MWA Announces Edgar Award Nominees

I'm fortunate to have so many contacts who keep me appraised of happenings in the mystery world! Today's email brought this one from Meryl Zegarek Public Relations.

Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce on the 202nd anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, its Nominees for the 2011 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2010. The Edgar® Awards will be presented to the winners at our 65th Gala Banquet, April 28, 2011 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

BEST NOVEL
Caught by Harlan Coben (Penguin Group USA - Dutton)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Faithful Place by Tana French (Penguin Group USA - Viking)
The Queen of Patpong by Timothy Hallinan (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur/Thomas Dunne Books)
I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva (Tom Doherty Associates – Forge Books)
The Poacher’s Son by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books)
The Serialist: A Novel by David Gordon (Simon & Schuster)
Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
Snow Angels by James Thompson (Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Long Time Coming by Robert Goddard (Random House - Bantam)
The News Where You Are by Catherine O’Flynn (Henry Holt)
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski (Minotaur Books)
Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis (Random House Trade Paperbacks)
Ten Little Herrings by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)

BEST FACT CRIME
Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime and Complicity
by Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry (University of Nebraska Press – Bison Original)
The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in Jim Crow South
by Alex Heard (HarperCollins)
Finding Chandra: A True Washington Murder Mystery
by Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)
Hellhound on his Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr and the International Hunt for his Assassin by Hampton Sides (Random House - Doubleday)
The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science
by Douglas Starr (Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
The Wire: Truth Be Told by Rafael Alvarez (Grove Atlantic – Grove Press)
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making
by John Curran (HarperCollins)
Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by Steven Doyle and David A. Crowder (Wiley)
Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and his Rendevouz with American History by Yunte Huang (W.W. Norton)
Thrillers: 100 Must Reads edited by David Morrell and Hank Wagner (Oceanview Publishing)

BEST SHORT STORY
"The Scent of Lilacs" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Doug Allyn (Dell Magazines)
"The Plot" – First Thrills by Jeffery Deaver (Tom Doherty – Forge Books)
"A Good Safe Place” – Thin Ice by Judith Green (Level Best Books)
"Monsieur Alice is Absent" – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
by Stephen Ross (Dell Magazines)
"The Creative Writing Murders" – Dark End of the Street by Edmund White (Bloomsbury)

BEST JUVENILE
Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press)
The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler (Albert Whitman & Co.)
The Haunting of Charles Dickens by Lewis Buzbee (Feiwel & Friends)
Griff Carver: Hallway Patrol by Jim Krieg (Penguin Young Readers Group - Razorbill)
The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben H. Winters (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
The River by Mary Jane Beaufrand (Little Brown Books for Young Readers)
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)
7 Souls by Barnabas Miller and Jordan Orlando (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
The Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price
(Farrar, Straus, Giroux Books for Young Readers)
Dust City by Robert Paul Weston (Penguin Young Readers Group - Razorbill)

BEST PLAY
The Psychic by Sam Bobrick (Falcon Theatre – Burbank, CA)
The Tangled Skirt by Steve Braunstein (New Jersey Repertory Company)
The Fall of the House by Robert Ford (Alabama Shakespeare Festival)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Episode 1” - Luther, Teleplay by Neil Cross (BBC America)
“Episode 4” – Luther, Teleplay by Neil Cross (BBC America)
“Full Measure” – Breaking Bad, Teleplay by Vince Gilligan (AMC/Sony)
“No Mas” – Breaking Bad, Teleplay by Vince Gilligan (AMC/Sony)
“The Next One’s Gonna Go In Your Throat” – Damages, Teleplay by Todd A. Kessler,
Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman (FX Networks)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"Skyler Hobbs and the Rabbit Man" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
by Evan Lewis (Dell Magazines)

GRAND MASTER
Sara Paretsky

RAVEN AWARDS
Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, Forest Park, Illinois
Once Upon A Crime Bookstore, Minneapolis, Minnesota

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 27, 2010)
Wild Penance by Sandi Ault (Penguin Group – Berkley Prime Crime)
Blood Harvest by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
Down River by Karen Harper (MIRA Books)
The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Live to Tell by Wendy Corsi Staub (HarperCollins - Avon)

Congratulations to all of these great authors! And to the publishers, publicists, agents, and booksellers who made it possible for readers to have such diverse choices.

Photograph of Edgar Allan Poe from Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC

Anthony Horowitz to write new Sherlock Holmes

It's official. Sherlock Holmes will be back on the streets of London—this time sanctioned by the Arthur Conan Dolye estate. Orion will publish the new adventure in September. See details at The Bookseller.

I'm marking my calendar now!

Out Today!

Wall Street Journal Bestselling & Shamus Award Winning author LORI ARMSTRONG’s MERCY KILL publishes today, January 11, 2011.

Lori's Her Snow Blind was awarded the 2009 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Original by the Private Eye Writers of America. Her books have won the Willa Cather Literary Award and have been nominated for the High Plains Book Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award. She also writes contemporary erotic western romances under the name Lorelei James.

MERCY KILL is a follow-up to her Wall Street Journal bestseller NO MERCY, which published in 2010 with rave reviews. In NO MERCY, Armstrong introduced readers to tough-as-nails former army sharp-shooter Mercy Gunderson.

Contest from Jane Cleland

Just got word from Jane. She's celebrating the April 2011 publication of Deadly Threads—a tale of vintage clothing, a cat who fetches, and betrayal—with a Pucci purse give-away! Details and a link to the entry form can be found on her website. www.janecleland.net

Jane and Stephanie Pintoff will be with me in North Carolina in June. Watch for full details.

SOUTH PHOENIX RULES by Jon Talton (Poisoned Pen Press)

It's easy to see why this book has been on Pub Alley Fiction Mystery Bestsellers list for several days now. The man can write!

David Mapstone has reason to feel sorry for himself: He's just turned in his badge as a deputy sheriff (his friend, former partner, and boss was defeated in the recent election), his wife is living in DC, and his barely tolerated sister-in-law Robin is living in his garage apartment. Then things really get bad: Robin receives a package that ties her to a murder, David's nemesis investigates the case, and bullets start flying. Phoenix itself is a major character in this fast-paced thinking-reader's thriller.

FTC Disclosure - This book was provided by the publisher.

THE GENIUS FILES by Dan Gutman (Harper Collins)

I had the pleasure of escorting Dan while he was in Raleigh last year (can I say that already?). He was a big hit at everywhere I took him, possibly because he writes so many different types of books for kids. Check his website for details. Dan just sent me a trailer for his latest offering. I think you'll enjoy it. Check it out.

A LONELY DEATH by Charles Todd (Harper Collins)

Even as Inspector Ian Rutledge is embroiled in turmoil at Scotland Yard, a serial murderer is targeting the village of Eastfield. All three victims are young veterans of the late war (WWI), but one is the son of a wealthy brewery owner who demands that the Yard be called in on the case. Rutledge finds virtually clueless crime scenes where the victims were garroted and left where they died. While the families of the victims are willing to talk, they can offer no reasons for the death. As Rutledge follows the meager clues at his disposal, he slowly realizes his suspect is both clever and diabolical. Meanwhile, challenges and losses in his personal life continue to plague the former lieutenant.

I always look forward to another in this outstanding multi-leveled series—and I read each offering with enthusiasm.

FTC disclosure—this book was provided by the publisher.