In Reference to Murder

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Dr. Nikola Returns

Guy Newell Boothby (1867-1905) was born in South Australia, the son of a politician and the grandson of a judge. He started out his career as a clerk but soon turned his hand to writing plays and musical comedies and eventually made his way to England by way of Singapore, Borneo and Java. He used his travel-related experiences in his writing, turning to Rudyard Kipling-influenced works and exotic settings, churning out 6,000 words every day.

That prolific word count led to fifty novels in the 14 years between 1894 and 1908, with some of the most popular featuring Dr. Nikola. Nikola is an occultist anti-hero in search of immortality and world domination, who uses hypnotic powers and studies witchcraft and the occult. The Nikola series was launched in 1895 as the serial "A Bid for Fortune" in The Windsor Magazine, a rival to The Strand. The series only amounted to five works in all, but Dr. Nikola became almost as popular as Sir Athur Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarty in 1890s Britain.

Nikola is described as dressing in "faultless evening dress, slender, having dark peculiar eyes and dark hair, and white toad-coloured skin." He lives in a bungalow on the Rue de Lafayette in Shanghai (leading some to say the character of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu was based on him). John Norris, the host of the Pretty Sinister Books blog, wrote about Stanley L. Woods, who often illustrated the Nikola stories, portraying him in white cravat and fur coat, with his frequent companion, the baleful-eyed black cat Apollyon, perched on Nikola's shoulder.

Dr. Nikola (also known as Dr. Nikola Returns) was a sequel to A Bid for Fortune. In the first book, Nikola tried to obtain a Chinese carved stick said to have almost limitless occult powers. In Dr. Nikola Returns, the doctor continues his pursuit of the powers associated with the Chinese talisman, but enlists the assistance of the penniless but adventurous Wilfred Bruce, who speaks fluent Chinese and also serves as narrator of the tale. Dr. Nikola and Bruce scheme to penetrate the most powerful secret society in China to gain access to a remote Tibetan monastery. 

Although Boothby's output was cut short due to his untimely death from influenza at the age of 37, Dr. Nikola lived on in numerous theatrical productions, beginning with Dr. Nikola on the London stage in 1902. In 1909, a three-roll film based on Dr. Nikola was produced by the Danish director Viggo Larsen and was the first novel-based film in Europe long enough to be able to tell the entire story of a novel. A 1935 project that would have starred Boris Karloff as Dr. Nikola never made it to the screen, but Dr. Nikola made a guest-starring appearance in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula graphic novel series from 1992.

Edgar Excellence

Mystery Writers of America announced the winners of the 2022 Edgar Awards at a gala banquet held tonight in New York City. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

BEST NOVEL

The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books)
WINNER: Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
How Lucky by Will Leitch (HarperCollins – Harper)
No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

WINNER: Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row)
Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer (Penguin Random House – Viking Books/Pamela Dorman Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke (Penguin Random House – Berkley)
The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory (Tom Doherty Associates – Tordotcom)
Starr Sign by C.S. O’Cinneide (Dundurn Press)
WINNER: Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)

BEST FACT CRIME

The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (Random House Publishing Group – Random House)
WINNER: Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books)
Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away by Ann Hagedorn (Simon & Schuster)
Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan (Penguin Random House – Random House)
The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith (W.W. Norton & Company)
When Evil Lived in Laurel:  The “White Knights” and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer by Curtis Wilkie (W.W. Norton & Company

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper360)
The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W.W. Norton & Company)
Tony Hillerman: A Life by James McGrath Morris (University of Oklahoma Press)
The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science by John Tresch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
WINNER: The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company)

 BEST SHORT STORY

“Blindsided,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Michael Bracken & James A. Hearn (Dell Magazines)
“The Vermeer Conspiracy,” Midnight Hour by V.M. Burns (Crooked Lane Books)
“Lucky Thirteen,” Midnight Hour by Tracy Clark (Crooked Lane Books)
WINNER: “The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines)
“The Locked Room Library,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Gigi Pandian (Dell Magazines)
“The Dark Oblivion,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Cornell Woolrich (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE

Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing – Algonquin Young Readers)
WINNER:  Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)
Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada – Tundra Books)
Kidnap on the California Comet: Adventures on Trains #2 by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
WINNER:  Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR)
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

“Dog Day Morning” – The Brokenwood Mysteries, Written by Tim Balme and Nic Sampson (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – The Beast Must Die, Written by Gaby Chiappe (AMC+)
“We Men Are Wretched Things” – The North Water, Written by Andrew Haigh (AMC+)
“Happy Families” – Midsomer Murders, Written by Nicholas Hicks-Beach (Acorn TV)
WINNER:  “Boots on the Ground” – Narcos: Mexico, Written by Iturri Sosa (Netflix)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

WINNER: “Analogue,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley (Tule Publishing – Tule Mystery)
Ruby Red Herring by Tracy Gardner (Crooked Lane Books)
WINNER:  Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (Crooked Lane Books)
Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD

Double Take by Elizabeth Breck (Crooked Lane Books)
WINNER: Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books)
Shadow Hill by Thomas Kies (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
Family Business by S.J. Rozan (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

GRAND MASTER

Laurie R. King

RAVEN AWARD

Lesa Holstine – Lesa’s Book Critiques; Library Journal Reviewer

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD

Juliet Grames – Soho Press – Soho Crime

Mystery Melange

The Los Angeles Times announced winners of their annual book awards this past weekend. The top title in the Mystery/Thriller category went to Megan Abbott for The Turnout. Other finalists included Alison Gaylin for The Collective; Michael Connelly for The Dark Hours; S.A. Cosby for Razorblade Tears; and Silvia Moreno-Garcia for Velvet Was the Night.

