Prime Suspect

2010 Edgar Award Nominees

 

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television will announce the winners at the 64th Gala Banquet in New York City on April 29, 2010.

The Edgars are awarded by the Mystery Writers of America. Below is the list of this year's nominees. For more information about the Edgars and the Mystery Writers of America, check out their websites.

• Mystery Writers of America website: http://www.mysterywriters.org/
• The Edgar Awards: http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=AwardsPrograms

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

BEST JUVENILE

• The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)
• Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
• Creepy Crawly Crime by Aaron Reynolds (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
• The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer (Penguin Young Readers Group – Philomel Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

• Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperTeen)
• If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
• The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford (Penguin Young Readers Group – Viking Children’s Books)
• Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
• Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

• “Place of Execution,” Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS/WGBH Boston)
• “Strike Three” – The Closer, Teleplay by Steven Kane (Warner Bros TV for TNT)
• “Look What He Dug Up This Time” – Damages, Teleplay by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman (FX Networks)
• “Grilled” – Breaking Bad, Teleplay by George Mastras (AMC/Sony)
• “Living the Dream” – Dexter, Teleplay by Clyde Phillips (Showtime)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"A Dreadful Day" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Dan Warthman (Dell Magazines)

GRAND MASTER
Dorothy Gilman

RAVEN AWARDS

• Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
• Zev Buffman, International Mystery Writers’ Festival

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Poisoned Pen Press (Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 28, 2010)

• Awakening by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
• Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof by Blaize Clement (Minotaur Books)
• Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
• Lethal Vintage by Nadia Gordon (Chronicle Books)
• Dial H for Hitchcock by Susan Kandel (HarperCollins)

 

Tucson Festival of Books Part 2

The 2nd Annual Tucson Festival of Books was a huge success. Two days of author meet-and-greets, book signings, green turtle visors, forums, pink parasols, panels, entertainment and food at the University of Arizona. Plus, the weather was perfect: 70s and bright sunshine with a soupçon of a cooling breeze.

Here are some photos from the event. But make sure to visit the Tucson Festival of Books website for more photos and videos of the event. The Arizona Daily Star also has a photo album of TFOB and a tool so you can add your own photos to the album.

   

 

(Author J.A. Jance informally signing books for fans at the Clues Unlimited (a Tucson mystery bookstore) tent.)

 

(Jango Fett and Qui-Gon Jinn with a little boy who obviously didn't enjoy Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.)

(Jengo Fett waiting patiently for his free McDonald's Frappe. I had two and they were delicious.)  

Tucson Festival of Books

The 2nd Annual Tucson Festival of Books is this weekend March 13 &14 at the University of Arizona. After last years amazing success of 450+ authors and over 50,000 visitors, this year is expected to be even more spectacular.

Here is the list of mystery authors who will be participating in forums, book signings, and workshops during the festival.

       

     
(Above: Cara Black, Robert Crais, JA Jance, and Elmore Leonard)

• Agarwal, Shilpa
• Arruda, Suzanne
• Barber, Christine
• Black, Cara
• Blackwell, Juliet
• Box, C.J.
• Casey, Donis
• Crais, Robert
• Cramer, Rebecca
• Dugoni, Robert
• Egan, Martha
• Emley, Dianne
• Fulmer, David
• Goodman, Carol
• Gunn, Elizabeth
• Harrison, C.C.
• Hayes, J.M. (Mike)
• Hays, Tony
• Hellmann, Libby Fischer
• Hillerman, Anne
• Jance, J.A. (Judith)
• Johnson, Craig
• Kaplan, Janice
• Lange, Richard
• Leonard, Elmore
• Littlefield, Sophie
• Maleeny, Tim
• Margolin, Phillip
• Mariotte, Jeff
• Mathis, Kate
• McGarrity, Michael
• Miller, Susan Cummins
• Morrell, David
• Norman, Michael
• Patino, Ernie
• Perry, Thomas
• Reich, Christopher
• Webb, Betty
• Yarina, Susan

And that's just the Mystery Authors. There are also International Authors, Culinary Authors, Kids/Teen Authors, Local Authors, and more.

I hope you can make it. Here's the website to get all the details: http://www.tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/

Cara Black (Author)

 

Cara Black writes a thrilling crime series set in Paris in the 1990s. Her sleuth is a private investigator and computer security expert named Aimee Leduc. Aimee along with her partner, a dwarf named Rene, solve murders and kidnappings and other crimes in the seedier neighborhoods of Paris. Each novel takes place in a different section of Paris's 20 arrondissements. She expertly weaves the mystery with the history of the neighborhood and its current multicultural character. The stories are firmly set in the 1990s and deal with issues like immigration, terrorism, the legacy of Nazism in Paris from WWII, and even the death of Princess Diana. These too are woven into Cara's mysteries to make them grander and give a more universal scope to her novels.

