Archive for February, 2009

2009 Agatha Award Nominations

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for the 2009 Agatha Awards for works published in 2008. Winners are voted on by attendees of Malice XXI (21): May 1-3, 2009 and will be announced at the Agatha Banquet on May 2.

 The Agatha Awards honor the “traditional” or “cozy” mystery. (Think Agatha Christie.) The genre is loosely defined as mysteries that:

  • contain no explicit sex
  • contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence
  • usually feature an amateur detective
  • take place in a confined setting and contain characters who know one another

Note from Kate: Conventions differ on how they designate awards. Some assign the year of publication, some the year the award was given. For consistency’s sake and to help our readers, Mystery Scene designates awards by the  year in which they were (or will be) GIVEN. Hence, the 2009 Agatha Nominees announced here are for the Agatha Awards to be announced on May 2, 2009.

Best Novel

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry (Random House)
I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur Books)

Best First Novel

Through a Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell (Berkley Trade)
The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis (Penguin Group)
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris (Minotaur Books)
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet (Midnight Ink)
Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-fiction

African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey (McFarland & Co.)
How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson (Perseverance Press)
Anthony Boucher, A Bibliography by Jeff Marks (McFarland & Co.)
Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Metro Books)
The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher by Kate Summerscale (Walker & Co.)

Best Short Story

“The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe (Penguin Group)
“Killing Time” by Jane Cleland, Alfred Hitchock Mystery Magazine – November 2008
“Dangerous Crossing” by Carla Coupe, Chesapeake Crimes 3 (Wildside Press)
“Skull & Cross Examination” by Toni Kelner, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – February 2008
“A Nice Old Guy” by Nancy Pickard, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – August 2008

Best Children’s/Young Adult

Into the Dark by Peter Abrahams (Harper Collins)
A Thief in the Theater (A Kit Mystery) by Sarah Masters Buckey (American Girl Publishers)
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Random House Children’s Books)
The Great Circus Train Robbery by Nancy Means Wright (Hilliard & Harris)

Posted in Agatha Awards, Awards, Cozy Mysteries, Malice Domestic | No Comments »

Burn Notice still heating up

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

burn6.jpg This is how mystery fans – whether in novels, movies or TV – help each other: We are shameless about introducing our friends and family to new works.

Several months ago, I mentioned to Kate and Brian about this terrific new television show I was enjoying called Burn Notice. It’s a spy show, sure, but it is also a witty detective show; a bit The Rockford Files, a bit MacGyver.

So Kate did what any good editor does – she asked me if I wanted to do a review.

And I did what any good critic does, I wrote one.

Which, she tells me, inspired Kate to watch the series and, yes, become a fan.

Burn Notice is about Michael Weston (played by Jeffrey Donovan), a spy who was fired – or got his “burn notice” — during a covert sting operation. Without money or a government agency to back him, he’s forced to make his own way after being dumped in his hometown of Miami. His only backup are Fiona Glenanne, (Gabrielle Anwar) a former girlfriend who cut her arms-dealing teeth in the I.R.A., and Sam Axe, (Bruce Campbell) a retired spy who’s not above informing on Weston, especially if a free dinner and drinks are on the agenda. There’s also a brother who’s had more than a few scraps with the law and a mother (Sharon Gless) who clearly adores Michael but also knows how to manipulate him.

Burn Notice mixes wide swaths of humor with a serious plot and a breathtaking view of South Florida. To make a living while trying to find out who “burned” him, Weston plays private detective.

Right now, Burn Notice is wrapping up a mini season with the finale set for March 5.

The original episodes air on the USA Network at 10 p.m. eastern time/9 p.m. central time on Thursdays; with numerous repeats during the week.

Filming for the third season begins March 1 with the 16 episodes airing this summer.

TOP: Gabrielle Anwar, Jeffrey Donovan. USA Network photo

Posted in Burn Notice, TV Mysteries | 4 Comments »

Welcome to the Mystery Scene blog

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

Welcome to the Mystery Scene blog. While the blog has been around for while, you’ll be seeing some changes here during the next several months.

One books21.jpgof the first changes is that I will be blogging at least twice a week for the Mystery Scene blog.

Many of you may already know me as the mystery fiction columnist for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. I also review mystery fiction for McClatchy Tribune Features Wire, often giving that wire service an original review once a week. Through the MCT wires, my reviews are distributed worldwide and end up in about 250 publications and Web sites.

For the past couple of years, I also have been supplying Mystery Scene magazine with author profiles and, during the past year, reviews, too. OK, that’s who I am.

Now, what can I do for you, the Mystery Scene reader. This blog is meant to complement the plethora of articles and reviews that run in the magazine. It won’t take the place of the magazine – please, we want you to subscribe – but it will offer a behind the scenes look at some of the articles, maybe tidbits that we can’t get in print because of space. Sometimes it will be an opinion on a trend in the mystery genre.

As I do for the Sun-Sentinel, I’ll be writing about a variety of subjects, mystery fiction, for sure, but also movies, DVDs, publishing trends, and more. I’ll still be co-writing the Sun-Sentinel’s blog Off the Page. But, hey, I’ve got a big mouth and lots to say without duplicating.

The plan is to update the Mystery Scene blog each Sunday and Wednesday, though I may add a bonus or two when the mood strikes.

