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September-October 2005)
Best Critical/Nonfiction:
Behind the Mystery by Stuart Kaminsky (Hot House Press)
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, by Melanie
Rehak (Harcourt)
The Heirs of Anthony Boucher by Marv Lachman (Poisoned Pen Press)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Leslie S. Klinger (Norton)
Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron (Writer's
Digest)
Best Fan Publication:
Crimespree
Magazine, edited by Jon and Ruth Jordan
Deadly Pleasures,
edited by George Easter
Mystery News, edited by Lynn Kaczmarek
and Chris Aldrich
Mystery
Scene Magazine, edited by Brian Skupin and Kate Stine
Mystery Readers
Journal, edited by Janet Rudolph
Special Service to the Field:
George Easter, for Deadly Pleasures
Janet Rudolph, for Mystery Readers International
Maddy Van Hertbruggen, for 4 Mystery Addicts
Sarah Weinman, for Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
Congratulations
to all of the nominees and in particular to our contributors Marv Lachman
(nominated in Best Critical/Nonfiction) and Maddy Van Hertbruggen (nominated
in Special Service to the Field). We are thrilled to be nominated for the
third time - Mystery News won the Anthony for Best Fan Publication
in 2001 - and we thank all of our subscribers, contributors and supporters.
The winners will be announced on September 30 at Bouchercon in Madison, Wisconsin.
NBC's
new crime and mystery channel, SLEUTH, is working on a program called "America's
Top Sleuths that will be a 90 minute countdown of the top 25 iconic portrayals
of famous sleuths from film and TV." Right now, SLEUTH is holding an
online poll, asking people to vote for their favorite five. The results will
be revealed in October during the premiere of the program. You can vote for
your favorites at this link.
Updated
the Calendar page to include Killer
Nashville and Edinburgh
International Book Festival,
As
part of our 20th Anniversary Celebration, Sisters in Crime has commissioned
a questionnaire to gather statistics about America's reading habits
with an emphasis on crime.
Our organization, founded in 1986 by Sara Paretsky and other female
mystery writers, strives to strengthen the voice of women in the mystery
field through networking, mutual support, and advocacy. Our membership
is open to anyone, male or female, fan or author, with an interest in
preserving diversity in crime writing.
We've already done a random survey, and now we'd like to hear from the
mystery community in particular. We know members of this list have strong
opinions about many facets of the industry, and we'd love to hear yours.
The survey takes only a few minutes, is completely anonymous, and your
participation will help us quantify some of the issues facing crime
writers as well as their fans in today's changing and challenging marketplace.
Just go to our Web site at www.sistersincrime.org
and click on the survey link at the bottom of the home page. We'll
be posting the results in the near future. Thanks to all of you who
are willing to participate.
Updated
the Calendar page to include the Clive
Cussler convention, GoodisCon
2007, Book
'Em, Mayhem in
the Midlands, Popular
Culture Assn/American Culture Assn Annual Conference, as
well as updated guest info for the National
Book Festival and Malice
Domestic.
7/18/06
RIP
Mickey Spillane, who died yesterday at the age of 88. You can read his
obituary in the NY Times at this link.
Sarah Weinman's blog
contains several entries on Spillane's death, with links to dozens more.
If you missed the profile of Ken Bruen that was broadcast on CBS Sunday
Morning a couple of days ago, you can see the transcript at this link.
7/12/06
Dorothy
Uhnak, the pioneer policewoman and writer, has died. You can read her
obituary in the NY Times at this link.
7/9/06
Updated
Calendar page with new web link for St.
Hilda's Mystery and Crime Weekend and added WRITE
NOW! 2006, a writer's conference that will be
held in Phoenix, AZ.
7/5/06
Updated
Calendar page with dates for SleuthFest 2007
and updated guests for Love is Murder and Bouchercon 2007
7/4/06
Updated
Calendar page to include Left Coast Crime 2008,
which will be held in Denver, CO from March 6-9, 2008.
7/3/06
The
International
Thriller Writers gave out the first annual Thriller Awards on Saturday,
July 1, 2006. Thank you to J. Kingston Pierce of The
Rap Sheet, where I found the following list of the winners (which
JKP got from Stacy, who was at the award dinner):
Best
Novel: The Patriots Club by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)
Best
First Novel: Improbable by Adam Fawer (Morrow)
Best
Paperback Original: Pride Runs Deep by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)
Best
Screenplay: Cache (Hidden) by Michael Haneke
Lifetime
Achievement Award: Clive Cussler
Duncan
Lawrie Dagger (formerly the Gold Dagger): Raven Black
by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)
The judges
also highly commended Simon Beckett for The
Chemistry of Death (Bantam)
Duncan
Lawrie International Dagger (For the best crime novel translated
into English): The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas (Harvill;
Translated By Sian Reynolds)
CWA
Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (For the best adventure/thriller novel in the
vein of James Bond): Mr Clarinet by Nick Stone (Penguin)
CWA
Gold Dagger For Non-Fiction: The Dagenham Murder by Linda Rhodes, Lee
Sheldon And Kathryn Abnett (The Borough of Barking And Dagenham)
CWA
New Blood Dagger (For the best first novel by a previously-unpublished
writer): Still Life by Louise Penny (Headline)
CWA
Dagger In The Library (For the best author of crime fiction whose work
is currently giving the greatest enjoyment to readers): Jim Kelly
The judges also
highly commended Lesley
Horton
CWA
Debut Dagger (For the best unpublished crime novel by a commercially
unpublished writer): Imp by D V Wesselmann (AKA Otis Twelve)
The judges also
highly commended Moonshadow
by Diane Janes
Elmore
Leonard was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement
on May 10, 2006 at a separate ceremony in London.
