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2024 Anthony Awards

Bouchercon is an annual conference named after Anthony Boucher, a mystery author and critic who helped found the Mystery Writers of America. This event honors various segments of the mystery and crime fiction community. Take a look at the nominees and winners (indicated in red) for the coveted Anthony Award. The winners were announced in Nashville during BoucherCon.

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL

  • All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
  • Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
  • Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head
  • Face of Greed by James L’Etoile
  • The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

BEST PAPERBACK NOVEL

  • No Home for Killers by E.A. Aymar
  • Hide by Tracy Clark
  • Because the Night by James D.F. Hannah
  • The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
  • Magic City Blues by Bobby Matthews
  • Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

BEST FIRST NOVEL

  • The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
  • Play the Fool by Lina Chern
  • Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy
  • Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
  • City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

BEST CHILDREN’S/YA

  • Finney and the Secret Tunnel by Jamie Lane Barber
  • Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunch
  • The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson
  • The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Souders
  • Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose by Nancy Springer

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Real Courage” by Barb Goffman
  • “Knock” by James D.F. Hannah
  • “Green and California Bound” by Curtis Ippolito
  • “Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski
  • “Tell Me No Lies” by Holly West

Congratulations to all!

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2024 Killer Nashville – Silver Falchion Awards

The 2024 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalists represent the best books published in 2023, as determined by the judges. Full disclosure, I was a judge this year and one of my choices won! The winners in each category (indicated in  red) were announced on August 24, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee, at Killer Nashville.

BEST ACTION ADVENTURE
A New Game / A.M. Adair
Siphon / Ley Esses
A Blanket of Steel / Timothy S. Johnston
Hanging the Devil / Tim Maleeny
Splinter / Paul McHugh
The Warmaker: A Black Spear Novel / Benjamin Spada

BEST COMEDY
Downsized or Dead / S.E. Greco
Shocked by Champagne / Lucy Lakestone
Cultured / DP Lyle
Citizen Orlov / Jonathan Payne
Model Suspect / TK Sheffield
A Crafty Collage of Crime / Lois Winston

BEST COZY
Under the Cocoon Moon / Kathleen Bailey
Dumpster Dying / Michelle Bennington
Puppy Love / Mike Faricy
Naked Came the Detective / Glendall Jackson
Karma Comes in Red, A Beyond Mystery / Morgan James
Trust the Terrier: A Coral Shores Veterinary Mystery / DL Mitchell

BEST HISTORICAL
Revenge at the Galliano Club / Carmen Amato
Red Flags: A Novel / Rebecca McQueen
Arsenic at Ascot, A Fiona Figg & Kitty Lane Mystery / Kelly Oliver
The Sorrowful Girl / Keenan Powell
The Last Drop of Hemlock / Katharine Schellman
A Courtesan’s Secret / Nina Wachsman

BEST INVESTIGATOR
When Things Fall Apart / Alan Brenham

Reflections in a Dragon’s Eye / Bradley Harper MD
Vessels of Wrath / Thomas Holland
These Still Black Waters / Christina McDonald
Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery / Margaret Mizushima
Splintered Loyalty / Mark Troy

BEST JUVENILE / Y.A.
Where Echoes Die / Courtney Gould
The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary / K.B. Jackson
A Place of Vengeance / David Lafferty 
A Tall Dark Trouble / Vanessa Montalban
Immortality: A Love Story / Dana Schwartz
Stateless / Elizabeth Wein

BEST MYSTERY
Mouse in the Box / Lewis Allan
Indigo Road / Reed Bunzel
Beautiful Death / John Deal
Secrets Don’t Sink / Kate B. Jackson
BeatNikki’s Café / Renee James
The Empty Kayak / Jode Millman

BEST SUPERNATURAL
Monstera / EL Block
Personal Demons / L.R. Braden
The Paleontologist / Luke Dumas
Downpour / Christopher Hawkins
A Mother’s Torment / Xavier Poe Kane
Ghost Tamer / Meredith R. Lyons

BEST SUSPENSE
Don’t Close Your Eyes / Mary Alford
Deep Fake Double Down / Debbie Burke
Deadly Tides / Mary Keliikoa
Perspectives / Matthew Minson
Dead West / Linda L. Richards
The Rule of Thirds / Jeannee Sacken

BEST THRILLER
Checkout Time / John Bukowski
The Followers / Bradeigh Godfrey
The Trap / Catherine Ryan Howard
Implied Consent / Keenan Powell
Breaking Apart / Wanda Venters, MD and Mary Rae, MD
Kyd’s Game / Marc Rosenberg

BEST WESTERN
Reckoning / Baron Birtcher
Bladestay / Jackie Johnson
Sting of Lies / Carol Potenza

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!

 

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2024 Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism

There are 22 Pulitzer categories. In 21 of those categories the winners receive a $15,000 cash award and a certificate. Only the winner in the Public Service category of the Journalism competition is awarded the gold medal. The Public Service prize is always awarded to a news organization, not an individual.

