Grafton, L.A. Times Awards Due Soon

The Mystery Writers of America organization has announced that it will present the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award on April 25, during this year’s Edgar Awards festivities in New York City. That new commendation is, of course, named in honor of Grafton, the creator of fictional private investigator Kinsey Millhone, who died in December 2017 at age 77, following a battle with cancer. According to a news release, the Sue Grafton Memorial Award will celebrate “the Best Novel in a Series featuring a female protagonist in a series.” The five nominees have reportedly been “chosen by the 2019 Best Novel and Best Paperback Original Edgar Award judges from the books submitted to them throughout the year.” They are:

• Perish, by Lisa Black (Kensington)
• Shell Game, by Sara Paretsky (Morrow)
• City of Secrets, by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)
• A Forgotten Place, by Charles Todd (Morrow)
• To Die But Once, by Jacqueline Winspear (Harper)

By the way, the awarding date—April 25—is one day after what would have been Southern California author Grafton’s 79th birthday.

* * *

Meanwhile, finalists for the 2019 Los Angeles Times Book Awards have been announced in 10 categories. Here are the novels contending in the Mystery/Thriller section:

• Give Me Your Hand, by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown)
• Green Sun, by Kent Anderson (Mulholland)
• November Road, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleda)
• The Perfect Nanny, by Leila Slimani (Penguin)

Winners will be declared on April 12, the evening before the opening of this year’s L.A. Times Festival of Books, which is to held on the University of Southern California campus (April 13-14).

(Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.)

Let’s Hear It for Audiobooks

I must somehow have missed seeing the announcement that the Audio Publishers Association had announced its list of audiobook finalists for the 2019 Audie Awards. Fortunately, In Reference to Murder picked up the story. There are 24 categories of prizes, but two of those can be assumed to have the greatest interest to Rap Sheet readers.

Mystery:
• Lethal White, by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling);
narrated by Robert Glenister (Hachette Audio)
• The Mystery of Three Quarters, by Sophie Hannah;
narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt (HarperAudio)
• The Punishment She Deserves, by Elizabeth George;
narrated by Simon Vance (Penguin Random House Audio)
• The Tuscan Child, by Rhys Bowen;
narrated by Jonathan Keeble and Katy Sobey (Audible Studios)
• Wild Fire, by Ann Cleeves; narrated by Kenny Blyth (Macmillan Audio)

Thriller/Suspense:
• Crimson Lake, by Candice Fox;
narrated by Euan Morton (Macmillan Audio)
• The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware;
narrated by Imogen Church (Simon & Schuster Audio)
• Macbeth, by Jo Nesbø;
narrated by Euan Morton (Penguin Random House Audio)
• The Outsider, by Stephen King;
narrated by Will Patton (Simon & Schuster Audio)
• The Terminal List, by Jack Carr;
narrated by Ray Porter (Simon & Schuster Audio)
• Their Lost Daughters, by Joy Ellis;
narrated by Richard Armitage (Audible Studios)

The winners of this year’s commendations will be declared during a ceremony in New York City on March 4, with Queer Eye fashion authority Tan France playing host.

What Would Agatha Say?

Organizers of the annual Malice Domestic conference have announced the finalists for this year’s Agatha Awards. The names of winning works and authors will be declared on May 4, during Malice Domestic 31, set to be held in Bethesda, Maryland from May 3 to 5.

Best Contemporary Novel:
• Mardi Gras Murder, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane)
• Beyond the Truth, by Bruce Robert Coffin (Witness Impulse)
• Cry Wolf, by Annette Dashofy (Henery Press)
• Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• Trust Me, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best Historical Novel:
• Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
• The Gold Pawn, by L.A. Chandlar (Kensington)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• Turning the Tide, by Edith Maxwell (Midnight Ink)
• Murder on Union Square, by Victoria Thompson (Berkley)

Best First Novel:
• A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• Little Comfort, by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
• What Doesn’t Kill You, by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
• Deadly Solution, by Keenan Powell (Level Best)
• Curses Boiled Again, by Shari Randall (St. Martin’s Press)

Best Short Story:
• “All God’s Sparrows,” by Leslie Budewitz (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], May/June 2018)
• “A Postcard for the Dead,” by Susanna Calkins (from Florida Happens, edited by Greg Herren; Three Rooms Press)
• “Bug Appetit,” by Barb Goffman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November/December 2018)
• “The Case of the Vanishing Professor,” by Tara Laskowski (AHMM, May/June 2018)
• “English 398: Fiction Workshop,” by Art Taylor (EQMM,
July/August 2018)

Best Young Adult Mystery:
• Potion Problems (Just Add Magic), by Cindy Callaghan (Aladdin)
• Winterhouse, by Ben Guterson (Henry Holt)
• A Side of Sabotage, by C.M. Surrisi (Carolrhoda)

Best Non-fiction:
• Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers, by Jane Cleland (Writer’s Digest Books)
• Writing the Cozy Mystery, by Nancy J. Cohen (Orange Grove Press)
• Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer, by Margalit Fox (Random House)
• Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life, by Laura Thompson
(Pegasus Books)
• Wicked Women of Ohio, by Jane Ann Turzillo (History Press)

Best of luck to all the nominees!