For
more details, visit the CWA
webpage.
Mystery
Loves Company, Kathy Harig's wonderful store in Baltimore, is
opening a new branch in the beautiful and historic waterfront village
of Oxford, Maryland in July. Click here
for more information.
Added
some new small publishers to the Publishers
page. Updated the Calendar page to include
the Brooklyn Book Festival.
6/27/06
Cool
news on Michael
Connelly's website - The Overlook, an original Harry Bosch
novella, will be published in the New
York Times Magazine beginning in August 2006. This story will
be serialized every Sunday for 13 to 14 weeks. Even better, Echo Park,
the next Harry Bosch novel, will be released in hardcover in the UK and
Ireland on September 20, 2006, and in the USA and Canada on October 9,
2006. Harry must work closely with a killer to solve a homicide from 13
years ago.
Minor updates to the Calendar page to remove
outdated material and added
The Rap Sheet
blog and January
Magazine to the General Mystery Links
page.
6/25/06
The
Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) has announced the nominees for the
25th annual Shamus Awards, given annually to recognize outstanding achievement
in private eye fiction. The 2006 awards cover works published in 2005.
The awards will be presented on Sept. 29, 2006, at PWA's 25th Anniversary
Banquet in Madison, WI, during the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention.
Best
Hardcover
Oblivion
by Peter Abrahams (Wm. Morrow)
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais (Doubleday)
In a Teapot by Terence Faherty (Crum Creek Press)
The Man With the Iron-On Badge by Lee Goldberg (Five Star Press)
Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown)
Falling
Down
by David Cole (Avon)
The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
Deadlocked by Joel Goldman (Pinnacle)
Cordite Wine by Richard Helms (Back Alley Books)
A Killing Rain by PJ Parrish (Pinnacle)
Blood
Ties
by Lori G. Armstrong (Medallion)
Still River by Harry Hunsicker (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur)
The Devil's Right Hand by J. D. Rhoades (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Forcing Amaryllis by Louise Ure (Mysterious Press)
"Oh,
What a Tangled Lanyard We Weave" by Parnell Hall (Murder Most
Crafty - Berkley)
"Two Birds with One Stone" by Jeremiah Healy (AHMM,
Jan/Feb 2005)
"The Big Road" by Steve Hockensmith (AHMM,
May 2005)
"A Death in Ueno" by Michael Wiecek (AHMM,
March 2005)
"The Breaks" by Timothy Williams (EQMM, September/October
2005)
Readers
have until July 13th to cast a vote for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel
of the Year Award. On the shortlist are:
Strange
Blood by Lindsay Ashford
One Last Breath by Stephen Booth
The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards
The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill
The Torment of Others by Val McDermid
Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin
Vote
at this link.
A
special New Orleans-themed issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,
featuring the Big Easy’s native writers and artists, is slated for shipment
to newsstands in early September, following the one-year anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina’s devastating landfall.
Headlining the issue, which bears a November publication date, is fiction celebrating
New Orleans’ rich ethnic and cultural diversity. Short stories by crime-fiction
pros John Edward Ames, O’Neil De Noux, Tony Dunbar, Tony Fennelly, Barbara
Hambly, Greg Herren, Edward D. Hoch, Dick Lochte, William Dylan Powell, Sarah
Shankman, and Julie Smith span more than a century and a half of the Crescent
City’s history, from pre-Civil War days to the post-Katrina present. This
is New Orleans depicted by New Orleanians: Ten of the issue’s authors,
including poetry contributor James Sallis, hail from the beleaguered city. Several
lost homes or property in the storm.
The work of other notable New Orleans writers is discussed in a book review
column by Jon L. Breen, focusing exclusively on the region’s mystery writing.
Capturing the vibrancy of New Orleans for cover and interior illustrations are
artists Jenny Kahn, David Sullivan, and Herbert Kearney, all of whom also call
the city home.
EQMM’s publisher, Dell Magazines, has donated all advertising
for this special hurricane-recovery issue to organizations with rebuilding or
relief efforts ongoing in the areas affected by Katrina. Participating organizations
are Bridge House, the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans, Covenant House,
Habitat for Humanity, Reader to Reader, Inc., Save the Children, and the Volunteers
of America. For those wishing to make donations over the Internet, Ellery Queen’s
Mystery Magazine’s web site, www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm, provides links
to all of the participating charities.
To order single copies of the November 2006 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery
Magazine visit their web site at www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm,
or call toll free (1-800-220-7443).
Updated
the Calendar page to add about a dozen new events.
6/19/06
The
June/July 2006 issue of Mystery News was mailed today. Our cover
interview (by Virginia R. Knight) is of Jacqueline Winspear, whose third novel
in the Maisie Dobbs series, Pardonable Lies, is being published this
month in paper by Picador. Steve Miller's "In the beginning" column
focuses on Declan Hughes, whose debut novel The Wrong Kind of Blood introduces
Irish PI Edward Loy. Harriet Stay weighs in with an interview of Craig Johnson,
whose first novel featuring cowboy cop Sheriff Walt Longmire, The Cold Dish,
was nominated for a Dilys Award. Marv Lachman's "Out of the Past"
column is on Thomas Kyd, who was a scholar of the Elizabethian playwrights.