The Public Service Award goes to ProPublica, for the work of Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Alex Mierjeski and Kirsten Berg  for “Groundbreaking and ambitious reporting that pierced the thick wall of secrecy surrounding the Supreme Court to reveal how a small group of politically influential billionaires wooed justices with lavish gifts and travel, pushing the Court to adopt its first code of conduct.”

The Groundbreaking News Award goes to the Staff of Lookout Santa Cruz, CA “For its detailed and nimble community-focused coverage, over a holiday weekend, of catastrophic flooding and mudslides that displaced thousands of residents and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses.”

The Investigative Reporting Award goes to Hannah Dreier of The New York Times “For a deeply reported series of stories revealing the stunning reach of migrant child labor across the United States—and the corporate and governmental failures that perpetuate it.”

The Explanatory Reporting Award goes to Sarah Stillman of The New Yorker “For a searing indictment of our legal system’s reliance on the felony murder charge and its disparate consequences, often devastating for communities of color.”

The Local Reporting Award goes to Sarah Conway of City Bureau and Trina Reynolds-Tyler of the Invisible Institute “For their investigative series on missing Black girls and women in Chicago that revealed how systemic racism and police department neglect contributed to the crisis.”

The National Reporting Award goes to the Staff of Reuters “For an eye-opening series of accountability stories focused on Elon Musk’s automobile and aerospace businesses, stories that displayed remarkable breadth and depth and provoked official probes of his companies’ practices in Europe and the United States.” 
and

the Staff of The Washington Post “For its sobering examination of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which forced readers to reckon with the horrors wrought by the weapon often used for mass shootings in America.”

The International Reporting Award goes to the Staff of The New York Times “For its wide-ranging and revelatory coverage of Hamas’ lethal attack in southern Israel on October 7, Israel’s intelligence failures and the Israeli military’s sweeping, deadly response in Gaza.”

The Feature Writing Award goes to Katie Engelhart, contributing writer, The New York Times “For her fair-minded portrait of a family’s legal and emotional struggles during a matriarch’s progressive dementia that sensitively probes the mystery of a person’s essential self.”

The Editorial Writing Award goes to David E. Hoffman of The Washington Post  “For a compelling and well-researched series on new technologies and the tactics authoritarian regimes use to repress dissent in the digital age, and how they can be fought.”

The Illustrated Reporting and Commentary Award goes to Medar de la Cruz, contributor, The New Yorker “For his visually-driven story set inside Rikers Island jail using bold black-and-white images that humanize the prisoners and staff through their hunger for books.”

The Breaking News Photography Award goes to the Photography Staff of Reuters “For raw and urgent photographs documenting the October 7th deadly attack in Israel by Hamas and the first weeks of Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza.”

The Feature Photography Award goes to the Photography Staff of Associated Press “For poignant photographs chronicling unprecedented masses of migrants and their arduous journey north from Colombia to the border of the United States.”

Congratulations to all!

 

 

 

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2024 Edgar Awards

The MWA (Mystery Writers of America) nominees for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards honor the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2023. The 78th Annual Edgar® Awards were bestowed on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York City. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red).

BEST NOVEL
Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

BEST FIRST NOVEL
The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski

The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch
Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Boomtown by A.F. Carter
Hide by Tracy Clark
The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

BEST FACT CRIME
In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child by Kim Cross
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt
Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters
I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter
The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy by Joe Sexton

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Girl Forgotten by April Henry
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum
My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon
Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmerman

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE SCREENPLAY
“Time of the Monkey”Poker Face, Written by Wyatt Cain & Charlie Peppers (Peacock)

“I’m a Pretty Observant Guy”Will Trent, Written by Liz Heldens (ABC)

“Dead Man’s Hand”Poker Face, Written by Rian Johnson (Peacock)

“Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty is Restore)”Dark Winds, Written by Graham Roland & John Wirth (AMC)

“Escape from Shit Mountain”Poker Face, Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman


The Lilian Jackon Braun Memorial Award

Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien
Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow
Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns
The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell


Additional Award Nominees (Best Juvenile, Best Critical/Biographical, Best Short Story, Mary Higgins Clark Award, Sue Grafton Memorial Award) can be found at  EdgarAwards.com

 

 

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2024 Lefty Awards

Left Coast Crime 2024 presented four Lefty Awards at the convention in Bellevue, Washington on April 13, 2024. The mystery/crime/thriller novels must have been published for the first time in the United States or Canada during 2023, in book or ebook format. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Humorous Mystery Novel
  °  Jennifer J. Chow, Hot Pot Murder
  °  Lee Matthew Goldberg, The Great Gimmelmans
  °  Leslie Karst, A Sense for Murder
  °  Catriona McPherson, Hop Scot
  °  Cindy Sample, Dying for a Decoration
  °  Wendall Thomas, Cheap Trills

 

Best Historical Mystery Novel
(Bill Gotttfried Memorial) for books covering events before 1970
  °  Cara Black, Night Flight to Paris
  °  Bruce Borgos, The Bitter Past
  °  Susanna Calkins, Death Among the Ruins
  °  Dianne Freeman, A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder
  °  Cheryl A. Head, Time’s Undoing
  °  Naomi Hirahara, Evergreen

 

