Verdon Finds His Nero

New York writer John Verdon has won the 2015 Nero Award for Peter Pan Must Die (Crown), the fourth novel in his series about retired homicide detective Dave Gurney. This announcement was made last night during a banquet hosted by the New York City-based Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin fan organization, The Wolfe Pack. The Nero Award is presented annually “for the best American mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories.”

Also in contention for this year’s prize were Herbie’s Game, by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Press); The Detective & the Pipe Girl, by Michael Craven (HarperCollins); First Light, by Al Lamanda (Five Star); and The Detective, by James Patrick Hunt (Cengage Gale).

Last year’s Nero Award beneficiary was David Morrell, who won it for his first Thomas De Quincey historical mystery, Murder as a Fine Art.

In addition to the Nero, the Wolfe Pack also presented Mark Thielman with its Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA) for “A Meter of Murder.” The BONA is given annually to a work of 15,000 to 20,000 words in length “that conforms to the tradition of the Nero Wolfe series.” The Black Orchid is sponsored jointly by The Wolfe Pack and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and the winning author receives $1,000 as well as publication in that magazine.

(Hat tip to The Gumshoe Site and Classic Mysteries.)

Choose Your Dagger Target

Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association is inviting readers everywhere to nominate authors they believe should be in the running for its 2016 Dagger in the Library award. As Crime Fiction Lover observes, the Dagger in the Library is “a unique part of the [annual] Dagger awards, because it celebrates an author’s entire body of work rather than just one book and was created in response to the huge numbers of readers who flock to local libraries to borrow crime novels.”

Nominations will be accepted between now and March 1, 2016. Participants in this online process can put forward the names of as many as three authors in the crime, mystery, and thriller field. Simply click here to make your suggestions known. The 10 novelists receiving the most votes will make up the longlist of contenders. A panel of judges will decide who earns a place on the shortlist, and then pick a victor from among those writers.

An announcement of who has won the 2016 Dagger in the Library should be expected by next summer.

Irish Crime Nabs the Spotlight

Yesterday brought news of which works have been shortlisted for the 2015 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Among the numerous contenders are those jockeying for Ireland AM Crime Book of the Year honors. The nominees in that category are as follows:

• Even the Dead, by Benjamin Black (Viking)
• Freedom’s Child, by Jax Miller (HarperCollins)
• Are You Watching Me? by Sinéad Crowley (Quercus)
• Only We Know, by Karen Perry (Penguin)
• The Game Changer, by Louise Phillips (Hachette Ireland)
• After the Fire, by Jane Casey (Ebury Press)

Assessing this list, Irish author Declan Burke (The Lost and the Blind) writes in his blog: “There are two things here worth noting, I think--the first is that the recent trend of women dominating Irish crime fiction looks set fair to continue; and that Jane Casey has been shortlisted for what is (by my calculations) the 141st time. Surely that woman’s time has come …”

It appears to me that everybody is welcome to vote online for their favorite contender among the six mentioned above. More information about each book can be found here. And simply click here to vote in this and other categories. All the winners of the 2015 Irish Book Award are set to be announced on November 25.

(Hat tip to Crime Fiction Ireland.)

Making Off with the Silver

This year’s Killer Nashville conference concludes today in the Tennessee capital. But last night brought announcements of which writers and books had won the 2015 Silver Falchion Readers Choice Awards. There doesn’t yet appear to be a complete or official rundown of recipients available on the Web, but Janet Rudolph of Mystery Fanfare has posted “a partial list gleaned from Facebook and Twitter,” and promises to add the remaining winners “when I find them.” Because there were 22 award categories, many of which had nothing to do with crime and mystery fiction, I’m not going to list every one here. Instead, you will find below the same eight categories I focused on when I reported on the Silver Fanchion finalists a month ago.

Best Novel: Romantic Suspense:
Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Also nominated: Judgment, by Carey Baldwin (Witness Impulse); The Lost Key, by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison (Putnam); Top Secret Twenty-One, by Janet Evanovich (Bantam); and Sweet Damage, by Rebecca James (Bantam)

Best Novel: Cozy/Traditional:
Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow)

Also nominated: Angelica’s Smile, by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin); The Question of the Missing Head, by E.J. Copperman and Jeff Cohen (Midnight Ink); The Alpine Yeoman, by Mary Daheim (Ballantine); and Designated Daughters, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central)

Best Novel: Historical:
Death on Blackheath, by Anne Perry (Ballantine)

Also nominated: The Reckoning, by Rennie Airth (Viking); An Air of Treason, by P.F. Chisolm (Poisoned Pen Press); The Johnstown Girls, by Kathleen George (University of Pittsburgh Press); and The Devil’s Workshop, by Alex Grecian (Putnam)

Best Novel: Private Detective/Police Procedural:
Field of Prey, by John Sandford (Putnam)

Also nominated: The Forsaken, by Ace Atkins (Putnam); The Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus); Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart, by Christopher Fowler (Bantam); and Sorrow Bound, by David Mark (Blue Rider Press)

Best Novel: Speculative: Fear City, by F. Paul Wilson (Tor)

Also nominated: The String Diaries, by Stephen Lloyd Jones (Mulholland); Coldbrook, by Tim Lebbon (Titan); Lock In, by John Scalzi (Tor); and Yesterday’s Hero, by Jonathan Wood (Titan)

Best Novel: Literary Suspense: The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Also nominated: The Dead Will Tell, by Linda Castillo (Minotaur); Red 1-2-3, by John Katzenbach (Mysterious Press); Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King (Scribner); and The Farm, by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)

Best Novel: Political Thriller/Adventure: I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Atria/Emily Bestler)

Also nominated: Night Heron, by Adam Brookes (Redhook); Dark Spies, by Matthew Dunn (Morrow); The Hilltop, by Assaf Gavron (Scribner); End Game, by John Gilstrap (Pinnacle); and Assassin’s Game, by Ward Larsen (Forge)

Best Novel: Crime Thriller: In the Blood, by Lisa Unger (Touchstone)

Also nominated: The Bone Orchard, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur); Dakota, by Gwen Florio (Permanent Press); Gangsterland, by Tod Goldberg (Counterpoint); and The Keeper, by John Lescroart (Atria)

Congratulations to all of this year’s contenders!

