MYSTERIES in PARADISE: Macavity Awards

Showing posts with label Macavity Awards. Show all posts

16 October 2010

Barry & Macavity & Book of the Decade Award winners

Many thanks to Janet Rudolph who blogs at Mystery Fanfare, and Lesa Holstine who blogs at Lesa's Book Critiques for the following information, confirmed by The Rap Sheet.

These awards were presented at Bouchercon by the Bay in San Francisco.

The Macavity Awards 2010 were presented by Janet Rudolph, editor of Mystery Readers Journal, on behalf of the members of Mystery Readers International, who nominated and voted on the awards.

Winners were:

Best Mystery Novel:
Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman: Tower (Busted Flush Press)
Best First Mystery Novel:
Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Delacorte)
Best Mystery Nonfiction:
P.D. James: TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION (Alfred A. Knopf)
Best Mystery Short Story:
Hank Phillippi Ryan: "On the House" (Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers, Level Best Books)
Sue Feder Historical Mystery:
Rebecca Cantrell: A Trace of Smoke (Forge)

The Readers of Deadly Pleasures Magazine vote on the Barry Awards.

This year's winners were:

Best Novel:
John Hart: The Last Child (Minotaur)
Best First Novel:
Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Delacorte)
Best British Novel:
Philip Kerr: IF THE DEAD RISE NOT (Quercus)
Best Paperback Original:
Bryan Gruley: Starvation Lake (Touchstone)
Best Thriller:
Jamie Freveletti: Running From the Devil (Morrow)
Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade:
Stieg Larsson: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Knopf)
Best Short Story:
Brendan DuBois, "The High House Writer" (AHMM July-August 2009)

As you can see there's a lot I haven't read!

I should also mention that the Fan Guest of Honor was Maddy Van Hertbruggen who is one of the founders of 4MA, a very successful Yahoo discussion group that I belong to, and have many cyber friends as a result of.

13 June 2010

Sunday Salon: Crime fiction to look for

A few "short lists" have emerged this week, and some titles are appearing on more than one.
I'm just quoting some here - check the sites for the full lists

Here are the ones I've read and reviewed - far too few unfortunately
4.7, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST , Stuart Neville
4.7, BURY ME DEEP, Megan Abbott
4.4, IF THE DEAD RISE NOT, Philip Kerr
5.0, NEMESIS, Jo Nesbo
4.7, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, Stieg Larsson
4.7, MIDNIGHT FUGUE, Reginald Hill

2010 Barry Award Nominations

BEST NOVEL
John Connolly, THE GATES, Atria
David Ellis, THE HIDDEN MAN, Putnam
Joe Gores, SPADE & ARCHER, Knopf
John Hart, THE LAST CHILD, Minotaur
Marcia Muller, LOCKED IN, Grand Central
S.J. Rozan, SHANGHAI MOON, Minotaur

BEST FIRST NOVEL
Josh Bazell, BEAT THE REAPER, Little, Brown
Alan Bradley, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE, Delacorte
Rebecca Cantrell, A TRACE OF SMOKE, Forge
Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY, Minotaur
Attica Locke, BLACK WATER RISING, Harper
Stuart Neville, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST (THE TWELVE), Soho Crime

BEST BRITISH NOVEL
S. J. Bolton, AWAKENING, Bantam Press
John Connolly, THE LOVERS, HodderStoughton
Reginald Hill, MIDNIGHT FUGUE, HarperCollins
Philip Kerr, IF THE DEAD NOT RISE, Quercus
Denise Mina, STILL MIDNIGHT, Orion
Robert Wilson, IGNORANCE OF BLOOD, HarperCollins

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Megan Abbott, BURY ME DEEP, Simon & Schuster
Max Allan Collins, QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE, HardCase Crime
Bryan Gruley, STARVATION LAKE, Touchstone
Heather Gutenkauf, THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE, Mira
Frank Tallis, FATAL LIES, Random House Mortalis
L. C. Tyler, THE HERRING-SELLER’S APPRENTICE, Felony & Mayhem

