Crime Fiction Dossier

Anthony Awards nominations

The 2008 Anthony Award nominees were announced and I'm pleased to say that the Crime Fiction Dossier was included in the Best Website category:

• Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind- Sarah Weinman
• Rap sheet/January Magazine –J Kingston Pierce
• Murderati  – A Writer’s Blog
• Stop You’re Killing Me- Stan Ulrich & Lucinda Surber
• Crime Fiction Dossier- David Montgomery

So whichever of you folks out there voted for me, thank you. It's a nice gesture and I appreciate it.

Gumshoe Awards 2008

The 7th Annual Gumshoe Awards are given by Mystery Ink to recognize the best achievements in crime fiction. This year's nominees were chosen from books first published in the United States in 2007.

Best Mystery:

James Lee Burke - The Tin Roof Blowdown (Simon & Schuster)

The Nominees:

John Connolly - The Unquiet (Atria)
Ariana Franklin - Mistress of the Art of Death (Putnam)
Charlie Huston - The Shotgun Rule (Ballantine)
Laura Lippman - What the Dead Know (William Morrow)

Best Thriller:

Robert Crais - The Watchman (Simon & Schuster)

The Nominees:

Joseph Finder - Power Play (St. Martin's Press)
Michael Gruber - The Book of Air and Shadows (William Morrow)
Richard K. Morgan - Thirteen (Del Rey)
Lee Child - Bad Luck and Trouble (Delacorte)

Best First Novel:

Sean Chercover - Big City, Bad Blood (William Morrow)

The Nominees:

Philip Hawley, Jr. - Stigma (Harper)
Lisa Lutz - The Spellman Files (Simon & Schuster)
Craig McDonald - Head Games (Bleak House Books)
Nick Stone - Mr. Clarinet (HarperCollins)

Lifetime Achievement:

Donald E. Westlake

Donald E. Westlake is one of the most prolific authors in the crime genre, having written books of nearly every conceivable type, ranging from comic capers to thrillers to noir. He's written private eye novels, cop novels, historical novels, even erotic novels. More impressively, most of them are pretty damn good, and some of them are great. For maintaining a tradition of writing excellence for nearly 50 years, Westlake is a most deserving winner of the award for Lifetime Achievement. (Read the tribute essay to Donald E. Westlake.)

Best Crime Fiction Website:

The Thrilling Detective Web Site
http://www.thrillingdetective.com

Edited by Kevin Burton Smith, The Thrilling Detective Web Site has been a comprehensive resource on private eye fiction, and the crime genre more generally, for over a decade. A one-stop destination with a wealth of information, The Thrilling Detective includes author and book guides, reviews, news, information on film and TV, original fiction and more. It is an essential guide for fans of PI novels or anyone looking to learn more about detective fiction.

Gumshoe Awards -- Best European Crime Novel

A couple of people have posted questions on blogs about the absence of a Best European Crime Novel on this year's Gumshoe Awards shortlist. After discussions with my committee, we decided to eliminate that category.

I never thought it was a strength of the Gumshoes, and I also don't like the "ghetto-ization" of books that it implies. (That's why we don't have a category for Best Paperback.) I thought it made sense to divide crime novels into Mystery and Thriller -- but after that point, it seemed like splitting too many hairs.

It also seemed somewhat disrespectful, as if a certain class of books had to be considered on their own because they didn't match up to the rest.

So now all novels, hard or soft, US/UK/European/whatever, are considered in the main categories. I think that by keeping the focus on only three categories of books -- Best Mystery, Best Thriller, Best First Novel -- the awards carry more weight and give greater distinction to those books that are selected.

As for Best Website, we still haven't decided what exactly we want to do with that. I have an idea in the works, but it may not be implemented in time for this year's awards. I'll keep you posted.

2008 Gumshoe Award Nominations

Mystery Ink announced today the nominees for the seventh annual Gumshoe Awards.

The Gumshoe Awards are given by Mystery Ink each year to recognize the best achievements in the world of crime fiction. The nominated books were chosen from those published for the first time in the United States in 2007. The winners will be announced on April 21, 2008.

