CyberGumshoe's Mumblings in March/April 2021
Deepa Anappara Wins Edgar
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announced the winners for the 2021 Edgar Awards as follows:
Best Novel:DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE, by Deepa Anappara (Random House)
Best First Novel: PLEASE SEE US, by Caitlin Mullen (Gallery Books)
Best Paperback Original: WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING, by Alyssa Cole (Morrow)
Best Fact Crime: DEATH IN MUD LICK, by Eric Eyre (Scribner)
Best Critical/Biographical: PHANTOM LADY, by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)
Best Short Story: "Dust, Ash, Flight," by Maaza Mengiste (in ADDIS ABABA NOIR, edited by Maaa Mengiste; Akashic Books)
Best Juvenile: PREMEDITATED MYRTLE, by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin)
Best Young Adult: THE COMPANION, by Katie Alender (Putnam)
Best Televition Episode Teleplay: "Episode 1, Photochemistry" - Dead Still, Written by John Morton (Acorn TV)
Robert L. Fish Memorial Award Recipient: "The Bite," by Colette Bancroft (in TAMPA BAY NOIR, Akashic Books)
Mary Higgins Clark Award: THE CABINETS OF BARNABY MAYNE, by Elsa Hart (Minotaur Books)
Sue Grafton Memorial Award: VERA KELLY IS NOT A MYSTERY, by Rosalie Knecht (Tin House Books)
Grand Master Award Recipients: Jefferey Deaver and Charlaine Harris
Raven Award Recipient: Malice Domestic
Ellery Queen Award Recipietn: Reagan Arhtur, Publisher of Alfred A. Knopf
The winners were announced on April 29 online. (April 30, 2021)
2021 CWC Awards of Excellence Shortlists Announced
The Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) has announced the shortlists for the 2021 CWC Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing (formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards). The shortlistees in the best crime novel categories are as follows:
HOWA A WOMAN BECOMES A LAKE, by Marjorie Celona (Hamish Hamilton Canada)
THE HISTRIANS, by Cecilia Ekback (HarperCollins)
THE FINDER, by Will Ferguson (Simon & Schuster Canada)
OBSIDEIAN, by Thomas King (HarperCollins)
HURRY HOME, by Roz Nay (Simon & Schuster Canada)
CWC also announced the Marian Misters (co-owner of The Sleuth of Baker Street, a mystery bookstore in Totonto) as the 2021 Derrick Murdoch Special Achievement Award recipient.
To see the shortlistees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced across Canada on Thursday, May 27, 2021. (April 22, 2021)
2021 ITW Thriller Award Nominees Announced
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) has announced the nominees for the 2021 Thriller Awards. The nominees in the hardcover category are as follows:
BLACKTOP WASTELAND, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
HI FIVE, by Joe Ide (Mulholland Books)
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, by Richard Osman (Penguin)
THESE WOMEN, by Ivy Pochonda (Ecco)
CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45, by Lisa Unger (Park Row)
To see the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced on Saturday, July 10, 2021 during Virtual ThrillerFest. (April 21, 2021)
Barb Goffman Wins EQMM Readers
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has announced the results of the 2020 EQMM Readers Award poll, and the top three are as follows:
First place: Barb Goffman for "Dear Emily Etiquette" (September/October 2020)
Second place: John M. Floyd fro "Crow's Nest" (January/February 2020)
Third place: Gregory Fallis for "Terrible Ideas" (September/October 2020)
These are the three most favorite stories published in EQMM in 2020 among its readership. To see the top ten finalists, buy the May/June issue of EQMM. (April 21, 2021)
S.A. Cosby Wins LATimes Book Prize
The Los Angeles Times announced the winners for 12 categories of finalists for the 2021 Los Anges Times Book Prizes in the 12 categories in a virtual ceremony, on April 16, the day before th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicks off. The winner in the Mystery/Thriller category is :
BLACKTOP WASTELAND, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
The other finalistees in the Mystery/Thriller category are: A BEAUTIFUL CRIME, by Christopher Bollen (Harper); AND NOW SHE'S GONE, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge); LITTLE SECRETS, by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur); THESE WOMEN, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco).