Cara's 10th Aimee Leduc Mystery, Murder in the Palais Royal, was published on March 1, 2010. I am in the middle of reading #5 Murder in Clichy.

I have to confess, I always thought Cara Black was a resident of Paris. Her knowledge and description of the City of Lights is so detailed, I thought only a native could write like this. But, no. Cara lives in one of my other favorite cities, San Francisco. However, she visits Paris frequently on research trips (one of the joys of being a writer!).

Cara Black is a featured author at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend in my hometown. She along with Libby Fischer Hellmann, Shilpa Agarwal, and Suzanne Arruda will discuss mystery writing in foreign lands in a forum called "Other Countries, Other Crimes." On Sunday, Cara and Libby will talk about the emergence of the female private investigator in mysteries in a forum called "Good Girls and Bad Guys."

Visit Cara Blacks website for much more on Aimee Leduc, Paris, and her book tour. http://www.carablack.com/

Aimee Leduc Mysteries

1. Murder in the Marais (1998)
2. Murder in Belleville (2000)
3. Murder in the Sentier (2002)
4. Murder in the Bastille (2003)
5. Murder in Clichy (2004)
6. Murder in Montmarte (2005)
7. Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (2007)
8. Murder in the Rue de Paradis (2008)
9. Murder in the Latin Quarter (2009)
10. Murder in the Palais Royal (2010)

Publishers:

• Soho Press, New York

www.sohopress.com

Bowen, Rhys (Author)

 

Rhys Bowen is the nom de plume Janet Quin-Harkin uses when writing her mystery series. Her most current mystery, The Last Illusion, was just published this month. It is the 9th novel in the Molly Murphy Mysteries.

The multiple award winning author writes three mystery series: 

The Molly Murphy Mysteries feature an independent, forthright Irish immigrant in turn of the century (20th) New York. She starts her own detective agency, a bold move for a woman at that time. She soon finds herself trying to navigate her way through every level of New York society in search of murderers and other villains. Each novel focuses on on familiar themes of the era: the plight of immigrants, horrible sweatshops, fraudulent spiritualists, and woman's suffrage, to name a few. Molly has an on-again, off-again relationship with a high society police detective named Daniel Sullivan that adds a touch of romance to the mysteries.

1. Murphy's Law (2001)
2. Death of Riley (2002)
3. For the Love of Mike (2003)
4. In Like Flynn (2005)
5. Oh Danny Boy (2006)
6. In Dublin's Fair City (2007)
7. Tell Me Pretty Maiden (2008)
8. In a Gilded Cage (2009)
9. The Last Illusion (2010)

The Constable Evans Mysteries take place in modern day Wales. The village of Llanfair is as picturesque as a village one could hope for in mysteries. Filled with oddballs, family feuds lasting generations, jealousies approaching the boiling point, a kind-hearted constable, Evan Evans, to solve the mysteries and a pretty school teacher, Bronwen Price, to steal Evan's heart. The mysteries are short and funny while at the same time deal with modern societal problems like drug abuse and arranged marriages. After writing 10 books in this series, it is currently in hiatus according to Rhys's website.

1. Evans Above (1997)
2. Evan Help Us (1998)
3. Evanly Choirs (1999)
4. Evan & Elle (2000)
5. Evan Can Wait (2001)
6. Evans to Betsy (2002)
7. Evan Only Knows (2003)
8. Evan's Gate (2004)
9. Evan Blessed (2005)
10. Evanly Bodies (2006)

The Royal Spyness Mysteries is Rhys's newest series. It features Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie Rannoch, a distant cousin to King George V of England. The year is 1932 and Lady Georgie (as she's known to friends and family) finds herself in London, penniless and without servants! But she is no shrinking violet. Lady Georgie comes up with a crazy plan to make money: Clean and prepare London townhomes for the aristocracy when then come to town for the Season. Her escapades are quickly discovered by Her Majesty Queen Mary (of Teck) who asks Lady Georgie to use her proximity to these aristocrats to solve some minor mysteries and squash any scandal. The mysteries poke fun at the mystery conventions while adding derring-do and romance to mix.

1. Her Royal Spyness Solves Her First Case (2007)
2. A Royal Pain (2008)
3. Royal Flush (2009)

You can read more about Rhys Bowen and her series at www.rhysbowen.com .

Publishers:

• Minotaur Books, Macmillan, New York.
• Berkley, Penguin Group, New York.