Bob Hoskins Would Be Proud

As I mentioned before, I had a fine lunch recently with author Richard Montanari at Soho House in London. What I forgot to say in that post was that, since I was traveling by train, I allowed myself to quaff a bit more wine during the meal than I would normally have done. Which made me even more loquacious than normal. Well, it seems that Liz Thomson of Bookbrunch had her notebook out during the lunch, and she later wrote about one of the escapades Roger Jon “R.J.” Ellory and yours truly had while we were visiting Baltimore last fall for Bouchercon. In her words:

Montanari had not set foot in London for more than 30 years, having last been here on a student exchange to the LSE. “I can’t remember if I did any work,” he said, though he recalled going to lots of gigs, not least by the Groundhogs, whom most people round the table were too young to remember. On this trip, his publisher Kate Elton and publicist Emma Finnigan kept him too busy to go gigging--the closest he came was a stop outside the celebrated 100 Club in Oxford Street. But let no one say he didn’t see the sights--Welwyn Garden City to meet the Tesco crew and Leeds to see Asda.

Still, it will all be worth it--his combined sales are fast approaching the million mark, so, with a little push and a fair wind, Play Dead and the new one, The Devil’s Garden, due in August, will push him through the barrier.

Meanwhile, Karim revealed that a life in crime books gives you an attitude: in Baltimore for the Bouchercon crimefest, he and a friend wandered off-piste after a few beers too many and found themselves on the wrong side of the tracks in the murder capital of America. No sooner had they realised their mistake when some tough-looking dudes rounded a corner ... and fled in the face of what they thought was trouble.

The full story of how Ellory and I survived our encounter in one of Baltimore’s more dodgy districts is contained in Part II of a report I wrote for my personal blog, Existentialist Man:

Particularly pleasant were the St. Martin’s cocktail party, Meet the Brits, and Lee Child’s annual Jack Reacher bash in an Irish bar called Lucy’s. This was a real buzzing event, but in a rather ropey area of town, that caused an issue when Roger and I made our way back to the hotel through ‘The Hood’.

It was a rather frightening experience, but thanks to [our] reading so many thrillers, and both knowing lines from the classic London gangster movie--The Long Good Friday--Roger and I put on our grimmest Jack Reacher whiplash smiles and spoke loudly in tough faux London gangster accents. That was enough for the hooded Baltimore men to part the pavement and cross the road to allow us through.

Without sounding jingoistic, as tough as American gangsters are; there’s nothing scarier than a British baddie to really put the fear of God into an American baddie. Reading a lot of thrillers and crime fiction can have its upsides. However, I must warn you, that snarling in a loud cockney accent on the streets of Baltimore is not really recommended unless you are prepared to imitate lines from ... The Long Good Friday. So I whispered the plan to Roger, and then nudged him as the thugs approached, to get him into character and into cockney ...

Ali - “Notice anything unusual? Different Nobbers, or the usual Wifflers?”

Roger - “It was a good night. Nothing unusual.”

Ali - “Nothing unusual, he says! Eric’s been blown to smithereens, Colin’s been carved up, and I’ve got a bomb in my bloody casino, and you say nothing unusual?”

Roger - “When was this, then?”

Ali - “When was this then? When was this then? Is that all you can say, you fucking Nobber! I’m glad I found out in time just what a partnership with a wanker like you would’ve been. A sleeping partner’s one thing, but you’re in a fucking coma! No wonder you got an energy crisis your side of the water--‘The Mafia, I shit ’em!’ The world’s full of Wifflers!”

The Baltimore hoods just moved away crossing the street, while Roger did his best to keep a straight face as I trembled with fear (but the hoods assumed it was with anger). ...

When we got back to the hotel, intact but shaking, Roger and I drank hits of Scotch on the rocks to reduce the leg trembles.

Remember, don’t try these tactics at home.

It’s All About the Images

As I mentioned yesterday, I flew off to Bouchercon in Baltimore last Wednesday without my digital camera. (Yeah, yeah, I know: I should’ve been more methodical in my packing, but some traditions--such as cramming clean clothes into a suitcase just as the cab is pulling up to my parking strip--are simply not to be messed with.) So I was dependent on others to take and send me photographs from that most excellent convention.