“Cartel” Captures the Parker

Author Don Winslow seems to have been on a roll ever since he published The Dawn Patrol back in 2008, racking up myriad plaudits, if fewer award wins. Now, though, he can add a big prize to his collection: the 2015 T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award. According to Jiro Kimura’s The Gumshoe Site, Winslow picked up the Parker for The Cartel (Knopf), a thrilling sequel to The Power of the Dog, his 2005 novel about Mexican drug trafficking.

The T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award is presented annually by the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA). The Cartel was one of three novels shortlisted as contenders this year, the other two being Marry, Kiss, Kill, by Anne Flett-Giordano (Prospect Park), and The Replacements, by David Putnam (Oceanview).

Winslow’s win was announced yesterday during the SCIBA Trade Show, held in North Hollywood, California. This was the third time that Winslow has netted the Parker award; he won it previously for Savages (2010) and The Kings of Cool (2012).

Rewards from Raleigh

I finally returned home earlier this evening from the 2015 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, a four-day event held in Raleigh, North Carolina. During my time in the Tar Heel State, I had intended to post … well, at least something. But as it turned out, I was unable to remember the password necessary to get into my Blogger account, so I couldn’t do a darn thing with The Rap Sheet while I was away. Only now am I able to post the results of four different prize competitions announced during this last weekend.

ANTHONY AWARDS

(Winners chosen by Bouchercon attendees)

Best Novel: After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Also nominated: Lamentation, by Joe Clifford (Oceanview); The Secret Place, by Tana French (Viking); The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Novel: The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street)

Also nominated: Blessed Are the Dead, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow); Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur); and The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street)

Best Paperback Original: The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Also nominated: Stay with Me, by Alison Gaylin (Harper); The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); World of Trouble, by Ben H. Winters (Quirk); and No Stone Unturned, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Critical or Non-fiction Work: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland); Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice, by Kate Clark Flora (New Horizon); Dru’s Book Musings, by Dru Ann Love; and Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman)

Best Short Story: “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November 2014)

Also nominated: “Honeymoon Sweet,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014; Down & Out); “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Barb Goffman and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press); “Howling at the Moon,” by Paul D. Marks (EQMM), November 2014); and “Of Dogs & Deceit,” by John Shepphird (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November 2014)

Best Anthology or Collection: In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus)

Also nominated: FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci (Simon & Schuster); Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron (Down & Out); Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, edited by Joe Clifford (Gutter); and Carolina Crimes: Nineteen Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing, edited by Karen Pullen; Wildside Press)

In addition, this year’s David S. Thompson Award, recognizing “extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community,” was given to Bill and Toby Gottfried.

SHAMUS AWARDS

(Presented by the Private Eye Writers of America)

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: Hounded, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)

Nominated: The Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus); The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland); Tokyo Kill, by Barry Lancet (Simon & Schuster); and Peter Pan Must Die, by John Verdon (Crown)

Best First P.I. Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Bad Country, by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur); Last of the Independents, by Sam Wiebe (Dundurn); Wink of an Eye, by Lynn Chandler Willis (Minotaur); and City of Brick and Shadow, by Tim Wirkus (Tyrus)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel: Moonlight Weeps, by Vincent Zandri (Down & Out)

Also nominated: The Detective and the Pipe Girl, by Michael Craven (Bourbon Street); Beauty with a Bomb, by M.C. Grant (Midnight Ink); Critical Damage, by Robert K. Lewis (Midnight Ink); and Street Justice, by Kris Nelscott (WMG)

Best P.I. Short Story: “Clear Recent History,” by Gon Ben Ari (from Tel Aviv Noir, edited by Etgar Keret and Assof Gavron; Akashic)

Also nominated: “The Ehrengraf Fandango,” by Lawrence Block (from Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf, by Lawrence Block; CreateSpace); “Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets,” by Vali Khalili (from Tehran Noir, edited by Salar Abdoh; Akashic); “Mei Kwei, I Love You,” by Suchen Christine Lim (from Singapore Noir, edited by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan; Akashic); and “Busting Red Heads,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March 2014)

Best Indie P.I. Novel: The Shadow Broker, by Trace Conger (CreateSpace)

Also nominated: Nobody’s Child, by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Red Herrings); Played to Death, by B.V. Lawson (Crimetime Press); The Kids Are All Right, by Steve Liskow (CreateSpace); and Get Busy Dying, by Ben Rehder (CreateSpace)

In addition, The Eye (Lifetime Achievement) Award was presented to Parnell Hall, creator of the long-running Stanley Hastings series of private eye novels.

