At the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England, Irish author Steve Cavanagh won the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award for his latest book, Thirteen. This is the fifteenth year of the prize, which was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors.
Also at the Theakston conference, the winners of the Dead Good Reader Awards were announced, including the Nosy Parker Award for Best Amateur Detective: The Suspect by Fiona Barton; The Jury’s Out Award for Most Gripping Courtroom Drama: Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh; the Dish Served Cold Award for Best Revenge Thriller: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing; the Cancel All Plans Award for the Book You Can’t Put Down: Skin Deep by Liz Nugent; the Cat and Mouse Award for Most Elusive Villain: Last of the Magpies by Mark Edwards; and the Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book: The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths. (Ht to Shots Magazine)
Sharon Bala won the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction for her debut novel, The Boat People. Lee authorized the award, which was first handed out in 2011 and is sponsored by the ABA Journal and the University of Alabama School of Law, to be given "to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change."
The World Mystery Convention, Bouchercon, announced that Jenn and Don Longmuir are the recipients of the 2019 David Thompson Memorial Special Service Award. The honor is given by the Bouchercon Board to honor the memory and contributions to the crime fiction community of David Thompson, a beloved Houston bookseller who passed away in 2010. Recipients are recognized for their "extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the crime fiction field." The Longmuirs have been fixtures in the crime fiction community for more than a quarter-century, owning the Scene of the Crime Books in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and have also served as book room organizers, book sellers, and attendees at mystery conventions across North America. Don also served on the Bouchercon Board for five years.
The Killer Nashville Conference announced the finalists for the various categories in its annual Silver Falchion Awards for excellence in crime writing in various categories. For all the lists, including those in the Cozy, Mystery, Procedural, Suspense, Thriller and more, head on over to the official website.
Sisters in Crime Australia likewise announced the twenty-five crime books shortlisted for Sisters in Crime’s 19th Davitt Awards for excellence in crime fiction by Australian authors. The shortlist includes nine adult novels, five young adult novels, five children’s novels, and six non-fiction books. Twelve are debut books and are also battling it out for the best debut book award.
Andrea Camilleri, beloved creator of Inspector Montalbano, had died at the age of 93. One of Italy’s most popular authors, Camilleri wrote twenty-three novels starring his Sicilian detective, selling more than thirty million copies around the world that have been translated into 32 languages. The Potter’s Field, translated into English by Stephen Sartarelli, won Camilleri the International Dagger, the highest foreign honour of the British Crime Writers Association.
Also last week, we lost Howard Engel, author of the beloved Benny Cooperman series of mysteries, who died at the age of 88. In addition to his Cooperman mysteries, Engel also wrote fiction and non-fiction, including a memoir, The Man Who Forgot How to Read, detailing his experience suffering alexia sine agraphia, a neurological condition that robbed him of the ability to read while retaining the ability to write. Engel was the recipient of the Arthur Ellis Award and in 2007, he was invested into the Order of Canada. He was also the recipient of the Grand Master Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, an organization he founded.
Independent press Urbane Publishers has pulled "experienced criminal profiler" Paul Harrison’s true crime book from sale, after his claims to have interviewed serial killers such as Ted Bundy and Peter Sutcliffe were questioned. Described as "the master of the true crime genre" by Martina Cole, Harrison has written more than 30 books mostly about true crime, including his latest, Mind Games, published by Urbane in October 2018.
Writing for CrimeReads, Nile Cappello profiled Kate Warne, America's first female detective and spy, who thwarted an assassination plot on Lincoln.
Writing for Mystery Scene Magazine, Oline Cogdill offered up a timely listing of some mysteries that include immigrants in their plots.
CrimeReads has more travel-themed mysteries appropriate for summer reading, including a list of Bali: The Darker Side of an Island Paradise, as well as the Miami-themed crime fiction of Edna Buchanan; while Mystery Tribune chimed in with "Top 10 Great Brazilian Crime Fiction Books."
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Playgiarhythm" by Jim George.
In the Q&A roundup, the Wall Street Journal (subscription) interviewed Kate Atkinson, whose Big Sky, the fifth of her novels to feature the gruff, melancholy private eye Jackson Brodie, was just released; and Salon talked to former Baltimore journalist turned acclaimed crime novelist, Laura Lippman, about true crime, newspapers and her new book, Lady in the Lake.
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