Shamus Successes

Bouchercon 2024 kicked off earlier this week in Nashville, Tennessee, and is set to conclude tomorrow. Concurrent with those festivities, the Private Eye Writers of America presented this year’s set of Shamus Awards, in three categories.

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel:
Heart of the Nile, by Will Thomas (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Hard Rain, by Samantha Jayne Allen (‎Minotaur); Go Find Daddy, by Steve Goble (Oceanview); The Mistress of Bhatia House, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime); and The Bell in the Fog, by Lev AC Rosen (Forge)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel:
Liar’s Dice, by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best)

Also nominated: Drums, Guns ’n’ Money, by Jonathan J. Brown (Down & Out); Gillespie Field Groove, by Corey Lynn Fayman (Konstellation Press); The Truth We Hide, by Liz Milliron (Level Best); and Bring the Night, by J.R. Sanders (Level Best)

Best P.I. Short Story:
“Errand for a Neighbor” by Bill Bassman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], January/February 2023)

Also nominated: “Beyond Belief” by Libby Cudmore (Tough, May 2023); “The Soiled Dove of Shallow Hollow” by Sean McCluskey (EQMM, January/February 2023); “Imperfect Data” by Bob Tippee (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, January/February 2023); and “Making the Bad Guys Nervous” by Joseph S. Walker (Black Cat Weekly, #102)

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

Ngaios Champs Named

OK, I guess my late-summer break is finally over. Today brings word of which books and authors have won New Zealand’s 2024 Ngaio Marsh Awards. There were three categories of nominees this year.

Best Novel: Ritual of Fire, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)

Also nominated: Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin); The Caretaker, by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins); Pet, by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press); Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White); Going Zero, by Anthony McCarten (Macmillan); and Expectant, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

Best First Novel: Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)

Also nominated: El Flamingo, by Nick Davies (YBK); Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White); A Better Class of Criminal. by Cristian Kelly (Cristian Kelly); and Mama Suzuki: Private Eye, by Simon Rowe (Penguin)

Best Kids/YA: Miracle, by Jennifer Lane (Cloud Ink Press)

Also nominated: Caged, by Susan Brocker (Scholastic); Katipo Joe: Wolf’s Lair, by Brian Falkner (Scholastic); Nikolai’s Quest, by Diane Robinson (Rose & Fern); and Nor’east Swell, by Aaron Topp (One Tree House)

A press release quotes Ngaios founder Craig Sisterson as saying, “I’m stoked we have a special award this year recognising writers of crime, mystery, and thriller tales for younger readers. Many of us owe any lifelong passion for books, and all the good that comes along with that, to the children’s authors we read when we were youngsters ourselves. Aotearoa has amazing kids authors, across many genres. In future we plan to award our Best Kids/YA Book prize biennially, alternating with our Best Non-fiction prize that returns in 2025.”

This year’s prize recipients were announced during a special event at the WORD Christchurch Festival. The Ngaios are named in honor of Dame Ngaio Marsh, the creator of “gentleman detective” Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Lists of previous recipients can be found here.

PaperBack: “Moment of Untruth”

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.



Moment of Untruth, by “Ed Lacy,” aka Leonard S. Zinberg (Lancer, 1967). As blogger J.F. Norris explains, this is “a sequel of sorts” to 1957’s Edgar Award-winning Room to Swing, which introduced Black New York City private eye Toussaint “Touie” Moore. And, as The Thrilling Detective Web Site’s Kevin Burton Smith writes, Moment “is almost as good” as its predecessor.

Cover illustration by Robert K. Abbett.

Ngaios Results on the Horizon

From Australia, where this year’s nominees for the Ned Kelly Awards were recently named, we move across the Tasman Sea (aka “the Ditch”) to New Zealand. There, organizers of the Ngaio Marsh Awards have announced their 2024 finalists in three categories.

Best Novel:
• Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)
• The Caretaker, by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)
• Ritual of Fire, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
• Pet, by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White)
• Going Zero, by Anthony McCarten (Macmillan)
• Expectant. by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

Best First Novel:
• Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)
• El Flamingo, by Nick Davies (YBK)
• Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White)
• A Better Class of Criminal. by Cristian Kelly (Cristian Kelly)
• Mama Suzuki: Private Eye, by Simon Rowe (Penguin)

Best Kids/YA:
• Caged, by Susan Brocker (Scholastic)
• Katipo Joe: Wolf’s Lair, by Brian Falkner (Scholastic)
• Miracle, by Jennifer Lane (Cloud Ink Press)
• Nikolai’s Quest, by Diane Robinson (Rose & Fern)
• Nor’east Swell, by Aaron Topp (One Tree House)

The Ngaio Marsh Awards (originally just a single commendation, given for Best Novel) were launched in 2010 by Craig Sisterson. They honor Dame Ngaio Marsh, the creator of “gentleman detective” Inspector Roderick Alleyn. Previous recipients are named here.

This year’s prize winners are to be made known during a special event at the WORD Christchurch Festival on Wednesday, August 28.