BARRY AWARDS
(Presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine)

Best Novel: Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles (Morrow)

Also nominated: The Marco Effect, by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Dutton); The Rest Is Silence, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime); Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus Books); Providence Rag, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge); and Strange Shores, by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur)

Best First Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Night Heron, by Adam Brookes (Redhook); Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow); Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking); The Weight of Blood, by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau); and She’s Leaving Home, by William Shaw (Mulholland)

Best Paperback Original: The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens
(Seventh Street Books)

Also nominated: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker (Penguin); The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria); The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street Books); and Eleven Days, by Stav Sherez (Europa Editions)

Best Thriller: Those Who Wish Me Dead, by Michael Koryta
(Little, Brown)

Also nominated: Suspicion, by Joseph Finder (Dutton); The Water Rat of Wanchai, by Ian Hamilton (Picador); An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf); I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Atria); and House Reckoning, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)

The Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in mystery fandom went to Jane Lee.

MACAVITY AWARDS
(Presented by Mystery Readers International)

Best Mystery Novel: The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin)

Also nominated: The Lewis Man, by Peter May (Quercus); The Last Death of Jack Harbin, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street); The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); The Missing Place, by Sophie Littlefield (Gallery); The Long Way Home,
by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street); Someone Else’s Skin, by Sarah Hilary (Penguin); Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking); Blessed Are the Dead, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); and Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman (Norton)

Best Mystery-Related Non-fiction: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland); Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman); and 400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman, by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver)

Best Mystery Short Story: “Honeymoon Sweet,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron; Down & Out)

Also nominated: “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside); “Howling at the Moon,” by Paul D. Marks (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November 2014); “The Proxy,” by Travis Richardson (ThugLit #13,
September/October 2014); and “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (EQMM, November 2014)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery: A Deadly Measure of Brimstone, by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Queen of Hearts, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime); Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria); An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf); Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow); and Things Half in Shadow, by Alan Finn (Gallery)

ADDENDUM: Although the winners of this year’s Derringer Awards for short mystery fiction were announced back in March, it wasn’t until Bouchercon that those prizes were delivered. Author and previous Derringer recipient Art Taylor made the presentations.

“Mr. Mercedes” Speeds Past Rivals

This is turning out to be a particularly big season for author Stephen King. Last month President Barack Obama presented him with a National Medal of Arts. Now The Gumshoe Site brings word that King’s novel Mr. Mercedes (Scribner) has won the 2015 Hammett Prize, given out annually by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers to “a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing.” According to a press release:

Mr. King was awarded a bronze trophy, designed by West Coast sculptor, Peter Boiger. The award ceremony took place in Somerset, New Jersey, on October 3, during the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association's (NAIBA) Fall Conference.”

Also vying for this year’s Hammett Prize were: Wayfaring Stranger, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster); Smoke River, by Krista Foss (McClelland & Stewart); Gangsterland, by Tod Goldberg (Counterpoint); and Goodhouse, by Peyton Marshall (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).

Congratulations to the victor as well as his fellow nominees.

READ MORE: “Favorite Crime Fiction of 2014, Part V: Ali Karim”
(The Rap Sheet).

Cleave Captures the Marsh -- Again

Five Minutes Alone (Penguin NZ), by Paul Cleave, has won New Zealand’s 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. That announcement was made last night in Christchurch at the conclusion of the Murder in the Court event. This victory brings Cleave his second Ngaio Marsh Award; he previously won in 2011 for Blood Men.

The following is excerpted from a news release:

“In a year with a remarkable quintet of finalists, it’s fitting that Paul Cleave has become the first author to win the Ngaio Marsh Award twice,” said Judging Convenor Craig Sisterson. “For almost a decade he’s been leading our vanguard on the world stage in what’s becoming a new heyday of local crime writing.”

In Five Minutes Alone, “wonderfully complex protagonist” Theo Tate has been resurrected, as a cop and human being, after recovering from a coma. He finds himself chasing a killer he can empathize with: a vigilante who is disposing of society’s worst offenders, giving victims of crime their “five minutes alone” with the culprits. But settling old scores is never as simple as it seems, as Tate knows well himself.

Five Minutes Alone triumphed over an impressive longlist of eight other contenders and a field containing four rival finalists to capture this prize, which has been given out annually since 2010 “for the best crime, mystery, or thriller novel written by a New Zealand citizen or resident.” Also in contention for the 2015 Ngaio Marsh Award were: The Petticoat Men, by Barbara Ewing (Head of Zeus); Swimming in the Dark, by Paddy Richardson (Upstart Press); The Children’s Pond, by Tina Shaw (Pointer Press); and Fallout, by Paul Thomas (Upstart Press). I was among half a dozen people asked to choose between this year’s nominees--the third year in a row I’ve been so honored--and I must confess that Five Minutes Alone was not one of my own top-five picks (I had in mind giving the commendation to another previous recipient). But this is a democratic process, and I respect the prevailing opinions of my fellow judges. So, finally, let me offer my congratulations to Mr. Cleave!

To learn about previous Ngaio Marsh Award winners, click here.

Music City Tunes Up for Mystery

With less than a month to go now before this year’s Killer Nashville convention (October 29-November 1) opens in Tennessee, conference organizers have released the list of finalists for the 2015 Silver Falchion Readers Choice Awards. Attendees and others are invited to go here and vote for their favorite works.

Because there are so many categories of nominees (22 by my count), I am going to feature below only the adult best novel contenders.

