Winners and Another Contest!

Ta da da da ta da! The entries in the drawing for J. T. Ellison's So Close the Hand of Death were drawn from the virtual hat this morning. If you see a reference to your entry, you're a winner! Please email me your snail mail address so I can forward the book. The winners are

Pat R from the Midwest
and
Shirley who wants to read after dark…

I'll give you until Thursday to send your information to me (mysteryheel @ mac.com) before drawing another winner.


New Contest
I was lucky to receive extra copes of Carolyn Hart's Dead by Midnight, a Death on Demand Mystery, and Hallie Ephron's Come and Find Me, a novel of suspense. I haven't had a chance to read either book yet (I'm hosting 9 authors this spring and moderating a panel at Malice Domestic, so my reading's been planned for me!), but I can guarantee both of these will make fine reading. Carolyn's books are excellent examples of the traditional mystery. Hallie's are the kind of suspense that requires to read them in one sitting.

To enter, post a comment below telling why you're ready for which type of crime fiction. I'll announce the winners next Sunday, April 24. Again, watch this blog for winners. (I've got at least one more contest for the future.)

Happy reading—and thanks for entering!

Drawing for J.T. Ellison's SO CLOSE THE HAND OF DEATH

I'm always glad to offer readers an opportunity to win a book! Today I'm announcing a drawing for J. T. Ellison's latest homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson's psychological thriller, So Close the Hand of Death. You don't have to do much: Just post a comment telling me why you'd like to read this "hideous echo of a violent past. Across America, murders are being committed with all the twisted hallmarks of the Boston Strangler, the Zodiac Killer and Son of Sam. The media frenzy explodes and Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson knows instantly that The Pretender is back...and he's got helpers."

Entertain me with your reasons! I'll announce the winner on Sunday, April 17, asking him/her to email me a snail mail address.

ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH by Carola Dunn (Minotaur)

I just had a great visit with amateur sleuth the Hon. Daisy Dalrymple and her husband DCI Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard. While Alex is busy investigating the murders of three men buried in Epping Forest, Daisy is safely out of the way visiting their daughter Belinda at her school. While folks at the Yard are fully convinced there's no way Daisy could possibly intrude on their case, readers won't be at all surprised when she comes upon a body—and since she's already involved, she might as well solve the crime, wouldn't you think?

Dunn weaves the two cases beautifully, leaving cliffhangers every time she switches from one to the other. I found myself reading "just one more chapter" until I wasn't even making excuses.

FTC Disclosure - This book was provided by the publisher.

Mystery Awards Announced at Left Coast Crime

Thanks to Marcia Talley and Kathie Felix for today's post on the Sisters in Crime blog in which they reported some more mystery award winners. I hope you'll check out the blog, but in the meantime, I'll list the awards:
The Lefty - Best humorous mystery novel
Donna Andrews, Stork Raving Mad (Minotaur Books)
Laura DiSilverio, Swift Justice (Minotaur Books/Thomas Dunne Books)
Donna Moore, Old Dogs (Busted Flush Press)
Kris Neri, Revenge for Old Times' Sake (Cherokee McGhee)
J. Michael Orenduff, The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein (Oak Tree Press)

The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery - Best historical mystery novel, covering events before 1950
Rebecca Cantrell, A Night of Long Knives (Forge Books)
Robert Kresge, Murder for Greenhorns (ABQ Press)
Kelli Stanley, City of Dragons (Minotaur Books)
Jeri Westerson, The Demon's Parchment (Minotaur Books)
Jacqueline Winspear, The Mapping of Love and Death (HarperCollins)

The Hillerman Sky Award - The mystery (short story to novel length) that best captures the landscape of the Southwest
Sandi Ault, Wild Penance (Berkley Hardcover)
Christine Barber, The Bone Fire (Minotaur Books)
Margaret Coel, The Spider's Web (Berkley Hardcover)
Deborah J. Ledford, Snare (Second Wind Publishing)

The Watson - Mystery novel with best sidekick
Sandi Ault, Wild Penance (Berkley Hardcover)
Rachel Brady, Dead Lift (Poisoned Pen Press)
Chris Grabenstein, Rolling Thunder (Pegasus)
Craig Johnson, Junkyard Dogs (Viking)
Spencer Quinn, To Fetch a Thief (Atria)

Congratulations to all nominees, winners, and, especially to readers! More books!

