Agath Nominees

Congratulations to the Agatha nominees! The organizers of Malice Domestic have announced this year's nominees for the Agatha Awards, to be presented at Malice Domestic 22 in Arlington, VA, April 30–May 2, 2010. The awards honor the "traditional" mystery, and conference registrants vote for the winners. This year's nominees are:

Best Novel
SWAN FOR THE MONEY by Donna Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
BOOKPLATE SPECIAL by Lorna Barrett (Berkley Prime Crime)
ROYAL FLUSH by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)
A BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
AIR TIME by Hank Phillippi Ryan (MIRA)

Best First Novel
FOR BETTER FOR MURDER by Lisa Bork (Midnight Ink)
THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley (Delacorte Press)
POSED FOR MURDER by Meredith Cole (St. Martin's Minotaur)
THE COLD LIGHT OF MOURNING by Elizabeth Duncan (St. Martin's Press)
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

Best Nonfiction
DUCHESS OF DEATH by Richard Hack (Phoenix Books)
TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION by P.D. James (Knopf)
BLOOD ON THE STAGE BY 1925–1950 by Amnon Kabatchnik (Scarecrow Press)
DAME AGATHA'S SHORTS by Elena Santangelo (Bella Rosa Books)
THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin's Press)

Best Short Story
"Femme Sole" by Dana Cameron, BOSTON NOIR (Akashic Books)
"Handbaskets, Drawers and a Killer Cold" by Kaye George, Crooked ezine
"The Worst Noel" by Barb Goffman, THE GIFT OF MURDER (Wolfmont Press)
"On the House" by Hank Phillippi Ryan, QUARRY (Level Best Books)
"Death Will Trim Your Tree" by Elizabeth Zelvin, THE GIFT OF MURDER (Wolfmont Press)

Best Children's/Young Adult
THE MORGUE AND ME by John C. Ford (Viking Juvenile)
THE HANGING HILL by Chris Grabenstein (Random House)
THE CASE OF THE POISONED PIG by Lewis B. Montgomery (Kane Press)
THE OTHER SIDE OF BLUE by Valerie O. Patterson (Clarion Books)
THE CASE OF THE CRYPTIC CRINOLINE by Nancy Springer (Philomel)

Thanks to the Mysterious Bookstore for posting the information.

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Mystery Book Award Season

It's the beginning of awards season in the mystery book world, and we're excited to see so many of our friends and neighbors on the lists.

The first set of awards given out this spring are the Leftys, awarded at Left Coast Crime right here in Los Angeles March 11 14. The Mystery Bookstore is proud to be the official bookseller for Left Coast Crime: Booked in LA [http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2010/], which will take place at the Omni Hotel downtown. This year's guests of honor are Jan Burke and Lee Child; the fan guest of honor is Janet Rudolph, director of Mystery Readers International and editor of the Mystery Readers Journal; and the toastmaster is our pal Bill Fitzhugh. It's not too late to register – hope to see you there!

What follows are lists of the award nominations announced in the last month. Most, if not all, of these titles are available from The Mystery Bookstore, often in signed first editions; email or call us to see if we have copies of the nominees you haven't read yet.

LEFT COAST CRIME AWARDS

The Lefty – recognizing a humorous mystery

Donna Andrews, SWAN FOR THE MONEY
Mike Befeler, LIVING WITH YOUR KIDS IS MURDER
Denise Dietz, STRANGLE A LOAF OF ITALIAN BREAD
Rita Lakin, GETTING OLD IS A DISASTER
Kris Neri, HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE

The Bruce Alexander – recognizing an historical mystery set before 1950, given at every Left Coast Crime Convention:

Tasha Alexander, TEARS OF PEARL
Rhys Bowen, IN A GILDED CAGE
Rebecca Cantrell, A TRACE OF SMOKE
Gary Phillips, FREEDOM'S FIGHT
Jeri Westerson, SERPENT IN THE THORNS

The Panik – recognizing LA noir in honor of LCC's deceased Chairman, Paul Anik, given this year only at Left Coast Crime 2010:

Gar Anthony Haywood, CEMETERY ROAD
Gregg Hurwitz, TRUST NO ONE
Linda Richards, DEATH WAS IN THE PICTURE
Stephen J. Schwartz, BOULEVARD

DILYS AWARDS

Presented annually by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the mystery title of the year that member booksellers most enjoyed selling. The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, founder of Murder Ink, the nation s first specialty mystery bookstore. This year s prize will be awarded at Left Coast Crime, in March. It shouldn t surprise anyone that most of these books were staff selections and/or year-end favorites here at The Mystery Bookstore.

