Whishaw Collects Last Bony Blithe

Vancouver, British Columbia, author Iona Whishaw has won the 2021 Bony Blithe/Bloody Words Light Mystery Award for her seventh Lane Winslow whodunit, 2020’s A Match Made for Murder (Touchwood Editions). As organizers of Toronto, Canada’s 2021 Bloody Words Mini-con explain, the Bony Blithe celebrates “traditional, feel-good mysteries. Now in its 10th year, the award includes everything from laugh-out-loud to gentle humour to good old-fashioned stories with little violence or gore—in short, books that are fun to read.”

Vying, too, for this prize were There’s a Murder Afoot, by Vicki Delany (Crooked Lane); The Adventures of Isabel, by Candas Jane Dorsey (ECW Press); Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings, by Liz Ireland (Kensington); and Obsidian, by Thomas King (HarperCollins Canada).

Hopes are for a gathering in Toronto to recognize the 2020 and 2021 Bony Blithe victors, but a date is still undetermined. It might be scheduled as late as next spring, depending on pandemic conditions.

Here comes the sad news: “Bony Blithe is retiring,” proclaims the award’s Web site. “We’ve had a great run over the past 10 years, but now it’s time for our bony lass to rest her weary bones. … While we will no longer have an annual award and mini-con, we still want to pay homage to our wonderful Canuck light mystery authors, so watch for Bare Bones, the new and exciting Bony Blithe Light Mystery newsletter, coming soon.” Check the Bony Blithe Facebook page for updates.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)