Criminal Briefs

There’s definitely reason to party in the Abbott family household. Last night, daughter Megan Abbott won an Edgar Award for her 2007 paperback original, Queenpin. Now, her mother, Patti Abbott, has picked up a Derringer Award for a very short story she saw published in D.Z. Allen’s Muzzle Flash.

The Short Mystery Fiction Society is responsible for the Derringers, which “honor excellence in the creative art form of short mystery and crime stories.” Here’s the complete list of this year’s winners:

Best Story 0 to 1,000 words: “My Hero,” by Patricia Abbott (D.Z. Allen’s Muzzle Flash, 2007)

Also nominated: “Saved,” by Keri Clark (Mysterical-E, Fall 2007); “Dreaming of a Spite Christmas,” by B.V. Lawson (Mouth Full of Bullets, Winter 2007); “A Woman Scorned,” by Jillian Berg (Mouth Full of Bullets, Autumn 2007); and “Your New Fan,” by Keri Clark (Mouth Full of Bullets, Winter 2007)

Best Story 1,001 to 4,000 words: “In the Shadows of Wrigley Field,” by John Weagly (The Back Alley, November 2007)

Also nominated: “Brimstone P.I.,” by Beverle Graves Myers (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May 2007); “We All Come from Splattertown,” by Hugh Lessig (ThugLit, July 2007); “Joyride,” by Rick Noetzel (Shred of Evidence, December 2007); “Handful of Stars,” by Jack Hardway (Mouth Full of Bullets, Autumn 2007); and “The Promise,” by Camille LaGuire (Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, March-April 2007)

Best Story 4,001 to 8,000 words: “The Gospel According to Gordon Black,” by Richard Helms (The Thrilling Detective Web Site, Fall 2007)

Also nominated: “A Trader’s Lot, by Twist Phalen (from Wall Street Noir, edited by Peter Spiegelman; Akashic Books); “Devil’s Lake,” by John Schroeder (Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, January/February 2007); “A Private Hanging,” by Herschel Cozine (Mysterical-E, Summer 2007); “Mr. McGregor’s Garden,” by Kate Flora (from Still Waters, edited by Kate Flora, Ruth McCarty, and Susan Oleksiw; Level Best Books); and “Growing Up Is for Losers,” by Rosemary Harris (from Still Waters)

Best Story 8,001 to 17,500 words: “Paper Walls/Glass Houses,” by Eric Shane (The Back Alley, June 2007)

Also nominated: “The Bookworm’s Demise,” by Beverle Graves Myers (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, December 2007); “The Enlightenment of Magnus McKay,” by John Burdett (from Wall Street Noir); “Wasting Assets,” by Mike Wiecek (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, September 2007); and “Forget Me Not,” by Clifford Royal Johns (Mysterical-E, Fall 2007)