Among those shutterbugs is Ali Karim, a regular contributor to The Rap Sheet (in addition to being a contributing editor of January Magazine and the assistant editor of Shots). One of the best-connected crime-fiction critics I know, and a positive fiend with a flash, Ali took hundreds of shots while we were all in Charm City, and he has sent a selection of them along for my entertainment--and yours. Here are some of the highlights:

Your hosts for this adventure: J. Kingston Pierce and Ali Karim

Ali Karim with Jon Jordan of Crimespree Magazine

Christa Faust (Money Shot) and Ali Karim

Icelandic crime novelist Arnaldur Indridason (Arctic Chill) and blogger Peter Rozovsky of Detectives Beyond Borders

Novelist and Rap Sheet contributor Gary Phillips with fellow wordsmith Joseph Finder

Dan Fesperman, Jason Pinter, and the pseudonymous Tom Cain

The infamous “booze and writing” panel. From left to right: Ali Karim, Michelle Gagnon, Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, Elizabeth Zelvin, and Con Lehane. Notice the bottle of Gordon’s Gin at the moderator’s end of the table

All hands on deck! Rap Sheet contributors Ali Karim, J. Kingston Pierce, Linda L. Richards, and Declan Burke

Ali Karim, Canadian novelist John McFetridge (Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere), and ... well, that guy again

An encounter not to be forgotten: Ali Karim, J. Kingston Pierce, Dennis Lehane, and Roger Jon “R.J.” Ellory

Friends Laura Lippman and Dennis Lehane

J. Kingston Pierce and Peter Rozovsky, together with author Declan Hughes (The Price of Blood)

Joseph Finder, Ali Karim, and Jason Starr

Laurie R. King goes to accept the Crimespree Reader Award

Authors Stuart MacBride and Peter James

Marcus Sakey (At the City’s Edge, The Blade Itself) and Jennifer Jordan (Expletive Deleted)

Novelist Reed Farrel Coleman, organizer Judy Bobalik, and Bouchercon’s International Guest of Honor, author John Harvey

Ken Isaacson, J. Kingston Pierce, and Max Allan Collins

British writers Martyn Waites and Martin Edwards

David Simon--journalist, TV writer-producer (Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire), and Laura Lippman’s husband--along with Lawrence Block, who was commended during Bouchercon for his “Distinguished Contribution to the Genre”

Roger Ellory and Lee Child

Ali Karim and Roger Ellory with “Edgar Allan Poe” at this year’s Shamus Awards banquet, held at Baltimore’s Westminster Hall

Reed Farrel Coleman shows off his Shamus Award (for Soul Patch), along with Megan Abbott and F. Paul Wilson

Anthony Award nominees J. Kingston Pierce and Ali Karim flanking author-blogger Linda L. Richards

Roger Ellory, together with Cathy and Edward Wright (winner of this year’s Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel) and Deadly Pleasures contributor Larry Gandle

Going out for a most convivial post-Bouchercon dinner on the edge of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor were (left to right) blogger-author Sandra Ruttan and her boyfriend, Brian Lindenmuth; Roger Ellory; J. Kingston Pierce and his wife, Jodi; Linda L. Richards and Peter Rozovsky (seated)

READ MORE: “Digging the Scene with a Gangster Lean: Tales of a Bouchercon Virgin,” by Brian Lindenmuth (Observations from the Balcony); “The Insider’s View of Mystery Convention Bouchercon,” by Sarah Weinman (Los Angeles Times); “The Bar at Bouchercon,” by Elizabeth Zelvin (Poe’s Deadly Daughters); “100,000 Not Out,” by Declan Burke (Crime Always Pays); “Reflections,” by Martin Edwards (‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’); “Ayo’s Bouchercon 2008 Roundup,” by Ayo Onatade (Shotsmag Confidential); “Charmed by Baltimore,” by Linda L. Richards.

A Few Final Bouchercon Musings

Linda L. Richards and J. Kingston Pierce take a break from Bouchercon to visit Edgar Allan Poe’s grave in Baltimore. (Photo by author Patricia Smiley.)

Flying back on the plane last night, after leaving Baltimore and then spending most of Monday touring about Washington, D.C., I wasn’t sure how much more I could say about the 2008 Bouchercon, “Charmed to Death.” What a wonderful experience. Organizers Ruth Jordan and Judy Bobalik set a new high standard for these conventions. I come away from my time spent in Charm City with many fond recollections, as well as a renewed determination to someday enter the ranks of published crime novelists.

Meanwhile, after consulting my notes (scribbled on the backs of convention programs and assorted handouts), I’ve compiled some random thoughts about what happened--and didn’t happen--during Bouchercon. Readers are welcome to contribute their own recollections in the Comments section at the bottom of this post.

