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THE GUMSHOE SITE
(Opened on January 08, 1996)
Okay, this is my 25th year of managing The Gumshoe Site. Now we are venturing into a new decade, and I am still managing this same old site. I hope you enjoy this site and come back once in a while. Thank you very much for your visit. As I wrote before, take care of your own lives as I do. Nobody know what tomorrow brings, and I really mean it! Wear a facial mask, wash your hands, rinse your mouth, keep your distance in order to stay safe and healthy!! (January 01, 2021)
Warning to bloggers! -- When you re-use my info, please do not copy-and-paste it word for word, but quote it or paraphrase it, at least. My wording is so awkwardly distinct or so distinctly awkward, I can easily spot copy-and-paste non-artists, and so can smart blog-readers.
2021 LATimes Book Prize Finalists Announced
The Los Angeles Times has announced the 12 categories of finalists for the 2021 Los Anges Times Book Prizes. The finalists in the mystery/thriller cagegory are as follows:
A BEAUTIFUL CRIME, by Christopher Bollen (Harper)
BLACKTOP WASTELAND, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
AND NOW SHE'S GONE, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)
LITTLE SECRETS, by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur)
THESE WOMEN, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco)
The winners will be announced in a live-streamed virtual ceremony on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter on Friday, April 16, the day before the 26th Los Angeles Times Festival of Books kicks off. (March 03, 2021)
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)
Martina Cole to Receive Diamond Dagger
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain (CWA) has announced that Martina Cole is the recipient of the 2021 CWA Diamond Dagger for her sustained excellence in crime-writing and significant contribution to crime-fiction writing. Her "books are the most requested in Her Majesty's prison libraries, and the most stolen from bookshops." She will receive the award at this year's Dagger Awards event to be held in October in London. (February 24, 2021)
2021 Edgar Award Nominees Announced
The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) has announced the nominees for the 2021 Edgar Awards. The nominees in the best book category are as follows:
DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE, by Deepa Anappara (Random House)
BEFORE SHE WAS HALEN, by Caroline B. Cooney (Poisoned Pen Press)
THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, by Richard Osman (Peguin/Pamela Dorman Books)
THESE WOMEN, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco)
THE MISSING AMERICAN, by Kwei Quartey (Soho Crime)
THE DISTANT DEAD, by Heather Young (William Morrow)
To see the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced on Thursday, April 29, 2021. (January 26, 2021)
Addendum -- "Fearless," by Walter Mosley (California Schemin', edited by Art Taylor; Wildside Press) was nominated in the short story category. However, Mosley himself notified the MWA that his story was ineligible, and the story was removed from the list. Is it the same story as the one that was included in the 1995 black mystery fiction anthology, SPOOKS, SPIES, AND PRIVATE EYES, edited by Paula L. Woods? (January 27, 2021)
2021 Lefty Award Nominees Announced
Left Coast Crime has announced the nominees for the 2021 Lefty Awards. The nominees in the best Mystery Novel category are as follows:
WHAT YOU DON'T SEE, by Tracy Clark (Kensington books)
BLACKTOP WASTELAND, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
BLIND VIGIL, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing)
AND NOW SHE'S GONE, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
To see the nominees in the other three categories click here. "Because of the pandemic, the April 2021 Left Coast Crime convention was rescheduled for 2022," but Lefty Coast Crime will be presenting four Lefty Awards in 2021 online on April 10, 2021. (January 19, 2021)
WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON THIS SITE:
THE GUMSHOE SITE is designed to offer you mystery-related news. So, if you have some hot news to post, happy and sad, good and bad, exciting and obsecure, useful and secret, please feel free to let me know. [My email address: jkimura (at) nsknet (dot) or (dot) jp]
As you may know by now, this site is managed by Jiro Kimura.
Copyright (c)1996-2021 by Jiro Kimura
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