“6” Is Lamanda’s Lucky Number

Maine’s Al Lamanda has won the 2017 Nero Award for his fifth John Bekker mystery, With 6 You Get Wally (Five Star). That announcement came this last weekend during the Black Orchid Banquet, held in Manhattan and hosted by the New York City-based Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin fan organization, The Wolfe Pack. The Nero Award has been presented annually, ever since 1979, for “the best American mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories.”

Contending as well for this year's prize were Death at Breakfast, by Beth Gutcheon (Morow); Home, by Harlan Coben (Dutton); and Surrender, New York, by Caleb Carr (Random House).

Previous Nero Award recipients include David Morrell, Chris Knopf, Walter Mosley, S.J. Rozan, Laura Lippman, and Brad Parks.

ADDENDUM: I noticed that, while there was news online about Lamanda capturing this year’s Nero Award, there seemed to be no information available on who had won the 2017 Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA)—even though both prizes were reportedly presented on December 2 during The Wolfe Pack’s Black Orchid Banquet. So I sent an e-mail note to Jane K. Cleland, author and chair of the BONA committee. She responded with word that “This year’s BONA winner is Mark Thielman. His novella is ‘The Black Drop of Venus.’”

Irish Misdeeds On Full Display

Congratulations to New Zealand-born radio producer-turned-author Julie Parsons, whose latest novel, The Therapy House (New Island), has captured the Irish Independent Crime Novel of the Year prize. That announcement was made last evening during a celebrity-filled ceremony honoring 13 categories of works and authors chosen to receive the 2017 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

Parsons’ compulsive thriller was one of only five books shortlisted for Crime Novel of the Year acclaim. Its rivals were Can You Keep a Secret?, by Karen Perry (Michael Joseph); Here and Gone, by Haylen Beck (Harvill Secker); Let the Dead Speak, by Jane Casey (HarperCollins); One Bad Turn, by Sinéad Crowley (Quercus); and There Was a Crooked Man, by Cat Hogan (Poolbeg Press).

In addition to Parsons’ victory, detective novelist John Connolly took the Ryan Tubridy Listeners’ Choice Award for his most recent non-detective novel, He (Hodder & Stoughton), about the life of early 20th-century English comic Stan Laurel.

(Hat tip to Declan Burke.)

Touting Irish Talents

I must have missed spotting the announcement recently of which works and authors were shortlisted for the 2017 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Fortunately, In Reference to Murder’s B.V. Lawson claims sharper eyes, and yesterday she posted the list of finalists for the Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year as follows:

• Can You Keep A Secret? by Karen Perry (Michael Joseph)
• Here and Gone, by Haylen Beck (Harvill Secker)
• Let the Dead Speak, by Jane Casey (HarperCollins)
• One Bad Turn, by Sinéad Crowley (Quercus)
• There Was a Crooked Man, by Cat Hogan (Poolbeg Press)
• The Therapy House, by Julie Parsons (New Island)

You can see all of this year’s Irish Book Award nominees, in 13 categories, by clicking here. Winners are to be announced during a black-tie dinner at Dublin’s Clayton Hotel on November 28.

Celebrating in Christchurch

Last night brought an announcement, during a special WORD Christchurch event in New Zealand, of which books and authors have won the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards. The recipients include the first woman ever to capture the coveted prize for Best Crime Novel.

“Each of our winners this year is a remarkable storyteller who uses crime writing as a prism through which to explore broader human and societal issues,” says Craig Sisterson, the founder and judging convenor of this annual contest. “When we launched in 2010 we wanted to highlight excellence in local crime writing, beyond traditional ideas of puzzling whodunits or airport thrillers. Our 2017 winners emphasize that broader scope to the genre, and showcase the inventiveness and world-class quality of our local storytellers.”

Below are the winners and other finalists in three categories.

Best Crime Novel: The Last Time We Spoke, by Fiona Sussman
(Allison & Busby)

Also nominated: Pancake Money, by Finn Bell (e-book); Spare Me the Truth, by C.J. Carver (Zaffre); Red Herring, by Jonothan Cullinane (HarperCollins); and Marshall’s Law, by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)

Best First Novel: Dead Lemons, by Finn Bell (e-book)

Also nominated: Red Herring, by Jonothan Cullinane (HarperCollins); The Ice Shroud, by Gordon Ell (Bush Press); The Student Body, by Simon Wyatt (Mary Egan); and Days Are Like Grass, by Sue Younger (Eunoia)

Best Non-Fiction: In Dark Places, by Michael Bennett (Paul Little)

Also nominated: The Scene of the Crime, by Steve Braunias (HarperCollins); Double-Edged Sword, by Simonne Butler with Andra Jenkin (Mary Egan); The Many Deaths of Mary Dobie, by David Hastings (AUP); and Blockbuster!, by Lucy Sussex (Text)

To obtain more information about the Ngaio Marsh Awards, this year’s victors or finalists, or comments from the judges, send an e-mail message to Craig Sisterson at craigsisterson@hotmail.com.

READ MORE: “Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight: a 9mm interview with Fiona Sussman,” by Craig Sisterson
(Crime Watch.)

“The Worthiest of Winners”

The video footage below, shot by Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim, comes from last night’s presentation, in London, of the 2017 Dagger Awards. It shows Martin Edwards, chair of the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association, bestowing this year’s Diamond Dagger on British novelist Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland Island mysteries and the Vera Stanhope novels. The Diamond Dagger has been described as “the highest honor in British crime writing … recogniz[ing] authors whose crime-writing careers have been marked by sustained excellence, and who have made a significant contribution to the genre.”



READ MORE: “Interview: Ann Cleeves,” by DeathBecomesHer
(Crime Fiction Lover).

Extolling the Genius of Criminal Plotting

Thanks to Rap Sheet correspondent Ali Karim, who was in London, England, for this evening’s presentations of the 2017 Dagger Awards, we now have a full rundown of the winners. These commendations are sponsored by the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA).