Deserving of Edgars Attention

January had already brought us the lists of nominees for 2019’s Lefty Awards and Barry Awards. Now the Mystery Writers of America announces the rivals for this year’s coveted Edgar Awards.

Best Novel:
• The Liar’s Girl, by Catherine Ryan Howard (Blackstone)
• House Witness, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• A Gambler’s Jury, by Victor Methos (Thomas & Mercer)
• Down the River Unto the Sea, by Walter Mosley (Mulholland)
• Only to Sleep, by Lawrence Osborne (Hogarth)
• A Treacherous Curse, by Deanna Raybourn (Berkley)

Best First Novel by an American Author:
• A Knife in the Fog, by Bradley Harper (Seventh Street)
• The Captives, by Debra Jo Immergut (Ecco)
• The Last Equation of Isaac Severy, by Nova Jacobs (Touchstone)
• Bearskin, by James A. McLaughlin (Ecco)
• Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original:
• If I Die Tonight, by Alison Gaylin (Morrow)
• Hiroshima Boy, by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park)
• Under a Dark Sky, by Lori Rader-Day (Morrow)
• The Perfect Nanny, by Leila Slimani (Penguin)
• Under My Skin, by Lisa Unger (Park Row)

Best Fact Crime:
• Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge First and the Rise of Gay Liberation, by Robert W. Fieseler (Liveright)
• Sex Money Murder: A Story of Crack, Blood, and Betrayal,
by Jonathan Green (Norton)
• The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure, by Carl Hoffman (Morrow)
• The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson (Viking)
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, by Michelle McNamara (Harper)
• The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World’s Most Powerful Mafia, by Alex Perry (Morrow)

Best Critical/Biographical:
• The Metaphysical Mysteries of G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study of the Father Brown Stories and Other Detective Fiction, by Laird R. Blackwell (McFarland)
• Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession,
by Alice Bolin (Morrow)
• Classic American Crime Fiction of the 1920s, annotated by Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus Books)
• Mark X: Who Killed Huck Finn’s Father? by Yasuhiro
Takeuchi (Routledge)
• Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life, by Laura Thompson (Pegasus)

Best Short Story:
• “Rabid,“ by Paul Doiron (Minotaur e-book)
• “Paranoid Enough for Two,” by John Lutz (from The Havana
Game; Kensington)
• “Ancient and Modern,” by Val McDermid (from Bloody Scotland, edited by James Crawford; Pegasus)
• “English 398: Fiction Workshop,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2018)
• “The Sleep Tight Motel,” by Lisa Unger (Amazon e-book)

Best Juvenile:
• Denis Ever After, by Tony Abbott (Katherine Tegen)
• Zap! by Martha Freeman (Paula Wiseman)
• Ra the Mighty: Cat Detective, by A.B. Greenfield (Holiday House)
• Winterhouse, by Ben Guterson (Henry Holt)
• Otherwood, by Pete Hautman (Candlewick Press)
• Charlie & Frog, by Karen Kane (Disney Hyperion)
• Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground, by T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press)

Best Young Adult:
• Contagion, by Erin Bowman (HarperCollins)
• Blink, by Sasha Dawn (Carolrhoda Lab)
• After the Fire, by Will Hill (Sourcebooks Fire)
• A Room Away from the Wolves, by Nova Ren Suma (Algonquin)
• Sadie, by Courtney Summers (Wednesday)

Best Television Episode Teleplay:
• “The Box,” Brooklyn Nine-Nine, teleplay by Luke Del Tredici (NBC/Universal TV)
• “Season 2, Episode 1,” Jack Irish, teleplay by Andrew Knight
(Acorn TV)
• “Episode 1,” Mystery Road, teleplay by Michaeley O’Brien (Acorn TV)
• “My Aim Is True,” Blue Bloods, teleplay by Kevin Wade
(CBS Eye Productions)
• “The One That Holds Everything,” The Romanoffs, teleplay by Matthew Weiner and Donald Joh (Amazon Prime Video)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award:
“How Does He Die This Time?” by Nancy Novick (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2018)

