By now, every mystery reader and author will have formed an opinion about this year’s Edgar nominations. And you know what they say about opinions. (If you don’t, email me and I will tell you.)

As usual, I am staying neutral on my opinions on who is on the list and who should have been on the list and who shouldn’t have been near the list, as well as who should win.

 My feeling is that people who are on these committees work hard to read the novels, come to a logical and fair and worthy list.

Full disclosure – I am one of three judges on the mystery/thriller category for the L.A. Times Book Prize, an honor I would accept again and again. One major reason being my fellow judges – Sarah Weinman and Dick Adler.

But back to the Edgars.

One thing that did leap out at me was John Hart’s nomination. (Full disclosure – it leapt out at me because someone pointed it out to me!)

Hart’s novel The Last Child is nominated for an Edgar for Best Novel. This marks the third time that Hart has been nominated for an Edgar. Oh sure, you are thinking. Lots of authors get numerous nominations during their career.

But Hart has only had three novels published.

Yep, that means each of his novels has been nominated for an Edgar.

Not a bad way to start your career.

Hart appears to be one of the few authors in the adult fiction categories to have each of his novels nominated, according to my well-placed sources. (They know who they are.) (The other is Meg Abbott and I’ll be blogging about her soon.)

His debut The King of Lies was nominated for Best First. Then, his second novel Down River was nominated for Best Novel and won.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I have interviewed John a couple of times, including last year when he came down for Sleuthfest. A devoted family man with a sharp wit, John is immensely likable.

More importantly for readers, his novels are outstanding.

His debut The King of Lies also made my list of best debuts and Down River was high on my best overall list the following year.

And, yeah, The Last Child was No. 4 for my 2009 list. In the wrap up for  The Last Child I said: “A town’s sinister secrets are exposed in this complex tale of broken families, despair and hope. “The last child” is a sullen 13-year-old hunting for his missing twin sister.”

The Edgars will be announced during the gala on April 29. Here are the details.

I wish all the authors nominated for an Edgar the best of luck.

I know this is a cliché, but just being nominated truly is an honor.

I warned you that the awards season for mystery readers had officially opened with the Edgar nominees.

Here are the nominees for the Dilys Award, which is given annually by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the mystery title of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling.

The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, the founder of the first specialty bookseller of
mystery books in the United States, and is presented at the Left Coast Crime mystery convention.

Congrats to all the nominees

2009 Dilys Nominees

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellroy

The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson

The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan

Like many readers, Robert B. Parker’s death on Jan. 18 came as a shock.

According to reports, Parker died at age 77 “just sitting at his desk” at his home in Cambridge, Mass.

The creator of the Spenser private detective novels, which debuted with The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), was one of those rare authors whose work never went out of style.

During the past decade or so, Parker was turning out about three novels a year at a clip that would make younger authors run in terror. But 77 is way too young to die.

Several years ago, Parker came to Florida to be the guest speaker at the annual Sleuthfest. As is usual with these guest speakers, I interviewed Parker over the phone to help promote Sleuthfest.

 I was struck with how nice he was during our phone interview, walking me through his life, his routine and his unusual arrangement with his wife, Joan. During the interview, Parker showed me what a great sense of humor he had, talked about his love of dogs and how much he enjoyed his life.

 I can’t really add anything to all the lovely tributes that have been posted about Parker. His novels helped change the direction of mysteries – a legacy that will live on.

  Rest in peace, Bob Parker.

  My colleague Sarah Weinman features a list of tributes to Robert B. Parker on her site.

We are now entering the awards season for mystery writers. It officially began on Tuesday, Jan. 19, with the announcement of the Edgar Award nominees by the Mystery Writers of America.  

