WELCOME TO
THE GUMSHOE SITE
(Opened on January 08, 1996)
I am saying the same thing again this year. I wish you, all visitors of The Gumshoe Site, a happy joyful and peaceful new year. This is my 16th year managing this site. On every New Year's Day, I think about folding the site but somebody I don't know sends me an e-mail out of the blue asking me not to fold it. Since there are many good mystery websites and blogs around, I don't feel it necessary to update this site as frequently as 16 years ago. I hope you enjoy this site and come back once in a while. Thank you very much for your support. (January 01, 2012)
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.
Bob Briney Dies
Mystery*File has reported that Robert E. Briney, Jr. (called "Bob" by his friends) died unexpectedly on November 25, 2011 at his home in Salem, Massachusetts. He was a professor in the Mathematics Department and Computer Science Department of Salem State University from 1968 through 2008. He was also an avid reader of mystery, science fiction and fantasy fiction and attended a lot of fan conventions. He was a leading expert on Sax Rohmer, the creator of Dr. Fu Manchu, and became editor/publisher of The Rohmer Review from 1970 through 1981. He contributed articles to numerous publications (such as The Armchair Detective and The Poisoned Pen) and to many reference books, including THE MYSTERY WRITER'S ART (1971); THE MYSTERY STORY (1976); 1001 MIDNIGHTS (1986); and ST. JAMES GUIDE TO MYSTERY & CRIME WRITERS (1996). He was 77. (February 03, 2012)
Left Coast Crime Award Nominees Announced
Left Coast Crime 2012 announced the nominees for the four awards to give at LCC convention as follows:
The Lefty (for the best humorous mystery novel):
THE REAL MACAW, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
GETTING OLD CAN KILL YOU, by Rita Lakin (Dell)
OCTOBER FEST, by Jess Lourey (Midnight Ink)
MAGICAL ALIENATION, by Kris Neri (Red Coyote Press)
DYING FOR A DANCE, by Cindy Sample (L & L Dreamspell)
THE ALBUQUERQUE TURKEY, by John Vorhaus (Crown)
The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award (for the best mystery novel set before 1960):
NAUGHTY IN NICE, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)
A GAME OF LIES, by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)
MERCURY'S RISE, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
A KILLING SEASON, by Priscilla Royal (Poisoned Pen Press)
TROUBLED BONES, by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur)
A LESSON IN SECRETS, by Jacqeline Winspear (Harper)
The Golden Nugget Award (a special award this year for the best mystery set in California):
DISTURBANCE, by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)
THE DROP, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
BIT PLAYER, by Janet Dawson (Perseverance Press)
V IS FOR VENGEANCE, by Sue Grafton (Putnam)
CITY OF SECRETS, by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur)
Eureka! Award (a special award this year for the best first mystery novel):
THE BAFFLED BEATLEMANIAC CAPER, by Sally Carpenter (Oak Tree Press)
NAZARETH CHILD, by Darrell James (Midnight Ink)
DEAD MAN'S SWITCH, by Tammy Kaehler (Poisoned Pen Press)
WHO DO, VOODOO?, by Rochelle Staab (Berkley Prime Crime)
The winners will be announced at a banquet on March 31 during the LCC convention to be held in Sacramento, California from March 29 thru April 1. (January 31, 2012)
Dilys Award Nominees Announced
The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) annouced the nominees for the 2012 Dilys Winn Award, "given annually to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers most enjoyed selling," as follows:
FAITHFUL PLACE, by Tana French (Penguin)
WICKED AUTUMN, by G. M. Malliet (Minotaur)
TAGA MAN, by Archer Mayor (Minotaur)
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
GHOST HERO, by S. J. Rozan (Minotaur)
The winners will be announced at Left Coast Crime 2012to be held Sacramento, California from March 29 thru April 1. (January 27, 2012)
Hammett Prize Nominees Announced
The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers (IACW/NA) annoucned the nominees for the 2012 Hammett Prize as follows:
FEAST DAY OF FOOLS, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
CLAIRE DeWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD, by Sara Gran (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
THE CAT'S TABLE, by Michael Ondaatje (McClelland & Stewart, Canada; Knopf, US)
THE INFORMANT, by Thomas Perry (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Otto Penzler Books)
THE KILLER IS DYING, by James Sallis (Walker)
To see the press release, click here. The winner will be announced during the Bloody Words Conference to be held in Toronto from June 1 thru 3. (January 23, 2012)
Edgar Nominees Announced
The Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2012 Edgar Awards. The nominees in the best novel category are as follows:
THE RANGER, by Ace Atkins (Putnam)
GONE, by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press)
THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, by Keigo Higashino (Minotaur Books)
1222, by Anne Holt (Scribner)
FIELD GRAY, by Philip Kerr (Putnam/Marion Wood)
To see the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced on April 26 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. (January 20, 2012)
Margaret Lawrence Dies
Margaret Lawrence (real name: Lorrain "Margaret" Keilstrup; pronounced KEEL-strup) died on January 15 at her home in Fremont, Nebraska. Ex-playwright Margaret Keilstrup started writing, under the M. K. Lorens pseudonym, the mystery novels featuring Winston Marlowe Sherman, mystery-writing Shekespeare professor, beginning with SWEET NARCISSUS (Bantam, 1990) and ending with SORROWHEART (Doubleday, 1993). After the fifth and last Sherman novel, she wrote three midwife Hanna Trevor historical novels, starting with HEARTS AND BONES (Avon, 1996) and ending with THE BURNING BRIDE (Avon, 1998) under the Margaret Lawrence name. HEARTS AND BONES was Edgar-nominated in 1997 in the paperback category. ICEWEAVER (Morrow, 2000) features Hannah's deaf daughter Jennet. Her last novel was ROANOKE (Random House, 2009). She was 66. (January 20, 2012)
Reginald Hill Dies
Reginald Hill died of a brain tumor and cancer on January 12 at his home in Cumbria. He was regarded by his peer as one of the Britain's finest crime writers. He was famous as the creator of Superintendent Andrew Dalziel (pronounced "Dee-ell") and Sergeant Peter Pascoe of the Mid-Yorkshire C.I.D., featured in the series starting with A CLUBBABLE WOMAN (Collins, 1970) and ending with MIDNIGHT FUGUE (HarperCollins, 2009). He also authored five black private eye Joe Sixsmith novels starting with BLOOD SYMPATHY (Collins, 1993) and ending with THE ROAR OF BUTTERFLIES (Collins, 2008). He also wrote under the pseudonyms such as Dick Morland (ALBION! ALBION!; Faber& Faber, 1974), Patrick Ruell (DEATH OF DORMOUSE; Methuen, 1987), and Charles Underhill (CAPTAIN FANTOM; Hutchinson, 1978). He won the CWA Gold Dagger for his Dalziel & Pascoe novel, BONES AND SILENCE (Collins, 1990), the CWA Diamond Dagger in 1995 and the CWA Short Story Dagger for "On the Psychiatrist's Couch" in a CWA anthology, WHYDUNNIT? (Severn, 1997). He last novel, THE WOODCUTTER, was a one-off published by HarperCollins in 2010. He was 75. (January 14, 2012)
Celia Dale Dies
Martin Edwards' Writing Blog reported that Celia Dale died on December 31 2011. After her first novel, THE LEAST OF THESE, was published in 1943, she wrote a number of novels as well as short stories (for WINTER'S TALES and WINTER'S CRIMES anthologies). Her first crime novel, OTHER PEOPLE, was published by Cassell in 1964, and last one, SHEEP'S CLOTHING, by Constable (UK) and Doubleday (US) in 1988. She won the CWA Veuve Cliquot short story award for "Lines of Communication" in A PERSONAL CALL AND OTHER STORIES (Constable, 1986). She was 99. (January 12, 2012)
Josef Skvorecky Dies
Josef Skvorecky died of cancer on January 03 in Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada. He was a Czech emigre writer, who fled to Canada in 1969 after the Russian invasion. He wrote several crime stories and novels featuring Lieutenant Boruvka (THE MOURNFUL DEMEANOUR OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA; Faber & Faber,1990); nightclub singer Eve Adam (SINS FOR FATHER KNOX; Faber & Faber, 1989; this collection defies the ten rules of fair-play in detective fiction suggested by Monsignor Ronald Knox in 1929); and Skvorecky's alter ego Danny Smiricki (TWO MURDERS IN MY DOUBLE-LIFE; Faber & Faber, 2001). He won the 1990 Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada for "Humbug," in THE END OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA (1989). He also co-authored two detective novels with his wife Zdena Salivarova-Skvorecka but they are only available in Chech. He was 87. (January 05, 2012)
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 1996-2012 by Jiro Kimura
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visitors to The Gumshoe Site since November 06, 1996. [The previous counter broke down again!! Sorry about that.]