CyberGumshoe's Mumblings in March/April 2020
Sheila Quigley Dies
Sheila Quigley died suddenly on April 24 of complications from a toe infection at a hospital in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, UK. The former factory machinist started to write the Seahills series set in Houghton-le-Spring in the City of Sunderland, featuring Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt, beginning with RUN FOR HOME (Random House UK, 2004). She created another series: the Holy Island trilogy, featuring Detective Inspector Mike Yorke and his sidekick Smiler, a psychic street kid, beginning with THORN IN MY SIDE (Burgess Books, 2010). Her last novel was KILLIN ME SOFTLY (Buirgess, 2017), the eighth Seahills book. She was 72. (April 29, 2020)
Sheila Connolly Dies
Sheila Connolly died on April 20 in County Cork, Ireland, where she moved from Massachusetts, USA last year. She had been an art historian, an investment banker, a non-profit fundraiser and a professional genealogist, and she finally had her own time to write a book in 2001 and found an agent in 2006 and held her own published book in 2008. Her very first published novel was THROUOGH A GLASS, DEADLY (Berkley, 2008), the first book in the Glassbowing mysteries, featuring Emmeline "Em" Dowell, a glassbower in Arizona. This first novel, written under her Sarah Atwell pseudonym, was nominated for the 2008 Agatha Award for best first novel. She was so prolific that she had several series written under her own real name: The Orchard Mysteries, starting with ONE BAD APPLE (Berkley, 2008), featuring Meg Corey, an apple grower in Massachusetts; The Museum mysteries, starting with FUNDRAISING THE DEAD (Berkley, 2010), featuring Eleanor "Nell" Pratt, a fundraiser in Pennsylvania; The County Cork mysteries, starting with BURIED IN A BOG (Berekley, 2013), featuring Maura Donovan, a pub owner in Ireland; the Relatively Dead mysteries, staring with RELATIVELY DEAD (Beyond the Page Publishing, 2013), featuring Abby Kimball, a ghost-seer in New England; the Victorian Village mysteries, starting with MURDER AT THE MANSION (Minotaur, 2018), featuring Kate Hamilton, a town-planner in Maryland. She was 69. (April 26, 2020)
David Dean Wins EQMM Readers Award
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has announced the result of its EQMM Readers Award contest as follows:
First place: "The Duelist," by David Dean (May/June 2019)
Second place: "Fade-Out on Bunker Hill," by Paul D. Marks (March/April 2019)
Third place (tied): "The Dutchy," by Doug Allyn (November/December 2019)
and "Whiteout," by G.M. Malliet (January/February 2019)
These winners were voted by EQMM hard-copy buyers and/or subscribers. (April 25, 2020; Revised, April 26)
Andrew J. Fenady Dies
Andrew J. Fenady died of natural causes on April 16 at his home in Los Angeles. He was a Hollywood producer, screenwriter and novelist among other things. He made his Hollywood debut with a TV series "Confidential File" in 1953 as a TV writer, and his producer's debut with the 1958 movie, "Stakeout on Dope Street." After this, he created "The Rebel" with Nick Adams, produced and wrote for the TV series with Adams starred as Johnny Yuma, a former Confederate soldier in the wake of the Civil War. He also wrote the lyric for its theme song, "Johnny Yuma," sung by Johnny Cash. He produced and wrote the 1970 movie "Chisum" starring John Wayne, Ray Milland-starring "Terror in the Wax Museum" (1973) and many other movies. His first novel was THE MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE (Regnery, 1977), where a man gets plastic surgery to look like Humphrey Bogart, calls himself Sam Marlow and opens his private investigator office in Hollywood to solve a number of cases. Fenady produced and wrote for its movie version in 1980, with Bogart look-alike Robert Sacchi starred as the title role. It was George Raft's last movie. He was nominated for the 1981 Edgar in the screenplay category. He also produced and wrote a TV movie, "Jake Spanner, Private Eye" (1989), based on L. A. Morse's Edgar-winning novel, THE OLD DICK (Avon, 1981), starring Robert Mitchum as the title role. Fenady created Alex Night, another private eye, featured in A. NIGHT IN BEVERLY HILLS (2003) and A. NIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD FOREVER (2006, both published by Five Star). He wrote several historical and western novels such as THE REBEL JOHNNY YUMA (Berkley, 1998), and THE MUSTANGERS (Pinnacle, 2019). He received the 2006 Wister Award from the Western Writers of America for his lifetime achievements and contributions to Westerns. He was 91. (April 25, 2020)
Arthur Ellis Award Shortlists Announced
The Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) annoucned the shortlists for the 2020 Arthur Ellis Awards on April 21 online. The shortlistees in the best crime novel by Canadian authors are as follows:
GREENWOOD, by Michael Christie (MacClelland & Stewart)
FATE, by Ian Hamilton (House of Anansi Press)
HIDEAWAY, by Nicole Lundrigan (Penguin Random House Canada)
THE LAST RESORT, by Marissa Stapley (Simon & Schuster Canada)
IN THE DARK, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake Romance)
To see the shortlistees in all the categories, click here. And the 2020 Grand Master Award recipient is Peter Robinson. The annual awards gala has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The winners will be announced in late May on the website and social media. (April 22, 2020; revised, April 23)
NoirCon 2020 Cancelled
NoirCon 2020, which was scheduled to be held in Los Angeles from Thursday September 10 thru Sunday September 13, has been cancelled due to covid-19, according to its co-founder and organizer Lou Boxer.
