How About Some Villainy and Vice to Go Along with This Season’s Sand and Sunshine?

It’s happening already: print magazines, blogs, and other Web sites are announcing their choices of “the best books of 2019 (so far).” The Guardian, Real Simple, Esquire, New York magazine’s Vulture site—they have all done it, racing ahead of the usual November/December ritual of choosing the foremost works released during the preceding 12 months, as if their editors can’t possibly wait another half-year to broadcast their considered, if perhaps premature, opinions.

This isn’t an exercise in which I customarily take part. However, I have been impressed by a number of the crime, mystery, and thriller novels I’ve tackled over the last six months. Impressed enough that I have decided to applaud 10 of them early:

— Blood & Sugar, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)
— The Darwin Affair, by Tim Mason (Algonquin)
— The Devil Aspect, by Craig Russell (Doubleday)
— The King’s Evil, by Andrew Taylor (HarperCollins)
— Metropolis, by Philip Kerr (Putnam)
— The Moroccan Girl, by Charles Cumming (St. Martin’s Press)
— The Paragon Hotel, by Lyndsay Faye (Putnam)
— Smoke and Ashes, by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)
— The Summer of Ellen, by Agnete Friis (Soho Crime)
— The Wolf and the Watchman, by Niklas Natt och Dag (Atria)

In addition, I should mention British author-historian Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), a sedulously researched work that currently ranks as my favorite true-crime tale of 2019.

Of course, none of the aforementioned titles is guaranteed a spot on my year-end register of reading preferences; there are far too many books in this genre, due out between now and New Year’s Day, that still await my attention and may prove to be even more to my liking. For instance, Martin Walker has a new Bruno Courrèges yarn, The Body in the Castle Well (Knopf), just out, and we can look forward later in June to fresh fiction from Kate Atkinson (Big Sky), Mick Herron (Joe Country), Denise Mina (Conviction), and Andrew Martin (The Winker). As we move deeper into summer, we’ll also be offered new stories by Adrian McKinty (The Chain), Laura Lippman (Lady in the Lake), Richard Russo (Chances Are …), Helen Phillips (The Need), Peter Lovesey (Killing with Confetti), S.J. Rozan (Paper Son), James Oswald (Nothing to Hide), Christobel Kent (A Secret Life), Robert Crais (A Dangerous Man), Louise Penny (A Better Man), Alex Segura (Miami Midnight), Lisa Lutz (The Swallows), and Max Byrd (The Sixth Conspirator). Keep a watch, too, for Swedish author David Lagercrantz’s final Lisbeth Salander adventure, The Girl Who Lived Twice; a collection of unpublished works by Gil Brewer, Death Is a Private Eye; Jo Nesbø’s Knife, his 12th case for Norwegian detective Harry Hole; what I hope will be a wonderful anthology of vintage crime-fiction short stories, The Best of Manhunt; the third entry in John A. Connell’s World War II-era series about U.S. Army investigator Mason Collins, Blood of the Innocent; and Sticking It to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1950 to 1980, edited by Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre, a non-fiction release to which I contributed an essay.

Below, you will find a curated selection of more than 400 books—all due to appear in stores (on both sides of the Atlantic) during the next three, warmer months—that should be of particular interest to devotees of crime and thriller fiction. Those marked with asterisks (*) belong on the non-fiction shelves; the rest are novels or short-story collections. To learn which of them I find most engrossing, you’ll have to be patient until I post my “best of 2019” list in December.

JUNE (U.S.):

• The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective: Secrets and Lies in the Golden Age of Crime, by Susannah Stapleton (Picador)*

• All the Lost Things, by Michelle Sacks (Little, Brown)

• Assassin of Shadows, by Lawrence Goldstone (Pegasus)

• Aunt Dimity and the Heart of Gold, by Nancy Atherton (Viking)

• Backlash, by Brad Thor (Atria/Emily Bestler)

• Beautiful Liars, by Isabel Ashdown (Kensington)

• Before I Wake, by David Morrell (Subterranean)

• Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, by Malin Persson Giolito (Other Press)

• Big Sky, by Kate Atkinson ( Little, Brown)

• The Body in Question, by Jill Ciment (Pantheon)

• The Body in the Castle Well, by Martin Walker (Knopf)

• The Body Lies, by Jo Baker (Knopf)

• Bone Deep, by Sandra Ireland (Gallery)

• Breaking the Dance, by Clare O’Donohue (Midnight Ink)

• The Buy Back Blues, by Ralph Dennis (Brash)

• Chai Another Day, by Leslie Budewitz (Seventh Street)

• Charlie-316, by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro (Down & Out)

• City of Fear, by Larry Enmon (Crooked Lane)

• Conviction, by Denise Mina (Mulholland)

• The Cutting Room, by Ashley Dyer (Morrow)

• The Darwin Affair, by Tim Mason (Algonquin)

• Dead Big Dawg, by Victoria Houston (Gallery)

• Dead Wrong: The Continuing Story of City of Lies, Corruption and Cover-Up in the Notorious BIG Murder Investigation, by Randall Sullivan (Atlantic Monthly Press)*

• Death in Kew Gardens, by Jennifer Ashley (Berkley)

• Death in Summer, by Michael Theurillat (Manilla)

• Deep Waters: Mysteries on the Waves, edited by Martin Edwards (British Library)

• Die Behind the Wheel: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Steely Dan, edited by Brian Thornton (Down & Out)

• The Disappearance of Alistair Ainsworth, by Leonard
Goldberg (Minotaur)

• The Ditch, by Herman Koch (Hogarth)

• Drink to Every Beast, by Joel Burcat (Headline)

• Fake Like Me, by Barbara Bourland (Grand Central)

• A Family of Strangers, by Emilie Richards (Mira)

• The First Mistake, by Sandie Jones (Minotaur)

• The Friend, by Joakim Zander (Harper)

• Girl Gone Missing, by Marcie Rendon (Cinco Puntos Press)

• Girl in the Rearview Mirror, by Kelsey Rae Dimberg (Morrow)

• The Gone Dead, by Chanelle Benz (Ecco)

• Gone Too Long, by Lori Roy (Dutton)

• Grab a Snake by the Tail, by Leonardo Padura (Bitter Lemon Press)

• Her Daughter’s Mother, by Daniela Petrova (Putnam)

• Hitchcock and the Censors, by John Billheimer (University
Press of Kentucky)*

• I Know You, by Annabel Kantaria (Crooked Lane)

• I’ll Never Tell, by Catherine McKenzie (Lake Union)

• Joe Country, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)

• Just One Bite, by Jack Heath (Hanover Square Press)

• Killing State, by Judith O'Reilly (Head of Zeus)

• A King Alone, by Jean Giono (NYRB Classics)

