Not Only Spotted, but Saluted

Friends of Mystery, the Oregon-based crime-fiction fan group, has announced that House Odds (Atlantic Monthly Press), by Seattle, Washington-area author Mike Lawson, is the winner of FOM’s 2014 Spotted Owl Award for Best Novel. House Odds is Lawson’s eighth political thriller featuring Joe DeMarco, a Congressional investigator in Washington, D.C. Interestingly, this is the second year running that Lawson has captured the Spotted Owl; his previous DeMarco yarn, House Blood, took Best Novel honors in 2013.

This year’s other Spotted Owl Award, for Best First Novel, goes to Loyalty (Putnam), the opening entry in Seattle author Ingrid Thoft’s new series featuring Boston private eye Fina Ludlow. (A sequel, Identity, is due for release by Putnam in late June.)

As Omnimystery News explains, “The Spotted Owl Award for Northwest Mysteries is open to authors who have primary residence in the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or the Province of British Columbia. The award is chosen by a volunteer committee of Friends of Mystery members.” A list of previous recipients is available here.