Dave Magayna's audio reviews include The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais
and Tim Dorsey's Cadillac Beach. And, of course, our usual columns, reviews,
previews and convention calendar.
Updated the Back Issues, Authors
and Calendar pages.
Mystery Readers International has announced the 2006 Macavity Award Nominations
(for works published in the U.S. in 2005).
Winners will be announced at Bouchercon during opening ceremonies, September
28, 2006.
One
Shot by Lee Child (Delacorte Press)
The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Plume)
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine Books)
Strange Affair by Peter Robinson (William Morrow)
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow (Knopf)
Solomon vs. Lord by Paul Levine (Bantam)
Immoral
by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's)
All Shook Up by Mike Harrison (ECW Press)
The Baby Game by Randall Hicks (Wordslinger Press)
The Firemaker by Peter May (St. Martin's)
Tracks
to Murder
by Jonathan Goodman (Kent State University)
Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers by Stuart Kaminsky; photographs
by Laurie Roberts (Hothouse Press)
New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels edited by Leslie S. Klinger
(Norton)
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
(Harcourt)
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach (Norton)
"It
Can Happen" by David Corbett in San Francisco Noir (Akashic
Books)
"Everybody's Girl" by Robert Barnard
"The Big Road" by Steve Hockensmith (AHMM,
May 2005)
"There Is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard
(EQMM, Sept-Oct 2005)
Sue
Feder Historical Mystery Award
In
Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Spectres in the Smoke by Tony Broadbent (St. Martin's)
The War of the World Murders by Max Allan Collins
Night's Child by Maureen Jennings (McClelland and Stewart)
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt)
6/10/06
Earlier
this weekend, the Crime Writers of Canada presented the 2006 Arthur Ellis
Awards as follows:
Best
Novel: April Fool by William Deverell (McClelland &
Stewart)
Best First Novel: Still Life by Louise Penny
(McArthur & Company)
Best
Short Story: "Lightning
Rider"
by Rick Mofina (in
Murder in Vegas;
Forge Books)
Best
Crime Writing in French:
Motel Riviera by Gerard Galarneau (Les Editions JCL)
Best
Non-Fiction: Under
the Bridge: The
True Story of the
Murder of Reena
Virk by Rebecca
Godfrey (HarperCollins
Canada)
Best
Juvenile:
Quid
Pro
Quo
by
Vicki
Grant
(Orca
Book
Publishers)
Derrick
Murdoch
Award
(presented
by
the
CWC
president
to
a
person
who
has
contributed
greatly
either
to
the
CWC
or
to
Canadian
crime
writing
as
a
whole):
Mary
Jane
Maffini
6/8/06
Deadly
Pleasures mystery magazine has announced the nominees for
the 2006 Barry Awards. The awards are named for Barry Gardner, who reviewed
for several mystery publications, including Mystery News
as well as Deadly Pleasures, before his untimely passing
in 1996.
Best
Novel:
Bloodlines
by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)
Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt (Mysterious)
Mr. Lucky by James Swain (Ballantine)
The Power of The Dog by Don Winslow (Knopf)
Best
First Novel Published In The U.S. in 2005:
Die
a Little by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's)
The Baby Game by Randall Hicks (Wordslinger Press)
Dark Harbor by David Hosp (Warner)
Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride (St. Martin's)
The Firemaker by Peter May (St. Martin's)
Best
British Novel Published In The U.K. in 2005:
The
Blood-Dimmed Tide by Rennie Airth (Macmillan)
Lifeless by Mark Billingham (Little Brown Uk)
Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason (Harvill)
A Good Day to Die by Simon Kernick (Bantam Press)
The Field of Blood by Denise Mina (Bantam Press)
Lost by Michael Robotham (Time Warner)
Company
Man by Joseph Finder (St. Martin's)
Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn (Atria)
The Inside Ring by Michael Lawson (Doubleday)
Seven Deadly Wonders by Matthew Reilly (Simon & Schuster)
Map of Bones by James Rollins (Morrow)
Private Wars by Greg Rucka (Bantam)
The
James Deans by Reed Farrell Coleman (Plume)
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston (Ballantine)
Night's Child by Maureen Jennings (Mcclelland & Stewart)
Now You See Me by Rochelle Krich (Ballantine)
The Dead Don't Get Out Much by Mary Jane Maffini (Napoleon Publishing)
Inside Out by John Ramsey Miller (Dell)
"The
Big Road" by Steve Hockensmith (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery
Magazine, May 2005)
"Needle Match" by Peter Lovesey (Murder Is My Racquet;
Mysterious, edited By Otto Penzler)
"There is No Crime on Easter Island" by Nancy Pickard
(Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sept/Oct 2005)
"Love and Death in Africa" by Joan Richter (Ellery
Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 2005)
"The Method in Her Madness" by Tom Savage (Alfred
Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 2005)
The
winners in all the categories will be announced during Bouchercon held
in Madison, Wisconsin in September.