• The Last House Guest, by Megan Miranda (Simon & Schuster)

• The L.A. Quartet: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz, by James Ellroy (Everyman’s Library)

• The Last of the Armageddon Wars, by Ralph Dennis (Brash)

• The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation, by Rich Cohen (Spiegel & Grau)*

• The Last Widow, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)

• Like This Afternoon Forever, by Jaime Manrique (Kaylie Jones/Akashic)

• A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Man of the Year, by Caroline Louise Walker (Gallery)

• A Matter of Will, by Adam Mitzner (Thomas & Mercer)

• The Mausoleum, by David Mark (Severn House)

• A Merciful Promise, by Kendra Elliot (Montlake Romance)

• Miss Pinkerton, by Mary Roberts Rinehart (American Mystery Classics)

• Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing, by
Maryla Szymiczkowa (Oneworld)

• Murder in Bel-Air,
by Cara Black (Soho Crime)

• Murder in the Crooked House,
by Soji Shimada (Pushkin Vertigo)

• My Life as a Rat,
by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco)

• A Nearly Normal Family, by M.T. Edvardsson (Celadon)

• Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History, by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint)*

• One Night at the Lake, by Bethany Chase (Ballantine)

• The Perfect Fraud, by Ellen LaCorte (Harper)

• The Perfect Plan, by Bryan Reardon (Dutton)

• A Philosophy of Ruin, by Nicholas Mancusi (Hanover Square Press)

• A Plain Vanilla Murder, by Susan Wittig Albert (Persevero Press)

• The Playground Murders, by Lesley Thomson (Head of Zeus)

• Rag and Bone, by Joe Clifford (Oceanview)

• Random Act, by Gerry Boyle (Islandport Press)

• Recursion, by Blake Crouch (Crown)

• The Right Sort of Man, by Allison Montclair (Minotaur)

• The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: The Greatest Detective Stories, 1837-1914, edited by Graeme Davis (Pegasus)

• Rogue Strike, by David Ricciardi (Berkley)

• Rouge, by Richard Kirshenbaum (St. Martin’s Press)

• The Safe House, by Kiki Swinson (Dafina)

• Searching for Sylvie Lee, by Jean Kwok (Morrow)

• The Secret Mother, by Shalini Boland (Grand Central)

• Seven Ways to Get Rid of Harry, by Jen Conley (Down & Out)

• The Shallows, by Matt Goldman (Forge)

• Shoot the Bastards, by Michael Stanley (Poisoned Pen Press)

• A Shot of Murder, by J.A. Kazimer (Midnight Ink)

• Sleepless Summer, by Bram Dehouck (World Editions)

• Smallbone Deceased, by Michael Gilbert (Poisoned Pen Press)

• The Snakes, by Sadie Jones (Harper)

• The Spies of Shilling Lane, by Jennifer Ryan (Crown)

• The Starter Wife, by Nina Laurin (Grand Central)

• Ten Swedes Must Die, by Martin Österdahl (Amazon Crossing)

• Their Little Secret, by Mark Billingham (Atlantic Monthly Press)

• Thin Air, by Lisa Gray (Thomas & Mercer)

• This Storm, by James Ellroy (Knopf)

• Those People, by Louise Candlish (Berkley)

• Traitor’s Codex, by Jeri Westerson (Severn House)

• The Truffle Underground: A Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World’s Most Expensive Fungus, by Ryan Jacobs (Clarkson Potter)*

• The Ugly Truth, by Jill Orr (Prospect Park)

• Ungentlemanly Warfare, by Howard Linskey (No Exit Press)

• Unraveling, by Karen Lord (DAW)

• The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone, by Felicity McLean (Algonquin)

• Wherever She Goes, by Kelley Armstrong (Minotaur)

• The Woman in Our House, by Andrew Hart (Lake Union)

• The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits, by Alys Clare (Severn House)

• Your Life Is Mine, by Nathan Ripley (Atria)

JUNE (UK):

• The Art of Deception, by Louise Mangos (HQ)

• The Beijing Conspiracy, by Shamini Flint (Severn House)

• Black Summer, by M.W. Craven (Constable)

• The Boy Who Fell, by Jo Spain (Quercus)

• The Colours of Murder, by Ali Carter (Point Blank)

• Date with Poison, by Julia Chapman (Pan)

• Death at Burwell Farm, by Betty Rowlands (Bookouture)

• Death in Avignon, by Serena Kent (Orion)

• The End of the Line, by Gillian Galbraith (Polygon)

• The Exiled, by David Barbaree (Zaffre)

• A Fatal Game, by Nicholas Searle (Viking)

• The Friend Who Lied, by Rachel Amphlett (Saxon)

• Girl at Midnight, by Katarzyna Bonda (Hodder & Stoughton)

• I Looked Away, by Jane Corry (Penguin)

• The Killing Gene, by E.M. Davey (Duckworth)

• The Lies We Tell, by Niki Mackay (Orion)

• A Line of Forgotten Blood, by Malcolm Mackay (Head of Zeus)

• Mr. Campion’s Visit,
by Mike Ripley (Severn House)

• Mosaic, by Caro Ramsey (Severn House)

• The Most Difficult Thing,
by Charlotte Philby (Borough Press)

• The Mother-in-Law,
by Sally Hepworth (Hodder)

• Murder at Whitby Abbey, by Cassandra Clark (Severn House)

• Naked Flames,
by Graham Ison (Severn House)

• The Nanny, by Gilly Macmillan (Century)

• Now You See Me, by Chris McGeorge (Orion)

• The October Man, by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz)

• One Way Out, by A.A. Dhand (Bantam Press)

• Our Little Secrets, by Peter Ritchie (Black and White)

• The Perfect Betrayal, by Lauren North (Corgi)

• The Serpent’s Mark, by S.W. Perry (Corvus)

• Shadowplay, by Joseph O’Connor (Harvill Secker)

• The Sleepwalker, by Joseph Knox (Doubleday)

• Somewhere Close to Happy, by Lia Louis (Trapeze)

• Spring Cleaning, by Antonio Manzini (Harper)

• Tell Me Your Secret, by Dorothy Koomson (Headline Review)

• Trap Lane, by Stella Cameron (Creme de la Crime)

• The Unseen Hand, by Edward Marston (Allison and Busby)

• White Hot Silence, by Henry Porter (Quercus)

• Who Killed Ruby? by Camilla Way (HarperCollins)

• Who’s Sorry Now? by Maggie Robinson (Poisoned Pen Press)

• The Winker, by Andrew Martin (Corsair)

• Wolves at the Door, by Gunnar Staalesen (Orenda)

• Your Truth or Mine? by Trisha Sakhlecha (Macmillan)

JULY (U.S.):

• Almost Midnight, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)

