Some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that Robert B. Parker has passed away at age 77. He was not ill and his death was unexpected. He was found sitting at his desk. Source: Ali Karim

Now the good news -- from Larry Gandle. MWA has announced it nominees for the 2010 Edgar Awards. The ones of most interest to us are found below:

BEST NOVEL

THE MISSING by Tim Gautreaux (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
THE ODDS by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
THE LAST CHILD by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH by Charlie Huston (Random House - Ballantine Books)
NEMESIS by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (HarperCollins)
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE by Malla Nunn (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE by David Cristofano (Grand Central Publishing)
STARVATION LAKE by Bryan Gruley (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf (MIRA Books)
A BAD DAY FOR SORRY by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)
BLACK WATER RISING by Attica Locke (HarperCollins)
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

BURY ME DEEP by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
HAVANA LUNAR by Robert Arellano (Akashic Books)
THE LORD GOD BIRD by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Books)
BODY BLOWS by Marc Strange (Dundurn Press – Castle Street Mysteries)
THE HERRING-SELLER’S APPRENTICE by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)

BEST FACT CRIME

COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen (Hachette Book Group - Twelve)
GO DOWN TOGETHER: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn (Simon & Schuster)
THE FENCE: A Police Cover-Up Along Boston’s Racial Divide by Dick Lehr (HarperCollins)
PROVENANCE: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo (The Penguin Press)
VANISHED SMILE: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION by P.D. James (Random House - Alfred A. Knopf)
THE LINEUP: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
HAUNTED HEART: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books)
THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)
THE STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED COMPANION by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" by Ace Atkins, Crossroad Blues (Busted Flush Press)
"Femme Sole" by Dana Cameron, Boston Noir (Akashic Books)
"Digby, Attorney at Law" by Jim Fusilli, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
"Animal Rescue" by Dennis Lehane, Boston Noir (Akashic Books
"Amapola" by Luis Alberto Urrea, Phoenix Noir (Akashic Books)

Good list this year. I wouldn't be surprised if 4 or 5 of the titles showed up on the Barry Award short lists.

January 19, 2010

Publisher's Weekly has announced its choices of Best Mysteries of 2009

Mystery
Bryant and May on the Loose
Christopher Fowler (Bantam)
London's Peculiar Crimes Unit gets a new lease on life as Bryant and May investigate gang crimes that could threaten the economic benefits expected from the 2012 Olympics in Fowler's blend of the comic and the grotesque.
The Wrong Mother
Sophie Hannah (Penguin)
A brief affair with a man whose wife later apparently commits a heinous crime then kills herself leads to serious trouble for Sally Thorning, part-time environmental rescuer and full-time mother, in this psychological mystery paced like a ticking time bomb.
The Dark Horse
Craig Johnson (Viking)
Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire return to his cowboy roots as he goes undercover to investigate a murder outside his jurisdiction: a wife has confessed to shooting her rancher husband dead, but is she really guilty?
The Silent Hour
Michael Koryta (Minotaur)
Koryta spins a dark tale of broken dreams and second chances in this mystery featuring PI Lincoln Perry, who helps a convicted murderer who's been paroled. It's a convoluted case in which a missing woman's brother heads a notorious Cleveland, Ohio, mob family.
Londongrad
Reggie Nadelson (Walker)
New York City police detective Artie Cohen, a principled, street-smart guy with very human failings, travels to London to tell his best friend, shady Russian immigrant Tolya Sverdloff, that Sverdloff's daughter (who was also Cohen's girlfriend) has been murdered.
The Lord of Death
Eliot Pattison (Soho Crime)
Edgar-winner Pattison mixes an eye-opening look at contemporary China with a traditional whodunit involving the gunning down of China's minister of tourism along with an American woman, a skilled climber, near Mount Everest.
The Cloud Pavilion
Laura Joh Rowland (Minotaur)
Detective-turned-politician Sano Ichiro helps his estranged uncle find the uncle's missing daughter in the masterful 14th entry in a series that brings early 18th-century Japan to vivid life.

And there were a few under General Fiction that I would consider mystery/crime fiction:

The Scarecrow
Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Reporter Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, after he's laid off from the L.A. Times, in a nail-biting thriller that charts the demise of print journalism and shows why Connelly is one of today's top crime authors.
The Fate of Katherine Carr
Thomas H. Cook (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Edgar-winner Cook eloquently explores the often cathartic act of storytelling as George Gates, a former travel writer who after seven years still broods over his eight-year-old son's murder, looks into the unsolved disappearance of reclusive poet Katherine Carr 20 years earlier.
Dark Places
Gillian Flynn (Crown/Shaye Areheart)
Flynn tops her impressive debut, Sharp Objects, with a second crime thriller, centered on the slaying of a mother and two daughters in their Kansas farmhouse witnessed by the youngest, surviving daughter. It builds to a truth so twisted even the most astute readers won't see it coming.
Nemesis
Jo Nesbø (Harper)
Oslo Insp. Harry Hole discovers that a bank robbery is linked to the apparent suicide of a woman friend he hasn't seen in years in this lush crime saga from the Norwegian author.
Drood
Dan Simmons (Little, Brown)
Narrated by Wilkie Collins, this unsettling and complex thriller imagines a frightening sequence of events that prompts Collins's friend and fellow author, Charles Dickens, to write The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dickens's last, uncompleted novel.
12/07/2009

Library Journal has announced two lists of best of 2009

MYSTERY

George, Kathleen. The Odds. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. ISBN 978-0-312-54999-2. $24.95.

George's superb procedural featuring Pittsburgh detectives Colleen Greer and John Potocki is also a poignant tale of four abandoned children struggling to live with dignity against all odds. (LJ 6/1/09)

Gruley, Bryan. Starvation Lake. Touchstone: S. & S. ISBN 978-1-4165-6362-4. pap. $14.

Returning home in disgrace to Starvation Lake, MI, reporter Gus Carpenter digs into the town's secrets when a long-ago murder resurfaces. Gruley's riveting debut mixes investigative journalism, hockey, and a man who finds his moral fiber. (LJ 3/1/09)

Hayes, J.M. Server Down: A Mad Dog & Englishman Mystery. Poisoned Pen. ISBN 978-1-59058-627-3. $24.95.

The zany English family mobilizes when Mad Dog's house is blown up and he is wanted for the murder of a Tucson cop. Hayes blends humor, unforgettable characters, and a clever plot that is sure to stymie even the most astute reader. (LJ 4/1/09)

Rozan, S.J. The Shanghai Moon: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Mystery. Minotaur: St. Martin's. ISBN 978-0-312-24556-6. $24.95.

The missing jewelry of a Jewish family who sought refuge in 1930s Shanghai and the hunt for a Chinese cop who stole the valuables in 2008 make for an unusual case for PIs Chin and Smith, back after a seven-year hiatus. Rozan delivers one of her best. (LJ 1/09)

Webb, Betty. Desert Lost: A Lena Jones Mystery. Poisoned Pen. ISBN 978-1-59058-681-5. $24.95.

When PI Lena Jones attempts to help a friend save women from an ultraorthodox polygamous Mormon cult, she uncovers an ugly secret world and deadly danger. Webb's writing is superb, and her portrayal of the Scottsdale, AZ, area is compelling. (LJ 10/1/09)

THRILLERS

Connelly, Michael. The Scarecrow. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-16630-0. $27.99.

This is a scary thriller starring reporter Jack McEvoy (from The Poet) and an even scarier look at the decline and fall of the newspaper industry. (LJ 4/15/09)

Doetsch, Richard. The 13th Hour. Atria: S. & S. ISBN 978-1-4391-4791-7. $25.99.

A man receives a chance to prove he did not murder his wife and to save her life (yes, you read that right) in this utterly original thriller. (LJ 11/1/09)

Gardner, Lisa. The Neighbor. Bantam. ISBN 978-0-553-80723-3. $25.

A mom tucks her daughter into bed and then vanishes. With a seemingly uninterested husband and a convicted sex offender living down the street as possible suspects, Gardner's twisty domestic thriller keeps readers guessing. (LJ 6/1/09)

Lawson, Mike. House Secrets. Atlantic Monthly. ISBN 978-0-8021-1885-1. $22.

A reporter's death ties in to the political aspirations of a powerful senator, and House troubleshooter Joe DeMarco will learn that DC is built on cover-ups and deception. An outstanding political thriller. (Xpress Reviews, 7/17/09)

Rollins, James. The Doomsday Key. Morrow. (Sigma Force). ISBN 978-0-06-123140-7. $27.99.

History, science, and action-adventure combine seamlessly in Rollins's best book to date, which focuses on a substance (the “Doomsday Key”) brought to England by ancient Egyptians that promises to be strong medicine. (LJ 6/1/09)

12/07/2009

Notable Critic Sarah Weinman has come up with her Best of 2009 List

RAVENS, by George Dawes Green

A QUIET FLAME, by Philip Kerr

BRITTEN AND BRULIGHTLY, by Hannah Berry

BURY ME DEEP, by Megan Abbott

BLACK WATER RISING, by Attica Locke

THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST, by Stuart Neville

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, by Stieg Larsson

BONE BY BONE, by Carol O'Connell (technically published around the last day of 2008, but let's not be technical, shall we?)

