Good Things Come in Fours

Last night’s awards banquet at the 2010 Left Coast Crime conference in Los Angeles brought both cheers and disappointments. Unfortunately, not everyone could walk away with one of the four prizes being presented. But the winners certainly deserved their commendations. Herewith, the results:

Dilys Award (given out by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to “the mystery title of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling”): The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley (Delacorte)

Also nominated: A Quiet Belief in Angels, by R.J. Ellory (Overlook); The Dark Horse, by Craig Johnson (Viking); The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Steig Larsson (Knopf); The Ghosts of Belfast, by Stuart Neville (Soho); The Brutal Telling, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and The Shanghai Moon, by S.J. Rozan (Minotaur)

The Lefty Award (for a humorous mystery): Getting Old Is a Disaster, by Rita Lakin (Dell)

Also nominated: Swan for the Money, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur); Living with Your Kids Is Murder, by Mike Befeler (Five Star); Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread, by Denise Dietz (Five Star); and High Crimes on the Magical Plane, by Kris Neri (Red Coyote Press)

The Bruce Alexander Award (for a historical mystery set before 1950): A Trace of Smoke, by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)

Also nominated: Tears of Pearl, by Tasha Alexander (Minotaur); In a Gilded Cage, by Rhys Bowen (Minotaur); Freedom’s Fight, by Gary Phillips (Parker Publishing); and Serpent in the Thorns, by
Jeri Westerson

The Panik Award (for L.A.-based noir, honoring deceased LCC 2010 chairman Paul Anik): Death Was in the Picture, by Linda L. Richards (St. Martin’s Press)

Also nominated: Cemetery Road, by Gar Anthony Haywood (Severn House); Trust No One, by Gregg Hurwitz (St. Martin’s Press); and Boulevard, by Stephen J. Schwartz (Forge)

Congratulations to all of the award recipients!

READ MORE: “Report from Left Coast Crime, Part 2,” by Eric Beetner; “Left Coast Crime L.A. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Wrap,” by Jeri Westerson (Getting Medieval); “Left Coast Crime Scrapbook,” by Keith Raffel (Dot Dead Diary); “L.A. Conferential,” by Mike Dennis; “Report from the Left Coast: Final Thoughts,” by Eric Beetner; “Paul Anik Remembered,” by Linda L. Richards.