Guest Blogger- SARA ROSETT

Today I'm joined by the delightful Sara Rosett whose new book Mimosas, Mischief and Murder will be on bookstore shelves this week. I'm delighted to welcome Sara to Meritorious Mysteries!

Drawing the Line
by Sara Rosett

When I’m reading fiction I sometimes wonder how much of the story was drawn from the author’s life. If the story has a snarky mother-in-law, did reality inspire the author?

Probably not, if those dedications and acknowledgements hold any truth. You know the ones. They go something like this, “Even though the main character in this book lives next-door to the neighbors-from-hell, my neighbors are the nicest people on earth!”

Ri-i-i-i-i-i-ght!

While I’ve never taken anything from real life and transplanted it into a book, I do take bits and pieces—a mannerism here, a physical description there—and blend those things into my story. While I’ll admit that I have very limited artistic abilities, I think it’s a bit like a painter who layers color onto the canvas, blending shades and texture to create certain effects.

If I start off with an idea or characteristics drawn from real life, those details mutate into something unique to the book as I write. In MIMOSAS, MISCHEIF, AND MURDER, Ellie goes to visit her quirky Southern in-laws and becomes embroiled in a mystery when the patriarch of the family passes away and there are questions about whether the death is natural or not.

When I was plotting out the story, I decided that the local book festival would take place while Ellie was in town. I created a character, an author of a middle grade mystery series, who lived in the same town and signs a copy of one of her books for Ellie’s daughter, Livvy. My real life experience with Accelerated Reading programs (AR) in my kid’s elementary schools inspired the part of the story where Ellie’s daughter is in a reading contest and always has a book with her. The reading competition at my kids’ school was as intense as some Olympic events, so I wanted to put that passion into the story. My kids loved the Magic Tree House books, but I wanted something completely new, so I had my author write The Infinity Mysteries, a series about three friends who solve mysteries using math.

Then I had some fun writing about Ellie’s encounter with the author, Margaret Key. I thought back to the first writer’s conference I attended. I was surprised because so many of the authors looked nothing like their author photos. I fictionalized that incident and incorporated it into MIMOSAS. I made up a physical description of an author who looks like no author I know in real life. In her author photo, Margaret has silky, smooth blonde hair that frames her unlined face. When Ellie meets her, Margaret has slightly frizzy blond curls with dark roots, crows feet, and the beginning of a double chin—no air-brushing or Photoshop!

Since I write about a family with kids there is some crossover between my real life and the fiction I write, but the books are mostly fiction. Rarely do I take an incident and repeat it verbatim in a book. Instead, I try to think back to what it was like when my kids were younger and recapture the feelings I had then—how repetitive the daily routine was at times (the laundry never ends!), the joy of naptime, and the anxiety I felt about raising my kids. I distill those emotions into a few fictional incidents for the books.

There are certain things that are totally off limits. The other day a funny incident occurred in our family that would make wonderful blog material. But I’m not going to write about it because it would embarrass one family member. I won’t fictionalize it and put it in a book either. Keeping things private is almost a foreign concept in today’s tell-all, expose-all world. We have people taking lie detector tests on TV, exposing themselves and their families to pain. And then there’s countless people making fools of themselves on other shows, just for a few minutes in the limelight. I don’t want to regret anything I put in a book.

So many of us share events about our lives on-line through Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Where’s the line privacy line for you? If you’re a writer, how much of real life makes its way into your writing? What won’t you write, blog, or post about?


You can find out more about me and my books at my website. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, and the Girlfriends Book Club blog.

A shorter version of this post originally ran in the Good Girls Kill blog.

