This year's Lindisfarne Prize for Crime Fiction, which celebrates the work of crime and thriller writers who are from or whose work celebrates the North East region of the UK, has been won by writer Robert Scragg for his novel, Helix. The judges took the unprecedented decision to also formally award Newcastle author Barbara Scott Emmett with the award's first ever runners-up prize, for her submission, Dog Leap Stairs.
The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance has announced the slate of finalists for the 2021 Maine Literary Awards. The nominees for the Book Award for Crime Fiction include Claire Ackroyd for Murder in the Maple Woods; Bruce Robert Coffin for Within Plain Sight; and Barbara Ross for Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door.
After a year’s hiatus, the Wilbur Smith Award for Best Published Adventure Novel award has returned with a 12-strong longlist. The Prize is open to writers of any nationality, writing in English, and this year the award covers the best adventure fiction published between May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. Six titles will be selected by a panel of librarians and library staff for a shortlist to be announced on May 20, with the winner announced September 8. (HT to Shots Magazine)
Joffe Books, in conjunction with bestselling crime writer Dorothy Koomson and literary agent Susan Yearwood, is launching a new writing prize for unagented crime fiction writers of color to turn their unpublished manuscripts into bestsellers. The winner will receive a two-book publishing contract with Joffe Books. Entrants are invited to submit their full-length manuscript, written in English, along with a synopsis of the book and author biography, to [email protected] before the closing date of September 30. (HT to Shots Magazine)
New editions of five hardboiled detective novels by Chester Himes, featuring Coffin Ed and Gravedigger Jones, have been released as a set of Penguin Classics. As Crime Fiction Lover notes, Himes was an American crime fiction genius who is still underappreciated, and it's hard not to conclude that over the years racism has played a part in African-American Himes not being accorded the same status as Chandler and Hammett.
During the Covid-19 era, there has been a lot of sad news in the book world, especially with many bookstores having to close. So it's especially cheering to hear that there's a new indie bookstore that opened in Berlin, Pennsylvania, in the middle of the pandemic: Poe's New & Used Bookstore, which specializes in fantasy and mystery titles (as you might gather from the name). The building also has space for local artists and crafters to sell their products, and the owners hope to have events such as poetry nights, literary events and fun community events. They also recently announced the Poe's Rainbow Grant for Young Writers. (HT to Shelf Awareness)
Martin Edwards penned a tribute to crime writer, Annabel Donald, who passed away recently at the age of 76. Donald created a female TV researcher and detective called Alex Tanner in her Notting Hill series, beginning with An Uncommon Murder in 1992.
Writing for CrimeReads, Otto Penzler profiled Mary Roberts Rinehart, "America's answer to Agatha Christie." One of the mystery writers from Golden Age (the years between the two World Wars), Rinehart made the list of top ten bestselling books for each year in the 1920s five times, a feat matched only by Sinclair Lewis during that same period.
A real-life crime worthy of a mystery novel: a man in Tennessee allegedly paid a hitman with bitcoin to murder his wife (and even the BBC is involved).
This week's crime poem at the 5-2 is "Finis" by Rena J. Worley.
In the Q&A roundup, Indie Crime Scene interviewed J. Luke Bennecke, whose newly released novel Waterborne is set during a pandemic - but was written two years ago; NPR spoke with Stacey Abrams about how a constitutional quirk inspired ner new thriller, While Justice Sleeps; author Amy Rivers talked about craft and her new thriller, Complicit, with the Dark Phantom blog; and Hank Phillippi Ryan offered up some writing advice in a chat with Keri-Rae Barnum.
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