The
Crime Writers' Association
of Britain has announced the balance of the shortlists for the 2006
CWA Dagger Awards as follows:
Duncan
Lawrie International Dagger:
(For the best crime novel translated into English)
Excursion
to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri (Picador; Translated By Stephen Sartarelli)
Autumn of the Phantoms by Yasmina Khadra (Toby Crime; Translated
By Aubrey Botsford)
Dead Horsemeat by Dominique Manotti (Eurocrime; Translated By Amanda
Hopkinson & Ros Schwartz)
Borkmann's Point by Hakan Nesser (Macmillan; Translated By Laurie
Thompson)
Blood on the Saddle by Rafael Reig (Serpent's Tail; Translated By
Paul Hammond)
The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas (Harvill; Translated By Sian
Reynolds)
CWA
Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
(For the best adventure/thriller novel in the vein of James Bond)
The
Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Orion)
Sweet Gum by Jo-Ann Goodwin (Bantam Press)
Pig Island by Mo Hayder (Bantam Press)
The English Assassin by Daniel Silva (Penguin)
Mr Clarinet by Nick Stone (Penguin)
The Mercy Seat by Martyn Waites (Pocket Books)
Contact Zero by David Wolstencroft (Hodder & Stoughton)
CWA
Gold Dagger For Non-Fiction:
A
Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger (Fourth Estate)
The Story of Chicago May by Nuala O'faolain (Michael Joseph)
The Death of Innocents by Sister Helen Prejean (Canterbury Press)
Under and Alone by William Queen (Mainstream)
The Dagenham Murder by Linda Rhodes, Lee Sheldon And Kathryn Abnett
(The Borough of Barking And Dagenham)
And Then the Darkness by Sue Williams (John Blake)
CWA
New Blood Dagger:
(Formerly John Creasey Memorial Dagger for the best first novel by a previously-unpublished
writer)
Immoral
by Brian Freeman (Headline)
Still Life by Louise Penny (Headline)
Ice Trap by Kitty Sewell (Honno Welsh Women's Press)
CWA
Dagger In The Library:
(For the best author of crime fiction whose work is currently giving the
greatest enjoyment to readers)
Anthony
Horowitz
Lesley Horton
Jim Kelly
Margaret Murphy
Danuta Reah (AKA Carla Banks)
C.J. Sansom
Cath Staincliffe
CWA
Debut Dagger:
(For the best unpublished crime novel by a commercially unpublished writer)
The
House On Fever Street by Celina Alcock (UK)
The Belfast Boy by Paul Curd (UK)
Moonshadow by Diane Janes (UK)
Special Delivery by Sarah Kotler (USA)
One of Us by Iain Rowan (UK)
Ikumo by Elizabeth Saccente (UK)
A Carrion Death by Michael Sears (South Africa) And Stanley Trollip
(USA)
Fiddle Game by Richard A. Thompson (USA)
A Random Act of Generosity by Megan Toogood (UK)
Imp by D V Wesselmann (AKA Otis Twelve) (USA)
For
more details, visit the CWA
webpage. The winners will be announced at the Dagger Awards ceremony
in London on June 29.
Updated Calendar page.
5/31/06
Mystery
Readers International announces a new Macavity Award--the Sue Feder Macavity
Award for Historical Fiction-- in honor of the late
Sue Feder, reviewer, scholar and dedicated mystery fan. This will be an
annual award, nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers
International and presented at Bouchercon each year in the Fall.
Sue
Feder founded the Historical Mystery Appreciation Society with its quarterly
Journal, Murder Past Tense, dedicated to Ellis Peters.
Sue wrote reviews for Deadly Pleasures and Mystery
Readers Journal and was a member of DapaEm for many years. HMAS
bestowed the
Herodotus Award for many years, and the Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award
continues this tradition in her memory. Sue passed away on September 9,
2005. She was the wife of Larry Miller and sister of Nanette Williams
who have both given their kind permission and support for this award.
Sue did so much to perpetuate and support historical mysteries. Mystery
Readers International is so pleased to honor her contribution, dedication
and memory through this award.
The Bouchercon
2006 organizers have announced that the receipient of the Lifetime
Achievement Award, Robert B. Parker, will not be able to attend Bouchercon
in Madison. They have also announced that Joseph Wambaugh has been added
to the list of honorees as a Special Guest.
Al Navis, chair of Bouchercon 2004, has announced that cheques totaling
$30,000.00 were presented to literacy groups at a wrap-up reception and
dinner on Friday 18 November 2005 at the CN Tower in Toronto. In years
past, it was the tradition to forward any surplus funds to future conventions
but that seemed to fall by the wayside a few years ago, so when the convention
was awarded to Toronto in 2001, the Toronto Executive Committee decided
that if there were to be a surplus after all legitimate expenses were
paid, literacy programmes would benefit.
It
was also announced that a further donation of $1,000.00 would be targeted
for Cincinnati Media who have been give the dauntless task of assembled
and running a permanent Bouchercon website which would not only have links
to future conventions but would also be a living archive for all previous
conventions. It is hoped by the Toronto Committee that future Bouchercons
follow suit and continue to fund this necessary on-going project. Finally,
by running a totally transparent convention, financially speaking, and
by donating all surplus funds to legitmate charities, it is the fervent
wish of the Toronto Committee that past Bouchercons who haven’t yet
made their financial positions clear, do so now and that all future events
operate in a likewise transparent manner. It
is only with this model that the Bouchercon movement can continue in an
era with the Internet, regional conventions, more author tours, increased
travel expenses and inconvenience and a gradually declining collector’s/reader’s
base.