Best Novel: Romantic Suspense
• Judgment, by Carey Baldwin (Witness Impulse)
• The Lost Key, by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison (Putnam)
• Top Secret Twenty-One, by Janet Evanovich (Bantam)
• Sweet Damage, by Rebecca James (Bantam)
• Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best Novel: Cozy/Traditional
• Angelica’s Smile, by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin)
• The Question of the Missing Head, by E.J. Copperman and Jeff Cohen (Midnight Ink)
• The Alpine Yeoman, by Mary Daheim (Ballantine)
• Designated Daughters, by Margaret Maron (Grand Central)
• Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow)

Best Novel: Historical
• The Reckoning, by Rennie Airth (Viking)
• An Air of Treason, by P.F. Chisolm (Poisoned Pen Press)
• The Johnstown Girls, by Kathleen George (University of
Pittsburgh Press)
• The Devil’s Workshop, by Alex Grecian (Putnam)
• Death on Blackheath, by Anne Perry (Ballantine)

Best Novel: Private Detective/Police Procedural
• The Forsaken, by Ace Atkins (Putnam)
• The Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus)
• Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart, by Christopher
Fowler (Bantam)
• Sorrow Bound, by David Mark (Blue Rider Press)
• Field of Prey, by John Sandford (Putnam)

Best Novel: Speculative
• The String Diaries, by Stephen Lloyd Jones (Mulholland)
• Coldbrook, by Tim Lebbon (Titan)
• Lock In, by John Scalzi (Tor)
• Fear City, by F. Paul Wilson (Tor)
• Yesterday’s Hero, by Jonathan
Wood (Titan)

Best Novel: Literary Suspense
• The Dead Will Tell,
by Linda Castillo (Minotaur)
• Red 1-2-3, by John Katzenbach
(Mysterious Press)
• Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King (Scribner)
• The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)
• The Farm, by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)

Best Novel: Political Thriller/Adventure
• Night Heron, by Adam Brookes (Redhook)
• Dark Spies, by Matthew Dunn (Morrow)
• The Hilltop, by Assaf Gavron (Scribner)
• End Game, by John Gilstrap (Pinnacle)
• I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Atria/Emily Bestler)
• Assassin’s Game, by Ward Larsen (Forge)

Best Novel: Crime Thriller
• The Bone Orchard, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
• Dakota, by Gwen Florio (Permanent Press)
• Gangsterland, by Tod Goldberg (Counterpoint)
• The Keeper, by John Lescroart (Atria)
• In the Blood, by Lisa Unger (Touchstone)

A full tally of this year’s Silver Falchion finalists is here.

(Hat tip to Criminal Element.)

“Life or Death” Takes Home Gold

During a festive event held this evening in London, the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) presented three more of its 2015 Dagger Awards. Those included the Goldsboro Gold Dagger, which went to Michael Robotham, making him only the second Australian--after Peter Temple in 2007--to capture that coveted honor.

Here’s the complete list of winners and shortlisted works.

CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger:
Life or Death, by Michael Robotham (Sphere)

Also nominated: The Shut Eye, by Belinda Bauer (Bantam Press); The Rules of Wolfe, by James Carlos Blake (No Exit Press); The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Sphere); Missing, by Sam Hawken (Serpent’s Tail); Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton); and Pleasantville, by Attica Locke (Serpent’s Tail)

CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger:
Cop Town, by Karin Slaughter (Century)

Also nominated: The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Doubleday); The Night the Rich Men Burned, by Malcolm MacKay (Mantle); Missing, by Sam Hawken (Serpent’s Tail); Nobody Walks, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime); The White Van, by Patrick Hoffman (Grove Press); and The Kind Worth Killing, by Peter Swanson (Faber and Faber)

CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger:
Fourth of July Creek, by Smith Henderson (Heinemann)

Also nominated: The Girl in the Red Coat, by Kate Hamer (Faber and Faber); The Abrupt Physics of Dying, by Paul E. Hardisty (Orenda); Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng (Little, Brown); and You, by Caroline Kepnes (Simon & Schuster)

In a comment on Twitter, critic-editor Sarah Weinman (Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & ’50s) wrote of Henderson’s victorious work: “So fascinating as it was not marketed as a crime novel in the U.S. at all.”

Congratulations to all of the winners and runners-up here!

Seven other annual Dagger Awards were handed out in June. You can find out who won them by clicking here.

READ MORE: “Australian Ghostwriter Beats Stephen King and J.K. Rowling to Top UK Crime-writing Award,” by David Barnett (The Guardian); “In Pictures: The CWA Dagger Awards 2015,” by Caroine Carpenter (The Bookseller); “The Psychology of Crime: An Interview with Michael Robotham,” by Jacques Jacques Filippi (The House of Crime and Mystery).

Persistence Pays Off

Veteran Bouchercon participants Bill and Toby Gottfried will be presented with the David S. Thompson Award during next month’s incarnation of that World Mystery Convention, to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Named in honor of Texas bookseller-publisher David Thompson, who died in 2010, this commendation is intended to “recognize extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community.”

As Shotsmag Confidential explains, “Toby and Bill have attended almost every Bouchercon since 1985. Their involvement in the mystery community goes far beyond attending conferences and buying books. They have actively participated on multiple Bouchercon committees and have chaired two Left Coast Crime conventions. They plan vacations and travel around mystery conventions. At each convention, they make authors and readers feel welcome, breaking bread with them, and welcoming them in every possible way into the mystery community as friends and family.”

Congratulations to the Gottfrieds, who you may remember were also honored back in 2008 with the Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mystery Fandom.

“Un-Scottish” Work Scores Scottish Prize

Crime Watch reports that British author Craig Russell has won the fourth annual Scottish Crime Book of the Year award for his 2015 novel, The Ghosts of Altona (Quercus). That commendation was presented to him during a formal dinner held last evening as part of this weekend’s Bloody Scotland convention held in Stirling. “I think it’s significant that a novel so clearly not set in Scotland can win the Bloody Scotland award,” Russell is quoted as saying.