The New York Times
Notable Crime Books of 2009
By Marilyn Stasio

Michael Connelly, THE SCARECROW (Little, Brown, $27.99)
Walter Mosely, THE LONG FALL (Riverhead, $25.95)
Ruth Rendell, THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT (Shaye Areheart, $25.00)
Jeffery Deaver, ROADSIDE CROSSES (Simon & Schuster, $26.95)
Sara Paretsky, HARDBALL (Putnam, $26.95)
Val McDermid, A DARKER DOMAIN (HarperCollins, $24.99)
Arnaldur Indridason, AN ARCTIC CHILL (Minotaur, $24.99)
Anders Roslund, BOX 21 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26.00)
Stieg Larsson, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE (Knopf, $25.95)
Stuart Neville, THE GHOST OF BELFAST (U.K. title THE TWELVE) (Soho Press, $24.95)
Hannah Berry, BRITTEN AND BRÜLIGHTLY (Metropolitan/Holt, paper, $20.00)
Richard Lange, THIS WICKED WORLD (Little, Brown, $23.99)
Charlie Huston, THE MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH (Ballantine, $25.00)
Tarquin Hall, THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT (Simon & Schuster, $24.00)
Emily Arsenault, THE BROKEN TEAGLASS (Delacorte, $25.00)
Alan Bradley, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE (Delacorte, $23.00)

For Ms. Stasio's commentary on these books go to: Notable Crime Books of 2009

12/7/2009

Our friend Andrew Gulli (Editor) at the Strand Magazine has announced his Best of 2009 list:

1) A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R. J. Ellory (Overlook)

2) A PLAGUE OF SECRETS by John Lescroart (Dutton)

3) THE FURY by Jason Pinter (Mira)

4) TEA TIME FOR THE TRADITIONALLY BUILT by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon)

5) ROADSIDE CROSSES by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster)

6) NINE DRAGONS by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

7) 206 BONES by Kathy Reichs (Scribner)

8) LOOK AGAIN by Lisa Scottoline (St. Martin's)

9) THE MAGICIANS by Lev Grossman (Viking)

10) DEXTER BY DESIGN by Jeff Lindsay (Doubleday)

11) THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)

12) THE BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

This looks like a great list. I confess that I haven't read many of the twelve, but as I look more closely, I wonder why, because many of my favorite writers are found there. Glad to see that Roger Ellory's wonderful novel (the first of his published in the U.S.) was rated the best of the year. It was a huge hit in the U.K.

12/7/2009

Most publishers are going to online-only catalogs to try and save the expense of printing and mailing. So when I get a physical catalog nowadays it is much more a surprise event than it used to be. Just got the Spring/Summer 2010 catalog from Grand Central.
Here are some highlights to look forward to:
May, 2010
Scott Turow’s INNOCENT, which is a sequel to his best novel, PRESUMED INNOCENT.
Preston & Child’s FEVER DREAM, an Agent Pedergast novel.

June, 2010
Nelson DeMille’s THE LION, a return of John Corey and Kate Mayfield in pursuit of their old nemesis Asad Khalil.
Eric Van Lustbader’s THE BOURNE OBJECTIVE, the continuation of Robert Ludlum’s mega-series.

August, 2010
Brian Haig’s THE CAPITOL GAME.
David Rosenfelt’s DOG TAGS, in which Andy Carpenter becomes involved in a court case to save a dog’s life.

I got a kick out of an example of the whole vampire fiction craze gone wild: In April GC is coming out with ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. It kind of says it all, doesn’t it? 12/6,2009

Off-topic, but visually stunning. I grew up in New York but have lived in Utah since 1963 and have grown to love the beauty of this State. A friend sent me the following link: http://www.utah3d.net/

It contains spectacular panoramic scenes of some of Utah's most prominent buildings and sites. The neat thing is you can left click and drag the mouse cursor around the photos and your perspective changes so that you can see them from all angles. Very cool. Be sure to click on the Salt Lake Library. It was built just in time for the Winter Olympics and is an architectural beauty. A monthly mystery reading group (Books to Die For) meets in the lower level of it.

I think you'll have a lot of fun with this and will appreciate the beauty of the photos. The Catholic Cathedral, Mormon Temple and State Capitol Building are worth looking at too.

October 7, 2009

A book that I'm hearing a lot of very positive buzz about is John Connolly's THE GATES (Atria, $24.00). Maggie Mason clams it is the best mystery she's read this year. Bev DeWeese gave it an "A" in the issue coming out in a week or so. It is billed as a young adult novel, but adults seem to enjoy it on their level. Here is a review of it from the recent newsletter from the Seattle Mystery Bookstore:

If you were anywhere near me the last few days, you probably caught me laughing out loud with my nose buried in John Connolly’s new young-adult novel The Gates (Atria, $24.00, October 2009). It’s similar to his earlier work, The Book of Lost Things (Washington Square Press, $15.00), great for all of us kids.

            If you were extremely fortunate – or unfortunate, depending – I shoved it into your hands and had you read a passage.

            Samuel Johnson and his dachshund, Boswell, are showing initiative by going trick-or-treating on October 28th, to get a jump on the festivities.  But Mr. Anderson is so rude before slamming the door in their faces that Samuel and Boswell sit on a fence and stare at the house in puzzlement.  Therefore, they are the only ones to see what happens.

            You see, over in Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider was doing what it was designed to do, create a mini-Big-Bang to see what happens.  But the Andersons and their friends, the Renfields, in an attempt to call up something supernatural, cause a small particle to break off and open a doorway to Hell, an occurrence that the Great Malevolence has been longing for for, well, forever.

            And then all Hell quite literally breaks loose in Biddlecombe, England.

            I never knew that the combination of physics and religion could provide such an entertaining background, but John Connolly has managed to pull it off.  With footnotes!

            Regarding the low level of crime in small towns, especially Biddlecombe, the Narrator says in such a footnote:

            “This is unlike the small towns in television detective shows, where so many people die that it’s a wonder there’s anyone left in the town to kill by the end of the first series.  You’d imagine that some of the residents might wonder about this and think, “Hmmm, our town appears to be populated entirely by murderers, or people about to be murdered, and since we’re not murderers then we must be potential victims.  Marjorie, grab the kids and the dog.  We’re going to live in New Zealand. . .”

            The Gates is a fabulous, funny, entertaining and at times remarkably educational book, and it has simply enchanted me.  If you have an ounce of whimsy in you along with a love of rooting for the underdog, it will enchant you as well.   

October 3, 2009

I get a lot of unrequested arcs and books published by small presses sent to me nowadays. I generally ignore most of them because I don't have time to get to all of the "good stuff" published by the big boys that I would like to read. When I send them out to reviewers they generally get ignored. Every once in awhile I'll hear some buzz about a small press book and that will get me to take more notice and then even more infrequently I'll take a chance on a book and start reading it. The latter circumstance is what happened to me with HOUND by Vincent McCaffrey (Small Beer Press, 24.00). It's a nicely produced hardcover about a bookhound (book scout/seller) who gets involved in a murder mystery. I am quite impressed by the opening paragraphs:

"Death was, after all, the way Henry made his living. The books he sold were most often the recent property of people who had died. Book lovers never gave up the good ones without a cause. But then, the books which people sold willingly were not the ones Henry really wanted. The monthly public library sales were stacked high with those -- the usual titles for a dollar apiece, yesterday's best sellers, last year's hot topics.

But not always. Occasionally, some relative -- often the child who never cared much for Dad's preoccupation with medieval history or Mom's obsession with old cookbooks -- would drop the burden their parents had so selfishly placed upon them by dying, and there they would be, in great careless mounds on the folding tables in the libary basement or conference room. Always dumped too quickly by a "volunteer" from the "friends" committee, with the old dust jackets tearing one against the other."

This type of writing strikes a warm chord with me as a book lover so I will be reading and reporting on this book. The first-time author will be attending Bouchercon this year. 9/22/2009

The Barry Award Ballots are due this Wednesday, September 9th, so please email me your choices at: george@deadlypleasures.com

BARRY AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST NOVEL
TRIGGER CITY by Sean Chercover
THE DRAINING LAKE by Arnaldur Indridason
ENVY THE NIGHT by Michael Koryta
RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger
THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny
DAWN PATROL by Don Winslow

BEST FIRST
THE KIND ONE by Tom Epperson
STALKING SUSAN by Julie Kramer
CITY OF THE SUN by David Levien
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith
A CARRION DEATH by Michael Stanley
SWEEPING UP GLASS by Carolyn D. Wall

BEST BRITISH
A SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE by R.J. Ellory
RITUAL by Mo Hayder
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson
SHATTER by Michael Robotham
BLEEDING HEART SQUARE by Andrew Taylor
BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE by Martin Walker

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust
STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy
THE BLACK PATH by Asa Larsson
SEVERANCE PACKAGE by Duane Swierczynski
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD by Johan Theorin

BEST THRILLER
COLLISION by Jeff Abbott
THE DECEIVED by Brett Battles
THE SURVIVOR (NO SURVIVORS in U.S.) by Tom Cain
FINDER by Colin Harrison
NIGHT OF THUNDER by Stephen Hunter
GOOD PEOPLE by Marcus Sakey

BEST SHORT STORY
"The Drought" by James O. Born (The Blue Religion)
"The Fallen" by Jan Burke (August EQMM) "A Trace of a Trace" by Brendan DuBois (At the Scene of the Crime)
"A Killing in Midtown" by G. Miki Hayden (January/February AHMM)
"Proof of Love" by Mick Herron (September/October EQMM)
"The Problem of the Secret Patient" by Edward D. Hoch (May EQMM)
September 7, 2009

The CWA has announced the short lists for three more of their major awards:

The CWA Gold Dagger

WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?, Kate Atkinson
IN THE DARK, Mark Billingham
HIT AND RUN, Lawrence Block
A WHISPERED NAME, William Broderick
THE CORONER, M. R. Hall
DARK TIMES IN THE CITY, Gene Kerrigan

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

THE BRASS VERDICT, Michael Connelly
DARK PLACES, Gillian Flynn
THE LAST CHILD, John Hart
CALUMET CITY, Charlie Newton
MOSCOW RULES, Daniel Silva
THE TOURIST, Olen Steinhauer
THE INTERROGATOR, Andrew Williams

The CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

SWEETSMOKE, David Fuller
BAD CATHOLICS, James Green
NO WAY TO SAY GOODBYE, Rod Madocks
OLD CITY HALL, Robert Rotenberg
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD, Johan Theorin
THE BLOOD DETECTIVE, Dan Waddell

I'm fairly impressed by the nominees this year.  Some very good books, some of which I've read and liked quite a bit (Kate Atkinson, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, John Hart, Daniel Silva, James Green).  There are several that I wanted to read but didn't have a chance to.  The Ian Fleming still seems to have a much different idea of what a thriller is than we do.  Gillian Flynn?  Three of them are police procedurals.  Olen Steinhauer is very good but his prose doesn't have the pacing to be considered "thrilling," although I have not read THE TOURIST yet so I may be wrong with my assessment.  I read the Andrew Williams and liked it but I never felt a sense of danger in it.  The John Hart and the Daniel Silva are the only ones that I would categorize as thrillers.  Ironically, I consider Lawrence Block's HIT AND RUN, nominated for the Gold Dagger, as possibly the best thriller I read last year, yet it isn't nominated under that category.