MWA’s 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Awards honors the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2009. The Edgar Awards will be presented at the 64th Gala Banquet, April 29, 2010, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

Here are the nominees:

BEST NOVEL

The Missing by Tim Gautreaux (Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
The Odds by Kathleen George (Minotaur Books)
The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Random House – Ballantine Books)
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett (HarperCollins)
A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Simon & Schuster – Atria Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano (Grand Central Publishing)
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Simon & Schuster – Touchstone)
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf (MIRA Books)
A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (Minotaur Books – Thomas Dunne Books)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (HarperCollins)
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Havana Lunar by Robert Arellano (Akashic Books)
The Lord God Bird by Russell Hill (Pleasure Boat Studio – Caravel Books)
Body Blows by Marc Strange (Dundurn Press – Castle Street Mysteries)
The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice by L.C. Tyler (Felony & Mayhem Press)

BEST FACT CRIME

Columbine by Dave Cullen (Hachette Book Group – Twelve)
Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn (Simon & Schuster)
The Fence: A Police Cover-Up Along Boston’s Racial Divide by Dick Lehr (HarperCollins)
Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo (The Penguin Press)
Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti (Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Random House – Alfred A. Knopf)
The Lineup: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)
Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books)
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar (St. Martin’s Press)
The Stephen King Illustrated Companion by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Last Fair Deal Gone Down” – Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins (Busted Flush Press)
“Femme Sole” – Boston Noir by Dana Cameron (Akashic Books)
“Digby, Attorney at Law” – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Jim Fusilli (Dell Magazines)
“Animal Rescue” – Boston Noir by Dennis Lehane (Akashic Books
“Amapola” – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea (Akashic Books)

BEST JUVENILE

The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil (Random House Children’s Books – Alfred A. Knopf)
Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
Creepy Crawly Crime by Aaron Reynolds (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers)
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer (Penguin Young Readers Group – Philomel Books)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperCollins Children’s Books – HarperTeen)
If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)
The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford (Penguin Young Readers Group – Viking Children’s Books)
Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books)
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell (Random House Children’s Books – Delacorte Press)

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” – Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Dan Warthman (Dell Magazines)

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
(Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 28, 2010)

Awakening by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof by Blaize Clement (Minotaur Books)
Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron (HarperCollins – William Morrow)
Lethal Vintage by Nadia Gordon (Chronicle Books)
Dial H for Hitchcock by Susan Kandel (HarperCollins

Whenever I am asked which mystery authors I recommend – and that happens a lot – there’s a mental list I automatically draw from.

Near the head of that list is Val McDermid.

This Scottish author has never disappointed me in with her stories. Her A Place of Execution is a classic, I believe, and it’s one I recommend to readers year in and year out.

 So it’s with much pleasure to learn that Val McDermid has been named as the recipient of this year’s prestigious CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger Award. This award honors outstanding achievement in the field of crime writing. The announcement has been made by the Crime Writers’ Association in recognition of McDermid’s work over more than 20 years.

  This isn’t McDermid’s first award. Last year in Britain, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards, whose partners include the CWA.

In 1995 she won the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year for The Mermaids Singing, which first introduced her characters Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, and went on to become an international bestseller.

Fever of the Bone is the sixth novel of this series, which inspired the BBC series Wire in the Blood. She also has won the L.A. Times Book of the Year Award. In 2007, she won The Stonewall Writer of the Year Award.

   McDermid’s work has written 23 bestselling novels that have been translated into 40 languages.

Her work also has translated well to the screen. In addition to the Wire in the Blood, the drama based on A Place of Execution was terrific.

The prize will be presented at a ceremony yet to be confirmed.

Previous winners include Andrew Taylor, Sue Grafton, John Harvey, Elmore Leonard, Ian Rankin, Lawrence Block, Sara Paretsky, Colin Dexter, Ed McBain, Reginald Hill, Ellis Peters, Leslie Charteris, Ruth Rendell, Dick Francis, John Le Carré and P.D. James.

 The new movie Sherlock Holmes is not your father’s – or mother’s – vision of the famous detective. 

Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr. Warner Bros. photo

With its lush CGI backdrops of Victorian London, its heart-stopping battle atop the Tower Bridge that really is falling down and a grimy fight in a shipyard, Sherlock Holmes is more action-based than any other film or TV incarnation.

  And does it mess with Holmesian holy writ?

Probably.

But then so do the myriad books, short stories and films that have been based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective. And never forget Michael Caine and Gene Wilder’s turn as Holmes.

   But the main question is does this film directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson work? Does it immerse us in Sherlock Holmes’ world? Make us want to read every book Doyle did? Does it entertain us?

  A resounding yes. To put it in numbers – Three resounding stars out of four.

   Robert Downey Jr. also is not your father’s version, either. Downey, always an intriguing actor, eschews Basil Rathbone’s aristocratic air and Jeremy Brett’s brainy bearing.