Mystery Writers of America will announce the 2022 Edgar Award winners tonight at 8:30pm ET at a gala banquet in New York City. But if you can't make it to the gala, MWA will be live-streaming the awards via their YouTube channel.

Jacqueline West was awarded the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for Middle Grade Literature for her atmospheric and eerie mystery, Long Lost. Although a romantic comedy won the Best Genre Novel award, the finalists included three crime novels, Insurrection by Tom Combs; Lightning Strike: A Novel by William Kent Krueger; and The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens.

In addition to the recently announced Dagger longlists from the Crime Writers Association, the list of ten books for the 2022 Debut Dagger 2022 has been announced. The Debut Dagger is a competition for the opening of a crime novel by a writer who isn’t represented by an agent by the time the competition closes, and who has never had a traditional contract for any novel of any length, or who has never self-published any novel of any length in the last five years. Last year's winner was Hannah Redding for Deception.

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has also announced the winners of their annual Readers Awards. Taking the top spot this year is Karen Harrington with her story, "Boo Radley College Prep."

The 10th anniversary of Scotland's Crime & Thrillers Weekend from the Cromarty Arts Trust is back in person after recent cancellations due to Covid. The event will be held May 6-8, with talks, booksignings, Q&A sessions, writing workshops, and gala entertainment. The panels and discussion will be led by Ian Rankin, Elly Griffiths, Alex Walters, Nicola White, Mary Paulson-Ellis, Matt Johnson, and Jonathan Whitelaw.

The full program was announced for this year's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival set for July 21-24. Curated by Festival Chair and award-winning crime writer Denise Mina, the 2022 program features familiar faces including Rev. Richard Coles, Frankie Boyle, Bella Mackie, Charlie Higson, and Rosemary Shrager - alongside crime fiction titans such as Ann Cleeves, Lynda La Plante, Adele Parks, Michael Connolly, Val McDermid, Mick Herron, Sophie Hannah, and Abir Mukherjee among others. This year’s lineup will also feature two author dinners attended by popular crime and thriller writers.

Walter Mosley will be the speaker for the Knox College 2022 Commencement on Sunday, June 5. Mosley is the author of more than sixty critically acclaimed books including his acclaimed series of novels featuring the detective Easy Rawlins. "I am absolutely delighted that Walter Mosley has agreed to speak at Commencement for the Knox College Class of 2022 and to receive an honorary degree. I congratulate him, and our other two honorary degree recipients; all three all have done truly extraordinary work in their fields of expertise to drive inclusivity and equity in our world," said Knox College President C. Andrew McGadney.

CrimeReads held an online roundtable with this year's Edgar Award nominees on the state of the novel and how the pandemic has changed their writing lives. You can read part one of that discussion here, and part two is here.

In April 2015, B.K. Stevens debuted the blog series "The First Two Pages," hosting craft essays by short story writers and novelists analyzing the openings of their own work. Art Taylor took over the torch after B.K.'s passing, and the latest guests are Denver Noir contributors Francelia Belton and Mario Acevedo, and editor Cynthia Swanson.

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Red on Silver" by Harris Coverley.

In the Q&A roundup, Author Interviews welcomed Bonnar Spring, who writes eclectic and stylish mystery-suspense novels with an international flavor; E. B. Davis spoke with Carol J. Perry about ‘Til Death, Carol J. Perry’s twelfth book in the Witch City Mystery series; Anne Trager, founder of Le French Books, talked with international bestselling author Frédérique Molay, who won France’s most prestigious crime fiction award; South Dakota Public Broadcasting chatted with Winter Counts author David Heska Wanbli Weiden; Michael Connelly spoke with California Book Club host John Freeman about his career and writing; and Don Winslow, currently on a book tour, had several interviews including one with Rolling Stone magazine and another with Parade Magazine about his new mob thriller, City on Fire.

Author R&R with Charles Salzberg

Charles Salzberg has been a Visiting Professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and has taught writing at Sarah Lawrence College, Hunter College, the Writer's Voice, and the New York Writers Workshop, where he is a Founding Member. His freelance work has appeared in such publications as Esquire, New York Magazine, GQ, Elle, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times Book Review. He's also the author of the Henry Swann detective series: Swann Dives In; Swann's Last Song, which was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel; and Swann's Lake of Despair.

In his latest book, Canary in the Coal Mine, PI Pete Fortunato works out of a friend’s real estate office after spending a mysteriously short, forgettable stint as a cop in a small upstate New York town. He lives from paycheck to paycheck, so when a beautiful woman wants to hire him to find her husband, he doesn’t hesitate to say yes.

