CyberGumshoe's Mumblings in November/October 2019
Tom Adams Dies
Tom Adams died on December 09 (according to the obit in The Daily Telegraph) -- not on17 -- in the United Kingdom. The US-born Anglo-Scots illustrator was mostly famous for his surrealistically impressive paperback covers for Agatha Christie (Fontana Books UK and Pocket Books US) as well as for his manacingly impressive paperback covers for Raymond Chandler (Ballantine Books in the 1970's). The collection of his Christie's paperback covers was published as TOM ADAMS' AGATHA CHRISTIE COVER STORY (Paper Tiger, 1981; US editon as AGATHA CHRISTIE: THE ART OF HER CRIMES, Everest House, 1981; with commentary by Julian Symons), and so was another collection of his work as TOM ADAMS UNCOVERED (HarperCollins, 2015; with commentary by John Curran). Adams also contributed several illustrations for Julian Symons' GREAT DETECTIVES: Seven Original Investigations (Orbis UK, 1981; Abrams US, 1981), with seven great detectives including Hercule Poirot, Miss Maple and Philip Marlowe. He was 93. (December 19, 2019; revised December 30)
Barbara Neely to Receive Grand Master Award
The Mystery Writers of America has announced that Barbara Neely will receive the 2020 Grand Master Award on April 30, 2020 for her "achievement in mystery writing" and her "important contribution to this genre,"
And the same night at the Edgar Awards Banquet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, Left Coast Crime will receiver the 2020 Raven Award, and Kelley Ragland, associate publisher and editorial director of Minotaur Books, will receive the 2020 Ellery Queen Award. (December 15, 2019)
Walter Mosley Wins Nero
The Wolfe Pack, a New York-based Rex Stout fan club, announced at the Black Orchid Banquet on December 07 that DOWN THE RIVER UNTO THE SEA (Mulholland, 2018) by Walter Mosley won the 2019 Nero Wolfe Award. This is Mosley's second Nero Award after FEAR ITSELF (Little Brown, 2003). (December 09, 2019)
Willetta Heising Dies
Janet Rudolph of Mystery Fanfare has found out that Willetta Heising died on April 25, 2019 at her home in Dearborn, Michigan. The former financial planner was well-known in mysterydom as the mystery list-maker of DETECTIVE WOMEN: A Reader's Guide and Checklist for Mystery Series Written by Women (1995) series and DETECTIVE MEN: A Reader's Guide and Checklist for Mystery Series Written by Men (pocket edition, 1997; large-size trade paperback edition, 1998), an Agatha winner in the non-fiction category. DETECTIVE WOMEN 2 (1996), an Edgar nominee, won the 1997 Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards, while DETECTIVE WOMAN 3 (1999) won an Anthony. Each of DW2, DW3 and DM also had its pocket guide edition. Those reader's guides for mystery series were all published by her own Purple Moon Press based in Dearborn. She was 71. (December 03, 2019)
Jennifer Jaynes Dies
Jennifer Jaynes died mysteriously on November 25 in Hideaway, Texas. Myteriously because she was found dead with two gunshot wounds to the head even though the authorities say it was suicide. She first self-published her debut novel, NEVER SMILE AT STRANGERS (2011), and when its editorially revised version was published by Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, in 2015, the first of the Strangers series became a best-seller. She wrote two more Strangers novels, UGLY YOUNG THING (2015) and DON'T SAY A WORD (2016), as well as two standalones, THE STRANGER INDIDE (2017) and MALICE (2018, all from Thomas & Merer). She was an anti-vaxx mom and wrote about corruption inside the vaccine industry. As Jennifer Minar-Jaynes, she wrote the screenplay for "Boggy Creek," a horror film her then-husband Brian Jaynes directed in 2011. She was 47. (December 02, 2019)
Gahan Wilson Dies
Gahan Wilson died from complications of dementia in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was sometimes dubbed "the Michelangelo of the Macabre" or "the Wizard of Weird," as he contributed weird horror illustrations to Playboy and The New Yorker among other magazines, and a regular comic strip called "Nuts" to National Lampoon (a sort of anti-"Peanuts"). And he also wrote short horror stories for anthologies. He published a number of collections of his illustrations such as GAHAN WILSON'S GRAVEYARD MANNER (Ace, 1965), PLAYBOY'S GAHAN WILSON (Playboy, 1973), GAHAN WILSON'S CRACKED COSMOS (Tempo, 1975), as well as children's fantasy books such as HARRY, THE FAT BEAR SPY (Scribner's, 1973). I first met him at Bouchercon (he drew a darkly weird illustration for the front cover of the program) in New York in 1977, and interviewed him on the phone at a later date. He gave me permission to use one of his illustrations ("I'll talk! I'll TALK!") for the jacket of INTERROGATION AND CONFESSION (Hayakawa, 1981), a collection of interviews with 25 mystery writers. He also liked to draw illustrations of Sherlock Holmes and a Sam Spade-like private eye. He was 89. (November 24, 2019; revised, November 25)
Kristen Lepionka Wins Shamus
The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) has announced the winners for the 2019 Shamus Awards as follows:
Eye Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Les Roberts
Best PI Novel: WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur), featuring Roxane Weary
Best First PI Novel: THE BEST BAD THINGS, by Katrina Carrasco (MDC/Farrar, Straus and Giroux), introducing Alma Rosales
Best Original PI Paperback: THE QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR OF DAHLIA MOSS, by Max Wirestone (Redhook), featuring Dahlia Moss
Best PI Short Story: "Chin Yong-Yun Helps a Fool," by S.J. Rozan (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Septembrer/October 2018), featuring Chin Yong-Yun, mother of Lydia Chin
The winners were announced on November 01 at the PWA Banquet during Bouchercon in Dallas, Texas. (November 05, 2019)
Lou Berney Wins Anthony
Bouchercon 2019 has announced the 2019 Anthony Award winners as follows:
Best Novel: NOVEMBER ROAD, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
Best First Novel: MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER, by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday)
Best Papaerback Original Novel: UNDER A DARK SKY, by Lori Rader-Day (Morrow Paperbacks)
Best Short Story: "The Grass Beneath My Feet," by S.A. Cosby (in Tough blogazine, August 20, 2018)
Best Critical or Non-Fiction Work: I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK, by Michelle McNamara (HarperCollins)
David Thompson Award Recipient: Jenn and Don Longmuir, owners of Scene of the Crime Books in St.Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Peter Lovesey
The winners were announced on November 02 during the 50th annual Bouchercon convention in Dallas, Texas. (November 03, 2019)
Lou Berney Also Wins Barry
Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine has announced the winners for the 2019 Barry Awards as follows:
Best Novel: NOVEMBER ROAD, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
Best First Novel: THE CHALK MAN, by C.J. Tudor (Crown)
Best Paperback Original: THE RUIN, by Dervla McTiernan (Penguin)
Best Thriller: SAFE HOUSES, by Dan Fesperman (Knopf)
Dan Sandstrom Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom: Jeff Popple
The winners were announced on October 31 at the Dallas Bouchercon during the Opening Ceremonies. (November 02, 2019)
Lou Berney Wins Macavity
Mystery Readers International has announced the 2019 Macavity Award winners as as follows:
Best Novel: NOVEMBER ROAD, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
Best First Novel: DODGING AND BURNING, by John Copenhaver (Pegasus)
Best Nonfiction: THE REAL LOLITA, by Sarah Weinman (HarperCollins)
Best Short Story: "English 398: Fiction Workshop," by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2018)
Best Historical Mystery: THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
The winners were announced on October 31 at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (November 01, 2019)
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