Alan Bradley, THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE
R.J. Ellroy, A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS
Craig Johnson, THE DARK HORSE
Stieg Larsson, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
Stuart Neville, THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST
Louise Penny, THE BRUTAL TELLING
S.J. Rozan, THE SHANGHAI MOON

EDGAR AWARDS

Presented by The Mystery Writers of America at an annual banquet in April, the Edgar awards recognize excellence in the field of crime writing, and are chosen by judging panels composed of MWA members. The 64th Edgar Awards Banquet is scheduled for April 29, 2010, in New York City.

Best Novel Tim Gautreaux, THE MISSING
Kathleen George, THE ODDS
John Hart, THE LAST CHILD
Charlie Huston, MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH
Jo Nesbø, NEMESIS
Malla Nunn, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE

Best First Novel by an American Author
David Cristofano, THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE
Bryan Gruley, STARVATION LAKE
Heather Gudenkauf, THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE
Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY
Attica Locke, BLACK WATER RISING
Stefanie Pintoff, IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM

Best Paperback Original
Megan Abbott, BURY ME DEEP
Robert Arellano, HAVANA LUNAR
Russell Hill, THE LORD GOD BIRD
Marc Strange, BODY BLOWS
L. C. Tyler, THE HERRING-SELLER S APPRENTICE

Best Critical/Biographical
P.D. James, TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION
Otto Penzler, ed.; THE LINEUP: THE WORLD S GREATEST CRIME WRITERS TELL THE INSIDE STORY OF THEIR GREATEST DETECTIVES
Lisa Rogak, HAUNTED HEART: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF STEPHEN KING
Joan Schenkar, THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith
Bev Vincent, THE STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED COMPANION

Best Short Story
"Last Fair Deal Gone Down" by Ace Atkins, from CROSSROAD BLUES
"Femme Sole" by Dana Cameron, from BOSTON NOIR
"Digby, Attorney at Law" by Jim Fusilli, from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
"Animal Rescue" by Dennis Lehane, from BOSTON NOIR
"Amapola" by Luis Alberto Urrea, from PHOENIX NOIR

Best Juvenile
THE CASE OF THE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY by Mac Barnett
THE RED BLAZER GIRLS: THE RING OF ROCAMADOUR by Michael D. Beil
CLOSED FOR THE SEASON by Mary Downing Hahn
CREEPY CRAWLY CRIME by Aaron Reynolds
THE CASE OF THE CRYPTIC CRINOLINE by Nancy Springer

Best Young Adult
REALITY CHECK by Peter Abrahams
IF THE WITNESS LIED by Caroline B. Cooney
THE MORGUE AND ME by John C. Ford
PETRONELLA SAVES NEARLY EVERYONE by Dene Low
SHADOWED SUMMER by Saundra Mitchell

Best Television Episode Teleplay
"Place of Execution," Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS/WGBH Boston)
"Strike Three" – The Closer, Teleplay by Steven Kane (Warner Bros TV for TNT)
"Look What He Dug Up This Time" – Damages, Teleplay by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman (FX Networks)
"Grilled" – Breaking Bad, Teleplay by George Mastras (AMC/Sony)
"Living the Dream" – Dexter, Teleplay by Clyde Phillips (Showtime)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award
"A Dreadful Day" by Dan Warthman, from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

Grand Master
Dorothy Gilman

Raven Awards
Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Zev Buffman, International Mystery Writers' Festival

Ellery Queen Award
Poisoned Pen Press (Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald)

The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award
S. J. Bolton, AWAKENING
Blaize Clement, CAT SITTER ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Hallie Ephron, NEVER TELL A LIE
Nadia Gordon, LETHAL VINTAGE
Susan Kandel, DIAL H FOR HITCHCOCK

Thanks to the Mystery Bookstore

1036-C Broxton Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90024

for the update.

www. mystery-bookstore.com

Phone: 310/209-0415 | 800/821-9017
Fax: 310/209-0436