Al's
press release included a detailed breakdown of all revenues and expenses
of Bouchercon 2004.
The Drood Review and Crimespree Magazine announce that nominations are
now open for this year's Ross Thomas Prize, given annually to the best
first line in a thriller or mystery novel. This year's contest will include
a significantly expanded panel of judges, and is expected to attract over
a thousand entries.
Nominations can be made at http://www.themysterycompany.com/firstline/firstline.htm
by July 1, 2006. The first lines of all novels published in the English
language in the calendar year 2005 are eligible, including hard covers,
paperbacks, and electronic novels released by commercial presses or self-published.
Nominations can be made by readers, publishers, publicists, agents, and
authors. A short list of finalists will be announced August 1, and the
winner will be announced September 28, 2006, at Bouchercon in Madison,
Wisconsin.
Margaret
Kinsman and Elizabeth Foxwell received the George N. Dove Award from the
Detective/Mystery Caucus of the Popular Culture Association on April 14th.
The award, which recognizes "outstanding contributions to the serious
study of mystery and crime fiction" and is named for the late George
N. Dove, a pioneer in mystery scholarship, was presented during the caucus's
business meeting at PCA's Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kinsman,
a senior lecturer in the Department of Arts, Media, and English at London
South Bank University in the United Kingdom, is the executive editor of
Clues: A Journal of Detection, America's only scholarly
journal on mystery and detective fiction, which is published by Heldref
Publications in Washington, DC. Foxwell is managing editor for the journal;
an Agatha Award winner; producer and host of "It's a Mystery,"
a weekly radio program on mysteries; and coauthor of The Robert B.
Parker Companion (Berkley, 2005).
The
Borderland Noir issue of Dave Zeltserman's Hardluck
Stories, guest edited by Craig McDonald, is now online and features
among other things original noir short stories from Ken Bruen, Manuel
Ramos, Mike MacLean, Thereasa Kennedy, Craig McDonald, Bradley Mason Hamilton,
Garnett Elliot and Rick Deckard.
Updated
the Publishers page to include Echelon
Press. Updated the Calendar page to include
the Tony
Hillerman Conference. Added the Murderati
blog to the General Mystery Links page.
5/24/06
The
Crime Writers Association today announced the six-book shortlist for the
Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the biggest crime writing prize in the world. The
winner of the £20,000 prize will be announced at the 2006 Dagger
Awards ceremony, which will take place at the Waldorf Hilton in London's
Aldwych on Thursday 29 June. The
shortlist is as follows, in alphabetical order by author:
The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett (Bantam)
Raven Black by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)
Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Quercus)
Safer Than Houses by Frances Fyfield (Little Brown)
Wolves of Memory by Bill James (Constable)
A Thousand Lies by Laura Wilson (Orion)
For
more details about the shortlisted books, and why the judges chose them,
click here.
Updated
Calendar page to include conventions in Spain
and Italy, as well as several US book festivals.
5/1/06
There's
a new Bouchercon 2006 website and you can find it here.
4/28/06
Mystery
Writers of America has announced the winners of the 2006 Edgar Allan
Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television
and film published or produced in 2005. The Edgar Awards were presented
to the winners at the 60th Gala Banquet, April 27, 2006 at the Grand
Hyatt Hotel, New York City.
BEST
NOVEL: Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR: Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (St.
Martin's Minotaur)
BEST
PAPERBACK ORIGINAL: Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford (Dark Alley)
BEST FACT
CRIME: Rescue
Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece
by Edward Dolnick (HarperCollins)
BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created
Her by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)
BEST SHORT STORY: "The Catch" – Greatest Hits by James W. Hall
(Carroll & Graf)
BEST
JUVENILE: The Boys of San Joaquin by D. James Smith (Simon & Schuster
Children’s Books)
BEST
YOUNG ADULT: Last Shot by John Feinstein (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
BEST
PLAY: Matter of Intent by Gary Earl Ross (Theater Loft)
BEST
TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY: Sea of Souls – "Amulet", Teleplay
by Ed Whitmore
BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY: Syriana – Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan,
based on the book by Robert Baer (Warner Brothers)
ROBERT
L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD: Eddie Newton for "Home" – EQMM May
2005 (Dell Magazine) GRAND
MASTER: Stuart Kaminsky
ELLERY
QUEEN AWARD: Brian Skupin and Kate Stine, Co-Publishers of Mystery Scene Magazine
RAVEN
AWARDS: Black Orchid Bookshop (Bonnie Claeson & Joe Guglielmelli, owners)
Men of Mystery Conference (Joan Hansen, creator)
4/26/06
The
April/May 2006 issue of Mystery News was mailed on Monday,
April 24, 2006. Our cover interview (by W.E. Reinka) is of T. Jefferson
Parker, whose newest work, The Fallen, was published in March by
William Morrow. Steve Miller's "In the beginning" column focuses
on Cornelia Read, whose debut novel A Field of Darkness has
been getting a lot of pre-publication buzz. Marv Lachman's "Out of
the Past" column is on Catherine Aird, who has been writing novels
featuring Inspector Sloan for nearly 40 years. Dave Magayna is wowed by
the audio version of Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice (read
by Stanley Tucci!) and by Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams,
a young adult mystery. James Clar contributes a pair of articles, one
on a real-life Edinburgh mystery featuring Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus
and the other on Ross Macdonald's novel The Ivory Grin. Along with
our usual columns, reviews, previews and convention calendar.