Last of the Neddies

Another day, another shortlist of contenders for Australia’s distinguished Ned Kelly Awards (the “Neddies”). This time, the category is Best Crime Fiction, and the nominees are …

• Killer Traitor Spy, by Tim Ayliffe (Simon & Schuster Australia)
• Dark Corners, by Megan Goldin (Canelo)
• Dark Mode, by Ashley Kalagian Blunt (Ultimo Press)
• Darling Girls, by Sally Hepworth (Pan Australia)
• The Seven, by Chris Hammer (Allen & Unwin)
• Ripper, by Shelley Burr (Hachette Australia)
• The Tea Ladies, by Amanda Hampson (Penguin)
• Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect, by Benjamin Stevenson
(Michael Joseph)

Actually, this is the last such line-up for 2024, following shortlists for Best Debut Crime Fiction, Best True Crime, and Best International Crime Fiction. The Australian Crime Writers Association, which sponsors these prizes, will identity the winners in September.

Revue of Reviewers: 8-9-24

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

Exploring a World of Crime

We have now heard about three out of four categories of nominees for the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards (the “Neddies”), sponsored by the Australian Crime Writers Association. Following on from Best Debut Crime Fiction and Best True Crime, the ACWA has announced its shortlist of contenders for Best International Crime Fiction:

• Birnam Wood, by Eleanor Catton (Granta)
• Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)
• Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly (Orion)
• The Only Suspect, by Louise Candlish (Simon & Schuster UK)
• The Search Party, by Hannah Richell (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Zero Days, by Ruth Ware (Simon & Schuster UK)

Still to come are the candidates for Best Crime Fiction. The winners of all the 2024 Neddies should be declared in September.

Last Chance for Summer Reading

As most Rap Sheet readers know, I produce lengthy quarterly lists of upcoming books I think will interest crime, mystery, and thriller readers. But such compilations do not go unchanged; no sooner have I posted a new seasonal rundown, than I commence updating and adding to it—and less often, subtracting from it. For instance, just yesterday I removed from my summer 2024 inventory mention of Baby, It’s Murder, the 13th (and reportedly final) Mike Hammer novel, written by Max Allan Collins in posthumous collaboration with Mickey Spillane. That work had originally been slated to appear this month; it has now been postponed until March 2025.

If you click over to that summer list—which you really should do, as August is its last month of particular relevance—you might not be able to discern what other changes I have made since early June. Yet there are many. I’ve added novels by Charlie Stella (Joey Piss Pot), Sophie Barnes (A Vengeful King Rises), Morgan Greene (The Devil in the Dark), Karen Grose (Flat Out Lies), A.J. West (The Betrayal of Thomas True), Kate Ellis (Coffin Island), Gordon McAlpine (After Oz), and others, as well as non-fiction works by Anthony M. DeStefano (Broadway Butterfly: The Lady Gangster of Jazz Age New York) and Mark Aldridge (Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness). We’re talking well over 450 books worthy of your attention.

I’m already developing a rundown of fall 2024 releases, which should be posted sometime in early September. Before this summer ends, though, catch up here on what recent debuts you may have missed.

Appreciating Fact and Fiction

Earlier this week we brought you the shortlisted candidates for the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards, Best Debut Crime Fiction division. Now we have the nominees for Best True Crime. There are five of them:

• Crossing the Line, by Nick McKenzie (Hachette Australia)
• Killing for Country, by David Marr
(Black Inc)
• The Murder Squad, by Michael Adams (Affirm Press)
• Reckless, by Marele Day (Ultimo Press)
• The Teacher’s Pet, by Hedley Thomas (Macmillan Australia)

The Ned Kelly Awards—or “Neddies,” for short—were established in 1996 by the Australian Crime Writers Association to recognize “excellence in the field of crime writing within Australia.” Previous recipients are recorded here.

* * *

Meanwhile, In Reference to Murder reports that “Joe Lansdale received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the 3rd annual Texas Author Con, an honor that will be named after him. Lansdale writes in a variety of genres, including Westerns, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. He received the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2001 for The Bottoms, and has also garnered the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, and eleven Bram Stoker Awards.”

Bland by Name but Not Repute

P.M. Raymond, a resident of Apex, North Carolina, has won the 2024 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color award.

According to a press release from the Sisters in Crime (SinC) organization, which sponsors this annual prize, Raymond’s contest submission, “A Nasty Business,” “is set on a Louisiana farm where a family tradition forces the heirs to compete in a series of grueling tasks. Pops, the patriarch, oversees the competition between his sons, Galen and Jeff, as they vie for control of the estate, and discover the farm's dark history—and the heavy burden of their inheritance.”

Offering a bit of Raymond’s background, SinC says, “She was named to the 160 Black Women in Horror and is a 2024 Finalist in the Killer Shorts Screenplay Competition. Her work has appeared in publications such as Flash Fiction Magazine, Kings River Life Magazine, Dark Fire Fiction, Pyre Magazine and The Furious Gazelle and Dark Yonder.”

This year’s three Taylor Bland Award judges—Alex Segura, Carolyn Wilkins, and Nicole Prewitt—chose “A Nasty Business” over submissions from five other scribblers. Those runners-up were:

• Aftermath, by Carleasa A. Coates of Catlett, Virginia
• And Then It Clicked, by Renee P. Stone of Las Vegas, Nevada
• The Code, by Grace Wynter of Decatur, Georgia
• Gifted Grifter, by Fritz Mason of Columbia, South Carolina
• Man Eater, by Elena Scialtiel of Gibraltar

The prize was created in 2014 and named in honor of “pioneering African-American crime fiction author” Eleanor Taylor Bland, a Chicago-area author of police procedurals. Bland died in 2010. Past winners have included Nicole Prewitt (2023), Shizuka Otak (2022), Jessica Martinez (2019), and Mia Manansala (2018).