Within a day, Fortunato finds the husband in the apartment of his client’s young, stud lover—shot once in the head, case closed. But when his client’s check bounces and Albanian gangsters kidnap him in hopes he’ll lead them to a large sum of money the dead man allegedly stole, he begins to realize he’s been set up to take the fall for the murder and theft. In an attempt to get himself out of a jam, Fortunato winds up on a wild ride that takes him down to Texas where he searches for his client’s lover who he suspects has the money and holds the key to solving the murder.

Charles Salzberg stopped by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about researching and writing the book:

 

Researching: My Dirty, Little Secret

Years ago, I became friends with a guy I met when we worked the two lowest jobs at New York magazine. I was in the mailroom; he worked the photostat machine. Both aspiring writers, we quickly bonded and formed a writer’s group. A year or two later, his first novel was picked up by a prestigious publisher and he was, understandably, over-the-moon.

In his novel, which takes place in Alabama where he grew up in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, he mentions blue mailboxes. One day, he gets a call from the copyeditor informing him that during that era all mailboxes around Mobile were grey. They asked him to change it.

It seemed silly to me at the time. It’s fiction, right? So, what difference does it make if the mailboxes in his novel are blue or grey or polka-dot?

Over the years, as I began to get my own novels published, I realized it wasn’t silly at all. Facts do matter, even in fiction and there’s a practical reason why they do. What writer hasn’t received an email from a reader that goes something like, “I read your book and loved it, but on page 137 you said that 88^th Street runs east but it really runs west...”

That’s not the only reason accuracy is important. If readers can’t rely on the author to get facts right, it renders the whole work suspect.

Case in point. Bob Dylan’s memoir, Chronicles. On the first page, Dylan writes, “…then down to Jack Dempsey’s restaurant on 58^th and Broadway…” Only Dempsey’s wasn’t on 58^th Street, it was on Broadway between 49^th and 50^th streets (I used to pass it every day one summer when I worked as a messenger in the Garment District). If Dylan and his editors can’t get this fact right, how can we trust anything Dylan writes?

This is one reason why doing research, even when it comes to fiction, is essential.

Back when I was making a living as a magazine journalist, I developed my own approach to research. The temptation, especially when starting out, is to research the heck out of everything. But I soon learned there’s a risk with over-researching. The result can be that you get so bogged down in research that when it comes time to write the article, you’re overwhelmed to the point of freezing up, not knowing how you’re going to squeeze everything into your 2,000-word limit. So, you quickly learn to limit the amount of research you do.

I found the less research I did the better interviewer I became. If I knew too much about a subject going into the interview, I ran the risk of not asking the right questions, because I already knew the answers. Instead, I’d keep asking questions until I reached the point where I could successfully channel that information into prose my readers could understand.

I have friends who do just the opposite. They’re more comfortable doing heavy research. Their argument, and it’s a valid one, is that the more they know the less likely they’ll “miss” something important to ask. There’s no right or wrong, but rather it’s a matter of style.

When it comes to fiction, the goal is to create a world that makes sense, while at the same time keeping readers turning pages to find out what’s going to happen next. The last thing you want is readers getting stuck on that “fact” that’s not true, like where Jack Dempsey’s restaurant really was.

And so, if you’re wise, you’re obliged to get the facts right. In Canary in the Coal Mine, for instance, Pete Fortunato, a down and out PI, runs afoul of the mob. I needed to find a group that was especially violent and ruthless. The only way to do that was to research, which ultimately led me to the Albanian mob, a group so violent and unpredictable that even the Mafia won’t deal with them.

Fortunato suffers from anger management issues and insomnia (not a good combination). So, I had to research anger management groups to see the kinds of exercises he would have been put through. I also quizzed friends who suffer from insomnia to find out what that’s like.

For me, research often has to do with geography. I like writing about places I’ve never been—so Wikipedia, Google and Google maps come in very handy. My first crime novel, Swann’s Last Song, was written before the Internet was around. I wanted parts of the novel to take place in Los Angeles, the wilds of Mexico and Berlin. Only trouble was, I’d never been to any of those places. So, I interviewed friends who’d been there. I pored over maps. I read magazine articles. And then I sat down and plunked Swann into those places.

My best friend, who’d actually been to L.A. read the manuscript and asked, “When were you in L.A.?” “Never,” I replied. “Then how did you capture it so well?” Easy. Research. And after the book came out, I was invited to a small book club. One of the women, who was from Mexico, said to me, “you really got the Mexico part so well. When were you there?” She was surprised when my answer was, “Never.” And I can thank the research I did for that.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, I did absolutely no research for this essay.

 

You can learn more about Charles Salzberg at his website and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Canary in the Coal Mine is now available via Down & Out Books and is available in digital and paperback formats in all major online and brick-and-mortar bookstores.

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:

THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Filming is underway in County Donegal, Ireland, on the thriller, In The Land Of Saints And Sinners, starring Liam Neeson as a newly retired assassin who finds himself drawn into a lethal game of cat and mouse with a trio of vengeful terrorists. The headliners also include Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) and Kerry Condon (Better Call Saul). The rest of the cast, recently announced, includes Colm Meaney (The Banker), Jack Gleeson (Game Of Thrones), Desmond Eastwood (Normal People), Sarah Greene (Penny Dreadful), Conor MacNeill (The Fall), Seamus O’Hara (Game of Thrones), Valentine Olukoga (Unforgotten), and Mark O’Regan (Blood).