Best Memories: Meeting Laura Lippman, who actually knew who I was. ... Meeting John Lutz, who didn’t, but who still appreciated my complimenting his long-overlooked private eye Fred Carver series. (Bad news for Carver fans: Lutz says he’s currently satisfied writing serial-killer books, and has no plans to revive either Carver or his St. Louis P.I., Alo Nudger.) ... Being introduced to Dennis Lehane, who showed up, unannounced, to watch novelist Michael Koryta interview Lippman. It was really surprising to see how many people didn’t recognize Lehane, as he leaned against a wall at the back of the meeting room. ... Finally meeting Max Allan Collins, who I interviewed years ago for January Magazine and with whom I’ve since carried on an e-mail correspondence. He invited me to a Saturday-night showing of the film Last Lullaby, which was based on his 2006 Hard Case Crime novel, The Last Quarry. Featuring Tom Sizemore and Sasha Alexander (from NCIS), The Last Lullaby is a violent, cynical little gem of a film that seems intended for the art-house circuit, but will certainly be of interest to fans of hard-boiled crime fiction. ... Visiting Edgar Allan Poe’s grave at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in downtown Baltimore. As is traditional, I left a coin on the headstone. ... Meeting novelist Roger Jon “R.J.” Ellory, who’d ventured across the Atlantic in company with Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim. Prior to Bouchercon, I’d never had the good fortune to read Ellory’s books (he has no American publisher); but now, thanks to his generosity, I have a pair of his novels in hand: A Quiet Vendetta (2005) and City of Lies (2006). ... Closing down the bar at the convention hotel one night with crime-fiction critic and author Eddie Muller, who told his small audience about meeting the storied actress Lauren Bacall. Muller explained that the former Mrs. Humphrey Bogart doesn’t suffer fools gladly--which was particularly bad news for one young interviewer, who had to inquire of her fellow journalists, “Wasn’t Bacall once married to somebody famous?” ... Hanging out at Lee Child’s post-Shamus Awards fête with Gary Phillips, his voice loud and deep enough to be heard above the din. ... Swapping kudos with Irish blogger and Rap Sheet contributor Declan Burke, author of The Big O and an altogether gracious guy. ... Meeting, if only ever so briefly, Hard Case Crime publisher and author Charles Ardai. ... Making lunch of crab cakes and hush puppies at Lexington Market. ... Bumping into blogger Patti Abbott (mother of the delightful Megan Abbott, another Rap Sheet correspondent) on the bridge connecting the convention hotel with the historic inn next door, where I was staying. Patti threw her arms around me, as if we’d known each other for years. Unfortunately, that was the only moment we had to talk. Next time, we must find more opportunities. ... And going out to dinner on the convention’s last night, Sunday, with a mixed bag of my fellow Web mavens--Peter Rozovsky of Detectives Beyond Borders, Sandra Ruttan from On Life & Other Inconveniences, and Linda L. Richards, my editor from January Magazine--plus Ali Karim, Roger Ellory, Sandra’s boyfriend, Brian Lindenmuth, and my own wife, Jodi. Talk about immediate camaraderie! Even I, a confirmed introvert, couldn’t help chattering away about the strengths and weaknesses of modern crime fiction and this convention’s social dynamics.

And a Few Disappointments: Forgetting my digital camera at home (thankfully, there were plenty of shutterbugs in attendance). ... Missing out on chances to meet Louis Bayard, Rennie Airth, Ann Cleeves, Thomas H. Cook, George Pelecanos, the mother and son who write under the pseudonym “Charles Todd,” and Daniel Stashower. ... And of course, failing to walk away with the most-coveted Anthony Award for Best Web Site. I know I downplayed my wish to win it in the first place, but I’m just modest that way.