CWA Gold Dagger:
The Dry, by Jane Harper (Little, Brown)

Also nominated: The Beautiful Dead, by Belinda Bauer (Bantam Press); Dead Man’s Blues, by Ray Celestin (Mantle); Spook Street, by Mick Herron (John Murray); The Girl in Green, by Derek B. Miller (Faber and Faber); and A Rising Man, by Abir Muckerjee (Harvil Secker)

CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
Spook Street, by Mick Herron (John Murray)

Also nominated: You Will Know Me, by Megan Abbott (Picador); The Killing Game, by J.S. Carol (Bookouture); We Go Around in the Night Consumed by Fire, by Jules Grant (Myriad Editions); Redemption Road, by John Hart (Hodder & Stoughton); and The Constant Soldier, by William Ryan (Mantle)

CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger: Tall Oaks, by Chris
Whitaker (Twenty 7)

Also nominated: The Pictures, by Guy Bolton (Point Blank); Ragdoll, by Daniel Cole (Trapeze); Distress Signals, by Catherine Ryan Howard (Corvus); Sirens, by Joseph Knox (Doubleday); and Good Me, Bad Me, by Ali Land (Michael Joseph)

CWA Non-fiction Dagger:
Close But No Cigar: A True Story of Prison Life in Castro’s Cuba,
by Stephen Purvis (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Also nominated: A Dangerous Place, by Simon Farquhar (History Press); The Scholl Case: The Deadly End of a Marriage, by Anja Reich-Osang (Text); The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer, by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury); A Passing Fury: Searching for Justice at the End of World War II, by A.T. Williams (Jonathan Cape); and Another Day in the Death of America, by Gary Younge (Guardian Faber)

CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger:
A Rising Man, by Abir Muckerjee (Harvil Secker)

Also nominated: The Devil’s Feast, by M.J. Carter (Fig Tree); The Ashes of Berlin, by Luke McCallin (No Exit Press); The Long Drop, by Denise Mina (Harvil Secker); By Gaslight, by Steven Price (Point Blank); and The City in Darkness, by Michael Russell (Constable)

CWA International Dagger:
The Dying Detective, by Leif G.W. Persson; translated by
Neil Smith (Doubleday)

Also nominated: A Cold Death, by Antonio Manzini, translated by Anthony Shugaar (4th Estate); A Fine Line, by Gianrico Carofiglio, translated by Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon Press); Blood Wedding, by Pierre Lemaitre, translated by Frank Wynne (MacLehose Press); Climate of Fear, by Fred Vargas, translated by Sian Reynolds (Harvill Secker); The Legacy of the Bones, by Dolores Redondo, translated by Nick Caister and Lorenza Garcia (Harper)

CWA Short Story Dagger:
“The Trials of Margaret,” by L.C. Tyler (from Motives for Murder, edited by Martin Edwards; Sphere)

Also nominated: “The Assassination,” by Leye Adenle (from Sunshine Noir, edited by Anna Maria Alfieri and Michael Stanley; White Sun); “Murder and Its Motives,” by Martin Edwards (from Motives for Murder); “The Super Recogniser of Vik,” by Michael Ridpath (from Motives for Murder); “What You Were Fighting For,” by James Sallis (from The Highway Kind, edited by Patrick Millikin; Mulholland); and “Snakeskin,” by Ovidia Yu (from Sunshine Noir)

CWA Debut Dagger (for unpublished writers):
Strange Fire, by Sherry Larkin

Also nominated: The Reincarnation of Himmat Gupte, by Neeraj Shah; Lost Boys, by Spike Dawkins; Red Haven, by Mette McLeodl; and Broken, by Victoria Slotover

In addition, Mari Hannah—whose capturing of this year’s Dagger in
the Library honor was previously announced—picked up her prize. Novelist Ann Cleeves was presented with the Diamond Dagger, and tonight’s master of ceremonies, author-critic Barry Forshaw, was given a Red Herring Award for services to the CWA.

Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees alike.

SEE MORE: “Video Footage from 2017 CWA Dagger Awards, London,” by Ali Karim (Shotsmag Confidential).

Who Won the Anthonys?

Today’s cheers-filled, brunch-time issuance of the Anthony Awards was the final prize presentation of Bouchercon 2017, which has been taking place in Toronto, Ontario, since Thursday. It also completed a “triple crown” win for Canadian author Louise Penny, whose 2016 Chief Inspector Armand Gamache yarn, A Great Reckoning, not only scored the Best Novel Anthony, but had already captured this conference’s Macavity Award and Barry Award in the same category.

Below you will find the full list of 2017 Anthony Award recipients.

Best Novel: A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Also nominated: You Will Know Me, by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown); Where It Hurts, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam); Red Right Hand, by Chris Holm (Mulholland); and Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Best First Novel: IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland)

Also nominated: Dodgers, by Bill Beverly (Crown); Decanting a Murder, by Nadine Nettmann (Midnight Ink); Design for Dying, by Renee Patrick (Forge); and The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original: Heart of Stone, by James W. Ziskin
(Seventh Street)

Also nominated: Shot in Detroit, by Patricia Abbott (Polis); Leadfoot, by Eric Beetner (280 Steps); Salem’s Cipher, by Jess Lourey (Midnight Ink); Rain Dogs, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street); and How to Kill Friends and Implicate People, by Jay Stringer (Thomas & Mercer)

Best Short Story: “Oxford Girl,” by Megan Abbott (from Mississippi Noir, edited by Tom Franklin; Akashic)

Also nominated: “Autumn at the Automat,” by Lawrence Block (from In Sunlight or in Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block; Pegasus); “Gary’s Got a Boner,” by Johnny Shaw (from Waiting to Be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak, Inspired by The Replacements, edited by Jay Stringer; Gutter); “Parallel Play,” by Art Taylor (from Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press); and “Queen of the Dogs,” by Holly West (from 44 Caliber Funk: Tales of Crime, Soul, and Payback, edited by Gary Phillips and Robert J. Randisi; Moonstone)

Best Critical Non-fiction Work: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin (Liveright)

Also nominated: Alfred Hitchcock: A Brief Life, by Peter Ackroyd (Nan A. Talese); Letters from a Serial Killer, by Kristi Belcamino and Stephanie Kahalekulu (CreateSpace); Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, by David J. Skal (Liveright); and The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer, by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury/Penguin)

Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel: The Girl I Used to Be,
by April Henry (Henry Holt)

Also nominated: Snowed, by Maria Alexander (Raw Dog Screaming); Tag, You’re Dead, by J.C. Lane (Poisoned Pen Press); My Sister Rosa, by Justine Larbalestier (Soho Teen); and The Fixes, by Owen Matthews (HarperTeen)

Best Anthology: Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016, edited by Greg Herren (Down & Out)

Also nominated: Unloaded: Crime Writers Writing Without Guns, edited by Eric Beetner (Down & Out); In Sunlight or in Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block (Pegasus); Cannibals: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrens, edited by Jen Conley (Down & Out); and Waiting to Be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak, Inspired by The Replacements, edited by Jay Stringer (Gutter)

Best Novella (8,000-40,000 words): The Last Blue Glass, by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, April 2016)

Also nominated: Cleaning Up Finn, by Sarah M. Chen (CreateSpace); No Happy Endings, by Angel Luis Colón (Down & Out); Crosswise, by S.W. Lauden (Down & Out); and Beware the Shill, by John Shepphird
(Down & Out)

The winners of these Anthony Awards were selected by a vote of the approximately 1,800 attendees at this year’s Bouchercon. Congratulations to the winners and other nominees!