2010 Macavity Awards shortlist

Best Mystery Novel:

Megan Abbott: Bury Me Deep (Simon & Schuster)
Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman: Tower (Busted Flush Press)
Deborah Crombie: Necessary as Blood (Wm. Morrow)
Jo Nesbø: Nemesis (translated by Don Bartlett) (HarperCollins)
Louise Penny: The Brutal Telling (Minotaur)
S.J. Rozan: The Shanghai Moon (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel:

Alan Bradley: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Delacorte)
Jamie Freveletti: Running from the Devil (Wm. Morrow)
Sophie Littlefield: A Bad Day for Sorry (Minotaur)
Stuart Neville: The Ghosts of Belfast (Soho Crime)
Malla Nunn: A Beautiful Place to Die (Picador)

2010 Anthony Award Nominations

BEST NOVEL

THE LAST CHILD - John Hart [Minotaur Books]
THE MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH - Charlie Huston [Ballantine Books]
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE - Stieg Larsson, translated by Reg Keeland [Quercus/Knopf]
THE BRUTAL TELLING - Louise Penny [Minotaur Books]
THE SHANGHAI MOON - S.J. Rozan [Minotaur Books]

BEST FIRST NOVEL

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE - Alan Bradley [Delacorte Press]
STARVATION LAKE - Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
A BAD DAY FOR SORRY - Sophie Littlefield [Minotaur Books]
THE TWELVE/THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST - Stuart Neville [Harvill Secker/Soho Press]
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM - Stefanie Pintoff [Minotaur Books]

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

BURY ME DEEP - Megan Abbott [Simon & Schuster]
TOWER - Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman [Busted Flush Press]
QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE - Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
STARVATION LAKE - Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK - G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
AIR TIME - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Mira]

25 May 2009

Considering Award Nominees

It is hard not to be impressed by the lists of books being nominated for various awards at this time of the year.

I know some people will say that they ignore the lists, but I always watch to see which books crop up again and again on various lists.

The Anthony Awards are decided at Bouchercon.
Here are the short lists for the 3 main awards.

Best Novel
TRIGGER CITY by Sean Chercover [William Morrow]
THE BRASS VERDICT by Michael Connelly [Little, Brown and Company]
RED KNIFE by William Kent Krueger [Atria]
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
THE CRUELLEST MONTH by Louise Penny [Minotaur]

Best First Novel
PUSHING UP DAISIES by Rosemary Harris [Minotaur]
STALKING SUSAN by Julie Kramer [Doubleday]
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
DEATH OF A COZY WRITER by G. M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith [Grand Central]

Best Paperback Original
THE FIRST QUARRY by Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
MONEY SHOT by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]
STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy [Berkley]
IN A DARK SEASON by Vicki Lane [Dell]
SOUTH OF HELL by P. J. Parrish [Pocket Star]

So far I've read only 2 as you can see, but I do intend to remedy that.
There is currently a poll running in the sidebar where you can record which of the Best Novel nominees you've read at this stage.

The Macavity Awards are also decided at Bouchercon.

Here are the short lists

Best Mystery Novel:

Sean Chercover: Trigger City (Wm. Morrow)
Deborah Crombie: Where Memories Lie (Wm. Morrow)
Declan Hughes: The Dying Breed (UK) / The Price of Blood (US) (John Murray/ Wm. Morrow)
Arnaldur Indridason: The Draining Lake (Minotaur)
Lisa Lutz: Curse of the Spellmans (Simon & Schuster)
Louise Penny: The Cruelest Month (Minotaur)
Louise Ure: The Fault Tree (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery:

Zoe Ferraris: Finding Nouf (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Knopf)
G.M. Malliet: Death of a Cozy Writer (Midnight Ink)
Charlie Newton: Calumet City (Simon & Schuster)
Scott Pratt: An Innocent Client (Onyx)
Michael Stanley: A Carrion Death (Harper; Headline)
Dan Waddell: The Blood Detective (Minotaur)

So which of the nominees have you read? And which do you favour?

