To Live and Laugh in L.A.

(Editor’s note: This is the last of three pieces being posted this week from The Rap Sheet’s chief British correspondent, Ali Karim, all of them related in some way to the most recent Bouchercon.)


Ali Karim with his favorite limo driver/tour guide, Carlos.

As you will undoubtedly remember from watching the final video in this post, I left behind Bouchercon 2015 and Raleigh, North Carolina, on an early morning flight to the legendary City of Angels--Los Angeles, California. My reason for winging west was all very hush-hush at the time, though I let the truth slip to a few close friends because I was also very excited. And of course, I can now reveal that I went to L.A. at the behest of author Michael Connelly, who’d invited me to watch some location shooting (at Venice Beach) for one of the Season 2 episodes of Bosch, the Amazon TV series based on his Harry Bosch detective novels and starring Titus Welliver.

Last year I was lucky enough to get a peek behind the scenes as Bosch’s premiere season was being filmed in Hollywood. With the show now having been renewed, and fresh installments expected to begin streaming in early 2016, it was fun to be back in L.A. and see Connelly and his crew further refine Bosch’s storytelling pace and style. (Click here to watch a bit of footage I shot from back of the cameras.)

Yet the fact is, I was still knackered after my time in Raleigh. Yes, the stresses of Bouchercon had been lifted, but one jet trip after another, all the way from London, had thrown off my body clock. I felt only half-awake most of the time. The night I arrived in L.A., Connelly generously took me to dinner at an exclusive restaurant near Sunset Boulevard called Craig’s. There I managed to spill a glass of red wine all over writer/filmmaker Terrill Lee Lankford (author of the novel Earthquake Weather). He was most gracious about the whole mishap, but it was direct evidence of my spatial awareness having been seriously compromised.

(Right) Ali with Bosch star Titus Welliver and writer Michael Connelly.

Afterward, I suggested to Connelly that I skip the next day’s location shooting, and instead have a sleep-in at my hotel before hopping a taxi back to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). In addition to being one of the greatest living writers of police procedurals, Connelly is one really top bloke. He looked across the table at me, recognized my fatigue, and said, “OK, but I’m not having you go back in a cab.”

When we returned to my hotel after dinner, I saw Connelly go off to have words with the concierge. He soon returned and let me know that he had hired a limousine for me, an air-conditioned Lincoln Town Car, with a driver who had an intimate knowledge of the Hollywood/L.A. area and would pick me up at 11 a.m. the next morning, then take me on a tour before depositing me at LAX.

So the following day, after a deep sleep and some breakfast shared with Connelly and his sister, Jane Davis (who I have known for many years), I loaded myself and my baggage into a limo driven by a good man named Carlos. And while I filmed our travels, he wheeled us all about the city, from the Sunset Strip through Hollywood and up to Griffith Observatory, and kept up a running commentary about everything from the homes of film stars and the La Brea Tar Pits to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and extraterrestrial spacecraft. Carlos probably thought me a bit odd, but in my defense, I do no harm. And our travels turned out to be quite wonderful.

You can click here to watch my multi-segment video tour of Los Angeles. It might not be a Sundance Festival contender, but I hope it will at least make you smile on occasion.

Thanks again to Michael Connelly for his bigheartedness in inviting me out to L.A. for what I can only describe as the trip of a lifetime.

WATCH THIS: “Titus Welliver Reflects on Lost and Teases Second Season of Bosch,” by Riley Chow (YouTube).

Karim Shots

(Editor’s note: This is the second of three pieces set to be posted this week from The Rap Sheet’s chief British correspondent, Ali Karim, all of them related in some way to the most recent Bouchercon.)

As I may have mentioned before, I was one small component of a large team of volunteers who put together this year’s Bouchercon, in Raleigh, North Carolina. I served as the programming chair, and took on Kerry Hammond as my co-chair when the enormity of that task revealed itself. Backing us up were such talented folk as Al Abramson and Ingrid Willis (who have chaired previous such events in Long Beach, California, Albany, New York, and Madison, Wisconsin), Naomi Kappel, J.D. Allen (who co-chaired Bouchercon Raleigh), and Erin Mitchell (who kept the scheduling grids on the Internet and the handy Bouchercon phone app both updated).

(Left) The plaza connecting the Sheraton and Marriott hotels in downtown Raleigh

With more than 1,400 people registered for Bouchercon, there were inevitable problems: the two convention hotels (the Sheraton and the neighboring Marriott) filled up rapidly; expected panelists became ill and had to cancel their participation, forcing us to make breakneck alterations in the events line-up; and even well-laid travel plans went awry. However intense you imagine might be the workload and anxiety involved in putting together a convention such as this, multiply that by three and you might be closer to reality.

Because there were so many things going on, plus so many details and last-minute changes to handle, I decided it was best to arrive in Raleigh a few days before Bouchercon’s start. Then, to mitigate the apprehension that comes with having so many responsibilities, as well as to manage my unavoidable jetlag, I began shooting short videos of myself each morning--just me talking to the camera--and posted those segments on my Facebook page. With a cup of Starbucks coffee at hand, I spoke principally off the cuff, sharing thoughts on the evolving convention, the two-hotel arrangement, the challenges organizers faced on a day-to-day basis, and a few of my more eccentric musings on human life and behavior. It was all a bit of navel-gazing and half-awake contemplation, and rather comical at times (a smile or laughter at my eccentricity never goes amiss), but it supplied me with an important release valve for my anxieties. I thought those videos might also be of use to subsequent Bouchercon-comers, giving them a heads-up about things before they reached Raleigh.

