A Pleasant New Orleans Hangover

Following up on my two-part photo report (here and here) from this month’s Bouchercon in New Orleans, I have devoted my new Kirkus Reviews column to that same subject. My coverage this time, though, includes remarks on two panel presentations, one successful and the other not; the odd lurking presence of best-selling British thriller author Martina Cole at the September 15-18 gathering; and my most embarrassing personal moments from this convention. Learn about all of those things and more by clicking here.

READ MORE: “Bouchercon 2016: Blood on the Bayou,” by Jordan Foster (Publishers Weekly); Bouchercon 2016—The BOLO Books Recap, by Kristopher Zgorski (BOLO Books); “Bouchercon 2016—Jon’s Take,” by Jon Jordan (Crimespree Magazine); “Bouchercon 2016—The Feels,” by Dan Malmon (Crimespree Magazine); “Bouchercon 2016, Part I: Crime with Alligators,” Bouchercon 2016, Part II: One Book, Lots of Pictures,” “Bouchercon 2016, Part III: One Panel and Another Mess of Pictures,” Bouchercon 2016, Part IV: Music on the Streets and in the Bars of New Orleans,” and Bouchercon 2016, Part V: What Do Rachitic Newts Like? Plus Even More Pictures,” by Peter Rozovsky (Detectives Beyond Borders); Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention: Why Crime Thrillers Are Still Popular, Despite Crime Levels Going Down,” by Andy Martin (The Independent); “Bouchercon 2016, New Orleans: An Oral History,” by Lisa Levy (Lit Hub).

Gumbo and Gumshoes, Part II

Author Allison Leotta, who shot this photograph of journalist-turned-novelist Brad Parks, jokes in her caption to it that “This is where Brad Parks gets his ideas.”

One thing that everyone who took part in this year’s Bouchercon will likely remember is the oppressive heat and humidity accompanying that New Orleans convention. Every morning, it seemed, when I received my 6 a.m. hotel wake-up call, I heard some variation of this message: “Good morning. The weather today is predicted to reach 93 degrees, but with the humidity it might feel more like 108.” Although I’d visited the Big Easy on several previous occasions—including once for Mardi Gras and another time in 2007, not long after Hurricane Katrina had swept her vicious hand across the town—it had always been in the springtime. The fall, it seems, offers far different weather patterns.

However, the heat didn’t put a serious damper on this year’s festivities. People came prepared with shorts and T-shirts, or else they grew accustomed to changing into fresh attire midday. Bouchercon attendees were intent on enjoying themselves, and as you saw in The Rap Sheet’s previous gallery of photos from this popular gathering, they did just that. Here, I have posted a second set of images (plus one video clip) that should remind folks who were in New Orleans last week of the fun they had there, and give everyone else another glimpse of what they missed.

Unless otherwise noted, these shots were provided by Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim. Click on the images for enlargements.

On Saturday afternoon, award-winning crime-fictionist Laura Lippman—who owns a house in New Orleans’ Garden District that she shares with her husband, TV producer David Simon (The Wire, Treme), and their two children—quietly invited a variety of publishing colleagues and some lucky hangers-on (like me) to join her for drinks, appetizers, and stimulating conversation. Above, UK publishing powerhouse Selina Walker, of Century and Arrow (left), watches as author Alison Gaylin and Ali Karim ham it up on Lippman’s commodious kitchen deck.


Selfie’s choice: Ali huddles with writer Jamie Mason.


Shots editor Mike Stotter congratulates Lou Berney (right) on having won the Anthony, Barry, and Macavity awards for his 2015 novel, The Long and Faraway Gone.


Texas author Meg Gardiner, S.J. Rozan (the recipient this year of the Private Eye Writers of America’s Eye Award for lifetime achievement), and Canadian best-seller Linwood Barclay desperately seek some suggestion of breeze on Lippman’s deck.


These three, at least, manage to appear fairly cool on that quite steamy Saturday: Mike Stotter; Washington, D.C., sex crimes prosecutor-turned-author Allison Leotta; and Detectives Beyond Borders blogger Peter Rozovsky.


Saturday night’s Mulholland Books reception at the New Orleans Marriott (this year’s convention hotel) was packed with authors, critics, and young publishing professionals. Here, Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine editor George Easter (far left) poses with novelist David Swinson (The Second Girl) and the ubiquitous Mr. Karim.


What do you know, it’s Ali again, this time worming his way into a picture alongside novelist David Morrell (winner of the 2016 Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award), Mike Stotter, and yours truly, Rap Sheet editor J. Kingston Pierce.


Mystery Fanfare blogger Janet Rudolph shares a couple of adult beverages with Philadelphia author Duane Swierczynski.


Quebec writer-editor Jacques Filippi, who blogs at The House of Crime and Mystery, finds a moment to chat with prolific New Hampshire author Brendan DuBois.

Never-say-die Bouchercon-goers finished off Saturday night with an excursion to New Orleans’ House of Blues club, on Decatur Street, where Heather Graham and other notable contributors to modern crime fiction mounted the stage to sing and dance and otherwise make deliberate spectacles of themselves. In this video clip, British author Mark Billingham tries to channel the ghost of Johnny Cash, while Northern Irish wordsmith Stuart Neville shows he’s no stranger to harmonica playing.


Acclaimed authors Lee Goldberg and Ace Atkins in the Bouchercon book sales room. (Photo from Lee Goldberg)


I’ve known Houston, Texas, writer Scott Dennis Parker for most of the last seven years—but only through his blogging efforts here and here. I had never actually met him … until Bouchercon New Orleans, that is. Scott first tracked me down outside the book sales room, then offered to give me copies of his several crime novels to read. Seeing as how he has been a longtime supporter of The Rap Sheet, how could I say no? Thanks, Scott!