(Hat tip to Classic Mysteries.)

Bullet Points: Bouchercon Week Edition

• Denise Mina’s latest novel, The Long Drop, doesn’t lack for honors. In addition to its win, in September, of this year’s McIlvanney Prize, the book has now nabbed the Gordon Burn Prize. That report was made on Thursday during England’s Durham Book Festival. The Long Drop bested five other shortlisted nominees to win the commendation, which was named in honor of Gordon Burn, the British author of such books as Alma Cogan and Sex & Violence, Death & Silence.

• Among this year’s 24 recipients of MacArthur Foundation “genius grants” is Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of the Vietnam-set spy novel, The Sympathizer, which won both a Pulitzer Prize and a 2016 Edgar Award. To learn more about Nguyen, refer to this “By the Book” piece that ran in The New York Times in early 2017.

• “Now that Robert Downey Jr. and HBO are prepping a new cable take on Erle Stanley Gardner’s iconic Perry Mason, this may be a good time to consider the famous defense attorney’s many and various appearances other than between book covers.” So opines Dick Lochte in a Mystery Scene article that looks back at how Mason was portrayed not only on TV, but on radio, in movies, and even in comics.

• Speaking of the TV series Perry Mason, here is MeTV’s list of unusual episodes from that 1957-1966 legal drama. “Have you seen the one in color and the one starring Bette Davis?” the story asks in its subhead. Or how about the one starring Mike Connors?

• There have already been multiple big-screen and TV adaptations of Wilkie Collins’ 1859 “sensation novel,” The Woman in White, including what I remember was an estimable, 1997 BBC version (watch the trailer here) scripted by Dark Water author David Pirie. Yet now comes BBC One with yet another, five-episode dramatization of the spooky tale, this one starring Ben Hardy (EastEnders) and Olivia Vinall (Apple Tree Yard), and due for airing in the UK in 2018.

• Well in advance of that will premiere Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive, a documentary film—part of PBS-TV’s American Masters series—that “draws on Poe’s evocative imagery and sharply drawn plots to tell the real story of the notorious author …,” according to a news release. “An orphan in search of family, love and literary fame, Poe struggled with alcoholism and was also a product of early 19th-century American urban life: depressed from the era’s culture of death due to the high mortality rate and the struggles of living in poverty. Poe famously died under mysterious circumstances and his cause of death remains unknown.” Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive is scheduled for broadcast on Monday, October 30, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT—a pre-Halloween treat! The trailer for this presentation is embedded below.



• Yes, All Hallows’ Eve is now a little more than two weeks away. So expect plenty of related features to show up online, such as this BookBub Blog post recommending “20 Creepy New Books to Read This Halloween.” Also check out this Literary Hub offering of “40 of the Creepiest Book Covers of All Time.” Meanwhile, the New York City-obsessed blog, The Bowery Boys, has put together what it calls “brand-new, mysterious podcasts that will send a shiver down your spine.”

• I mentioned on this page in July that Tom Nolan, who edited the Library of America omnibus Ross Macdonald: Four Later Novels: Black Money/The Instant Enemy/The Goodbye Look/The Underground Man, was composing essays about all of those Lew Archer private-eye stories. I see that three of them are now available for your investigation—his thoughtful takes on Black Money (1966), The Instant Enemy (1968), and The Goodbye Look (1969). I look forward to reading what Nolan has to say about The Underground Man (1971), which is one of my favorites among Macdonald’s Archer yarns and was adapted as a 1974 TV pilot starring Peter Graves.

• When James Bond didn’t like The Beatles …

• … And how he was deeply affected by World War II.

• In a diverse recent blog post, Max Allan Collins mentioned that he has delivered the manuscript for Killing Town, his 10th Mike Hammer novel developed from fragmentary material Mickey Spillane left behind at the time of his death in 2006. Collins goes on to explain that Killing Town (due out from Titan next April) is “chronologically the first Mike Hammer novel,” and that he composed it based on “a substantial (60 double-spaced pages) Spillane manuscript from around 1945 … before I, the Jury!! It has an ending that will either delight, outrage, or disgust you … perhaps all at the same time.” Killing Town, concludes Collins, “will join The Last Stand [due out from Hard Case Crime next March] in the celebration of Mickey’s centenary, the first Mike Hammer novel bookending the final Spillane solo novel.”

• Sometime Rap Sheet contributor Mark Coggins sent me a notice he discovered recently in the newsletter Publisher’s Lunch:

Following the death of [book agent] Ed Victor (and before that, in fall 2016, the death of [UK publisher] Graham Greene), the Raymond Chandler estate has selected new representation. They are working with Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White for publishing, and Stephen Durbridge and Katie Haines at The Agency for film and TV. Greene’s son Alexander, director of Raymond Chandler Ltd., says in the release: “In choosing Peter and RCW and Stephen and the Agency we wanted to reintroduce Chandler to an audience who perhaps recognize his style but don’t immediately associate it with him or his archetypal character Philip Marlowe.”

One can only speculate as to the eventual results of these altered business associations. Could we be provided more literary revivals of Los Angeles private eye Marlowe? Another crack at a Marlowe TV series, or more new Marlowe films?

• Let’s hope this eventually reaches the United States! From Mystery Tribune: “Scandinavian crime fans will be pleased to know that Sagafilm’s new drama Stella Blómkvist, starring Heida Reed (Poldark) and directed by Oskar Thor Axelsson (Trapped), will soon come to life via Nordic streaming service Viaplay. The series is based on a series of novels that follow a hard-nosed lawyer named Stella Blómkvist as she takes on mysterious murder cases.”

• Gadzooks! The DVD release of C.S.I.—The Complete Series will be a “93-disc set includ[ing] 19 hours of special features, all 15 seasons, and all 337 episodes, plus the 2-hour finale.” I’m not sure I can even accommodate such a sizable package among my DVD collection. This CBS Home Entertainment/Paramount Home Media set will become available as of November 21, according to TV Shows on DVD.

• For the Mulholland Books site, Portland, Oregon, science-fiction author Fonda Lee (Jade City) has cobbled together a rundown of what she says are the “Top Ten Fantasy Crime Novels.”

• David Cranmer is doing a bang-up job, for Criminal Element, of celebrating the centennial of Robert Mitchum’s birth. He’s written over the last three months about Mitchum’s Western films, his noir pictures, and yesterday he recalled the actor’s war movies (including the 1983 TV mini-series The Winds of War). Mitchum, writes Cranmer, projected “the great inner strength of tight-lipped heroes who fought the good fight, usually against staggering odds.”