I’d never intended for those videos to show anywhere beyond Facebook. But on Saturday night of the convention, after the Anthony Awards were announced, Rap Sheet editor Jeff Pierce and his wife, Jodi, came up to my room at the Sheraton to sample my gin and share in my good humor at having the convention almost done. I felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from my shoulders. No longer did I have to worry what new problems the e-mail might bring; no longer did I have to fear that something disastrous would occur during a panel presentation or a larger convention gathering. Bouchercon 2015 was winding down (the last events would take place early Sunday), and I was finally able to relax. As part of that process, I showed Jeff and Jodi the little video soliloquies I’d been shooting, since they hadn’t seen them before. I felt a bit self-conscious, cringing at the combination of nervousness, sleep-deprivation, and excessive caffeine that had caused me to sit out alone each morning and film myself prattling on. My opinion was that the videos were a bit odd. However, Jeff and Jodi thought them charming, and encouraged me to upload them to YouTube and make them available in The Rap Sheet. “Even people who didn’t attend Bouchercon might get some sense of the affair by watching these,” Jeff enthused.

So below, I am embedding those eight videos, which I started shooting a few days before Bouchercon got underway in the North Carolina capital and concluded on the Monday following its finish.

A Tale of Two Hotels, Part I



A Tale of Two Hotels, Part II



Tuesday -- Pre-Convention Thoughts and Questions That Define Us



Wednesday -- Existential Thoughts from a Sleep-Deprived Mind



Thursday -- If You Are Willing to Play the Game, Remember
Nothing Stays the Same



Friday -- The Wheeler-DeWitt Equation and M-Theory as
Applied to Bouchercon 2015



Saturday -- Bouchercon’s Penultimate Day



Sunday -- the Finale and the End of Anxiety



Monday -- Recapping Bouchercon’s Concluding Events, Catching the Red-Eye to LAX, and Some Post-Convention Excitement



(To be continued in Los Angeles)

Playing Poker with Michael Robotham

(Editor’s note: This is the first of three pieces set to be posted this week from The Rap Sheet’s chief British correspondent, Ali Karim, all of them related in some way to the most recent Bouchercon.)


Michael Robotham (third from the left) surrounded by this year’s Goldsboro Gold Dagger award judges.

Some people consider me to be a bit of a raconteur, always willing to share amusing stories I’ve picked up from my reading, my travels, and my friendships--stories I wouldn’t have available to offer were it not for my longtime obsession with crime, mystery, and thriller novels. However, I’m naught but a rank amateur at relaying amusing anecdotes, when compared with Australian journalist and ghostwriter-turned-crime-fictionist Michael Robotham.

I can, though, share here a rather entertaining anecdote about Robotham himself--whose surname, I should make clear, does not contain a silent “h.” (The correct pronunciation of his last name is a standing joke between us, for I struggle to pronounce “Robotham” without an accompanying spray of spittle.)

As many Rap Sheet readers are aware, I was part of the team responsible for putting together this month’s Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Raleigh, North Carolina, an event also known as “Murder Under the Oaks.” It was a huge gathering of people devoted to the darker side of literature, drawing just over 1,400 attendees. Working on the programming for a conference of such magnitude is tougher than you can imagine, filled with anxious moments as well as numerous challenges, of which e-mail management was only one.

Because of those Bouchercon 2015 responsibilities, I had to cancel my participation in this last summer’s Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England (usually a regular feature on my annual calendar). I simply had to devote my time and energy to figuring out the schedule for the Raleigh convention, slotting authors and panelists into their appropriate positions. (As the old saying goes, “Needs must, when the devil drives.”) But not long after that Harrogate weekend, my friend and colleague from New Zealand, Craig Sisterson, who writes the popular blog Crime Watch, called me up. He was in England and had been in contact with Robotham, who’d participated in the Harrogate festivities and was next due to take part in Bouchercon. Craig wanted to arrange for the two of them to share a few beers in London with myself and Mike Stotter, my very dear friend and the editor of Shots. This sounded like a great idea, and it would provide a welcome break from the rigors of exchanging e-mail communications with writers and others who hoped to be part of the Bouchercon program.

There was only one problem--and it was a serious one.

You see, Robotham’s 10th novel, the Texas-based prison drama Life or Death, was one of seven books shortlisted by the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) for its 2015 Goldsboro Gold Dagger award. (The longlist of contenders is here.) I served on the committee (under the chairmanship of Richard Reynolds) that judged those books, while Stotter was the CWA Dagger liaison officer, charged with managing the process by which publishers submitted their works to the various Dagger judging committees.

At the time Sisterson invited us out for drinks, we had just decided--after much deliberation, debate, and discussion--which book deserved this year’s Gold Dagger … and it was Robotham’s Life or Death. Not only did I know that outcome, but so did Stotter. We were also aware that the Dagger judges had signed confidentiality agreements, which included the stipulation that we not reveal any winners’ identities before the official announcement on Tuesday, September 29. (Let me add that those agreements are no insignificant matter, but actually involve blood and a secret ceremony, held in a basement cell in the Tower of London.)