Instead, Downey is a slovenly, unkempt lump of intelligence, given to extreme moods of melancholy when he’s inactive and experimenting with any drug within reach. His Holmes is as physical as he is brilliant. He also is almost always the smartest person in the room with heightened powers of observation.

Downey is not the quintessential Holmes, but he’s the perfect Holmes for the 21^st century re-imagining.

  Instead of the usual hefty Dr. Watson, it’s the handsome Dr. Watson. Jude Law, for the first time, doesn’t come across as just a pretty boy but as a solid actor. Law’s Watson is Holmes’ closest friend and his only confidant, but he is no sidekick.

A veteran of the Afghan wars dealing with his own demons, this Watson is not content to be in Holmes’ shadow. He’s making plans to move out of the flat he shares with Holmes – at 221B Baker Street, of course – and marry also the strong Mary (Kelly Reilly). In the movie, Watson is not yet Holmes chronicler but there are hints of things to come in the sequel that apparently is in development.

  But first, Holmes and Watson will have to save the world.  

Mark Strong Warner Bros. photo

Lord Blackwood (a mesmerizing Mark Strong) apparently has risen from the grave after being hanged for a series of ritual murders. Now Blackwood wants complete power over London.

 Strong with his Dracula-like cape and his piercing gaze steals the film, a vicious villain worth rousing Holmes out of his funk. As a friend of mine said, he is deliciously evil.

  Where Sherlock Holmes veers most from the novels is the character of Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) who plays the one woman whom intrigues Holmes. In the novels, she was the only woman who ever outwitted Holmes. In the film she is more of a master criminal and his former lover. McAdams not only looks good in her Victorian garb but this fine actress holds her own against Downey.

   Ritchie’s direction is controlled and inventive. His Sherlock Holmes is no Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Guns, but an energetic view of one of literature’s most iconic characters.

   I am no Sherlock Holmes expert, certainly not in league as author Laurie King. Nor in the same league as my good friends Doreen and Toni or my late father-in-law, Steve, who once wrote an essay detailing all the cases mentioned in the novels that were never actually written by Doyle.

  I’ll be interested to see what they think. For me, I’ll be one of the first in line to buy Sherlock Holmes on DVD.

It’s that time of the year when we’re making our lists and checking them twice for gift giving.

Forget the perfect gift; most of us just want to find a gift that won’t be returned.

And finding a gift drives us to the mall, the bookstores (YES!) and, of course, the most traditional of all – TV’s shopping networks. 

Alafair Burke

I’m not ashamed to admit that I love TV’s shopping networks. I have bought many a thing from QVC and HSN (huggable hangers will change your life) and often have one of these channels on in the background for white noise. 

So I am a bit dismayed that I missed the reference to mystery authors Alafair Burke and Lisa Gardner, and had to hear about it on Facebook, which is just like the shopping networks as it can just draw you in for hours.

QVC featured the U.S. launch of the ebook reader The COOL-ER. Many of the books available for this e-reader were mentioned, including Alafair Burke’s Angel’s Tip and one of Lisa Gardner’s thrillers. (By the way, this is an endorsement only for the authors.)

Lisa Gardner

That’s what I call shopping power.

BEST MYSTERIES OF 2009

 This also is the time when critics are making their lists and should be checking them twice and thrice.

Because we do need these lists to be perfect.

Here’s a couple of best mystery lists from three of my favorite book critic colleagues – Sarah Weinman and Dick Adler.  David J. Montgomery took a different route and listed his picks for best debuts.

 And that, dear readers, brings me to my picks for my favorite mysteries of the year. The short list is published in the Sun Sentinel; but a few newspapers have picked up my extended list.

 Anytime it’s hard for me to narrow down my list to just 20, I know it has been a very good year for mysteries. And this list was exceptionally hard as 2009 was quite a good year for mysteries.

 So many wonderful mysteries made the list, but so many books also didn’t make my final cut.

 And this year’s debuts also were exceptional  — Attica Locke, Harry Dolan, Stuart Neville, Bryan Gruley , Sophie Littlefield, Brad Parks, Alan Bradley.  And again, too many had to be left out.

 I always time my list to run before Christmas and, sometimes, before Hannukah.

 Because books do make the perfect gift.