Introduction

Since it spun off from January Magazine to become a separate blog in May 2006, The Rap Sheet has earned its reputation as an essential resource for readers seeking information about what’s new and interesting in the world of crime fiction. Edited by J. Kingston Pierce, the site was nominated for an Anthony Award in 2008, and a year later it won the Spinetingler Award for Special Services to the Industry. Remarking on the blog’s value, novelist and editor Ed Gorman wrote in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: “Part pure journalism, part critique, and part just plain fun, The Rap Sheet is a tribute to the intelligence and wit of a single person. Pierce gives opinionating a good name.”

The Rap Sheet now receives between 900 and 1,800 hits each day, making it one of the most consistently popular blogs of its kind.