CyberGumshoe's Mumblings in July/August 2020
Left Coast Crime 2021 Rescheduled to 2022
The Left Coast Crime national committee has made the decision that the Left Coast Crime 2021 convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been rescheduled to April 7 thru 10, 2022 -- "same place, same week in April, just a year later."
However, Left Coast Crime will bestow the 2021 Lefty Awards (in the four categories: Best Mystery Novel, Best Debut Mystery Novel, Best Humorous Mystery Novel, and Best Historical Mystery Novel) virtually "to celebrate books published in 2020." The 2021 Lefty Award nominees will be announced on Januarry 17, 2021 and the winners in April 2021. (August 28, 2020)
Betty Rowlands Dies
Betty Rowlands died peacefully on July 29 at a "residential home" in Bristol, England. After winning the Sunday Express/Veuve Clicquot Crime Short Story of the Year Competition for "The Inheritance" in 1988, the former educational writer started writing mystery novels in her mid-60's. Her first published novel, A LITTLE GENTLE SLEUTHING (Hodder & Stoughton, 1990; reissued by Bookoutre as MURDER AT HAWTHORN COTTAGE), introduces Melissa Craig, a British crime novelist in the Cotswolds, England. While Melissa Craig appears in 11 more novels ending with SWEET VENOM (H&S, 2004), another series featuring Sukey Reynolds, a police photographer and crime scene investigator in Bristol, started with AN INCONSIDERATE DEATH (Severn, 1997) and ended with the 13th book, THE SCENT OF DEATH (SEVERN, 2014; reissued by Bookoutre as DEATH AT SANDY BAY). Since 2018, Bookoutre has been dubbing her the "Queen of Cozy Crime" and reissuing her novels with new titles and covers. She was 96. (August 20, 2020)
Pete Hamill Dies
Pete Hamill died of heart and kidney failure on August 05 at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York after a fall at his home in Brooklyn. He was a celebrated newspaper reporter and columnist as well as a novelist and essayist. He wrote ten novels including A KILLING FOR CHRIST (Little, Brown, 1968), his first novel which was a thriller about a plot to assassinate the Pope in Rome, and four novels featuring tough New York newspaper reporter Sam Briscoe, starting with DIRTY LAUNDRY (Bantam pb, 1978) and ending with TABLOID CITY (Little, Brown, 2011). His mystery short stories include "The Men in Black Raincoat," first published in the December 1977 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and "The Book Signing" (first published in BROOKLYN NOIR; Akashic, 2004), which was an Edgar nominee. His teleplays include "Laguna Heat" (1987, based on the novel by T. Jefferson Parker) and "Split Images" (1992, based on the novel by Elmore Leonard). He was 85. (August 09, 2020)
2020 CWA Dagger Award Shortlists Announced
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain (CWA) has announced the shortlists for the 2020 Dagger Awards. The six shortlistees in the Gold Dagger category are as follows:
Claire Askew: WHAT YOU PAY FOR (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lou Berney: NOVEMBER ROAD (Harper Fiction)
John Fairfax: FORCED CONFESSIONS (Little, Brown)
Mick Herron: JOE COUNTRY (John Murray)
Abir Mukherjee: DEATH IN THE EAST (Harvill Secker)
Michael Robotham: GOOD GIRL, BAD GIRL (Sphere)
To see the shortlistees in all the categories, click here. The winners for the 2020 Dagger Awards will be announced on October 22 in London. (August 07, 2020)
Adrian McKinty Wins Harrogate Theakston Crime Award
Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival has announced online that the winner for the 2020 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is:
THE CHAIN, by Adrian McKinty (Orion Publishing)
The Theakston Crime Award is run by Harrogate International Festivals, and is open to full length cime novels published in paperback from May 01, 2018 to April 30, 2019 by UK and Irish authors. McKinty was born in Belfast, Ireland. (July 24, 2020)
Josephine Cox Dies
Josephine Cox died peacefully on July 17 in the United KIngdom. The Lancashire-born former teacher wrote her first novel, HER FATHER'S SINS (Little Brown UK, 1988) in just six weeks while she was very ill at a hospital. Then she continued to write more than 60 novels of family sagas and historical romances prolifically and sold more than 20 million copies over three decades in the U.K. Her UK Public Lending Rights figures often cited her as one of the top three borrowed authors. She used a pseudonym Jane Brindle (her mother's name) for writing novels of mystery, suspense and horror such as SCARLET (Sphere, 1991) and THE HIDING GAME (Headline 1998). Her last novel was TWO SISTERS (HarperCollins, 2020), a family saga co-written with Gilly Middleton. She was 82. (July 22, 2020)
Edward O. Phillips Dies
As J. Kingston Pierce of The Rap Sheet has reported, Edward O. Phillips died on May 30 of heart failure and complications from Covid-19 in Montreal, Canada. He was a writer of a number of short stories and 12 novels. The Canadian-born former English teacher wrote his first published novel, SUNDAY'S CHILD (McClelland, 1981), introducing the Canadian gay detective Geoffrey Chadwick. Chadwick is an English-speaking acerbic, single, corporate lawyer based in Montreal. The second Chadwick novel, BURIES ON SUNDAY (McClelland, 1986) won the 1987 Arthuir Ellis Award for best novel from the Crime Writers of Canada. The 6th and last Chadwick novel was A MONTH OF SUNDAYS (Cormorant Books, 2012). He was 88. (July 20, 2020)
2020 Strand Critics Award Nominees Announced
The Strand Magazine has announced the nominees for the 2020 Strand Critics Awards as follows:
Best Mystery Novel:
BIG SKY, by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown)
THE LOST MAN, by Jane Harper (Flatiron Books)
THE SENTENCE IS DEATH, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
LADY IN THE LAKE, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
HEAVEN, MY HOME, by Attica Locke (Mulholland Books)
THE BORDER, by Don Winslow (Morrow)
Best Debut Novel:
SCRUBLANDS, by Chris Hammer (Atoria Books)
MIRACLE CREEK, by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton/FSG)
ONE NIGHT GONE, by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)
THE SILENT PATIENT, by Alex Michaelides (Celadon Books)
THREE-FIFTHS, by John Vercher (Agora Books)
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients:
Walter Mosley and
Tess Gerritsen
The Publisher of the Year Award Recipient:
Bronwen Hruska, publisher of Soho Press
The winners will be announced virtually on Friday, September 04. (July 18, 2020)
2020 Macavity Award Nominees Announced
The Mystery Readers International has announced the nominees for the 2020 Macavity Awards. The 6 nominees in its best mystery novel category are as follows:
YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY, by Steph Cha (Ecco)
THIS TENDER LAND, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
LADY IN THE LAKE, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
THE CHAIN, by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)
THE MURDER LIST, by Hank Philippi Ryan (Forge)
SARAH JANE, by James Sallis (Soho Crime)
To see the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies on Friday, October 16 at the Virtual Sacramento Bouchercon. (July 17, 2020)
Adrian McKinty Wins Thriller
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) has announced the winners for the 2020 Thriller Awards as follows:
Best Hardcover Novel: THE CHAIN, by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)
Best First Novel: MIRACLE CREEK, by Angie Kim (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Best Paperback Original Novel: THE SCHOLAR, by Dervla McTiernan (Penguin)
Best E-Book Original Novel: CLOSE TO YOU, by Kerry Wilkinson (Bookouture)
Best Short Story: "The Long-Term Tenant," by Tara Laskowski (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2019)
Best Youngt Adult Novel: KEEP THIS TO YOURSELF, by Tom Ryan (Alvert Whitman)
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)
Since The International Thriller Writers 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 were announced in a special presentation on July 11 during "Virtual" ThrillerFest hosted by the International Thriller Writers on its Facebook page. Some of the nominees withdrew their nominations because of the sexual harrassment incident. (July 12, 2020)
Lee Child, Holly Watt Win CrimeFest Awards
CrimeFest announced the winners for the 2020 CrimeFest Awards as follows:
Debut Crime Novel Award: BLOOD & SUGAR, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
Sounds of Crime Award: BLUE MOON, by Lee Child, read by Jeff Harding (Penguin Random House Audio)
eDunnit Award: TO THE LIONS, by Holly Watt (Raven Books)
H.R.F. Keating Award: THE HOODED GUNMAN, by John Curran (HarperCollins Crime Club)
Last Laugh Award: WORST CASE SCENARIO, by Helen FitzGerald (Orenda Books)
Best Crime Novel for Children Award: MALAMANDER, by Thomas Taylor (Walker Books)
Best Crime Novel for Young Adults Award: BEAUTY SLEEP, by Kathryn Evans (Usborne Publishing)
The 2020 CrimeFest (The International Crime Fiction Convention), which was schedules to take place in Bristol, UK from June 4 thru 7, has been cancelled, but they announced the CrimeFest Award winners online at crimefest.com and via its social media pages on Tuesday July 7. (July 08, 2020)
Rudolfo Anaya Dies
Rudolfo Anaya died on June 28 at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico after a long illness. The former high school Enlish teacher completed and published his first novel, BLESS ME, ULTIMA (Quinto Sol, 1972), which became a bestseller. He was regarded as one of the founders of contemporary Chicano literature. He was a prolific writer of fiction, non-fiction, children's books, poetry, and plays, and wrote four mystery novels featuring Albuquerque-based Chicano private eye Sonny Baca, starting with ZIA SUMMER (Grand Centeral, 1995) and ending with JEMEZ SPRING (University of New Mexico Press, 2005). He was 82. (July 04, 2020)
Walter Mosley Wins Falcon
The Maltese Falcon Society Japan has announced that DOWN THE RIVER UNTO THE SEA, by Walter Mosley (Mulholland, 2018) is the winner of the 2020 Maltese Falcon Award as the best hardboiled/private eye novel published in Japan in the previous year. He is to receive a wood-carved Falcon statuette. (July 04, 2020)
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