Award Winner

Book List: Author Ellen Byron

Ellen Byron’s writing is like her: clever, funny, deeply sincere, and thoughtful. Her books are full of diverse, quirky characters – just like the people you know in your own neighborhood or at work. When I read the dialogue, I feel as if I’m joining a real conversation. When her characters are cooking, I’m there in the kitchen as well and the aromas waft right off the pages. It’s no wonder that her work has won so many awards.

Take a look at her current book list and click on the titles to learn more about the books. Click on the ‘review here’ links to read what I thought about specific titles.

 

Cajun Country Mystery Series – Agatha and Lefty Award winning series, set primarily in New Orleans

Plantation Shudders

Body on the Bayou

A Cajun Christmas Killing

 “Mardi Gras Murder” – review here

“Fatal Cajun Festival”

Murder in the Bayou Boneyard

Cajun Kiss of Death

Series review here

 

 

 

Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico) Set in Queens, a borough of NYC, with all the food and Long Island feel that a Queens cozy should have!

Here Comes the Body

Long Island Iced Tina

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder”

Four Parties and a Funeral”

The Witless Protection Program” (coming in March, 2024)

 

Vintage Cookbook Mystery Series   A new amateur sleuth is in town (New Orleans)

Bayou Book Thief

Wined and Died in New Orleans

 

Enjoy each of the series from this engaging, talented author, found at https://www.ellenbyron.com/   and on Facebook as well as other social media.

You’re welcome!   🙂

(Photo and art work courtesy of Ellen Byron)

 

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2023 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year

From the Barnes & Noble site:
“We are pleased to announce the 12 finalists for our 2023 Book of the Year. The program, now in its fifth year, asks B&N booksellers across the country to nominate a title they find truly outstanding and in which they have felt the most pride in recommending to readers over the previous year. This year, the list features six novels, four nonfiction books, one middle-grade title and one picture book. The Barnes & Noble Book of the Year is voted on by booksellers and announced the week of November 13th.”
The winner is indicated in red.

The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiMillo

The Wager by David Grann

The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Zilot & Other Important Rhymes by Bob Odenkirk

Chili Crisp by James Park

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Congratulations to all the finalists and the winner!

 

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2023 Barry Awards (Crime Fiction)

Established in 1997, the Barry Awards are presented at the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, to be held this year in San Diego. The winners were announced at the Opening Ceremonies on August 31st. Voted on by readers of the Deadly Pleasures mystery magazine, the award was named in honor of Barry Gardner, an American critic and lover of great crime fiction. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Mystery or Crime Novel
THE ACCOMPLICE, Steve Cavanagh
DESERT STAR, Michael Connelly
THE DARK FLOOD, Deon Meyer
SHIFTY’S BOYS, Chris Offutt
SECRET IDENTITY, Alex Segura
CITY ON FIRE, Don Winslow

Best First Mystery or Crime Novel
BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME, Jacqueline Bublitz
DON’T KNOW TOUGH, Eli Cranor
SHUTTER, Ramona Emerson
THE MAID, Nita Prose
BLOOD SUGAR, Sascha Rothchild
DIRT CREEK, Hayley Scrivenor

Best Thriller
IN THE BLOOD, Jack Carr
WINTER WORK, Dan Fesperman
SIERRA SIX, Mark Greaney
BAD ACTORS, Mick Herron
KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, Deanna Raybourn
GOERING’S GOLD, Richard O’Rawe

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2023 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards

The 2023 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards honor the Best Books of 2022. Congratulations to the finalists and winners (indicated in red)!

BEST ACTION ADVENTURE
Victor Acquista / Revelation
A. M. Adair / Shadow War
Thomas A. Burns, Jr. / Sister! A Natalie McMasters Mystery
Angela Greenman / The Child Riddler
Eric S. Hoffman / The Ballad of Clay Moore
Timothy S. Johnston / The Shadow of War
J.B. Manning / Richter The Mighty
S. Lee Manning / Bloody Soil
Johan Rosenlind / Franco’s Lost Gold

BEST COMEDY 
SL Calder / A Dusty Demise
Mindy Carlson / Her Dying Day
A.J. Devlin / Five Moves of Doom
Lucy Lakestone / Jiggered by Gin
J. B. Manning / Richter the Mighty
Haris Orkin / Goldhammer
Cindy Sample / Birthdays are Murder
Lida Sideris / Gambling with Murder
Gabrielle St. George / How to Kill a Kingpin
Susan Wingate / Gag Me: A Friday Harbor Novel

BEST COZY 
M.K. Dean / The Dog Days of Murder
Debra H Goldstein / Five Belles Too Many
Sasscer Hill / Murder at the Willcotts Hotel
Polly Holmes / Black Magic Murder
Christine Knapp / Murder at the Wedding
Judy L Murray / Killer in the Kitchen – A Chesapeake Bay Mystery
Lori Robbins / Murder in Third Position
Peggy Rothschild / A Deadly Bone to Pick
Nancy Raven Smith / Bushwhacked in the Outback
C.B. Wilson / Doodled to Death

BEST HISTORICAL 
Joy Allyson / Whiskey Love
Carmen Amato / Murder at the Galliano Club
Mally Becker / The Counterfeit Wife
Katherine Cowley / The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception
Michelle Cox / A Spying Eye
Richard Helms / A Kind and Savage Place
Joy Jordan-Lake / A Bend of Light
Laurie Loewenstein / Funeral Train
Kelly Oliver / Chaos at Carnegie Hall
Nina Wachsman / The Gallery of Beauties

BEST INVESTIGATOR 
J. L. Delozier / The Photo Thief
Mary Keliikoa / Hidden Pieces
Thomas Holland / Grind Slowly, Grind Small
Colin Holmes / Thunder Road
James L’Etoile / Dead Drop
Emilya Naymark / Behind the Lie
D.R. Ransdell / Party Wine
Saralyn Richard / Crystal Blue Murder
Drew Strickland / Abducted in Appalachia
Joyce Woollcott / A Nice Place To Die

BEST MAINSTREAM / COMMERCIAL 
Katherine Faulkner / Greenwich Park

S.E. Greco / A Patient Enemy
Vinnie Hansen / One Gun

BEST MYSTERY 
Hope Clark / Badge of Edisto
Trish Esden / The Art of the Decoy
Leonard Getz / Innocent Spouse
Kim Hays / Pesticide
K. L. Murphy / Her Sister’s Death
Ann Parker / The Secret in the Wall
Michael Stanley / A Deadly Covenant
Ruth Ware / The It Girl
Marla A. White / Cause for Elimination
Rich Zahradnik / The Bone Records

BEST SCI-FI / FANTASY
Esteban Corio / The Future of Humanity
David Cornish / 2003: The Time-Loop Device
Frank Gratton / Nula
Elle Hartford / Beauty and the Alchemist
Jeanne Hull Godfroy / Midgard
Bryan Johnston / Death Warrant
Madison Lawson / The Registration
Nola Nash / Traveler
Palmer Pickering / Heliotrope
Jordan Reed / The Wizard’s Brew: A Zane Vrexon Mystery
Janet Raye Stevens / It’s Been A Long, Long Time
Joss Walker and R.L. Perez / Master of Shadows

BEST SUSPENSE & BOOK OF THE YEAR
Traci Hunter Abramson and Sian Ann Bessey / The Danger with Diamonds
Georgina Cross / The Niece
Tracey Devlyn / Flash Point
Kathleen Donnelly / Chasing Justice
Kelly Irvin / Trust Me
Lynessa Layne / Target Acquired
Kiersten Modglin / The Dinner Guests
Kiersten Modglin / A Quiet Retreat
Carrie Stuart Parks / Fallout
Iain Reid / We Spread

BEST THRILLER 
Traci Hunter Abramson / Not Dead Yet
Yasmin Angoe / They Come At Knight
Terry Barnett / Foregone Revenge
Erica Ferencik / Girl in Ice
Erin Flanagan / Blackout
Angela Greenman / The Child Riddler
Kevin Kuhens / Terror’s Sword, A Kyle McEwan Novel
Jodé Millman / Hooker Avenue
Jeneva Rose / One of Us is Dead
Michael Stockham / Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer

Winners in each category and best overall winner were announced on August 19, 2023.

 

 

 

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2023 Edgar Awards

Mystery Writers of America announced the nominees for the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2022. Awards were given in person on April 27, 2023, in New York City. The winners are indicated in red.

BEST NOVEL
Devil House by John Darnielle
Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett
Gangland by Chuck Hogan
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
The Maid by Nita Prose

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor
Shutter by Ramona Emerson
More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Quarry’s Blood by Max Allan Collins
On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass
Or Else by Joe Hart
Cleopatra’s Dagger by Carole Lawrence
A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre

BEST FACT CRIME
Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale
Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Erika Krouse
Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles
American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, D.C. by Shahan Mufti
American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper by Daniel Stashower

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“One Mighty and Strong” – Under the Banner of Heaven, Written by Brandon Boyce (Hulu)
“Episode 1” – Magpie Murders, Written by Anthony Horowitz (Masterpiece/PBS)
“Episode 1″ – Karen Pirie, Written by Emer Kenny (BritBox)
“When Harry Met Fergus” – Harry Wild, Written by David Logan (Acorn TV)
“The Reagan Way” – Blue Bloods, Written by Siobhan Byrne O’Connor (CBS)
“Eighteen Wheels A Predator” – Law & Order: SVU, Written by Brianna Yellen & Monet Hurst-Mendoza (NBC Universal)

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
The Disinvited Guest by Carol Goodman
A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers
Never Name the Dead by D.M. Rowell

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD
Secret Lives by Mark de Castrique
An Unforgiving Place by Claire Kells
Hideout by Louisa Luna
Behind the Lie by Emilya Naymark
Secrets Typed in Blood by Stephen Spotswood

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD
The Shadow of Memory by Connie Berry
Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry
Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette
Desert Getaway by Michael Craft
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

 

Nominees for Best Juvenile, Best Critical/Biographical, Best Short Story can be found on the Edgar website: Edgarawards.com

 

2023 Edgar Awards Read More »

Book List: Lynn Chandler Willis

Have you read all of Lynn Chandler Willis’ books? Are you sure? Read on and click on the links to find out more about her terrific work.

North Carolina author, Lynn Chandler Willis, has been a professional in the writing business for quite a while, first as a newspaper owner/publisher/reporter. During that experience, she developed a keen eye for detail and for what makes people tick. She could sniff out a great story and her first book dealt with the real-life murder of the wife of a preacher’s son, committed by the preacher’s son himself in small town North Carolina. Willis attended the trial every day and did meticulous research into everything that surrounded that case. Twenty years later, the book is still being sold, a rarity in the publishing world. That book is “Unholy Covenant” (also known as “The Preacher’s Son”) and was the subject of a TV documentary about the case.

 

The Rising” won a Grace Award (review here)

 

 

 

“Wink of an Eye” A private investigator tries to lay low in Texas and still gets involved in a case.   (review here)  It won Minotaur’s PWA Best First Private Eye novel competition. Well deserved!

 

The Ava Logan Series is a romantic suspense trilogy featuring newspaper publisher/reporter Ava Logan.

Tell Me No Lies” is the first in the series  (review here)

Tell Me No Secrets” 

Tell Me You Love Me”  third book in the Ava Logan trilogy (review here)

 

Periodically, Nightstand Book Reviews has a crossover post with www.kerriansnotebook.com. Ava Logan was a Visiting Detective with “Crime in Appalachia.” Take a look here.

