CyberGumshoe's Mumbling in January/February 2011
LAT Book Prize Finalists Announced
The Los Angeles Times has announced the finalists for the 2011 LAT Book Prizes. The finalists in the mystery/thriller category are as follows:
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, by Tom Franklin (William Morrow)
FAITHFUL PLACE, by Tana French (Viking)
I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
COLLUSION, by Stuart Neville (SoHo Press)
CITY OF DRAGONS, by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur Books)
The finalists in all the categories are listed here. The winners will be announced on April 29 at the Los Angeles Times building. (February 22, 2011)
Agatha Award Nominees Announced
Malice Domestic has announced th nominees for the 2011 Agatha Awards. The nominees in the best novel category are as follows:<
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)
To see the nominees in the other categories, click here. The Winners will be announced on Arpil 30 during the Malice Domestic convention to be held in Bethesda, Maryland. (February 18, 2011)
Barry Award Nominees Announced
George Easter of Deadly Pleasures has announced the nominee for the 2011 Barry Awards. The nominees in the best novel category are as follows:
NOWHERE TO RUN, by C. J. Box (Putnam)
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, by Tom Franklin (Morrow)
THE LOCK ARTIST, by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur)
MOONLIGHT MILE, by Dennis Lehane (Morrow)
BURY YOUR DEAD, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
SAVAGES, by Don Winslow (Simon & Schuster)
To see the nominees in the other categories, click here. The winners will be announced at Bouchercon to be held in St. Louis, Missouri this September. (February 10, 2011)
Ron Watkins Dies
John Herrington of the UK, Allen J. Hubin and Steve Lewis of Myster*File reported that Ron Watkins died peacefully in his sleep on January 3 in Rhondda, South Wales. The ex-librarian wrote five PI novels featuring Tom Tilling starting with A PAPER CHASE (Hale, 1972) and ending with SINNER TAKES ALL (Hale, 1979), before switching from mysteries to westerns under his own name and several pseudonyms (tom Parry, Ed Hapgood and Ted Rushgrove). He was 80. (February 07, 2011)
Dolores Johnson Dies
Allen J. Hubin reported that Dolores Johnson died on April 19, 2010 in Aurora, Colorado. The former field editor for American Drycleaner magazine wrote the eight drycleaner Mandy Dyer series, starting with TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS (Dell, 1997) and ending with PRESS TO KILL (St. Martin's, 2007). She was 79. (February 07, 2011)
Melissa Mia Hall Dies
Melissa Mia Hall died of a heart attack on January 29 in Fort Worth, Texas. Although she was basically a horror writer, she reviewed mystery novels for Publishers Weekly anonymously, and contributed several mystery stories to mystery anthologies: "Cat House" in CAT CRIMES III (edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Ed Gorman; Fine, 1992), "The Child Star" in MARILYN: SHADES OF BLONDE (edited by Carole Nelson Douglas; FORGE 1997), and "Psychofemmes" in WILD WOMEN (edited by Melissa Mia Hall; Carroll & Graf, 1997). She was 54. (February 04, 2011)
William Johnston Dies
Allen J. Hubin reported that William Johnston died on October 15, 2010 in San Jose, California. His first novel, THE MARRIAGE CAGE (Lyle Stuart, 1960) was nominated for the 1960 Edgar Award in the first novel category. Then he wrote a number of paperback novels of light comedy, medical romance, and soft-core porn. When he wrote an original novel, GET SMART! (Tempo, 1965), based on the TV comedy, it was a big hit, and he wrote 8 more Get Smart novels. He also wrote a TV tie-in novels based on TV programs including "Ironside," "Dick Tracy," and "The Mod Squad." He novelized BANYON (Paperback Library, 1971), a TV pilot starring Robert Forster as the private eye, and KLUTE (Paperback Library, 1971), a PI movie featuring Donald Sutherland as the title role. The prolific writer used several pseudonyms such as Susan Claudia for romance, Ed Garth, Alex Steele, and William Howard. He received the Faust, the Grandmaster Scribe Award from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers in 2010. He was 86. (February 01, 2011)
Robert Jansson Dies
Mystery*File's Steve Lewis reported that Robert Jansson died of cancer on January 13 at Missouri Baptist Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. He wrote MEET YOU IN MUNICH (Barker, 1975) and NEWS CAPER (Macmillan UK, 1978), both featuring Prof. Stuart Warlock, while a professor at the University of Southampton, England. After the 30-year hiatus, he published KARI'S SAGA (BookSurge, 2008), set in the Viking Iceland in the year 1000, and FEET FIRST (BookSurge, 2009), a detective novel set in the world of ballet. He was "working on a collection of family stories for his children and granchildren" when he died. He was 74. (February 01, 2011)
Ariana Franklin Dies
Ariana Franklin died on January 27 after a serious illness at her home in Hertfordshire, England. The wife of famous film critic Barry Norman wrote a number of historical novels under her real name Diana Norman before writing historical mystery novels, first of which was CITY OF SHADOWS (Bantam Press, 2006). Her second historical mystery novel, THE MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH (Bantam Press, 2007) was the first in the midieval pathologist Adelia Aguilar series and won the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award from the Crime Writers Association of Britain (CWA). Her latest and fourth Aguilar novel was THE ASSASSINS PRAYER (2010; US title: THE MURDEROUS POSSESSION, Putnam). She was 77. (January 29, 2011)
Michael Van Rooy Dies
Michael Van Rooy, a Winnipeg crime writer, died on January 27 of an apparent heart attack in Montreal on his book tour promoting his latest novel, A CRIMINAL TO REMEMBER (Turnstone Press, 2010). The Canadian writer was a former restaurant manager, bartender, bouncer, card dealer, cheesemaker, and teacher. His first ex-con Monty Haaviko novel was AN ORDINARY DECENT CRIMINAL (Turnstone Press, 2005; Minotaur Books, 2010). He was to write the fourth Haaviko novel, tentatively titled THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY CRIMINALS. He was 42. (January 28, 2011)