• Linwood Barclay talks with Suspense Radio about his latest novel, Parting Shot, which is due out on October 31. Listen here.

• Hard to believe, I know, but it has been a full decade since the debut of Chuck, NBC-TV’s action-comedy/spy series starring Zachary Levi as computer-service specialist-turned-special agent Chuck Bartowski, and Yvonne Strahovski as his CIA protector, Sarah Walker. In honor of this anniversary, TV Guide created a video compilation of their most romantic moments from the show’s five seasons.

• From In Reference to Murder:

Fox has given a script commitment plus penalty to The Dime, a crime drama with a lesbian cop at the center that’s based on bestselling author Kathleen Kent’s new novel, from Hell on Wheels creators Tony Gayton and Joe Gayton, feature director Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes), and 20th-Century Fox TV. Written and executive produced by the Gayton brothers, The Dime follows Brooklyn cop Betty Rhyzyck, a tough-as-nails firebrand who moves with her girlfriend to Dallas to lead a group of detectives. Their more traditional sensibilities are a far cry from her blue-state mentality, and in order to survive, Betty and her team will have to put aside their differences.

• Marty McKee has an excellent piece in Johnny LaRue’s Crane Shot about the reworked sixth and final season of 77 Sunset Strip, which starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Los Angeles private eye Stuart Bailey. To give that season “a kickstart,” McKee recalls, Warner Bros. “gave it a radical reboot. Everyone but Zimbalist was fired, and Bailey moved into a new office in the Bradbury Building as a solo act. New producers Jack Webb (Dragnet) and William Conrad … made the series less glossy and more noirish. While the new approach didn’t work—the series was cancelled after 20 episodes—it did give 77 a creative shot in the arm. To begin the sixth season, producer Conrad hired screenwriter Harry Essex (credited with Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space, and I, the Jury) to concoct an ambitious five-part story that Conrad would also direct. The result was ‘5,’ which aired on consecutive Fridays in September and October 1963. Loaded with guest stars ranging from Richard Conte and Cesar Romero to Diane McBain and William Shatner, ‘5’ yanks Bailey out of L.A. to New York and even all the way to Israel to solve the case.” I wrote about that same multi-part episode of 77 Sunset Strip in this 2012 post.

• Congratulations to The Spy Command on its ninth anniversary!

• I know it seems a bit early yet to talk about next spring’s Florida SleuthFest (March 1-4 in Boca Raton), what with Bouchercon 2017 still underway in Toronto. But the deadline for discounted early registration for SleuthFest is this coming September 30. And would-be authors who wish to arrange manuscript critiques must submit their work by January 31—just over three months from now. More generally, this annual writers’ conference (sponsored by the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America) will have as its 2018 keynote speaker Andrew Gross, and Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., has been tapped as forensic guest of honor. Other special guests will include James R. Benn and Hallie Ephron. More information can be found on the SleuthFest Web site or by contacting co-chairs Victoria Landis and Michael Joy via e-mail at Sleuthfestinfo@gmail.com.

• While we’re on the subject of near-future mystery-fiction festivals, I should also point out that discounted early registration for Left Coast Crime 2018 (March 22-25 in Reno, Nevada) is available only through December 31 of our present year. The guest of honors at that gathering will be Naomi Hirahara and William Kent Krueger.

• And let’s conclude here with links to a few author interviews worthy of your attention: John McFetridge, who played a large role in organizing this week’s Bouchercon in Toronto, talks with S.W. Lauden about his very underappreciated novels; MysteryPeople chats with both Adam Sternbergh (The Blinds) and J.M. Gulvin (The Long Count); Lisa Scottoline (Damaged) and Jussi Adler-Olsen (The Scarred Woman) field questions from Crimespree Magazine; J.J. Hensley discusses Bolt Action Remedy with the UK site Crime Fiction Lover; and Paul Bishop grills Greg Shepherd, the publisher of Stark House Press. Although it’s an essay rather than a Q & A, I want to mention as well Russian writer Polina Dashkova’s piece for BoingBoing about how she came to concoct her new-in-America thriller, Madness Treads Lightly.

When You Want the Barry Best

In addition to the announcement of this year’s Macavity Award recipients, last night’s opening ceremonies at Bouchercon Toronto brought us the winners of the 2017 Barry Awards, sponsored by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine. They are as follows:

Best Novel:
A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Where It Hurts, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam); The Wrong Side of Goodbye, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown); The Second Life of Nick Mason, by Steve Hamilton (Putnam); Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow); and The Second Girl, by David
Swinson (Mulholland)

Best First Novel:
The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie (Putnam)

Also nominated: Dodgers, by Bill Beverly (Crown); I’m Traveling Alone, by Samuel Bjork (Viking); IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland); I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid (Gallery/Scout Press); and Missing, Presumed, by Susie Steiner (Random House)

Best Paperback Original:
Rain Dogs, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street)

Also nominated: Under the Harrow, by Flynn Berry (Penguin); The Heavens May Fall, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street); The Queen’s Accomplice, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam); The Darkest Secret, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); and The Girl in the Window, by Jake Needham (Half Penny)

Best Thriller:
Guilty Minds, by Joseph Finder (Dutton)

Also nominated: Overwatch, by Matthew Betley (Atria); First Strike, by Ben Coes (Minotaur); Back Blast, by Mark Greaney (Berkley); The One Man, by Andrew Gross (Minotaur); and Collecting the Dead, by
Spencer Kope (Minotaur)

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

Handing Out the Macavitys

During tonight’s opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in Toronto, Ontario, the winners of the 2017 Macavity Awards were announced.

Best Novel: A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Also nominated: You Will Know Me, by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown); Dark Fissures, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley (Grand Central); Real Tigers, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime); and Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Best First Novel: IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland)

Also nominated: The Widow, by Fiona Barton (NAL); Under the Harrow, by Flynn Berry (Penguin); Dodgers, by Bill Beverly (No Exit Press); and Design for Dying, by Renee Patrick (Forge)

Best Short Story: “Parallel Play,” by Art Taylor (from Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press)

Also nominated: “Autumn at the Automat,” by Lawrence Block (from In Sunlight or in Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block; Pegasus); “Blank Shot,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Black Coffee, edited by Andrew MacRae; Darkhouse); “Survivor’s Guilt,” by Greg Herren (from Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016, edited by Greg Herren; Down & Out); “Ghosts of Bunker Hill,” by Paul D. Marks (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], December 2016); and “The Crawl Space,” by Joyce Carol Oates (EQMM, September-October 2016)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel: Heart of Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Also nominated: A Death Along the River Fleet, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur); Jane Steele, by Lyndsay Faye (Putnam); Delivering the Truth, by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink); The Reek of Red Herrings, by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur); and What Gold Buys, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)

Best Non-fiction: Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, by Margaret Kinsman (McFarland)

Also nominated: Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats, by Jane K. Cleland (Writer’s Digest); Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin (Liveright); Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula, by David J. Skal (Liveright); and The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer, by Kate Summerscale (Penguin)

Contenders for the annual Macavity Awards are selected by members of Mystery Readers International, the subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI.”

Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees!

“Devil” Receives Its Due

California writer Domenic Stansberry has captured the 2016 Hammett Prize for his thriller The White Devil (Molotov Editions), as reported by The Gumshoe Site. The Hammett Prize is given out annually by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers for “literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a U.S. or Canadian author.” The choice of Stansberry, who previously won an Edgar Award (for The Confession), as this year’s Hammett recipient was made yesterday during the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association’s Fall Conference, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Also in contention for the 2016 Hammett were The Second Life of Nick Mason, by Steve Hamilton (Putnam); The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie (Putnam); Revolver, by Duane Swierczynki (Mulholland); and The Big Nothing, by Bob Truluck (Murmur House).

Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees!

Bullet Points: Phooey on Rules Edition

That’s funny, I didn’t know there were any rules to follow when crafting “link posts” such as this one. I rarely see such compilations, and can think of only two other crime-fiction Web sites that regularly carry them: B.V. Lawson’s wonderful In Reference to Murder and the publisher-backed Criminal Element. So imagine my surprise at discovering, in The Digital Reader, Nate Hoffelder’s “Practical Guide to Developing Your Weekly or Monthly Link Post.” Coincidentally, I already follow his first two guidelines; but I regularly break the latter pair, especially Rule No. 4: “Keep it short. No one wants to read a link post with 30 links; readers’ eyes will glaze over by the tenth link, or they will be interrupted, or they’ll simply be overwhelmed. Try to aim for links to six to ten stories.” Hah! Anyone who’s been enjoying The Rap Sheet for a while knows that my “Bullet Points” gleanings of news from the world of crime, mystery, and thriller fiction can run on for 2,000 or more words, with dozens of Web links. And from what I’ve heard, that’s just the way most readers of this blog like them.

Now on with this week’s links compendium ...

• In Reference to Murder brings news that “BBC One has given the greenlight to an eight-part crime drama, The Dublin Murders, based on Tana French’s award-winning series of mysteries. Sarah Phelps, who recently reimagined several Agatha Christie novels for the BBC, will adapt the first two books about the fictional Dublin Murder Squad, drawn from French’s In the Woods and The Likeness. Blending psychological mystery and darkness, each novel is led by a different detective or detectives from the same Dublin squad.” Sounds terrific!

• I have to admit, my interest in another motion picture featuring Ernest Tidyman’s renowned black Manhattan private eye, John Shaft, waned seriously after it was announced that the film—tentatively titled Son of Shaft, and beginning production later this fall—would be an action-comedy, rather than a straight action pic. However, Steve Aldous, the UK-based author of The World of Shaft, continues to keep track of the venture, reporting in his blog that Netflix has agreed “to fund half the [movie’s] $30m budget in exchange for international rights. The deal reportedly means Netflix will be able to stream the movie just two weeks after its release.”

• Speaking of crime-related films, Criminal Element’s Peter Foy chooses his 10 favorites from the 21st century. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2010), The Departed (2006), and Kill Bill (2003) all made the cut. Sadly, other likely suspects, such as The Killer Inside Me (2010), Hart’s War (2001), and Road to Perdition (2002), did not.

• The mail recently brought me the Fall 2017 issue of Mystery Scene magazine. Beyond its well-executed cover profile of author Attica Locke (Bluebird, Bluebird), written by Ross Macdonald biographer Tom Nolan, this mag features Mark Mallory’s rewarding examination of Mark Twain’s crime fiction; a Martin Edwards piece about the revival of Golden Age mystery novels; Craig Sisterson’s fine report on New Zealand thriller writer Paul Cleave, a three-time winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel; a new column by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller, in which they eulogize the late Ed Gorman; a look at James R. Benn’s World War II mysteries (the latest of those being The Devouring); and the inevitable much more. Mystery Scene is widely available at newsstands, but can also be ordered through the magazine’s Web site.

• In other print-publication news, this is the first and only review I have seen thus far of Down & Out: The Magazine, which debuted this summer. Although it fails to comment on my “Placed in Evidence” column, it is complimentary of both Reed Farrel Coleman’s original Moe Prager story, “Breakage,” and Michael A. Black’s “punchy Ron Shade tale,” “Dress Blues.” I’m not sure when, over the next three months, the second edition of Down & Out: The Magazine will appear, but editor Rick Ollerman has already gathered together its contents.

• The Houston, Texas-born Attica Locke makes another appearance, this time in the slick cyberpages of Literary Hub, writing about “her roots, the blues, and cowboy boots.”

• I won’t be attending next week’s Bouchercon in Toronto, Ontario, but Quebec-based Rap Sheet contributor Jacques Filippi has been asked to represent this blog at those festivities, complete with his trusty camera. I hope Bouchercon-goers will offer him the same respect and assistance they would me.

• Since we’re on the subject of Bouchercon, remember that attendees of that convention will have the opportunity to select the winners of this year’s Anthony Awards. The contenders are listed here. If you haven’t read (and judged) the five nominees for Best Short Story, and would like to do so before leaving for Toronto, simply click here for links to PDF versions of those abbreviated yarns.

• Have you heard of Medium, a partial-subscription site that blends wide-ranging original content with stories picked up from elsewhere on the Web? Yeah, neither had I, until I stumbled the other day over its readers’ picks list of “350 Mysteries and Thrillers to Read in a Lifetime.” There are many obvious selections among this bunch, including Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Dashiell Hammett’s Maltese Falcon, Ken Follett’s Eye of the Needle, Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, Ross Macdonald’s The Galton Case, and John le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the list make room as well for such works as S.J. Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep, Marisha Pessl’s Night Film, Richard Hoyt’s Whoo?, Kate Ross’ Cut to the Quick, Arthur W. Upfield’s Man of Two Tribes, Alistair MacLean’s Where Eagles Dare, Michael Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge!, and Maurizio de Giovanni’s The Crocodile. There are lots of ideas there to build up your to-be-read stack.

• That reference to Alistair MacLean reminds me: Not long ago I came across, on YouTube, the much-lauded 1971 British thriller film Puppet on a Chain, based on MacLean’s Amsterdam-set novel of that same name. At least for the time being, you can watch the entire movie for yourself right here.

