The Paradox Hotel

Hank Wagner

Like any competent locked room mystery, Rob Hart’s The Paradox Hotel leads with the discovery of a corpse, in, yes, a locked hotel room. But unlike those stiffs, this one is discovered by one January Cole, the highly capable, time traveling, head of security for the world-famous Paradox Hotel.

That’s right, Cole is an experienced time traveler—but she’s become “unstuck,” meaning that her brain is reacting in weird ways to her numerous trips into the past. Thus, rather than experiencing the victim’s demise in real time, she sees his death well before he is actually dispatched. Some might consider this head start a decided advantage in solving the crime, but it’s just one more burden for her to bear during an already wildly complicated weekend, as the Paradox is slated to host a contentious gathering which could well decide the fate of time travel. And, that’s on top of the fact that Cole’s malady will eventually cripple her and that time itself seems to be unraveling.

Time travel stories often induce headaches for this reader, but, gladly, this wasn’t the case with Rob Hart’s latest offering. Hart offers a reasonable set of rules and parameters for time travel, logically addressing the limits of and concerns created by the same, then sticks to those rules until the book’s bittersweet end.

Doing so, he masterfully relates a rather traditional tale in a decidedly nontraditional fashion, delivering any number of gripping action set pieces, numerous thrills, and plenty of offbeat and surprising twists along the way.

The Old Woman With a Knife

Kevin Burton Smith

What a drag it is getting old…

Is Hornclaw, the hero of South Korean author Gu Byeong-mo’s first novel translated into English, a distant South Korean cousin of Helene Tursten’s cold-blooded Swedish serial killer Maud (An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed)?

Maybe.

Except Maud, a gifted amateur, kills to remove life’s little irritants, whereas Hornclaw does it for a living.

And whereas the carefree, spry 85-year old Maud seems content to just keep barreling along, Hornclaw toils as professional assassin (calling herself a hands-on disease control specialist). Though a relative youngster at the ripe old age of 65, she is beginning to feel her years—and it’s worrying her. Her once-fit body is starting to betray her, her once razor-sharp mind and steely cold pragmatism are beginning to slip, and she’s at least entertaining the idea of retiring.

Matters aren’t helped by Bullfight, a smug young male specialist at work who seems intent on needling her, openly challenging her competency, casting aspersions on not just her physical and mental, but her emotional ability to continue doing her job. Is he just another callous jackass with no respect for his elders or is there something more? And why does he keep popping up in her life? But perhaps most troubling of all is that Hornclaw has—after decades of locked-down emotional limbo—started to feel something akin to… empathy? For a handsome young doctor who helped her out of a jam once. For his aging parents. For his young daughter. For a street man who collects old cans and bottles. She’s even beginning to have unexpected feelings for her aging dog Deadweight.

It’s all doled out in an icy matter-of-fact tone that fans of Richard Stark’s might recognize, tempered with a bleak and revealing look at a contemporary South Korea reeling with economic and social inequality, as far removed from the hyperkinetic, air-brushed cotton-candy K-pop world of BTS as you can get.

The Old Woman With the Knife is a slow burner, laced with pitch-black humor and take-no-prisoners observations on aging and how society (not just Korean) views the elderly, until the white-knuckle, action film-ready finale that plays out like a sort of reimagined Die Hard, and is as unexpected as it was satisfying. Maud, you’ve got some competition.

Secret Identity

Hank Wagner

Set in 1975 New York City, Secret Identity tells the story of 28-yearold Carmen Valdez, who works as an assistant to the Triumph Comics owner and editor in chief, the bombastic Jeffrey Carlyle. A comic book enthusiast since childhood, Carmen toils at her job in the hopes that it may one day provide her the chance to break into the male-dominated comic book industry.

Her dreams remain unrealized until the night a shady colleague asks her to anonymously collaborate with him to create a new character. Burning copious amounts of midnight oil, the two conjure up The Legendary Lynx, whose new series seems to be poised to become a big hit. Carmen feels as if she’s on the verge of achieving her aspirations when her collaborator is murdered, just as the Lynx’s first adventures appear on newsstands. Still anonymous, Carmen must now watch her back, lest she become a target for the killer, who appears to be settling scores.

There’s much to love and appreciate here, specifically the inclusion of sequences gleaned from the pages of the actual DC Lynx comics, the inside dish about the comic book industry, and the book’s excellent evocation of mid-seventies New York City. Read it for all those reasons, but primarily for its sensitive treatment of Carmen, a classic example of an “other” or “outsider,” and also because it provides a realistic answer to the eternal question of where creators get their ideas. Rather than springing fully formed from their minds onto the page, characters and stories usually develop slowly, the product of compromise, numerous false starts, and a terrific amount of frustration. Here, it’s simply wonderful to see the creators’ ideas move from concept to actuality.

Bye Bye Baby

Kevin Burton Smith

Spenser. Long may he run.

At this point in the ever-expanding Parkerverse, Atkins is the last man standing, the only writer to have kept the flag flying uninterrupted since Robert B.’s untimely passing several years ago, stretching out the Boston private eye’s brand with not just verve, pluck, and dedication, but arguably breathing new life into the apparently ageless sleuth’s literary career. And so, how to mark Atkins’ tenth and apparently last go-round? He goes out with a bang, not a whimper, leaving it all out of the field.

Atkins makes sure the Holy Trinity of Spenser, Hawk, and Susan are present, touches base with Belsen and Gerry Broz, gives shout-outs to regulars like Teddy Sapp and Mattie, and even brings in former apprentice sleuth Z Sixkill from Los Angeles to help out (a surprising but pleasing turn, prompting me to wonder if there’s a Zebulon in Atkins’ future).