Updated the Back Issues and Authors
pages to include info related to the new issue, and the Calendar
page to add a slew of 2006 events in the second half of 2006 and 2007.
The
winner of the Lefty Award for best humorous crime novel published
in the English language for the first time in 2005 is Cast
Adrift by Peter Guttridge (Allison & Busby, UK).
The
winner of the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical crime
novel (set anywhere in the time period up to 1956-fifty years before
LCC16) published in the English language for the first time in 2005
is Spectres
In The Smoke by Tony Broadbent, (St Martin's, US).
The
winner of the annual Dilys Award, for the book IMBA members most
enjoyed selling in 2005 is Thirty-Three Teeth by Colin Cotterill
(Soho).
The
winners of the 2005 Agatha Awards are:
Best
First Novel: Better Off Wed by Laura Durham (HarperCollins)
Best
Novel: The
Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page (William Morrow)
Best
Non-Fiction: Girl
Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)
Best
Short Story: "Driven to Distraction" by Marcia Talley
in Chesapeake Sisters in Crime II (Quiet Storm)
Best Children/Young Adult Fiction:
(tie) Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins) and Flush
by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf)
Lifetime
Achievement Award: Robert Barnard
Poirot Award: Doug Greene
The
Crime Writers of Canada announced the 2006 Arthur Ellis Award nominees
as follows. The winners will be announced at the Arthur Ellis Awards
dinner on June 8 in Toronto.
Cemetery
of the Nameless by Rick Blechta (RendezVous Press)
Blackfly Season by Giles Blunt (Random House Canada)
Cold Dark Matter by Alex Brett (Castle Street Mystery/Dundurn)
April Fool by William Deverell (McClelland & Stewart)
Strange Affair by Peter Robinson (McClelland & Stewart)
Best First Novel:
The Joining of Dingo Radish by Rob Harasymchuk (Great Plains Publications)
All Shook Up by Mike Harrison (ECW Press)
Blue Mercy by Illona Haus (Pocket Star Books/Simon & Schuster)
Still Life by Louise Penny (McArthur & Company)
Sugarmilk Falls Ilona van Mil (McClelland & Stewart)
"Plenty of Time" by Melanie Fogel (in When Boomers Go
Bad; RendezVous Press)
"The Red Pagoda" by Day's Lee (in When Boomers Go Bad;
RendezVous Press)
"Lightning Rider" by Rick Mofina (in Murder in Vegas;
Forge Books)
"The Headless Horseman and the Horseless Carriage" by
James Powell (in EQMM Sept/Oct 2005)
"The Knitting Circle" by Coleen Steele (in StorytellerWinter
2005)
Best Crime Writing in French:
La Trace de l'escargot by Benoit Bouthillette (Les Editions JCL)
La Rive noire by Jacques Cote (Alire)
Motel Riviera by Gerard Galarneau (Les Editions JCL)
Betrayed: The Assassination of Digna Ochoa by Linda Diebel (HarperCollins
Canada)
Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk by
Rebecca Godfrey (HarperCollins Canada)
Starlight Tour: The Last Lonely Night of Neil Stonechild by Susanne
Reber & Robert Renaud (Random House Canada)
Hell's Witness by Daniel Sanger (Penguin Canada)
Remember, Remember by Sheldon Goldfarb (UKA)
Quid Pro Quo by Vicki Grant (Orca Book Publishers)
Wild Ride by Jacqueline Guest (James Lorimer & Company)
Not a Trace by Norah McClintock (Scholastic Canada)
Red Sea by Diane Tullson (Orca Book Publishers)
The International Thriller Writers announced the nominees for
the first-ever International Thriller Awards, which will be presented
at ThrillerFest on July 1, 2006.