Sunday’s concluding guests of honor panel presentation featured almost all of the usual suspects. Left to right: Fan Guests of Honor Jon and Ruth Jordan, the publishers/editors of Crimespree Magazine; “Local Legend” Julie Smith; International Rising Star Guest of Honor Craig Robertson; Toastmasters Alexandra Sokoloff and Harley Jane Kozak; Bouchercon 2016 co-chair Heather Graham; Lifetime Achievement Award winner David Morrell; and American Guest of Honor Harlan Coben. Missing from this lineup was R.L. Stine, the Bouchercon 2016 Kids Guest of Honor.


Alexandra Sokoloff and Harley Jane Kozak listen as their fellow Sunday panelists recount their memories of being in New Orleans for this event. (Photo by Peter Rozovsky)


While other Bouchercon-goers packed up and departed on Sunday, handfuls of us stuck around for an extra day or two in order to see more of the city. One of the popular destinations was the National World War II Museum, in the Central Business District, a well-arranged tribute to the world’s 20th-century fight against German Nazism and the rise of a bellicose Japan. The photo here shows Ali Karim, yours truly, Peter Rozovsky, and Mike Stotter having exited the museum, after several hours spent taking in its extensive exhibits and films.


On our way back to the Marriott from the museum, I joined Mike and Ali for a rejuvenating libation at a small bar called Stacks, located in the Country Inn & Suites on Magazine Street.


One more shot for the road, outside the Marriott on Monday. Left to right: Peter Rozovsky, yours truly (with some extra caffeine in hand—I do hail from Seattle, after all), Ali Karim, Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Mike Stotter, and Yrsa’s husband, Olaf. Not shown, because she’s operating the camera here, is author and January Magazine editor Linda L. Richards.

Next year, Toronto!

Gumbo and Gumshoes, Part I

Author Sara Paretsky—shown holding hands with a stilts artist—enjoys herself during Friday evening’s second line parade, which led Bouchercon-goers from the New Orleans Marriott (this year’s convention hotel) to downtown’s Orpheum Theater, site of the Anthony Awards presentations. (Photo by Edith Maxwell)

According to one official calculation, more than 1,890 people attended last week’s Bouchercon convention in New Orleans, Louisiana (September 15-18). That resulted in a lot of book-buying, a great number of friendships rekindled, countless drinks and meals consumed (the profusion of sugary beignets swallowed at the Café du Monde must, in itself, have been rather impressive), and even a couple of small but frightening real-life crimes perpetrated against attendees. It also led to the taking of what had to have been millions of photographs. Much of the Big Easy is, after all, downright beautiful with its ironwork balconies in the French Quarter, its historic Garden District homes, and the broad Mississippi sweeping past everything.

It would be nigh on impossible to collect all of the images captured during that overheated four-day gathering of crime-fiction readers. I am posting here, though, Part I of what I think is a representative gallery showing the participants and proceedings that made up this year’s 47th Bouchercon—the first time this conference has been held in the Pelican State’s largest city. Unless otherwise noted, these shots were provided by Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim, who seemed omnipresent during the event.

Click on any of these images for enlargements.

Left to right: Ali Karim poses with Bouchercon 2016 co-chair Heather Graham in the cavernous book sales room.


Michael Connelly stages a public interview with fellow author Harlan Coben, this year’s American Guest of Honor.


Walter Mosley takes a moment to chat with Gary Phillips in the Bouchercon free books room.


Canadian writer Cathy Ace relishes a moment with Lee Child.


A Thursday morning panel discussion titled “Do You Feel Like I Do?”—about mystery fandom—featured (left to right) Bill Gottfried, Marvin Lachman, moderator Ali Karim, Robert E. McGinnis authority Art Scott, and David Magayna.


Jeffrey Siger, outgoing chair of the National Board of Bouchercon, displays his newest Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis mystery, Santorini Caesars.


Ali with Norwegian cop-turned-novelist Jørn Lier Horst.


What do you know, it’s Ali again—this time posing with Lynn Gross and her husband, Andrew Gross, author of the new historical thriller, The One Man.


New York City-based editor-publisher Otto Penzler, this year’s recipient of the David Thompson Special Service Award, alongside Lynn Gross and Harry Bosch creator Michael Connelly.

Thursday’s festivities concluded with a memorable opening ceremony, sponsored by publisher HarperCollins and kicked off by a Mardi Gras-style parade of small floats through the Marriott’s crowded Carondelet Ballroom. The video clip above (pardon the marginal quality, but it was shot in a dark space) shows that succession of decorated vehicles, led by one containing a prodigiously feathered Harlan Coben, followed by David Morrell and the rest of this year’s official guests of honor. Just like Mardi Gras, the float-riders tossed beaded necklaces to the assembled masses. One such souvenir, pitched by International Rising Star Guest of Honor Craig Robertson, hit me square in the face. Fortunately, there was no reason for medical attention.


Shots editor Mike Stotter (left) and Ali Karim flank Harlan Coben, whose latest Myron Bolitar novel, Home, looks to be a shocker.


Don’t mess with these two: horror-fiction specialist Nanci Kalanta (aka Facebook’s Mountain Jane Laurel) teams up with the hyper-energetic Mr. Karim to guard the Marriott lobby.