He also brings us a great client and a case that has Spenser jumping into the political and cultural septic tank of our times. He’s hired to protect young, outspoken progressive Massachusetts Congressperson Carolina Garcia-Ramirez (Black, Hispanic, and known by her initials GCR, she “makes a certain type of person’s head explode”—remind you of anyone?) as she campaigns in the primary. But who’s behind the death threats? Her older white Democratic rival whom she ousted in the last election? A band of white power militants? And why do the breadcrumbs keep leading to assorted organized crime yahoos?

As expected, Spenser eats, cooks, drinks beer, spars with Hawk, flirts with Susan, walks Pearl, cracks wise, annoys various good and bad guys, and even allows that Hawk and he aren’t quite as young as they used to be. But even 50 years later, Spenser and crew [to avoid company?] remain great company—smart, entertaining and still able to engage and even surprise. Atkins doesn’t reinvent the wheel here, but for ten books he’s kept the wheels spinning straight and true, reverent and respectful, while also being willing to kick enough ass with Parker’s legacy that in retrospect his books seem far less like pastiche or franchise milking, and more like a continuation, more canon than cannon fodder.

Thanks for the ride, Ace.

At the Scene, Spring Issue #171

Hello Everyone!

“The West is not filled with rubes and cowboys,” author C.J. Box tells Oline Cogdill in this issue. “I want to show the West but also this is a contemporary West.... It’s a real place with a lot of myths associated with it, but also a place of diversity and interesting people. Joe Pickett isn’t just a Western hero, he’s a contemporary Western hero.” Indeed he is, and Box’s huge audience is being enlarged by two TV shows: Joe Pickett and Big Sky.

Whatever side of the political divide you might endorse, you have to agree that political chicanery can liven up a story. In “Capitol Crimes,” Pat H. Broeske has gathered many recent and classic examples of political thrillers. One goes all the way back to Rex Stout’s anonymously published 1934 novel The President Vanishes. Stout’s biographer John McAleer commented that it “portrayed the dangers in the United States of a fascist takeover patterned on Hitler’s takeover of Germany, it was sold at once to Hollywood.” Other famous titles include Charles McCarry’s riveting The Tears of Autumn about the John F. Kennedy assassination and Richard Condon’s chiller The Manchurian Candidate about a brainwashed prisoner of war. Former president Ronald Reagan was an early and influential fan of Tom Clancy whose novels often deal with the clashes of political and military interests. Bill Clinton not only read voraciously in the genre throughout his presidency, he later collaborated with James Patterson on The President Is Missing and The President’s Daughter.

Former presidents aren’t the only well-known characters interested in crime fiction. In “Murder by the Stars,” Michael Mallory has identified an array of weathermen, newscasters, comedians, actors, talk show hosts, even a famous stripper, who aspired to add “mystery author” to their resumes. Some results are intriguing, others ill-advised.

Newcomer Kellye Garrett is bringing a fresh voice to crime fiction. She first wrote two cozies featuring a Black protagonist and then branched out into domestic noir. “Domestic noir,” says Garrett, “is full of white women living in suburbs who can’t trust their husbands, or their kids go missing, and that’s just not my reality. I’m a Black woman who’s single and I live in an urban area.... If I was in the suburbs and my baby goes missing, I’m going to be looked at in a different way than a white woman.” In addition to her fiction, Garrett helped found Crime Writers of Color with Walter Mosley and Gigi Pandian in June of 2018.

Australian crime writer Candice Fox has a goal. “[I’m] trying to create discomfort in the reader about ‘I really want to root for this guy, but I’m not sure if I can,’ and then they flip the pages to figure out if they can or not.” More and more readers around the world have been flipping those pages as the prolific Fox continues up the bestseller lists. Noted cozy writer Leslie Meier credits her former day job as a local journalist with giving her an ear for dialogue. “I also got to understand how a little bit of power on a committee can really go to a person’s head. That little insight has developed into quite a few of my plots.” she says. John B. Valeri talks to Meier in this issue.

Every December, I send a call out to our Mystery Scene critics asking for their “best of the year” choices. Each entry “should be a book/TV show/film/audiobook/short story you loved and found yourself thinking about long afterwards.” Then I sit back and wait for one of my favorite annual features to assemble itself. I challenge you to come away empty-handed from this dazzling selection.

Also in this issue, Lucy Burdette and Catherine Maiorisi offer entertaining “My Book” essays on their new work.

Enjoy!

Kate Stine
Editor in Chief

Spring Issue #171, C.J. Box

Features

C.J. Box

No frills, no baggage, Joe Pickett is a contemporay Western hero whose everyday life could not be more average. He’s a decent man, happily married, and the proud father of three girls. Like many people, he lives paycheck to paycheck. The only thing remarkable about him, says author C.J. Box, is that he is honest. But isn’t that enough?
by Oline H. Cogdill

Murder by the Stars: Celebrity Mystery Authors

Accomplished in their own fields, these celebrities also wanted to excel in the literary world.
by Michael Mallory

Fave Raves of the Year

Our critics have gathered together for your entertainment their very favorite books, audios, films, and TV shows. It’s a dazzling selection and a useful guide to the best of the best of 2021.