NoirCon is a biennial literary conference devoted to the dark subgenre of fiction and film called "noir." By the way, the previous NoirCon, which was supposed to be held in Philadelphia in 2018, was cancelled too, partly due to the passing of its co-founder Deen Kogan in March 2018. (April 22, 2020)
Steph Cha Wins LAT Book Prize
Although The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books has been postponed to the weekend of October 03 and 04, The Los Angeles Times has announced the winners for the 2020 LAT Book Prizes in the 12 category on twitter. The winner in the mystery/thriller category is YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY, by Steph Cha (Ecco). Walter Mosley received the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. (April 18, 2020)
Peter Bowen Dies
Peter Bowen died from heart failure after a fall at his home in Lingston, Montana. He was famous for the Montana Mysteries, starting wiht COYOTE WIND (St. Martin's, 1994), featuring Gabriel Du Pre, a Metis (member of mixed people of Cree and European) cattle inspector and sometimes deputy sheriff in the fictional town of Toussaint, Montana. The 15th Du Pre novel was SOLUS (Open Road Media, 2018) and the 16th and final one is soon to be published with his wife Chistine Whiteside's editorially finishing touches. He also wrote four Yellowstone Kelly historical novels, starting with YELLOWSTONE KELLY: GENTLEMAN AND SCOUT (Jameson Books, 1987) and ending with KELLY AND THE THREE-TOED HORSE (St. Martin's, 2001). He was 74. (April 18, 2020)
Edgar Award Winners to Be Announced on Twitter
Since the 2020 Edgar Awards banquet has been cancelled due to the global coronavirus pandemic, The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) will announce the Edgar Award winners on Thursday, April 30 on Twitter @EdgarAwards at 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time. (April 17, 2020)
Bouchercon 2020 Cancelled
Bouchercon 2020, which was planned to be held from October 15 thru 18 in Sacramento, California, has been cancelled due to the global coronavirus pandemic, according to co-chairs Rae James and Michele Drier. However, the nominees and consequent winners for the 2020 Anthony Awards will be announced somehow. (April 16, 2020)
Thriller Award Nominees Announced
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) has announced the nominees for the 2020 Thriller Awards. The nominees in the hardcover thriller novel category are as follows:
ONE GOOD DEED, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)
RAG AND BONE, by Joe Clifford (Oceanview)
RECURSION, by Blake Crouch (Crown)
THEY ALL FALL DOWN, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)
THE CHAIN, by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)
CONVICTION, by Denise Mina (Mulholland)
To see the nominees in all the six categories, click here.
Since The International Thriller Writers has cancelled ThrillerFest XV (which was scheduled to be held in New York City from July 7 thru 11) and the Thriller Awards Banquet, the Thriller Award winners will be announced in a special presentation on July 11 during "Virtual" ThrillerFest hosted by the International Thriller Writers Facebook page.