I’ve read a couple of Russell’s previous novels, both of which--like The Ghosts of Altona--starred Jan Fabel, his fictional half-Scottish, half-German, and fully human homicide detective. A review on the Web site Euro Crime describes Ghost’s plot this way:

The Ghosts of Altona begins with the shooting of the protagonist Jan Fabel, head of Hamburg’s Murder Commission, during the raid of a suspected child killer. An unusual opening for this Gothic thriller, but fast-forward two years and we find out that Fabel is alive, physically recovered yet struggling with the aftermath of his Near Death Experience (NDE). He’s unable to express how this has changed him and claims he has put the past to rest, yet feels the need to reassure others to accept the current state of affairs.

Fabel also is haunted by an old, unresolved case which literally comes back to the surface under a car park in Altona, part of Hamburg. A body of an ethereally beautiful, intelligent and cruel Monika Krone is found, fifteen years after she went missing after a party. Monika was the centre of a group of students obsessed with all things Gothic, and her unsettling beauty had absolutely magnetic qualities. At the time Fabel helped to convict Jochen Hübner, an unrepentant monstrous serial rapist, for her murder. Hübner, known as Frankenstein, claimed that he would never kill his victims, just allow them to relive horrors he had subjected them to. As the news of the discovery of Monika’s body spread, Hübner manages to escape from prison and disappears off the face of the earth--and new murders are committed. This time the men who had been involved with Monika turn up dead. The chilling and terrifying ghosts come to life … The killer employs Gothic ‘methods’ and symbolism to stylise the killings in a manner based on the writings by Edgar Allan Poe, an American author of macabre and Gothic stories.

Euro Crime’s Ewa Sherman adds that Russell’s latest book (his first Fabel tale in four years, following 2011’s A Fear of Dark Water) “is not another disturbing but compelling thriller detailing a search for a serial killer. It's not just a modern stylish Gothic story set in the twenty-first century. It also tells of a history of Altona in Hamburg which saw geographical borders moving between Denmark and Germany, and riots in the past.” Ghosts certainly sounds like a work I’d be interested in reading, and now that the Bloody Scotland folks have given it their thumbs-up, I am doubly likely to search out a copy.

To capture this year’s Scottish Crime Book of the Year prize, The Ghosts of Altona had to beat out five other, earlier-announced finalists: Paths of the Dead, by Lin Anderson (Pan); DM for Murder, by Matt Bendoris (Contraband); Dead Girl Walking, by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown); Thin Air, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan); and Death Is a Welcome Guest, by Louise Welsh (John Murray). Congratulations to Russell and all of these other authors, as well, for their efforts to enrich the crime and mystery fiction genre.

Wandering the Web

• The date on which to expect an announcement of which author has won this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel has finally been set for Sunday, October 4, in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you need reminding of the five books in contention, click here.

• Hallie Ephron (Night Night, Sleep Tight) is Nancie Clare’s latest guest on the podcast Speaking of Mysteries. Listen to their exchange here. And Clare has a good selection of interviewees coming up later this month, including Matthew Guinn, author of The Scribe, and former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who, along with Anna Waterhouse, wrote Mycroft Holmes, which tells of “how Sherlock Holmes’s older brother evolved into the shadowy political fixer for Her Majesty’s Government that he became.” You might as well bookmark Speaking of Mysteries now, as you’ll need it for later reference.

• This new piece in The New Yorker looks at Agatha Christie’s altogether liberal use of toxins in her mystery fiction, an entertaining record of which has been made in chemist Kathryn Harkup’s new book, A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie (Bloomsbury).

• Having read and rather enjoyed Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman (despite its jarring inconsistencies with To Kill a Mockingbird), I was interested to read this story in The Christian Science Monitor about a crime novel Lee apparently began researching in the late 1970s. It was to be based on the true story of Robert Burns, “who had stood up in a crowded Alexander City [Alabama] funeral home in 1977 and put a bullet in the brain of a preacher who was rumored to have dabbled in voodoo and suspected in a string of deaths …” As the Monitor explains, “Lee worked on the Alabama book for months, maybe even years, but it never materialized. Now even her notes are nowhere to be found, giving rise to another mystery: What became of the novel she had tentatively titled The Reverend?”

• As the blog Double O Section explains, “British singer Sam Smith will perform the theme song [‘Writing's on the Wall’] for the 24th James Bond movie, Spectre … The news comes on the heels of months’ worth of rumors and speculation that Smith would be the one belting out a Spectre song come November.”

• The latest entry in Killer Covers’ “haven’t we seen this front someplace before?” series looks at Campus Sex Club.

• In an “Appreciation” essay for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Lloyd writes that actor Martin Milner, who starred in both Route 66 and Adam-12--and died this last Sunday at age 83--excelled as an observer in his major TV roles. “[F]or the viewer, much of watching Milner consists in watching him watch; indeed, much of what we know about his characters--in both series, the background is sketchy--is expressed in these moments, in how he reacts to what the world is showing him, and how those reactions evolve. It's often said that good acting is good listening, and Milner was a minor master of the art of attention. He draws you in most when he appears to do the least; he was powerful because he was present.” Read all of Lloyd’s piece here.

• I’m pleased to see that Criminal Element’s Leslie Gilbert Elman--who has previously reviewed the Masterpiece Mystery! series Grantchester, Inspector Lewis, and Endeavour--has now assumed responsibility for critiquing the three-part PBS-TV mystery drama Arthur & George. You will find her thoughts on Part I here. Part II of this show about a historical investigation conducted by Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle will be broadcast this coming Sunday evening.