True Blood star Joe Manganiello has joined Oscar winner Samuel L. Jackson and Oscar nominee Uma Thurman in the upcoming dark comedic thriller, The Kill Room. Principal photography is set to begin this spring in New Jersey and New York on the movie, which will chart the story of a hitman (Manganiello), his boss (Jackson), and an art dealer (Thurman) whose money-laundering scheme accidentally turns the hitman into an overnight avant-garde sensation, forcing Thurman’s character to play the art world against the underworld. The project is written by Jonathan Jacobson and will be directed by Nicol Paone.

Garret Dillahunt (Ambulance) is the latest addition to the cast of the action-thriller, Red Right Hand, from brother directors Ian and Eshom Nelms (Fatman). He joins an ensemble that also includes previously announced actors Orlando Bloom, Andie MacDowell, and Scott Haze. Written by Jonathan Easley, the project follows Cash (Bloom), who is trying to live an honest and quiet life, taking care of his niece Savannah in the Appalachian hills of Odim County. When the sadistic Queenpin "Big Cat" (MacDowell), who runs the town, forces him back into her services, Cash learns he’s capable of anything—even killing—to protect the town and the only family he has left. As the journey gets harder, Cash is drawn into a nightmare that blurs the lines between good and evil. Dillahunt will portray "Wilder," an ex-addict turned preacher who acts as an advisor and protector to Cash and his family, and struggles to contain his violent nature.

TELEVISION/STREAMING SERVICES

Luther star Idris Elba will turn hostage negotiator in a tense thriller drama series for Apple TV+. The seven-part Hijack is the first production from Elba and his Green Door Pictures first-look deal with Apple TV+ struck in July 2020. Elba will play Sam Nelson, an accomplished business negotiator forced to use his guile to save the lives of passengers onboard a hijacked plane making its way to London. Criminal creator George Kay is writing the film, with Jim Field Smith directing.

CBS has set up a writers room for the drama, The Great Game, led by the project’s co-writers/executive producers John Hlavin (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and Matthew Newman (Chicago PD) with the goal of generating multiple scripts for a potential straight-to-series order. In The Great Game, inspired by an unpublished novel of the same name by Newman, a washed-up but charming British spy is reluctantly recruited out of retirement by a bright-eyed, tech-savvy, female CIA agent, giving him a shot at redemption as he re-learns the modern, ruthless game of international espionage.

PBS Distribution has taken North American rights to the upcoming ITV detective drama, Ridley, which stars Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar. Currently filming in northern England, the show follows retired police officer Ridley who resumes his partnership with former protégée DI Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh) to solve complex murder cases.

The Bridge screenwriter, Camilla Ahlgren, has created a European crime drama series about the head of a group solving cold cases in Sweden. Production was greenlighted on Fallen, which will star The Bridge lead actress Sofia Melin as Iris Broman, the new head of the Kalla Fall. Due to a tragedy, she moves from Stockholm to the southern town of Ystad to live with her half-sister Kattis (Hedda Stierstedt), where a cold case becomes topical again and turns everything upside down, intertwining the lives of several people. 

Erika Christensen has been cast as the female lead opposite Ramón Rodríguez in ABC’s drama pilot, Will Trent, from 20th Television. Written by Liz Heldens and Dan Thomsen, the pilot is based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling book series. The story centers on Special Agent Will Trent (Rodríguez) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system, and is now determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was. Christensen will play Angie, a detective with the Atlanta Police Department who struggles with addiction and has yet to confront the dark traumas of her childhood.

BAFTA-nominated Leila Farzad and Broadchurch’s Andrew Buchan are to lead BBC One’s Better. Farzad will play DI Lou Slack, a quick-witted policewoman whose success lies on a foundation of deceit and corruption. Buchan plays Col McHugh, a charming businessman and property developer who heads a city-wide drug trafficking gang. The show, from Humans scribes Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent, tells of the pair’s bond set in a world where they have created their own version of "right" and "wrong." Also joining the cast are Samuel Edward-Cook (Peaky Blinders), Zak Ford-Williams (Wolfe), Ceallach Spellman (Cold Feet), Carolin Stoltz (Liar), Anton Lesser (Killing Eve), and Olivia Nakintu (Vera).

A new FX drama is returning Jeff Bridges to action for a seven-episode season of the series, The Old Man, which begins on Thursday, June 17 on FX, with streaming available the next day on Hulu. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, The Old Man centers on Dan Chase (Bridges), who absconded from the CIA decades ago and has been living off the grid since. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past. With Dan Chase flushed out of hiding, the FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterintelligence, Harold Harper (John Lithgow), is called on to hunt him down because of his complicated past with the rogue fugitive. Working alongside Harper is his protégé, Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat), and CIA Special Agent, Raymond Waters (E.J. Bonilla). When Chase proves to be more difficult to apprehend than the authorities expected, Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe), a highly trained special ops contractor, is sent to pursue him.