Stotter and I discussed our predicament during a telephone call. We both wanted to meet Sisterson and Robotham, but we needed to be careful not to reveal (even inadvertently) that Life or Death had claimed the Gold. We finally agreed that from the outset of our get-together, we would say that “the judges have not yet agreed on the winner of the Gold Dagger, as it is a very tough shortlist.”

So in late July, the four of us gathered at a pub called The Spice of Life on Charing Cross Road in central London. Stotter and I recited our fiction about how the judges were still deliberating over the Gold Dagger recipient, and then we all began a remarkable evening, filled with tales of great amusement--which was particularly true of those told by Sisterson, who’d recently been managing his Kiwi crime-based blog from a new base in the British capital. Robotham was in fine form, too, spilling out yarns to make us all chuckle. Friendships within the crime-fiction community can be wonderful, for though we all lead busy lives, when we encounter one another periodically it never seems awkward; we just continue where we left off, as good friends do.


Michael Robotham, Craig Sisterson, Mike Stotter, and Ali Karim meet up for drinks at London’s The Spice of Life.

Later, Robotham treated the lot of us to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant, regaling us with more stories well into the night. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much while endeavoring to consume a plate of Thai green curry. It was only after the coffee arrived that the following curious exchange took place.

Michael Robotham: “Hey Ali, I love my panel [assignments] for Raleigh. Really looking forward to Bouchercon this year as I had to miss Long Beach last year.”

Ali Karim: “Thanks, it’s been somewhat interesting but the panels are shaping up pretty well. So what are you gonna do, as the week after the CWA Dagger awards, you’re at Bouchercon. I know you lived in London for over a decade; do you plan to stay here and fly to Raleigh the week after the awards?”

MR: “Yeah, it’s a dilemma. The travel I do from Australia is a nightmare, a helluva journey to make. But let’s be real: I haven’t got a chance for the Gold Dagger, and I know you are one of the judges. But look, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Belinda Bauer [are all nominees]--there’s no way I have a snowball’s chance in hell, so I am wondering if I should skip the Daggers in London and come straight to Raleigh.”

I sought to put on my best poker face, even as my heart sank. To be presented in person with the CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger in London is a major event in the life of any crime writer; it would be sad for Robotham to miss the ceremony. Still, I was bound by that confidentially agreement to say nothing.

AK: “Well, anyway, it’ll be good if you can come as we always have a laugh, and if you do, dinner will be on me this time.”

I thanked Robotham for dinner, as he paid our bill. Then we all shook hands and wished each other well. I told Robotham I looked forward to seeing him in Raleigh in October, and that I hoped he’d come ultimately decide to attend the Daggers presentation. He said he’d think about it, and added, “I may come, as I have plenty of practice holding the loser’s smile over the years, and am rather good at it.”

Now fast-forward to the night of Tuesday, September 29. As I arrived for the Dagger award revels, my mind was aswirl with Bouchercon responsibilities and frustrations. Entering the prestigious hotel where the prize presentations were to take place, I was greeted by an excited Mike Stotter. “Robotham’s made it here!” he declared. I’m sure I must have sighed in great relief, though my memory of that is lost among other recollections of meeting my fellow Dagger judges and us all toasting the hard work (and long reading hours) we had put into deciding on this year’s winners.

While mingling I spotted Michael Robotham. I wished him the best of luck, and he thanked me, remarking: “Look, I know you are a judge and in the end it’s a crapshoot, as I’m up against some brilliant books. So I’ll just enjoy the evening and see you in Raleigh next week.”



Finally it was time to put down the canapés and champagne, as critic and author Barry Forshaw stepped to the podium (see above), replacing CWA chair Len “L.C.” Tyler, who’d welcomed us all to this event, and the awards ceremony commenced. There were three Daggers to be dispensed that night, and neither of the first two recipients was in the audience. A representative from Heinemann, Smith Henderson’s UK publisher, accepted, on his behalf, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger for Fourth of July Creek, while someone from Transworld/Random House stepped up to receive Karin Slaughter’s CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Cop Town. Then the final announcement was made: Michael Robotham had won the Gold Dagger.

An obviously shocked Robotham took over the microphone from Forshaw, and he stumbled around for a few seconds in front of the crowd until it sank into his brain that he was there to take delivery of one of the most prestigious accolades given for modern crime-fiction writing. Then he launched into a highly amusing and self-deprecating speech, which I recorded on video and present below.



Once the ceremony had run its course, it was time for people to tip back some more champagne, roam about the room, and share our mutual admiration for the evening’s prize winners. It was wonderful for me to at last meet Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling (who was there as “Robert Galbraith,” the pseudonym under which she had penned the Gold Dagger-nominated The Silkworm), and to see previous Gold Dagger recipient Belinda Bauer. Both of those women were gracious in congratulating Robotham on this year’s win (commemorated in these photographs from The Bookseller, supplied by the CWA). Stotter and I were no less fervent in our praise, after which my Shots colleague remarked quite mischievously:

“Remember the beers and Thai green curry night we enjoyed a few months back?”

“Yes,” Robotham said, “it was a fun night.”

“Well, Ali and I both knew you’d won the Dagger that night, but we were naturally sworn to secrecy.”

At which point Robotham squinted his eyes, looked at us intensely, smiled, and said, “Remind me never to play poker with you guys.”

Bouchercon 2015: Photo Finish

(Left to right) Ali Karim and newly minted novelist Patricia “Patti” Abbott, whose Concrete Angel was released this last summer.

