Today I’m listing the Macavity Award Nominees. No winners yet, so you have until October to read the nominated books and see if you can figure out the winner in each category. They will be presented at Bouchercon in Indianapolis.
The Macavity Awards are given out by Mystery Readers International, which, according to its website, is the “largest mystery fan/reader organization in the world.” In case you’re wondering where the awards got their name -- they’re named after the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot.
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)
Best Nonfiction/Critical:
• Frankie Y. Bailey: African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study (McFarland)
• Leonard Cassuto: Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories (Columbia Univ.)
• Kathy Lynn Emerson: How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries (Perseverance Press)
• David Geherin: Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction (McFarland)
• Harry Lee Poe: Edgar Allan Poe : An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories (Metro)
• Kate Summerscale: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective (Walker)
Best Mystery Short Story:
• Dana Cameron: "The Night Things Changed" (Wolfsbane & Mistletoe, ed. by Harris & Kelner, Penguin)
• Sean Chercover: "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" (Hardcore Hardboiled, ed. by Todd Robinson, Kensington)
• Toni L.P. Kelner: "Keeping Watch Over His Flock" (Wolfsbane & Mistletoe, ed. by Harris & Kelner, Penguin)
• Laura Lippman: "Scratch a Woman" (Hardly Knew Her, Wm. Morrow)
• Tom Piccirilli: "Between the Dark and the Daylight" (EQMM, Sep/Oct 2008)
Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery:
• Rhys Bowen: A Royal Pain (Berkley)
• Ward Larsen: Stealing Trinity (Oceanview)
• David Liss: The Whiskey Rebels (Thorndike/ Random House UK)
• Jeri Westerson: Veil of Lies (Minotaur)
• Karen Maitland: Company of Liars (Michael Joseph/ Delacorte)
• Kelli Stanley: Nox Dormienda (Five Star)
Congratulations to all the nominees. Have any of you read one of the nominated books? Does knowing a book has been nominated for an award make you want to either check it out or buy it?
You certainly do your homework for this blog. I appreciate it - I'd never take the time myself to look up and find out about all these awards & all things literary. Thanks to you, I don't have to ... just read Straight From Hel often enough, I'm up to snuff! :)
ReplyDeleteI learned something new this morning!
ReplyDeleteAnd no, I've not read any of those books - mystery is not my genre.
L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net
I haven't read any of the books listed but I enjoy mysteries so I may eventually get around to reading a couple of them. I won't buy a book simply because it has won some sort of award but if I'm attracted by the cover or blurb, it may help sway me to buy it.
ReplyDeleteJane Kennedy Sutton
http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/
I haven't read any of them either, Jane. But, like you, I may check them out and see if they appeal to me since I like mystery.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the congrats, Helen! Needless to say, I'm thrilled by the nom.
ReplyDeleteBest,
Sean
Thanks for stopping by Sean. Best of luck come October!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen! I'm honored and humbled to have my debut novel on that wonderful list.
ReplyDeleteTake care and thanks again for all you do! :)
Kelli
I love mysteries. What is interesting, and useful, is comparing the lists. Books that show up on multiple award lists are probably books I should check out. I notice a few titles here I've seen before. Death of a Cozy Writer is one I will look at this weekend for sure. It just seems to keep popping up.
ReplyDelete~jon
Welcome, Kelli - and congratulations.
ReplyDeleteJon, I've heard of that one, as well. If you get it, let us know what you think.
I haven't read any of those yet, but this has piqued my interest to check into them further...I like Amazon's search inside feature so I can get a feel for the book so I'll probably start there.
ReplyDeleteNA Sharpe
http://nasharpe.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing the list. Haven't read any of them, but it does encourage me to check them out.
ReplyDeleteConnie
Helen, I've read Wolfsbane & Mistletoe and enjoyed the stories. I do check these lists and check out new authors (new to me). I've found some great new reading that way.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea, Nancy. I hadn't thought of that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation, Conda. It helps to know that you read it and liked it. Checking out the finalists and winners IS a good way to find new authors.
Thanks for commenting Connie. I haven't read them either.
Lotta work on your part, Helen. Thanks for your hard work. My only problem with your lists is my name didn't show up on any of them. LOl
ReplyDeleteHowever, DEAD WRECKONING did make the Top 20 Summer Reading List-2009 by nationwide CONVERSATIONS BOOK CLUB.
Syl
Yay! Sylvia! Congratulations, that's wonderful and well deserved.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone wants to read about Sylvia's latest book, Dead Wreckoning, check out her website at:
http://www.sylviadickeysmith.com/
This is a test of my sig line.
ReplyDeleteHelen Ginger
Dear fellow Stieg Larsson fan,
ReplyDeleteWe’re trying something new for the launch of the second book in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.
Run your own Stieg Larsson contest on your blog—for which we will provide the prizes (a free copy of The Girl Who Played with Fire, cool temporary dragon tattoos). The first thirty (30) entrants will get first dibs of the translated manuscript of book three. Below you’ll find the complete rules and regulations.
Click here for contest entry:
http://knopfdoubleday.com/blogger-contest-stieg-larsson
Visit the Stieg Larsson site for more info
Stieglarsson.net
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RULES & REGULATIONS
The first 250 bloggers to enter their information (name, blog name, blog URL mailing address, and daytime phone number) will obtain the giveaway material (one (1) copy of The Girl who Played with Fire and a batch of temporary tattoos) to host a sweepstakes on their blog. The first 30 bloggers to enter will also receive (1) copy of the manuscript of the third Stieg Larsson thriller at the time of its in-house release. All applications to participate will have to be received by 11:59 pm (Eastern Daylight Time) on August 15, 2009. U.S. Residents only. Bloggers are solely responsible for the administration of the sweepstakes on their blogs.
Thanks,
The A.A. Knopf Marketing Team