• American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century, by Maureen Callahan (Viking)*

• The Arrangement, by Robyn Harding (Gallery/Scout Press)

• Bad Axe County, by John Galligan (Atria)

• Bark of Night, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)

• Beijing Payback, by Daniel Nieh (Ecco)

• The Best of Manhunt, edited by Jeff Vorzimmer (Stark House Press)

• Betrayal in Time, by Julie McElwain (Pegasus)

• The Bird Boys, by Lisa Sandlin (Cinco Puntos Press)

• Black Sun, by Owen Matthews (Doubleday)

• Blindsided, by Kate Watterson (Crooked Lane)

• Blood in Eden, by Peter Tremayne (Severn House)

• Bodies from the Library 2: Forgotten Stories of Mystery and Suspense by the Queens of Crime and other Masters of Golden Age Detection, edited by Tony Medawar (Collins Crime Club)

• The Body in Griffith Park, by Jennifer Kincheloe (Seventh Street)

• Bones of the Innocent, by John A. Connell (Nailhead)

• A Capitol Death, by Lindsey Davis (Minotaur)

• The Chain, by Adrian McKinty (Mulholland)

• Chances Are …, by Richard Russo (Knopf)

• The Churchgoer, by Patrick Coleman (Harper Perennial)

• The Content Assignment, by Holly Roth (Dover)

• The Dead Girl in 2A, by Carter Wilson (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Dead Silence, by Wendy Corsi Staub (Morrow)

• Death in a Desert Land, by Andrew Wilson (Washington Square Press)

• Deep Dive, by Chris Knopf (Permanent Press)

• Dragonfly, by Leila Meacham (Grand Central)

• The Dreaming Tree, by Matthew Mather (Blackstone)

• The Escape Room, by Megan Goldin (St. Martin’s Press)

• First Tracks, by Catherine O’Connell (Severn House)

• Fragments of Fear, by Carrie Stuart Parks (Thomas Nelson)

• Frozen Secrets, by Michael L. Douglas (MCP)

• Game of Snipers, by Stephen Hunter (Putnam)

• The Ghost Clause, by Howard Norman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

• Girls Like Us, by Cristina Alger (Putnam)

• Good Girl, Bad Girl, by Michael Robotham (Scribner)

• Goodnight Stranger, by Miciah Bay Gault (Park Row)

• The Gomorrah Gambit, by Tom Chatfield (Mulholland)

• Grave Expectations, by Heather Redmond (Kensington)

• Greasy Bend, by Kris Lackey (Blackstone)

• Gretchen, by Shannon Kirk (Thomas & Mercer)

• Growing Things and Other Stories, by Paul Tremblay (Morrow)

• The Hallows, by Victor Methos (Thomas & Mercer)

• The Hard Stuff, by David Gordon (Mysterious Press)

• The Haunted Martyr, by Kenneth Cameron (Felony & Mayhem)

• The Heart Keeper, by Alex Dahl (Berkley)

• Heart of Barkness, by Spencer Quinn (Forge)

• Heavy on the Dead, by G.M. Ford (Thomas & Mercer)

• Her Deadly Secrets, by Laura Griffin (Gallery)

• The Honorary Jersey Girl, by Albert Tucher (Shotgun Honey)

• Hope Rides Again, by Andrew Shaffer (Quirk)

• The Hound of Justice, by Claire O’Dell (Harper Voyager)

• A House Divided, by Jonathan F. Putnam (Crooked Lane)

• Invisible Blood, edited by Maxim Jakubowski (Titan)

• Killer in the Carriage House, by Sheila Connolly (Minotaur)

• Killing with Confetti, by Peter Lovesey (Soho Crime)

• Knife, by Jo Nesbø (Knopf)

• Labyrinth, by Catherine Coulter (Gallery)

• Lady in the Lake,
by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

• The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt, by Andrea Bobotis (Sourcebooks Landmark)

• Layover, by David Bell (Berkley)

• Lock Every Door, by Riley Sager (Dutton)

• The Magic Chair Murder,
by Diane James (Severn House)

• Maigret’s Childhood Friend, by Georges Simenon (Penguin Classics)

• Marah Chase and the Conqueror’s Tomb, by Jay Stringer (Pegasus)

• Marked Men, by Chris Simms (Severn House)

• The Mountain Master of Sha Tin, by Ian Hamilton
(House of Anansi Press)

• Murderabilia, by Carl Vonderau (Midnight Ink)

• Murder at Crossways, by Alyssa Maxwell (Kensington)

• A Necessary Murder, by M.J. Tjia (Legend Press)

• The Need, by Helen Phillips (Simon & Schuster)

• Never Have I Ever, by Joshilyn Jackson (Morrow)

• Never Look Back, by Alison Gaylin (Morrow)

• The New Girl, by Daniel Silva (Harper)

• The Night of Rome, by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo de
Cataldo (World Noir)

• Off the Grid, by Robert McCaw (Oceanview)

• One Good Deed, by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

• One Little Secret, by Cate Holahan (Crooked Lane)

• The Other Mrs. Miller, by Allison Dickson (Putnam)

• Paper Son, by S.J. Rozan (Pegasus)

• Pretty Revenge, by Emily Liebert (Gallery)

• Purgatory, by Guido Eekhaut (Skyhorse)

• The Reunion, by Guillaume Musso (Little, Brown)

• Rocket to the Morgue, by Anthony Boucher (American
Mystery Classics)

• The Russian, by Ben Coes (St. Martin’s Press)

• Season of Darkness, by Cora Harrison (Severn House)

• Second Sight, by Aoife Clifford (Pegasus)

• Shamed, by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)

• The Shameless, by Ace Atkins (Putnam)

• Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the American West,
by John S. Fitzpatrick (Riverbend)

• Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Seven, edited by Martin
Rosenstock (Titan)

• Sherlock Holmes vs. Cthulhu: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Mutations, by Lois H. Gresh (Titan)

• Shibumi (40th Anniversary Edition), by Trevanian (Rare Bird)

• A Shroud of Leaves, by Rebecca Alexander (Titan)

• A Sinner’s Prayer, by M.P. Wright (Black and White)

• Slugger, by Martin Holmén (Pushkin Vertigo)

• Smokescreen, by Iris Johansen (Grand Central)

• Snowball, by Jimmy Sangster (Brash)

• Someone We Know, by Shari Lapena (Pamela Dorman)

• Speaking of Summer, by Kalisha Buckhanon (Counterpoint)

• A Stranger on the Beach, by Michele Campbell (St. Martin’s Press)

• The Subject of Malice, by Cynthia Kuhn (Henery Press)

• Surfeit of Suspects, by George Bellairs (Poisoned Pen Press)

• Tangled Roots, by Marcia Talley (Severn House)

