A Right to Leftys

Since I couldn’t be in Phoenix, Arizona, for this week’s Left Coast Crime convention, I’ve tried to keep track of the doings there through other blogs. Getting Medieval’s wonderful Jeri Westerson has offered the most substantial coverage, with posts here, here, and here. Mystery Playground provided this recap of events, while Jungle Red Writers chimed in on this page. Lesa’s Book Critiques offered a collection of photographs from the event here, and Classic Mysteries’ Les Blatt wrote about the convention’s kickoff here.

Oh, and multiple sources are now reporting the winners of this year’s coveted Lefty Awards, though I happened to see them first in Jiro Kimura’s The Gumshoe Site. Because this is also Academy Awards night, let me present the Lefty recipients with the Oscars’ customary introduction, “And the winners are …”

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel: Lord of the Wings, by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Plantation Shudders, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane); February Fever, by Jess Lourey (Midnight Ink); Dying for a Donut, by Cindy Sample (Cindy Sample); and Crushed Velvet, by Diane Vallere (Berkley Prime Crime)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (formerly the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, given to the best mystery novel covering events before 1960): Malice at the Palace, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

Also nominated: The Masque of a Murderer, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur); The Chocolate Kiss-Off, by Heather Haven (Wives of Bath Press); The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, by Jennifer Kincheloe (Seventh Street); Dreaming Spies, by Laurie R. King (Bantam); and Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)

Lefty for Best LCC Regional Mystery Novel (set in this year’s LCC geographic region, meaning the Mountain Time Zone and all time zones westward to Hawaii): The Accidental Alchemist,
by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)

Also nominated: The Crossing, by Michael Connelly, (Little, Brown); Night Tremors, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); The Promise, by Robert Crais, (Putnam); and Young Americans, by Josh Stallings (Heist)

Lefty for Best World Mystery Novel (set outside the LCC
geographic region): The Nature of the Beast,
by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Also nominated: The Long and Faraway Gone, by Lou Berney (Morrow); Dragon Day, by Lisa Brackmann (Soho Crime); The Killing Kind, by Chris Holm (Mulholland); and Stone Cold Dead, by James W. Ziskin, (Seventh Street)

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!