Maybe Crime Does Pay

You’ll have to forgive us if we don’t reproduce the entire longlist for the 2009 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the commendation referred to as the “world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English.” It’s a very long list, indeed.

Nominations have come from 163 libraries in 123 cities and 43 countries worldwide. The authors of the longlisted books, announced by the Lord Mayor of Dublin last week, hope to win the €100,000 award--but, as any bookmaker worth his salt will tell you, the odds aren’t that good for any singlee title: the longlist comprises 156 novels representing authors from 46 countries.

Of the longlisted works, some are likely to resonate more strongly with Rap Sheet readers than others. Here are a few: The Black Tower, by Louis Bayard; Blood Trail, by C.J. Box; The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane; Arctic Chill, by Arnaldur Indridason; Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith; This Night’s Foul Work, by Fred Vargas; Lush Life, by Richard Price; Blackstrap Hawco, by Kenneth J. Harvey; Diablerie, by Walter Mosley; and The Enchantress of Florence, by Salman Rushdie.

The complete longlist is here.