• Tell Me Everything, by Cambria Brockman (Ballantine)

• Temper, by Layne Fargo (Gallery/Scout Press)

• Theme Music, by T. Marie Vandelly (Dutton)

• This Side of Night, by J. Todd Scott (Putnam)

• Too Close, by Natalie Daniels (Harper)

• True Believer, by Jack Carr (Atria/Emily Bestler)

• Triumph of the Spider Monkey, by Joyce Carol Oates
(Hard Case Crime)

• The Two Lila Bennetts, by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke (Lake Union)

• Under the Cold Bright Lights, by Garry Disher (Soho Crime)

• An Unsettled Grave, by Bernard Schaffer (Kensington)

• The Venetian Masquerade, by Philip Gwynne Jones (Constable)

• Watchers of the Dead, by Simon Beaufort (Severn House)

• We Went to the Woods, by Caite Dolan-Leach (Random House)

• Whisper Network, by Chandler Baker (Flatiron)

JULY (UK):

• The Bear Pit, by S.G. MacLean (Quercus)

• The Bone Fire, by S.D. Sykes (Hodder & Stoughton)

• A Breath on Dying Embers, by Denzil Meyrick (Polygon)

• Call Him Mine, by Tim MacGabhann (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

• The Closer I Get, by Paul Burston (Orenda)

• Come Back for Me,
by Heidi Perks (Century)

• Darkest Truth, by Catherine Kirwan (Arrow)

• Death’s Dark Valley,
by Paul Doherty (Headline)

• Don’t Tell Teacher, by Suzy K. Quinn (HQ)

• A Grave for Two, by Anne Holt (Corvus)

• The Hidden Wife,
by Amanda Reynolds (Wildfire)

• The Holiday, by T.M. Logan (Zaffre)

• The Home, by Sarah Stovell (Orenda)

• The Housemate, by C. L. Pattison (Headline)

• Hudson’s Kill, by Paddy Hirsch (Corvus)

• The July Girls, by Phoebe Locke (Wildfire)

• The Maltese Herring, by L.C. Tyler (Allison and Busby)

• Nothing to Hide, by James Oswald (Wildfire)

• On My Life, by Angela Clarke (Mulholland)

• The Poison Garden, by Alex Marwood (Sphere)

• The Possession, by Michael Rutger (Zaffre)

• The Room of the Dead, by M.R.C. Kasasian (Head of Zeus)

• Sanctuary, by Luca D’Andrea (MacLehose Press)

• A Secret Life, by Christobel Kent (Sphere)

• Short Range, by Stephen Leather (Hodder & Stoughton)

• Stone Cold Heart, by Caz Frear (Harper)

• Tightrope, by Marnie Riches (Trapeze)

AUGUST (U.S.):

• An Artful Assassin in Amsterdam, by Michael Grant (Severn House)

• Below the Line, by Howard Michael Gould (Dutton)

• Below the Radar, by Dana Ridenour (Wise Ink)

• A Better Man, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

• The Birthday Girl, by Melissa de la Cruz (Dutton)

• The Bitterroots, by C.J. Box (Minotaur)

• The Broken Fixer, by Ralph Dennis (Brash)

• Careful What You Wish For, by Hallie Ephron (Morrow)

• The Catholic School, by Edoardo Albinati (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

• City of Pearl, by Alys Clare (Severn House)

• City of Windows, by Robert Pobi (Minotaur)

• The Cold Way Home, by Julia Keller (Minotaur)

• Cold Woods, by Karen Katchur (Thomas & Mercer)

• A Conspiracy of Wolves, by Candace Robb (Crème de la Crime)

• A Dance of Cranes, by Steve Burrows (Oneworld)

• A Dangerous Man, by Robert Crais (Putnam)

• A Darker State, by David Young (Bonnier Zaffre)

• Dead at First Sight, by Peter James (Pan Macmillan)

• A Deadly Deception, by Tessa Harris (Kensington)

• Death Comes to Dartmoor, by Vivian Conroy (Crooked Lane)

• Death Is a Private Eye, by Gil Brewer (Stark House Press)

• Devotion, by Madeline Stevens (Ecco)

• The Doll Factory, by Elizabeth Macneal (Atria/Emily Bestler)

• The Dragon Lady, by Louisa Treger (Bloomsbury Caravel)

• Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga
Tokarczuk (Riverhead)

• Empty Hearts, by Juli Zeh (Nan A. Talese)

• Forgotten Bones, by Vivian Barz (Thomas & Mercer)

• The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America,
by Karen Abbott (Crown)*

• The Girl on the Porch, by Richard Chizmar (Subterranean)

• The Girl Who Lived Twice, by David Lagercrantz (Knopf)

• Gumshoe Rock, by Rob Leininger (Oceanview)

• The Hidden Things, by Jamie Mason (Gallery)

• Inheritance Tracks, by Catherine Aird (Severn House)

• Invitation to Die, by Barbara Cleverly (Soho Crime)

• Killer’s Choice, by Louis Begley (Nan A. Talese)

• The Lake of Learning, by Steve Berry and M.J. Rose
(Evil Eye Concepts)

• The Last Good Guy, by T. Jefferson Parker (Putnam)

• The Last Widow, by Kari Slaughter (Morrow)

• Lost You, by Haylen Beck (Crown)

• Love and Death Among the Cheetahs,
by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)

• Maigret and the Killer,
by Georges Simenon (Penguin Classics)

• The Man in the White Linen Suit,
by David Handler (Morrow)

• The Man Who Wouldn’t Die,
by A.B. Jewell (Morrow)

• The Memory Police,
by Yoko Ogawa (Pantheon)

• Miami Midnight, by Alex Segura (Polis)

• The Missing Ones, by Edwin Hill (Kensington)

• Murder in the Mill-Race, by E.C.R. Lorac (Poisoned Pen Press)

• No Good Deed, by James Swain (Thomas & Mercer)

• The Passengers, by John Marrs (Berkley)

• The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave, by Bill Pronzini (Forge)

• The Pearl Dagger, by L.A. Chandler (Kensington)

• The Perfect Son, by Laura North (Berkley)

• The Perfect Wife, by J.P. Delaney (Ballantine)

• Play with Fire, by William Shaw (Mulholland)

• Relative Fortunes, by Marlowe Benn (Lake Union)

• The Runaway, by Hollie Overton (Redhook)

• Run, Hide, Fight Back, by April Henry (Henry Holt)

• Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession, by Rachel Monroe (Scribner)*

• The Second Biggest Nothing, by Colin Cotterill (Soho Crime)

• Simply Dead, by Eleanor Kuhns (Severn House)

• Singapore Sapphire, by A.M. Stuart (Berkley)

• The Sixth Conspirator, by Max Byrd (Permuted Press)