We also want to hear from you readers. You are why we are doing this. Write a comment in the space below. Maybe you have something to add to my thoughts, or totally disagree with me or have another prespective to offer. Or maybe you want to offer a suggestion for a blog.   The mystery genre is a community and Mystery Scene readers are indeed a community.  Please, whatever the comments, we want to hear.

Posted in Announcements, Mystery Scene Magazine, Oline Cogdill | 5 Comments »

2008 DILYS WINN AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) has announced this year’s nominees for the Dilys Winn award, given annually to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers most enjoyed selling.

The IMBA is comprised of a network of individually owned retail bookstores across North America and the United Kingdom, devoted to the sale of mystery books. The IMBA has won several awards for THE 100 FAVORITE MYSTERIES OF THE CENTURY and THEY DIED IN VAIN, published by Crum Creek Press/Drood Review Books. For more information on the IMBA and20the Dilys awards, including past nominees and winners, visit www.mysterybooksellers.com.

2008 Nominees
TRIGGER CITY, Sean Chercover, William Morrow
THE VICTORIA VANISHES, Christopher Fowler, Bantam
SILENT IN THE SANCTUARY, Deanna Raybourn, Mira
CHILD 44, Tom Rob Smith, Grand Central
DAWN PATROL, Don Winslow, Alfred A. Knopf

The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, the founder of the first specialty bookstore of mystery books in the United States. The award will be presented at Left Coast Crime in March.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Posted in Christopher Fowler, Deanna Raybourn, Dilys Award, Don Winslow, Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, Sean Chercover, Tom Rob Smith | No Comments »

ON THE ROAD WITH INTERNATIONAL MYSTERIES

Monday, February 16th, 2009

I may never get to Norway. I’d like to someday. There’s not much stopping me, frankly.

But as I get older, I realize that there are so many places I want to visit, so little time and that one has to sacrifice some places to enjoy others.

My father used to tell me you can’t do everything in this world. Took me a long time to believe him.

Instead, mysteries have given me the chance to vicariously visit the world. That’s why when I am asked to review a mystery set in a foreign country, I seldom turn it down.

So Jo Nesbo’s Nemesis gave me a view of Norway that was off the beaten path, showing the country and Oslo in particular as only an insider can. Amaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir have brought me to Iceland. Cara Black to Paris.  The list is endless.

I’ve been in London and England nearly a dozen times and for years I have relished novels written by authors from the United Kingdom about their countries. Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Peter Robinson, and Ian Rankin have given us insider’s views of England and Scotland. Declan Hughes’ The Wrong Kind of Blood opened up Ireland to me.

McDermid’s latest novel, A Darker Domain, not only showed me a part of Scotland that few know exist, but also took me on a side trip to Italy.

A few months ago while getting ready for a cruise that would go to England, France and Ireland, then trans-Atlantic to Canada, I packed the essentials. Oh, yeah, sure, clothes, make up and money were already in the suitcase.

I am talking about the real essentials of any trip – books. The cruise was 12 days and I worried that I was only packing 12 mysteries. (For the record, 12 novels taken, 12 read; had my suitcase been able to handle more I would have taken another five as I did run out of books. GASP!)

It wasn’t until I was in England that I realized that subconsciously every mystery I had chosen was written by a U.K. author. So while I was in London, I was reading Mark Billingham’s stand alone, In the Dark, Mo Hayder’s Ritual and Kate Atchinson’s When Will There Be Good News?

Aside from the thrilling plots and complex characters, mysteries sometimes act as travelogues.
So I wonder what foreign set novels have given you an unusual glimpse of a country or city?

Posted in Arnaldur Indridason, Cara Black, Declan Hughes, Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, Kate Atchinson, Mark Billingham, Mo Hayder, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid, Yrsa Sigurdardottir | 3 Comments »

Whisper to the Blood by Dana Stabenow

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Whisper to the Blood
by Dana Stabenow

Minotaur Books, February 2009, $24.95

Kate Shugak, her half-wolf dog Mutt, her 16-year-old foster son Johnny Morgan, and Alaska state trooper “Chopper Jim” Chopin are back in another wonderful adventure set in a fictional Alaska national park. In what might appear to be uninhabited wilderness to most outsiders, there is plenty going on: Global Harvest Resources, Inc., a Canadian mining firm has big plans to mine more gold than was found in the Alaskan gold rush, not to mention copper and molybdenum; and the “Park Rats” who inhabit the area are torn between the desire for the high-paying jobs promised by the company and the fear that changes brought by the mine will destroy their ancestral hunting and fishing grounds. Four elderly “aunties” who appear to spend most of their time quilting, but who are, in fact, traditional area power figures, arrange for a reluctant Kate to chair the board of the Niniltna Native Association. Chopper Jim is troubled by a cold case, which heats up as new violence and murder complicate the scene. The novel presents a sensitive and sensible approach to the environmental problems and threats to the traditional order. The author brings to life even the most minor characters with dialogue that is simple, often humorous, and invariably just right. Mystery, action, and suspense are enhanced by the background of the unforgiving Alaskan winter. Stabenow does her usual excellent job in this superb tale of the Alaskan Bush. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Posted in Reviews, dana stabenow | No Comments »