Following are some Thriller Award recipients:
2020 ThrillerMaster Lifetime Achievement Award recipient: Diana Gabaldon
2020 Silver Bullet Award recipient: Michael Connelly
2020 Thriller Legend Award recipent: Writers House (a literary agency)
(April 15, 2020; revised, April 18)
Zev Buffman Dies
Zev Buffman died on April 01 of natural causese at his home near Seattle, Washington. The famous Broadway producer became president and CEO of the International Mystery Writers' Festival (IMWF) in Owensboro, Kentucky in 2007. His three newly-produced plays brought three Edgar nominations and one of them, "Panic," by playwright Joseph Goodrich won the 2008 Edgar Award in the mystery play category from the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). In 2010, he received an Raven Award from MWA for his work with IMWF. He was 89. (April 13, 2020)
Theakston Crime Writing Festival Cancelled
Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (to be held in Harrogate, England from July 23 thru 26) has been cancelled, but the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020 will be announced online. (April 12, 2020; revised, April 13)
Kate Mattes Dies
Kate Mattes died of a cardiac arrest on March 25 at her home in Vermont. The former social worker had always wanted to open a mystery bookstore and did realize her dream by opening Kate's Mystery Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1983. The store became a literary center for mystery writers and readers alike. She was the 2008 Raven Award recipient from the Mystery Writers of America. Unfortunately, the store closed in 2009, and she moved to Vermont to be near her family. She was 73. (March 27, 2020)
Malice Domestic 32 Cancelled
Malice Domestic board has announced that they will cancel the event (which was to be held April 30 thru May 03 in Bethesda, Maryland). The winners of the Agatha Awards will be announced during a special live streamed event this year, and attend the Agatha Awards Banquet at Malice Domestic 33 to be held from April 29 through May 02 next year. (March 26, 2020)
Matt Coyle Wins Lefty
Left Coast Crime 2020 announced the winners for the 2020 Lefty Awards after LCC 2020 was abruptly cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, as follows:
Best Humorous Mystery Novel: SCOT & SODA, by Catrina McPherson (Midnight Ink)
Best Historical Mystery Novel: THE SATAPUR MOONSTONE, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Best Debut Mystery Novel: MURDERABILIA, by Carl Vonderau (Midnight Ink)
Best Mystery Novel: LOST TOMORROWS, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing)
The winners were supposed to be announced and presented on Saturday, March 14 during the Left Coast Crime 2020 convention at the Marriot Mission Valley in San Diego, California but LCC 2020 was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and so was the Lefty presentation there. The winner announcement was finally made on March 23 online and the the presentation was made virtually. (March 24, 2020)
Barbara Neely Dies
Barbara Neely died on March 02 of a heart ailment at a hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The social activist created Blanche White, the first black female series sleuth in mainstream American publishing. Blanche White (an ironical name) is a middle-aged black domestic worker. The first Blanche novel, BLANCHE ON THE LAM (St. Matin's, 1992), won three best first novel awards: Agatha, Anthony and Macavity. It was followed by BLANCHE AMONG THE TALENTED TENTH (St. Martin's, 1994), BLANCHE CLEANS UP (Viking, 1998), and BLANCHE PASSES GO (Viking, 2000). Brash Books re-issued all of the four Blanche White novels in 2014 and 2015, which may have resulted in her being named the 2020 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2019. She was 78. (March 11, 2020)
Clive Cussler Dies
Clive Cussler died on February 24 at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. The former advertising director's first novel, THE MEDITERRANEAN CAPER (Pyramid, 1973), introducing marine engineer Dirk Pitt, an Edgar nominee for best paperback, and the second novel, ICEBERG (Dodd Mead, 1975), did not fare well, but the third adventure novel, RAISE THE TITANIC (Viking, 1976) hit the New York Times bestseller list, and was turned into the 1980 movie of the same name starring Richard Jordan as Dirk Pitt. After this, he produced Dirk Pitt novels every year or every two years. Since the 18th Pitt, BLACK WIND (Penguin, 2004), Clive's son Dirk Cussler has been co-writing Pitt novels. Recently Clive launched several other series: The Numa Files, featuring Kurt Austin, co-written with Paul Kemprecos or Graham Brown; The Oregon Files, co-written with Graham Brown, Jack DuBrul, or Boyd Morrison; Isaac Bell series, featuring early-20th-century private investigator, co-written with Justin Scott; The Fargo Adventures, featuring husband-and wife treasure hunters Sam and Remi Fargo, co-written with Grant Blackwood, Thomas Perry, Russell Blake or Robin Burcell. The 11th Bell novel, THE TITANIC SECRET, will be published by Putnam this September. He was 88. (March 10, 2020)
