Big Satisfactions in Small Packages

Finishing off a week of news about crime-fiction prizes comes the announcement of this year’s Derringer Award winners. Sponsored by the Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS), the Derringers have been given out annually since 1998 to honor “outstanding published stories and people who've greatly advanced or supported the form.”

Best Flash Story (up to 1,000 words): “The Two-Body Problem,” by Josh Pachter (Mystery Weekly, October 2019)

Also nominated: “Lucky,” by Trey Dowell (Close 2 the Bone,
December 17, 2019); “2 Percent,” by Lissa Marie Redmond (Mystery Tribune, December 31, 2019); “Birdbrain,” by C.J. Verburg (Sisters in Crime Northern California Chapter, March 2019); and “The Six-Year-Old Serial Killer,” by Chris Chan (Akashic, “Mondays are Murder,” December 16, 2019)

Best Short Story (1,001 to 4,000 words): “On the Road with Mary Jo,” by John Floyd (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine,
January/February 2019)

Also nominated: “Love, or Something Like It,” by Michael Bracken (from Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman; Wildside Press, 2019); “A Sure Thing,” by C.C. Guthrie (from The Best Laid Plans: 21 Stories of Mystery and Suspense, edited by Judy Penz Sheluk; Superior Shores Press, 2019); “Pig Lickin’ Good,” by Debra H. Goldstein (from Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible, edited by Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and Shawn Reilly Simmons; Wildside Press, 2019); and “Grist for the Mill,” by Kaye George (from A Murder of Crows, edited by Sandra Murphy; Darkhouse, 2019)

Best Long Story (4,001 to 8,000 words): “Lucy’s Tree,” by Sandra Murphy (from The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, edited by Michael Bracken; Down & Out, 2019)

Also nominated: “Miss Starr’s Good-bye,” by Leslie Budewitz
(Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November/December 2019); “None Shall Sleep,” by Sylvia Maultash Warsh (from In the Key of 13: An Anthology of Music and Murder; Carrick, 2019); “Pretty Dreams,” by Peter W.J. Hayes (from Seascape: The Best New England Crime Stories 2019, edited by Verena Rose, Harriette Sackler, and Shawn Reilly Simmons; Level Best, 2019); and “See Humble and Die,” by Richard Helms (from The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods)

Best Novelette (8,001 to 20,000 words): “Her Sister’s Secrets,” by Brendan DuBois (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM],
July/August 2019)

Also nominated: “The Cripplegate Apprehension,” by Richard
Helms (EQMM, July/August 2019; “The Concrete Smile,” by Frank Zafiro (Down & Out, January 2019); “The Dutchy,” by Doug Allyn (EQMM, November/December 2019); and “I Called to Say You’re Dead,” by Stephen Greco (The Society of Misfit Stories Presents, September 2019)

The Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement: Josh Pachter

The SMFS Web site explains that, despite the cancellation of this year’s Bouchercon—during which the Derringers would normally have been given out—“winners are able to receive their medals by mail.”

(Hat tip to Gerald So)