To see the complete list of this year's Book Prize winners, click here. (April 17, 2021)
CWA Dagger Longlists Announced
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain (CWA) has announced the longlists for the 2021 Dagger Awards. The 18 longlistees in the Gold Dagger category is as follows:
Amer Anwar: Stone Cold Trouble, by Amer Anwar (Dialogue Books, Little, Brown Book Group)
S A Cosby: Blacktop Wasteland (Headline, Headline Publishing Group)
M W Craven: The Curator (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)
Ben Creed: City of Ghosts (Welbeck Fiction, Welbeck Publishing Group)
Garry Dishe: Peace (Viper, Profile Books)
Mick Finlay: Arrowood and the Thames Corpses (HQ, HarperCollins)
Nicci French: House of Correction (Simon & Schuster)
Robert Galbraith: Troubled Blood (Sphere, Little, Brown Book Group)
Elly Griffiths: The Postscript Murders (Quercus)
Antonia Hodgson: The Silver Collar (Hodder & Stoughton)
S G Maclean: The House of Lamentations (Quercus Fiction, Quercus)
C D Major: The Other Girl (Thomas & Mercer)
Thomas Mullen: Midnight Atlanta (Little, Brown, Little, Brown Book Group)
S J Parris: Execution (Harper Fiction, HarperCollins)
Tade Thompson: Making Wolf (Constable, Little, Brown Book Group)
Nicola Upson: The Dead of Winter (Faber)
Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End (Zaffre, Bonnier)
Rebecca Whitney: The Hidden Girls (Mantle, Pan Macmillan)
To see the longlistees in all the categories, click here. The shortlists for the 2021 Dagger Awards will be announced in May, and the awards ceremony will take place at the start of July. (April 15, 2021)
Louise Penny Wins Lefty
Left Coast Crime has announced the winners for the 2021 Lefty Awards as follows:
Best Mystery Novel: ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Best Debut Mystery Novel: WINTER COUNTS, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)
Best Historical Mystery Novel: THE TURNING TIDE, by Catriona McPherson (Quercus)
Best Humourous Mystery Novel: MURDER IN THE BAYOU BONEYARD, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
"Because of the pandemic, the April 2021 Left Coast Crime convention was rescheduled for 2022," but Lefty Coast Crime announced and presented four Lefty Awards in 2021 online on April 10. (April 11, 2021)
2021 CrimeFest Award Shortlists Announced
CrimeFest has announced the shortlists for the 2021 CrimeFest Awards. The shortlists in the e-Dunnit Award (for the best crime fiction published in both hardcopy and in elecctronic format) are as follows:
THE HUNTED, by Gabriel Bergmoser (Faber)
THE SPILIT, by Sharon Bolton (Trapeze)
LITTLE BOY LOST, by J.P. Carter (Avon)
FIFTY-FIFTY, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
FAIR WARNING, by Michael Connelly (Orion)
A PRIVATE CATHEDRAL, by James Lee Burke (Orion)
A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES, by Ian Rankin (Orion)
THE DEAD LINE, by Holly Watt (Raven)
To see the shortlists in the other categories, click here. The winners will be announced online at www.crimefest.com and via its social media pages this summer, since this year's crime fiction convention has been cancelled due to the Crovid-19 pandemic. (April 08, 2021)
Robert Dugoni Wins Spotted Owl
Friends of Mystery, a mystery fan club in Portland, Oregon, has announced that won the 2021 Spotted Owl Award for THE LAST AGENT, by Robert Dugoni (Thomas & Mercer, 2020), the second novel featuring former CIA agent Charles Jenkins.