• I was once an avid follower of the late-night CBS Radio Mystery Theater, but I don’t remember listening to this haunting adaptation of Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. Methinks this might best be appreciated on Halloween Night. Just a thought …

• Author-publisher Debbie Mack recently launched Crime Cafe, a vlog (translated: “video blog”) in which she interviews crime, mystery, and thriller novelists of note. The episodes run from 15 to 20 minutes in length. I stumbled across her vlog on YouTube when Mack talked with Bill Crider (Between the Living and the Dead), but she’s conversed as well with Thomas Kaufman, Frank Zafiro, and others. You should find the complete run of Crime Cafe at this YouTube link.

• Another new online offering: The Crime Vault Live, a podcast “about crime fiction, films and television, audio books, and true crime” that British journalist Michael Carlson is putting together, along with novelist Mark Billingham and producer Harry Holgate. The first episode, which can be acquired through iTunes (for free, no less), welcomes guest Martyn Waites--“who also writes novels under the nom de guerre Tania Carver”--and finds the hosts talking not only about new works by Gilly Macmillan, Johan Theorin, and Simon Toyne, but also comparing notes on recent TV shows and movies. There’s no mention of how often new Crime Vault Live podcasts will appear, but that might depend on the popularity of its initial installments.

• From In Reference to Murder: “Sara Paretsky has been named the fourth recipient of the Paul Engle Prize, presented by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization. The award is handed out to ‘a pioneering spirit in the world of literature through writing, editing, publishing, or teaching, and whose active participation in the larger issues of the day has contributed to the betterment of the world through the literary arts.’” Good for Paretsky!

• Edward A. Grainger (aka David Cranmer) proclaims that Meursault, the French Algerian protagonist in Albert Camus’ The Stranger (1942), “is the ultimate noir outsider, cynical and unrepentant to the very bleak end.” More thoughts on reading Camus’ novel as crime fiction, this time from novelist Patrick Lennon, can be enjoyed here.

• Finally, congratulations to Queen Elizabeth II, “who today, September 9, 2015, became the longest-reigning British monarch in history, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.” The now 89-year-old Elizabeth has been on the thrown since 1952, more than 63 years ago. More from Vox.

Moriarty Captures Oz’s Davitt

During an event held last evening in Melbourne’s Thornbury Theatre, Sisters in Crime Australia announced the winners of its 2015 Davitt Awards. Those prizes, which are supposed to identify the best Aussie crime fiction written by women, for both adults and children, are named in honor of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879), Australia’s first crime novelist. And the winners are …

Adult Novel: Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty (Pan MacMillan)

Also nominated: Through the Cracks, by Honey Brown (Penguin Australia); Forbidden Fruits, by Ilsa Evans (Momentum); A Murder Unmentioned, by Sulari Gentill (Pantera Press); A Morbid Habit, by Annie Hauxwell (Penguin Australia); and Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria)

Young Adult Novel: Every Word, by Ellie Marney (Allen & Unwin)

Also nominated: Intruder, by Christine Bongers (Woolshed Press); The Astrologer’s Daughter, by Rebecca Lim (Text); and The Ratcatcher’s Daughter, by Pamela Rushby (HarperCollins Australia)

Children’s Novel: Withering-by-Sea, by Judith Rossell
(HarperCollins Australia)

Also nominated: The Adventures of Stunt Boy and His Amazing Wonder Dog, Blindfold, by Lollie Barr (Pan Macmillan Australia); Kitten Kaboodle Mission 1: The Catier Emerald, by Eileen O’Hely (Walker); Friday Barnes: Big Trouble, by R.A. Spratt (Random House); and Truly Tan 4: Freaked!, by Jen Storer (ABC)

Non-fiction: Last Woman Hanged, by Caroline Overington (HarperCollins Australia)

Also nominated: Love You to Death: A Story of Sex, Betrayal and Murder Gone Wrong, by Megan Norris (Five Mile Press); Have You Seen Simone?: The Story of an Unsolved Murder, by Virginia Peters (Nero); and The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama, by Julie Szego (Wild Dingo Press)

Debut: Intruder, by Christine Bongers (Woolshed Press)

Also nominated: The Adventures of Stunt Boy and His Amazing Wonder Dog, Blindfold, by Lollie Barr (Pan Macmillan Australia); Hades, by Candice Fox (Random House); What Came Before, by Anna George (Penguin Australia); Gap, by Rebecca Jessen (University of Queensland Press); Have You Seen Simone?: The Story of an Unsolved Murder, by Virginia Peters (Nero); The Ratcatcher’s Daughter, by Pamela Rushby (HarperCollins Australia); Tell Me Why, by Sandi Wallace (Clan Destine Press); and The Tainted Trial of Farah Jama, by Julie Szego (Wild Dingo Press)

In addition, the organization reports that “Sandi Wallace, who lives in the Dandenong Ranges outside of Melbourne, won the Davitt (Readers’ Choice) as voted by the 660 members of Sisters in Crime, for Tell Me Why (Clan Destine Press).”

Congratulations to all of this year’s Davitt Award contenders!

Now Claiming the Neddies

During a gathering this last weekend at the Melbourne Writers Festival, the winners of the 2015 Ned Kelly Awards for crime and mystery fiction were announced. This marked the 20th anniversary of those prizes. Shotsmag Confidential lists the victors.

