Measuring Up to Expectations

This is going to be a quiet week here at The Rap Sheet, as I have an old college friend in from out of town, and am doing my best to provide entertainment. However, I do want to mention the preliminary or final results of three different awards competitions.

First up are the 2019 Dead Good Reader Awards. Organized by the British crime-fiction Web site Dead Good, these honors are presented to recent works in half a dozen categories. Here are the winners:

The Nosy Parker Award for Best Amateur Detective:
The Suspect, by Fiona Barton

Also nominated: A Clean Canvas, by Elizabeth Mundy; The Brighton Mermaid, by Dorothy Koomson; Red Snow, by Will Dean; The Stone Circle, by Elly Griffiths; and The Taking of Annie Thorne, by C.J. Tudor

The Jury’s Out Award for Most Gripping Courtroom Drama:
Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh

Also nominated: Anatomy of a Scandal, by Sarah Vaughan; Blood Orange, by Harriet Tyce; Marked for Death, by Tony Kent; No Further Questions, by Gillian McAllister; and Our Kind of Cruelty, by
Araminta Hall

The Dish Served Cold Award for Best Revenge Thriller:
My Lovely Wife, by Samantha Downing

Also nominated: Do No Harm, by L.V. Hay; Final Betrayal, by Patricia Gibney; Marked for Death, by Tony Kent; The Puppet Show, by M.W. Craven; and Sticks and Stones, by Jo Jakeman

The Cancel All Plans Award for the Book You Can’t Put Down:
Skin Deep, by Liz Nugent

Also nominated: The Brighton Mermaid, by Dorothy Koomson; Her Name Was Rose, by Claire Allan; The Night Olivia Fell; by Christina Mcdonald; The Passengers, by John Marrs; and Sleep, by C.L. Taylor

The Cat and Mouse Award for Most Elusive Villain:
Last of the Magpies, by Mark Edwards

Also nominated: Beautiful Liars, by Isabel Ashdown; Do No Harm, by L.V. Hay; The Infirmary, by L.J. Ross; The Rumour, by Lesley Kara; and Twisted, by Steve Cavanagh

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book:
The Stone Circle, by Elly Griffiths

Also nominated: The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware; Now You See Her, by Heidi Perks; The Passengers, by John Marrs; Skin Deep, by Liz Nugent; and Sleep, by C.L. Taylor

These results were announced late last week at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England.

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Meanwhile, B.V. Lawson reports in In Reference to Murder on the results of this year’s contest for the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, sponsored by the American Bar Association’s ABA Journal. The fortunate 2019 recipient is The Boat People, by Sharon Bala (Doubleday). Two other novels were vying for that same accolade: Class Action, by Steven B. Frank (HMH Books for Young Readers); and The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime).

According to a press release, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction “was authorized by the late Harper Lee [and was] established in 2011 by the University of Alabama Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law and the ABA Journal to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird. It is given annually to a book-length work of fiction that best illuminates the role of lawyers in society and their power to effect change.”

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And this year’s longlist of 13 Man Booker Prize nominees includes one novel drawn from the mystery/thriller stacks: My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Doubleday). A shortlist of contenders will be released on September 3.

Lucky “Thirteen”

This evening, during opening ceremonies for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England, it was announced that Northern Ireland writer Steve Cavanagh’s latest book, Thirteen (Hachette), has won the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. As Mystery Fanfare explains, “The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors …” 2019 marks the 15th year this commendation has been presented.

The other five paperbacks shortlisted for the 2019 award were Broken Ground, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown); Snap, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld); London Rules, by Mick Herron (John Murray); The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins); and East of Hounslow, by Khurrum Rahman (HarperCollins).

The longlist of this year’s nominees was broadcast in April, with the shortlist disseminated a month later.

Cavanagh’s Thirteen, a legal thriller, is scheduled to be released in the States on August 13, by Flatiron Books.

Pick Your Peculier Preference

Get ready to vote for your favorite book among a half-dozen nominees shortlisted for the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. Just about five weeks ago, a longlist of 18 contenders—including works by Ann Cleeves, William Shaw, Stuart Turton, and C.J. Tudor—was announced. But that has now been trimmed by two-thirds, leaving the following yarns still in contention:

• Broken Ground, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
• Snap, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld)
• Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh (Hachette)
• London Rules, by Mick Herron (John Murray)
• The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney (HarperCollins)
• East of Hounslow, by Khurrum Rahman (HarperCollins)

As a British weekly called the Scarborough News explained in April, “This year marks the 15th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019.” Among the previous recipients are Mark Billingham, Denise Mina. R.J. Ellory, Sarah Hilary, Lee Child, and Stav Sherez.

The winner of this contest will be determined by a panel of judges, as well as by an online public vote. That latter balloting is set to begin on Monday, July 1, and will close on Sunday, July 14. During those two weeks, the Theakston Brewing Company will post a link here for everyone wishing to let their opinions be known.

A final champion is to be declared on Thursday, July 18, during a special ceremony on the opening night of the 17th annual Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England.