I was first introduced to Chicago novelist Lori Rader-Day during an airport shuttle ride in to Raleigh, North Carolina, where we were both scheduled to attend Bouchercon 2015. I had barely heard of her at the time, and had read precisely none of her work. But during that convention she won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel (for The Black Hour), and I went on to read her second book, Little Pretty Things, and name it as one of my favorite crime/mystery novels of 2015. With her third book, The Day I Died, due out next April, we took a moment in advance of one of this year’s Bouchercon panel discussions to reminisce. Oh, yeah, that’s me on the right. (Photo by Janet Rudolph)

Group breakfasts are a Bouchercon tradition, with most folks finding a favorite local joint. This year’s pick for my gang was the Ruby Slipper, on Magazine Street, just blocks from the Marriott. Although some friends eschewed the wonders of such comestibles as grits and fried green tomatoes (yeah, I’m looking at you, Ali), I dug in with enthusiasm, ordering the Slipper’s Southern Breakfast every a.m. The attendance at these repasts varied per day. Above, you’ll see one gathering, featuring (left to right) yours truly, Detectives Beyond Borders blogger Peter Rozovsky, Ali Karim, Nanci Kalanta, and her husband, Phil. Live long and prosper, y’all!


Another morning brought Northern Irish authors Stuart Neville and Steve Cavanaugh to our table at the Red Slipper.


Joining us later for breakfast was Boston fictionist Daniel Palmer, shown above inking his moniker on some bookplates.


Smile pretty, everyone! Authors Lee Goldberg, Bill Crider, Charlaine Harris, and Parnell Hall. (Photo from Lee Goldberg)


Not everything goes precisely as planned during Bouchercon. Along with the photo shown above, Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir offered this story on Facebook: “Life is funny, [on Friday] we had a meet-and-greet for Ragnar Jónasson, Jørn Lier Horst, and myself on Bourbon Street in connection with Bouchercon in New Orleans. We showed up with lots of drinks, cups, and even ice. We were a bit surprised at the locale (a tourist shop open for business) but moved some stuff around and set up the bar on a handy table. People arrived and we mingled with our guests, drinking and chatting, mixing drinks and doing what one does at such soirées. After an hour of this, the owner showed up. The woman went ballistic; turned out we were in the wrong location and had held our meet-and-greet in somebody‘s store without permission. In the words of the owner: ‘Who are you people? You can’t just show up here and set up a full bar in my store, what is wrong with you?’ But [it] turns out we did, and somehow managed to do it in peace for a full hour. We have not reached a conclusion if the term for this should be ‘pop-up bar’ or ‘flash-bar,’ but the concept is fully recommended. Next stop, IKEA.”


Even the Marriott’s elevators weren’t safe from Bouchercon shenanigans. Here, Ali Karim and Peter Rozovsky do their damndest to intimidate shutterbug Mike Stotter.


Would you want to stumble across this trio in a dark alley? Lee Goldberg, former Tom Clancy collaborator Mark Greaney, and Reed Farrel Coleman—who has taken up the task of continuing Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series. (Photo from Lee Goldberg)


Sisters in Crime president Diane Vallere arrives at the Orpheum Theater for the Anthony Awards presentations, backed up by a pair of Mardi Gras Indians. (Photo by Eleanor Cawood Jones)


Art Taylor, holding the oversize Anthony Award he won for editing Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015. (Photo by Eleanor Cawood Jones)


In conflict with the Anthony Awards event, Friday evening also brought this year’s Shamus Awards presentation. With 2016 marking the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Private Eye Writers of America, which sponsors the Shamus, this event (held at the Pere Marquette Hotel) turned out to be especially stylish—and brimming with humor. As part of the celebration, diners were greeted with this large cake shaped like a stack of books.


Robert J. Randisi, who founded the Private Eye Writers of America in 1981, looks on as Lawrence Block—the organization’s second president (after Bill Pronzini)—recounts his early PWA experiences. It seems he’d accepted the job only after being assured that it required him to do not much of anything.


Mike Stotter shares his Shamus table with author J.D. Allen and mystery conference attendee/organizer Ingrid Willis.

(Part II of this photo extravaganza can be enjoyed here.)

Celebrating Hard Work in the Big Easy

If you didn’t notice, The Rap Sheet has been silent for most of the last week, as I was in New Orleans, Louisiana, to attend this year’s Bouchercon. Having now returned to Rap Sheet headquarters (and an overwhelming landslide of e-mail messages!), I am preparing a number of follow-up posts about that event. But in the meantime, I want to be sure to document the winners of the various prizes dispensed over the course of this year’s “World Mystery Convention.”

ANTHONY AWARDS

(Winners chosen by Bouchercon attendees)

Best Novel: The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland)

Also nominated: Night Tremors, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); The Child Garden, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny (Minotaur/Sphere); and What You See, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Novel: Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow)

Also nominated: Concrete Angel, by Patricia Abbott (Polis); New Yorked, by Rob Hart (Polis); Bull Mountain, by Brian Panowich (Putnam); and On the Road with Del & Louise, by Art Taylor
(Henery Press)

Best Paperback Original: The Long and Faraway Gone,
by Lou Berney (Morrow)

Also nominated: Gun Street Girl, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street); Little Pretty Things, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street); Young Americans, by Josh Stallings (Heist); and Stone Cold Dead, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Critical or Non-fiction Book: Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime, by Val McDermid (Grove)

Also nominated: The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story, by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins); Meanwhile, There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald, edited by Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan (Arcade); The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett, by Nathan Ward (Bloomsbury USA); and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For, by Kate White, editor (Quirk)

Best Short Story: “The Little Men,” by Megan Abbott
(Mysterious Press/Open Road)

Also nominated: “The Siege,” by Hilary Davidson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2015); “Feliz Navidead,” by Brace Godfrey and Johnny Shaw (from ThugLit Presents: Cruel Yule, edited by Todd Robinson; ThugLit); “Old Hands,” by Erin Mitchell (from Dark City Lights, edited by Lawrence Block; Three Rooms); “Quack and Dwight,” by Travis Richardson (from Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia; PM Press); and “Don’t Fear the Ripper,” by Holly West (from Protectors 2: Heroes, edited by Thomas Pluck; Goombah Gumbo Press)

