This week's look at crime fiction news includes awards in the UK, New Zealand, and Spain, a profile of Maj Sjöwal, the cast of cast of HBO's The Wire reunited in Baltimore, and more.
Debut author Sarah Hilary has won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for Someone Else’s Skin. She was selected from a shortlist of six, whittled down from a longlist of 18 titles published by British and Irish authors over the last year.
The shortlist has been announced for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, recognizing the best crime, mystery or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident:
- Five Minutes Alone by Paul Cleave
- The Petticoat Men by Barbara Ewing
- Swimming in the Dark by Paddy Richardson
- The Children's Pond by Tina Shaw
- Fallout by Paul Thomas
Paula Hawkins, Ann Cleeves, Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Peter James, and Marnie Riches were the winners of the inaugural Dead Good Reader Awards presented at Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. The winners were decided by a public vote, with more than 4,000 votes had been received from online readers and festival attendees.
Spain's Semana Negra 2015 conference presented the Premio Dashiell Hammett, an award for best crime fiction in Spanish, to Yo fui Johnny Thunders by Carlos Zanón.
The summer issue of Pulp Literature is out, with a profile of author Robert J Sawyer; Mel Anastasiou rounds out the first Stella Ryman novella Omnibus with "The Case of the Vanishing Resident"; plus more great fiction and some poetry from Wally Swist and Valentina Cano.
Jake Kerridge profiled Maj Sjöwal, who along with her partner Per Wahlöö, is often credited with inventing "Nordic Noir." The couple's series of 10 detective stories featuring policeman called Martin Beck, have had a huge influence on not just Scandinavian authors but crime writers around the world. A TV crew is also development a documentary on her life, that will hopefully be completed in time for her 80th birthday in September.
The cast of HBO's The Wire reunited in Baltimore to celebrate the city's real-life residents by reading their monologues that highlight the city's resiliency. Dominic West (Det. Jimmy McNulty), Michael K. Williams (Omar), Wendell Pierce (Det. Bunk Moreland) and Felicia Pearson (Felicia) were among the cast members in attendance at Wired Up!
Journalist Stephen Grey, author of The New Spymasters: Inside the Modern World of Espionage, chose his list of the "Top 10 books about spies" for The Guardian.
The Telegraph noted in an article titled "Crime writers are the victims as Sherlock's too slow for forensics" that contemporary authors struggle to keep up with new technological developments.
This year's Semana Negra (Noir Week) runs from July 10th to the 19th in Gijón, on the northern Spanish coast, and The Local Online has a preview.
If you were a fan of The Hardy Boys books during your youth (as I was), you'll enjoy Mengal Floss' list of "15 Mysterious Facts About ‘The Hardy Boys."
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (made into a film starring Christian Bale), has been pulled from bookshelves by police in Australia. The problem? A woman complained that the book wasn't shrink-wrapped. Under that country's national censorship legislation, the psychological thriller is only allowed to be sold in plastic wrapping and sold exclusively to those aged over 18.
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Off the Grid" by Peter M. Gordon.
In the Q&A roundup this week, Joe Cosentino drops by Omnimystery News to talk about the debut novel in his new gay cozy mystery series, Drama Queen; Sue Grafton zips by for a short Q&A with the New York Times; thriller author Gayle Lynds joined the Maine Crime Writers to chat about her new book, The Assassins; and Sons of Spade welcomed Trace Conger to discuss his hardboiled Finn Harding series.
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