Mr Hall's THE CORONER is a first novel, yet nominated for a Gold Dagger.

September 7,2009

Maggie Mason reports some very nice news about one of our favorite people in the mystery fiction scene, Marv Lachman. He has been chosen as Fan Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime 2011 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Congratulation, Marv! His list of accomplishments is too large to mention here, but I just want to say how much I value his contributions to Deadly Pleasures and to the Barry Awards. Few fans (if any) have the perspective (60+ years of reading, studying and writing about mysteries) and knowledge of mystery fiction that he has. (http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2011/ )

I don't go to Left Coast Crime very often, but I may be tempted to go to this one, especially in light of Marv's being honored. Other guests of honor are Martin Cruz Smith and Margaret Coel. Santa Fe, New Mexico in March would be a very pleasant respite from the winter cold in Utah.

Shamus Award Nominations 2009

Best Hardcover:
Salvation Boulevard by Larry Beinhart (Nation Books)
Empty Ever After by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)
The Blue Door by David Fulmer (Harcourt)
The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes (Wm. Morrow)
The Ancient Rain by Domenic Stansberry (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First PI Novel:
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer (Doubleday)
Swann's Last Song by Charles Salzberg (Five Star)
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang (Simon & Schuster)
In the Heat by Ian Vasquez (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson (St Martin's Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original:
Snow Blind by Lori Armstrong (Medallion)
Shot Girl by Karen Olson (Obsidian)
The Stolen by Jason Pinter (MIRA)
The Black Hand by Will Thomas (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster)
The Evil That Men Do by Dave White (Crown/Three Rivers Press)

Best Short Story:
"Family Values" by Mitch Alderman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2008)
"Last Island South" by John C. Boland (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2008)
"The Blonde Tigress" by Max Allan Collins (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June 2008)
"Discovery" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov 2008)
"Panic on Portage Path" by Dick Stodghill (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008)

August 24, 2009

More and more prominent mystery writers are getting into the graphic novel/comic arena. In the recent past we have seen Max Allan Collins (CSI), Greg Rucka (Queen & Country) and Denise Mina lend their talents to this hip medium.

Now, Ian Rankin, the top-selling crime writer in the U.K. (and not too shabby here in the U.S.), has collaborated with artist Werther Dell'Edera to create DARK ENTRIES (Vertigo Crime, $19.99, August 25, 2009). I'm in the middle of it (very dark) and will review it in the next issue. August 3, 2009

I've already planned the cover articles for the next two issues.

DP #59 will be on Irish mystery writers. I'm struggling with this question: Is there something different about Irish writers and thair writing that sets them apart from writers of other nationalities (American, English) in how they treat setting, characterization and plotting? Or should they be considered another offshoot of British crime writing? If any of you have thoughts on that, please email me at george@deadlypleasures.com

DP #60 will be on First Novels of 2009 -- looks like a bumper year -- especially compared to last year. If any of you read a first mystery/crime novel that you would recommend for extra treatment in the cover article, please email me. August 1, 2009

About mid-way through their joint event at last weekend's Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, there was a palpable crackle of tension between Booker prize winner John Banville and Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Reginald Hill. Appearing as Benjamin Black – his crime writing alter-ego – Banville was asked to describe the difference between writing his literary novels and his genre work. His answer went to the heart of a debate that bubbled under in many of the seminars and panels: why isn't crime writing taken more seriously?

Writing under his own name, Banville manages around 100 sweated-over, teased, honed and polished words a day; but as Benjamin Black, he can manage a couple of thousand. The intimation was quite clear, "Black's" sentences simply weren't as important. Perhaps realising what he'd unwittingly said, he tried to backtrack, but the damage was done and there was more fuel for his critics. "He's slumming it," author Ruth Dudley Edwards said the following day. "He says he isn't, but he is."

Hill's reaction to this was not to defend the crime writing art, but to deliver a piquant rejoinder. "When I get up in the morning," he said dryly, "I ask my wife whether I should write a Booker prize winning novel, or another bestselling crime book. And we always come down on the side of the crime book." It got the biggest laugh of the weekend, but it did have a serious point. As author and critic Laura Wilson said later, Hill "should have won the Booker already".

Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine and Mystery News are pleased to announce the nominations for the 2009 Barry Awards. A really nice list of titles and stories. Congratulations to all of the nominees. The winners will be announced at this year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis.

BARRY AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST NOVEL
TRIGGER CITY by Sean Chercover
THE DRAINING LAKE by Arnaldur Indridason
ENVY THE NIGHT by Michael Koryta
RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger
THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny
DAWN PATROL by Don Winslow

BEST FIRST
THE KIND ONE by Tom Epperson
STALKING SUSAN by Julie Kramer
CITY OF THE SUN by David Levien
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith
A CARRION DEATH by Michael Stanley
SWEEPING UP GLASS by Carolyn D. Wall

BEST BRITISH
A SIMPLE ACT OF VIOLENCE by R.J. Ellory
RITUAL by Mo Hayder
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson
SHATTER by Michael Robotham
BLEEDING HEART SQUARE by Andrew Taylor
BRUNO, CHIEF OF POLICE by Martin Walker

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins
MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust
STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy
THE BLACK PATH by Asa Larsson
SEVERANCE PACKAGE by Duane Swierczynski
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD by Johan Theorin

BEST THRILLER
COLLISION by Jeff Abbott
THE DECEIVED by Brett Battles
THE SURVIVOR (NO SURVIVORS in U.S.) by Tom Cain
FINDER by Colin Harrison
NIGHT OF THUNDER by Stephen Hunter
GOOD PEOPLE by Marcus Sakey

BEST SHORT STORY
"The Drought" by James O. Born (The Blue Religion)
"The Fallen" by Jan Burke (August EQMM) "A Trace of a Trace" by Brendan DuBois (At the Scene of the Crime)
"A Killing in Midtown" by G. Miki Hayden (January/February AHMM)
"Proof of Love" by Mick Herron (September/October EQMM)
"The Problem of the Secret Patient" by Edward D. Hoch (May EQMM)
June 18, 2009

I found this in the Seattle Mystery Bookstore newsletter -- an interesting take on how the economic downturn affects a mystery bookstore and its book collecting clientele:

"There are many ways that an economic downturn can impact a shop like ours. Sales, obviously, have been impacted and we’re ordering a few less copies of this or that – 8 hardbacks instead of 10, or 4 paperbacks instead of 6 – but it is also affecting print runs.

            We’ve run into an on-going wrinkle that has been happening more and more, perhaps more frequently now than before the economic slump: publishers are cutting back their print runs. This doesn’t matter with an author who is going to have only 3 million copies printed instead of 5 million. But it can matter a great deal if you prefer the ‘mid-list’ or debut author, that writer who doesn’t regularly show up on the corporate bestseller lists but can and will show up on ours.

            If you’re an average reader, you probably wouldn’t notice it. Possibly, we might have longer stretches when we’re out of this or that paperback. We would guess that they’ve scaled back print runs on all books, mass markets, trade paperbacks and hardcover. But where it becomes dicey is if you’re a collector.

            When we place an order for books for an autographing, we normally order them from the publisher. It helps reinforce the idea that they’re spending the money to send their author to us and we’re spending our money to get the books from them; they support us by sending their author here and we support them by ordering the author’s titles.  It ought to be one of those closed, reciprocal systems.  

            But there are times when it won’t work. Sometimes we can’t get 1st printings from a given author’s publisher. Sometimes it is a matter of how long we’ve waited to place the order. Sometimes it is a matter of how many signings they’ve set up across the country before they get to the Pacific Northwest corner. If everyone else who has had the signing scheduled before they get to us has placed their orders for stock, we may’ve missed out on 1st printings.

            We just ran into this with Louise Ure. We sent in an order and asked to be notified if 1sts were not available (we’ve learned to do this, you see) and, lo and behold, we were notified that Liars Anonymous had gone into a 2nd printing. We canceled the order and got 1st print copies from a local wholesaler.

