CyberGumshoe's Mumblings in July/August 2011
Joyce Harrington Dies
It was finally reported that Joyce Harrington died of cancer on March 10 in New York, NY. She won the 1973 Edgar for her first short story, "The Puple Shroud" (published in the September 1972 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine) and was Edgar-nominated four times (including the winning one) in the short story category. She wrote three novels: NO ONE KNOW MY NAME (1981); FAMILY REUNION (1982); and DREAMZ OF THE NIGHT (1987, all from St. Martin's). She was an active MWA member in the 1970's.
I first met Joyce probably in 1976, when she and her family just returned to New York and she came to an MWA local meeting for the first time. We started to chat on the food line and became friends. A few months later for a magazine interview, I went to her friend's house in Brooklyn where she was staying at the time, and in 1981 I visited her family Brooklyn house with a photographer this time for another magazine feature. I returned to Japan in the 80's and she moved to Manhattan, and we lost touch. In 2001, I happened to get her e-mail address and asked her for a magazine essay and she said yes, telling she would like to write more stories when her health gets better. In last spring, I somehow learned that her son has her copy of my Crime Writers Congress picture book. I wondered what happened to Joyce, drew a logical conclusion and search for her obituary on the Net to no avail. Then her son Evan finally wrote her short but very interesting biography for her memorial website a couple of days ago. She was 79. (August,24, 2011)
Paul Cleave Wins Ngaio
It was announced on August 21 in Christchurch, New Zealand, that BLOOD MEN (Random House), written by Paul Cleave, won the 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award for the Best New Zealand Crime Novel. (August 23, 2011)
Shamus Award Nominees Announced
The Private Eye Writers of America has announced the nominees for the 2011 Shamus Awards. The nominees in the best hardcover PI novel category are as follows:
NO MERCY, by Lori Armstrong (Touchstone), featuring Mercy Gunderson
THE FIRST RULE, by Robert Crais (Putnam), featuring Joe Pike
VOYEUR, by Daniel Judson (Minotaur), featuring Remer
IF THE DEAD RISE NOT, by Philip Kerr (Putnam), featuring Bernie Gunther
NAKED MOON, by Domenic Stansberry (Minotaur), featuring Dante Mandcuso
To see the nominees in the other categories, click here. The winners will be announced on September 16 in St. Louis, Missouri. (August 19, 2011)
Dagger Award Shortlists Announced
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain has announced the shortlists for the second batch of the 2011 CWA Dagger Awards. The shortlist for the Gold Dagger is as follows:
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, by Tom Franklin (Macmillan)
SNOWDROPS, by A. D. Miller (Atlantic Books)
THE END OF THE WASP SEASON, by Denis Mina (Orion)
THE LOCK ARTIST, by Steve Hamilton (Orion)
To see the shortlists for all the categories, click here. The winners will be announced on October 7 in London. (August 19, 2011)
Robert Robinson Dies
Robert Robinson, a famous radio personality in Britain, died on August 12 at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington, UK after a long illness. He wrote several books and one of them was a detective novel, LANDSCAPE WITH DEAD DONS (Gollancz, 1956), set in Oxford. He also wrote two novels: THE CONSIRACY (Hodder, 1968) and BAD DREAMS (Weidenfeld, 1989). He was 83. (August 14, 2011)
Enid Schantz Dies
Enid Schantz died of cancer on August 10 in Colorado. She was a co-founder (with her husband Tom Schantz) of The Rue Morgue Press, publisher of "forgotten" Golden Age mystery novels. She and Tom reviewed books for the Denver Post and organized the Denver Bouchercon. She and Tom were awarded the Raven by the Mystery Writers of America in 2001. (August 11, 2011)
TJ Parker Award Finalists Announced
The Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBAS) has announced the finalists of the 2011 book awards. The award in the mystery/thriller category is named T. Jefferson Parker Book Award and its finalists are as follows:
THE SENTRY, by Robert Crais (Putnam)
SAN DIEGO NOIR, edited by Maryelizabeth Hart (Akashic Books)
THE INFORMANT, by Thomas Perry (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