Dugoni previously won the Spotted Owl Award twice: in 2020 for THE EIGHTH SISTER (Thomas & Mercer, 2019), the first Charles Jenkins novel and in 2017 for THE 7TH CANNON (Thomas & Mercer, 2016), a stand-alone featuring attorney Peter Donley. (April 05, 2021)
C.S. Harris, Angie Kim, Emma Copley Eisenberg to Receive Pinckley Prizes
The Pinckley Prizes, partnering with the Women's National Book Association of New Orleans, have announced the three recipients of the 2021 Pinckley Prizes in Crime Fiction and True Crime Writing as follows:
C.S. Harris, author of the Sebastian St. Cyr myster series, for her Distinguished Body of Work
Angie Kim for her Debut Fiction, MIRACLE CREEK (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2019), an Edgar winner
Emma Copley Eisenberg for her True Crime Writing: THE THIRD RAINBOW GIRL (Hachette Books, 2020), an Edgar nominee.
The prizes will be presented during the 2021 Bouchercon, to take place in New Orleans this August. (March 30, 2021)
2021 Hammett Prize Nominees Announced
The International Association of Crime Writers/North America (IACW/NA) has announced the nominees for the 2021 Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence as follows:
IN OLD BOMBAY, by Nev March (Minotaur)
THE MOUNTAINS WILD, by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur)
THREE HOURS IN PARIS, by Cara Black (Soho)
WHEN THESE MOUNTAINS BURN, by David Joy (Putnam)
WINTER COUNTS, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)
Details on its winner announcement have not been determined yet. (March 29, 2021)
2021 Agatha Award Nominees Announced
Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for the 2021 Agatha Awards. The nominees in the best contemporary novel category are as follows:
GIFT OF THE MAGPIE, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
MURDER IN THE BAYOU BONEHYARD, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane)
FROM BEER TO ETERNITY, by Sherry Harris (Kensington)
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
THE LUCKY ONE, by Lori Rader-Day (Morrow)
To see the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winner will be announced and the awards be presented during MORE THAN MALICE, an online virtual crime festival this July 14-17. (March 27, 2021)
William Heffernan Dies
I just heard that William Heffernan died on December 04, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland. The former investigative reporter for the New York Daily News won a couple of journalist awards but he left journalism in 1978 after he received his first book contract for BRODERICK (Crown, 1980). He created two series characters and the first one is Paul Devlin, a police detective in New York City, who first appeared in RITUAL (Dutton, 1989). The fourth Devlin novel, TARNISHED BLUE (Onyx, 1995) won the 1996 Edgar Award in the paperback original category. The second one is Henry Doyle, a homiceide detective in Tampa, Florida who was introduced in THE DEAD DETECTIVE (Akashic Books, 2010). Doyle can hear the last words of murder victims. Heffernan's last book was the second Doyle novel, THE SCIENTOLOGY MURDERS (Akashic Books, 2017). Heffernan once served as President of the International Association of Crime Writers/North America. He was 80. (March 22, 2021)
2021 Barry Award Nominees Announced
George Easter, the editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, has announced the nominees for the 2021 Barry Awards. The nominees in the best novel category are as follows:
THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, by Harlan Coben (Grand Central)
THE LAW OF INNOCENCE, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
BLACKTOP WASTELAND, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
AND NOW SHE'S GONE, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)
MOONFLOWER MURDERS, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
To see the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced on August 26, during the opening ceremonies at Bouchercon to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana. (March 21, 2021)
Irene Marcuse Dies
Irene Marcuse (pronounced mar-KOO_zuh) died on March 08 at her home in New York, NY after a long battle with cancer. The former social worker wrote her first novel, THE DEATH OF AMIABLE CHILD (Walker, 2000), introducing Anita Servi, a social worker caring for the elderly in Manhattan, New York. It was nominated for the 2001 Agatha Award in the first novel category. Marcuse wrote three more Servi novels ending with UNDER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE (Forge, 2004) as well as one Servi short story, "What Child Is This," collected in CROOKS, CRIMES, AND CHRISTMAS (Worldwide Library, 2003). She was the granddaughter of social philosopher Herbert Marcuse and personal representative of mystery writer Judith Van Gieson. She was 67. (March 10, 2021)
