Annual Edgar Rant
Oh, if only my annual Edgar rant weren't necessary - I always hope for the best when I see the nominations, but usually
I get the worst. There were a few nice surprises - notably Megan Abbott's inclusion on the PBO list for Queenpin
- but as to the rest, I have a few questions. This year one of my questions is, did the Edgar voters forget that women
also write books? There are a very few of them sprinkled here and there, but they are definitely of the high concept,
very noir variety (and here I give Abbott a pass, as she is so original and such a breath of fresh air in our genre).
Apparently the voters want to add to a long list of past blunders by not including what I feel - and I'm not alone, it's
been on many "best of" lists this year - is Laura Lippman's strongest book, What the Dead Know. There weren't
too many better books written last year. And if they're going to feature small presses, that's great - but then why not
include Mary Logue's fine novel, Maiden Rock? It was loaded with everything a great mystery should be loaded
with - great characters, a fast paced narrative, a memorable setting, and even, woven in, a message on the perils of
drug use. And, I know he's a guy, so maybe doesn't belong in this paragraph, but there aren't too many better American
mystery writers at the moment than William Kent Krueger. He has never been nominated for an Edgar - though he's won
practically every other award the field has to offer - and this year's novel, Thunder Bay, is a classic.
And to get to one of my bigger objections - Michael Chabon on the Best Novel list. Chabon is a literary novelist
who is slumming in our genre - why reward him for slumming? Every review I read of this book pointed out that the
mystery part wasn't so great. He will probably be on every other list and be nominated for every "literary" award - so
why nominate him here? Why not reward the vitality and originality and just plain great writing that does exist in our
genre? It's time to ditch the insecurity - mysteries are great and deserve to be rewarded and acknowledged, Edgar
voters. They are nothing to be ashamed of! I know all the voters are themselves writers. They should be proud of what
they do. Which brings me to my last point - I was delighted to see Reed Farrell Coleman on the list. He is a straight
up mystery writer with an original point of view and an interesting way of telling his stories. And because I am so
disgusted, instead of posting the list like I usually do, I'll tell you to go find it for yourselves online.
Cluelass.com has an easy to access list, and so does the Mystery
Writers of America website. Just think, though, in the future
the puzzlement of readers when they realize that books like Mystic River, L.A. Requiem, A Place of
Execution, Iron Lake, A Great Deliverance and now, What the Dead Know were either not nominated
or didn't win. I guess these authors can take comfort in knowing that the great Cary Grant never won an Oscar either,
but just like the above named oversights, that's just plain dumb.
2005 Awards Announcements
2005 Winner of the Anthony Award for Best Novel - William Kent Kruger's wonderful novel, Blood Hollow,
Congratulations. Kent!
2005 Edgar Winners
- Best Novel
- California Girl, T. Jefferson Parker
- Best First Novel
- Country of Origin, Don Lee
- Best Paperback Original
- True Confession, Domenic Stansberry
2005 Agatha Winners
- Best Novel
- Birds of a Feather, Jacqueline Winspear
- Best First Novel
- Dating Dead Men, Harley Jane Kozak
Edgar Rant Revisited
Usually my Edgar rant occurs when the nominations are announced - how could so-and-so be overlooked? - this year, it's
the winner that I find stunning. I was so happy to see so many women nominated in the Best Novel category - notably Julia
Spencer-Fleming (Out of the Deep I Cry) and Laura Lippman (By a Spider's Thread) - that I had real hopes for
a deserving winner. Both novels are excellent and both were on my top 10 list for last year; while T. Jefferson Parker, a
safe and pleasant middle of the road writer, goes ahead and wins his second Edgar. Both Spencer-Fleming and Lippman have
been criminally overlooked in the past (for In the Bleak Midwinter and Every Secret Thing) - at least this
year, I suppose, they were nominated. Guess I'll look forward to next year.
Edgar & Agatha Nominations
This year the Edgar committee actually nominated - to my surprise - American women in the best novel category. Since
two of them were on my own top 10 list for the year, I couldn't be happier.
2005 Edgar Nominations
- Best Novel
- Evan's Gate, Rhys Bowen
- By a Spider's Thread, Laura Lippman
- Remembering Sarah, Chris Mooney
- California Girl, T. Jefferson Parker
- Out of the Deep I Cry, Julia Spencer-Fleming*
- Best First Novel
- Little Girl Lost, Richard Aleas
- Relative Danger, Charles Benoit
- Cloud Atlas, Liam Callanan
- Tonight I Said Goodbye, Michael Kortya*
- Country of Origin, Don Lee
- Bahamarama, Bob Morris
- Best Paperback Original
- The Librarian, Larry Beinhart
- Into the Web, Thomas H. Cook*
- Dead Men Rise Up Never, Ron Faust
- Twelve-Step Fandango, Chris Haslam
- The Confession, Dominic Stansberry
*Asterisk denotes our picks for the winner. See if we're right when the Edgars are announced April 28.
2005 Agatha Nominations
(A good year for Laura Lippman!)