Apple TV+ released the first trailer for its upcoming bilingual drama series, Now & Then, starring Rosie Perez, Manolo Cardona, Marina de Tavira, José María Yazpik, Soledad Villamil, and Maribel Verdú, among others. Three of the eight episodes will be released on May 20 with the remaining episodes dropping weekly every Friday through June 24. Set in Miami, Now & Then follows a group of college best friends whose lives are forever changed after one of them ends up dead. Now, 20 years later, the remaining 5 are forced to reunite after a threat puts their seemingly perfect worlds at risk. Perez portrays Flora, a detective obsessed with an unresolved case from 20 years ago, who will stop at nothing to discover the truth. Her partner Sullivan (Željko Ivanek) helps to keep Flora from getting into too much trouble.

AMC released the trailer for the upcoming Western noir, Dark Winds. The original series, based on the iconic Leaphorn & Chee books by Tony Hillerman, will premiere Sunday, June 12 on AMC and AMC+. Created and executive produced by Graham Roland (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan), the series is set in 1971 on a remote outpost of the Navajo Nation near Monument Valley and follows Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) of the Tribal Police as he is besieged by a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. The closer he digs to the truth, the more he exposes the wounds of his past. He is joined on this journey by his new deputy, Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon). Together, the two men battle the forces of evil, each other, and their own personal demons on the path to salvation. Dark Winds also stars Jessica Matten, Noah Emmerich, Deanna Allison, and Rainn Wilson.

PODCASTS/VIDEO/RADIO/AUDIO

A new Mysteryrat's Maze Podcast is up featuring the mystery short story, "A Confluence in Time," by Reavis Wortham, read by actor Ian Jones.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Book Club headed to Malice Domestic to offer one last look at the nominees for the Agatha Awards that will be given out at the banquet on April 23rd.

On Wrong Place, Write Crime, Libby Fischer Hellman discussed her mystery novels as well as historical novels.

My Favorite Detective Stories welcomed Michael Craven, author of three crime novels, including The Detective and the Pipe Girl, and a finalist for the Shamus Award for best P.I. novel of the year.

Read or Dead hosts Katie and Nusrah reminisced about their favorite debuts by mystery authors.

The latest Queer Writers of Crime episode welcomed author Laury A. Egan to the team to offer book recommendations. She started off with a thriller by Anne Holt who Val McDermid says, "...is the latest crime writer to reveal how truly dark it gets in Scandinavia."

On the latest Writers Detective Bureau, Detective Adam Richardson complained about his least favorite bureaucratic paperwork and then talked about fatal hit-and-run investigations and suspect extraditions.

The All About Agatha podcast interviewed Gillian Gill, author of Agatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries.

Crime Time FM featured Aussie crime fiction with authors Chris Hammer and Emma Viskic as they discussed the appeal of Outback Noir, aka Southern Cross Crime, aka Dingo Noir.

Agatha Accolades

The annual Malice Domestic Conference handed out its annual Agatha Awards last night. Named for Agatha Christie, the awards celebrate mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre, i.e. "books typified by the works of Agatha Christie...loosely defined as mysteries that contain no explicit sex, excessive gore or gratuitous violence, and are not classified as "hard-boiled." Congratulations to all of the 2022 winners!

Best Contemporary Novel: Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)

Also nominated:

Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)

Best Historical Novel: Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)

Also nominated:

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
The Devil's Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)

Best First Novel: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)

Also nominated:

The Turncoat's Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
A Dead Man's Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books)
Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books)
Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)

Best Short Story: "Bay of Reckoning" by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)

Also nominated:

"A Family Matter" by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021)
"A Tale of Two Sisters" by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
"Doc's at Midnight" by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books)
"The Locked Room Library" by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021)

Best Non-Fiction: How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)

Also nominated:

The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston's Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press)
Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best Children's/YA Mystery: I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)

​Also nominated:

Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan)
Leisha's Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books)
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

Dagger Longlists 2022

 

The Crime Writers Association Dagger Longlists were announced this evening at the CWA Gala Dinner which took place during the annual Crime Writer's Association Conference in the UK. Celebrated since 1955, the prestigious Dagger Awards celebrate the very best in crime writing. Dagger shortlists will be announced on May 13 at CrimeFest in Bristol, with the winners celebrated at a live gala event on June 29 in London.  

The Dagger in the Library

• Ben Aaronovitch
• Lin Anderson
• Mark Billingham
• Susan Hill
• Edward Marston
• Kate Rhodes
• Cath Staincliffe
• Rebecca Tope
• Sara Sheridan
  

The Dagger for the Best Crime & Mystery Publisher

• Faber & Faber 
• Harper Fiction 
• Mantle 
• Michael Joseph 
• Point Blank 
• Pushkin Vertigo 
• Quercus 
• Raven Books 
• Thomas & Mercer 
• Titan Books 
• Viper

The CWA Short Story Dagger

• The Clifton Vampire by T E Kinsey  
• With the Others by T M Logan 
• When I Grow Up by Robert Scragg
• New Tricks by Matt Wesolowski
• London by Jo Nesbø  
• The Way Of All Flesh by Raven Dane
• Blindsided by Caroline England
• The Victim by Awais Khan 
• Flesh of a Fancy Woman by Paul Magrs 
• Changeling by Bryony Pearce