Judith Van Gieson Dies
Judith Van Gieson was found dead by a neighbor at her home in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico on January 12, 2021 with no determination of cause of death. The former American editor of John LeCarre started to write her fiction when she moved to New Mexico. She wrote eight novels, which features Neil Hamel, an attorney and investigator in Albuquerque, starting with NORTH OF THE BORDER (Walker, 1988) and ending with DITCH RIDER (HarperCollins, 1998). The Hamel novel, THE LIES THAT BIND (1993) was nominated for the 1994 Shamus Award in the best novel category. Her other series of five novels features Claire Reynier (prounced ray-NEER), a buyer of rare books and librarian at the University of New Mexico, starting with THE STOLEN BLUE (University of New Mexico Press/Signet Books, 2000) and ending with THE SHADOW OF VENUS (2004), which was nominated for the 2004 Barry Award in the best paperback category. After she retired from writing novels, she formed ABQ Press, an on-line publishing company, and helped aspiring writers to edit and publish their works. She was 79. (March 09, 2021)
Paul D. Marks Dies
Paul D. Marks died on February 28 after a brief battle with cancer in California. The former "script doctor" started to write short stories mostly set in the Los Angeles area in the late 1990's for Futures and Crimestalker Casebook among other periodicals of several genres. His first novel, WHITE HEAT (Timeless Skies Publishing, 2012), introducing Los Angeles private eye Duke Rogers, won the 2013 Shamus Award as the best Independent (self-published) Private Eye novel from the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA), and was republished from Down & Out Books in 2018, at the almost same time as the second Rogers novel, BROKEN WINDOWS (Down & Out Books, 2018) came out. One of his stories, "Howling at the Moon" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 2014), was nominated for the 2015 Anthony and Macavity Awards in the short story category. Another story, "Ghosts of Bunker Hill" (EQMM, December 2016), introducing another private eye Howard Hamm, won the first place in the EQMM Readers Award, and the third Hamm story, "Fade-Out on Bunker Hill" (EQMM, March/April 2019), won the second place. In the meanwhile, he co-edited (with Andrew McAleer) an anthology COAST TO COAST: PRIVATE EYES FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA (Down & Out Books, 2017), with his own story, "Windward," which won the Macavity Award and was selected for THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2018 (Mariner, 2018) edited by Louise Penny and Otto Penzler. His last novel was THE BLUES DON'T CARE (Down & Out Books, 2020), a stand-alone. He served on the boards of the LA chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. He was 67. (March 08, 2021: Revised, March17)
Margaret Maron Dies
Margaret Maron died of stroke complications on February 23 at a hospice center in Raleigh, North Carolina. When the North Carolina-born lived in Brooklyn, New York with her family, she attended a fiction wrting class at Brooklyn College and started writing and contributing mystery short stories. Her first sold story was "The Death of Me," printed in the January 1968 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magaine written as by Margaret E. Brown (her maiden name). The Maron family moved to Johnston County, North Carolina in 1972, where she wrote all of her books and most of her short stories. Her first published novel was ONE COFFIE WITH (Raven, 1981) , introducing Lt. Sigrid Harald, a police detective of New York Police Dept. and she continued writing Harald novels almost annually while contributing short stories. One of these short stories was "Deborah's Judgment," (included in A WOMAN'S EYE, an anthology edited by Sara Paretsky; 1991) introducing Deborah Knott, an attorney (later a judge) in Colleton County, North Carolina, which won the 1992 Agatha Award in the short story category). The next year, the first Deborah Knott novel, BOOTLEGGER'S DAUGHTER (Mysterious Press, 1992) won the 1993 Edgar, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards in the best novel category. She won four more Agatha novel awards for UP JUMPS THE DEVIL (Mysterious, 1996), STORM TRACK (Mysterious, 2000), TREE-DAY TOWN (Grand Central, 2011; with Sigrid Harald appearing) and LONG UPON THE LAND (Grand Central, 2015; the 20th and last Debora Knott novel). The last Harald novel was TAKE OUT (Grand Central, 2017). Maron served as president of the Mytery Writers of America in 2005 and received the MWA Grand Master Award in 2013. She was 82. (February 27, 2021: Revised, March 03)
BACK TO HOMEPAGE