Kellye Garrett

Anthony Award winner Garrett is bringing a fresh new perspective to the genre she loves and garnering lots of attention herself.
by Craig Sisterson

Leslie Meier

Escaping reality in Tinker’s Cove where bad things happen, “but goodness and justice and love always triumph.”
by John B. Valeri

My Book: Pivoting to the Dark Side

After much research, a cozy culinary mystery writer turns her talents to the grittier side of the genre.
by Lucy Burdette

Capitol Crimes: Intrigue in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches

Even the slings and arrows of an election year can’t compare to the nefarious schemes and incendiary plots of these political thrillers.
by Pat H. Broeske

Candice Fox

This prolific Australian crime writer has galvanized readers worlwide. Now her tales of unsettling heroes are coming to the screen.
by Craig Sisterson

My Book: Legacy in the Blood

Changing gears and allowing a protagonist to step back and give pride of place to her partner.
by Catherine Maiorisi

A Love of Mystery Crossword

by Verna Suit

Departments

At the Scene

by Kate Stine

Mystery Miscellany

by Louis Phillips

Hints & Allegations

The 2022 Edgar Award Nominees, 2022 MWA Grandmaster, Raven Award, Ellery Queen Award

Reviews

Small Press Reviews: Covering the Independents

by Katrina Niidas Holm

Very Original: Paperback Originals Reviewed

by Hank Wagner and Robin Agnew

Sounds of Suspense: Audiobooks Reviewed

by Dick Lochte

What About Murder? Reference Books Reviewed

by Jon L. Breen

Short and Sweet: Short Stories Considered

by Ben Boulden

Mystery Scene Reviews

Miscellaneous

The Docket

Letters

Advertising Info

Spring Issue #171

Reckless Girls

Vanessa Orr

On the surface, the idea of spending a couple of weeks on a stunning, deserted tropical island sounds idyllic. Unfortunately for Lux and her boyfriend, Nico, being hired to sail two young women to Meroe Island, a desolate spot in the Pacific Ocean, is anything but.

The couple, along with passengers Brittany and Amma, find that another couple, Jake and Eliza, are already on the island, and though all of the twentysomethings seem to hit it off fairly well, their joviality barely masks a tense undercurrent that makes Lux suspect that both their passengers and the other travelers are not who they seem.

The tension in the story builds slowly, with the characters’ backstories revealed bit by bit through chapters alternating between “then” and “now.” As they discover more about each other and about the island, the once-serene setting becomes almost suffocating—not only because they spend every day together, but because the island is hemmed in by an ever-encroaching jungle where the group, while exploring, finds evidence of the island’s grisly history.

When someone goes missing and another person turns up dead, it rachets the tension even tighter, leading to a shocking ending that forces Lux to make a life-or-death decision. While this story may have started as a happy getaway, it doesn’t end that way—except for the reader, who will enjoy this immensely suspenseful journey.

Wish You Were Gone

Sarah Prindle

Emma Walsh, a New Jersey housewife, and her two teenagers have been secretly terrorized by her husband James with fits of rage, alcoholism, and vicious put-downs for years. Fed up with the situation, Emma decides to confront him, but James doesn’t meet her at the restaurant as planned. Later that night, his car crashes through their garage, with James dead in the driver’s seat. Suddenly, Emma is made a widow by a terrible accident, unable to comprehend that her husband is gone and unable to mourn him the way the rest of the community does because she knows his dark side all too well. Or does she?

As Emma tries to pick up the pieces of their lives, secrets that James kept hidden gradually come to light, causing Emma to realize how little she really knew her husband. Each new revelation shakes the foundation of the life she thought they shared, and Emma begins to wonder whether his death was truly an accident or if something else happened that night.

Told from multiple points of view—including that of Emma, her son, Hunter and daughter, Kelsey, as well as Emma’s best friends Lizzie Larkin and Gray Garrison—Wish You Were Gone peels back the curtains of an upstanding family’s home and exposes the deceit, betrayal, and secrets that lie within.

Wish You Were Gone is Kieran Scott’s first adult novel, (she is also the author of a bestselling young adult series under the pseudonym Kate Brian), and she does well in crafting a character-driven thriller that also focuses on the complexity of marriages, friendships, and family relationships. Many of the characters—not just Emma’s husband—have their own secrets to hide.

Scott’s novel exposes the secrets of one seemingly perfect family and encourages readers to look past the fancy houses and impeccable reputations of people they might know. If there is one thing the author proves, it is that no one can tell what a person’s life is truly like from the outside. A gripping, intriguing book, Wish You Were Gone will appeal to readers who enjoy scandalous secrets and complex relationship dynamics.

The Department of Rare Books

Eileen Brady

When the director of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections of a Toronto university, Christopher Wolfe, suffers a severe stroke, his assistant, Liesl Weiss, is asked to return from sabbatical and take over the reins. Liesl’s first job is to arrange insurance coverage for the department’s latest acquisition, the Plantin Polyglot Bible. The task should be a simple one–but the library safe holding the rare Bible won’t open. Her boss Christopher, in his usual fashion, didn’t follow protocol and failed to record the new combination. When Liesl finally opens it, the safe is empty.

Searching the stacks for the missing rare Bible worth $500,000 uncovers more books either stolen or misplaced. Christopher has run the department since 1969, and 40 years later it shows. Memos and notes are written on tiny pieces of paper. Computers and technology seem to have been ignored. Liesl, for example, doesn’t know what carbon dating a manuscript entails.

Liesl’s general ambivalence toward finding the missing book and callous behavior toward Miriam, a mentally ill colleague, unfortunately, makes her a difficult character to like. When Miriam goes missing, she’s branded a book thief without any evidence.

The author, Eva Jurczyk, does a fine job portraying how universities have to juggle academia with the need for constant fundraising and many of the rare book details are fascinating. The search for the missing books, not so much.

Devil House

Pat H. Broeske

There is much to admire in Devil House—including lyrical writing—but omigosh, this book takes so much work! Author John Darnielle, singer-songwriter of the band Mountain Goats, whose 2014 novel Wolf in White Van was a National Book Award nominee, has produced a work that utilizes reams of words across 416 pages to illustrate a fairly simple point: writing about true crime is complicated.

What is truth? Who gets to tell it? What if a truth is based on someone else’s truth that wasn’t really true or perceived through preconceived notions? That’s the conundrum, as related by Devil House’s narrator, a (fictional) author named Gage Chandler, whose greatest success, a true crime book titled The White Witch of Morro Bay, was made into a movie that so embarrassed him he only saw it once.