 The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

• Girls Who Lie by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (trans Victoria Cribb)
• Hotel Cartagena by Simone Buchholz (trans Rachel Ward) 
• Riccardino by Andrea Camilleri, (trans Stephen Sartarelli) 
• Seat 7a by Sebastian Fitzek (trans Steve Anderson)
• Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka (trans Sam Malissa): 
• Heatwave by Victor Jestin (trans Sam Taylor) 
• Oxygen by Sacha Naspini (trans Clarissa Botsford)
• People Like Them by Samira Sedira (trans Lara Vergnaud) 
• The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, (trans David Hackston) 
• The Scorpion's Head by Hilde Vandermeeren (trans Laura Watkinson) 

The ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

• The Devil You Know by Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne:
• The Jigsaw Murders by Jeremy Craddock
• What Lies Buried by Kerry Daynes
• The Good Girls by Sonia Faleiro
• We Are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins
• The Irish Assassins by Julie Kavanagh
• Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
• The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey by Julia Laite
• The Unusual Suspect by Ben Machell
• The Dublin Railway Murder by Thomas Morris
• The Seven Ages of Death by Richard Shepherd 

The CWA Historical Dagger

• April in Spain by John Banville
• City of Vengeance by DV Bishop
• Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin
• Crow Court by Andy Charman
• Not One Of Us by Alis Hawkins
• The Drowned City by KJ Maitland
• Where God Does Not Walk by Luke McCallin
• Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison
• A Corruption of Blood by Ambrose Parry
• Blackout by Simon Scarrow
• The Royal Secret by Andrew Taylor
• The Cannonball Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu

The CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger

• Welcome to Cooper by Tariq Ashkanani
• Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan
• Repentance by Eloísa Díaz
• Hunted by Antony Dunford
• The Mash House by Alan Gillespie
• Raft of Stars by Andrew J Graff
• The Appeal by Janice Hallett
• Falling by TJ Newman
• Where Ravens Roost by Karin Nordin
• The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou
• How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina
• The Death of Kirti Kadakia by Meeti Shroff-Shah
• The Source by Sarah Sultoon
• Waking the Tiger by Mark Wightman 

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

• A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames
• Find You First by Linwood Barclay 
• Exit by Belinda Bauer
• The Pact by Sharon Bolton
• The Devil’s Advocate by Steve Cavanagh 
• Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin
• Razorblade Tears by S A Cosby
• Dead Ground by M W Craven
• The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
• Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
• Rizzio by Denise Mina 
• The Lonely Ones by Håkan Nesser

The CWA Gold Dagger

• Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah
• The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict: 
• Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham
• City of Vengeance by DV Bishop
• Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
• Sunset Swing by Ray Celestin
• Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby
• The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean 
• The House Uptown by Melissa Ginsburg
• The Unwilling by John Hart
• A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins
• Lightseekers by Femi Kayode
• I Know What I Saw by Imran Mahmood
• The Shadows of Men by Abir Mukherjee
• The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt 
• The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou
• The Trawlerman by William Shaw
• Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
• A Beginner's Guide to Murder by Rosalind Stopps
• Brazilian Psycho by Joe Thomas 

Friday's "Forgotten" Books: Shroud of Canvas

Isobel Mary Lambot (1926-2001) was from a family of readers in Birmingham, England, but she didn't turn to writing until 1960. She served first in the Women's Royal Air Force then as a teacher before marrying in 1959 a Belgian engineer whose work took him to Third World countries. That was the launching point for Lambot's travels around the world, experiences that would later turn up in her writing—including her Russian-exile Commissaire Orloff who appeared in two novels and was inspired from a period spent in France. In fact, Lambot's very first crime novel was written in Jamaica, and although never published, it connected her with her literary agent.

In all, she published some 20 crime novels, including police procedurals, political thrillers and standalone detective stories based in such locations as Ceylon and the Congo, translated into German, Italian, Portuguese and Swedish under the Lambot name or the pseudonyms Daniel Ingham and Mary Turner. She also had a nonfiction book, How to Write Crime Novels, published in 1992, taught creative writing, lectured to writers' groups and presented "Whodunit" evenings.

She was definitely of her time and the social mores of the day, once saying, "My aim is to entertain, not to preach, but certain moral values underlie my work all the same. I prefer old-fashioned virtues, such as Crime Does Not Pay, while obviously in real life it does! I don't like the permissive society, and make sure my heroines get decently married at the end. If any of my characters leap into bed with each other, it is essential to the plot, and they usually regret it." But she also understood the writing process well, adding that "People write because they want to. It is an inner compulsion. Crime writers write to entertain, to give a little relaxation in a world of stress. It is very hard work." 

Sadly, late in life as a widow she had rapid onset of Alzheimer's disease and after being moved to a nursing home, left one day and was last seen walking into the countryside. As a family member noted, the author's final mystery was like her novels, as a massive search operation was set up with police and volunteers until her body was found against a tree in Yeld Wood. But she probably would have appreciated the funeral—as the hearse drove from the Church in Kington to the Crematorium in Hereford, a lone buzzard flew over the coffin and screeched.

Her novels, such as the 1967 Shroud of Canvas, use a plain straightforward style to good effect, weaving character sketches and interpersonal relationships to help build suspense. The main POV protagonist in "Canvas"  is Rosalind, a young widow with a daughter, who had cut all ties with her family during her first disastrous marriage and has recently married a man she's only known for six months, Geoffrey Lennard, founder of a plastics company.