• And here is a better-than-average Eurospy flick, 1965’s Our Man in Jamaica. Wikipedia explains the plot this way:

Agent 001 Ken Stewart [played by American actor Larry Pennell] is sent to Jamaica to locate the missing Agent 009, who vanished [while] investigating an arms-smuggling operation. After two of Stewart’s friends are found dead of electrocution, 001’s investigation leads him to an expatriate American criminal who was sentenced to the electric chair but escaped from prison. Seeking revenge, he assembles an army of terrorists based on an island seven miles from Jamaica called Dominica. His arms smuggling is the beginning of a scheme to attack the United States with the aid of Red China and Cuba.

• Seattle Mystery Bookshop shut its doors this last weekend, after 27 years of business in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square area. But some of its employees have launched a post-store blog. It will be interesting to see how that develops. Meanwhile, the Seattle Mystery Bookshop—Hardboiled page, which focuses on covers from vintage crime novels and magazines, continues to be active on Tumblr.

• Here’s some exciting news: Tour guide/author Don Herron reports that Dashiell Hammett authority Richard Layman and Hammett’s best-known granddaughter, Julie M. Rivett, have co-edited The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard), which he says will, “for the first time ever … [gather] all the Op stories in one place.” This 752-page paperback collection is expected to reach bookstores by late November—conveniently in time for Christmas gift giving.

• In the latest edition of her newsletter, The Crime Lady, Sarah Weinman writes that “Max Haines, the dean of Canadian true-crime writing, has died. I grew up reading his columns [in the Toronto Sun], which were smart, incisive, and always worth reading.” Haines succumbed to progressive supranuclear palsy at age 86.

• The October number of Mike Ripley’s “Getting Away with Murder” column for Shots includes observations on prolific author James Hadley Chase, the “rediscovery” of Golden Age novelist Christopher Bush, Minette Walters’ turn toward historical fiction, and new books by Christopher Brookmyre, Margaret Kirk, Chris Pettit, and Ben Aaronovich. Read all of Ripley’s musings here.

• How’d you like your own Jim Rockford business cards?

• Oh no, Charlie’s Angels is back, this time in film form, with notoriously wooden Twilight star Kristen Stewart tipped to play one of the curvaceous crime solvers.

• Los Angeles history specialist Larry Harnisch worked for many years as a copy editor at the L.A. Times, while simultaneously producing a Web-based feature for that newspaper called The Daily Mirror. In 2011, the Times killed his blog “because of low Web traffic,” but let Harnisch continue his history-journaling as a personal project—which is exactly what he’s done, writing about photos, intriguing myths, curious characters, and ephemera from L.A.’s past. Harnisch has also made himself an expert on the January 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, aka “The Black Dahlia.” And he’s become a frequent critic of books and other reports claiming to have solved that sensational homicide. Those include documentary producer Piu Eatwell’s Black Dahlia, Red Rose: The Crime, Corruption, and Cover-Up of America's Greatest Unsolved Murder (Liveright), which goes on sale next week. Although he remarks in a new post, “I don’t plan to do a line-by-line debunking,” Harnisch observes that there are “two elementary blunders” on the first page of Eatwell’s preface, which suggests “that poor work is ahead.” He promises further observations on the book, “as time allows.”

• Much has been said over the decades about plot holes Raymond Chandler left in his first novel, 1939’s The Big Sleep (see here and here)—enough that some clever soul decided to redesign the 1958 Pocket Books edition of Chandler’s yarn with a title reflecting such confusion. The artwork for both this modified cover, on the left, and the original paperback, is credited to Ernest Chiriacka, aka Darcy. (Hat tip to J.R. Sanders on Facebook.)

• I don’t think I mentioned this previously, but English actress Claire Foy—perhaps best recognized of late for her starring role as Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s The Crown—has been tapped to play a much rougher role, that of abundantly tattooed Lisbeth Salander in a film adaptation of David Lagercrantz’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Set for release in October 2018, this movie will launch Sony Pictures’ reboot of its Millennium series, which began with the 2011 American film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on Stieg Larsson’s 2007 novel of that same name.

• It sounds as if British author Anthony Horowitz is moving right along with his second James Bond novel, the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2015’s splendid Trigger Mortis.

• Congratulations to Bill Selnes, the lawyer who blogs at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan, for producing his 1,000th post.

• With the 168th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth coming up this Saturday, October 7, Criminal Element is hosting a poll to determine that author’s most popular short story.

• Augustus Rose’s premiere crime novel, The Readymade Thief (Viking), is one of seven finalists in the running for the 2017 Chicago Review of Books Award for Fiction.

• The Web site Cinephilia & Beyond revisits the 1981 motion picture Thief, exploring “how [director] Michael Mann’s cinema debut stole the world’s attention.” Which reminds me, I really should screen that movie again sometime soon.

• Who remembers Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, the 1951-1955 NBC Radio drama series starring William Gargan as a Manhattan private eye who, explains The Thrilling Detective Web Site, was “your man when you can’t go to the cops. Confidentiality a specialty”? Well, I certainly did not. But the classic-radio blog Down These Mean Streets recently posted this fine profile of Gargan (who also portrayed P.I. Martin Kane), and I tracked down 59 episodes of the Craig series online. That’s plenty of listening pleasure for yours truly.

• I don’t usually say much here about The Rap Sheet’s presence on social media—Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Those other pages exist primarily to promote this blog, not to substitute for it. And they all register fairly high traffic volumes, but I was surprised to see that a post noting the 60th anniversary of Have Gun—Will Travel’s debut on September 14, 1957, received much more attention than any other I’ve ever posted on Facebook. At last count, it had “reached” 9,474 people. It seems there’s a huge crossover between Rap Sheet readers and fans of that long-ago Richard Boone Western/detective series.

• Felix Francis, whose latest novel, Pulse, is out this month in the States, recalls for Shotsmag Confidential how he started taking over the family business of mystery writing even before the death, in 2010, of his famous jockey-turned-novelist father, Dick Francis.

• And here are a few crime fiction-related interviews worth your time to check out: Diane B. Saxton (Peregrine Island) and Brad Abraham (Magicians Impossible) are Nancie Clare’s latest guests on her podcast, Speaking of Mysteries; reviewer Alex Hawley presents his conversation with Craig Sisterson, the founder of New Zealand’s Ngaio Marsh Awards for crime fiction, over the course of two blog posts—here and here; Sujata Massey, author of a forthcoming Bombay-set mystery, The Widows of Malabar Hill, talks with her editor, Juliet Grames, about that novel’s background; the blog Black Gates chats with Grady Hendrix about his distinctive new non-fiction work, Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction; among the guests on Episode 9 of Writer Types are Attica Locke, Frank Zafiro, Emma Viskic, and Andrew Nette; and during lawyer F. Lee Bailey’s 1967 conversation with Sean Connery, the actor who had by then portrayed James Bond in five films says he has finally tired of the role: “It’s some sort of Frankenstein,” he groused.