Everyone who attended the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention last week in Raleigh, North Carolina, came away with memories. Some people also departed with myriad photographs. One of the latter was my longtime friend and Rap Sheet colleague, Ali Karim, who’d worked so hard on the programming for this year’s gathering. A whirlwind of energy (thanks, in part, to the copious amounts of caffeine he ingested), Ali seemed to be everywhere simultaneously--not only in the audiences at panel discussions, but outside the conference rooms checking in with authors and comrades, and introducing people to one another in the best networking fashion.

It’s understandable that many folks--even a few who didn’t know Ali--returned home with photos that included him in some way. However, the ubiquitous Mr. Karim also gave the camera component of his own smartphone a workout, recording the Raleigh conference for posterity. Below, I’m embedding a selection of the shots Ali took (or that were taken with his camera), along with a handful that came from other sources (and are properly identified). This is in no way a complete record of what went on during Bouchercon 2015, but I hope it provides a taste of the great fun we all had there.

Click on any of these images to open an enlargement.



Ali hams it up with Alvin, Texas, novelist and blogger Bill Crider (Between the Living and the Dead).


Bouchercon 2015 chair Al Abramson welcomes the attendees.


George Easter, the editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, stops outside the main convention hotel for a photo with author Aly Monroe (she’s the one with a full head of hair), DPMM assistant editor Larry Gandle, and novelist Reed Farrel Coleman.


Ali doesn’t miss his chance to appear beside legendary crime writer Lawrence Block (The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes).


Janet Rudolph, the editor of Mystery Readers Journal and author of the blog Mystery Fanfare, cozies up beside Adrian Muller, the co-chair (with Myles Allfrey) of Britain’s annual CrimeFest.


Your humble blogger, J. Kingston Pierce, greets San Francisco, California-based photographer and author Mark Coggins, whose new August Riordan private-eye novel is No Hard Feelings.


Our man Ali is flanked by South Africans Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, who publish mysteries under the joint nom de plume Michael Stanley. Their latest book featuring David Bengu, aka Kubu, the assistant superintendent of Botswana’s Criminal Investigation Department, is A Death in the Family.


North Carolina author Margaret Maron, who was presented with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award during Bouchercon, stops to autograph one of her many novels for a reader.


Ali elicits a curious look from James R. Benn, author of the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries (The White Ghost).


Northern California high-tech entrepreneur-turned-author Keith Raffel (Temple Mount) sidles up to Cartriona McPherson, the Scotland-born author of the Dandy Gilver detective series (Dandy Gilver and the Unpleasantness in the Ballroom).


Novelist, screenwriter, and Brash Books publisher Lee Goldberg (The Scam) takes a moment in the sun with Parnell Hall, author of the Stanley Hastings mysteries (A Fool for a Client).


Ali pauses in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel beside Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich, editors of the Web site Stop, You’re Killing Me! and the Fan Guests of Honor at Bouchercon 2015.


Australian journalist-fictionist Michael Robotham, who recently won the British Crime Writers’ Association’s Goldsboro Gold Dagger award for his novel Life or Death, takes a moment to share memories of that victory with the gregarious Ali.


Here’s a motley crew, all gathered in the convention’s book room. From the left: Charles Todd, the co-author--with his mother, Caroline--of the Ian Rutledge historical detective series (A Fine Summer’s Day) and the Bess Crawford mysteries (A Pattern of Lies); yours truly, again; the aforementioned and very pleasant Caroline Todd; Deadly Pleasures’ Larry Gandle; the hyper-prolific novelist Max Allan Collins (Kill Me, Darling); and mystery/suspense author Brendan DuBois (Blood Foam).


Assembled for what turned out to be an excellent panel discussion titled “The ‘Masters’ that Influenced the ‘Masters’ in Crime & Mystery” are Bill Crider, Karin Slaughter, Megan Abbott, and Lawrence Block. (Photo © Peter Rozovsky)


International Guest of Honor Allan Guthrie teams up with his very funny fellow Scottish author, Caro Ramsey (aka Carole Mitchell), for the “Murder Goes International” panel. (Photo © Peter Rozovsky)


Although it took place at the rather early hour of 8:30 a.m., moderator Peter Rozovsky’s Saturday presentation, “Inside the Mind and Work of Dashiell Hammett,” was very well attended--probably because he was talking with Hammett’s granddaughter, Julie M. Rivett, and Hammett biographer Richard Layman. Rozovsky later admitted he was “over the moon before, during, and after interviewing” these two guests. (Photo © Peter Rozovsky)


Eleven years after the founding of the International Thriller Writers organization, members David Morrell, Joseph Finder, Robin Burcell, Carla Buckley, and Gayle Lynds gathered to talk about its evolution and future intentions.


Books were the principal focus of Bouchercon, but TV crime dramas also enjoyed some spotlight treatment. Gathered together for a presentation titled “Beyond The Wire, Bosch, and True Detective: TV Crime Evolves” were Lee Goldberg, Megan Abbott, Alison Gaylin, Tim O’Mara, and Christa Faust.


Laura Lippman could attend only one day of Bouchercon events. She took part in a Thursday panel discussion titled “Beyond Hammett, Chandler, and Spillane,” then was gone by the end of that day. Which meant she wasn’t around to see her novel After I’m Gone (one of my favorite works of 2014) win this year’s Anthony Award for Best Novel. (Photo © Peter Rozovsky)


Jack Bludis, author of the 1950s-set Brian Kane gumshoe series, joins Ali for this year’s Shamus Awards dinner.