Lindsey Davis Receives Diamond Dagger
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain (CWA) has announced that historical crime novelist Lindsey Davis is to receive the 2011 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for "outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing." To read the official press release, click here. (January 26, 2011)
2011 Hammett Prize Nominees Announced
The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers (IACW/NA) has announced the nominees for the 2011 Hammett Prize as follows:
GET CAPONE: THE SECRET PLOT THAT CAPTURED AMERICA'S MOST WANTED GANGSTER, by Jonathan Eig (Simon & Schuster)
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, by Tom Franklin (William Morrow)
IRON RIVER, by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)
THE NEAREST EXIT, by Olen Steinhauer (Minotaur Books)
The winner will be announced on September 20 in Atlantic City during the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall conference. To read the press release, click here. (January 26, 2011)
2011 Dilys Award Nominees Announced
The Independent Mystery Booksellers Assoication (IMBA) has announced the nominees for the 2011 Dilys Award as follows:
LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE, by Colin Cotterill (Soho Crime)
THE LOCK ARTIST, by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur Books)
MOONLIGHT MILE, by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)
BURY YOUR DEAD, by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
ONCE A SPY, by Keith Thomson (William Morrow)
SAVAGES, by Don Winslow (Simon & Schuster)
The Dilys Award is given to the book IMBA members most enjoyed handselling in the previous year. The winner will be announced on March 26 during the 2011 Left Coast Crime convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (January 26, 2011)
Left Coast Crime Award Nominees Announced
Left Coast Crime 2011 has announced the nominees for the 2011 Left Coast Crime Awards. The nominees for the Lefty Award (for the best humorous myster novel) are as follows:
STORK RAVING MAD, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
SWIFT JUSTICE, by Laura DiSilverio (Minotaur Books)
OLD DOG, by Donna Moore (Busted Flush Press)
REVENGE FOR OLD TIMES'S SAKE, by Kris Neri (Cherokee McGhee)
THE POT THIEF WHO STUDIED EINSTEIN, by J. Michael Orenduff (Oak Tree Press)
To find out the nominees for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award, the HIllerman Sky Award and the Watson Award, click here. The awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 26th, 2011, at the historic La Fonda Hotel on the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (January 24, 2011)
Edgar Award Nominees Announced
The Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2011 Edgar Awards. The nominees in the best novel category are as follows:
CAUGHT, by Harlan Coben (Dutton)
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, by Tom Franklin (Morrow)
FAITHFUL PLACE, by Tana French (Viking)
THE QUEEN OF PATPONG, by Timothy Hallinan (Morrow)
THE LOCK ARTIST, by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur)
I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
To find out the nominees in all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced on April 28 in New York City. (January 20, 2011)
Joe Gores Dies
Joe Gores died on January 10 (exactly 50 years after Dashiell Hammett's deathday) of a stomach hemorrhage at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, California. The ex-private investigator was the author of the Daniel Kearney Associates (DKA) series, INTERFACE (Evans, 1974), HAMMETT (Putnam, 1975), and SPADE & ARCHER (Knopf, 2009), the authorized prequel to THE MALTESE FALCON. He won three Edgars for A TIME FOR PREDATORS (Random House, 1969) in the first novel category, for "Goodbye, Pops" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, December 1969) in the short story category, and for "No Immunity for Murder" (1975; an episode of "Kojak"). When he died, he was still writing a DKA novel, REPO ON SIGHT. He was 79. (January 13; Revised January 14, 2011)
Addendum -- I first met Joe Gores in the 1970's at the old MWA headquarters in New York. Then I visited Gores's home in San Alselmo in 1985 and 1986. Gores came to Japan with his wife Dori as one of the special guests of the Mystery Exhibition in Tokyo in 1986 and received the Maltese Falcon Award for HAMMETT, and I gave them a guided tour in Tokyo. Last time I met Joe and Dori was at Bouchercon in Las Vegas in 2003. I had a great time while translating SPADE & ARCHER into Japanese. (January 14, 2011)
Mystery Bookstore to Close
The Mystery Bookstore, located in the Westwood Village section of Los Angeles, California, will close its door on January 31. I last visited the store in 2002 after Left Coast Crime in Portland, and it was worth going to by taxi from my hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. (January 13, 2011)
Ruth Cavin Dies
Ruth Cavin, so-called "Doyenne of Mysteries," died on January 9 [of complications of lung cancer at her home] in White Plains, New York. She started an editing job at Walker when she was 61, and St. Martin's Press hired her when she was 70, and she became a full-time editor with the Thomas Dunne Books imprint at St. Martin's till her death. She discovered Steve Hamilton, Bill Crider, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Donna Andrews to name a few. She helped founding the Minotaur Books imprint and launching the PWA PI novel contest and the Malice Domestic traditional mystery novel contest. She was 92. (January 11; Revised January 14, 2011)
Gumshoe Site Gets e-Ink
Jeff Pierce's The Rap Sheet has acknowledged The Gumshoe Site's 15th Anniversary at his blog. Now you know how I look and how old I am. Thank you, Jeff. (January 09, 2011 in Japan; January 08, 2011 in the US)
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