Things I Learned at Bouchercon: John Harvey’s next novel is titled Far Cry, and will feature the two cops, Detective Inspector Will Graham and Detective Sergeant Helen Walker, he created for Gone to Ground (2007). Harvey explained that Far Cry will be his 100th novel. “My publisher doesn’t necessarily want that known, though,” the author quipped. “I mean, who wants to buy the 100th book from some old guy?” (Harvey will celebrate his 70th birthday on December 21 of this year.) ... In the introduction to advance reading copies of Moriarty, Brit John Gardner’s most recent novel to feature Sherlock Holmes’ legendary nemesis, the late author calls it “the third book in a planned quartet.” However, Gardner’s editor, Otto Penzler, told me that there won’t in fact be a fourth entry in that series, which has already brought us The Return of Moriarty (1974) and The Revenge of Moriarty (1975). Apparently, Gardner didn’t even have time to start writing the fourth book; he died about a week after finishing his final edits on Moriarty (which is due out on both sides of the Atlantic in November). “And he was so proud of this one,” Penzler said sadly. “Did you like it?” I confessed that I did, indeed. ... Although author S.J. Rozan’s quite wonderful Six Word Stories site has been inactive since May, she says she has plenty of submissions in the can, and will start posting there again soon. ... Bury Me Deep is the title of Megan Abbott’s next novel. She describes it on her Web site as “a story of tabloid desire and the darkest of crimes.” ... Stuart MacBride has turned out some grim-textured yarns (such as this year’s Flesh House) about Detective Sergeant Logan McRae of the Aberdeen, Scotland, police, but he’s frickin’ hilarious in person. ... Stephen Booth’s next Detective Constable Ben Cooper and Detective Sergeant Diane Fry novel will be The Kill Call, which has to do with illegal fox hunting in England’s Peak District. By the way, Booth provided me with one of my best memories from Bouchercon. He told me that The Rap Sheet is the only blog he reads on a regular basis. I think I may have that endorsement bronzed and posted prominently above my computer.

Things I Heard at Bouchercon: Remarking on the antipathy some “literary” writers have for crime fictionists, toastmaster and author Mark Billingham (In the Dark) said that he’d recently heard somebody describe crime writers as “the smokers of the literary world. ... [Other writers] look at you and say, ‘Oh, isn’t it a horrible thing--but it looks like so much fun.’” ... Penzler, no stranger to private-eye fiction (he was an ardent supporter of Ross Macdonald, for instance), called the late James Crumley’s 1978 novel, The Last Good Kiss, “the best P.I. novel ever.” ... During a panel discussion on drinking and detectives, Ken Bruen said that he had once been confronted by a reader who, displeased with the persistent drunkenness of Bruen’s fictional P.I., Jack Taylor, informed him that Taylor had “ruined drinking for him.” Bruen said that ever since, he’s worried that someone will write on his tombstone, He ruined drinking. “And that’s about the worst thing an Irishman could see on his tombstone.” ... One more Billingham quote: “I can’t guarantee that my latest book is going to be better than sex, but it will last a damn sight longer.”

What I Look Forward to: “Bouchercon by the Bay,” the 2010 convention in San Francisco. I haven’t any particular desire to attend next year’s event in Indianapolis, but I’m already planning for San Francisco in a couple of years. Any excuse to get me to that fair city is a good one. I just hope that most of the people I met at Bouchercon this time around show up there, too. The first round of Irish coffees at the Buena Vista bar is on me.

READ MORE: A Bouchercon Wrap-up, by Ruth Jordan; “Bouchercon--the Panels,” by Martin Edwards (‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’).

Leavin’ on a Jet Plane

Well, after five days spent in Baltimore, my wife and I are finally heading home to Seattle. Bouchercon came off this year without any obvious flaws, everyone appeared pleased with the work Ruth Jordan and Judy Bobalik did, and I managed not to add too many pounds of books to my luggage. I had never been to Baltimore before this trip, but I hope to return again someday. Laura Lippman should be proud of her city for the reception it gave all of us. I’d been expecting some rain, but the weather here over the last few days was nothing but sunny and clear. Roaming about the city streets, visiting Fell’s Point, checking out the restaurants in Little Italy (and even seeing a street-corner opera performance!)--what a treat.

I have a great deal more to say about this event, but I shall wait until I’m sitting again at my own desk, and not trying to work from a hotel computer. For now, there’s more packing to be done.