Best Crime Novel: Eden, by Candice Fox (Transworld)

Also nominated: Sweet One, by Peter Docker (Fremantle Press); A Murder Unmentioned, by Sulari Gentill (Pantera Press); Crucifixion Creek, by Barry Maitland (Text); Gun Street Girl, by Adrian McKinty (Profile); and Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria)

Best First Crime Novel: Quota, by Jock Serong (Text)

Also nominated: King of the Road, by Nigel Bartlett (Random House); What Came Before, by Anna George (Penguin); and Chasing the Ace, by Nicholas J. Johnson (Simon & Schuster)

Best True Crime: This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial, by Helen Garner (Text)

Also nominated: The Fall, by Amy Dale (Random House); The Family Court Murders, by Debi Marshall (Random House); He Who Must Be Obeid, by Kate McClymont and Linton Besser (Random House); The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay, by David Murray (Random House); and The Feel-Good Hit of the Year, by Liam Pieper (Hamish Hamilton)

S.D. Harvey Short Story (with Kill Your Own Darlings): “Short Term People,” by Andrea Gillum

Also nominated: “A Watched Pot,” by Aoife Clifford; “Prisoner's Dilemma,” by Stephen Gray; “Sweetie,” by Grace Heyer; “Daddy Played the Trumpet,” by Adriane Howell; and “Roux’s Sister,” by Darcy-Lee Tindale

In addition, the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Peter Lawrence, who--according to AustCrime--for “18 or so years … single-handedly [ran] the Ned Kelly Awards,” until the Australian Crime Writers Association “stepped in to help.”

Irvin Captures the First “Jerry”

During an event held earlier today at the second annual Mystery Writers Key West Fest, author J.E. Irvin of Springboro, Ohio, won the inaugural Jeremiah Healy Mystery Writing Award--the “Jerry”--for her not-yet-published book, Dark End of the Rainbow.

According to the southern Florida news blog Konk Life, Janet Irvin was one of four finalists for this commendation, which salutes the late detective novelist Jeremiah Healy’s “legacy as [an] influential mentor credited with helping and advising many aspiring writers.” That blog adds, “Writers from all over the country answered the call that invited candidates to submit the first three pages of a finished, unpublished mystery manuscript.” Along with Irvin’s book were three other shortlisted contenders: All Hocked Up, by Jack Bates (Rochester, Michigan); Portside Screw, by Gregory S. Dew (Ponce Inlet, Florida); and Square Grouper, by Crichton Lewis (Key West, Florida).

As previously announced, the winner of this contest is to be given a book-publishing contract with Absolutely Amazing eBooks, free Mystery Writers Key West Fest registration, hotel accommodations for two nights, and a bobble-headed “Jerry” trophy.

(Hat tip to Sandra Balzo, on her Facebook page.)

The Good, the Bad, and the Punny

This has to be one of my favorite blogging duties: bringing to you, oh faithful Rap Sheet readers, the champions of the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. The task for 2015, as in previous years, was to create the worst (i.e., funniest) opening sentences from never-to-be-completed books. This competition is named in memory of Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, the English novelist and playwright who’s best remembered for having concocted that so frequently scorned opening phrase, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

2015’s overall winning entry comes from Joel Phillips of West Trenton, New Jersey, and fits nicely with this blog’s crime-fiction theme:

Seeing how the victim’s body, or what remained of it, was wedged between the grill of the Peterbilt 389 and the bumper of the 2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT, officer “Dirk” Dirksen wondered why reporters always used the phrase “sandwiched” to describe such a scene since there was nothing appetizing about it, but still, he thought, they might have a point because some of this would probably end up on the front of his shirt.

My favorite selection in the Crime/Detective category happens to be the runner-up, a morsel of inelegant prose supplied by Laura Ruth Loomis of Pittsburg, California:

When the corpse showed up in the swimming pool, her dead bosoms bobbing up and down like twin poached eggs in hollandaise sauce, Randy decided to call the police as soon as he finished taking pictures of his breakfast and posting them to his Facebook wall.

But I also appreciate this “dishonorable mention” winner in the Vile Puns category, submitted by Owen Roberts of Edina, Minnesota:

Sherlock Holmes brusquely dismissed his companion’s theory that the victim had died from an allergic reaction to either seasoning or seafood, saying “Watson, although the problem is alimentary, it is neither the Thyme nor the Plaice.”

Click here to enjoy all of the 2015 winners and their rivals.

I Spy with My Little Eye ...

Lately it seems there have been many small, crime-fiction-related stories that do not necessarily merit their own posts, but nonetheless deserve a mention. Here are a few more such items.

• The second annual Mystery Writers Key West Fest, “Murder & Mayhem in Paradise,” will begin tomorrow and run until Sunday in Key West, Florida. This year’s convention will have as its headliner Jeffery Deaver, the author most recently of Solitude Creek (Grand Central). But one of the event’s biggest attention-grabbers is likely to be the presentation of the inaugural Jeremiah Healy Mystery Writing Award, aka “The Jerry.” It’s named, of course, in memory of novelist Healy, who created the John Francis Cuddy private-eye series and took his own life in August 2014. Contenders for this prize were asked to submit, to a judging panel (which includes Healy’s fiancée, mystery novelist Sandra Balzo), the first three pages of a finished but unpublished manuscript no later than June 30, 2015. Finalists were then asked to send in their full novels for assessment. As far as I can tell, there’s been no announcement of who made the shortlist, so we’ll all be surprised when the winner is announced on Saturday morning. If you would like to take part in this convention, but haven’t yet registered, you can take care of that little detail here.

• The Spy Command reports that director Guy Ritchie’s new big-screen picture, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.--splashing onto U.S. theater screens tomorrow, Friday--“is expected to have the lowest U.S. opening weekend of 2015 spy movies,” earning perhaps $20 million over the course of its opening weekend. That sounds pretty good, until you compare it with the $55.5 million that Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation scored its first weekend.