When Rosalind receives a telephone call from Geoffrey's former fiancée whom Rosalind knew nothing about, it sets in motion a series of mysteries and deaths beginning with the murder of the ex-fiancée in the Lennard garden. As evidence and suspicion begins to mount against Geoffrey, Rosalind's newfound happiness is in jeopardy even as she unwaveringly believes in the innocence of her husband. With the help of a surprising ally, Detective Sergeant Barry Thornley, and his boss, Superintendent Longton, Rosaline pursues the truth, dodging the whispers and doubts from the local community admid a backdrop of industrial espionage and power struggles.

And yet...Rosalind does wonder, as this excerpt indicates, although it also shows Lambot's effective sparse style and how she creates conflict:

There was a nightmare sense of repetition. Was she doomed to sit at the breakfast table each morning waiting for an explanation that never came?...She had wandered round the silent house all evening, waiting for the sound of Geoffrey's car, wishing one moment that Sally was not away for the night, glad at another that she was not there to witness her mother's anxiety.

One in desperation, she had phoned the office but there was no reply. Not that it meant anything. Geoffrey could have told the switchboard not to leave him connected with an outside line, so that he could get on with his work in peace...

But the previous evening he had gone to meet Anne...

Shroud of Canvas may date from the late 60s, but it follows true British Golden Age tradition, filled with skillfully placed clues and red herrings alike and ending with a closed circle of suspects gathered together to hear the revelation of the murderer's identity. 

Mystery Melange

The latest Noir at the Bar heads to Toronto at the Duke of Kent pub tonight at 7pm. Authors scheduled to read from their works and sign books include Giles Blunt, Barbara Fradkin, Don MacDonald, C.S. O'Cinneide, Howard Shrier, and Carolyne Topdjian.

Another Noir at the Bar will take place on April 27 at the upcoming SIBA in the Springtime conference in Winston-Salem, NC, the first SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) in-person event since the pandemic began. Eight crime, thriller, and mystery authors will read from their works in an event hosted by author and veteran Noir at the Bar MC, Eryk Pruitt.

The one hundredth British Library Crime Classic has now been published, as reported by Martin Edwards, who began his association with the series back in 2013. The title in question is appropriately a "bibliomystery," Bernard J. Farmer's Death of a Bookseller, complete with a message on the inside cover from Edwards, who also noted in the article that the Crime Classics are famous enough to merit a mention in Anthony Horowitz's Moonflower Murders. The series has included the publication and "rediscovery" of novels by such varied writers as E.C.R. Lorac, Mary Kelly, John Dickson Carr, Richard Hull, C.E. Vulliamy, Anne Meredith, Peter Shaffer, Christianna Brand, Nap Lombard, Raymond Postgate, and Margot Bennett.

San Diego's Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, an independent genre store specializing in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, young adult, romance, and horror, has launched a $225,000 GoFundMe campaign to help "with some vital upgrades we need to make as well as to help recuperate some finances lost over the two year pandemic." Co-owners Jenni Marchisotto and Matthew Berger posted on Facebook that although loyal customers helped keep the store afloat over the past two years of the pandemic, the campaign will help address the losses of the last two years. On May 7, the store is planning a birthday bash to celebrate their 29th anniversary. (HT to Shelf Awareness)

The Criminal Law Bulletin, an interdisciplinary, peer-edited law journal, seeks papers for two forthcoming special issues. One will be devoted to reform-based solutions to problems in the criminal-legal context and is scheduled for publication in the January/February issue of 2023. The other will explore the collateral consequences of criminal convictions and is scheduled for the publication in the March/April issue of 2023. Submission of papers related either of these broad themes are welcomed from legal, social science, and humanities scholars, as well as from justice practitioners, law students, and graduate students in criminology, criminal justice, and related fields.

The New York Times reported on "How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero." In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50 states, was seen by many readers, writers, and book lovers as strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest for market share. Today, virtually the entire publishing industry is rooting for the chain, including most independent booksellers. (You can read more here.)

This week's crime poem at the 5-2 weekly is "Every Story is a Ghost Story" by Brian Townsley.

In the Q&A roundup, Lisa Haselton spoke with Canadian thriller author Ryan Lawrence about his debut LGBTQ thriller, Vindictive; over at the Writers Who Kill blog, Sarah E. Burr chatted about #Follow Me for Murder, the first in her Trending Topic Mystery Series, and You Can’t Candle the Truth, first in the Glenmyre Whim Mystery Series; Indie Crime Scene interviewed Mary Keliikoa, whose novel Deceived (PI Kelly Pruett mystery series) is their featured new release on May 10; and Don Winslow told The Guardian about the inspiration for his new book about warring gangs, his sudden thirst for poetry and why reading Jane Austen wears him out. Interestingly, Winslow yesterday announced on Twitter that "I'm retiring. The #CityOnFire trilogy will be the last 3 new books I publish. I look forward to sharing with you what is next for me in the days ahead."

Canadian Accolades

Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) announced the Shortlists for the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing. Started in 1984, the annual Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, then known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, recognizes the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction, and crime nonfiction by Canadian authors. Winners will be announced Thursday, May 26, 2022. 