            So the moral of the story is that, if you’re a collector, don’t wait to get a copy thinking we’ll have plenty after the signing. We might, but we very well might not. (These days, we are trying to NOT have piles and piles of signed copies left after signings!)  The only way to make sure you have a signed 1st print waiting for you is to reserve one as early as you can.  It’s another one of those sympathetic systems: you let us know you want one, that helps us know how many to order and you are assured of getting a signed 1st for your shelves." May 21, 2009

Barry Award Nominations and Anthony Award Nominees. We try to get the Barry Award Nominations out before the Anthony Nominations because there are often similarities and we don't want anyone to think we are copying them. This year Mystery News is handling the Barry Awards -- specifically Lynn Kaczmarek. I emailed Lynn a few days ago and found that she has had a very rough last couple of months. Her mother's health has been failing and she has had to spend a lot of time in Arizona moving her mother into an assisted living facility. I've offered to help with the nomination process, but as of right now, Lynn still wants to do it. So that is why the Barry Nominations are understandably delayed a bit this year. Lynn, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your mother.

Anthony Award Nominees. See list below. It looks like the Anthony Awards wrestled with two of the most highly praised novels of last year: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and CHILD 44 (both Reviewed to Death titles in our magazine). They are not only stunningly good first novels but are among the best of all the mystery/crime novels published last year. So where do you put them? Under Best First Novel and/or Best Novel? And if you put them under the same category will their popularity cancel each other out? My suggestion to the Barry Nominating Committee was to put one under Best Novel and one under Best First. We'll see if the committee members agree and do it that way.

I thought it was interesting that three of the five nominees for Best First Novel are cozies. That should ensure that, at least under this category, the Anthony and the Barry nominees will be different (our nominating committee members generally don't read much in this area -- except for Maggie Mason and Beth Fedyn). Also interesting under the Best Paperback Original category, four out of five nominees are written by women. This category seems to ignore some of the fine paperback originals published in trade paperback last year (none nominated). The Best Novel short list is very strong. It seems that Kent Krueger is the perennial favorite of this category, having won in the Best Novel Anthony twice in the recent past. May 21, 2009

ANTHONY AWARD NOMINATIONS 2009

Best Novel
Trigger City by Sean Chercover [William Morrow]
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly [Little, Brown and Company]
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger [Atria]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny [Minotaur]

Best First Novel
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris [Minotaur]
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer [Doubleday]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith [Grand Central]

Best Paperback Original
The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
Money Shot by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy [Berkley]
In a Dark Season by Vicki Lane [Dell]
South of Hell by P.J. Parrish [Pocket Star]

Best Short Story
"The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron from Wolfsbane and Mistletoe [Ace]
"A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover from Hardcore Hardboiled [Kensington]
"Killing Time" by Jane K. Cleland from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (November)
"Skull and Cross Examination" by Toni L. P. Kelner from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (February)
"Scratch a Woman" by Laura Lippman from Hardly Knew Her [William Morrow]
"The Secret Lives of Cats" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (July)

Best Critical Nonfiction Work
African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey [McFarland]
How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson [Perseverance Press]
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeffrey Marks [McFarland]
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale [Walker & Company]

Best Cover Art
Death Was the Other Woman designed by David Rotstein and written by Linda L. Richards [Minotaur]
Death Will Get You Sober designed by David Rotstein and written by Elizabeth Zelvin [Minotaur]
The Fault Tree designed by David Rotstein and written by Louise Ure [Minotaur]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo designed by Peter Mendelsund and written by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Money Shot designed by Steve Cooley and written by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]

Special Service Award
Jon and Ruth Jordan
Ali Karim
David Montgomery
Gary Warren Niebuhr
Sarah Weinman

2009 EDGAR AWARDS

Larry Gandle didn't attend the Edgars this year, but called with the winners anyway.

BEST NOVEL

BLUE HEAVEN by C.J. Box (St. Martin's Minotaur) – Winner

MISSING by Karin Alvtegen (Felony & Mayhem Press)
SINS OF THE ASSASSIN by Robert Ferrigno (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
THE PRICE OF BLOOD by Declan Hughes (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
THE NIGHT FOLLOWING by Morag Joss (Random House – Delacorte Press)
CURSE OF THE SPELLMANS by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

THE FOREIGNER by Francie Lin (Picador) – Winner

THE KIND ONE by Tom Epperson (Five Star, div of Cengage)
SWEETSMOKE by David Fuller (Hyperion)
CALUMET CITY by Charlie Newton (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
A CURE FOR NIGHT by Justin Peacock (Random House - Doubleday)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

CHINA LAKE by Meg Gardiner (New American Library – Obsidian Mysteries) – Winner

THE PRINCE OF BAGRAM PRISON by Alex Carr (Random House Trade)
MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust (Hard Case Crime)
ENEMY COMBATANT by Ed Gaffney (Random House - Dell)
THE COLD SPOT by Tom Piccirilli (Random House - Bantam)

I'm glad for Chuck Box. 4/30/2009

2008 Agatha Nominees

Best Novel:
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry (Random House)
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur Books)

Best First Novel:
Through a Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell (Berkley Trade)
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis (Penguin Group)
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris (Minotaur Books)
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)
Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink)

3/11/2009

When a title comes out in the U.K. and then comes out with a different title here (or visa versa), it really annoys me. Here are the latest two examples:

Michael Robotham's stunning and well-named novel SHATTER will be known in the U.S. by the nebulous title of SLEEP OF REASON. Duhhh?

American author Brian Freeman has the fourth in his Jonathan Stride series coming out at the end of March in the U.S. under the title of IN THE DARK. This same book has already been out in hardcover from Headline in the U.K. for several weeks under the title THE WATCHER. Serious collectors of this series will get the U.K. edition, as it is the true first. But why the delay of the U.S. edition? 1/28/2009

Talked with my friend Mystery Mike (Bursaw) over the weekend. He is one of the chairmen of this year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis and he told me that the convention hotel is filling up fast. 85% of the allocated rooms have been reserved to date. So if you are going and want to stay in the convention hotel, you should reserve now. The overflow hotel is right across the street and is connected by a walkway, so if you leave the decision until later, you'll probably be o.k. A second overflow hotel is 600 feet away.

Hope economic times don't keep people from attending. We all need the lift a Bouchercon gives us.

At Bouchercon I usually share a room with Mystery Mike, but since Bouchercon this year is in his home town, that won't be happening. I've got my hotel room reserved (two queen beds) and am looking for a roommate -- preferably someone I know. Seems a shame to pay full hotel rates for a room I spend very,very little time in. January 27, 2009

Good news for Rennie Airth fans. The third John Madden, THE DEAD OF WINTER, is coming out in England in May. It is set in the London Blitz.

Stephen Booth's next Fry/Cooper, THE KILL CALL, will be published in April.

Mo Hayder's SKIN (March), will not only see a return of DI Jack Caffery, but also the enigmatic police diver Flea Marley, introduced to us in last year's RITUAL.

Robert Wilson will be completing his Javier Falcon trilogy in March with THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD.

In May, John Harvey's FAR CRY tries to answer the question: What are the chances of that a child abduction should happen to the same woman years apart and with different husbands? January 27, 2009

The Edgar Award nominations are out. If possible, this year's list is more eclectic than usual. I haven't read most of them, so I can't comment on the quality of the overall list, but Larry Gandle, who is going to read three of the fiction novel lists for the magazine, is already grumbling. He tries to read some of the books getting the most positive buzz during the year so when the nominees come out he will have read a few of the nominees already. He hasn't read any of the nominated books this year.

The Edgars may garner the same type of criticism that the CWA in Britain got a few years ago because three out of the six nominees for Best Novel are not American.

I'm happy with the C.J. Box and Alex Carr (Jenny Siler) nominations.

2009 EDGAR AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST NOVEL

MISSING by Karin Alvtegen (Felony & Mayhem Press)
BLUE HEAVEN by C.J. Box (St. Martin's Minotaur)
SINS OF THE ASSASSIN by Robert Ferrigno (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
THE PRICE OF BLOOD by Declan Hughes (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
THE NIGHT FOLLOWING by Morag Joss (Random House – Delacorte Press)
CURSE OF THE SPELLMANS by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

THE KIND ONE by Tom Epperson (Five Star)
SWEETSMOKE by David Fuller (Hyperion)
THE FOREIGNER by Francie Lin (Picador)
CALUMET CITY by Charlie Newton (Simon & Schuster - Touchstone)
A CURE FOR NIGHT by Justin Peacock (Random House - Doubleday)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

THE PRINCE OF BAGRAM PRISON by Alex Carr (Random House Trade)
MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust (Hard Case Crime)
ENEMY COMBATANT by Ed Gaffney (Random House - Dell)
CHINA LAKE by Meg Gardiner (New American Library – Obsidian Mysteries)
THE COLD SPOT by Tom Piccirilli (Random House - Bantam)

BEST SHORT STORY

"A Sleep Not Unlike Death" - Hardcore Hardboiled by Sean Chercover (Kensington Publishing)
"Skin and Bones" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by David Edgerley Gates (Dell Magazines)
"Scratch of a Woman" - Hardly Knew Her by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
"La Vie en Rose" - Paris Noir by Dominique Mainard (Akashic Books
"Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

"Streetwise" – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Paul Grellong (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
"Prayer of the Bone" – Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (BBC America)
"Signature" – Law & Order: SVU, Teleplay by Judith McCreary (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
"You May Now Kill the Bride" – CSI: Miami, Teleplay by Barry O'Brien (CBS)
"Burn Card" – Law & Order, Teleplay by David Wilcox (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)

BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY

The Bank Job, Screenplay by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (Lionsgate)
Burn After Reading, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Focus Features)
In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh (Focus Features)
Tell No One, Screenplay by Guillaume Canet, based on the book by Harlan Coben (Music Box Films)
Transsiberian, Screenplay by Brad Anderson & Will Conroy (First Look International)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli (Akashic Books)

GRAND MASTERS

James Lee Burke
Sue Grafton

RAVEN AWARDS

Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland
Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

SACRIFICE by S.J. Bolton (St. Martin's Minotaur)
THE KILLER'S WIFE by Bill Floyd (St. Martin's Minotaur)
STALKING SUSAN by Julie Kramer (Random House - Doubleday)
A SONG FOR YOU by Betsy Thornton (St. Martin's Minotaur)
THE FAULT TREE by Louise Ure (St. Martin's Minotaur) 1/16/2009

On a better note, I've been working on the latest issue of DP and hope to have it to the printer next week. I had wished to have it printed by now, but I've forgotten how much the Holidays interfere with normal life.