Bouchercon provided plenty of plaudits for Brooklyn author and TV crime reporter Julia Dahl. Her first book, Invisible City (2014), captured the Barry Award for Best Novel as well as this year’s Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel. Above, she poses with her third honor of the convention, the Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye Novel. (Photo provided by the author.)


Steve Hamilton, whose A Cold Day in Paradise won the Private Eye Writers of America’s Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel in 1999, relaxes at this year’s Shamus dinner.


A little more promotion for Michael Robotham’s Life or Death: Authors Jason Starr (Savage Lane) and Cara Brookins (she’s holding the book) join Robotham and Ali in a hotel hallway shot.


Former P.I. and journalist Michael Koryta (Last Words) poses with Ali outside the Sheraton’s largest convention room.


During Saturday’s Anthony Awards presentation, editors Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger picked up the Best Anthology or Collection prize for their latest book, In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon.


North Carolina-born author Art Taylor, who only recently welcomed the release of his first novel, On the Road with Del & Louise, won the Best Short Story Anthony for “The Odds Are Against Us” (from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, November 2014).


Chicago resident Lori Rader-Day scored the Anthony Award for Best First Novel with her 2014 release, The Black Hour.

UK author Zoë Sharp was, along with Allan Guthrie, one of Bouchercon’s two International Guests of Honor.


This year’s David S. Thompson Award, recognizing “extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community,” was given to Toby and Bill Gottfried.


The Raleigh convention boasted two American Guests of Honor: Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan novels (Speaking in Bones), on which the TV crime procedural series Bones is based; and Tom Franklin, who teaches in the University of Mississippi’s Master’s of Fine Arts program, and whose 2010 novel, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Crime Writers’ Association’s Gold Dagger Award.


The last item on the convention schedule was Sunday’s “Guest of Honor Closing Panel.” Moderated by whodunit writer Rochelle Staab, it featured Stan Ulrich and Lucinda Surber, Local Guest of Honor Sarah R. Shaber, Margaret Maron, co-Toastmaster Sean Doolittle, Tom Franklin, Allan Guthrie, Kathy Reichs, co-Toastmaster Lori G. Armstrong, and Zoë Sharp.

And that’s it for Bouchercon 2015. Cheers!

READ MORE: “Bouchercon 2015 in a Few Pictures” and “Bouchercon, Part II,” by Peter Rozovsky (Detectives Beyond Borders); “Bouchercon 2015 Raleigh Recap--Part One” and “Bouchercon 2015 Raleigh Recap--Part Two,” by Kristopher Zgorski (BOLO Books); “Some Great Moments from Bouchercon,” by S.J. Rozan; “Bouchercon Photo Gallery,” by Max Allan Collins; “Bouchercon Bliss,” by Art Taylor; “Bouchercon ’15: N@B, Negroes, Ofays, Bike-Effers and Nacho-Gate,” by Jedidiah Ayres (Hardboiled Wonderland); “Baby’s First Bouchercon,” by Angel Luis Colón; “In My Tribe: Bouchercon Raleigh Recap 2015,” by Joe Clifford (Candy and Cigarettes Blog).

Stick-with-You Stories

As I mentioned a month ago, I was tapped to participate in a panel discussion during Bouchercon 2015, which took place this last week in Raleigh, North Carolina. My fellow book critics and I were asked to speak about some of the crime, mystery, and thriller novels that have satisfied and/or surprised us most over the years. I began with a list of way too many choices, but finally pared that down to 10 titles.

Because most readers could not be on hand for that discussion in Raleigh, I decided to devote my latest Kirkus Reviews column to my 10 picks. I wrote the column last week, just before departing for the South. But it was only posted here today.

FOLLOW-UP: A reader who signs him- or herself only as “Anonymous” has asked in the Comments section of this item, “Is there any way one could see what works the other panelists cited?” Well, ask and ye shall receive. As it happens, moderators Stan Ulrich and Lucinda Surbur compiled the picks from all five members of that panel, and handed out copies of the list to our audience members. I’ve scanned the original sheet and posted it below. Click for an enlargement.

Rewards from Raleigh

I finally returned home earlier this evening from the 2015 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, a four-day event held in Raleigh, North Carolina. During my time in the Tar Heel State, I had intended to post … well, at least something. But as it turned out, I was unable to remember the password necessary to get into my Blogger account, so I couldn’t do a darn thing with The Rap Sheet while I was away. Only now am I able to post the results of four different prize competitions announced during this last weekend.

ANTHONY AWARDS

(Winners chosen by Bouchercon attendees)

Best Novel: After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Also nominated: Lamentation, by Joe Clifford (Oceanview); The Secret Place, by Tana French (Viking); The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Novel: The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street)

Also nominated: Blessed Are the Dead, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow); Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur); and The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street)

Best Paperback Original: The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Also nominated: Stay with Me, by Alison Gaylin (Harper); The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); World of Trouble, by Ben H. Winters (Quirk); and No Stone Unturned, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Critical or Non-fiction Work: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland); Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice, by Kate Clark Flora (New Horizon); Dru’s Book Musings, by Dru Ann Love; and Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman)

Best Short Story: “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November 2014)

Also nominated: “Honeymoon Sweet,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014; Down & Out); “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Barb Goffman and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press); “Howling at the Moon,” by Paul D. Marks (EQMM), November 2014); and “Of Dogs & Deceit,” by John Shepphird (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November 2014)

Best Anthology or Collection: In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus)

Also nominated: FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci (Simon & Schuster); Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron (Down & Out); Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, edited by Joe Clifford (Gutter); and Carolina Crimes: Nineteen Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing, edited by Karen Pullen; Wildside Press)

In addition, this year’s David S. Thompson Award, recognizing “extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community,” was given to Bill and Toby Gottfried.