After writing about other crimes, Chandler’s editor suggests his next book explore an unsolved double murder with Satanic overtones that took place on Halloween night 15 years earlier in Milpitas, California. The property that was the scene of the crime—formerly a porn shop—is up for sale. And so, Chandler moves into what’s become known as Devil House and delivers an account of his work in progress, including revelations about the veracity of The White Witch and the true crime genre.

This dense, sprawling work is like a series of interconnecting doors that don’t provide a way out. (At one point, Chandler references mise en abyme, which means an image within an image, a story within a story.) Chandler describes some of his research into the case, his meeting with one of the now-adult teens who was present on the night in question, how an earlier (and actual) Milpitas murder—the subject of the (actual) 1986 film, River’s Edge, strayed from reality, angering the people of Milpitas. We learn that Chandler was raised to believe he was descended from kings (which explains the chapter written like a Medieval tale!). There is considerable soul-searching—as well as minutia. (Do you know how hard it is to find Polaroid film stock?) Eventually, the book loses coherence. And we lose our way.

Now, some readers might bask in the literary somersaults. Others won’t make it to the end, except to peek at the final pages to try to see whodunit at Devil House. True crime, it’s complicated.

Chloe Cates is Missing

Sarah Prindle

Detective Emilina Stone is thrust into a complex investigation when a 13-year-old girl goes missing in Upstate New York. Abigail Scarborough—stage name Chloe Cates—is the star of a blog her mother, Jennifer, started when she was four. Millions of people follow the blog and the blow-by-blow accounts of Chloe’s life, meaning millions of potential suspects who might have more than a casual interest in the girl.

As Emilina investigates, she quickly realizes Chloe and her family aren’t the perfect, happy unit they appear to be online. Jennifer is obsessed with her daughter’s fame, Chloe’s father Jackson has never had the courage to go against his wife’s wishes, and Chloe’s older brother JJ is struggling with being given little attention by their parents. The case is further complicated by the fact that Emilina knew Jennifer when they were children and the two of them share a horrific secret. Emilina does her best to keep her demons at bay while she searches for Chloe, but the clock is ticking. She must sort through a tangled web of lies to unlock the truth if a missing girl is to be found alive.

Chloe Cates is Missing is a suspenseful mystery thriller written by debut novelist Mandy McHugh. It is well paced, vividly detailed, and filled with characters who are never as straight-forward as they pretend to be. There are countless red-herrings, complex possibilities to sort through, and several surprising revelations to be had. There are also plotlines which explore timely issues such as society’s addiction to the internet, the cruelty internet users are capable of when they face no consequences for their comments, and how lives portrayed online are often drastically different than they are in reality.

As she searches for Chloe, Emilina glimpses the ways the quest for fame can wreak havoc on a family, particularly the effect it has on a 13-year-old girl juggling two identities and struggling to find her own way. A gripping addition to the missing-persons mystery genre, Chloe Cates is Missing will leave readers with a lot to think about long after they’ve finished reading.

The Goodbye Coast

Kevin Burton Smith

Bestseller Ide, creator of brilliant, streetwise young Los Angeles gumshoe Isaiah “I.Q.” Quintabe, puts on his grown-up shoes and reboots Raymond Chandler’s iconic and much beloved private eye Philip Marlowe for the 22nd century—a generation that may have never read the original “down these mean streets” guy.

Not that The Goodbye Coast is a bad read—far from it! It’s a solid, engaging, and often compelling read; a private eye novel that can hold its head high among its contemporary rivals. Not a classic, but definitely enjoyable, a noble attempt to “storm the citadel,” as Chandler might put it. There are enough fisticuffs and shootouts to keep things bouncing; enough lies, betrayals and twists of fate to give it a noirish tinge; and enough wry cynicism to give it that good ol’ hard-boiled edge.

Marlowe’s hired to find aging starlet Kendra James’ 17-year-old stepdaughter Cody, an unlikable brat who’s convinced that Kendra and her boyfriend murdered her father. And then, in a subplot more Idesque than Chandleresque, Marlowe agrees, reluctantly, to help Englishwoman Ren Stewart regain custody of her 7-year-old son, Jeremy, spirited away to California by her ex. All of which allows Marlowe to wander through Southern California’s diverse neighborhoods and assorted subcultures, finding most of them wanting, dropping pop culture references and brand names all over the place (Panda Express! Mel Brooks! Batman!) in distinctly un-Chandler-like language (the first “fuck” shows up by the second page).

Now, Marlowe’s been reimagined countless times in numerous media. Robert B. Parker and Lawrence Osborne did it in print; Robert Altman and Howard Hawks did it on the big screen. Most stayed more-or-less true to the source; others took bold creative leaps, but in almost all cases there were traceable amounts of Marlowe DNA.

Not here, where he’s barely recognizable. This isn’t your father’s Marlowe, although it does feature Marlowe’s father, of all people, as a major character.

Wait! Marlowe had a father?

Yeah. One of the most iconic detectives in all of crime fiction, the eternal lone wolf L.A. sleuth—the tarnished knight who in over 80 years had no kith or kin and never acknowledged any—now has an alcoholic ex-cop dad with whom he argues and occasionally works cases. Nor is Marlowe a humble working PI with a shabby Hollywood office and a small apartment that’s not much better, fingering his cherished moral code like an old scar—now he’s a prickly, high-priced private dick with expensive tastes (Designer clothes! Swanky watches! Snazzy cars! Gym membership!) living in a converted warehouse in Hollywood that’s shabby by choice, not economic necessity.

So… not a lot of Chandler here, beyond a certain generic shamus-ness that existed even before Chandler came along—and certainly became SOP after. Those eagerly expecting the bruised romanticism, smart ass wisecracks, shotgun blasts of cockeyed similes, and the sheer magic of Chandler’s prose dished up in rat-a-tat-tat first person will be disappointed. The Goodbye Coast is delivered in limited third-person omniscience, flipping frantically from viewpoint to viewpoint, about as foreign to Chandler’s style as a tarantula on a slice of angel food cake.