• Sticking It to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1950 to 1980, edited by Andrew Nette and
Iain McIntyre (PM Press)*

• Stolen Things, by R.H. Herron (Dutton)

• The Swallows, by Lisa Lutz (Ballantine)

• The Third Mrs. Durst, by Ann Aguirre (Midnight Ink)

• Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh (Flatiron)

• This Poison Will Remain, by Fred Vargas (Penguin)

• Tin Badges, by Lorenzo Carcaterra (Ballantine)

• The Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware (Gallery/Scout Press)

• Twisted at the Root, by Ellen Hart (Minotaur)

• Vanishing in the Haight, by Max Tomlinson (Oceanview)

• The Warehouse, by Rob Hart (Crown)

• The Warlow Experiment, by Alix Nathan (Doubleday)

• What You Did, by Claire McGowan (Thomas & Mercer)

• The Whisperer, by Karin Fossum (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

• The Whisper Man, by Alex North (Celadon)

• The Wolf Wants In, by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau)

• The Woman in the Park, by Teresa Sorkin and
Tullan Holmqvist (Beaufort)

AUGUST (UK):

• The Art of Dying, by Douglas Lindsay (Mulholland)

• The Art of Dying, by Ambrose Parry (Canongate)

• At Your Door, by J.P. Carter (Avon)

• Bad Day at the Vulture Club, by Vaseem Khan (Mulholland)

• The Bastille Spy, by C.S. Quinn (Corvus)

• Black Ops, by Chris Ryan (Coronet)

• The Burning Land, by George Alagiah (Canongate)

• The Cabin, by Jørn Lier Horst (Michael Joseph)

• Control, by Hugh Montgomery (Zaffre)

• The Darker Arts, by Oscar de Muriel (Orion)

• The Dirty Dozen, by Lynda La Plante (Zaffre)

• Don’t Say a Word, by Rebecca Tinnelly (Hodder)

• Drowned Lives, by Stephen Booth (Sphere)

• The Family Upstairs, by Lisa Jewell (Century)

• Fugitive 13, by Rob Sinclair (Orion)

• How the Dead Speak, by Val McDermid (Little, Brown)

• Ice Cold Heart, by P.J. Tracy (Michael Joseph)

• Impolitic Corpses, by Paul Johnston (Severn House)

• I Spy, by Claire Kendal (HarperCollins)

• Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar,
by Kate Saunders (Bloomsbury)

• The Murder Map, by Danny Miller (Bantam Press)

• Night, by Bernard Minier (Mulholland)

• Sanctuary, by V.V. James (Gollancz)

• The Sanctuary Murders, by Susanna Gregory (Sphere)

• Take It Back, by Kia Abdullah (HQ)

• Then She Vanishes, by Claire Douglas (Penguin)

• Time for the Dead, by Lin Anderson (Macmillan)

• The Victim, by G.D. Sanders (Avon)

• The White Feather Killer, by R.N. Morris (Severn House)

When compiling this list, I sought a mix of darker, hard-edged crime and lighter-weight fiction, historical and modern stories, and both plot-driven and character-propelled yarns. If you believe I’ve missed mentioning any works of particular note, please let us all know about them in the Comments section at the end of this post.

Three for All

Just a few things that need mentioning …

• Author Patti Abbott has declared in her blog that this is Sandra Seamans Day. She has compiled links to both new tributes and previously existing posts about Seamans, a well-known promoter of crime fiction who died on May 23 at age 68.

• The annual Killer Nashville conference is coming right up, August 22-25. In advance of that, organizers have announced their top-20 selections of nominees for the annual Claymore Award, given to the authors of “unpublished English-language manuscripts containing elements of thriller, mystery, crime, or suspense …” As press materials explain, this prize “assists new and rebranding English-language fiction authors to get published, including possible agent representation, book advances, editor deals, and movie and television sales.” The three top finalists, as well as the lucky winner, will be declared on Saturday, August 24, during the Killer Nashville Awards Dinner.

• And this bit comes from B.V. Lawson’s latest “Media Murder for Monday” post in her blog, In Reference to Murder:

Fox Networks Group has picked up the UK rights to the action drama, L.A.’s Finest, which stars Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba. The 13-episode series, based in Jerry Bruckheimer’s Bad Boys universe, follows [Sydney] Burnett (Union), who last was seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel. She leaves her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective and is paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna (Alba), a working mom with an equally complex past. These two women don’t agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.

A trailer for L.A.’s Finest can be watched in The Killing Times.

PaperBack: “The Torrid Widow”

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.



The Torrid Widow, by Tom Harland (Beacon Signal, 1963). Harland also produced such “sleaze classics” as The Lustful Three (1962), This Breed of Woman (1964), Insatiable (1965), and S As in Sex (1964). Cover illustration by Ernest Chiriacka, aka Darcy.

The Marsh Awards Race Is On

Can this be true? Is 2019 really the 10th year in a row that the Ngaio Marsh Awards will honor New Zealand-published works of crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense fiction? Sure enough, when I check back through the Rap Sheet files, the inaugural prize was presented in 2010 to Cut & Run, by “Alix Bosco” (aka Greg McGee). There have been more than a few fine nominees since.

Below is the longlist of 10 contenders for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, as announced by award founder Craig Sisterson:

• No One Can Hear You, by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press)
• Cassie Clark: Outlaw, by Brian Falkner (Onetree House)
• This Mortal Boy, by Fiona Kidman (Penguin)
• Money in the Morgue, by Ngaio Marsh and Stella Duffy (HarperCollins)
• The Quaker, by Liam Mcilvanney (HarperCollins)
• Call Me Evie, by J.P. Pomare (Hachette)
• The Stakes, by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)
• Make a Hard Fist, by Tina Shaw (Onetree House)
• The Vanishing Act, by Jen Shieff (Mary Egan)
• Rain Fall, by Ella West (Allen & Unwin)

Expect to see a shortlist of candidates in that category released by August 2, together with registers of this year’s finalists for both the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non-fiction. The winners in all three classes will be announced during a WORD Christchurch event on September 14.

Keeping an Eye on P.I.s

Finally today comes the register of nominees for the 2019 Shamus Awards, to be presented by the Private Eye Writers of America organization. The winners of these accolades will be announced at a banquet held during this fall’s Bouchercon in Dallas, Texas.