Best Anthology or Collection: Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015, edited by Art Taylor (Down & Out)

Also nominated: Safe Inside the Violence, by Christopher Irvin (280 Steps); Protectors 2: Heroes, edited by Thomas Pluck (Goombah Gumbo Press); ThugLit Presents: Cruel Yule, edited by Todd Robinson (ThugLit); and Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia (PM Press)

Best Young Adult Novel: Need, by Joelle Charbonneau
(HMH Books for Young Readers)

Also nominated: How to Win at High School, by Owen Matthews (HarperTeen); A Madness So Discreet, by Mindy McGinnis (Katherine Tegen); The Sin Eater’s Daughter, by Melinda Salisbury (Scholastic); Fighting Chance, by B.K. Stevens (Poisoned Pencil); and Ask the Dark, by Henry Turner (Clarion)

Best Crime Fiction Audiobook: The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny; narrated by Robert Bathurst (Macmillan Audio)

Also nominated: Dark Waters, by Chris Goff; narrated by Assaf Cohen (Crooked Lane); The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins; narrated by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher (Penguin Audio/Random House Audiobooks); Causing Chaos, by Deborah J. Ledford; narrated by Christina Cox (IOF); and Young Americans, by Josh Stallings; narrated by Em Eldridge (Josh Stallings)

Lifetime Achievement Award: David Morrell

SHAMUS AWARDS

(Presented by the Private Eye Writers of America)

Best Hardcover Private Eye Novel: Brutality, by Ingrid Thoft (Putnam)

Also nominated: The Promise, by Robert Crais (Putnam); Dance of the Bones, by J.A. Jance (Morrow); Gumshoe, by Robert Leininger (Oceanview); and Brush Back, by Sara Paretsky (Putnam)

Best First Private Eye Novel: The Do-Right, by Lisa Sandlin
(Cinco Puntos Press)

Also nominated: The Red Storm, by Grant Bywaters (Minotaur); Night Tremors, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); Trouble in Rooster Paradise, by T.W. Emory (Coffeetown Press); and Depth, by Lev Ac Rosen
(Regan Arts)

Best Original Private Eye Paperback: Circling the Runway,
by J.L. Abramo (Down & Out)

Also nominated: The Long Cold, by O'Neil De Noux (Big Kiss); Split to Splinters, by Max Everhart (Camel Press); The Man in the Window, by Dana King (CreateSpace); and Red Desert, by Clive Rosengren (Moonshine Cove)

Best Private Eye Short Story: “The Dead Client,” by Parnell Hall (from Dark City Lights: New York Stories, edited by Lawrence Block; Three Rooms Press)

Also nominated: “The Runaway Girl from Portland, Oregon,” by C.B. Forrest (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], October 2015); “The Sleep of Death,” by David Edgerley Gates (AHMM, December 2015); “The Dead Detective,” by Robert S. Levinson (from Coast to Coast: Murder from Sea to Shining Sea, edited by Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks; Down & Out); and “The Continental Opposite,” by Evan Lewis (AHMM, May 2015)

The Eye Award for lifetime achievement: S.J. Rozan

BARRY AWARDS

(Presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine)

Best Novel:
Badlands, by C.J. Box (Minotaur)

Also nominated: A Song of Shadows, by John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria); The Stolen Ones, by Owen Laukkanen (Putnam); Life or Death, by Michael Robotham (Mulholland); Devil of Delphi, by Jeffrey Siger (Poisoned Pen Press); and The Cartel, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Best First Novel:
The Unquiet Dead, by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Ruins of War, by John A. Connell (Berkley); Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow); Jade Dragon Mountain, by Elsa Hart (Minotaur); The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead); and Bull Mountain, by Brian Panowich (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original:
The Long and Faraway Gone, by Lou Berney (Morrow)

Also nominated: Blessed Are Those Who Weep, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); Quarry’s Choice, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime); No Other Darkness, by Sarah Hilary (Penguin); Snow Blind, by Ragnar Jónasson (Orenda); and Stone Cold Dead, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Thriller: The Mask, by Taylor Stevens (Crown)

Also nominated: Brute Force, by Marc Cameron (Pinnacle); The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland); Viking Bay, by M.A. Lawson (Blue Rider); Hostage Taker, by Stefanie Pintoff (Bantam); and Foreign and Domestic, by A.J. Tata (Pinnacle)

The Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in mystery fandom: David Magayna

MACAVITY AWARDS

(Presented by Mystery Readers International)

Best Mystery: The Long and Faraway Gone, by Lou Berney (Morrow)

Also nominated: Little Black Lies, by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur); The Hot Countries, by Tim Hallinan (Soho Crime); The Child Garden, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); Life or Death, by Michael Robotham (Mulholland); and The Cartel, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Best First Mystery: Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (Morrow)

Also nominated: Concrete Angel, by Patricia Abbott (Polis); The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland); Where All Light Tends to Go, by David Joy (Putnam); The Unquiet Dead, by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Minotaur); and On the Road with Del & Louise, by Art Taylor
(Henery Press)

Best Critical/Biographical: The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story, by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins)

Also nominated: A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie, by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury Sigma); Meanwhile, There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald, edited by Suzanne Marrs and Tom Nolan (Arcade); Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime, by Val McDermid (Grove); and The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett, by Nathan Ward (Bloomsbury)

Best Short Story: “The Little Men,” by Megan Abbott
(Mysterious Press/Open Road)

Also nominated: “On Borrowed Time,” by Mat Coward (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June 2015); “Sob Sister,” by Loren D. Estleman (from Detroit Is Our Beat: Tales of the Four Horsemen, by Loren D. Estleman; Tyrus); “A Year Without Santa Claus,” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine [AHMM], January/February 2015); “Quack and Dwight,” by Travis Richardson (from Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia; PM Press); and “A Joy Forever,” by B.K. Stevens (AHMM, March 2015)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award: The Masque of a Murderer, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)

