CyberGumshoe's Mumbling in September/October 2009
Philip Kerr Wins Ellis Peters Historical
The Crime Writers Association of Britain (CWA) announced that Philip Kerr won the 2009 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award for IF THE DEAD RISE NOT (Quercus), the sixth Bernie Gunther novel. The winner was announced on October 29 at Six Fitzroy Square in London. (October 30, 2009)
Debra Ginsberg Wins Jeff Parker Award
The Sothern California Independent Bookseller Association (SCIBA) announced on October 24 that Debra Ginsberg won the T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award (award in the mystery category) for THE GRIFT (Shaye Areheart Books, 2008). And Lisa See, a sometime mystery writer, won the SCIBA Book Award for SHANGHAI GIRLS (Random House, 2008) in the fiction category. The winners in all the categories were announceed at the Author's Feast at Millennium Biltomore Hotel in Los Angeles on October 24. (October 26, 2009)
Ray Browne Dies
Ray Browne died of congestive heart failure on October 22 at his home in Bowling Green, Ohio. He was a professor at Bowling Green State University, who was credited with coining the phrase "popular culture" and establishing the first academic department of popular culture in the US at Bowling Green in 1973. He and his wife Pat Browne launched several publications devoted to popular culture, such as Clues: A Journal of Detection. When Clues started with the Spring/Summer 1980 issue, it was published semi-annually by Bowling Green Popular Press and edited by Pat Browne, with academic articles on mystery fiction and writers by academic professors including Ray Browne. (Now Clues is published by McFarland & Co. and edited by Margaret Kinsman and Elizabeth Foxwell.) He was 87. (Occtober 25, 2009)
CWA Dagger Award Winners Announced
The Crime Writers Association of Britain (CWA) announced the winners for the second half of the 2009 CWA Dagger Awards as follows:
Gold Dagger: A WHISPERED NAME by William Brodrick (Little, Brown)
Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: THE LAST CHILD by John Hart (John Murray)
John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger: ECHOES FROM THE DEAD by Johan Theorin (Doubleday)
Film Dagger: Gran Torino (Warner Bros.)
TV Dagger: Red Riding (Channel 4 Films; Channel 4)
International TV Dagger: The Wire (HBO; BBC Two)
Best Actress Dagger: Juliet Stevenson for Place of Execution (Coastal Productions; ITV1)
Best Actor Dagger: Dominic West for The Wire (HBO; BBC Two)
Bestseller Dagger: Harlan Coben
Colin Dexter, Lynda La Plante, Ian Rankin, and Val McDermid were induced into the Hall of Fame, "which honors the achievements of the genre's greatest exponents, past and present."
The winners were announced on October 21 at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. To see the shortlists, click here. (October 22, 2009)
Norma Fox Mazer Dies
Norma Fox Mazer died on October 16 in Montpelier, Vermont after a battle with brain cancer. She wrote more than 25 books for young adults and children, some of which involves crimes, where teenagers are victims. She won two Lewis Carroll Shelf Awards, and a Newbery Honor Book award, as well as an Edgar Award in the juvenile category for TAKING TERRI MUELLER (Avon, 1981). Anne Mazer, a writer, is one of her four children. She was 78. (October 29, 2009)
Anthony Award Winners Announced
Bouchercon 2009 announced the winners for the 2009 Anthony Awards as follows:
Best Novel: THE BRASS VERDICT by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Best First Novel: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
Best Paperback Original: STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy (Berkley)
Best Short Story: "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover (in HARDCORE HARDBOILED, edited by Todd Robinson; Kensington)
Best Critical Nonfiction Work: ANTHONY BOUCHER: A BIOBIBLIOGRAPHY by Jeffrey Marks (McFarland)
Best Children's/Young Adult Novel: THE CROSSROADS by Chris Grabenstein (Random House)
Best Cover Art: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO designed by Peter Mendelsund and witten by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
Special Service Award: Jon and Ruth Jordan
The winners were announced on October 17 at the Anthony awards ceremony during Bouchercon in Indianapolis, Indiana. To see all the nominees, click here. (October 18, 2009)
Shamus Award Winners Announced
The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) announced the winners for the 2009 Shamus Awards as follows:
Hammer Award: Matt Scudder (created by Lawrence Block)
Best Novel: EMPTY EVER AFTER by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books), featuring Moe Prager
Best First Novel: IN THE HEAT by Ian Vasquez (St. Martin's Minotaur), featuring Miles Young
Best Paperback Original: SNOW BLIND by Lori Armstrong (Medallion), featuring Julie Collins
Best Short Story: "Family Values" by Mitch Alderman (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 2008), featuring Bubba Simms
The Eye (Lifetime Achievement) Award: Robert J. Randisi
The winners were announced on October 16 at the PWA Banquet during the Bouchercon Convention in Indiana, Indiana. To see all the nominees, click here. (October 17, 2009)
Barry Award Winners Announced
Mystery News and Deadly Pleasures announced the winners for the 2009 Barry Awards as follows:
Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom: Art Scott
Best Novel: THE DRAINING LAKE by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur)
Best First Novel: CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)
Best British Novel: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO by Stieg Larsson (MacLehose/Quercus)
Best Paperback Original: STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy (Berkley)
Best Thriller: THE DECEIVED by Brett Battles (Delacorte)
Best Short Story: "The Drought" by James O. Born (from THE BLUE RELIGION, edited by Michael Connelly; Little, Brown)
