Group Efforts

A change has been made in the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s annual Derringer Awards program. In addition to the usual prizes for Best Flash Story, Best Short Story, Best Long Story, and Best Novelette, there’s now a fifth category: Best Anthology. According to the SMFS Web site, “This is being done on a two-year trial basis. If there are no significant problems or objections from the membership, the award will become permanent with the awards presented in 2027.”

There are six finalists for the inaugural Best Anthology honor:

• Devil’s Snare: Best New England Crime Stories 2024, edited by Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler (Hale Street Press)
• Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead, edited by Josh Pachter (Down & Out)
• Larceny & Last Chances: 22 Stories of Mystery & Suspense, edited by Judy Penz Sheluk (‎Superior Shores Press)
• Murder, Neat: A SleuthSayers Anthology, edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman (Level Short)
• New York State of Crime: Murder New York Style 6, edited by D.M. Barr and Joseph R.G. De Marco (Down & Out)
• The 13th Letter, edited by Donna Carrick (Carrick)

We still await the shortlists of contenders for the original Derringers. The judging is currently underway, with results scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, April 1.