Also nominated: A Gilded Grave, by Shelley Freydont (Berkley Prime Crime); Tom & Lucky (and George & Cokey Flo), by C. Joseph Greaves (Bloomsbury); The Lady from Zagreb, by Philip Kerr (Putnam); Secret Life of Anna Blanc, by Jennifer Kincheloe (Seventh Street); and Dreaming Spies, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)

DERRINGER AWARDS

(Presented by the Short Mystery Fiction Society)

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words):
“Hero,” by Vy Kava (from Red Dawn: Best New England Crime Stories 2016, edited by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler; Level Best)

Best Short Story (1,001-4,000 words):
“Twilight Ladies,” by Meg Opperman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], March/April 2015)

Best Long Story (4,001-8,000 words):
“Dentonville,” by John M. Floyd (EQMM, November 2015)

Best Novelette (8,001-20,000 words):
“Driver,” by John M. Floyd (The Strand Magazine, February-May 2015)

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for lifetime achievement: Michael Bracken

In addition, these commendations were given out during the Bouchercon opening ceremonies:

David Thompson Special Service Award: Otto Penzler

Teen Short Story Writing Awards: Sarah Devin Burse, Kate Marsh, Cherrikee Rhea, Sasha Robertson, Mayia Tate, Peter Williams, and Poet Wolfe. (To read their commended tales, check out Shadows in the Big Easy: An Anthology of Seven Award Winning Teen Mysteries)

Make Your Reservations Now

Private Eye Writers of America founder Robert J. Randisi has let me know that tickets are now on sale for this year’s PWA Shamus Awards Banquet, which is to be held on September 16, during Bouchercon in New Orleans. The banquet will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Pere Marquette Hotel in the French Quarter (817 Common Street) and last until 9 p.m. Tickets are priced at $60 per person. For more information, contact Randisi at RRandisi@aol.com.

Should you require a reminder of which books and authors are in contention for the various Shamus Awards this year, simply click here.

If memory serves, this will be my fifth Shamus Awards Banquet, following last year’s event in Raleigh, North Carolina. They’re always welcoming and often humorous affairs, and provide close contact with some of the most notable crime-fiction authors. Last year, for instance, I was seated one table away from Lawrence Block, and Steve Hamilton was right behind me. Great company, indeed.

Bullet Points: Frenzied Friday Edition

• This weekend promises to bring the annual Deadly Ink Mystery Conference to New Brunswick, New Jersey. The August 5-7 event will feature Reed Farrel Coleman as guest of honor, and Hilary Davidson as toastmaster. Blogger Les Blatt explains that “events [are scheduled] from Friday through the middle of the day Sunday. Friday night, after opening ceremonies, there’s a ‘Deadly Desserts’ party—always a highlight of the conference. Saturday and Sunday, there are entertaining and informative panels with mystery authors and fans talking about a variety of mystery-related topics. There’s a buffet lunch on Saturday; Saturday night, there’s an awards banquet, and on Sunday there’s a brunch. Mystery readers do eat well.” During that Saturday banquet he mentions, the 2016 David Award will be handed out to one of five deserving authors.

• The publication late last week of the panel/events schedule for next month’s Bouchercon in New Orleans, Louisiana (September 15-18) has provoked crime-fiction bloggers to begin announcing what they intend to do during the conference. Peter Rozovsky of Detectives Beyond Borders, for instance, reports that he’ll moderate an early Thursday panel discussion focusing on “Lesser Known Writers of the Pulp and Paperback Original Eras” (which will include Patti Abbott among its speakers), while Kristopher Zgorski of BOLO Books says he’ll host a Wednesday evening “wine/lemoncello event to thank all the authors and fans who [have] supported BOLO Books during its early years.” In that same post, Zgorski cites a variety of panel presentations and other events that he’s “most excited about.”

• R.I.P., Jack Davis. The Georgia-born cartoonist, who became famous for his movie-poster art (It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Bank Shot, The Long Goodbye, etc.) and his easily recognizable caricatures in Mad magazine (illustrations that made my father a fan), died on July 27 at age 91. The Spy Command has information about Davis’ comical salutes to TV spy shows here.

• TV and film actor David Huddleston has passed away in Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to Deadline Hollywood. Most of his obituaries mention Huddleston’s roles in The Big Lebowski, Blazing Saddles, and the 1975 film adaptation of Alistair MacLean’s Breakheart Pass, as well as his appearances on small-screen series such as Petrocelli, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, The Wonder Years, and Murder, She Wrote. But I recall him best from the 1973-1974 NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie series Tenafly, on which he played Lieutenant Sam Church opposite James McEachin’s happily married private eye, Harry Tenafly. Huddleston died on August 2, six weeks short of his 86th birthday.

• Good-bye, too, to Clue/Cluedo’s Mrs. White.

• Thanks to a closed fan group on Facebook called The Busted Flush, I now know that NBC-TV was seriously planning in 1971 to produce a “World Premiere Movie” based on John D. MacDonald’s 1965 Travis McGee novel, A Deadly Shade of Gold. The site links to this piece from the Chicago Tribune, which explains how NBC imagined its film spawning a TV series, but MacDonald wasn’t so optimistic. He’s quoted in the Tribune article complaining about cheapskate Hollywood types who refuse to spend enough money to get high-quality scripts. Needless to say, the teleflick A Deadly Shade of Gold was never made. To date, only two films based on MacDonald’s McGee yarns have been produced: the 1970 Rod Taylor picture Darker Than Amber (which you can watch in its entirety on YouTube), and a 1973 small-screen movie/pilot starring Sam Elliott, titled simply Travis McGee, based on MacDonald’s The Empty Copper Sea (1978). Plans to adapt the first McGee novel, 1964’s The Deep Blue Good-by, into a big-screen picture starring Christian Bale were delayed at the very least as a result of a knee injury Bale sustained last year.