MORE BOUCHERCON MEMORIES: “Once Upon a Bouchercon,” by Gerald So (If You Want to Know About My Life ....); “The Blur of the Con,” “Post-Bouchercon Letdown,” and “More Bouchercon,” by Sandra Ruttan (On Life & Other Inconveniences); “A Fortuitous Meeting” and “Bouchercon Crime Fiction Festival 2008,” by R.J. Ellory (The Ellory Journal); “Washington, Baltimore, Movies, Books, and Music,” by Peter Robinson; “Back from Bouchercon,” by David J. Montgomery (Crime Fiction Dossier); “Bouchercon I: Drinks with Ice,” “Bouchercon III,” “Bouchercon IV: All the Schmooze That’s Fit to Print,” “Bouchercon V: One Too Many Mornings ...,” “The Big No-Sleep: Post-Bouchercon Miscellany, Part I,” and “Too Many Strangers on a Train: Post-Bouchercon Miscellany, Part II,” by Peter Rozovsky (Detectives Beyond Borders); “Bouchercon,” by Patti Abbott (Pattinase); “Bouchercon in Bullet Points,” by Sarah Weinman (Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind); “Bouchercon Wrap-up,” by Alexandra Sokoloff (Ghost Writer).

Please Pass the Anthonys

Let me start out by saying that Baltimore’s own Laura Lippman should feel most proud this weekend. Not only did the 2008 Bouchercon go off with few or no faults in Charm City, but the wonderful Ms. Lippman walked away with a triple-play of commendations--one Macavity Award, one Barry Award, and now a pair of Anthony Awards. I guess she’ll be investing in some new shelves in the near future.

As much as I would have liked to win an Anthony for The Rap Sheet and January Magazine today, I think that my competition in the Best Web Site category was outstanding. So I do not regret losing out this time. At least I wound up with a handsome plaque, which will be appearing soon on my office wall. And maybe I shall have another shot at that award in the future.

Anyway, here’s the full list of nominees and winners:

Best Novel: What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Also nominated: The Tin Roof Blowdown, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster); Bad Luck and Trouble, by Lee Child (Delacorte); The Watchman, by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster); and Thunder Bay, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)

Best First Novel: In the Woods, by Tana French (Viking)

Also nominated: Big City, Bad Blood, by Sean Chercover (Morrow); The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster); Head Games, by Craig McDonald (Bleak House); and The Blade Itself, by Marcus Sakey (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original: A Thousand Bones, by P.J. Parrish (Pocket)

Also nominated: Queenpin, by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster); Slide, by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr (Hard Case Crime); Blood of Paradise, by David Corbett (Ballantine); and Baby Shark’s Beaumont Blues, by Robert Fate (Capital Crime)

Best Short Story: “Hardly Knew Her,” by Laura Lippman (from Dead Man’s Hand, edited by Otto Penzler; Harcourt)

Also nominated: “Please Watch Your Step,” by Rhys Bowen (The Strand Magazine, Spring 2007); “Dear Dr. Watson,” by Steve Hockensmith (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, February 2007); “How Stella Got her Grave Back,” by Toni L.P. Kelner (from Many Bloody Returns, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner; Ace); and “Uncle,” by Daniel Woodrell (from A Hell of A Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir, edited by Megan Abbott; Busted Flush)

Best Critical Non-fiction: Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters, by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley (Penguin)

Also nominated: The Essential Mystery Lists, compiled and edited by Roger M. Sobin (Poisoned Pen Press); The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks, and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction, by Patrick Anderson (Random House); Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction, by Christiana Gregoriou (Palgrave MacMillan)

Special Services Award: Jon and Ruth Jordan, Crimespree Magazine

Also nominated: Ali Karim, Shots; Maddy Van Hertbruggen, 4 Mystery Addicts; Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind; Judy Bobalik, “for being one of the best friends and supporters of mystery writers anywhere.”

Best Web Site: Stop, You’re Killing Me!, edited by Stan Ulrich and Lucinda Surber

Also nominated: Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, by Sarah Weinman; The Rap Sheet/January Magazine, edited by J. Kingston Pierce; Murderati, a writers’ blog; Crime Fiction Dossier, by David J. Montgomery

In addition, Deadly Pleasures editor George Easter presented a second Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom to Bill and Toby Gottfried. And a Lifetime Achievement Award was given during this conference to Robert Rosenwald and Barbara Peters of The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Phoenix, Arizona, and Poisoned Pen Press.

For Shamus, for Shamus

First, we had the Barry and Macavity award winners, announced at Bouchercon. Now come the coveted Shamus Awards, given out during a dinner ceremony last evening in Baltimore. The winners were ...

