Who’s Laughing Now?

We’ve been informed by our friend, the author Mike Ripley, that British crime fictionist Ruth Dudley Edwards has won the 2008 Last Laugh Award for her novel Murdering Americans (Poisoned Pen Press UK). That commendation was given out last night during CrimeFest, held this weekend in Bristol, England.

Other contenders for the Last Laugh Award (which is presented for the best humorous crime fiction published in the British Isles) were: The Big O, by Declan Burke (Hag’s Head Press); The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam, by Chris Ewan (Long Barn Books); Hard Man, by Allan Guthrie (Polygon); Silent in the Grave, by Deanna Raybourn (Mira Books); Angel’s Share, by Mike Ripley (Allison & Busby); The Herring Seller’s Apprentice, by L.C. Tyler (Macmillan New Writing); and What’s So Funny?, by Donald E. Westlake (Quercus).

Ripley, who seems largely unperturbed by the fact that he himself did not win the Last Laugh this time around, goes on in his message to us today to write:

I would like to point out that I predicted this is my Shots column ... and indeed so confidant was I that I sent Ruth a congratulatory e-mail on Thursday, before CrimeFest started.

Having successfully predicted the Ellis Peters Award (Ariana Franklin) and the Last Laugh, I am now claiming to be brilliant at predicting, if not winning, mystery awards and am going to back [R.N.] Roger Morris [author of A Vengeful Longing] for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in July.

Just remember, you heard it here first.

We might remind Mr. Ripley, too, of his divination that Philip Kerr’s fifth and latest Bernie Gunther novel, A Quiet Flame, will be in the running next year for the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, and the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award. Once one has started predicting these sorts of things, it seems awfully damn hard to stop.

READ MORE: “Bristol Crime Fest 2008: Where Were You When We Were Getting High? #1, by Declan Burke (Crime Always Pays).