Kennealy Savors the Spotlight

In my coverage last week of the 2017 Shamus Award winners, I somehow neglected to mention that 79-year-old author Jerry Kennealy has been honored by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) with its lifetime achievement award, The Eye.

Kennealy, now a resident of San Bruno, California, is a former San Francisco policeman and has worked as a licensed private investigator in the same city. He’s better known nowadays as the writer of the Nick Polo P.I. series. A news release from publisher Down & Out Books explains that Kennealy introduced his protagonist “in 1987 with Polo Solo and followed that entry with nine more over the course of 10 years, two of which—Polo’s Wild Card (1991) and Special Delivery (1993)—were nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Novel. He then went on to write 10 more novels, some thrillers and others featuring P.I.s, but all showcasing his range of talent as a crime novelist.” Kennealy’s latest installment in the Polo series, Polo’s Long Shot, was released earlier this year by Down & Out.

As regards The Eye, Kennealy is quoted in the aforementioned press release as saying: “I have been a movie and music buff all my life, and when I was told that I was to be the recipient of the PWA Life Achievement Award, a Robert De Niro line sprang to my lips: ‘Me? You talkin’ to me?’ … It is truly a humbling experience to have my name added to the list of the prestigious former winners of this award, and I humbly thank all involved.”

Those previous Eye awardees include S.J. Rozan, Ed Gorman, Sara Paretsky, Max Allan Collins, and Stuart M. Kaminsky.

Coleman Seizes Another Shamus

Directly on the heels of news about this year’s David Thompson Special Service Award recipient comes word (via The Gumshoe Site) that Long Island, New York, author Reed Farrel Coleman’s Where It Hurts (Putnam)—his book introducing former Suffolk County cop Gus Murphy—has won the 2017 Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Novel. This marks the fourth time Coleman has scored a Shamus; the first was in 2006, when his Moe Prager novel The James Deans received Best Private Eye Paperback Original honors.

Also in contention for the 2017 Best P.I. Novel prize—which is sponsored by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA)—were The Graveyard of the Hesperides, by Lindsey Davis (Minotaur); Fields Where They Lay, by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Crime); With 6 You Get Wally, by Al Lamanda (Gale Cengage); and The Stardom Affair, by Robert S. Levinson (Five Star).

Ordinarily this announcement would have been made during a special Shamus Awards Dinner held in concert with Bouchercon. However, there will be no such celebration at this October’s Bouchercon in Toronto, Ontario (it was cancelled in July); Gumshoe Site editor Jiro Kimura reports that Coleman’s victory was instead broadcast “in the fall issue of the PWA newsletter.” That same bulletin declares the winners of three other 2017 Shamus accolades:

Best Original Private Eye Paperback: The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown, by Vaseem Khan (Red Hook)

Also nominated: The Detective and the Chinese High-Fin, by Michael Craven (HarperCollins); Hold Me, Babe, by O’Neil De Noux (Big Kiss); The Knife Slipped, by Erle Stanley Gardner (Hard Case Crime); and My Bad, by Manuel Ramos (Arte Publico Press).

Best First Private Eye Novel: IQ, by Joe Ide (Little, Brown)

Also nominated: Fever City, by Tim Baker (Europa Editions); Deep Six, by D.P. Lyle (Oceanview); The Second Girl, by David Swinson (Little, Brown); and Soho Sins, by Richard Vine (Hard Case Crime).

Best Private Eye Short Story: “A Battlefield Reunion,” by Brendan DuBois (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2016)

Also nominated: “Keller’s Fedora,” by Lawrence Block (LB
Productions e-book); “Stairway from Heaven,” by Åke Edwardson
(from Stockholm Noir, edited by Nathan Larson and Carl-Michael Edenborg; Akashic); “A Dangerous Cat,” by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2016); and “Archie on Loan,” by Dave Zeltserman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2016).

Congratulations to all of the nominees.

READ MORE: “Kennealy Savors the Spotlight,” by J. Kingston Pierce (The Rap Sheet).

It’ll Be Easter in October

George Easter, the founder and editor/publisher of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, has been selected to receive the 2017 David Thompson Special Service Award. Taking its name from a former co-owner of Houston, Texas’ Murder by the Book (who died in 2010), this commendation recognizes “extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the crime-fiction field.” Easter, a resident of the Salt Lake City, Utah, area, will be given with his prize during this year’s Bouchercon, which is to be held in Toronto, Canada, in mid-October.

A news release from Bouchercon organizers explains that in addition to his 25 years of work on the magazine, Easter

conceived the Barry Awards (named after fan Barry Gardner) that are presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine in various categories for excellence. George also presents the Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom (named after fan Don Sandstrom).

George has served on the Bouchercon National Board, has attended every Bouchercon, except two, since 1991 in Pasadena, California, and volunteered to produce the Program Book for the 2000 Bouchercon in Denver, Colorado. He was also responsible for getting publishers to donate books to the Book Bazaar giveaway at last year’s Bouchercon in New Orleans.

Previous recipients of the David Thompson award include Marv Lachman, Otto Penzler, Bill and Toby Gottfried, and The Rap Sheet’s own British correspondent, Ali Karim.

(Hat tip to Bill Crider’s Pop Culture Magazine.)

Thornton Collects His Due

Congratulations to Brian Thornton! The Seattle-area teacher and short-fiction author (Paper Son), who also serves as president of the Northwest Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, will be presented this evening, September 9, with the Willo Award, described as “the Pacific Northwest’s own special recognition prize given to those individuals whose writing and contributions to the Northwest mystery community are exemplary.” The Willo is named in memory of Willo Davis Roberts, a Granite Falls, Washington, resident and Edgar Award-winning author who passed away in 2004.

“[F]ew can claim to have done more to advance the cause of mystery writers in the Northwest than Brian,” reads a notice from the MWA—Northwest Chapter. “As a longtime Board Member and President of this organization, Brian has seen us through better than a decade of ups and downs in the industry, scores of meetings and seminars, events both happy and sad, and a great growth in our numbers and our achievements. He has personally fostered the career growth of quite a few of his fellow mystery writers, and has led us with skill, enthusiasm, and an infectious smile.”

Thornton will receive his Willo Award during a ceremony tonight, held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Angelo’s Ristorante in Burien, a southern suburb of Seattle. There is no admission charge for MWA members; non-members will pay a mere $10. Click here for directions to Angelo’s.