And yet, the story pays off, in surprising and satisfying ways. Just don’t expect Chandler. Or Marlowe—you’ll enjoy it more.

Dark Horse

Hank Wagner

Evan Smoak is back in Gregg Hurwitz’s seventh Orphan X novel, deeply enmeshed in the activities of rival drug dealing operations based in South Texas and Mexico. This mission is extremely complicated, since it requires him to infiltrate both to achieve his chief goal of rescuing teenage kidnap victim Angelina Urrea, daughter of Aragon Urrea, the leader of the more sophisticated organization. Despite initial misgivings, Smoak has decided to come to Urrea’s aid, as the shady but philanthropic businessman literally has nowhere else to turn in retrieving his beloved daughter. Smoak, also known as The Nowhere Man, adheres to his complicated code, however, requiring a steep quid pro quo in return for his unique “services.”

Hurwitz draws on a number of sources and traditions in crafting his latest thriller, a satisfying stew of action/adventure flavored with real human drama. As you read, you may find yourself reflecting on the works of other authors, including Warren Murphy, David Morrell, Robert Ludlum, or Ian Fleming, or on television shows like The Equalizer. But you’ll also find yourself reflecting on the nuances of human connection and the subtleties and complexities of family, both nuclear and extended. It’s a tribute to Hurwitz’s skill that he writes the smaller, quieter, more intimate moments with as much attention to detail and skill as he displays in the book’s more operatic, over the top, and chaotic sequences; his characters are capable of change and growth, as well as contributing to apocalyptic mayhem.

An Eternal Lei

Katrina Niidas Holm

Naomi Hirahara’s timely second Kaua’i-based Leilani Santiago novel, An Eternal Lei, sees the 25-year-old’s plans to expand her family’s shave ice business foiled by the pandemic. Instead of opening a second location, she’s had to shutter their stand in Waimea Junction and rely on charitable donations to stock the overcrowded household’s cupboards.

All of Hawai’i is off-limits to tourists, so it’s a bit of a shock when Leilani’s younger sisters pull an unconscious female stranger out of Waimea Bay. The woman is barely breathing, so despite fears of contracting COVID-19, Leilani performs CPR until the paramedics arrive. The police then take custody of the woman’s distinctive lei, as it appears to have provoked an allergic reaction.

An absence of customers has left Leilani with ample free time, so she turns her attention to the lady she saved, who remains in a medically induced coma. What is Jane Doe’s real name, and how did she end up in the water? The more questions Leilani asks, the more feathers she ruffles, but she is determined to solve the mystery into which she’s stumbled, no matter the risk.

With a strong sense of place, community, and culture, Hirahara’s follow-up to 2019’s Iced In Paradise opens a window on a Hawai’i unseen by most mainlanders—one hit hard by coronavirus closures, where locals face food insecurity, unemployment, and homelessness. The book’s cast of characters is large and their intertwining backstories might occasionally confuse those new to the series, but the multilayered central puzzle rivets from start to kindhearted finish.

The Pine Barrens Stratagem

Katrina Niidas Holm

It’s the third month of Maryland’s stay-at-home order and private eye Steve Rockfish— the protagonist of Ken Harris’ stellar debut, The Pine Barrens Stratagem—is getting desperate. Surveilling unfaithful spouses used to be his bread-and-butter, but then COVID-19 pressed pause on a majority of extramarital affairs. With no work coming in, Rockfish worries creditors will repossess his pride and joy, a 2015 Dodge Challenger named Lana.

He’s contemplating hiding places for the car when true crime podcast producer Angel Davenport calls from Los Angeles with a solution to the PI’s problems. Davenport has an idea for a podcast that he believes all the major streaming platforms will want to adapt as their next big docuseries: an inquiry into rumors that, in the 1940s, a dozen babies were illegally adopted out after their unwed mothers vanished from a New Jersey midwife’s farm. Unfortunately, current events have curtailed Davenport’s ability to research the story in person, which is where Rockfish comes in.

After decamping to the Garden State, Rockfish teams up with aspiring sleuth Jawnie McGee, whose great-grandfather—a local cop—was murdered in the 1940s while looking into the alleged child trafficking operation. The duo’s investigation uncovers not only past truths, but present-day crimes perpetrated by very powerful people.

Harris makes brilliant use of the pandemic to shape not just his premise, but his characters’ every encounter. The multifaceted mystery is clever, the wry narrative is action-packed and briskly paced, and the gratifying conclusion will leave fans clamoring for a sequel.

The Temps

Katrina Niidas Holm

Andrew DeYoung’s thought-provoking new novel, The Temps begins with Jacob Elliot’s arrival at Delphi Enterprises to fill a temporary position in the corporation’s mail room. Jacob, a 25-year-old with an English degree, used to think he was destined for greatness. Now he just dreams of a steady job with benefits and an abode that isn’t his parents’ basement. Jacob doesn’t know what Delphi does, but aims to find out when his supervisor returns from an important meeting being held in the complex’s courtyard.

Only Delphi’s regular employees are invited to attend, so Jacob is watching through the window when a cloud of yellow gas settles over the crowd and transforms them into a murderous mob. Jacob retreats into the hermetically sealed building’s interior, where he finds 349 fellow temps, among them personality quiz-writer Lauren Aldiss, yoga instructor Swati Sidana, and research assistant Dominic Hill.

The phones don’t work, but before the TV networks go dark, Jacob and friends learn that the attack wasn’t an isolated event. The temps scavenge the offices and start rationing supplies in hopes of surviving until the air clears or help comes. But while some pass the time by partying, others spin wild conspiracy theories, inspiring Jacob to comb Delphi’s massive servers, searching for the answers.