SHAMUS AWARDS

(Presented by the Private Eye Writers of America)

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: Hounded, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)

Nominated: The Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus); The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland); Tokyo Kill, by Barry Lancet (Simon & Schuster); and Peter Pan Must Die, by John Verdon (Crown)

Best First P.I. Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Bad Country, by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur); Last of the Independents, by Sam Wiebe (Dundurn); Wink of an Eye, by Lynn Chandler Willis (Minotaur); and City of Brick and Shadow, by Tim Wirkus (Tyrus)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel: Moonlight Weeps, by Vincent Zandri (Down & Out)

Also nominated: The Detective and the Pipe Girl, by Michael Craven (Bourbon Street); Beauty with a Bomb, by M.C. Grant (Midnight Ink); Critical Damage, by Robert K. Lewis (Midnight Ink); and Street Justice, by Kris Nelscott (WMG)

Best P.I. Short Story: “Clear Recent History,” by Gon Ben Ari (from Tel Aviv Noir, edited by Etgar Keret and Assof Gavron; Akashic)

Also nominated: “The Ehrengraf Fandango,” by Lawrence Block (from Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf, by Lawrence Block; CreateSpace); “Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets,” by Vali Khalili (from Tehran Noir, edited by Salar Abdoh; Akashic); “Mei Kwei, I Love You,” by Suchen Christine Lim (from Singapore Noir, edited by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan; Akashic); and “Busting Red Heads,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March 2014)

Best Indie P.I. Novel: The Shadow Broker, by Trace Conger (CreateSpace)

Also nominated: Nobody’s Child, by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Red Herrings); Played to Death, by B.V. Lawson (Crimetime Press); The Kids Are All Right, by Steve Liskow (CreateSpace); and Get Busy Dying, by Ben Rehder (CreateSpace)

In addition, The Eye (Lifetime Achievement) Award was presented to Parnell Hall, creator of the long-running Stanley Hastings series of private eye novels.

BARRY AWARDS
(Presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine)

Best Novel: Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles (Morrow)

Also nominated: The Marco Effect, by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Dutton); The Rest Is Silence, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime); Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus Books); Providence Rag, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge); and Strange Shores, by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur)

Best First Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Night Heron, by Adam Brookes (Redhook); Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow); Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking); The Weight of Blood, by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau); and She’s Leaving Home, by William Shaw (Mulholland)

Best Paperback Original: The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens
(Seventh Street Books)

Also nominated: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker (Penguin); The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria); The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street Books); and Eleven Days, by Stav Sherez (Europa Editions)

Best Thriller: Those Who Wish Me Dead, by Michael Koryta
(Little, Brown)

Also nominated: Suspicion, by Joseph Finder (Dutton); The Water Rat of Wanchai, by Ian Hamilton (Picador); An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf); I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Atria); and House Reckoning, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)

The Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in mystery fandom went to Jane Lee.

MACAVITY AWARDS
(Presented by Mystery Readers International)

Best Mystery Novel: The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin)

Also nominated: The Lewis Man, by Peter May (Quercus); The Last Death of Jack Harbin, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street); The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); The Missing Place, by Sophie Littlefield (Gallery); The Long Way Home,
by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street); Someone Else’s Skin, by Sarah Hilary (Penguin); Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking); Blessed Are the Dead, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); and Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman (Norton)

Best Mystery-Related Non-fiction: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland); Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman); and 400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman, by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver)

Best Mystery Short Story: “Honeymoon Sweet,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron; Down & Out)

Also nominated: “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside); “Howling at the Moon,” by Paul D. Marks (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November 2014); “The Proxy,” by Travis Richardson (ThugLit #13,
September/October 2014); and “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (EQMM, November 2014)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery: A Deadly Measure of Brimstone, by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Queen of Hearts, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime); Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria); An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf); Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow); and Things Half in Shadow, by Alan Finn (Gallery)

ADDENDUM: Although the winners of this year’s Derringer Awards for short mystery fiction were announced back in March, it wasn’t until Bouchercon that those prizes were delivered. Author and previous Derringer recipient Art Taylor made the presentations.

Persistence Pays Off

Veteran Bouchercon participants Bill and Toby Gottfried will be presented with the David S. Thompson Award during next month’s incarnation of that World Mystery Convention, to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Named in honor of Texas bookseller-publisher David Thompson, who died in 2010, this commendation is intended to “recognize extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community.”

As Shotsmag Confidential explains, “Toby and Bill have attended almost every Bouchercon since 1985. Their involvement in the mystery community goes far beyond attending conferences and buying books. They have actively participated on multiple Bouchercon committees and have chaired two Left Coast Crime conventions. They plan vacations and travel around mystery conventions. At each convention, they make authors and readers feel welcome, breaking bread with them, and welcoming them in every possible way into the mystery community as friends and family.”

Congratulations to the Gottfrieds, who you may remember were also honored back in 2008 with the Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom.