Best Novel: Soul Patch, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)

Also nominated: Head Games, by Thomas Cavanagh (St. Martin’s Minotaur); The Color of Blood, by Declan Hughes (Morrow); A Welcome Grave, by Michael Koryta (Thomas Dunne/SMP); and A Killer’s Kiss, by William Lashner (Morrow)

Best First Novel: Big City, Bad Blood, by Sean Chercover (Morrow)

Also nominated: The Cleaner, by Brett Battles (Delacorte); Keep It Real, by Bill Bryan, (Bleak House Books); When One Man Dies, by Dave White (Three Rivers Press); The Last Striptease, by Michael Wiley (Thomas Dunne Books/SMP)

Best Paperback Original: Songs of Innocence, by Richard Aleas (Hard Case Crime)

Also nominated: Exit Strategy, Kelley Armstrong (Bantam); Stone Rain, by Linwood Barclay (Bantam); Deadly Beloved, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime); and Blood of Paradise, by David Corbett (Mortalis)

Best Short Story: “Hungry Enough,” by Cornelia Read (from A Hell of A Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir, edited by Megan Abbott; Busted Flush)

Also nominated: “Kill the Cat,” by Loren D. Estleman (from Detroit Noir, edited by E. J. Olsen and John C. Hocking; Akashic Books); “Trust Me,” by Loren D. Estleman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2007); “Open Mike,” by James Nolan (from New Orleans Noir, edited by Julie Smith; Akashic); and “Room for Improvement,” by Marilyn Todd (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2007)

In addition, the Hammer Award, which honors a character, rather than an author, went to Bill Pronzini’s Nameless Detective. And The Eye (Lifetime Achievement) Award was given to San Francisco novelist Joe Gores (whose Maltese Falcon prequel is due out in April).

The most enjoyable thing was attending author Lee Child’s party last evening, at a restaurant/bar not far from the convention hotel, and seeing Reed Farrel Coleman come in after the Shamus ceremony with his wife and his shiny new award in his arms. I don’t think his smile could have grown any larger.

High Tech, Here We Come

If all goes according to plan, The Rap Sheet will host its first live Webcast tomorrow from Bouchercon in Baltimore. Publisher HarperCollins has arranged to let this blog carry an interview between British novelists Mark Billingham (In the Dark) and John Connolly (The Unquiet). It should begin at 3 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PST (and will be archived on this site thereafter).

Thanks to HarperCollins’ delightful Heather Drucker and William Mutual, the chairman/CEO of Livecast, for making this happen.

Stay tuned.

And the Winners Are ...

Last evening brought Bouchercon participants together to hear who had won this year’s Macavity, Barry, and Crimespree awards (though most of the Crimespree winners had been announced earlier in 2008). After grazing at long tables of food set up at the back of the vast meeting space, hundreds of writers, critics, and enthusiastic crime-fiction readers settled in to their chairs to watch and cheer as presentations of plaques and (in the case of the Macavity) cats were made. The evening was especially joyous, it seemed, because the heralded “Belle of Baltimore,” this city’s own Laura Lippman, picked up multiple commendations.

The full lists of winners and nominees follows.

MACAVITY AWARDS

Best Mystery Novel: What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Also nominated: Soul Patch, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House); The Unquiet, by John Connolly (Atria); Blood of Paradise, by David Corbett (Ballantine Mortalis); and Water Like a Stone, by Deborah Crombie (Morrow)

Best First Mystery: In the Woods, by Tana French (Viking)

Also nominated: Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill (Morrow); The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster); Stealing the Dragon, by Tim Maleeny (Midnight Ink); and The Collaborator of Bethlehem, by Matt Beynon Rees (Soho Crime)

Best Mystery Short Story: “Please Watch Your Step,” by Rhys Bowen (The Strand Magazine, Spring 2007)

Also nominated: “A Rat’s Tale,” by Donna Andrews (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], September-October 2007); “The Missing Elevator Puzzle,” by Jon L. Breen (EQMM, February 2007); “Brimstone P.I.,” by Beverle Graves Myers (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, May 2007); and “The Old Wife’s Tale,” by Gillian Roberts (EQMM, March-April 2007)

Best Mystery Non-fiction: The Essential Mystery Lists, compiled and edited by Roger M. Sobin (Poisoned Pen Press)

Also nominated: The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction, by Barry Forshaw (Penguin Rough Guides); Chester Gould: A Daughter’s Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy, by Jean Gould O’Connell (McFarland & Company); Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters, by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley (Penguin); and Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers, by Lee Lofland (Howdunit Series, Writers Digest Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery: Mistress of the Art of Death, by Ariana Franklin (Putnam)