• Yes, I too was surprised to learn that His Bloody Project, an “ingenious” psychological crime thriller by Scottish writer Graeme Macrae Burnet, was among the 13 novels shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize. Good luck, Mr. Burnet!

• From In Reference to Murder: “The Detection Club will publish in November a new collection of short stories, Motives for Murder, to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the Club’s most distinguished members, Peter Lovesey. The book will be published in Britain as a paperback original by Little, Brown and in the U.S. (with a limited hardback edition as well) by Crippen & Landru. Each of the nineteen stories and one sonnet was written specially for the book, with each prefaced by a few words from the author about Peter’s contribution to the genre. Contributors include Ann Cleeves, Andrew Taylor, Len Tyler, Michael Ridpath, [and] Liza Cody.” A foreword to this volume was penned by “the legendary Len Deighton.”

• Happy fifth anniversary to Crime Fiction Lover!

• Steve Thompson of Booksteve’s Library reminds us that July 30 marked half a century since the release of Batman, the big-screen picture based on the 1966-1968 ABC-TV series of that same name starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I well remember seeing that campy feature in a drive-in theater as a small boy, my parents having wheeled my brother and me out for an evening of POW!, WHAM!, and ZOWIE! Click here to watch a trailer for the movie. National Public Radio’s Monkey See blog has more to say more about this anniversary.

• The Spy Command gets all nostalgic about 2015 as “The Year of the Spy,” a designation greatly bolstered by the release last August of Guy Ritchie’s underappreciated film, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

• August 3 marked singer Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday! When I was a kid, and my parents played Bennett’s music on the stereo, I thought it was so corny. But something about being an adult has made everything he sings much more charming. Hard to believe that my parents were right about his music all along …

• The Hollywood Reporter brings the news that Benedict Cumberbatch of the BBC One series Sherlock “will star in and produce a film adaptation of Rogue Male, the 1939 survivalist thriller by Geoffrey Household” about “a hunter who attempts to assassinate a dictator but is caught, tortured, and left for dead.”

• Editor-author Vince Keenan offers this postmortem of Seattle, Washington’s recent Noir City film festival (July 22-28). “After a hiatus of almost two and a half years …,” he writes, “the return engagement on Capitol Hill was a success, with solid crowds every night for a week. The theme this go-round was Film Noir from A to B: double-bills that moved chronologically through the 1940s, pairing prestige pictures with shorter, grittier productions to re-create the movie-going experience of the era.”

• A couple of good recent lists from The Strand Magazine’s Web site: Author Anne Frasier selected what she claims are the “Top 10 Investigators with Dark Pasts,” while writer-editor Maxim Jakubowski picks “10 Overlooked Modern Crime Novels,” one of which is 1993’s Tony and Susan, by Austin Wright—a novel about which he commented at greater length in The Rap Sheet a few years back.

• Speaking of lists (and don’t we often do so?), Book Riot’s rundown of “100 Must-Read New York City Novels” includes Jonathan Lethem’s Motherless Brooklyn, Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, Lyndsay Faye’s The Gods of Gotham, and more than a few other mystery novels.

• More than 15 recognizable women mystery writers are set to participate in the third annual Ladies of Intrigue event, which will take place on Sunday, October 2, in Huntington Beach, California. Leading the list of speakers will be Agatha Award winner Carolyn Hart and Robin Burcell, the co-author—with Clive Cussler—of Pirate and the author of The Last Good Place, a 2015 work continuing the Al Krug/Casey Kellog police procedural series created by Carolyn Weston. Also set to take part are Lisa Brackmann, Kate Carlisle, Earlene Fowler, Naomi Hirahara, and others. Registration info is available here.

• Cable-TV network Cinemax has set Friday, September 9, as the debut date for Quarry, its new TV series based on Max Allan Collins’ novels about a peripatetic hit man. The eight-episode first season stars Logan Marshall-Green, Jodi Balfour, and Peter Mullan.

• Meanwhile, the espionage drama Berlin Station, created by spy novelist Olen Steinhauer, is being readied for an October 16 launch. Double O Section offers a trailer for the 10-episode opening season.

• Finally, a handful of interviews worthy of your attention: Crimespree Magazine’s Elise Cooper talks with Linda Castillo about the latter’s new novel, Among the Wicked; Amy Gentry chats with Kirkus Reviews’ Rachel Sugar about Good as Gone; Polish fictionist Zygmunt Miloszewski answers questions from Crime Fiction Lover about Rage; and Scott Montgomery from the Austin, Texas, bookshop MysteryPeople, grills Megan Abbott (You Will Know Me), Bill Loehfelm (Let the Devil Out), and Alison Gaylin (What Remains of Me).

Long Road to the Big Easy

Well, now I’ve gone and done it: registered to attend Bouchercon 2016 in New Orleans. For months, I had been thinking I might take a pass on the convention this year. But then again, it is taking place in one of my favorite cities in the world, where I can dine on some of the best beignets, gumbo, and hushpuppies around. And there will be a number of authors attending who I’d very much like to see, including Robert Wilson, Martin Edwards, Patti Abbott, Megan Abbott, James Sallis, Steve Hamilton, Kelli Stanley, Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins, Art Taylor, Lori Rader-Day, and J. Robert Janes. And I did find a screamin’ deal on a hotel in the city’s Arts/Warehouse District. And the next few Bouchercons will be held in places I find less interesting (Toronto, Dallas, St. Petersburg), so I can always skip those instead.