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award:
• A Death of No Importance, by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
• A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• Bone on Bone, by Julia Keller (Minotaur)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• A Borrowing of Bones, by Paula Munier (Minotaur)

Winners are set to be announced during a “gala banquet” on April 25, in New York City. Congratulations to all of this year’s contenders.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

Barrys Squeak Out Ahead

With the Mystery Writers of America set to make public its nominations for the 2019 Edgar Awards tomorrow, January 22, I’d assumed that all other prize-presenting organizations would avoid overlapping announcements. But I was wrong. As Mystery Fanfare notes, Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine today declared the contenders for its latest Barry Awards. They are:

Best Novel:
• November Road, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• Dark Sacred Night, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• The Shadows We Hide, by Allen Eskens (Mulholland)
• Depth of Winter, by Craig Johnson (Viking)
• Leave No Trace, by Mindy Mejia (Atria)
• A Necessary Evil, by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)

Best First Novel:
• My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday)
• Need to Know, by Karen Cleveland (Ballantine)
• Dodging and Burning, by John Copenhaver (Pegasus)
• Sweet Little Lies, by Caz Frear (Harper)
• Bearskin, by James A. McLaughlin (Ecco)
• The Chalk Man, by C.J. Tudor (Crown)

Best Paperback Original:
• A Sharp Solitude, by Christine Carbo (Atria)
• Dead Pretty, by David Mark (Blue Rider Press)
• The Ruin, by Dervla McTiernan (Penguin)
• The Hollow of Fear, by Sherry Thomas (Berkley)
• Resurrection Bay, by Emma Viskic (Pushkin Vertigo)

Best Thriller:
• The Terminal List, by Jack Carr (Atria)
• Safe Houses, by Dan Fesperman (Knopf)
• London Rules, by Mick Herron (Soho)
• Forever and a Day, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
• Light It Up, by Nick Petrie (Putnam)
• The King Tides, by James Swain (Thomas & Mercer)

Winners will be proclaimed and awards handed ’round during the opening night ceremonies at this year’s Bouchercon in Dallas, on October 31. The Texas setting has some significance, for as the old Mystery News explained, the Barry Awards are named in honor of Barry Gardner, a longtime “friend of mystery fiction,” who died “while reading in his easy chair at his Dallas home on July 19, 1996.”

Leftys Honor Writing

Organizers of Left Coast Crime 2019, “Whale of a Crime,” the convention scheduled to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from March 28 to 31, today announced their nominees in four different categories of Lefty Awards. They are:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel:
• Mardi Gras Murder, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane)
• Hollywood Ending, by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
• Nighttown, by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Crime)
• Death al Fresco, by Leslie Karst (Crooked Lane)
• The Spirit in Question, by Cynthia Kuhn (Henery Press)
• Scot Free, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial), for books covering events before 1960:
• Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding, by Rhys Bowen
(Berkeley Prime Crime)
• The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday,
by David Corbett (Black Opal)
• Island of the Mad, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• A Dying Note, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
• It Begins in Betrayal, by Iona Whishaw (Touchwood Editions)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel:
• Broken Places, by Tracy Clark (Kensington)
• Cobra Clutch, by A.J. Devlin (NeWest Press)
• The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn (Morrow)
• A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder,
by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• What Doesn’t Kill You, by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
• Deadly Solution, by Keenan Powell (Level Best)
• Give Out Creek, by J.G. Toews (Mosaic Press)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories):
• November Road, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• Wrong Light, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
• Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• Under a Dark Sky, by Lori Rader-Day (Morrow)
• A Reckoning in the Back Country, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street)
• A Stone’s Throw, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

According to a press release, “The awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 30 …” This year’s Guests of Honor are authors C.J. Box and Maureen Jennings, with William Deverell to be honored as the Local Legend.

Turton Collects a Costa

Here’s a news item I missed, but which B.V. Lawson has thankfully incorporated into her latest “Mystery Melange” post:

Stuart Turton has won the [2018] Costa First Novel Award for
his debut, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. The crime novel has been sold in 20 territories to date and has been optioned for TV. The Costa Book Awards honor some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland.

British writer Turton’s novel was retitled The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in the States. It’s due out in paperback come May.

Crider to Be Honored in Dallas

Bouchercon 2019—the 50th convention of its kind, to be held next October 31-November 3 in Dallas, Texas—will debut a new commendation named in honor of the late author Bill Crider. Called the Bill Crider Prize for Short Fiction, it will offer a first-place award of $1,000 (plus prizes for second and third place) to what judges determine are the best original stories—3,500 to 5,000 words in length, and submitted anonymously—“relating to Texas ... with an element of mystery or crime.” The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2019. You will find more details here.