• Not that I care about such things ... I’m significantly more likely to spend my movie-going money on U.N.C.L.E. than I am on anything starring Tom Cruise (who headlines Rogue Nation). And though I’m understandably wary of Hollywood turning classic TV shows into big-screen flicks, GQ magazine praises Ritchie’s picture as “awfully charming and wittily scripted.” Critic Helen O’Hara writes of how she was surprised “that very little in the way of action takes place” in this film, starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, yet she’s already looking forward to a sequel, “because after this charming but slightly too restrained opener, it will be fun to see what this devious, dapper pair get up to when they really let loose.”

• Nancie Clare’s latest guest for her Speaking of Mysteries podcast is the ever-entertaining Kelli Stanley, author of City of Ghosts.

• Novelist Patricia Highsmith is the focus of this year’s second issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection, due out soon. Commemorating 20 years since her demise at age 74, the magazine will look at topics ranging from “The Question of Insanity in Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley” to “Conformity and Singularity in Patricia Highsmith’s Early Novels.” Click here to peek at the cover of this forthcoming edition, and go here for details about ordering yourself a copy.

• August marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina clobbering New Orleans and other parts of the American South--a natural disaster that was compounded by incompetence within George W. Bush’s administration. As part of its extensive commemoration of that event, National Public Radio today interviewed author Walter Mosley (And Sometimes I Wonder About You), whose family has “roots in New Orleans,” though he grew up in Los Angeles. The same interviewer, Renee Montagne, also asked Mosley to share his memories of L.A.’s 1965 Watts Riots, which took place 50 years ago this week and found Mosley, at age 13, “scared” by the violence erupting across his city.

• Did Raymond Chandler foresee Google in 1953?

• Les Blatt from Classic Mysteries offers some suggestions to readers wanting to acquaint themselves with the rich roots of this genre.

• David Thomson, a film critic for The New Republic, looks back fondly at the cinematic work of Alfred Hitchcock and asks that immortal question, why have his films endured while those made by others have been forgotten?

• And I’m afraid I had not heard of the Golden Crown Literary Society before this week, but it’s a “non-profit, volunteer organization whose mission is education and the promotion and recognition of lesbian literature.” What’s more, it gives out annual awards, the Goldies, one category of which is Mystery/Thriller. As Janet Rudolph notes in Mystery Fanfare, the three winners for 2015, announced on July 29, were: The Acquittal, by Ann Laughlin (Bold Strokes); Left Field: Lillian Byrd Crime Series, Book 5, by Elizabeth Sims (Spruce Park Press); and The Consequence of Murder, by Nene Adams (Bella). The full rundown of this year’s Goldies winners can be found here.

Ned Hunters

The shortlist of nominees for the 2015 Ned Kelly Awards, “Australia’s oldest and most prestigious prizes for crime fiction and true-crime writing,” were announced on Saturday, August 8, by the Australian Crime Writers Association.

Best Crime Novel:
• Sweet One, by Peter Docker (Fremantle Press)
• Eden, by Candice Fox (Transworld)
• A Murder Unmentioned, by Sulari Gentill (Pantera Press)
• Crucifixion Creek, by Barry Maitland (Text)
• Gun Street Girl, by Adrian McKinty (Profile)
• Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria)

Best First Crime Novel:
• King of the Road, by Nigel Bartlett (Random House)
• What Came Before, by Anna George (Penguin)
• Chasing the Ace, by Nicholas J. Johnson (Simon & Schuster)
• Quota, by Jock Serong (Text)

Best True Crime:
• The Fall, by Amy Dale (Random House)
• This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial,
by Helen Garner (Text)
• The Family Court Murders, by Debi Marshall (Random House)
• He Who Must Be Obeid, by Kate McClymont and Linton Besser (Random House)
• The Murder of Allison Baden-Clay, by David Murray (Random House)
• The Feel-Good Hit of the Year, by Liam Pieper (Hamish Hamilton)

S.D. Harvey Short Story (with Kill Your Own Darlings):
• “A Watched Pot,” by Aoife Clifford
• “Short Term People,” by Andrea Gillum
• “Prisoner's Dilemma,” by Stephen Gray
• “Sweetie,” by Grace Heyer
• “Daddy Played the Trumpet,” by Adriane Howell
• “Roux’s Sister,” by Darcy-Lee Tindale

This year’s Ned Kelly Awards recipients will be declared on Saturday August 22, during the Melbourne Writers Festival.

(Hat tip to Shotsmag Confidential.)

Things Will Get Bloody in Stirling

Organizers of this year’s Bloody Scotland convention, to be held in Stirling from September 11 to 13, have announced their shortlist of nominees for the fourth annual Bloody Scotland Crime Book of the Year award (formerly known as the Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year). Those contenders, said to have been “chosen by an independent panel of readers from a longlist of 55 books,” are as follows:

• Paths of the Dead, by Lin Anderson (Pan)
• DM for Murder, by Matt Bendoris (Contraband)
• Dead Girl Walking, by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
• Thin Air, by Ann Cleeves (Macmillan)
• The Ghosts of Altona, by Craig Russell (Quercus)
• Death Is a Welcome Guest, by Louise Welsh (John Murray)

The winner will be declared during a “gala dinner” to be held on Saturday, September 12, as part of the Bloody Scotland festival program. This year’s prize recipient will receive £1,000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones bookshops. If you’d like to be on hand in Stirling when the 2015 Bloody Scotland Crime Book of the Year is announced, buy tickets to the awards dinner here.

In the past, this commendation has gone to Peter May’s Entry Island (2014), Malcolm Mackay’s How a Gunman Says Goodbye (2013), and Charles Cumming’s A Foreign Country (2012).