I've been sneaking a peak (o.k., I'll confess that I'm on page 100) at an arc of John Hart's next book THE LAST CHILD that arrived a few days ago. This guy can really write! Sure to be one of my favorites for 2009. 1/1/2009

Our New Year's celebrations will certainly be tempered by the devastating news that a giant of mystery/crime fiction has passed away. Donald E. Westlake died suddenly at the age of 75 on his way to a New Year's Eve celebration in San Tencho, Mexico.Now Larry Block is the remaining survivor of the big three who came out of New York City in the late '40s and early '50s -- Ed McBain, Lawrence Block and Donald E. Westlake. We can only hope that Larry's demanding exercise regime will keep him with us for many years to come.

Equally at home with the comic caper and the hardboiled crime novel, Don was a master of his craft.

I had the pleasure of conversing with him on two occasions. A most engaging and charming man. On one of the occasions I had just finished reading his book TRUST ME ON THIS, a comic crime novel about a reporter for a National Enquirer-type tabloid. Some of the stories that the reporter worked on were hilariously over-the-top. I commented on this and his reply was that he had a mole/source within a tabloid newspaper and that every outrageous story mentioned was in fact a story that was worked on. He laughed and laughted at that. It gave him great pleasure to surprise me with that fact.

2009 will be all uphill from here. 1/1/2009

There are a lot of books announced for 2009 that may be of interest to you. Here are a few:

February, 2009. SPADE & ARCHER by Joe Gores (Alfred Knopf, $24.00). The Prequel to THE MALTESE FALCON. This novel chronicles how Sam Spade set up his P.I. agency in 1921 and how he came to take on Miles Archer as a partner. My friend Mystery Mike has read this and said that he enjoyed it very much.

February, 2009. CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT by Earl Emerson (Ballantine, $25.00). It's nice to see PI. Thomas Black return after many years away. Black and his girlfriend Kathy are working for opposing senatorial candidates from the state of Washington. Then one candidate's plane goes down with Kathy on it.

March, 2009. FAULT LINE by Barry Eisler (Ballantine, $25.00). Stand-alone thriller. When patent attorney Alex Treven is attacked and his client is killed, he turns to his black ops brother Ben for protection.

April, 2009. THE SECRET SPEECH by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central, $24.99). Sequel to CHILD 44. Leo Demidov has been rewarded for service to the State (chronicled in CHILD 44) and has been granted authority to establish a homicide department in Moscow. But one shouldn't think that things are looking up for Leo -- after all, this is still Stalinist Russia.

Mystery writer and fan Elaine Flinn just passed away. She had been diagnosed with cancer some months ago and died of pneumonia, a side effect of that cancer. She won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original at the Toronto Bouchercon. I've never seen a more excited winner of a Barry and I was so glad that DP readers voted for her. Elaine was part of a significant minority in the mystery field -- that select group of mystery writers who are also knowledgeable fans of the genre. She read widely and contributed in many ways to the mystery community.

She was warm, vivacious and very funny. Here is her e-mail response to my telling her that she was nominated for the Barry Award:

“OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod!!!What else can I say...except that I am unbelievably overwhelmed...and I thank you all...so very, very much! You've made an old bag giddy...and speecheless. Just to be included among such terrific and acclaimed writers is...un^&&^%inbelievable.

I'd offer you all my first born...but my youngest is 38, so that won't work.You can't imagine what a boost this is at this particular moment...I'm working away on #3 -- DEADLY COLLECTION -- and been stumbling a bit and feeling like a fraud. I think I can handle it now.”

Elaine, we will miss you.

2008 BARRY AWARD WINNERS

BEST NOVEL(Published in the U.S. in 2007)
WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, Laura Lippman (Morrow) – Winner
SOUL PATCH, Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House)
THE UNQUIET, John Connolly (Atria)
DOWN RIVER, John Hart (St Martin’s Minotaur)
DIRTY MARTINI, J.A. Konrath (Hyperion)
RED CAT, Peter Spiegelman (Knopf)

BEST FIRST NOVEL (Published in the U.S. in 2007)
IN THE WOODS, Tana French (Viking) – Winner
MISSING WITNESS, Gordon Campbell (Morrow)
BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD, Sean Chercover (Morrow)
THE SPELLMAN FILES, Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)
THE COLLABORATOR OF BETHLEHEM, Matt Beynon Rees (Soho Press)
THE BLADE ITSELF, Marcus Sakey (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

BEST BRITISH CRIME NOVEL

(published in the U.K. in 2007,
not necessarily written by a British writer nor set in the U.K )
DAMNATION FALLS, Edward Wright (Orion) – Winner
A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, R.J. Ellory (Orion)
PIG ISLAND, Mo Hayder (Bantam Press)
ONE UNDER, Graham Hurley (Orion)
THE DEATH LIST, Paul Johnston (Mira)
THE 50/50 KILLER, Steve Mosby (Orion)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
QUEENPIN, Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster) – Winner

BLACK WIDOW AGENCY, Felicia Donovan (Midnight Ink)
CHOKE POINT, Jay MacLarty (Pocket)
THE MARK, Jason Pinter (Mira)
WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND, Fred Vargas (Penguin)
WHO IS CONRAD HIRST?, Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

BEST THRILLER
THE WATCHMAN, Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster) – Winner
NO TIME FOR GOODBYE, Linwood Barclay (Bantam)
THE CLEANER, Brett Battles (Delacorte)
VOLK’S GAME, Brent Ghelfi (Henry Holt)
SILENCE, Thomas Perry (Harcourt)
MIDNIGHT RAMBLER, Jim Swain (Ballantine)

BEST SHORT STORY
Edward D. Hoch, The Problem of the Summer Snowman (EQMM November 2007) --Winner
Doug Allyn, Dead As a Dog (EQMM July 2007)
Dale C. Andrews and Kurt Sercu, The Book Case (EQMM May 2007)
Jon L. Breen, The Missing Elevator Puzzle (EQMM February 2007)
Jeffrey Deaver, Bump (DEAD MAN'S HAND)
Gillian Roberts, The Old Wife's Tale (EQMM March-April 2007)
Neil Schofield, Murder: A User's Guibe (AHMM July-August)

DON SANDSTROM AWARD

LIFETIME ACHIEMENT IN MYSTERY FANDOM

Bill & Toby Gottfried

George Easter

Many thanks to my pals at Mystery News, all who worked on the nominating committees and the subscribers and readers who voted. Great list of books to read. 10/15/2008

From Sarah Weinman's website (I found this very interesting):

George Pelecanos is going to make an appearance at Bouchercon for a signing in the Book Dealers' Room at 12:30. He is not signed up for the convention.

Also, by chance, I happened to notice that Dennis Lehane will be signing at a local Baltimore Barnes & Noble on the Friday of the convention. I've contacted the Bouchercon organizers to see if they can arrange to have him drop by the convention that day. If I hear anything to that effect, I'll let you know.

September 13, 2008

BOUCHERCON DP GET-TOGETHER. Ruth and Jon Jordan, organizers of this year's Bouchercon, have kindly given us the use of the convention's Hospitality Suite on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 5:30 pm for a Deadly Pleasures Meet-And-Greet. I'll try to arrange for all of the DP Staff to be there and hope to have you subscribers and reader of DP come by and meet everyone who is responsible for your reading pleasure over the years. I'll have Larry Gandle put his armor on. Calendar this and hope to see your there.

In the past I've told people to come by after the Barry Awards presentation to say hi (you can still do this), but we've never had the staff all together in one place before. I hope to see you there. September 13, 2008.

He knows what he won't do: write another whodunit about the two private eyes, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, in his first five novels, which include GONE BABY GONE . "They were written from a young man's perspective. I left Patrick when I was 33 and he was 33. I've tried, but his voice won't come."

Boo. September 5, 2008

Barry Award Ballot time. Thanks to those of you who have sent yours in. The deadline is September 12, 2008. I'll be emailing those of you who haven't sent yours in -- that is, if I have your email address. But don't wait for me. Just email me your choices at george @deadlypleasures.com

For a list of the nominated titles you can click on the Barry Awards link above. September 5, 2008

Got my quarterly box from St. Martin's Minotaur today. It's called THE BEAST OF CRIME FICTION -- TEN YEARS STRONG. As usual there were four arcs that are coming out in the far future (Spring, 2009). Titles by Olen Steinhauer, Marshall Karp and Jane Haddam. But the one that really caught my eye was THE SHANGHAI MOON by S.J. Rozan (February, 2009). By the time it comes out it will be seven years since the last Bill Smith/Lydia Chin novel. Way too long! Plot: Estranged from fellow P.I. Bill Smith, Lydia Chin is on a case to track stolen jewels dating back to WWII. The Shanghai Moon, one the world's most sought after gems, is part of the stolen stash. Before Lydia can move forward, a coworker is murdered, Lydia is fired from the case, and Bill Smith reappears on the scene.

That should have some of you salivating. Sept 5, 2009

Took an hour today to look over the Bouchercon site and the panel program that has recently been posted on it.

There are two authors whom I have noticed signed up early but are no longer on the list: Elizabeth George and Daniel Woodrell. I'm disappointed. Haven't seen Elizabeth George for years and I was looking forward to meeting Daniel Woodrell.

On the plus side I noticed that Peter Robinson, Ace Atkins, Barry Eisler, R. J. Ellory, Peter James , Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Greg Rucka and Max Allan Collins have recently signed up (unless I missed them earlier). So that is nice.

The panels are named for rock and roll songs. I'm moderating a panel entitled Walk On the Wild Side. I asked Jon Jordan what that meant as far as a topic for the panel to discuss and he said, "Whatever you want it to be." I hope someone will attend. On the panel will be Val McDermid, Colin Harrison, Chris Knopf and Adrian Magson. When I heard the panelist's names I was very pleased. I have read, liked and reviewed the books of the latter three within the last year. And I've read enough of Val's work to know it well. Her latest comes out later this month in England. September 1, 2008

I was sad to hear the news of Janwillem de Wetering's recent death. I was a big fan of the early books in the Grijpstra & de Gier series. Later the series seemed to just get ... well, weird is the word that comes to mind.

Here is Jiro Kimura's obituary:

Janwillem van de Wetering died of cancer on July 4 in Maine. He was a member of a motorbike gang in South Africa in the early '50s, a Buddhist monk in Kyoto in the late '50s, a land salesman in Australia in the early '60s, a member of the Amsterdam Reserve Police in the late '60s, and a mystery writer in Maine since the mid-'70s. He wrote a number of the Grijpstra & de Gier novels starting with OUTSIDER IN AMSTERDAM (Houghton Mifflin, 1975). He wrote the Inspector Saito short stories under the Seiko Legru pseudonym for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and they were put together into a collection, INSPECTOR SITO'S SMALL SATORI (Putnam, 1985). He also authored a biography of a Dutch writer/diplomat, ROBERT VAN GULIK: HIS LIFE, HIS WORK (Dennis McMillan, 1988), and edited an MWA anthology, DISTANT DANGER (Wynwood Press,1988). He was 77.

Reginald Hill's latest Dalziel and Pascoe novel did more than change its name on it trip across the Atlantic. In the U.K. the title of this 2008 novel is A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES. The title comes from a quote (found on a front page of the novel) from Sir Thomas Browne in Religio Medici: "We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure for all diseases." I love this quote -- it seems so emblematic of Hill's sardonic humor.

Well, fast forward a few months and here comes the American edition of this novel which is entitled THE PRICE OF BUTCHER'S MEAT. This title is also derived from a literary quote -- this time from Jane Austen's Sanditon: " Aye -- that young Lady smiles I see -- but she will come to care about such matters herself in time. Yes, yes, my Dear, depend upon it, you will be thinking of the price of Butcher's meat in time."

I find it interesting that not only did the titles change, but also the quotes (that form the basis for the titles) found inside the books. Personally I like the title A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES more than the other title. Don't know why the American publisher wanted to change it to what I consider an inferior title. Haven't read the book yet, so I don't know which title best fits the plot. 08/08/2008

There are two current novels that have recently been published which feature beloved female authors as protagonists.

AN EXPERT IN MURDER by Nicola Upson (Harper, $24.95) has Golden Age crime writer Josephine Tey traveling from Scotland to London for the final week of her successful play Richard of Bordeaux. Her arrival coincides with the murder of a young woman she had befriended on the train ride.

DAPHNE by Justine Pidardie (Bloomsbury, $25.99). Written in three entwined parts, the novel follows Daphne du Maurier, the beautiful, tomboyish, passionate author of the enormously popular Gothic novel Rebecca, at fifty and on the verge of madness; John Alexander Symington, eminent editor and curator of the Brontës’ manuscripts, who by 1957 had been dismissed from the Brontë Parsonage Museum in disgrace, and who became Daphne’s correspondent; and a nameless modern researcher on the trail of Daphne, Rebecca, Alexander Symington, and the Brontës. 8/06/2008

2008 Shamus Awards Nominees

Best Hardcover
HEAD GAMES by Thomas B. Cavanagh (St. Martins Minotaur)
SOUL PATCH by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House)
THE COLOR OF BLOOD by Declan Hughes (Morrow)
A WELCOME GRAVE by Michael Koryta (St. Martins Minotaur)
A KILLER’S KISS by William Lashner (Morrow)

Best Paperback Original
SONGS OF INNOCENCE by Richard Aleas (Hard Case)
EXIT STRATEGY by Kelley Armstrong (Bantam)
STONE RAIN by Linwood Barclay (Bantam)
DEADLY BELOVED by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case)
BLOOD OF PARADISE by David Corbett (Mortalis/Ballantine)

Best First Novel
THE CLEANER by Brett Battles (Delacorte)
KEEP IT REAL by Bill Bryan (Bleak House)
BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD by Sean Chercover (Morrow)
WHEN ONE MAN DIES by Dave White (Three Rivers Press)
THE LAST STRIPTEASE by Michael Wiley (St. Martins)

Best Short Story
"Kill the Cat" by Loren D. Estleman, DETROIT NOIR (Akashic)
"Trust Me" by Loren D. Estleman, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2007
"Open Mike" by James Nolan, NEW ORLEANS NOIR (Akashic)
“Hungry Enough" by Cornelia Read, A HELL OF A WOMAN (Busted Flush Press)
"Room for Improvement" by Marilyn Todd, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Dec. 2007

I took a peek at the Bouchercon attendees list today and noticed that several authors have recently signed up. Here are the ones that I noticed:

Jason Goodwin, Andrew Gross, Arnarldur Indridason (cover boy for the current issue being sent out tomorrow), Daniel Woodrell, Linwood Barclay, Stephen Booth, Greg Rucka, Linda Greenlaw, Sheldon Siegel, Jason Starr, John Lutz, Steve Thayer, David Ellis, and Eddie Muller. And that's in addition to an author list that was already very good. I'm very excited about going this year. Should be great! July 17, 2008

The Critics Award 2008
Sponsored by
The Strand Magazine

Best Novel

WHAT THE DEAD KNOW by Laura Lippman – Winner
Down River by John Hart
The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston
The Strangler by William Landay
The Watchman by Robert Crais

Best First Novel

THE BLADE ITSELF by Marcus Sakey – Winner
In the Woods by Tana French
The Mark by Jason Pinter
Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell
When One Man Dies by Dave White

Voted on by a panel of very well-known mystery critics: Larry Gandle, Oline Cogdill, Dick Lochte, Hallie Ephron, David Montgomery, Sarah Weinman, David Anderson and Andrew Gulli.

CWA Dagger Award Winners

Duncan Lawrie Dagger
Frances Fyfield -- BLOOD FROM STONE (Little,Brown)

Duncan Lawrie International Dagger
Dominique Mannoti -- LORRAINE CONNECTION (Arcadia)

The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger
Tom Rob Smith -- CHILD 44 (Simon & Schuster)

The CWA New Blood Dagger
Matt Reys -- THE BETHLEHEM MURDERS (Atlantic )

The CWA Dagger in the Library
Craig Russell

The Debut Dagger
Amer Anwar -- WESTERN FRINGES

The Short Story Dagger
Martin Edwards --
"The Bookbinder's Apprentice"
The Mammoth Book of Best British Mysteries

There are a couple of revered mystery/suspense writers of the past who now are protagonists in recently published novels. Josephine Tey is the main character of AN EXPERT IN MURDER by Nicola Upson (Harper, $24.95, June, 2008). Plot: March 1934. Revered mystery writer Josephine Tey is traveling from Scotland to London for the final week of her celebrated play Richard of Bordeaux. But joy turns to horror when her arrival coincides with the murder of a young woman she had befriended on the train ride, and Tey quickly finds herself plunged into a mystery as puzzling as any of those in her own works.

The other is DAPHNE by Justine Picardie (Bloomsbury, $25.99, August, 2008). As you might expect the suspense writer Daphne Du Maurier, author of REBECCA, is featured in this novel. Plot: Drawing on Justine Picardie’s own extensive research into Daphne du Maurier’s obsession with the Brontës and the scandal that has haunted the Brontë estate, Daphne is a marvelous story of literary fascination and possession; of stolen manuscripts and forged signatures; of love lost and love found; of the way into imaginary worlds, and the way out again. Written in three entwined parts, the novel follows Daphne du Maurier herself, the beautiful, tomboyish, passionate author of the enormously popular Gothic novel Rebecca, at fifty and on the verge of madness; John Alexander Symington, eminent editor and curator of the Brontës’ manuscripts, who by 1957 had been dismissed from the Brontë Parsonage Museum in disgrace, and who became Daphne’s correspondent; and a nameless modern researcher on the trail of Daphne, REBECCA, Alexander Symington, and the Brontës. July 17, 2008

I always go incommunicado as I'm finalizing the magazine or else it doesn't get done. DP 54 is being printed tomorrow and will be mailed Monday. If it comes early enough tomorrow, I mail some issues to foreign subscribers and mystery bookstores, but I know from the past there will not be enough time to get the subscriber mailing out. I'm proud of the cover article on Scandinavian Crime Fiction. It took a long time to put together, but since it spotlights what quickly has become an important and very high quality section of mystery fiction in English-speaking countries, it is a subject most worthing of attention. I put a lot of author photos in it so you can attach a picture to a name. I hope you enjoy it and find recommendations for further reading.

The issue will include a Barry Award Ballot. Please vote. Thanks. July 17, 2008

MORE CWA AWARD NOMINATIONS 2008

Some more of the short-lists have been announced.

JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER
Best First Novel
Zoë Ferraris THE NIGHT OF THE THE MI’RAJ (U.S. title FINDING NOUF) Little, Brown
Elena Forbes DIE WITH ME Quercus
Caro Ramsey ABSOLUTION Michael Joseph (Penguin)
Matt Rees THE BETHLEHEM MURDERS (U.S. title THE COLLABORATOR OF BETHLEHEM) Atlantic Books
Tom Rob Smith CHILD 44 Simon & Schuster

INTERNATIONAL DAGGER
Best Translated Novel
Andrea Camilleri (Italy) THE PATIENCE OF THE SPIDER (Picador, Macmillan) Translated by Stephen Sartarelli
Stieg Larsson (Sweden) THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (MacLehose Press, Quercus) Translated by Reg Keeland
Dominique Manotti (France) LORRAINE CONNECTION (EuroCrime, Arcadia Books) Translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Ros Schwartz
Martin Suter (Spain) A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (EuroCrime, Arcadia Books) Translated by Peter Millar
Fred Vargas (France) THIS NIGHT'S FOUL WORK (Harvill Secker, Random House) Translated by Sîan Reynolds

IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER
Best Thriller
Mo Hayder RITUAL Transworld
Gregg Hurwitz I SEE YOU LITTLE, Brown (U.S. title THE CRIME WRITER)
Michael Robotham SHATTER Sphere (Little, Brown)
Tom Rob Smith CHILD 44 Simon & Schuster
David Stone THE ECHELON VENDETTA Penguin

Thoughts:
1. Best First Novel. I really liked the Matt Beynon Rees novel and it is a very worthy contender. We are doing a “reviewed to death” on CHILD 44 and all of the reviews that have come in so far have been very positive (even Marv Lachman’s!), so it looks like all of the pre-publication hype that this novel received was valid. Two Yanks and three Brits
2. International Dagger. I think that Stieg Larsson’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is the best crime novel I’ve read this year and it is on my short list for best crime novel of the decade. This is the third year of this category. Fred Vargas has won the previous two and is once again nominated. If she wins this time, we need to re-name the award the Fred Vargas Award and retire it.
3. Steel Dagger. My wife just finished SHATTER by Michael Robotham and liked it a lot (high praise from her). I’ve just finished RITUAL by Mo Hayder, a very unusual journey into African religious practices. It was good, but not my kind of book – had a hard time relating to the main characters. CHILD 44 – see my thoughts in paragraph 1 above. Two Brits, two Yanks and one Aussie. June 3, 2008

2008 BARRY AWARD NOMINATIONS

Presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine and Mystery News. The Awards will be presented on October 9, 2008 at Bouchercon in Baltimore, Maryland. Subscribers and readers of both magazines are eligible to vote. Votes can be submitted to george@deadlypleasures.com or by mail to P.O. Box 969, Bountiful, UT 84011. The deadline for voting is September 15, 2008. Please supply name and zip with vote.

BEST NOVEL(Published in the U.S. in 2007)

SOUL PATCH, Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House)
THE UNQUIET, John Connolly (Atria)
DOWN RIVER, John Hart (St Martin’s Minotaur)
DIRTY MARTINI, J.A. Konrath (Hyperion)
WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, Laura Lippman (Morrow)
RED CAT, Peter Spiegelman (Knopf)

BEST FIRST NOVEL (Published in the U.S. in 2007)

MISSING WITNESS, Gordon Campbell (Morrow)
BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD, Sean Chercover (Morrow)
IN THE WOODS, Tana French (Viking)
THE SPELLMAN FILES, Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)
THE COLLABORATOR OF BETHLEHEM, Matt Beynon Rees (Soho Press)
THE BLADE ITSELF, Marcus Sakey (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

BEST BRITISH CRIME NOVEL (published in the U.K. in 2007, not necessarily written by a British writer nor set in the U.K )

A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, R.J. Ellory (Orion)
PIG ISLAND, Mo Hayder (Bantam Press)
ONE UNDER, Graham Hurley (Orion)
THE DEATH LIST, Paul Johnston (Mira)
THE 50/50 KILLER, Steve Mosby (Orion)
DAMNATION FALLS, Edward Wright (Orion)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

QUEENPIN, Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
BLACK WIDOW AGENCY, Felicia Donovan (Midnight Ink)
CHOKE POINT, Jay MacLarty (Pocket)
THE MARK, Jason Pinter (Mira)
WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND, Fred Vargas (Penguin)
WHO IS CONRAD HIRST?, Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

BEST THRILLER

NO TIME FOR GOODBYE, Linwood Barclay (Bantam)
THE CLEANER, Brett Battles (Delacorte)
THE WATCHMAN, Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster)
VOLK’S GAME, Brent Ghelfi (Henry Holt)
SILENCE, Thomas Perry (Harcourt)
MIDNIGHT RAMBLER, Jim Swain (Ballantine)

BEST SHORT STORY

Doug Allyn, "Dead As a Dog" (EQMM July 2007)

Dale C. Andrews and Kurt Sercu, "The Book Case" (EQMM May 2007)

Jon L. Breen, "The Missing Elevator Puzzle" (EQMM February 2007)

Jeffrey Deaver, "Bump" (DEAD MAN'S HAND)

Edward D. Hoch, "The Problem of the Summer Snowman" (EQMM November 2007)

Gillian Roberts, "The Old Wife's Tale" (EQMM March-April 2007)

Neil Schofield, "Murder: A User's Guibe" (AHMM July-August 2007)The word “Guibe” is not a typo.

05/30/2008

The Duncan Laurie Dagger Short List for Best Novel has been announced in The Times. The rest of the short lists for various CWA Dagger Awards will be announced next week.

THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN, James Lee Burke

THE CORONER'S LUNCH, Colin Cotterill

BLOOD FROM STONE, Frances Fyfield

NIGHT WORK, Steve Hamilton

WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, Laura Lippman

A VENGEFUL LONGING, R.N. Morris

5/30/2008

Arthur Ellis Award Nominations 2008

For the best in Canadian Crime Fiction:

Best Novel
Linwood Barclay, NO TIME FOR GOODBYE (Bantam)
Terry Carroll, SNOW CANDY (Mercury Press)
Maureen Jennings, A JOURNEYMAN TO GRIEF (McClelland & Stewart)
Louise Penny, THE CRUELLEST MONTH (McArthur & Company)
Jon Redfern, TRUMPETS SOUND NO MORE (RendezVous Crime/Napoleon & Company)

Best First Novel
Claire Cameron, THE LINE PAINTER (HarperCollins)
Sean Chercover, BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD (William Morrow/HarperCollins)
Liam Durcan, GARCÍA’S HEART (McClelland & Stewart)
Susan Parisi, BLOOD OF DREAMS (Penguin Australia)
Sharon Rowse, THE SILK TRAIN MURDER (Carroll & Graf)
Marc Strange, SUCKER PUNCH (Castle Street Mysteries/Dundurn)

Best Short Story
Vicki Cameron, “Eight Lords A’Leaping” in Locked Up (Deadlock Press)
Maureen Jennings, “Wreckwood” in Blood on the Holly (Baskerville Books)
D.J. McIntosh, “The Hounds of Winter” in Blood on the Holly (Baskerville Books)
Rick Mofina, “As Long as We Both Shall Live” in Blood on the Holly (Baskerville Books)
Leslie Watts, “Turner” in Kingston Whig-Standard (July 7, 2007)

Nice to see some friends (and all subscribers to DP), such as Rick Mofina, Maureen Jennings (twice nominated!), and Sean Chercover nominated. I'll be rooting for them. 05/21/2008

What's with book titles nowadays? An arc of Victor Gischler's latest just landed on my desk. GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE. And then there is the recent, hard-to-characterize THE NYMPHOS OF ROCKY FLATS by Mario Acevedo (I think it's a humorous, vampire thriller ), followed by my personal favorite ISLAND OF THE SEQUINED LOVE NUN by Christopher Moore (his THE LUST LIZARD OF MELANCHOLY COVE isn't a bad title either). Well, back to the GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE. Here is the plot: Mortimer Tate was a recently divorced insurance salesman when he holed up in a cave on top of a mountain in Tennessee and rode out the end of the world. The book starts ten years later, when he emerges into a bizarre landscape filled with hollow reminders of an America that no longer exists. The highways are lined with abandoned automobiles, electricity is generated by indentured servants pedaling stationary bicycles. What little civilization remains revolves around Joey Armageddon's Sassy-a-Go-Go strip clubs. Accompanied by his cowboy sidekick Buffalo Bill and two gorgeous, lethal women named Sheila and Tyler, Mortimer journeys to the lost city of Atlanta -- and a showdown that just might determine the fate of humanity.

I hope no one asks the author where he gets his ideas. I frankly don't want to know. 5/21/2008

Chelsea Cain came out with her first novel HEARTSICK in 2007. It depicted the twisted relationship between serial killer/torturer Gretchen Lowell and the police detective who finally caught her Archie Sheridan. Even though Gretchen tortured, killed him and brought him back to life, Archie is obsessed with visiting her in jail for reasons that were somewhat unclear to me.

Well, in September Cain is coming out with the sequel entitled SWEETHEART. The publicity material gives away a big plot spoiler so I assume it is at the very beginning of the book -- Gretchen Lowell has escaped from prison!!! The first book contains a lot of graphic violence and torture so it isn't for everyone's taste. But the writing is quite good. May 17, 2008

Larry Gandle just called from the Edgar Awards Dinner. Here are the winners:

Best Novel

DOWN RIVER by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First Novel

IN THE WOODS by Tana French (Viking)

Best Paperback Original

QUEENPIN by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)

5/1/2008 at 10:15 Eastern Daylight Savings Time

DP #53 mailed over a week ago and tax returns filed. Whew! Now I can get back to living (and reading). I'm already getting renewals so if you haven't gotten it by now, you should receive it within the next few days.