I'm Guest Bogging Today

Head over to the Sisters in Crime blog and visit with me today. Don't let me be lonely!

CATCH HER IF YOU CAN by Merline Lovelace (Berkley)

Lt. Samantha Spade, USAF is in charge of a small team of civilians and one career sergeant responsible for evaluating inventions for desert warfare. She is a sarcastic, lovable lady who has a tendency to act and then think. In this third episode, she is evaluating a robot dog called Snoopy SNIFER (Self-Nurturing Find and Identfy Robot). The robot leads them to the local bar and trys to climb into a pick-up. The driver of the truck starts shooting at them and the bar owner kills him. Samantha discovers three human heads in a cooler in the pick-up. Once again she is caught up in a criminal investigation, in trouble with the bad guys and with her boss. Her love interest, Border Patrol agent Jeff “Mitch” Mitchell, her ex-husband and his wife (the woman who broke up her marriage) become involved also. The story is fast paced and a very quick read with a lot of twists and turns. Some of the situations are a stretch for the imagination but add humor or interest to the story. As I said in my review of the first two books, I would like to see the members of her research team more involved. Their characters are very interesting and could take this series a long way.

Review by Helen Jones

FTC Disclaimer - This book was provided by the publisher.

Top 'O the Mornin' to You!

It's a lovely St. Patrick's Day here in North Carolina and I've got something lovely to share with you all.

A couple of weeks ago, I requested a review copy of The Pig Did It by a new author to me, Joseph Caldwell. Turns out he's not new at all, I've just missed him. Yesterday, I got an email from his publicist with an attached a video of an interview with New York Times bestselling author Malachy McCourt talking about the way Caldwell "trains his ear on the musical dialects of Western Ireland." I was totally charmed by the video and I look forward to bumping The Pig Did It to the top of my to-be-read pile! I hope you'll enjoy it too!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Molly

Walter Mosley at Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh NC

Tomorrow night, March 16, Walter Mosley will talk, answer questions, and sign books at Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh's Ridgewood Shopping Center. I'll have the pleasure of escorting him during the day and taking him to a TV taping (more about that and the eventual YouTube listing later).

If you've never heard him speak about his writing, this is a rare opportunity. If you're a writer, you'll be encouraged to hear him talk about his revision process. I once heard him say he'd revised a book 18 times before sending it to his agent!

I'll look forward to seeing you.

WHEN THE THRILL IS GONE by Walter Mosley (Riverhead Books)

Private investigator Leonid McGill has more balls in the air than a troop of jugglers: The economy has hurt his business, his wife is seeing a younger man, his best friend is dying, and his sons are making poor decisions. Is it any wonder he accepts the first job that comes his way? A beautiful woman comes to him with a sad story: She's afraid her billionaire husband is going to kill her. After all, his first wife disappeared off his yacht and his second was killed in a mugging. Naturally, the investigation is the heart of the mystery. As with all Mosley novels, it's well plotted, surprising, and fast paced.

The real joy for me, though, is the incredible deftness with which Mosley depicts his characters—and there are many. Not once did I ever have to flip back to refresh my memory of a even a minor player. Every time I'd see a name, a full-blown image of that person would form in my mind. Even the various scenes were vivid, with few words of description, every word powerful and critical.

If you've never read a Mosley novel, this one's a great opportunity to begin your journey!

FTC Disclaimer - This book was provided by the publisher.

Interview with Karla Mast on Examiner.com

I was delighted when Karla Mast asked me for an interview. She just sent me the link to Examiner.com. I hope you'll like it.

Katherine Hall Page Update

I just got an interesting email from Katherine. To celebrate the publication of The Body in the Gazebo (April, Morrow), her publishers are running a contest on her web site for a signed first edition of the book and to the first 20 entrants a signed hard cover from her backlist.

There's a link at the top of the home page where you can contact Katherine if you want to congratulate her on her nomination for an Agatha for Have Faith in Your Kitchen.

Good luck to all!

Agatha Award Nominees - 2010

The nominees for Agatha Awards were announced yesterday. Good luck to all!