Taking the Bouchercon Stage

I see that other crime-fiction bloggers, including Peter Rozovsky and Les Blatt, are telling their readers what appearances they will be making during Bouchercon 2015 (October 8-11) in Raleigh, North Carolina. So I guess I should share my own such information.

By my choice, I am slated to take part in only one panel discussion, on Thursday, October 8: “Stop! Tell Us Your Favorite Crime, Mystery & Thrillers.” Despite that title’s stumbling grammar, the round table conversation itself should be fun. We’ve been asked to share some of our most satisfying and surprising reading experiences within the genre. Stan Ulrich and Lucinda Surbur from the Web site Stop, You’re Killing Me! are to be the panel’s co-moderators, while my fellow “guests of honor” will be George Easter, editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, and Janet Rudolph, who edits Mystery Readers Journal and the blog Mystery Fanfare. I shall undoubtedly be the most nervous and uncomfortable member of this group, as I abhor speaking in public; I’m a much better writer than I am an orator, and if it weren’t for the fact that my good friend Ali Karim has been so deeply involved in programming events for this convention, and asked me to take on this panel assignment, I would’ve gladly remained in the audience at Bouchercon events.

According to this updated schedule, there will be half a dozen other Bouchercon events taking place at the same time as my panel talk, some of which will likely draw larger crowds (including one that features both Reed Farrel Coleman and Michael Koryta). But if you’re interested in hearing what books Easter, Rudolph, and I think ought not be overlooked, note that “Stop! Tell Us Your Favorite Crime, Mystery & Thrillers” will be held in meeting room Congressional AB, beginning at 1 p.m. on Thursday the 8th.

Begin Strategizing Bouchercon Now

Ali Karim, who serves as The Rap Sheet’s chief UK correspondent and was also involved in programming and panel assignments for this year’s Bouchercon in Raleigh, North Carolina, has let us know that the schedule of events for that three-day convention (October 8-11) has been finalized. Click here to study the program and begin choosing the panel discussions and other proceedings you’d most like to attend.

Eyes Front and Center

In Reference to Murder brings the news of this year’s contenders for the Shamus Awards. Winners will be announced by the Private Eye Writers of America during a special dinner associated with Bouchercon 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina (October 8-11).

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel:
• The Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus)
• The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland)
• Tokyo Kill, by Barry Lancet (Simon & Schuster)
• Hounded, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)
• Peter Pan Must Die, by John Verdon (Crown)

Best First P.I. Novel:
• Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)
• Bad Country, by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur)
• Last of the Independents, by Sam Wiebe (Dundurn)
• Wink of an Eye, by Lynn Chandler Willis (Minotaur)
• City of Brick and Shadow, by Tim Wirkus (Tyrus)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel:
• The Detective and the Pipe Girl, by Michael Craven (Bourbon Street)
• Beauty with a Bomb, by M.C. Grant (Midnight Ink)
• Critical Damage, by Robert K. Lewis (Midnight Ink)
• Street Justice, by Kris Nelscott (WMG)
• Moonlight Weeps, by Vincent Zandri (Down & Out)

Best P.I. Short Story:
• “Clear Recent History,” by Gon Ben Ari (from Tel Aviv Noir, edited by Etgar Keret and Assof Gavron; Akashic)
• “The Ehrengraf Fandango,” by Lawrence Block (from Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf, by Lawrence Block; CreateSpace)
• “Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets,” by Vali Khalili (from Tehran Noir, edited by Salar Abdoh; Akashic)
• “Mei Kwei, I Love You,” by Suchen Christine Lim (from Singapore Noir, edited by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan; Akashic)
• “Busting Red Heads,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March 2014)

Best Indie P.I. Novel:
• The Shadow Broker, by Trace Conger (CreateSpace)
• Nobody’s Child, by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Red Herrings)
• Played to Death, by B.V. Lawson (Crimetime Press)
• The Kids Are All Right, by Steve Liskow (CreateSpace)
• Get Busy Dying, by Ben Rehder (CreateSpace)

Congratulations to all of these finalists!

Was There Sufficient Planning Here?

Like most people who had the privilege of sending in nominations for this year’s Anthony Awards--which are to be given out in early October during the Raleigh, North Carolina, Bouchercon--I was curious to see which authors and works had actually gathered enough support to make it onto the ballot. (All of the many folks who attended Bouchercon 2014 in Long Beach or have registered for the Raleigh event were eligible to participate in this selection process.) A few of my favorites have earned finalist distinction, among them Laura Lippman’s After I’m Gone and Ben H. Winters’ World of Trouble. I was surprised not to also see editor Otto Penzler’s The Best American Mystery Stories of the 19th Century earn a spot in the Best Anthology or Collection category, but hey, you can’t have everything, right?

And then we come to the Best Critical or Non-fiction Work category. It features four books … and a single blog: Dru’s Book Musings, which is penned by a woman named Dru Ann Love. I confess that until earlier today, I hadn’t heard of Dru’s Book Musings, but it is a fairly active book review site with a history dating back at least to July 2008.

I remember when the Bouchercon folks first announced, in late February, that they were e-mailing around Anthony Award ballots. There was some discussion online (in Facebook and elsewhere) about this year’s unusual wording of the requirements for entries in the Best Critical or Non-fiction Work category:

4. Please list up to 5 books in the Best Critical or Non-fiction Book or Body of Work Category in no particular order. This may include any non-fiction work in the mystery genre, along with any body of work not necessarily combined in a single bound volume, such as book reviews, newspaper columns, etc.