Best Original Private Eye Paperback:
• She Talks to Angels, by James D.F. Hannah (Independently published)
• No Quarter, by John Jantunen (ECW Press)
• Shark Bait, by Paul Kemprecos (Independently published)
• Second Story Man, by Charles Salzberg (Down & Out)
• The Questionable Behavior of Dahlia Moss, by
Max Wirestone (Redhook)

Best First Private Eye Novel:
• The Best Bad Things, by Katrina Carrasco (MCD/Farrar,
Straus and Giroux)
• Broken Places, by Tracy Clark (Kensington)
• Last Looks, by Howard Michael Gould (Dutton)
• What Doesn’t Kill You, by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
• Only to Sleep, by Lawrence Osborne (Hogarth)

Best Private Eye Short Story:
• “Fear of the Secular,” by Mitch Alderman (Alfred Hitchcock
Mystery Magazine, November-December 2018)
• “Three-Star Sushi,” by Barry Lancet (Down & Out: The
Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 3)
• “The Big Creep,” by Elizabeth McKenzie (from Santa Cruz Noir, edited by Susie Bright; Akashic)
• “Game,” by Twist Phelan (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
[EQMM], September-October 2018)
• “Chin Yong-Yun Helps a Fool,” by S.J. Rozan (EQMM,
September-October 2018)

Best Private Eye Novel:
• Wrong Light, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
• What You Want to See, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• Baby’s First Felony, by John Straley (Soho Crime)
• Cut You Down, by Sam Wiebe (Quercus)

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

Hargrove on Classic TV Crime Dramas

I must thank Bill Koenig for noting, in The Spy Command, that the Writers Guild Foundation recently posted online a multi-part interview with American TV writer/producer Dean Hargrove.

The whole package is delightful, covering Hargrove’s work as a writer for The Bob Newhart Show, his labors on behalf of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., It Takes a Thief, McCloud, and Matlock, and his efforts to convince Raymond Burr that he should return to television in the role of Perry Mason. But I was especially drawn to two segments in which the now 80-year-old Hargrove talks about his work as a writer and executive producer of Peter Falk’s Columbo. I’ve embedded those videos below. Ignore the sloppy subtitling; focus instead on Hargrove’s often entertaining and insightful recollections.

Endorsing Crime Fiction’s LGBTQ Gains

Winners of this year’s Lambda Literary Awards (the “Lammys”) were named during a ceremony in New York City on Sunday night. These commendations celebrate the “best lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender books of the year and affirm that LGBTQ stories are part of the literature of the world.” There were 24 categories of recipients, but the two of obvious interest to Rap Sheet readers are below.

Lesbian Mystery: A Study in Honor, by Claire O’Dell (HarperVoyager)

Also nominated: A Matter of Blood, by Catherine Maiorisi (Bella);
A Whisper of Bones, by Ellen Hart (Minotaur); Alice Isn’t Dead, by Joseph Fink (Harper Perennial); Gnarled Hollow, by Charlotte Greene (Bold Strokes); The Locket, by Gerri Hill (Bella); Secrets of the Last Castle, by A. Rose Mathieu (Bold Strokes); and Stolen, by Linda J. Wright (Cats Paw)

Gay Mystery: Late Fees, by Marshall Thornton (Kenmore)

Also nominated: Black Diamond Fall, by Joseph Olshan (Polis); Boystown 11: Heart’s Desire, by Marshall Thornton (Kenmore); Death Checks In, by David S. Pederson (Bold Strokes); Dodging and Burning, by John Copenhaver (Pegasus); The God Game, by Jeffrey Round (Dundurn); Somewhere Over Lorain Road, by Bud Gundy (Bold Stroke); and Survival Is a Dying Art, by Neil S. Plakcy (Samwise)

Click here to look over all of the winners and nominees.

Enter Now, or Lose Out

An alert: This coming Sunday, June 9, will mark the close of the submissions process for the 2019 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award. Sponsored by the Sisters in Crime organization, this prize—now in its sixth year—is intended to promote “an emerging female or male writer of color.” In addition to the award itself, the winner will collect $2,000 in grant money.

The complete guidelines for taking part in this year’s Taylor Bland Award contest, as well as an official application, can be obtained here. If you’re interested in entering, but haven’t yet entered sent in your work, you had best hop to it.

Saluting Seamans

Pennsylvania short-story writer, blogger, and well-recognized promoter of crime fiction Sandra J. Seamans died on May 23 at age 68. This morning, Patti Abbott announced that there will be a Web-wide celebration of Seamans’ life and labors next Monday, June 10.

It appears Abbott will be coordinating this tribute, at least to some degree, because she writes, “If you knew her or have anything to say about her, let me know.” Click here to contact Abbott via e-mail.

UPDATE: The Sandra Seamans tribute can now be found here.

PaperBack: “South of the Bordello”

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.



South of the Bordello, by “Rod Gray,” aka Gardner F. Fox
(Belmont Tower, 1973). Originally published in 1969, this novel was one of 18 featuring “sexpionage” agent Eve Drum, known as the “Lady from L.U.S.T.” (League of Undercover Spies and Terrorists). Paul Rader painted a number of covers for the first series of these paperbacks, but the artist behind the front displayed above is Ron Lesser. “The model,” he tells me, “was Lisa Karan. She was the least self-conscious of any model I ever used. Loved to pose naked. I photographed her in a clutch with [male model] Steve Holland; I thought she was going to swallow him. Bob [McGinnis] used her a lot also. Very sexy and a very nice lady.”

A later, Australian edition of South of the Bordello is here.

Well Worth Remembering

One of the unwelcome responsibilities essential to the full practice of journalism is penning obituaries. I had hoped to reserve these announcements of recent passings for my next news wrap-up. But since it’s clear that other obligations will inhibit my penning that post at any time soon, allow me to lay out the information now.

• Author Patti Abbott spread word this morning that Pennsylvania short-story writer Sandra J. Seamans died on May 23 at age 68. Abbott notes that “Seamans served the writing community selflessly by posting contests and calls for stories on her blog, My Little Corner. She wrote wonderful stories herself until the dual deaths in 2015 of her husband and mother. She never bounced back from her grief. I am sure she died before her time due to that blow. A collection of her stories [Cold Rifts] was published as an e-book by Snubnose Press, but when the press closed, her e-book disappeared. Some are lucky enough to have it on their e-reader.” Seamans’ official obit can be found here; look here for a 2012 interview with her.

• The Gumshoe Site reported earlier that American-born novelist W. Glenn Duncan passed away on May 7 “in Australia (where he emigrated in 1975 with his wife and three children) ‘after a long struggle with health issues.’ The former journalist and pilot wrote six books featuring Rafferty, [a] tough ex-cop private eye in Dallas, Texas, which started with Rafferty's Rules (1987) and ended with Fatal Sisters (1990, all six from Fawcett/Gold Medal). The sixth Rafferty novel won the 1991 Shamus Award for best paperback. His son W. Glenn Duncan, Jr. has continued the Rafferty [series] with False Gods (d square publishing e-book, 2018). Duncan Sr. was 78.”