All of which led me to finally plunk down my $185 and sign up. I won’t be participating in any panel discussions, by my own choice (I lack anything approaching public-speaking skills), but I shall be attending as many convention events as I can … when I am not out and about in the French Quarter or elsewhere in New Orleans, soaking up the atmosphere and downing the local cuisine.

It should be fun! I hope to see a few Rap Sheet readers there.

Bullet Points: Happy Distractions Edition

If you can tear your eyes away from this week’s train wreck of a Republican Party convention in Cleveland, here are some crime-fiction-related items worth your attention.

• Please take a moment today to send good wishes in the direction of Alvin, Texas, author Bill Crider (Survivors Will Be Shot Again), whose 75th birthday is coming up on July 28. He reported in his blog yesterday that his doctor wanted him to “check into the hospital ASAP, as he thinks I might be having kidney failure. This can’t be good.” Crider, whose wife of 49 years, Judy, passed away in 2014, has always come across—in print and in person (on those several occasions I’ve seen him at Bouchercons)—as a fine and funny individual. His recent adoption of three abandoned kittens demonstrated his generosity, as well. Our thoughts are with you, Bill. Get well soon.

• Having gained renown for bringing out hard-boiled paperback crime fiction, Hard Case Crime is now preparing to launch a companion comic-books line in association with publishing partner Titan. “Kicking-off the imprint,” reports Comic Book Resources, “are two new crime series: Triggerman by writer Walter Hill, the acclaimed director of The Warriors, and artist Matz (Body and Soul), and Peepland from crime authors Christa Faust and Gary Phillips and artist Andrea Camerini (Il Troio). Also launching in 2017 is a comic adaptation of author Max Allan Collins’ Quarry, which is currently being developed for television.” News-a-Rama adds that Triggerman—which will debut in stores on October 5, “is an operatic Prohibition-era mini-series,” while Peepland—scheduled to be available a week later—is “a semi-autobiographical neo-noir mini-series with a punk edge set in the seedy Times Square peep booths of 1980s New York City.” In his blog, author Collins explains that “no artist has been selected” for his Quarry tale, “and I probably won’t start writing for two or three months; the graphic novel will likely be called Quarry’s War and will deal more directly with his Vietnam experiences than I’ve ever done in the novels.” It’s been many years since I was a regular reader of comic books, but these Hard Case releases are definitely of interest to me, if only because I know some of the writers involved. Also, the issues I’ve seen boast beautiful covers, one of which is shown on the right.

• By the way, that Collins post I just mentioned also features a new trailer for the coming Cinemax TV series, Quarry. It’s apparently narrated by South Africa-born actress Jodi Balfour, who plays Joni, the ex-wife of Collins’ protagonist—looking quite a bit less glamorous than she did in the Canadian series Bomb Girls, which my wife and I are currently in the process of watching on Netflix.

• Another graphic novel of interest: Last Fair Deal Gone Down (12 Gauge), an adaptation of Ace Atkins’ first story starring Louisiana footballer-turned-sometime private eye Nick Travers. The Crimespree Magazine blog says the artwork dramatizing Atkins’ story was done by Marco Finnegan, who is “a fan of the Travers stories and the genre of crime. You feel the mood and the atmosphere on every page.”

• MysteryPeople also weighs in on Atkins’ graphic novel.

• There are apparently three finalists vying for the 2016T. Jefferson Parker Mystery and Thriller Award: Before the Fall, by Noah Hawley (Grand Central); Orphan X, by Gregg Hurwitz (Minotaur); and The Promise, by Robert Crais (Putnam). The Parker award is given out annually by the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association. It is one of seven categories of prizes sponsored by SCIBA. Winners are expected to be announced during the SCIBA Trade Show to be held in Los Angeles, October 21-22.

• Jose Ignacio Escribano reports in A Crime Is Afoot that “The 2016 Dashiell Hammett Prize—awarded each year by the International Crime Fiction Festival, la Semana Negra de Gijón—has been bestowed to the novel Subsuelo, by the Argentine writer Marcelo Luján.”

• Blogger-editor Janet Rudolph needs submissions to her next edition of Mystery Readers Journal. She says that issue “will focus on mysteries featuring Small Town Cops,” and that she’s “looking for reviews, articles, and Author! Author! essays. Reviews: 50-250 words; articles: 250-1000 words; Author! Author! essays: 500-1,500 words.” The deadline for submissions is August 10. Learn more here.

• Just last month I mentioned on this page that I was very happy to see David Cranmer writing, in the Criminal Element blog, about Isaac Asimov’s trilogy of Elijah Baley/Daneel Olivaw yarns. Yesterday Cranmer completed his critiques of those science-fiction whodunits, posting this fine piece about The Robots of Dawn (1983) to add to his earlier remarks on The Caves of Steel (1954) and The Naked Sun (1957). Good going, Mr. Cranmer!

• This is an interesting development: “Steeger Properties, LLC, is pleased to announce that it has added the most prominent pulp magazine ever published, Black Mask, to its intellectual property holdings. As the periodical where the hard-boiled detective story was created and cultivated, Black Mask’s historical significance in popular fiction is unequaled. … Black Mask rejoins Dime Detective and Detective Fiction Weekly in Steeger Properties, LLC’s holdings once owned by Popular Publications Inc. ... This marks the first time in over 50 years that all three titles [are] owned by one entity.”

• If you need a Caribbean mystery fix, check this out.

• Columbo star Peter Falk, who passed away in 2011 at age 83, will be the subject of this week’s installment of TV Confidential, Ed Robertson’s popular two-hour radio talk show. William Link (who, with Richard Levinson, created that NBC Mystery Movie series) and TV critic Mark Dawidziak will join Robertson on the show, which is set to air from Friday, July 22, through Monday, July 25, on a variety of radio stations. It will later be archived here for your enjoyment.