Equal parts satire, mystery, and apocalyptic thriller, The Temps lulls readers with breezy prose and absurdist humor before yanking the rug out with a series of shocking twists. Vividly sketched characters and a kaleidoscopic third-person narrative add depth and warmth, resulting in an enthralling story that tempers cynicism with hope.

The Book of the Most Precious Substance

Katrina Niidas Holm

Lily Albrecht—the focus of Sara Gran’s steamy, supernatural-tinged biblio-thriller, The Book of the Most Precious Substance—was a successful debut novelist with a bright future when she met her husband, Abel. The couple shared five idyllic years before Abel began showing symptoms of early-onset dementia. Now Lily sells rare books to make ends meet while a live-in nurse tends to Abel, who is wheelchair-bound and mute.

She’s at a Manhattan book fair, enjoying a brief respite from the “dull ache” of her existence Upstate, when a colleague known as Shyman asks if she’s heard of an ancient tome with a title referencing some sort of ‘precious substance.’ He has a buyer willing to pay six figures, and will give Lily a 33% cut if she can assist in procuring the volume.

When Shyman is then found dead the next morning, Lily teams up with Lucas Markson, the handsome head of a university library’s rare books department, to ID Shyman’s deep-pocketed client, find the book, and complete the transaction.

Research reveals that The Book of the Most Precious Substance: A Treatise of the Various Fluids and Their Uses dates back to 1614, and is the most precise and effective grimoire of sex magic ever written. Competition for the three remaining copies is cutthroat, but Lily needs the money—and what’s more, she craves the diversion the duo’s quest provides.

Exquisite set pieces, evocative prose, and artfully drawn characters distinguish Gran’s latest, which is by turns gripping, erotic, and profound. Lily’s intimate first-person narration lends the tale a voyeuristic air, rendering readers complicit in every move she makes. This is an all-consuming mystery about the all-consuming nature of mysteries—one that’s certain to exhilarate Gran’s longtime fans and win her legions of new ones.

The Sinister

Katrina Niidas Holm

David Putnam’s ninth Bruno Johnson novel, The Sinister, finds the former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy and Violent Crimes Team member holed up in a Glendale, California, hotel room with his pregnant wife, Marie, nursing injuries sustained in 2021’s The Ruthless. Both are wanted by the authorities for ‘unlawfully appropriating’ 12 children from extremely dangerous living situations involving felons, drug addicts, sexual predators, and the like.

After 63 days inside their suite, the pair is finally packing up to fly back to Costa Rica, where the kids they rescued now safely reside, when Bruno’s old friend, FBI Deputy Director Dan Chulack, knocks on their door.

Three weeks ago, Dan’s young granddaughter, Emily Mosely, disappeared, along with her nanny, Lilian Morales. Dan’s family paid the $2 million ransom, but failed to recover Emily or Lilian, and the only suspect nabbed during the botched exchange won’t talk. With zero leads and no other options, Dan wants Bruno to work outside the system to locate Emily and bring her kidnappers to justice. He’ll provide whatever resources Bruno needs—even if he must burn down his own career to do so.

Marie begrudgingly consents after Bruno swears the job won’t take long, but of course, nothing goes according to plan. Putnam’s latest deftly balances violence and high-stakes drama with tender moments and dry wit.

The author’s experience in law enforcement shines through, injecting verisimilitude, while larger-than-life characters add color. Though Bruno’s thorny past factors prominently in the events of this book, Putnam does an admirable job filling in backstory where necessary, making this adrenaline-fueled thrill ride a suitable series on-ramp.

Pivoting to the Dark Side

"Over the years, darker ideas have come to me..."

In the mystery world, I’m mostly known for my series featuring a food critic living in quirky Key West, Florida. Over the years, darker ideas have come to me that did not fit that genre. I filed away snippets of characters and plots that seemed too gritty or dark for a cozy mystery, even though I recognized them as elements of a good story. For example, what if a terrified young girl handed you a newborn—and then vanished?

Starting in 2009, I began to save headlines from the news that would lead to Unsafe Haven. These were stories about young women who abandoned hours-old infants in astonishing places. One newborn was left in a restroom in the Hilton Hotel in Key West. Another headline told the story about a teenager attending a dance who went to the ladies’ room because of cramps. Not realizing that she was pregnant, she delivered her baby right there, left it in the trash, and returned to the dance. Another baby was stashed in a nativity scene outside a church. What kind of girl or woman would abandon a newborn this way? These stories haunted me—I wanted to understand how a new mother might make this seemingly impossible choice.

As I thought about writing my new character Addison’s story, I did not picture her as a young woman who didn't care about her child. I imagined her as a girl who was desperate and scared about something; so desperate that giving birth alone and pushing the new baby into a stranger’s arms felt like the best decision—the only decision—she could make in that moment. I hoped that readers would come to understand and share the agony of her choice and the fear that was driving it. Now I only needed to figure out what she was afraid of.

I had also begun thinking about a second woman, Elizabeth, whose life had hit a major turning point. She’d planned a fancy New Year’s Eve wedding to her college boyfriend, but he’d shocked her by calling it off three days before the event. Everything she thought she knew about her future was suddenly turned upside down.

In my mind, Addison, the new mother, emerges from the bathroom in a New York City subway station with her newborn. Her eyes meet those of Elizabeth, the jilted bride. Addy thrusts the baby into Elizabeth’s arms and bolts. One minute later, another train, those women’s paths would never would have crossed.

Exactly as my characters had, my writing reached a turning point. My writer brain understood that these characters and this story would not fit into the framework of a cozy culinary mystery. The challenge became whether I could tell Addison’s story in a different voice—dark, compelling, emotional, relatable—with a gritty city as the backdrop. The result is Unsafe Haven.

Unsafe Haven, Lucy Burdette, Severn House, December 2021, $28.99

Peter Swanson on Reading for the Season

Peter Swanson

As soon as September hits, every available food item is suddenly flavored like pumpkin, just as every front stoop is covered with decorative gourds. So it’s not particularly surprising that at some point I began to read seasonally as well...