The nominees are:

BEST MYSTERY

James Lee Burke - Tin Roof Blowdown (Simon & Schuster)
John Connolly - The Unquiet (Atria)
Ariana Franklin - Mistress of the Art of Death (Putnam)
Charlie Huston - The Shotgun Rule (Ballantine)
Laura Lippman - What the Dead Know (William Morrow)

BEST THRILLER

Lee Child - Bad Luck and Trouble (Delacorte)
Robert Crais - The Watchman (Simon & Schuster)
Joseph Finder - Power Play (St. Martin's Press)
Michael Gruber - The Book of Air and Shadows (William Morrow)
Richard K. Morgan - Thirteen (Del Rey)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Sean Chercover - Big City, Bad Blood (William Morrow)
Philip Hawley, Jr. - Stigma (Harper)
Lisa Lutz - The Spellman Files (Simon & Schuster)
Craig McDonald - Head Games (Bleak House Books)
Nick Stone - Mr. Clarinet (HarperCollins)

Still to be announced is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented at the same time as the other winners.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

2007 Agatha Awards Nominees Announced

Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for the 2007 Agatha Awards. Agathas will be given in the categories of Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Short Story, Best Non-Fiction and Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel. The awards will be presented at the Malice Domestic XX convention during the Agatha Awards Banquet on April 26, 2008. 

Malice Domestic XX Agatha Nominees:

 

Best Novel
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, by Donna Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Her Royal Spyness, by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group)
Hard Row, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)
A Fatal Grace, by Louise Penny (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Murder With Reservations, by Elaine Viets (NAL)

 

Best First Novel
A Beautiful Blue Death, by Charles Finch ( St. Martin 's Minotaur)
A Real Basket Case, by Beth Groundwater (Five Star)
Silent In The Grave, by Deanna Raybourn (Mira)
Prime Time, by Hank Phillipi Ryan (Harlequin)

Best Nonfiction
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life In Letters, by Charles Foley, Jon Lellenberg , and Daniel Stashower (Penguin Press)
The Official Nancy Drew Handbook, by Penny Warner (Quirck Productions)
 

Best Short Story
"A Rat's Tale", by Donna Andrews (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sept/Oct, 2007)
"Please Watch Your Step", by Rhys Bowen (The Strand, Spring, 2007)
"Casino Gamble", by Nan Higginson (Murder New York Style, L & L Dreamspell)

"Popping Round To The Post", by Peter Lovesey (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November, 2007)

"Death Will Clean Your Closet", by Elizabeth Zelvin (Murder New York Style, L & L Dreamspell)

Best Children's/Young Adult
A Light In The Cellar, by Sarah Masters Buckey (American Girl)
Bravo Zulu, Samantha!, by Kathleen Benner Duble (Peachtree Publishers)
Cover-Up: Mystery At The Super Bowl, by John Feinstein (Knopf [Random House])

The Falconer's Knot, by Mary Hoffman (Bloomsbury USA Childrens' Books)

Theodosia And The Serpents Of Chaos, by R.L. LaFevers (Houghton Mifflin)

The 2008 Edgar Award Nominees are...

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 199th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2007. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 62nd Gala Banquet, May 1, 2008 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.


BEST NOVEL

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (Henry Holt and Company)
Priest by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)
Down River by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
In the Woods by Tana French (Penguin Group – Viking)
Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard (The Rookery Press)
Head Games by Craig McDonald (Bleak House Books)
Pyres by Derek Nikitas (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Queenpin by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Blood of Paradise by David Corbett (Random House - Mortalis)
Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks (Serpent's Tail)
Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill (Hard Case Crime)
Who is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

BEST FACT CRIME

The Birthday Party by Stanley Alpert (Penguin Group – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
by Vincent Bugliosi (W.W. Norton and Company
Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit by Kerry Max Cook (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Relentless Pursuit: A True Story of Family, Murder, and the Prosecutor Who Wouldn't Quit by Kevin Flynn (Penguin Group – G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Sacco & Vanzetti: The Men, The Murders and the Judgment of Mankind by Bruce Watson (Penguin Group – Viking)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

The Triumph of the Thriller:  How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction by Patrick Anderson (Random House)
A Counter-History of Crime Fiction:  Supernatural, Gothic, Sensational by Maurizio Ascari (Palgrave Macmillan)
Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction by Christiana Gregoriou (Palgrave Macmillan)
Arthur Conan Doyle:  A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley (The Penguin Press)
Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy
by Jean Gould O’Connell (McFarland & Company)

BEST SHORT STORY

"The Catch" – Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)
"Blue Note" – Chicago Blues by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Bleak House Books)
"Hardly Knew Her" – Dead Man's Hand by Laura Lippman (Harcourt Trade Publishers)
"The Golden Gopher" – Los Angeles Noir by Susan Straight (Akashic Books
"Uncle" – A Hell of a Woman” by Daniel Woodrell (Busted Flush Press)

BEST JUVENILE

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Shadows on Society Hill by Evelyn Coleman (American Girl Publications)
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion Books)
The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion Books for Young Readers)
Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things by Wendelin Van Draanen (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Rat Life by Tedd Arnold (Penguin – Dial Books for Young Readers)
Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children's Books – Delacorte Press)
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing – Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Blood Brothers by S.A. Harazin (Random House Children's Books – Delacorte Press)
Fragments by Jeffry W. Johnston (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing – Simon Pulse)

BEST PLAY

If/Then by David Foley (International Mystery Writers' Festival)
Panic by Joseph Goodrich (International Mystery Writers' Festival)
Books by Stuart M. Kaminsky (International Mystery Writers' Festival)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

"It’s Alive" – Dexter, Teleplay by Daniel Cerone (Showtime)
"Yahrzeit" – Waking the Dead, Teleplay by Declan Croghan & Barbara Machin (BBC America)
"Pie-Lette" – Pushing Daisies, Teleplay by Bryan Fuller (ABC/Warner Bros Television
"Senseless" – Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Teleplay by Julie Martin & Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
"Pilot" – Burn Notice, Teleplay by Matt Nix (USA Network/Fox Television Studios)

BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY

Eastern Promises, Screenplay by Steven Knight (Focus Features)
The Lookout, Screenplay by Scott Frank (Miramax)
Michael Clayton, Screenplay by Tony Gilroy (Warner Bros. Pictures)
No Country for Old Men, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, based on the book by Cormac McCarthy (Miramax)
Zodiac, Screenplay by James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"The Catch" – Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)

GRAND MASTER

Bill Pronzini

RAVEN AWARDS

Center for the Book in the Library of Congress
Kate's Mystery Books (Kate Mattes, owner)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Wild Indigo by Sandi Ault (Penguin Group – Berkley Prime Crime)
Inferno by Karen Harper (Harlequin – MIRA Books)
The First Stone by Judith Kelman (Penguin Group – Berkley Prime Crime)
Deadman's Switch by Barbara Seranella (St. Martin's Minotaur)

David Morrell wins Inkspot Award at Comic-Con

Multiple New York Times bestselling author David Morrell, creator of Rambo and father of the modern action novel, was honored with a surprise presentation of the legendary Inkpot Award during Comic-Con 2007.

Since 1974, Comic-Con International has bestowed the Inkpot Award annually in recognition for outstanding contribution to comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction and other popular culture fields.

Recipients of the Inkpot Award include Collins (Dick Tracy, Road to Perdition), Ray Bradbury, Chuck Jones, George Lucas, Frank Miller, Steven Spielberg, Harlan Ellison, Matt Groening, Gahan Wilson, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Francis Ford Coppola, Mickey Spillane, Rod Serling and more.

Congratulations, David!

Barry Awards nominations

Mystery News and Deadly Pleasures are pleased to announce the 2007 Barry Award nominations. The Barry Awards are named for of one of the most ardent and beloved ambassadors of mystery fiction, Barry Gardner, and are voted on by the readers of Mystery News and Deadly Pleasures.

The 11th Annual Barry Awards presentation will take place at Bouchercon in Anchorage, Alaska in late September. The date, time and location of the awards presentation will be announced later. This is the first year that the Barry Awards are co-sponsored by Mystery News.

Best Novel
White Shadow by Ace Atkins
Oh Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen
The Last Assassin by Barry Eisler
The Prisoner of Guantanamo by Dan Fesperman
City of Shadows by Ariana Franklin
The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

Best First
The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
The Berlin Conspiracy by Tom Gabbay
The King of Lies by John Hart
Still Life by Louise Penny
A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read

Best British
Priest by Ken Bruen
Dying Light by Stuart MacBride
Sovereign by C.J. Sansom
The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom
Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone
Red Sky Lament by Edward Wright

Best Thriller
Killer Instinct by Joseph Finder
The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst
Relentless by Simon Kernick
Cold Kill by Stephen Leather
The Messenger by Daniel Silva
Kill Me by Stephen White