• It was two years ago yesterday that prolific actor James Garner died at 86 years of age. Quite to my surprise, I am still discovering new films and small-screen productions in which he starred. Just last week, for instance, I finally got around to watching 1997’s Dead Silence, adapted from Jeffery Deaver’s 1995 novel, A Maiden’s Grave, and starring Garner as a hostage negotiator.

• Author brothers Lee and Tod Goldberg have won valuable attention in Palm Springs, California’s Desert Sun newspaper for the fact that they “have pulled off a rare feat by both appearing on the same New York Times Best Sellers list at the same time for different books.” (Yes, I know I mentioned this previously.)

• The real reason Showtime’s Penny Dreadful was canceled?

• I was just thinking the other night about how much I’d like to rewatch last year’s thrills-packed Guy Ritchie picture, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.—which I very much enjoyed at the time of its release—when what should appear in Bill Crider’s blog but this favorable assessment of that flick as an “overlooked movie.” (Crider also offered this trailer.) These stars having thus aligned, I now have The Man from U.N.C.L.E. stored in my TV queue for imminent viewing.

• Sadly, while Ritchie’s U.N.C.L.E. survived the first round of online voting in the 2016 MTV Fandom of the Year awards, it fell out of the running in round two.

• Stephen Bowie presents a superior write-up in The Classic TV History Blog about The Defenders, the often-acclaimed 1961-1965 CBS-TV legal drama, Season One of which was finally released in DVD format last week by Shout! Factory.

• Meanwhile, Ivan G. Shreve Jr. applauds Shout!’s recent release of Lou Grant: Season One. Lou Grant, you will recall, was the excellent 1977-1982 CBS series in which Edward Asner played the tough but thoughtful city editor of the (fictional) Los Angeles Tribune newspaper. He’d previously appeared as Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Lou Grant: Season Two will go on sale in August.

• Again on the subject of TV programs, have you heard about Wayne State University Press’ evolving collection of releases about such memorable boob-tube productions as Have Gun—Will Travel, The X Files, Maverick, The Fugitive, and Miami Vice? This might be something to keep a watch on for the near future.

• Some author interviews worth your attention: Underground Airlines’ Ben H. Winters goes one-on-one with Lori Rader-Day for the Chicago Review of Books; in that same publication, Lauren Sacks quizzes David Baker (Vintage); Todd Robinson (Rough Trade) chats with Crimespree Magazine; writer-publisher Jason Pinter submits to an interrogation by S.W. Lauden; MysteryPeople turns its attention to both Peter Spiegelman (Dr. Knox) and Douglas Graham Purdy (We Were Kings); James Henry, aka James Gurbutt, talks with Cleopatra Loves Books about his new UK release, Blackwater; Mystery Playground fires questions at Terrence McCauley (A Murder of Crows); In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel discusses the old Sergeant Cuff novels with Martin Edwards; and Camilla Way (Watching Edie) stops by for a bit of a palaver with Crime Fiction Lover.

• Seattleite Vince Keenan, the managing editor of Noir City (the Film Noir Foundation’s “house rag”), offers this short but snappy look back at the film and television career or Roy Huggins, the creator of Maverick and the co-creator of The Rockford Files.

• Despite its hype and publishing success, I found Stephanie Meyer’s vampire-themed Twilight series unreadable, so I won’t be buying her forthcoming adult thriller, The Chemist, which she describes as “the love child created from the union of my romantic sensibilities and my obsession with Jason Bourne/Aaron Cross.” But for those of you who are curious to know more, click over to this Omnivoracious post.

• Darn! I wish I could be in Britain this week to watch “BBC 1’s lavish new adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s 1907 novel, The Secret Agent.” (There’s a trailer at the link.) Fortunately, Wikipedia says this three-part mini-series, starring Toby Jones, will cross the Atlantic at some as-yet-unannounced date, courtesy of Acorn TV.

• In The Guardian, Mark Lawson calls Conrad’s The Secret Agent “a prescient masterpiece that has shaped depictions of terrorism and espionage.” It’s hard to argue with that assessment.

• For folks who like lists, try these on for size. Wolf Lake author John Verdon recommends the “10 Best Whodunits” in Publishers Weekly, while Joseph Finder (Guilty Minds) serves up his picks of the “10 Best Movie Thrillers” on the Strand Magazine Web site.

• Among Brooklyn Magazine’s list of “100 Books to Read for the Rest of 2016” are several crime and mystery fiction picks, including Good as Gone, by Amy Gentry, The Kingdom, by Fuminori Nakamura, and Underground Airlines, by Ben H. Winters.

• From In Reference to Murder: “There are plans afoot to bring the Idris Elba-starring crime drama Luther to the big screen. Luther creator Neil Cross indicated that the Luther movie would play as [a] prequel to the series, meaning that some of the characters from early in the show could return, including Luther’s old partner Ian Reed (Steven Mackintosh), and his sidekick Justin Ripley (Warren Brown). Cross added, ‘It will follow his career in the earlier days when he is still married to Zoe [Indira Varma], and the final scene in the film is the first of the initial TV series.’”

• With only two months to go now (yikes!) before Bouchercon 2016 kicks off in New Orleans, Louisiana, conference organizes have made all six of this year’s Anthony Award-nominated short stories available online here for your consideration.

• Finally, because Donald Trump & Co. are still huffing and puffing and blowing themselves up on stage in Ohio, here’s a note of interest from the online Seattle Review of Books: “Would you care to guess what Donald Trump reads? Is ‘not much of anything’ your answer? The good news is, you’re right! (The bad news is: you’re right.)” More about Trump’s anti-intellectualism can be found here.