That introduction left open the possibility that someone could be nominated in what is usually thought of as a books category, for having produced something other than a book. Maybe a series of author interviews in a print periodical. Or even a blog or Web site. Since the proliferation of crime- and mystery-fiction sites on the Internet, there have been intervallic efforts to honor them with a separate Anthony Award, and such commendations were dispensed at the 2010 Bouchercon in San Francisco and the 2011 convention in St. Louis (on both occasions, won by the online resource Stop, You’re Killing Me!). But in more recent years, the idea seems to have died away.

Now, though, a back door seems to have been thrown open, allowing such endeavors to compete for their share of Anthonys.

Shortly after the 2015 award ballots started going out, I dashed off an e-note to Bouchercon board member-at-large John Purcell, asking whether such an expansion of the category of Best Critical or Non-fiction Work had been intentional. His response:

Technically it just says in the [Bouchercon] Standing Rules that we have to give the Award in at least 5 categories, one of which is for “Best Critical Non-fiction Work.” It doesn’t define what that is, but it also doesn’t use the word “book.” In discussion with a Board member when I was preparing this [ballot], he pointed out that a body of work, like newspaper columns or reviews, or something similar, could be considered for the award, as long as it was mystery/crime fiction related, it’s critical in scope, and it was published in 2014.

We’ve had awards in the past for Web sites and blogs, but I think if this is properly considered, we’re looking at the writing, and not the space the writing occurs in, if that makes sense. A body of critical non-fiction doesn’t have to be bound between the covers of a book.

This is kind of new, but I thought I’d write it up to encompass that type of work. In the past there seemed to be far less contenders, limited to published books, and maybe this will open that up a bit. But I don’t want to exclude serious critical books either.

Hope I didn’t stick my neck on the chopping block …

Well, John, you probably don’t have to worry that you’ll lose your head over this matter, but the case could certainly be made that Bouchercon 2015 organizers didn’t do enough to make clear that this category of Anthony Award nominees had been altered in a significant fashion. Had such an explanation been delivered, had Bouchercon-goers been explicitly invited to nominate blogs or other Web pages, Dru’s Book Musings might not be the only such site appearing under the heading of Best Critical or Non-fiction Work this year.

We’ll have to wait until October to see how all of this shakes out.

Barry Picking

Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine has announced its nominees for the 2015 Barry Awards (named to honor fan reviewer Barry Gardner).

Best Novel:
• The Marco Effect, by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Dutton)
• The Rest Is Silence, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime)
• Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman
(Tyrus Books)
• Providence Rag, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge)
• Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles (Morrow)
• Strange Shores, by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur)

Best First Novel:
• Night Heron, by Adam Brookes (Redhook)
• Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow)
• Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)
• Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking)
• The Weight of Blood, by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau)
• She’s Leaving Home, by William Shaw (Mulholland)

Best Paperback Original:
• The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker (Penguin)
• The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street Books)
• The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin)
• Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria)
• The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street Books)
• Eleven Days, by Stav Sherez (Europa Editions)

Best Thriller:
• Suspicion, by Joseph Finder (Dutton)
• The Water Rat of Wanchai, by Ian Hamilton (Picador)
• An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf)
• I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Atria)
• Those Who Wish Me Dead, by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown)
• House Reckoning, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)

The Barrys are to be awarded during Bouchercon 2015, which is scheduled for October 8-11 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Congratulations to all of the nominees!

(Hat tip to The Gumshoe Site.)

Watch for Your Bouchercon Ballot

Bouchercon board member-at-large John Purcell contacted me the other day, asking if I could alert folks who were on hand for 2014’s “world mystery convention” in Long Beach, California, or have registered for this coming October’s event in Raleigh, North Carolina, to the imminent distribution of Anthony Award ballots. Those ballots will be sent via e-mail this year, and convention organizers want to be sure recipients keep their eyes open for them. Here’s the press release explaining how things will work:

To all Bouchercon attendees:

If you were registered for the Long Beach Bouchercon last year, or the one upcoming in Raleigh, you will be receiving ballots in a day or so (Saturday, Feb. 28) to nominate books and stories for the 2015 Anthonys to be awarded in Raleigh in October.

They are trying something new, and testing the process for future Bouchercons, using a survey site called SurveyMonkey to send and collate the nominations. Those who have attended past Bouchercons may be familiar with the surveys you received afterwards. (Some of you may have opted out of surveys, and if so, you won’t receive the ballot unless you opt back in.)

However, the links to the ballots are being sent via e-mail, and e-mails being what they are, it will be inevitable that many won’t receive them because of spam filters, firewalls, and other reasons. So if you can set your e-mail [preferences] and servers to allow mail from SurveyMonkey (www.surveymonkey.com) or Bouchercon or Anthony Ballots, or just check your spam traps, that will hopefully cut down on undelivered ballots.

If you want some further info, and a sneak peak at the ballot worksheet, check out http://www.bouchercon.info/process.html.

Remember, you are all members of Bouchercon, and the related success of the Anthonys, being fan-based awards, are directly related to your participation.

Happy nominating, and thank you!

One final bit of information, picked up from the main Bouchercon site: “If you do not receive your e-mail from SurveyMonkey by 6:00 p.m., Sunday, March 1, please e-mail B.G. Ritts with your name and whether you were at Long Beach or are registered for Raleigh. If registered at both, you will only receive one ballot.”