Leftys Honor Writing

Organizers of Left Coast Crime 2019, “Whale of a Crime,” the convention scheduled to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from March 28 to 31, today announced their nominees in four different categories of Lefty Awards. They are:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel:
• Mardi Gras Murder, by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane)
• Hollywood Ending, by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
• Nighttown, by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Crime)
• Death al Fresco, by Leslie Karst (Crooked Lane)
• The Spirit in Question, by Cynthia Kuhn (Henery Press)
• Scot Free, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial), for books covering events before 1960:
• Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding, by Rhys Bowen
(Berkeley Prime Crime)
• The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday,
by David Corbett (Black Opal)
• Island of the Mad, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• A Dying Note, by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
• It Begins in Betrayal, by Iona Whishaw (Touchwood Editions)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel:
• Broken Places, by Tracy Clark (Kensington)
• Cobra Clutch, by A.J. Devlin (NeWest Press)
• The Woman in the Window, by A.J. Finn (Morrow)
• A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder,
by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• What Doesn’t Kill You, by Aimee Hix (Midnight Ink)
• Deadly Solution, by Keenan Powell (Level Best)
• Give Out Creek, by J.G. Toews (Mosaic Press)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories):
• November Road, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• Wrong Light, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
• Kingdom of the Blind, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• Under a Dark Sky, by Lori Rader-Day (Morrow)
• A Reckoning in the Back Country, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street)
• A Stone’s Throw, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

According to a press release, “The awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 30 …” This year’s Guests of Honor are authors C.J. Box and Maureen Jennings, with William Deverell to be honored as the Local Legend.