Best Debut Mystery Novel
  °  Lina Chern, Play the Fool
  °  Margot Douaihy, Scorched Grace
  °  Josh Pachter, Dutch Threat
  °  Ana Reyes, The House in the Pines
  °  Nina Simon, Mother-Daughter Murder Night

 

Best Mystery Novel
  °  Tracy Clark, Hide
  °  S.A. Cosby, All the Sinners Bleed
  °  Matt Coyle, Odyssey’s End
  °  Jordan Harper, Everybody Knows
  °  James L’Etoile, Face of Greed
  °  Gigi Pandian, The Raven Thief

 

 

2024 Lefty Awards Read More »

Agatha Awards for 2023 Titles

 

The Agatha Awards are bestowed upon crime fiction and nonfiction works centered on the mystery to be solved, rather than the violence that surrounds the deeds. This year’s awards were handed out in person in late April, 2024. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Contemporary Mystery
“Wined And Dined in New Orleans” – Ellen Byron

“Helpless” – Annette Dashofy
“The Weekend Retreat” – Tara Laskowski
“A Case of the Bleus” – Korina Moss
“The Raven Thief” – Gigi Pandian

Best Historical Mystery
“Death Among the Ruins” – Susanna Caulkins

“Act Like A Lady, Think Like a Lord” – Celeste Connally
“I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died” – Amanda Flower
“Times Undoing” – Cheryl Head
“The Mistress of Bhatia House” – Sujata Massey

Best First Mystery Novel
“Glory Be” – Danielle Arceneaux

“The Hint of Light” – Kristin Kisska
“Dutch Threat” – Josh Pachter
“Crime and Parchment” – Daphne Silver
“Mother and Daughter Murder Night” – Nina Simon

Best Mystery Short Story
“The Knife Sharpener” – Shelley Costa in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, July/Aug 2023

“A Good Judge of Character” – Tina De Bellegarde in Malice Domestic Murder Most Traditional
“Real Courage” – Barb Goffman in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #14
“Ticket to Ride” – DruAnn Love/Kristopher Zgorski in Happiness is a Warm Gun
“Shamu, World’s Greatest Detective” – Richie Narvaez in
Time in San Diego BoucherCon 2023

 

 

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Irish Fiction and Mysteries – 2024 List

Bunratty Castle Farmhouse, Ireland

St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon! For those of you that focus your reading on holiday/cultural themed books, the list below features Irish writers, mysteries/suspense set in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day murders, or titles with Irish characters central to the plot. Some are modern classics, some are newbies, but all are entertaining reads. You’re sure to find a story in the updated list of 50 Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2024  that you will want to read again and again. (Links included for bold titles)

 

Lisa Alber: “Path into Darkness

Maeve Binchy:  “Chestnut Street
Furlong-Bollinger: “Paddy Whacked
Ellie Brannigan “Murder at an Irish Castle
Verity Bright “Murder in an Irish Castle
Declan Burke: “The Lost and the Blind


Steve Cavanagh: “Th1rt3en
Sheila Connolly: “Fatal Roots
Kathy Cranston: “Apple Seeds and Murderous Deeds

Sinead Crowley: “One Bad Turn


Kathi Daley: “Shamrock Shenanigans
Maddie Day: “Four Leaf Cleaver
Frank Delaney: “The Last Storyteller
Dicey Deere: “The Irish Village Murder

Nelson Demille: “Cathedral


Peggy Ehrhart: “Irish Knit Murder
Patricia Falvey: “The Yellow House
Tana French: “The Searcher
Alexia Gordon: “Murder in G Major
Jean Grainger: “For All the World”
Andrew Greeley: “The Bishop at the Lake


Jane Haddam: “A Great Day for the Deadly

Lyn Hamilton: “The Celtic Riddle
Lee Harris: “The St. Patrick’s Day Murder
Erin Hart: “The Book of Killowen

Jonathan Harrington: “A Great Day for Dying


Mary Anne Kelly: “Twillyweed

Amanda Lee: “The Long Stitch Good Night

Dan Mahoney: “Once in, Never Out
Caimh McDonnell: “A Man with One of Those Faces
Brian McGilloway: “The Last Crossing
Adrian McKinty: “The Chain
Ralph M. McInerny: “The Green Revolution

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross: “Irish Coffee Murder
Catie Murphy “Dead in Dublin


Stuart Neville: “So Say the Fallen
Carlene O’Connor: “Murder at an Irish Chipper
Susanne O’Leary: “The Lost Girls of Ireland
Sister Carol Anne O’Marie: “Death Takes Up a Collection”


Helen Page: “Equal of God”
Louise Phillips: “The Doll’s House
J.M. Poole “Case of the Shady Shamrock


Janet Elaine Smith: “In St. Patrick’s Custody
Jo Spain: “Beneath the Surface

Patrick Taylor: “An Irish Country Welcome
Charles Todd: “An Irish Hostage
Peter Tremayne: “Blood in Eden
Kathy Hogan Trochek: “Irish Eyes

Eliza Watson “How to Handle an Ancestry Scandal
Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Pot of Gold

 

If your favorite Irish Fiction & Mysteries titles are not on the list, let me know and I’ll add them! Happy choosing and reading!

 

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