Best Novel
Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)
Drive Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Mira)
Truly, Madly by Heather Webber (St. Martin's Paperbacks)

Best First Novel
The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames (Berkley)
Murder at the PTA by Laura Alden (Signet)
Maid of Murder by Amanda Flower (Five Star/Gale)
Full Mortality by Sasscer Hill (Wildside Press)
Diamonds for the Dead by Alan Orloff (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-Fiction
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum (Penguin)
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran (Harper)
Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by Stephen Doyle & David A. Crowder (For Dummies)
Have Faith in Your Kitchen by Katherine Hall Page (Orchises Press)
Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang (W.W. Norton & Co.)

Best Short Story
"Swing Shift" by Dana Cameron, Crimes by Moonlight (Berkley)
"Size Matters" by Sheila Connolly, Thin Ice (Level Best Books)
"Volunteer of the Year" by Barb Goffman, Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin' (Wildside Press)
"So Much in Common" by Mary Jane Maffini, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - Sept./Oct. 2010
"The Green Cross" by Liz Zelvin, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - August 2010

Best Children's/Young Adult
Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (Dutton Children's)
Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus by R. L. LaFevers (Houghton Mifflin)
The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee (Candlewick)
Virals by Kathy Reichs (Razorbill)
The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith (Atheneum)

BLOTTO, TWINKS, AND THE EX KING'S DAUGHTER by Simon Brett (Felony & Mayhem)

I rarely believe everything a publisher writes on a book cover, but this time I'm right with them—this is truly Golden Age of Mystery meets P. G. Wodehouse! Throw in Simon Brett, and there's bound to be a great time reading.

Blotto (think Bertie) and Twinks, his sister (think Jeeves), are the younger offspring of the Duke of Tawcester. Not content with being wealthy dilettantes, they collaborate to solve the murder of an unknown man in the library after the bumbling constabulary is forced to rule the death "by natural causes." Twinks, who has an uncanny ability to sniff out clues that Holmes would be hard pressed to find, convinces Blotto, who can and will explain the game of cricket to one and all, that they must solve the crime.

The chase takes them from their ancestral home, across Europe, and into Mitteleuropia, employing every cliched devise known to literature and giving the reader a most delightful romp and quite a few chuckles along the way.

Blotto and Twinks, I love you!

FTC Disclaimer - This book was supplied by the publisher.

DEATH OF A CHIMNEY SWEEP by M. C. Beaton (Grand Central)

I'll admit it even before someone points out my bias: I absolutely love Hamish Macbeth! Death of a Chimney Sweep is one of the strongest in a long series, in my humble opinion.

Highland newcomer and general bully Captain Henry Davenport orders his wife to have the chimney sweep in tomorrow while he's gone for a walk—and to tell anyone who calls that he's gone abroad. Not surprisingly, Milly enjoys his absence and isn't concerned when he doesn't return after several hours. A plopping noise in the fireplace is her first clue that something is wrong. Readers won't be surprised to learn that the noise was made by blood dripping from the chimney.

The crime behind the several murders is complex and there's a great side story in the village. Speaking of Lochdubh, there's just enough of the eccentric characters I love to make me feel I'd visited my favorite part of Scotland.

FTC Disclaimer - This book was provided by the publisher.

Cast YOUR Vote!

I got an exciting email from Vicki Delany yesterday. Let me share parts of it with you.

Hi, Molly. I’d like to ask you for a small favour, if I could. And if you wouldn’t mind passing this on to your book loving friends, I’d appreciate it.

To my considerable surprise, Negative Image has been nominated for a CBC Bookie award (hideous name) for best mystery/thriller/horror.

Its online voting, so I’d appreciate it if you could take a minute to give it a vote.

Click on the button above the cover image of Negative Image and then click on Vote

You don’t have to register or sign in so it only takes a few seconds (thus you can vote on any and all of your computer devices – laptop, home computer, smart phone). Be sure and let all your friends know.

Many thanks,

Vicki

Negative Image is a great book and you'll be glad you voted!

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.