Brief Companions

Winners of the 2010 Derringer Awards, presented by the Short Mystery Fiction Society, were announced this morning. The recipients are ...

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words): “And Here’s to You, Mrs. Edwardson,” by Hamilton Waymire (Big Pulp, November 23, 2009)

Also nominated: “Awake,” by David Dean (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], July 2009); “Gutterball,” by Stephen D. Rogers (Woman’s World Magazine, September 7, 2009); “The Right Track,” by R.T. Lawton (Woman’s World Magazine, October 26, 2009); and “Unplanned,” by Libby Cudmore (Thrillers, Killers ’n’ Chillers, August 2009)

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words): “’Twas the Night,” by Anita Page (in The Gift of Murder, edited by John M. Floyd; Wolfmont Press)

Also nominated: “Identity Theft,” by Robert Weibezahl (Beat to a Pulp, March 2009); “The Biography of Stoop the Thief,” by Steven Torres (in Uncage Me!, edited by Jen Jordan; Bleak House Books); “The Hard Sell,” by Jay Stringer (Beat to a Pulp, May 2009); and “The Right to Remain Silent,” by Debbi Mack (The Back Alley, August 2009)

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words): “Famous Last Words,” by Doug Allyn (EQMM, November 2009)

Also nominated: “A Stab in the Heart,” by Twist Phelan (EQMM, February 2009); “Regarding Certain Occurrences in a Cottage at the Garden of Allah,” by Robert S. Levinson (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November 2009); “Snow of Bloedkoppie,” by Berhard Jaumann (translated from the German by Mary Tannert; EQMM, August 2009); and “The Shipbreaker,” by Mike Wiecek (EQMM, March/April 2009)

Best Novelette (8,001-17,500 words): “Julius Katz,” by Dave Zeltserman (EQMM, September/October 2009)

Also nominated: “Adjuncts Anonymous,” by B.K. Stevens (EQMM, June 2009); “The Last Drop,” by R.W. Kerrigan (EQMM, February 2009); “The Pirate’s Debt,” by Toni L.P. Kelner (EQMM, August 2009); and “Uncle Brick and Jimmy Kills,” by Allan Leverone (Mysterical-E, Summer 2009)

In addition, author Lawrence Block is the 2010 recipient of the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement.