Showdown in the Springs

With this year’s Left Coast Crime convention approaching fast (it will be held March 21-24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado), the LCC today announced its nominees for four associated prizes.

The Lefty (for the best humorous mystery novel):
• Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder, by Mike Befeler (Five Star)

• Swift Run, by Laura DiSilverio (Minotaur)

• December Dread, by Jess Lourey (Midnight Ink)

• Trail of the Spellmans, by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)

• The Girl Next Door, by Brad Parks (Minotaur)

• Fit to Be Dead, by Nancy Glass West (Southwest Publications)

The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award:

• The Twelve Clues of Christmas, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

• A City of Broken Glass, by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)

• Live by Night, by Dennis Lehane (Morrow)

• Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder, by Catronia McPherson (Minotaur)

• Elegy for Eddie, by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

The Rocky (for the best regional mystery novel):

• Buffalo Bill’s Dead Now, by Margaret Coel (Berkley Prime Crime)

• Hush Money, by Chuck Greaves (Minotaur)

• Wicked Eddies, by Beth Groundwater (Midnight Ink)

• Sonora Crossing, by Darrell James (Midnight Ink)

• As the Crow Flies, by Craig Johnson (Viking)

The Watson (for the mystery novel with the best sidekick):

• In a Witch’s Wardrobe, by Juliet Blackwell (Obsidian)

• Taken, by Robert Crais (Putnam)

• Fun House, by Chris Grabenstein (Pegasus)

• When the Past Haunts You, by L.C. Hayden (CreateSpace)

• Bruja Brouhaha, by Rochelle Staab (Berkley Prime Crime)

These commendations will be voted on during the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 23, at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

This year’s LCC Guests of Honor will be authors Craig Johnson and Laura Lippman. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips (Longmire) will appear as a Special Guest. Tom and Enid Schantz have been tapped as the Fan Guests of Honor. Stephen J. Cannell is the Ghost of Honor. Author David Corbett will serve as Toastmaster, and Parnell Hall will entertain as the “Last Resort” Troubadour.

For more information on Left Coast Crime 2013, click here.