- Best Novel
- We'll Always Have Parrots, Donna Andrews
- By a Spider's Thread, Laura Lippman*
- High Country Fall, Margaret Maron
- The Pearl Diver, Sujata Massey
- Birds of a Feather, Jacqueline Winspear
- Best First Novel
- Till the Cows Come Home, Judy Clemens
- Arson and Old Lace, Patricia Harwin*
- I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason, Susan Kandel
- Dating Dead Men, Harley Jane Kozak
- The Clovis Incident, Pari Noskin Taichert
Dilys Winner Accounced
The winner of the annual Dilys Winn award, given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA), to the book
we most enjoyed selling during the past year, was announced at Left Coast Crime in El Paso, Texas. This year's winner is
Jeff Lindsay for his book Darkly Dreaming Dexter.
2005 Dilys Award Nominations
The nominees for the 2004 Dilys award have been announced. This award is given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers
Association (IMBA) to the book we most enjoyed selling during the past year.
The Enemy, Lee Child
Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay
Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde
The Intelligencer, Leslie Silbert
Birds of a Feather, Jacqueline Winspear
Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2004 Awards Announcements
2004 Dilys Winner Accounced
The winner of this year's Dilys Winn Award is Jasper Fforde for his novel Lost in a Good Book. This book recently
came out in paper and is on our historical table towards the back of the store. This award is given by a national group of
mystery booksellers to the book we most enjoyed selling during the year.
2004 Dilys Award
The nominees for the 2004 Dilys award have been announced. This award is given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers
Association (IMBA) to the book we most enjoyed selling during the past year. The winner will be announced at Left Coast
Crime in February.
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon, Donna Andrews
The Sixth Lamentation, William Brodrick
Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde
Monkeewrench, PJ Tracy
Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
2004 Anthony Awards
The Anthony Awards are given by the attendees of the Bouchercon, the world mystery convention.
- Best Novel
- Every Secret Thing, Laura Lippman - This novel also won the Barry Award for Best Novel.
A writer I met at Magna Cum Murder thinks
Laura Lippman should have her very own
category, because she's won in almost
every one!
- Best First Novel
- Monkeewrench, P.J. Tracy
- Best Historical Novel (Herodotus Award)
- For the Love of Mike, Rhys Bowen
2004 Shamus Awards
Shamus Awards are given by the Private Eye Writers of America for the best P.I. Novels/Short Stories
- Best Novel
- The Guards, Ken Bruen
- Best Short Story
- "Lady on Ice", Loren D. Estleman, from A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime (anthology)
Edgar Winners
- Best Novel
- Resurrection Men, Ian Rankin
- Best First Novel
- Death of a Nationalist, Rebecca Pawel
- Paperback Original
- Find Me Again, Sylvia Maultash Warsh
Agatha Winners
Best Novel
Letter From Home, Carolyn Hart
Best First Novel
Best First Novel
Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
2004 Edgar Nominations
- Best Novel
- The Guards, Ken Bruen
- Lost Light, Michael Connelly
- Out, Natsuo Kirino
- Resurrection Men, Ian Rankin
- Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
- Best First Novel
- 12 Bliss Street, Martha Conway
- Offer of Proof, Robert Heilbrun
- Night of the Dance, James Hime
- Death of a Nationalist, Rebecca Pawel
- The Bridge of Sighs, Olen Steinhauer
- Best Paperback Original
- Cut and Run, Jeff Abbott
- The Last Witness, Joel Goldman
- Wisdom of the Bones, Christopher Hyde
- Southland, Nina Rovoyr
- Find Me Again, Sylvia Maultash Watsh
- Criminal Omissions
- The Last Witness, K.J. Erickson
- Blood is the Sky, Steve Hamilton
2004 Agatha Nominations
- Best Novel
- Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon, Donna Andrews
- Mumbo, Gumbo, Jerrilyn Farmer
- Letter From Home, Carolyn Hart
- Dream House, Rochelle Krich
- Last Lessons of Summer, Margaret Maron
- Shop Til You Drop, Elaine Viets
- Best First Novel
- Dealing in Murder, Elaine Flinn
- Haunted Ground, Erin Hart
- Take the Bait, S.W. Hubbard
- Alpine for You, Maddy Hunter
- Murder Off Mike, Joyce Krieg
- O'Artful Death, Sarah Stewart Taylor
- Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
The Agathas are announced at Malice Domestic at the end of April.
2003 Awards Announcements
Several of the major mystery awards - the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Barry - are presented at Bouchercon every
year. This year's winners are listed below.
2003 Anthony Award Winners awarded by Bouchercon attendees
- Best Novel
- City of Bones, Michael Connelly
- Best First Novel
- In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming
- Best Critical
- They Died in Vain, Jim Huang, Editor
2003 Macavity Award Winners awarded by Mystery Readers International
- Best Novel
- Winter and Night, S.J. Rozan
- Best First Novel
- In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming
- Best Critical
- They Died in Vain, Jim Huang, Editor
2003 Barry Award Winners awarded by the editors of Deadly Pleasures Magazine
- Best Novel
- City of Bones, Michael Connelly
- Best First Novel
- In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming
To our knowledge, no-one has ever won the Anthony, Macavity, Barry and Dilys award in one year, as did Julia
Spencer-Fleming this year. If you haven't read this remarkable book yet, better pick it up soon! (And when Sara Parestsky
was browsing at Aunt Agatha's, the book she wanted was Julia's second novel, A Fountain Filled with Blood).