At some point in my life I began to read seasonally. The reality is, that when you grow up in New England, everything you do, wear, drink, and eat is determined by the season you are in. Lately, it’s gotten even more extreme. As soon as September hits, every available food item is suddenly flavored like pumpkin, just as every front stoop is covered with decorative gourds. So it’s not particularly surprising that at some point I began to read seasonally as well, picking my next book based on the time of year.

My favorite genre is, of course, mystery novels, but within that genre I revere two particular subgenres. The first is the Golden Age of mystery novels from England, books by Agatha Christie, Edmund Crispin, Josephine Tey. Lots of country houses, nosy vicars, and sarcastic detectives. And I tend to crave this type of book as soon as the calendar flips over into October or November. They are my go-to novels throughout fall and winter, perfect cozy reads for short, cold days.

The other subgenre I love is Mid-century American crime fiction, more hardboiled stuff like John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Dorothy Hughes, Patricia Highsmith. And these are the books I love to read in summertime. In particular, my summer is not complete unless I crack open at least one John D. MacDonald novel, preferably a Travis McGee, about a boat bum in Florida with a deep leathery tan who solves crimes for friends. Perfect summer reading, especially if you’re drinking Travis’s favorite drink, Plymouth gin on the rocks.

So there you have it. Summertime is for gin and grilling and Travis McGee novels and wintertime is all about Scotch and casseroles and country house whodunits. I wouldn’t change this system, just as I would hate to live somewhere that didn’t have four distinct seasons.

I wouldn’t know what to read next.

Peter Swanson is the Sunday Times and New York Times best selling author of several novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and Nine Lives. His books have been translated into over 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine. He lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts with his wife and cat.

Compliments to Left Coast Crime

Oline H Cogdill

Among the many things we have all missed during the past two pandemic years are in-person mystery conferences.

As Joni Mitchell said, “Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.”

And we have missed those in-person mystery conferences like crazy.

I give many compliments to the organizers of these conferences who converted them to zoom events.

These online events have kept us together, promoted books, engaged readers and continued our sense of community.

Zoom conferences serve a purpose, and I think we will move forward with a kind of hybrid.

For example, Mystery Writers of America’s current online Edgar Award symposium is a brilliant way to connect with readers from across the country. (Details on the MWA site.) Full disclosure, I will be conducting the interview with Grand Master Laurie R. King, Raven honoree Lesa Holstine and Ellery Queen honoree Juliet Grames on April 26.

The Edgar Awards banquet will be in person. YAY!

How much I’ve been missing attending these in-person conferences was brought home to me—and others—last week at Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque.

I was at the infamous San Diego Left Coast Crime in 2020 that was shut down after the first day as the pandemic was taking hold.

I had been asked to moderate four panels as many people were starting to cancel.

I moderated one panel, went up to my room, and came down to be told the conference was shut down. At first, I thought they meant the opening party. Oh no, the entire conference.

While those of us there were sad, my heart went out to the organizers and volunteers who had put their hearts and soul and years of time trying to make a terrific conference.

Perhaps that is why Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque was even more special.

It seemed as if everyone was pulling for this conference.

Everyone seemed to be so happy to be at an in-person conference—a sentiment I recited about 100,000 times.

The panels were terrific and were packed. Many standing room only. It was as if each attendee was trying to wring every moment out of the conference.

So special thanks to Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich and all their wonderful volunteers.

Each novel nominated for the Leftie awards were so deserving.

2022 Lefty Awards: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel
(winner) Raquel V. Reyes, Mango, Mambo, and Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Ellen Byron, Cajun Kiss of Death (Crooked Lane Books)
Jennifer Chow, Mimi Lee Cracks the Code (Berkley Prime Crime)
Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Minotaur Books)
Cynthia Kuhn, How To Book a Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Wendall Thomas, Fogged Off (Beyond the Page Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel
(Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1970
(winner) Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division (Soho Crime)
Susanna Calkins, The Cry of the Hangman (Severn House)
John Copenhaver, The Savage Kind (Pegasus Crime)
Sujata Massey, The Bombay Prince (Soho Crime)
Catriona McPherson, The Mirror Dance (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lori Rader-Day, Death at Greenway (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel
(winner) Wanda M. Morris, All Her Little Secrets (William Morrow)
Alexandra Andrews, Who Is Maud Dixon (Little, Brown and Company)
Marco Carocari, Blackout (Level Best Books)
Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl (Atria Books)
Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo (Berkley Prime Crime)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel
(winner) William Kent Krueger, Lightning Strike (Atria Books)
Tracy Clark, Runner (Kensington Books)
S.A. Cosby, Razorblade Tears (Flatiron Press)
Matt Coyle, Last Redemption (Oceanview Publishing)
P.J. Vernon, Bath Haus (Doubleday)

Albuquerque was my first full Left Coast Crime, but it won’t be my last.

In 2023, Left Coast will be in Tucson, Arizona, March 16–19, 2023.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to Bouchercon.

2022 Edgar Award Winners Announced

Oline H. Cogdill

The Mystery Writers of America once again gathered in person to announce its winners the annual Edgar Awards on Thursday, April 29, 2022.

The 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2021. The 76th Annual Edgar® Awards were celebrated on April 28, 2022 at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.

Mystery Scene magazine congratulates all the winners and the nominees.