New Series: January, 2023, brings us the highly anticipated “What the Monkey Saw.” I read it and can tell you it’s got a fantastic lead character, and taut action scenes. You’ll feel like you’re right in the middle of the fray! You can order it here.

The Second New Series: Introducing Raynor Beck, a detective who operates on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Coming in May 2023, The Devil to Pay: Raynor Beck, Book 1.

The setup: “Private Investigator Raynor Beck has been hired by the victim of a crime more than once. But he’s never been hired by a murder victim. Until now.”

How long is it until May?  🙂

 

Please visit www.lynnchandlerwillis.com for details about Ms. Willis’ appearances as well as news about Finn and the events in her life.

Facebook Author Page

*Book Covers and banner from Ms. Willis’ website and Facebook page.

 

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Book List: Jessica Estavao/Jessie Crockett/Jessica Ellicott

Jessica Estavao is a talented, bestselling, award-winning New England author with several entertaining mystery series to her credit. She is one of the “Wicked Authors,” a group of women writing wicked good mysteries mostly set in New England. Take a look at the list of her books below and see if you’ve read them all. (Click on the titles to learn more about the books)

 

Granite State Mysteries  (as Jessie Crockett)

Her debut mystery in the Granite State series, “Live Free or Die”, was the 2011 winner of the Daphne DuMaurier Award for Mainstream Mystery, an auspicious beginning to her career.

 

Sugar Grove Mysteries (as Jessie Crockett)

The series begins “Drizzled with Death,” one hilarious romp through championship pancake breakfasts, maple syrup, and animals on the loose. Who knew that falling dead head first into a stack of pancakes could be used as a crime scene setting?

Drizzled with Death” – review here

Maple Mayhem

Sticky Situation

 

Change of Fortune Mysteries (as Jessica Estavao)

Jessie moved her next series back in time to 1890’s Orchard Beach, Maine, with a con artist and tarot card reader protagonist. Ruby tries to stay one step ahead of the law, while helping her straight arrow aunt keep her hotel. Great fun featuring an innovative female lead character.

 

Whispers Beyond the Veil” 

review here     

 

 

Whispers of Warning

 

Beryl and Edwina Mysteries (as Jessica Ellicott)

Jessie’s current series is set in post WW1 England and introduces the former Finishing School duo of Edwina, the conservative English character, to Beryl’s adventurous American persona. They reunite many years later in the quiet (or is it?) southern English village of Warmsley Parva when Edwina advertises for a boarder and Beryl crashes onto her property.


Beryl and Edwina, while culturally and personally quite different, are fond of each other even after years apart. They find that their distinctive talents help them wonderfully well in their new business venture, a ‘private inquiry agency’ that solves mysteries in the charming village, while earning them an income.

Ellicott has written a series that is both historically enlightening and entertaining, with the sometimes serious subject matter of the day woven into the story of the two women drawn together by economics as well as friendship. Beautifully researched, the books reveal societal views about women 100 years ago, and peek inside the quaint village shops that have survived despite the post-war challenges.

Edwina’s shrewd intellect and Beryl’s clever approach to the mysteries outwit lesser minds and create a few comical moments to save the day and befuddle the clueless. These two engaging, intelligent women will capture your hearts and minds as you enjoy these wonderful books.

 

 

 

 

Murder in an English Village” 

review here

Murder Flies the Coop

Murder Cuts the Mustard

Murder Comes to Call

 

Murder in an English Glade

Murder through the English Post

Murder at a London Finishing School” pre-order

NEW SERIES!
Jessica Ellicott has a new series, this time set in WW2 England. Titled the WPC Billie Harkness Mysteries, the first book is out now. Beautifully researched as always, it features Billie Harkness, a female police officer. Find “Death in a Blackout” here.

Enjoy them all!

 

 

 

 

 

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