I'll also be putting together the first phase of our Barry Award nominations, so we can get them out before the Anthony Award nominations (there is always some similarity because both are fan awards and come from similar fan bases). I like to be first so that no one accuses us of copying their list. 4/20/2008

The Thriller Awards Nominations are out.

BEST NOVEL 2008

No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay (Bantam)
The Watchman by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster)
The Ghost by Robert Harris (Simon & Schuster)
The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz (Viking)
Trouble by Jesse Kellerman (Putnam)

BEST FIRST NOVEL 2008

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell (Dutton)
Big City, Bad Blood by Sean Chercover (William Morrow)
From the Depths by Gerry Doyle (McBook Press)
Volk's Game by Brent Ghelfi (Henry Holt and Co.)
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (William Morrow)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL 2008

The Last Nightingale by Anthony Flacco (Ballantine)
A Thousand Bones by P.J. Parrish (Pocket)
The Midnight Road by Tom Piccirilli (Bantam)
The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon (Pocket)
Shattered by Jay Bonansinga (Pinnacle)

Once again these award nominations are dominated by male writers (despite 8 out of the 15 judges being female), but that reflects the male-dominated thriller sub-genre. 3/21/2008

The Strand Magazine is starting a new mystery fiction award called the Critics Award. Those who nominate are esteemed mystery fiction critics including our own Larry Gandle (who seems to want to be a judge for every mystery award known to man. Just so he doesn't neglect his duties as DP Assistant Editor. I don't want to be paying all that money for nothing. That's a joke.). Other judges include Sarah Weinman, Dick Lochte, Oline Cogdill, Hallie Ephron, David Montgomery, David Anderson and the Editor of The Strand Magazine, Andrew Gulli.

The Nominees are:

Best Novel 

Down River by John Hart (Thomas Dunne Books/Minotaur)

The Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston (Ballantine Books)

The Strangler by William Landay (Delacorte Press)

The Watchman by Robert Crais (Simon and Schuster)

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)

Best First Novel

The Blade Itself by Marcus Sakey (St. Martin's Minotaur)

In the Woods by Tana French (Viking)

The Mark by Jason Pinter (Mira Books)

Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell (William Morrow)

When One Man Dies by Dave White (Crown Publishing)

I see a few titles I hope will also appear on the Barry short lists. 3/21/2008

It seems that whenever the economy goes south we lose another mystery book store. This time it is Boulder, Colorado's High Crimes (formerly The Rue Morgue). I guess readers are using their discretionary income to buy gasoline for their cars.

High Crime's owner, Cynthia Nye, will continue the business as an internet/mail order business. I just talked to her and she says that the first week's business, after the closing, was robust. So cross your fingers. She will still be getting signed hardcover first editions, I believe. www.highcrimesbooks.com

Based on the recommendation of Ali Karim, the next Reviewed to Death title is CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith. This first novel is being super-hyped so we shall see what the DP review staff thinks of it. It will be out in April, so please grab a copy, read along with us, and submit a review to me if you wish for DP#54.

March 3, 2008

Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Crime Fiction Nominees

Benjamin Black, CHRISTINE FALLS (Henry Holt)

Ake Edwardson, FROZEN TRACKS (Viking)

Karin Fossum (Translated by Charlotte Barslund) THE INDIAN BRIDE (Harcourt)

Tana French, IN THE WOODS (Viking)

Jan Costin Wagner (Translated by John Brownjohn) ICE MOON (Harcourt)

WOW! What a list! Three Scandanavian crime writers, an Irish literary, mainstream fiction writer disguised as a mystery writer and a first-time Irish writer.

Where are the excellent American writers? Is this the equivalent of what happened in the U.K. with the CWA Awards a couple of years ago?

March 3, 2008

Agatha Award Nominees

Best Novel

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, by Donna Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)

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)

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)

Donna Andrews and Rhys Bowen have two nominations each, which I'm sure are well deserved. Very strong list for Best Novel, which will make it difficult for fans of the traditional mystery to choose a winner.

March 3, 2008

Otto Penzler's weekly column in The New York Sun is always a treat for me. But added pleasure was mine when I read last week's column on mystery magazines and had this to say about DP: "Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine is entirely devoted to articles and reviews, and is invaluable for the dedicated scholarship and fandom of its delightful founder, George Easter, and regular contributors Larry Gandle, Marv Lachman, Mary Mason, Ali Karim, Ted Hertel, and many others. In 1997, it began to present the Barry Award (named for Barry Gardner, a highly respected reviewer, then recently deceased) for excellence in crime fiction; several categories are voted upon by subscribers and Web visitors."

Otto did make one error in the column: he stated that "the longest running mystery fan magazine is Mystery Scene." I remember the editor of MS making that claim on a panel I was on and being corrected by Janet Rudolph of Mystery Readers International -- the longest running mystery fan magazine -- mention of which was surprisingly missing from the article.

March 3, 2008

2008 Hammett Prize Nominees

I have a new DP List -- Best Books of 2008 which I have just posted. In compiling the list I rely on reviews in DP and starred reviews in the four principal library journals -- Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus and Library Journal. As I've mentioned before there are one or two books a year that garner a starred review in all four journals. The first so far in 2008 is somewhat a surprise for me because heretofore I've been underwhelmed with the author's output.

*JUDAS HORSE, Smith, April (Knofp, $23.95). Maverick FBI Special Agent Ana Grey goes undercover to infiltrate the volatile core of a domestic terrorist cell, where she must negotiate a minefield of loyalty and betrayal under constant threat of discovery. 2/07/2008

A month or so ago Ali Karim alerted us to a new book, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson (January 2007 in U.K, Quercus) with this rave review. Despite its 500+ page size, I dived in and wow! I'm about 100 pages from the end (and I don't want it to end) and I'm blown away by this mystery debut. I'll be giving it an A+, a very rare rating for me. It is wonderfully complex and loved the author's writing style. There are some unpleasant scenes (the title character is raped and later she gets her revenge on the perpetrator) and an animal dies, so it won't be for everyone's tastes.

Possibly the best book of 2008. Thanks, Ali.

The good news is that it will be published by Vintage in the U.S. later in 2008. The bad new is that the author, a relatively young man, recently died after completing only three books in the series. What a loss!

See if you can detect a recent trend in mystery cover art:

I'm not a fan of tattoos, but these are pretty cool.

2/07/2008

Where are they now? Mid-list writers often disappear for a few years in between publishing contracts. Here are a few that have popped up again:

Elizabeth Gunn is now being published in England by Severn House and these are sold here in the U.S. McCAFFERTY'S NINE (2007) continues her Jake Hines series and COOL IN TUCSON (2007) begins a new series.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles has a new Bill Slider mystery, GAME OVER (Severn House, $28.95). Also available in U.S. This was one of my favorite series in the 1990s.

John Straley is back with THE BIG BOTH WAYS (Graphic Arts Center hc, $25.95, tp $16.95). Set in 1935, it follows several people in the Puget Sound area as they deal with death and mystery and head up the Inside Passage to Alaska to find a new and better life.

Edward Sklepowich is also being published in England by Severn House, so this book is also available here. FRAIL BARRIER is his lated Urbino Macintyre mystery set in Venice, Italy.

2/07/2008

Once again I'm sorry to announce that two more mystery writers have passed away.

Margaret Truman was famous on two fronts: as the daughter of venerable U.S. President Harry Truman and as a veteran and successful mystery writer.

Benjamin M. Schutz, hardboiled P.I. novelist. I'm particularly sad because I've enjoyed corresponding with Ben over the years. He was a very early and loyal subscriber to Deadly Pleasures. His career as a mystery writer suffered in the 1990s when male P.I. novels waned in interest. He was a nationally recognized psychologist and expert in child custody evaluation.

2/07/2008

Assistant Editor Larry Gandle was in Utah last weekend attending the Sundance Film Festival with friends. On Saturday I drove up to Park City (about 45 minutes away), picked him up and brought him back to my house. We had a very enjoyable couple of hours together, during which I took his photo in my library -- the same pose that you see in the masthead of this website. I got a big kick out of him walking around my library, saying, "George, you're so anal... you're so anal." He's right, but I still enjoy collecting. He's holding a bottle with a poison label. Good times. 12/25/2008

I know you'll forgive this short personal reference. I am the proud grandpa to two beautiful girls and our latest, 1-year-old Jacob Easter (Jake), who is a very cheerful, well-mannered young boy -- as you can see.

We put photos of him laughing on our fridge and every morning as I get my breakfast I can't help but smile and laugh. He's a keeper!

Ali Karim reports that the CWA Diamond Dagger (Life Achievement) is going to be awarded to Sue Grafton. Nice!1/18/2008

The Edgar Nominations are out. Not a bad list. I've actually read and liked some of them. Very pleased with Gordon Campbell's nomination for Best First Novel. His book and Matt Beynon Rees's novel are my choices for best firsts of the year (from those that I've read, which are limited in number). Authors under the Best First category must be American and some may wonder about Tana French who lives in Ireland. Apparently she was born in the U.S. Under Best Novel, I've read Christine Falls, Priest and Down River, all worthy nominees. Of those, I think I enjoyed Down River the most. Of the Paperback Original Nominees I found it interesting that four out of five were Trade paperback originals and only one mass market original. Keeping with Edgar Award tradition, there are a couple of obscure titles under that category. It was also nice to see Barbara Seranella's last novel nominated under the Mary Higgins Clark category. Only three out of the fifteen nominees for the top 3 categories (Best Novel, Best First and Best Paperback) are female authors. I guess the Barry Award nominee ratio between male and female authors isn't so bad. Larry Gandle will have his reviews of the nominees in the next issue of DP. He's already told me that he didn't care for the Michael Chabon novel (no big surprise there).

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)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

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

01/18/2008