Laywers, Guns, and Competition

I enjoy reading Martin Edwards’ blog every day, as it provides some fascinating and very informative insight into the working mind of a lawyer and crime writer. And I found it interesting that Edwards’ short story “The Bookbinder’s Apprentice” (published in The Mammoth Book of Best British Mysteries) made the shortlist for this year’s Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger Awards. It’s a strong list with some outstanding submissions, but I can’t say too much more about it, since this is my third (and last) year as one of the CWA’s Short Story Dagger judges.

In any event, I ran into Martin Edwards this last weekend, during CrimeFest. He told me that he’s involved with his Manchester law firm in organizing a short-story competition. (I know Edwards’ firm well, having used its corporate services to great effect in the past.) The Liverpool Daily Post gives a fuller briefing on the matter:

Leading Merseyside law firm Mace & Jones has launched a short story competition as part of its contribution to the Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations.

Mace & Jones head of employment law Martin Edwards, who is also a celebrated crime fiction author, said the firm was aiming to make a meaningful contribution to [the] city’s festivities.

He told LDP Legal: “The short story is a marvellous literary form I am passionate about.

“The idea is simple. We encourage both amateurs and professionals to submit a story on the theme of ‘justice’. From the judging panel’s viewpoint, the field is wide open.”

The competition has a maximum word count of 3,000 words and the deadline for entries is August 31.

It’s good to see a writer of the stature of Martin Edwards (whose new Harry Devlin novel is Waterloo Sunset) putting something back into the genre he loves.