Best Paperback Original
Bust by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins
The Cleanup by Sean Doolittle
Live Wire by Jay MacLarty
Deadman's Poker by Jim Swain
Crooked by Brian Wiprud

Best Short Story
"Cain was Innocent" by Simon Brett (Thou Shalt Not Kill, published by
Carroll & Graf)
"Shaping the Ends" by Judith Cutler (EQMM May, 2006)
"The Right Call" by Brendan DuBois (EQMM Sept/Oct, 2006)
"A Man of Taste" by Kate Ellis (EQMM Mar/Apr, 2006)
"Rosemary" by Paul Halter (The Night of the Wolf, published by
Wildside Press)
"A Case for Inspector Ghote" by June Thomson (The Verdict of Us All,
published by Crippen & Landru)

For more information about the Barry Awards, visit the Mystery News website at www.blackravenpress.com and the Deadly Pleasures website at www.deadlypleasures.com. Questions about the awards and nominations can be directed to BarryAwards2007@gmail.com or caldrich@blackravenpress.com.

Congrats to all the nominees! Some great books on this list.

2007 Gumshoe Award Winners Announced

The 6th Annual Gumshoe Awards are given by Mystery Ink to recognize the best achievements in crime fiction. This year's nominees were chosen from books first published in the United States in 2006.

Best Mystery:

Julia Spencer-Fleming - All Mortal Flesh

The Nominees:

Ace Atkins - White Shadow
Ariana Franklin - City of Shadows
George Pelecanos - The Night Gardener
Joseph Wambaugh - Hollywood Station

Best Thriller:

Robert Ferrigno - Prayers for the Assassin

The Nominees:

Lee Child - The Hard Way
Barry Eisler - The Last Assassin
William Lashner - Marked Man
M.J. Rose - The Venus Fix

Best European Crime Novel:

Karin Fossum - When the Devil Holds the Candle

The Nominees:

Ken Bruen - The Dramatist
Gianrico Carofiglio - A Walk in the Dark
Philippe Claudel - By a Slow River
Barbara Vine - The Minotaur

Best First Novel:

John Hart - The King of Lies

The Nominees:

Dave Case - Out of Cabrini
James Church - A Corpse in the Koryo
Thomas Lakeman - The Shadow Catchers
Cornelia Read - A Field of Darkness

Lifetime Achievement:

Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker revolutionized the modern detective novel, helping to bridge the gap between the classic Hammett-Chandler-Macdonald tradition and the contemporary stories of Block, Grafton and Lehane. His creation of Spenser, the quintessential private eye, will live on long after his contemporaries have faded into obscurity. (Read the tribute essay to Robert B. Parker.)

Best Crime Fiction Website:

Demolition Magazine
http://www.demolitionmag.com

Edited by Bryon Quertermous and David White, Demolition Magazine is one of the best of the new wave of web-only magazines dedicated to publishing short crime fiction. With stories by such talented writers as Victor Gischler, Mike Maclean, Patricia Abbott and more, Demolition has quickly distinguished itself as a fresh new voice in crime fiction, and a publication worth noticing.

More on the Edgars

Looking at the Big 3 awards, we have:

BEST NOVEL: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR: The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson (Random House)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL: Snakeskin Shamisen by Naomi Hirahara (Bantam Dell Publishing – Delta Books)

I've only read one of the three: Naomi Hirahara's Snakeskin Shamisen, a book I enjoyed a lot. (I also reviewed it in the Chicago Sun-Times, although the link is no longer active.) Hirahara has been doing excellent work over the past few years, so it was pleasing to see her win.

I've heard good things about Alex Berenson's The Faithful Spy, although I never got around to reading it. I'd like to sometime, but who knows if I'll get the chance. At least my favorite first novel of the year (John Hart's King of Lies) was nominated, even if it didn't win.

As for Jason Goodwin's The Janissary Tree...Well, to be honest, I don't recall even hearing about it. (I didn't read any of the nominees in this category.) But that's part of the beauty of awards: they help call attention to books that otherwise might go overlooked.

All in all, not my favorite line-up of winners I've ever seen. But that's part of the beauty of awards as well: discussing who won, who should have won, and why. Oh, and bitching and moaning, too, of course.

Just in case you haven't had your fill of awards, we'll be announcing the winners of the Gumshoe Awards next week.