SAVAGES, by Don Winslow (Simon & Schuster)
To see the finalists in all the six categories, click here. The winners in all the categories will be annouced on October 22 in Long Beach, California. (Augutst 06, 2011)
Leslie Esdaile Banks Dies
Leslie Esdaile Banks died of adrenal cancer on August 02 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was most famous as a fantasy writer using the L. A. Banks pseudonym, writing the Vampire Huntress Legend series and the Crimson Moon series. She also wrote romance novels as Leslie Esdaile and Alexis Grant, as well as crime novels under her real name featuring financial genius Laura Caldwell, starting with BETRAYAL OF THE TRUST (Dafina, 2004) and ending with NO TRUST (Dafina, 2007). She was 51. (August 04, 2011)
Blaize Clement Dies
Blaize Clement died of cancer on July 20 in Florida. The ex-clinical psychologist began writing mystery novels in her later years, featuring deputy sheriff-turned-catsitter Dixie Hemingway, starting with CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT SITTER (St. Martin's). Her latest Hemingway novel is CAT SITTERS AMONG THE PIGEONS (St. Martin's, 2011). The seventh in the series will be out in January 2012 and the eith will follow. Her son John Clement will write at least two additional Hemningway novels in the future. She was 78. (July 28, 2011)
Dagger Award Winners Announced
The Crime Writers' Association of Britain has announced the winners for the first batch of the 2011 CWA Dagger Awards as follows:
International Dagger: THREE SECONDS, by Anders Roslund & Borge Hellstrom, translated from Swedeish by Kari Dickson (Quercus)
Non-Fiction Dagger: THE KILLER OF LITTLE SHEPHERDS, by Douglas Starr (Simon & Schuster)
Short Story Dagger: "Homework," by Phil Lovesey (from THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST BRITISH CRIME 8, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; Constable & Robinson) (originally published int the November 2009 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine)
Dager in the Library: Mo Hayder (Bantam Press, Transworld)
Debut Dagger (not yet published): WHAT HIDDEN LIES, by Michele Rowe (South Africa)
(July 23, 2011)
Martin Woodhouse Dies
It has been reported that Martin Woodhouse died on May 15 in England. He was famous as one of the writing team for "The Avengers," one of Britain's most popular TV programs, but he was more than that: a medical doctor, computer designer of the Logical Truth Computer (nicknamed Lettuce), creator of Illumination e-book, and novelist. He wrote five Giles Yeoman "techno-thrillers," starting with TREE FROG (HEINEMAN, 1966) and ending with MOON HILL (Macmillan, 1976); three Leonardo da Vince historical thrillers with Robert Ross, starting with THE MEDICI GUNS (Hodder & Stoughton, 1974) and ending with THE MEDICI HAWKS (Hodder & Stoughton, 1978); and a stand-alone, THE REMINGTON SET (Macmillan, 1976; as by John Carlton). He was 78. (July 11, 2011)
Thriller Award Winners Announced
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) announced the winners for the 2011 Thriller Awards as follows:
Best Hardcover Novel: BAD BLOOD, by John Sanford (Putnam)
Best Paperback Original Novel: THE COLD ROOM, by J. T. Ellison (Mira)
Best First Novel: STILL MISSING, by Chevy Stevens (St. Martin's)
Best Short Story: "The God for Vengeance Cry," by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 2010)
2011 ThrillerMaster: R. L. Stine
2011 True Thriller Award: Joe McGinniss
2011 Silver Bullet Award: Karin Slaughter
(July 11, 2011)
Iain Blair Dies
Iain Blair died of the effects of diabetes on July 03 at his home in Torquay, Devon. He may have been most famous as Emma Blair, a best-selling romance writer, but he wrote four thrillers before switching to successful romance writing. These four obscure thrillers are BONE; DUFF; TRUE (all three from Sphere, 1977) and HOOLIGAN'S RANT (NEL, 1979). His/her last romance novel was ARROWS OF DESIRE (Sphere, 2008). He was 69. (July 09, 2011)
Strand Critics Award Winners Announced
The Strand Magazine announced the winners for the 2010 Strand Magazine Critics Awards on July 06 in New York City as follows:
Best Novel: THE REVERSAL, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Best First Novel: THE POACHER'S SON, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
(July 08, 2011)
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