Mina Scores the McIlvanney

Glasgow author-playwright Denise Mina has won the 2017 McIlvanney Prize for her 13th and latest novel, this year’s The Long Drop (Random House UK). The announcement was made earlier tonight during opening festivities at the Bloody Scotland conference being held in Stirling (September 8-10). Expressing the judges’ enthusiasm for Mina’s standalone period thriller, judging chair Lee Randall said: “Full of astute psychological observations, this novel’s not only about what happened in the 1950s, but about storytelling itself. It shows how legends grow wings, and how memories shape-shift and mark us. For my money this is one of the books of 2017—in any genre.”

The McIlvanney Prize was formerly known as the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award, but was rechristened last year in honor of the late author William McIlvanney (Laidlaw). To score the 2017 award, The Long Drop had to beat out four other finalists: Out of Bounds, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown); Murderabilia, by Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster); The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid, by Craig Russell (Quercus); and How to Kill Friends and Implicate People, by Jay Stringer (Thomas & Mercer).

In 2016, Mina’s fellow Glaswegian, Chris Brookmyre, picked up the inaugural McIlvanney Prize for his novel Black Widow.

Vetted and Fêted in Aussieland

Thanks to the blog Fair Dinkum Crime, we can now bring you the recipients of the 2017 Ned Kelly Awards, presented by the Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA). They are:

Best Fiction: Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, by Adrian McKinty (Serpent’s Tail)

Also nominated: An Isolated Incident, by Emily Maquire (Picador); Crimson Lake, by Candice Fox (Bantam); Out of the Ice, by Ann Turner (Simon & Schuster); The Golden Child, by Wendy James (Commercial Women’s Fiction); and The Rules of Backyard Cricket,
by Jock Serong (Text)

Best First Fiction: The Dry, by Jane Harper (Pan)

Also nominated: Burn Patterns, by Ron Elliott (Fremantle Press); Goodwood, by Holly Throsby (Allen & Unwin); Only Daughter, by Anna Snoekstra (Harlequin); Something for Nothing, by Andy Muir (Affirm Press); and The Love of a Bad Man, by Laura Elizabeth Woollett (Scribe)

True Crime: Tie — Getting Away with Murder, by Duncan McNab (Vintage); and The Drowned Man, by Brendan James Murray (Echo)

Also nominated: Code of Silence, by Colin Dillon with Tom Gilling (Allen & Unwin); Denny Day, by Terry Smyth (Ebury); Roger Rogerson, by Duncan McNab (Hachette Australia); and Murder at Myall Creek, by Mark Tedeschi (Simon & Schuster)

The winners of this year’s Neddies, as these Down Under commendations have been nicknamed, were declared during an event held earlier today in Melbourne, Australia.

During that same occasion, the ACWA—in partnership with the crime-fiction Web site Kill Your Darlings—declared that Louise Bassett has captured this year’s S.D. Harvey Short Story Award for her tale “Rules to Live By.” Also contending for the Harvey (which honors the late Sydney journalist/TV producer Sandra Harvey) were: “The Ridge,” by Katherine Kovacic; “The Enthusiastic Amateur,” by Melanie Myers; “Shafted,” by Roni O’Brien; “Flesh,” by Stephen Samuel; and “How to Cease Being a Man Killer,” by Roger Vickery.

Congratulations to all of the winners and other nominees!

Now the Race Really Heats Up

With only a couple of weeks still to go before the start of this year’s Bloody Scotland conference (to be held in Stirling, Scotland, from September 8 to 10), organizers have shared their list of finalists for the 2017 McIlvanney Prize. Formerly known as the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award, this coveted accolade was renamed last year in honor of the late author William McIlvanney. On the shortlist are:

• Out of Bounds, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
• The Long Drop, by Denise Mina (Random House)
• Murderabilia, by Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)
• The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid, by Craig Russell (Quercus)
• How to Kill Friends and Implicate People, by Jay Stringer
(Thomas & Mercer)

Agreeing on these five contestants must have been quite a challenge for the judges, as it meant eliminating works by such genre celebrities as Ian Rankin, Ann Cleeves, and Chris Brookmyre, all of which appeared among the longlisted titles.

The winner is to be announced during opening-night festivities at Bloody Scotland, on September 8. It comes with a £1,000 cash reward, plus nationwide promotion at Waterstones book retailers.

Tennessee Treats

During this last weekend’s annual Killer Nashville conference, a wide variety of commendations were handed out. A complete account of those prizes can be found here, but below are listed a few that I thought would be of greatest interest to Rap Sheet readers.

Silver Falchion Best Fiction Adult Mystery:
Fighting for Anna, by Pamela Fagan Hutchins (SkipJack)

Also nominated: Amaretto Amber, by Traci Andrighetti; The Heavens May Fall, by Allen Eskens; Love You Dead, by Peter James; Coyote, by Kelly Oliver; Grace, by Howard Owen; Exit, by Twist Phelan; Dead Secrets, by L.A. Toth; and A Brilliant Death, by Robin Yocum

Silver Falchion Best Fiction Adult Thriller:
Clawback, by J.A. Jance (Touchstone)

Also nominated: Blonde Ice, by R.G. Belsky; Blood Trails, by Diane Capri; Ash and Cinders, by Rodd Clark; The 7th Canon, by Robert Dugoni; Assassin’s Silence, by Ward Larsen; Child of the State, by Catherine Lea; Blood Wedding, by Pierre LeMaitre; The Last Second Chance, by Jim Nesbitt; and Brain Trust, by Lynn Sholes

Silver Falchion Best Fiction Adult Suspense:
Waking Up in Medellin, by Kathryn Lane (Pen-L)

Also nominated: Skin of Tattoos, by Christina Hoag; Prime Cut, by Ray Peden; and The Body Next Door, by Gay Yellen

Silver Falchion Best Fiction Adult Anthology/Collection:
Eight Mystery Writers You Should Be Reading Now, by Michael Guillebeau (Madison Press)

Also nominated: In Sunlight or In Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block; Iceslinger, by John Hegenberger; Echoes of Sherlock Holmes, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger; What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, by Helen Oyeyemi; and The Marianated Nottingham and Other Abuses of the Language, by Charley Pearson

In addition, Max Allan Collins was given the John Seigenthaler Legends Award; Richard Helms received this year’s Magnolia Award, the highest honor presented by the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America (SEMWA), conferred in recognition of service to the organization; Beth Terrell (Jaden Terrell) was presented with the 2017 SEMWA Silver Quill Award; and Kierstin Marquet picked up the C. Auguste Dupin Detective Award.

Congratulations to all of the winners and other nominees!

READ MORE: “Report from Killer Nashville,” by Max Allan Collins.