Best Crime Novel sponsored by Rakuten Kobo, with a $1000 prize

Linwood Barclay, Find You First, William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Daniel Kalla, Lost Immunity, Simon & Schuster
Dietrich Kalteis, Under the Outlaw Moon, ECW Press
Shari Lapena, Not a Happy Family, Doubleday Canada
Roz Nay, The Hunted, Simon & Schuster

Best Crime First Novel sponsored by Writers First, with a $500 prize

Ashley Audrain, The Push, Viking Canada
Fiona King Foster, The Captive, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
Byron TD Smith, Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery, Shima Kun Press
Katherine Walker, All Is Well, Thistledown Press
David Whitton, Seven Down, Rare Machines an imprint of Dundurn Press
 

The Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery sponsored by Jane Doe, with a $500 prize

Candas Jane Dorsey, What’s the Matter with Mary Jane?, ECW Press
Alice Bienia, Three Dog Knight, Cairn Press
Jackie Elliott, Hell's Half Acre, Joffe Books
Catherine Macdonald, So Many Windings, At Bay Press
Vicki Delany, Murder in a Teacup, Kensington Publishing Corp

The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada sponsored by The Engel Family, with a $500 prize

S. Porter, Beneath Her Skin, Vagrant Press / Nimbus Publishing Inc.
Cathy Ace, Corpse with an Iron Will, Four Tails Publishing Inc.
Alice Walsh, Death on Darby’s Island, Vagrant Press / Nimbus Publishing Inc.
Sam Wiebe, Hell and Gone, Harbour Publishing Co. Inc.
Kevin Major, Three for Trinity, Breakwater Books

Best Crime Novella sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $200 prize

Marcelle Dubé, Identity Withheld, Falcon Ridge Publishing
Brenda Gayle, Murder in Abstract (A Charly Hall Mystery, book 6), Bowstring Books
Wayne Ng, Letters From Johnny, Guernica Editions
Elvie Simons, Not So Fast, Dr. Quick, Dell Magazines

Best Crime Short Story sponsored by Mystery Magazine, with a $300 prize

Pam Barnsley, What can You Do?, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Hilary Davidson, Weed Man, Dell Magazines
Elizabeth Elwood, Number 10 Marlborough Place, Dell Magazines
Charlotte Morganti, All My Darlings, Die Laughing: An Anthology of Humorous Mysteries
Melissa Yi, Dead Man's Hand, Dell Magazines

Best French Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction)

Roxanne Bouchard, Le murmure des hakapiks, Libre Expression
Marc-André Chabot, Dis-moi qui doit vivre… Libre Expression
Guillaume Morrissette, Conduite dangereuse, Saint-Jean
Patrick Senécal, Flots, Editions Alire
Richard Ste-Marie, Stigmates, Editions Alire

Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book (Fiction and Nonfiction) sponsored by Shaftesbury, with a $500 prize

Karen Bass, Blood Donor, Orca Book Publishers
Rachelle Delaney, Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster, Puffin Canada
Cherie Dimaline, Hunting By Stars, Penguin Teen
Kevin Sands, The Traitor's Blade, Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)
Jordyn Taylor, Don't Breathe a Word, HarperTeen (HarperCollins Publishers)

The Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book sponsored by Simpson & Wellenreiter LLP, Hamilton, with a $300 prize

Sarah Berman, Don't Call it a Cult, Viking Canada
Aaron Chapman, Vancouver Vice: Crime and Spectacle in the City's West End, Arsenal Pulp Press
Catherine Fogarty, Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary, Biblioasis
Nate Hendley, The Beatle Bandit, Dundurn Press
Lorna Poplak, The Don: The Story of Toronto's Infamous Jail, Dundurn Press  

The Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript sponsored by ECW Press, with a $500 prize

Delee Fromm, The Strength to Rise
Pam Isfeld, Captives
Renee Lehnen, Elmington
Katie Mac, Ken's Corner
Mark Thomas, Part Time Crazy

CWC announces the 2022 Grand Master Award recipient Louise Penny

Louise Penny’s debut novel, Still Life, not only won CWC Award for Best First Novel but also the New Blood Dagger, Anthony and Barry awards. Since then, Louise Penny has penned over sixteen Inspector Gamache novels, won many more awards, become an International Bestseller and Canadian icon. Inspector Gamache is being adapted for television by Left Bank Productions with Alfred Molina playing the beloved detective. Her most recent book, State of Terror, was written with 2016 U.S. Presential candidate Hilary Clinton, a literary coup and another bestseller.

About Crime Writers of Canada

Crime Writers of Canada was founded in 1982 as a professional organization designed to raise the profile of Canadian crime writers. Our members include authors, publishers, editors, booksellers, librarians, reviewers, and literary agents as well as many developing authors. Past winners of the Awards have included such major names in Canadian crime writing as Mario Bolduc, Gail Bowen, Stevie Cameron, Howard Engel, Barbara Fradkin, Louise Penny, Peter Robinson and Eric Wright. They would like to thank ECW Press, Rakuten Kobo, Mystery Magazine, Shaftesbury, Simpson and Wellenreiter LLP (Hamilton), Writers First, Jane Doe and the Howard Engel family for their sponsorship, and the many participating publishers for their continued support.