’Tis the Season for Back Patting

The last week has been a significant one, at least so far as crime-fiction-related commendations go. Lists of nominees were announced for the 2013 Dagger in the Library Award, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, and of course the 2013 Anthony Awards. Meanwhile, we were let in on the winners of this year’s Edgar Allan Poe Awards and Agatha Awards.

However, there are still more contenders for additional honors. Let’s start here with the shortlists of nominees for four prizes to be handed out on Saturday, June 1, at a “gala dinner” during this month’s CrimeFest (May 30-June 2) in Bristol, England:

The Audible Sounds of Crime Award (“recognizes the best crime audiobook published in both print and audio in 2012”):

• The Black Box, by Michael Connelly; read by Michael McConnohie (Orion Audio)
• The Racketeer, by John Grisham; read by J.D. Jackson
(Hodder & Stoughton)
• The Lewis Man, by Peter May; read by Peter Forbes (Quercus)
• Phantom, by Jo Nesbø; read by Sean Barrett (Random House/Isis)
• Standing in Another Man’s Grave, by Ian Rankin; read by James MacPherson (Orion Audio)

The Goldsboro Last Laugh Award (“for the best humorous crime
novel of 2012”):

• The Prisoner of Brenda, by Colin Bateman (Headline)
• The Corpse on the Court, by Simon Brett (Severn House)
• Slaughter’s Hound, by Declan Burke (Liberties Press)
• Killing the Emperors, by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Allison &; Busby)
• Bryant & May and the Invisible Code, by Christopher Fowler (Doubleday)
• The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats, by Hesh Kestin (Mulholland)

The eDunnit Award (“for the best crime fiction e-book published in 2012 in both hardcopy and in electronic format”):

• The Age of Doubt, by Andrea Camilleri (Mantle)
• Killing the Emperors, by Ruth Dudley Edwards (Allison &; Busby)
• Bryant & May and the Invisible Code, by Christopher Fowler (Transworld)
• Dominion, by C.J. Sansom (Mantle)

The H.R.F. Keating Award (“for the best biography or critical book related to crime fiction e-book published between 2008 and 2012”):

• Books to Die For: The World’s Greatest Mystery Writers on the World’s Greatest Mystery Novels, edited by John Connolly and Declan Burke (Hodder & Stoughton, 2012)
• Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks, by John Curran
(HarperCollins, 2009)
• British Crime Writing: An Encyclopaedia, edited by Barry Forshaw (Greenwood World Publishing, 2008)
• Invisible Ink, by Christopher Fowler (Strange Attractor, 2012)
• Following the Detectives: Real Location in Crime Fiction, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (New Holland Publishers, 2010)
• Talking About Detective Fiction, by P.D. James (The Bodleian
Library, 2009)

* * *

Next, we have the 2013 winners of the Spinetingler Awards, presented annually by Spinetingler Magazine. Readers were asked to vote for the favorite nominees online. Here are this year’s fortunate recipients, with the full lists of contenders available under the category links:

• Best Novel -- New Voice: Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (Crown)
• Best Novel -- Rising Star/Legend: The Cold Cold Ground, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street)
• Best Novella/Short Novel: A Woman and a Knife, by Matthew C. Funk (from Uncle B’s Drive-in Fiction, edited by Elisha Murphy; CreateSpace)
• Best Anthology/Short Story Collection: Roachkiller & Other Stories, by R. Navaez (Beyond the Page)
• Best Short Story on the Web: “The Tractor Thief’s Jacket,” by Gita M. Smith (MudJob, September 2012)
• Best Cover: 18 Days, by Allen Miles (Byker e-book)

* * *

Finally, the online edition of the American Library Association’s Booklist magazine has posted its rundown of “The Year’s Best Crime Novels: 2013.” If it seems, well, a tad early to be broadcasting such a thing, that’s because the calendar employed for this compilation doesn’t jibe with the one you or I usually use; as author Bill Ott explains, these picks “draw from crime fiction reviewed in Booklist since the last Mystery Showcase issue (in this case, from May 1, 2012, through April 15, 2013).” Among Booklist’s top 10 choices are The Andalucian Friend, by Alexander Soderberg, Ghostman, by Roger Hobbs, and Shatter the Bones, by Stuart MacBride, while its selection of the “best crime fiction debuts” includes The Beggar’s Opera, by Peggy Blair, A Good Death, by Christopher R. Cox, and The Thing About Thugs, by Tabish Khair. Again, you’ll find the full lists here.

(Hat tip to Randal Brandt.)