CyberGumshoe's Mumblings in September/October2021
Arnold Hano Dies
Arnold Hano died on October 24 at his home in Laguna Beach, California. After World War Twe, the former news boy at the New York Daily News worked as managing editor at Bantam Books (1947-49) and as editor-in-chief at Lion Books (1949-54), where he served editor for David Goodis and Jim Tompson among others. He was most famous as an award-winning sportswriter but he also wrote a number of novels of western, historical, sports and straight as well as movie novelizations under his own name and pseudonyms. He authored SO I'M A HEEL (Gold Medal, 1957), a noir thriller written under the Mike Heller pseudonym, which was included in an omnibus book 3 STEPS TO HELL (Stark House, 2017) along with THE BIG OUT (a sports novel, first published in 1951 from Barnes) and FLINT (a western novel, first published in 1957 from Signet, written under the Gil Dodge pen-name). He was 99. (October 28, 2021)
Carole Nelson Douglas Dies
Carole Nelson Douglas died on October 20 in Texas from a stoke following hip surgery. The former reporter of the St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote more than 60 novels and a number of short stories of mystery, romance, fantasy, science fiction, and women's fiction. To mystery readers, she may have been most famous as the author of the Midnight Louie "cozy noir" series and the Irene Adler Sherlockian pastiche series. The Midnight Louie series, featuring PR freelancer Temple Barr and tomcat sleuth Midnight Louie in LasVegas, Nevada, started with CATNAP (Tor, 1992) and ended the 28th book CAT IN AN ALPHABET ENDGAME (Wishlist Publishing, 2016), while the Irene Adler series, featuring the only lady who outwits Sherlock Holmes, started with GOOD NIGHT, MR. HOLMES (Tor, 1990) and ended with SPIDER DANCE (Forge, 2004). She was 76. (October 25, 2021)
John Banville, Alyssa Cole Win Strand Critics Awards
The Strand Magazine has announced the winners for the 2021 Strand Critics Awards as follows:
Best Mystery Novel:
SNOW, by John Banville (Hanover Square Press)
Best Debut Novel:
WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING, by Alyssa Cole (William Morrow)
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients: (3)
Stephen King
Joyce Carol Oates
and Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher of the Year Award Recipient:
Josh Stanton of the Blackstone Publishing
The winners were announced online on October 04. (October 05, 2021)
Bill Gottfried Dies
Bill Gottfried died on September 28 in California. The former pediatrician was an avid mystery reader and regular mystery conference attendant. He and his wife Toby co-chaired the 2004 Left Coast Crime (LCC) in Monterey, the 2009 LCC in Hawaii, and the 2014 LCC with Lucinda Suber and Stan Ulrich in Montery, as well as received the 2008 Don Sandstrom Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom from Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine and the 2015 David Thompson Special Service Award from the Bouchercon committee. He was 85. (October 05, 2021)
Craig Russell Wins McIlvanney
The Bloody Scotland has announced the winners for the 2021 McIlvanney Prize (formerly the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Prize) and the 2021 Scottish Crime Debut of the Year Prize as follows:
McIlvanney Prize: HYDE, Craig Russell (Constable)
[It is his second McIlvanney Prize win after GHOSTS OF ALTONA in 2015.]
Scottish Crime Debut Prize: EDGE OF THE GRAVE, by Robbie Morrison (Macmillan)
The winners of the McIlvanney Prize and the Debut Prize were announced at the Albert Halls in Stirling, Scotland on September 17 live online. (September 18, 2021)
Robert Richardson Dies
Robert Richardson died on August 31 following a short illness in South Yorkshire, England. The former journalist's first novel, THE LATIMER MERCY (Gollancz, 1985), introducing Augustus Maltravers, a journalist-turned-playwright and novelist, won the 1985 John Creasey Memorial Dagger (now New Blood Dagger) Award. It was followed with five more Maltravers novels ending with THE LAZARUS TREE (Gollancz, 1992). Then he switched from whodunits with an amateur sleuth to psychological suspense novels with THE HAND OF STRANGE CHILDREN (Gollancz, 1993), a stand-alone, which was nominated for the 1993 Gold Dagger Award. After he wrote two more stand-alones: SIGNIFICANT OTHERS (1995) and VICTIMS (1997), he stopped writing mystery novels but remained a very active member of the Crime Writers Association (CWA). He served two distinct terms as Chair of the CWA: in 1993-1994 and 2006-2007. He received the CWA Red Herrings Award for his distinguished service to the CWA and its members. He was 80. (September 17, 2021)
J. Randolph Cox Dies
J. Randolph Cox died on September 14 at a care center in Northfield, Minnesota. The former libraran at St. Olaf College in Northfield served as the editor-publisher of Dime Novel Round-Up for more than 20 years, edited MASTERS OF MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE FICTION (Scarecrow Press, 1989), and authored MAN OF MAGIC AND MYSTERY (Scarecrow Press, 1989; a biblio-biography of the creator of The Shadow), THE DIME NOVEL COMPANION (Greenwood Press, 2000), and FLASHGUN CASEY, CRIME PHOTOGRAPHER (Book Hunter Press, 2005; with David S. Siegel) among others. He frequently contributed articles for many mystery reference books and fanzines and received the 2014 Munsey Award presented by PulFest. He was 84. (September 17, 2021)
Caroline Todd Dies
Caroline Todd, one-half of the mother-and-son writing team that authors under the joint pseudonym Charles Todd, died peacefully on August 28 (NOT on 27 as I previously reported, sorry) in Delaware. The former Associate Press reporter started to co-write (with her son Charles Todd, a former corporate trouble-shooter) A TEST OF WILLS (St. Martin's, 1986), introducing Inspector Ian Rutledge, a Scotland Yard inspector with shell shock from World War One. This historical novel won the 1997 Barry Award and was nominated for the Edgar Award in the first novel category, resulting in their continuing to produce almost one Rutledge book every year. In addition, they started another historical mystery series featuring Bess Crawford, a British army nurse in World War One, starting with A DUTY TO THE DEAD (Morrow, 2009). AN UNMARKED GRAVE (Crawford #4, 2012), A QUESTION OF HONOR (Crawford #5, 2013) and THE SHATTTERED TREE (Crawford #8, 2016) won the 2013 Macavity, the 2013 Agatha and the 2017 Mary Higgins Clark Awards, respectively. The 24th Rutledge book, A GAME OF FEAR and the 13th not-yet-titled Crawford book will be published in 2022 from Morrow. To my surprise, I have found out the real names of Caroline Todd and Charles Todd are Carolyn Teachey Watjen and David Wheaton Watjen, respectively. She was 86. (August 30, 2021; Sincerely revised, September 02)
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