7 November 2008

Progress report: WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, Laura Lippman

This week I am reading WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, by Laura Lippman
It has won multis of awards this year, but at this stage I am only half way through and not sure what I think of it.

Here is a list of the awards it has won

Shortlisted for

The beginnings of the story:
A woman is found wandering along the side of the road. She has failed to stop at an accident that she should be taking some blame for. In a moment when her mind seems to be a little unhinged she claims to be the younger of 2 Baltimore sisters who disappeared without trace 30 years before.

Here is the blurb from Laura Lippman's own site:

Thirty years ago two sisters disappeared from a shopping mall. Their bodies were never found and those familiar with the case have always been tortured by these questions: How do you kidnap two girls? Who—or what—could have lured the two sisters away from a busy mall on a Saturday afternoon without leaving behind a single clue or witness?

Now a clearly disoriented woman involved in a rush-hour hit-and-run claims to be the younger of the long-gone Bethany sisters. But her involuntary admission and subsequent attempt to stonewall investigators only deepens the mystery. Where has she been? Why has she waited so long to come forward? Could her abductor truly be a beloved Baltimore cop? There isn't a shred of evidence to support her story, and every lead she gives the police seems to be another dead end—a dying, incoherent man, a razed house, a missing grave, and a family that disintegrated long ago, torn apart not only by the crime but by the fissures the tragedy revealed in what appeared to be the perfect household.

In a story that moves back and forth across the decades, there is only one person who dares to be skeptical of a woman who wants to claim the identity of one Bethany sister without revealing the fate of the other. Will he be able to discover the truth?

I'll be back tomorrow or Sunday with my verdict and review.

11 October 2008

Barry, Macavity, Crimespree Awards 2008

Many thanks to Maddy from 4MA who is on the spot at Bouchercon 2008 and relayed this information. A double award for Laura Lippman with WHAT THE DEAD KNOW.

Barry Awards

The Barry Awards, selected by subscribers to Deadly Pleasures and Mystery News, were awarded last night.

The very best Barry Award was the Don Sundstrom Award. In a sneaky move, the staff of the magazines surprised Sir George Easter by selecting him as the winner.

The other winners are:

BEST NOVEL (Published in the U.S. in 2007)
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL (Published in the U.S. in 2007)
In the Woods by Tana French (Viking)

BEST BRITISH CRIME NOVEL (Published in the U.K. in 2007, not necessarily written by a British writer nor set in the U.K.)
Damnation Falls by Edward Wright (Orion)

BEST THRILLER
The Watchman by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Queenpin by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)

BEST SHORT STORY
"The Problem of the Summer Snowman" by Edward D. Hoch (EQMM November 2007)

Macavity Awards

Best Mystery Novel:

• Laura Lippman: What the Dead Know (Morrow)

Best First Mystery:

• Tana French: In the Woods (Hodder & Stoughton*/Viking)

Best Mystery Short Story:

• Rhys Bowen: "Please Watch Your Step" (The Strand Magazine, Springg 2007)

Best Mystery Non-Fiction:

• Roger Sobin, editor/compiler: The Essential Mystery Lists: For Reeaders, Collectors, and Librarians (Poisoned Pen Press)

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery:

• Ariana Franklin: Mistress of the Art of Death (Putnam)

The CrimeSpree Awards were already known and were just being presented.
The winners were

Favorite book of 2007
The Unquiet - John Connolly

Best On-Going Series
Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks

Favorite Anthology of 2007
Expletive Deleted – Jen Jordan Editor

Favorite Comics Writer of 2007
Brian Azzarello

Best first book of 2007
Sean Chercover-Big City Bad Blood

25 June 2008

Macavity Award 2008 Nominees announced

for 2008

The Macavity Award is named for the "mystery cat" of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers International nominate and vote for their favorite mysteries in four categories.

The year listed is the year of the award, for books published in the previous year.