Shortening the Short List

On March 1, The Rap Sheet--along with a number of other blogs covering crime and mystery fiction--posted a list of nominees for the 2015 Derringer Awards, which will be given out by the Short Mystery Fiction Society. The SMFS subsequently alerted me that “an eligibility issue” had arisen, and that it would have to be resolved before the slate of nominees was finalized and voting by SMFS members could commence. No details were given then as to the scope of the problem.

Then earlier today, Gerald So, a former president and vice-president of SMFS, dropped me an e-note, saying that “the eligibility issue and confusion” had finally been cleared up, and a revised rundown of contenders is available. As far as I can, the only difference between the original line-up of challengers and the new one is the elimination of a single short story in the “Best Flash Fiction” category: “Because,” by Travis Richardson, which appeared on the Web site Out of the Gutter on May 15, 2014. (Another story with that same title, but penned by Melissa Yi and published in Fiction River Special Edition: Crime, remains on the nominees list.)

I have edited my original Rap Sheet post about the 2015 Derringer Awards to reflect this change. An announcement of the winners in each category is expected on Tuesday, March 31.

FOLLOW-UP: I have been informed that another alteration was made to this list. In the Best Novelette category, a story titled “The Monster in Our Midst,” by Kris Nelscott, was replaced by Doug Allyn’s Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine tale, “The Snow Angel.”