The winners were announced on October 15 during the Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies in Indianapolis, Indiana. To see all the nominees, click here. (October 16, 2009)
Macavity Award Winners Announced
The Mystery Readers International announced the winners for the 2009 Macavity Awards as follows:
Best Mystery Novel: WHERE MEMORIES LIE by Deborah Crombie (William Morrow)
Best First Mystery: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
Best Nonfiction/Critical: AFRICAN AMERICAN MYSTERY WRITERS: A HISTORICAL & THEMATIC STUDY by Frankie Y. Bailey (McFarland)
Best Mystery Short Story: "The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron (in WOLFSBANE & MISTLETOE, edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner; Penguin)
Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery: A ROYAL PAIN by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
The winners were announced on October 15 during the Bouchercon Opening Ceremonies in Indianapolis, Indiana. To see all the nominees, click here. (October 16, 2009)
Stuart Kaminsky Dies
Stuart Kaminsky died on October 9. He was the 2006 Grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America, and won the 1989 best novel Edgar from the MWA for A COLD RED SUNRISE, featuring the Moscow Police Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov. He had several series characters. Toby Peters is a 1940's Hollywood private eye (in 24 novels such as BULLET FOR A STAR and NOW YOU SEE IT), Abe Lieberman is a old Chicago cop (in LEIBERMAN' FOLLY and THE DEAD DON'T LIE among others), and Lew Fonesca is a soft-boiled process server (in six novels such as VENGEANCE and BRIGHT FUTURE). Kaminsky also wrote original novels about CSI: NEW YORK and ROCKFORD FILES. I translated a couple of Toby Peters stories. He was 75. (October 11, 2009)
Addendum -- Kaminsky died of complications from hepatitis C and a recent stroke at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Does anybody have the first edition of BULLET FOR A STAR (St. Martin's, 1977)? His first novel litarally ends on the back endpaper! -- (October 14, 2009)
Pelecanos Wins Hammett
The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers announced on October 4 in Baltimore that George Pelecanos won the Hammett Prize for THE TURNAROUND (Little, Brown, 2008). The Hammett Prize is given annually for a work of literary excellence in the field of cirme writing. To read the press release, click here. (October 05, 2009)
Leonard to Receive PEN Lifetime Achievement
Elmore Leonard will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA at the Annual Literay Awards Festival to be held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on December 2. (October 01, 2009)
William Safire Dies
William Safire died on September 27 of pancreatic cancer at a hospice in Rockville, Maryland. The "libertarian conservative" was a Nixon speechwriter and New York Times political columnist. He wrote a number of books on politics as well as some novels, a couple of which were crime-oriented such as FULL DISCLOSURE (Doubleday, 1977) and SLEEPER SPY (Random, 1995). I used to read his weekly column for The New York Times on English language, "On Language," religiously until he started politicize the column outrightly. He was 79. (September 28, 2009)
Historical Dagger Shortlist Announced
The Crime Writers Association of Britain has announced the shortlist for the 2009 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award as follows:
THE DEAD OF WINTER by Rennie Airth (Macmillan)
IF THE DEAD RISE NOT by Philip Kerr (Quercus)
THE REDEMPTION OF ALEXANDER SEATON by Shona MacLean (Quercus)
THE INFORMATION OFFICER by Mark Mills (HarperCollins)
THE INTERROGATOR by Andrew Williams (John Murray)
AN EMPTY DEATH by Laura Wilson (Orion)
The winner will be announced on October 29 in London. (September 25, 2009)
Norman Katkov Dies
Norman Katkov died on September 13 of age-related causes at his home in Los Angeles, California. He was a famous TV screenwriter who wrote for "Big Shamus, Little Shamus," "Mission: Impossible," "Ironside," "Mannix," "87th Precinct," "Wanted: Dead or Alive" as well as "Ben Casey." But he also authored novels, some of which were crime novels such as BLOOD AND ORCHIDS (St. Martin's, 1983) about a 1930 rape trial in Hawaii, which Katkov himself turned into a TV script; THE JUDAS KISS (Dutton, 1991) and MILLIONAIRE'S ROW (Dutton, 1996). In the1940's, he contributed short stories to magazines such as Saturday Evening Post, Colier's, and Black Mask ("The Fix," July 1946). He was 91. (September 23, 2009)
Lyn Hamilton Dies
Lyn Hamilton died on September 10 after a battle with cancer in Toronto, Ontario. When she was working for Ontario Ministry of Culture in Toronto at 50, she decided to write mystery novels. Her first novel, THE XIBALBA MURDERS (Berkley, 1997), features Lara McClintoch, antique dealer in Toronto. THE CHINESE ALCHEMIST (Berkley, 2007) was the 11th and last McClintoch archeological mystery. She wrote one non-series novel, CORPSE WORE PEARLS, before she decided to retire in 2008, and it has not published in print but could be downloaded at her website if you "consider making a donation to a women's shelter in your community." She was 65. (September 13, 2009)
CWA Dagger Award Shortlists Announced
The Crime Writers Association of Britain has announced the shortlists for the second part of the 2009 CWA Dagger Awards. The shortlist in the Gold Dagger category is as follows:
WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS? by Kate Atkinson (Black Swan/Transworld)
IN THE DARK by Mark Billingham (Little, Brown)
HIT AND RUN by Lawrence Block (Orion)
A WHISPERED NAME by William Brodrick (Little, Brown)
THE CORONER by M. R. Hall (Pan Macmillan)
DARK TIMES IN THE CITY by Gene Kerrigan (Harvill Secker)
To see the shortlists for the other categories, click here. The winners will be announced on October 21 at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London. (September 07, 2009)
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