Also nominated: Her Royal Spyness, by Rhys Bowen (Penguin); The Snake Stone, by Jason Goodwin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Consequences of Sin, by Clare Langley-Hawthorne (Penguin); and The Gravedigger’s Daughter, by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco)

BARRY AWARDS

Best Novel (published in the U.S. in 2007): What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Also nominated: Soul Patch, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House); The Unquiet, by John Connolly (Atria); Down River, by John Hart (St. Martin’s Minotaur); Dirty Martini, by J.A. Konrath (Hyperion); and Red Cat, by Peter Spiegelman (Knopf)

Best First Novel (published in the U.S. in 2007): In the Woods, by Tana French (Viking)

Also nominated: Missing Witness, by Gordon Campbell (Morrow); Big City, Bad Blood, by Sean Chercover (Morrow); The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster); The Collaborator of Bethlehem, by Matt Beynon Rees (Soho Press); and The Blade Itself, by Marcus Sakey (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Best British Crime Novel (published in the U.K. in 2007, not necessarily written by a British writer nor set in the U.K.): Damnation Falls, by Edward Wright (Orion)

Also nominated: A Quiet Belief in Angels, by R.J. Ellory (Orion); Pig Island, by Mo Hayder (Bantam Press); One Under, by Graham Hurley (Orion); The Death List, by Paul Johnston (Mira); The 50/50 Killer, by Steve Mosby (Orion)

Best Paperback Original: Queenpin, by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)

Also nominated: Black Widow Agency, by Felicia Donovan (Midnight Ink); Choke Point, by Jay MacLarty (Pocket); The Mark, by Jason Pinter (Mira); Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand, by Fred Vargas (Penguin); Who Is Conrad Hirst?, by Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

Best Thriller: The Watchman, by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster)

Also nominated: No Time for Goodbye, by Linwood Barclay (Bantam); The Cleaner, by Brett Battles (Delacorte); Volk’s Game, by Brent Ghelfi (Henry Holt); Silence, by Thomas Perry (Harcourt); and Midnight Rambler, by Jim Swain (Ballantine)

Finally, in a surprise move, George Easter, the editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine (which sponsors the Barrys, together with Mystery News), was given the annual Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom. Easter, who had apparently thought that an announcement of a winner in this category had been postponed until Saturday, remarked upon receiving the Sandstrom: “This is the only award I’ve ever coveted, but I could never figure out how to get it.” That brought a roar of laughter from the assembled guests.

CRIMESPREE AWARDS

As I said before, winners in at least most of the categories for this commendation (given out by Crimespree Magazine) were announced months ago. However, I don’t recall hearing about two winners prior to last evening. They were:

Crimespree Contributor of the Year: Rae Helmsworth

Reader Award: Laurie R. King

After the awards ceremony, there was plenty of partying around the convention hotel and elsewhere. We can expect even more of that on Saturday night, following the presentations of the 2008 Anthony Awards.

I Have Arrived ... in One Sense, Anyway

Well, I made it to Baltimore--via the hop-skip-and-jump method of air travel, with an unexpectedly long cab and train ride from Washington, D.C., to Charm City. And after a dinner last night of crab cakes and long hours of sleep, I have begun to settle in to the schedule of schmoozing, panel discussions, and encounters with people (such as blogger Peter Rozovsky of Detectives Beyond Borders) who somehow recognize my name.

No great moments to share at this point, though I have had the chance to reconnect with several authors I know by reputation only (Michelle Gagnon, Lee Child, Sean Chercover, Roger Jon Ellory, and Bill Crider) and see others I’ve encountered at previous crime-fiction-oriented conventions (such as Con Lehane, Martin Edwards, and Stephen Booth). I’m still looking forward to the possibility of a Rap Sheet get-together, as a number of this blog’s contributors (Ali Karim, Megan Abbott, Declan Burke, Gary Phillips, and Linda L. Richards) are in town for Bouchercon, but there are no firm plans on that score yet.

I shall keep you all apprised (on a very irregular basis, I predict) of the doings here.

Bouchercon Awaits

Due to my departure this week for Baltimore and the Bouchercon festivities (I’m in the running for an Anthony Award--fingers crossed!), The Rap Sheet will offer a lighter-than-normal load of new material over the next few days. I’ve scheduled a few posts to go up automatically, and am hoping to drop in a few more from the convention. But you should also watch for Bouchercon material on The Baltimore Sun’s Read Street blog and author Jeri Westernson’s Getting Medieval blog.