Hammett Award Shorlist Announced
International Association of Crime Writers/North America (IACW/NA) has announced the 2020 Hammett Award Shortlist for "literary excellence in crime writing" as follows*
THE ADVENTURE OF THE PECULIAR PROTOCOLS, by Nicholas Meyer (St. Martin's Press)
BLOOD RELATIONS, by Jonathan Moore (Mariner Books)
BLUFF, by Jane Stanton Hitchcock (Poisoned Pen Press)
THE MURALS, by William Bayer (Severn House)
NORCO '80: THE TRUE STORY OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR BANK ROBBERY IN AMERICAN HISTORY, by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint Press; non-fiction book)
The winner will be announced by early summer, but the location fo the presentation has not been determined yet. (March 08, 2020)
Laura Caldwell Dies
Laura Caldwell died on March 01 in River Forest, Illinois of breast cancer. The former trial attorney became a professor at Loyala University Chicago's School of Law in 2001 and published her first novel, BURNING THE MAP (MIRA, 2002), a "chick-lit" novel which became a New York Times bestseller. She wrote three more chick-lit novels and switched to the crime genre with LOOK CLOSELY (MIRA, 2005). After she and attorney friend Cathy O'Daniel won the fight for wrongfully detained Jovan Mosley's not-guilty verdict, she found Life After Innocence at Loyola University to help the wrongfully convicted prisoners and wrote non-fiction book, LONG WAY HOME (Free Press, 2010) based on her experience with the case. She started a mystery series featuring attorney Izzy McNeil, starting with RED HOT LIES (MIRA, 2009) and ending with FALSE IMPRESSIONS (MIRA, 2012). She also co-edited (with Leslie S. Klinger) ANATOMY OF INNOCENCE (Norton, 2017), a collection of 15 essays about exonerees by mystery writers, including Sara Paretsky, Lee Child, Gayle Lynds, Jan Burke, Sarah Weinman, Gary Phillips, and S. J. Rozan. She was 52 years old young. (March 07, 2020)
Robert Dugoni Wins Spotted Owl
Friends of Mystery, a mystery fan club based in Portland, Oregon, has announced that Robert Dugoni won the 2020 Spotted Owl Award for THE EIGHTH SISTER (Thomas & Mercer, 2019) as the "best mystery written by an author whose primary residence is in the Pacific Northwest." The winning novel is his first novel featuring Charles Jenkins, a former CIA case officer. This is Dugoni's second Spotted Owl Award win, following THE 7TH CANON (Thomas & Mercer, 2016), a stand-alone. (March 05, 2020)
Walter Satterthwait Dies
Walter Satterthwait died on February 25 of complications from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and congestive heart failure in a nursing home near Seattle, Washington. The Pennsylvania-born ex-bartender made his writer debut with COCAINE BLUES (Dell, 1979), an adventure novel about a drug dealer on the run. After his second adventure thriller, THE AEGEAN AFFAIR (Dell, 1982), he wrote WALL OF GLASS (St. Martin's, 1988), a Shamus award nominee, the first novel introducing Joshua Croft, a private investigator working under his boss Rita Mondragon in Santa Fe. The Croft series ended with the fifth novel, ACCUSTOMED TO THE DARK (1996). In 1989, he also penned MISS LIZZIE (from St. Martin's), featuring Lizzie Borden three decades after her acquittal of the double-murder of her father and stepmother. Lizzie also stars in NEW YORK NOCTURNE (Mysterious Press/Open Road, 2016), supported by Dorothy Parker. Another historical series of his features Pinkerton agents Phill Beaumont and Jane Turner, starting with ESCAPADE (St. Martin's, 1995), an Agatha award nominee, and ending with the third novel, CAVALCADE (St. Martin's, 2005). His historical novel, DEAD HORSE (Dennis McMillan, 2007), was a standalone about mystery writer Raoul Whitfield's mysterious and interesting later life. Satterthwait had two collections of short stories: THE GOLD OF MAYANI (Buffalo Medicine Books, 1995), and THE MANKILLER OF POOJEGAI AND OTHER STORIES (Crippenn & Landru, 2007). His last story is "The Death of Mr. Jayacody," printed in Volume 2, Issue 1 of Down & Out; The Magazine. Walter and I corresponded a lot through e-mails in the 1990's when internet e-mails were beginning to replace traditional letters. Stark House Press is now re-issuing his out-of-print works. He was 73. (March 05, 2020)
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