Lifetime Achievement: Clive Cussler
Best
Novel:
Panic
by Jeff Abbott (Dutton)
Consent To Kill by Vince Flynn (Atria)
Velocity by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
The Patriots Club by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)
Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
Best
First Novel:
Improbable
by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)
The Color of Law by Mark Gimenez (Doubleday)
Cold Granite by Stuart Macbride (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Painkiller by Will Staeger (William Morrow)
Beneath A Panamanian Moon by David Terrenoire (Thomas Dunne
Books)
Best
Paperback Original:
Sleeper
Cell by Jeffrey Anderson (Berkley)
Pride Runs Deep by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)
Upside Down by John Ramsey Miller (Dell)
The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina (Pinnacle Books)
Exit Strategy by Michael Wiecek (Jove)
Best
Screenplay:
Match
Point by Woody Allen
Syriana by Stephen Gaghan
Cache (Hidden) by Michael Haneke
Oldboy by Jo-Yun Hwang, Chun-Hyeong Lim, Joon-Hyung Lim, Chan-Wook
Park
Munich by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth
3/3/06
Malice
Domestic has announced the following nominations for the 2005 Agatha
Awards:
Best
First Novel
Better
Off Wed by Laura Durham (HarperCollins)
Blood Relations by Lisa Tillman (Hilliard & Harris)
Jury of One by Laura Bradford (Hilliard & Harris)
Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton (Penguin Group)
Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard (Avon/HarperCollins)
Best Novel
Owls
Well That Ends Well by Donna Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (Henry Holt Books)
Rituals of the Season by Margaret Maron (Mysterious Press & Warner
Books)
The Belen Hitch by Pari Noskin Taichert (University of NM Press)
The Body in the Snowdrift by Katherine Hall Page (William Morrow)
Trouble in Spades by Heather Webber (Avon/HarperCollins)
Best
Non-Fiction
Behind the Mystery—Top Mystery Writers by Stuart Kaminsky (Hothouse
Press)
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
(Harcourt)
The Heirs of Anthony Boucher by Marvin Lachman (Poisoned Pen Press)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Leslie S. Klinger (W.W. Norton
)
Best Short Story
"Driven to Distraction" by Marcia Talley in Chesapeake
Sisters in Crime II (Quiet Storm)
"House Rules" by Libby Fischer Hellmann in Murder
in Las Vegas (Tor)
"Mother Love" by Harriette Sackler in Chesapeake
Sisters in Crime II (Quiet Storm)
"Murder at Sleuthfest" by Barb Goffman in Chesapeake
Sisters in Crime II (Quiet Storm)
"Rear View Murder" by Carla Coupe in Chesapeake Sisters
in Crime II (Quiet Storm)
Best Children/Young Adult Fiction
Danger at the Zoo by Kathleen Ernst (American Girl-Pleasant Company Publications)
Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins)
Flush by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf)
The Coastwatcher by Elise Weston (Peachtree Publications)
The Curse of Ravenscourt by Sarah Masters Buckey (American Girl-Pleasant
Company Publications)
The
awards will be presented at the Agatha Awards Banquet on April 22, 2006,
held during the Malice Domestic
convention.
3/1/06
This
just in from the Left Coast
Crime organizers: announcing the shortlists for the Lefty and Bruce
Alexander Award for 2006.
The
Lefty Award for best humorous crime novel published in the English
language for the first time in 2005. There was some dispute over the eligibility
of Cast Adrift, as the copyright date is 2004. However, Allison
& Busby have assured us that it was not published until January 2005.
Cue
The Easter Bunny by Liz Evans (Orion, UK)
The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde (Hodder & Stoughton, UK)
Highway 61 Resurfaced by Bill Fitzhugh (Morrow, US)
Cast Adrift by Peter Guttridge (Allison & Busby, UK)
Fags And Lager by Charlie Williams, (Serpent's Tail, UK)
The
Bruce Alexander Award for best historical crime novel (set anywhere
in the time period up to 1956-fifty years before LCC16) published in the
English language for the first time in 2005. This award honours the memory
of historical crime novelist Bruce Alexander-aka Bruce Cook)
Spectres
In The Smoke by Tony Broadbent, (St Martin's, US)
Night's Child by Maureen Jennings, (McCelland & Stewart, Canada)
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear, (Henry Holt, US)
The
shortlists were compiled from the five titles with the most votes. In
the case of the Bruce Alexander Award, so many titles shared equal numbers
of votes for the 4th place, that only 3 titles made it to the shortlist.
(C.J. Sansom's Dark Fire would have made it onto the shortlist if not
for the 2004 Macmillan publication date.)
All
fully registered delegates now have until Friday, the 10th of March to
vote for one title for each award. Please reply to this email with one
nomination for each award.
The
winner will be announced at the Left Coast Crime Gala Dinner on the 18th
of March.
2/21/06
Lots
to catch up on...
The
February/March 2006 issue of Mystery News was mailed today,
February 21, 2006. Our cover interview (by Lynn Kaczmarek) is of P.D.
James, whose newest work, The Lighthouse, was published in late
November by Knopf. Other highlights of this issue include an interview
of Rhys Bowen by Virginia R. Knight and a reprint of an essay by Don Sandstrom
entitled "Ah, Sweet Mysteries - some random thoughts about mysteries."
Steve Miller's "In the beginning" column focuses on Tasha Alexander,
whose debut novel, And Only to Deceive, is set in
Victorian England and has been getting lots of buzz. Marv Lachman's "Out
of the Past" column is on Ethel Lina White, whose novel The Wheel
Spins was the basis of the Hitchcock classic The Lady Vanishes.
Dave Magayna reviews audiobooks by J.D. Robb and Lisa Scottoline in his
"The Sound of Mystery" column. A special feature is the list
of Top 5 (or so) Books read in 2005 by each of our reviewers. Along with
our usual columns, reviews, previews and convention calendar.
The
Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) is seeking submissions for the 2006
Shamus Awards. For complete details, email Ted Fitzgerald, general awards
chair, at "tedfitz[at]msn.com". The deadline for submissions
is May 1, 2006.
The
North American
Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers has announced
the nominees for the Hammett Award, given to a work of literary excellence
in the field of crime writing by a US or Canadian author. The award will
be presented at the Bloody Words conference in Toronto in June.
Islandbridge
by John Brady (McArthur & Company)
Alibi by Joseph Kanon (Henry Holt)
The Door to Bitterness by Martin Limon (Soho Crime)
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf)
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow (Knopf)
The
Independent
Mystery Booksellers Association has announced the nominees for the
annual Dilys Award, for books IMBA members most enjoyed selling in 2005.