• Finally, I received a note recently from Oakland, California, author Mark Coggins—creator of the August Riordan P.I. series—saying that his China-born wife of almost 20 years, Lin “Linda” Zhou, died on April 14, 2019, at age 49. “The cause,” he explained, “was complications from an autoimmune disease.” An obituary of Zhou, a software quality assurance specialist, can be found on Coggins’ Web site.

I offer my condolences to all three families.

An Impressive Showing of Female Talent

As many of you are no doubt aware, the organization Sisters in Crime Australia employs its annual Davitt Awards to honor excellence in crime fiction and non-fiction written by women. Those commendations have been given out since 2001, and are named for Ellen Davitt (1812-1879), Australia’s first crime novelist.

Winners of the 2019 Davitts are to be chosen late this summer. But in the meanwhile, we now have a longlist of titles under consideration. A very long longlist, by any standards. “A record 127 books are in contention for Sisters in Crime Australia’s 19th Davitt Awards for best crime and mystery books by Australian women,” explains a press announcement. “This figure tips last year’s record by 16. An astonishing 73 adult crime novels have been entered. Almost half—49 books in total—are debut offerings.”

“It’s not just a crime wave—it’s a tsunami,” enthuses Davitt judges’ “wrangler,” Jacqui Horwood. The SinC press release goes on:

Horwood said that a number of trends were already evident in this year’s Davitt entries.

“Crime continues to move from the mean streets of Australia’s major cities to small towns and the outback as evident in the books by Jane Harper, Aoife Clifford, Sandi Curtis, Sue Williams and Ellie Marney,” she said.

“Historical mysteries are increasingly popular with books such as Deborah Burrows’ ‘Ambulance Girl’ series set in the London Blitz and M J Tjia’s series featuring the 1860s’ London Eurasian courtesan sleuth. Often these books have a foot in both the past and present. L J M Owen’s novels skip from ancient cultures to modern-day Canberra while Kirsty Manning’s The Jade Lily is set in both wartime Shanghai and 2016 Melbourne and Toni Jordan’s book is located in 1938 New York and 1986 Brisbane.”

What Sisters in Crime calls ‘Tropic Noir’ is also in vogue, Horwood said.

“Crime has moved to the Tropics with Caroline de Costa’s series in Cairns and Candice Fox’s Crimson Lake books set nearby. Out in the Pacific, B M Allsop’s self-published police procedurals set in Fiji have met with much acclaim,” she said.

A shortlist of works contending for this year’s Davitt Awards is expected to be ready by early July.

(Hat tip to In Reference to Murder.)

Revue of Reviewers, 5-27-19

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

Speaking of Writers …

There have been plenty of author interviews posted online recently. I won’t endeavor to catalogue them all, but let me point you to at least a few notable ones: Hilary Davidson talks about her new novel, One Small Sacrifice, with Speaking of Mysteries host Nancie Clare; Jeffery Deaver is quizzed by the Reading and Writing Podcast on the subject of The Never Game, his first novel starring missing-persons specialist Colter Shaw; in an exchange with The Guardian, James Ellroy covers subjects ranging from his forthcoming book, This Storm, to his distaste for Raymond Chandler’s fiction and his continuing fondness for Ed McBain’s work; Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Krentz) answers some questions from Crimespree Magazine regarding her recent mystery/espionage yarn, Tightrope; and Casey Cep, the author of Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, chats with Longreads about Lee’s failed but fascinating attempt to compose a true-crime book like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

Canada Hosts the Arthurs

I wish I’d been in Toronto, Ontario, last evening to attend the Crime Writers of Canada’s presentation of its 2019 Arthur Ellis Awards, for several friends and associates of The Rap Sheet were among the winners. Here’s the full list of honorees.

Best Crime Novel:
Though the Heavens Fall, by Anne Emery (ECW Press)

Also nominated: Cape Diamond, by Ron Corbett (ECW Press); The Winters, by Lisa Gabriele (Doubleday Canada); Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and The Girl in the Moss, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake Romance)

Best First Crime Novel:
Cobra Clutch, by A.J. Devlin (NeWest Press)

Also nominated: Operation Wormwood, by Helen C. Escott (Flanker Press); Full Disclosure, by Beverley McLachlin (Simon & Schuster Canada); Why Was Rachel Murdered?, by Bill Prentice (Echo Road); and Find You in the Dark, by Nathan Ripley (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Best Crime Novella (aka the Lou Allin Memorial Award):
Murder Among the Pines, by John Lawrence Reynolds (Orca)

Also nominated: The B-Team: The Case of the Angry First Wife, by Melodie Campbell (Orca); and Blue Water Hues, by Vicki Delany (Orca)

Best Crime Short Story: “Terminal City,” by Linda L. Richards (from Vancouver Noir, edited by Sam Wiebe; Akashic)

Also nominated: “A Ship Called Pandora,” by Melodie Campbell (Mystery Weekly Magazine); “The Power Man,” by Therese Greenwood (from Baby It’s Cold Outside, edited by Robert Bose and Sarah L. Johnson; Coffin Hop Press); “Game,” by Twist Phelan (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine); and “Wonderful Life,” by Sam Wiebe (from Vancouver Noir)

Best Crime Book in French: Adolphus—Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme, by Hervé Gagnon (Libre Expression)

Also nominated: Un dernier baiser avant de te tuer, by Jean-Philippe Bernié (Libre Expression); Ces femmes aux yeux cernés, by André Jacques (Éditions Druide); Deux coups de pied de trop, by Guillaume Morissette (Guy Saint-Jean Éditeur); and Rinzen la beauté intérieure, by Johanne Seymour (Expression Noir)

Best Juvenile/Young Adult Crime Book:
Escape, by Linwood Barclay (Puffin Canada)

Also nominated: The House of One Thousand Eyes, by Michelle Barker (Annick Press); Call of the Wraith, by Kevin Sands (Aladdin); The Ruinous Sweep, by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick Press); and The Rumrunner's Boy, by E.R. Yatscoff (TG & R)

Best Non-fiction Crime Book:
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World, by Sarah Weinman (Knopf)

Also nominated: Dying for a Drink: How a Prohibition Preacher Got Away with Murder, by Patrick Brode (Biblioasis); The King of Con: How a Smooth-Talking Jersey Boy Made and Lost Billions, Baffled the FBI, Eluded the Mob, and Lived to Tell the Crooked Tale, by Thomas Giacomaro and Natasha Stoynoff (BenBella); The Boy on the Bicycle: A Forgotten Case of Wrongful Conviction in Toronto, by Nate Hendley (Five Rivers); and Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer, by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press)

Best Unpublished Manuscript (aka the Unhanged Arthur):
The Scarlet Cross, by Liv McFarlane

Also nominated: Hypnotizing Lions, by Jim Bottomley; Omand’s Creek, by Don Macdonald; One for the Raven, by Heather McLeod; and The Book of Answers, by Darrow Woods

In addition, the CWC presented Ontario author Vicki Delany with this year’s Derrick Murdoch Award for special achievement.