The award will be presented at Left Coast Crime in Bristol in March.
Thirty-Three
Teeth by Colin Cotterill (Soho)
Half Broken Things by Morag Joss (Delacorte)
In a Teapot by Terence Faherty (Crum Creek Press)
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (Viking)
The Tenor Wore Tapshoes by Mark Schweizer (St. James Music Press)
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow (Knopf)
1/28/06
Mystery
Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2006 Edgar Allan
Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television
and film published or produced in 2005. The Edgar Awards will be presented
to the winners at our 60th Gala Banquet, April 27, 2006 at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel, New York City.
BEST
NOVEL
The
Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Red Leaves by Thomas H. Cook (Harcourt)
Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine Books)
Drama City by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)
Citizen Vince by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
BEST
FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Die
A Little by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Immoral by Brian Freeman (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Run the Risk by Scott Frost (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Hide Your Eyes by Alison Gaylin (Signet)
Officer Down by Theresa Schwegel (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Homicide
My Own by Anne Argula (Pleasure Boat Studio)
The James Deans by Reed Farrel Coleman (Penguin - Plume)
Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford (Dark Alley)
Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie (Hard Case Crime)
Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston (Ballantine Books)
Rescue
Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece
by Edward Dolnick (HarperCollins)
The Elements of Murder: The History of Poison by John Emsley (Oxford University
Press)
Written in Blood by Diane Fanning (St. Martin's True Crime)
True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel (HarperCollins)
Desire Street: A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans by Jed
Horne (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
BEST
CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Writing
and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'em Dead with Style by Hallie
Ephron (Writer's Digest Books)
Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers Interviewed by Stuart Kaminsky, photos
by Laurie Roberts (Hot House Press)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels edited by Leslie S. Klinger
(W.W. Norton)
Discovering the Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade: The Evolution of Dashiell Hammett's
Masterpiece, Including John Huston's Movie with Humphrey Bogart edited by
Richard Layman (Vince Emery Productions)
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak (Harcourt)
"Born
Bad" – Dangerous Women by Jeffery Deaver (Mysterious Press)
"The Catch' – Greatest Hits by James W. Hall (Carroll & Graf)
"Her Lord and Master" – Dangerous Women by Andrew Klavan (Mysterious
Press)
"Misdirection" – Greatest Hits by Barbara Seranella (Carroll
& Graf)
"Welcome to Monroe" – A Kudzu Christmas by David Wallace (River
City Publishing)
Shakespeare's
Secret by Elise Broach (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
Wright & Wong: The Case of the Nana-Napper by Laura J. Burns and Melinda
Metz (Penguin Young Readers – Sleuth/Razorbill)
The Missing Manatee by Cynthia DeFelice (Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books
for Young Readers)
Flush by Carl Hiassen (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
The Boys of San Joaquin by D. James Smith (Simon & Schuster Children’s
Books)
Down
the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins – Laura Geringer Books)
Last Shot by John Feinstein (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Quid Pro Quo by Vicki Grant (Orca Book Publishers)
Young Bond, Book One: Silverfin by Charlie Higson (Hyperion/Miramax Books)
Spy Goddess, Book One: Live & Let Shop by Michael Spradlin (HarperCollins
Children’s Books)
River's
End by Cheryl Coons (Book and Lyrics), Chuck Larkin (Music) (Marin Theatre
Company)
Safe House by Paul Leeper (Tennessee Stage Company)
Matter of Intent by Gary Earl Ross (Theater Loft)
Mating Dance of the Werewolf by Mark Stein (Rubicon Theatre)
BEST
TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
CSI
– "A Bullet Runs Through It, Parts 1 and 2", Teleplay by Richard
Catalani & Carol Mendelsohn
CSI – "Grave Danger", Teleplay by Anthony Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn,
Naren Shankar. Story by Quentin Tarantino
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – "911", Teleplay by
Patrick Harbinson
Sea of Souls – "Amulet", Teleplay by Ed Whitmore
Wire in the Blood – "Redemption", Teleplay by Guy Burt
BEST
MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY
Crash
- Story by Paul Haggis; Screenplay by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (Lions
Gate Films)
A History of Violence - Screenplay by Josh Olson, based on the Graphic Novel
by John Wagner & Vince Locke (New Line Productions)
The Ice Harvest - Screenplay by Richard Russo & Robert Benton, based on
the Novel by Scott Phillips (Focus Features)
Match Point - Screenplay by Woody Allen (BBC)
Syriana – Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan, based on the book by Robert Baer
(Warner Brothers)
ROBERT
L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
Eddie
Newton
"Home" – EQMM May 2005 (Dell Magazine)
Stuart
Kaminsky
Brian
Skupin and Kate Stine, Co-Publishers of Mystery Scene Magazine
Black
Orchid Bookshop (Bonnie Claeson & Joe Guglielmelli, owners)
Men of Mystery Conference (Joan Hansen, creator)
THE
SIMON & SCHUSTER-MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
Breaking
Faith by Jo Bannister (Allison & Busby Ltd.)
Dark Angel by Karen Harper (MIRA Books)
Shadow Valley by Gwen Hunter (MIRA Books)