As a CWC news release, the Arthur Ellis Awards (taking their name from the pseudonym of Canada’s official hangman) recognize “the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction and crime non-fiction by Canadian authors.” Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Bits of Bliss in Bristol

CrimeFest 2019 may have ended in Bristol, England, almost two weeks ago, but that’s no reason to forget about it. At least not yet. Rap Sheet contributor Ali Karim has promised us a full, if belated, report on that three-day event (May 9-12) at some point in the very near future. And in the meantime, we have collected a variety of his latest CrimeFest photographs for posting today.

These include candid snapshots of some of the numerous authors who attended, a couple of pictures from the convention’s panel discussions, and two images captured during the Saturday night ticket-holders-only hoopla, the CrimeFest Awards Dinner. Even if you weren’t able to attend this year’s gala gathering, you should glean from all of these a basic understanding of what it entailed. Enjoy!


Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (The Absolution) practices her penmanship for the benefit of one of her many fans.

The Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel hosted this year’s gathering.

Scottish novelist Michael J. Malone (In the Absence of Miracles) pals around with U.S. writer Jeffrey Siger (Murder in Mykonos).

Meeting this personable trio on the streets of Bristol, you’d never know they were fully capable of plotting murder. Left to right: novelists Cathy Ace, Steve Mosby, and Christopher Huang.

Prolific British “queen of crime” Martina Cole chats with her longtime friend, The Rap Sheet’s own Ali Karim.

Telegraph books critic Jake Kerridge (shown in this photo on the far right) moderates a lively Friday panel discussion titled “Crime Fiction Legacies: Desmond Bagley, Campion, Holmes, and More.” With him, left to right: Shots columnist Mike Ripley; author Bonnie MacBird (The Devil’s Due); and David Brawn, the publishing director of Estates at HarperCollins.

CrimeFest organizers Donna Moore and Adrian Muller.

Noted raconteur Mike Ripley was on hand during these festivities to promote his non-fiction book Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: The Boom in British Thrillers from Casino Royale to The Eagle Has Landed.

Ali Karim with Corrine Turner, the managing director of Ian Fleming Publications and the chair of judges for the Crime Writers’ Association’s Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award.

The distinguished lineup for a Scandinavian crime-fiction panel discussion called—what else?—“Scandi Is Dandy”: Alex Dahl, Jørn Lier Horst, Antii Tuomainen, and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, with moderator Kevin Wignall on the extreme right.

Robert Wilson, author of the Javier Falcón and Charles Boxer mysteries, alongside Zoë Sharp, creator of the Charlie Fox series.

M.W. “Mike” Craven, author of The Puppet Show, with Felix Francis (Crisis), who’s successfully stepped into the shoes left behind by his mystery-writing father, Dick Francis.

New Zealand-rooted blogger Craig Sisterson stops for a photo with British thriller writer Mick Herron (Joe Country).

Norwegian crime-fictionist Jørn Lier Horst, whose tale The Katharina Code won the 2019 Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year, embraces editor, translator, and reviewer Kat Hall (left) as well as Karen Meek, the editor of Euro Crime.

Here’s a dapper, delighted pair: Journalist-author Peter Guttridge is all smiles at the CrimeFest Awards Dinner, alongside Tony Mulliken, owner of the London-based Midas PR agency.

(All photos in this post copyright © Ali Karim 2019.)

Maine Attractions

B.V. Lawson’s In Reference to Murder brings word about this year’s finalists for the Maine Literary Awards. There are more than a dozen classifications of contenders, but only three works vying in the Crime Fiction category: Beyond the Truth, by Bruce Coffin; Stowed Away, by Barbara Ross; and Death and a Pot of Chowder, by Lea Wait (writing as Cornelia Kidd).

The winners of these prizes are to be announced during a ceremony on Thursday, June 13, at the Bangor Public Library.

13 Is a Lucky Number, Right?

Whether or not it’s a scientific fact, it is anecdotally indisputable that the older one becomes, the less one is conscious of time’s relentless passage. I am reminded of this every May 22, when I sit down to celebrate another dozen months in the “life” of The Rap Sheet. Incredibly, it was 13 years ago today—on Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday, by coincidence—that this blog debuted, being a necessary reworking of an irregular newsletter I’d been writing for January Magazine.

Although I am frustrated on occasion by not having the freedom, energy, or financial resources to do much more with this blog, I am proud to see that it remains popular. What you’re reading right now, for instance, is the 7,503rd post to appear here. And the Blogger software tells me that The Rap Sheet has enjoyed almost 6.3 million pageviews over its history. That’s remarkable, considering it took most of the first half decade just to reach 1 million; we’ve increased that pageview count sixfold over the last eight years.

Thanks to all of you who have followed The Rap Sheet during its electronic existence. It’s been a largely marvelous, fulfilling trip, and one that—barring some disaster—won’t end anytime soon.

OK, Maybe I’ll Watch This One

During my youth, I was an almost indiscriminate viewer of television programs. Crime dramas, situation comedies, game shows, Saturday afternoon film reruns—it hardly mattered what was playing, I watched it. Yet over the last decade or so, I’ve pretty much given up on the small screen. Yes, I periodically tune in to the Amazon and Netflix streaming services, but outside of the Masterpiece Mystery! series, I almost never watch TV network offerings any longer.

However, the trailer for Stumptown, an ABC crime series touted during the recent TV upfronts and currently slated for broadcast at 10 p.m. on Wednesdays, may cause me to break my network fast.

Embedded below, it not only features a hilarious car fight scene set to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” but stars Canadian actress Cobie Smulders (who I always thought was underused in How I Met Your Mother) as Dex Parios, a sharp and ass-kicking Portland, Oregon, private eye who was originally introduced in a limited graphic-novel series by Greg Rucka. Very promising, I’d say.

Translators in the Spotlight

As if there hasn’t been enough recent news regarding crime-fiction prizes of one sort or another, here comes word that five books—none of them brand-new in English—have been shortlisted for the 2019 Iceland Noir Award for best crime novel in Icelandic translation, aka the Icepick. They are:

• Double Indemnity, by James M. Cain;
translated by Þórdís Bachmann
• The Devotion of Suspect X, by Keigo Higashino;
translated by Ásta S. Guðbjartsdóttir
• A Stranger in the House, by Shari Lapena;
translated by Ingunn Snædal
• Three Days and a Life, by Pierre Lemaitre;
translated by Friðrik Rafnsson
• After the Fire, by Henning Mankell;
translated by Hilmar Hilmarsson

The winner is expected to be announced in November.

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.