The 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Awards
(winners are in bold)

BEST NOVEL
Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case Crime)
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen (Amazon Publishing – Lake Union)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Macmillan Publishers – Flatiron Books)
How Lucky by Will Leitch (HarperCollins - Harper)
No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Deer Season by Erin Flanagan (University of Nebraska Press)
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian (Harlequin Trade Publishing – Park Row)
Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza (Penguin Random House – G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins (Penguin Random House – Riverhead Books)
The Damage by Caitlin Wahrer (Penguin Random House – Viking Books/Pamela Dorman Books)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks (Europa Editions – World Noir)
Kill All Your Darlings by David Bell (Penguin Random House - Berkley)
The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke (Penguin Random House - Berkley)
The Album of Dr. Moreau by Daryl Gregory (Tom Doherty Associates - Tordotcom)
Starr Sign by C.S. O’Cinneide (Dundurn Press)
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell (Penguin Random House – Penguin Books)

BEST FACT CRIME
Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (Celadon Books)
The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox (Random House Publishing Group – Random House)
Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away by Ann Hagedorn (Simon & Schuster)
Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan (Penguin Random House – Random House)
The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith (W.W. Norton & Company)
When Evil Lived in Laurel: The "White Knights" and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer by Curtis Wilkie (W.W. Norton & Company

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense by Edward White (W.W. Norton & Company)
Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper360)
The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W.W. Norton & Company)
Tony Hillerman: A Life by James McGrath Morris (University of Oklahoma Press)
The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science by John Tresch (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

BEST SHORT STORY
“The Road to Hana,” Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by R.T. Lawton (Dell Magazines)
"Blindsided," Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine by Michael Bracken & James A. Hearn (Dell Magazines)
"The Vermeer Conspiracy," Midnight Hour by V.M. Burns (Crooked Lane Books)
"Lucky Thirteen," Midnight Hour by Tracy Clark (Crooked Lane Books)
“The Locked Room Library,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Gigi Pandian (Dell Magazines)
“The Dark Oblivion,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Cornell Woolrich (Dell Magazines)

BEST JUVENILE
Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic – Scholastic Press)
Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Workman Publishing - Algonquin Young Readers)
Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn (Penguin Random House Canada - Tundra Books)
Kidnap on the California Comet: Adventures on Trains #2 by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman (Macmillan Children's Publishing - Feiwel & Friends)
Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic - Scholastic Press)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Henry Holt and Company BFYR)
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Macmillan Children’s Publishing – Feiwel & Friends)
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris (HarperCollins – Quill Tree Books)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Macmillan Children’s Books – Feiwel & Friends)
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (Penguin Young Readers – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Boots on the Ground” – Narcos: Mexico, written by Iturri Sosa (Netflix)
“Dog Day Morning” - The Brokenwood Mysteries, written by Tim Balme (Acorn TV)
“Episode 1” – The Beast Must Die, written by Gaby Chiappe (AMC+)
“We Men Are Wretched Things” – The North Water written by Andrew Haigh (AMC+)
“Happy Families” – Midsomer Murders, written by Nicholas Hicks-Beach (Acorn TV)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"Analogue,” Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Rob Osler (Dell Magazines)

SPECIAL AWARDS
(For more, see our story here.)

GRAND MASTER
Laurie R. King

RAVEN AWARD
Lesa Holstine – Lesa’s Book Critiques; Library Journal Reviewer

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Juliet Grames – Soho Crime

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
The Secret Life of Miss Mary Bennet by Katherine Cowley (Tule Publishing - Tule Mystery)
Ruby Red Herring by Tracy Gardner (Crooked Lane Books)
The Sign of Death by Callie Hutton (Crooked Lane Books)
Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney (St. Martin’s Paperbacks)

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD
Runner by Tracy Clark (Kensington Books)
Double Take by Elizabeth Breck (Crooked Lane Books)
Shadow Hill by Thomas Kies (Sourcebooks – Poisoned Pen Press)
Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey (Soho Press – Soho Crime)
Family Business by S.J. Rozan (Pegasus Books – Pegasus Crime)

2022 Malice, L.A. Times, and Lefty Winners Announced

Oline H Cogdill

This month has been the month of awards with the Edgar, Agatha, Lefties and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize announced.

Here are the honorees to date. We will up date the list as more awards are announced.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.
The winners are listed first, in bold type, with ** in front of title
THE AGATHA AWARDS
(The Agatha Award winners were announced on April 23, 2022, during the Malice Domestic conference)
Best Contemporary Novel
**Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)

Best Historical Novel
**Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)
Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
The Devil's Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)

Best First Novel
**Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
The Turncoat's Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
A Dead Man's Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books)
Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books)
Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)

Best Short Story
**"Bay of Reckoning" by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
"A Family Matter" by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021)
"A Tale of Two Sisters" by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
"Doc's at Midnight" by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books)
"The Locked Room Library" by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021)

Best Non-Fiction
**How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)
The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston's Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press)
Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best Children's/YA Mystery
**I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)
Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan)
Leisha's Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books)
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE
Mystery/Thriller category
Awarded April 22, 2022 during the L.A. Times Books Festival
(Note: This category judged by Paula L. Wood, Alex Segura and Oline H. Cogdill)
**The Turnout by Megan Abbott (Putnam)
The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
The Collective, by Alison Gaylin (Morrow)
Velvet Was the Night, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey)

THE LEFTIES
The Lefties were announced April 9 during the Left Coast Crime Conference in Albuquerque 2022 Lefty Awards: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel
(winner) Raquel V. Reyes, Mango, Mambo, and Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Ellen Byron, Cajun Kiss of Death (Crooked Lane Books)
Jennifer Chow, Mimi Lee Cracks the Code (Berkley Prime Crime)
Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Minotaur Books)
Cynthia Kuhn, How To Book a Murder (Crooked Lane Books)
Wendall Thomas, Fogged Off (Beyond the Page Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel
(Bruce Alexander Memorial) for books covering events before 1970
(winner) Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division (Soho Crime)
Susanna Calkins, The Cry of the Hangman (Severn House)
John Copenhaver, The Savage Kind (Pegasus Crime)
Sujata Massey, The Bombay Prince (Soho Crime)
Catriona McPherson, The Mirror Dance (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lori Rader-Day, Death at Greenway (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel
(winner) Wanda M. Morris, All Her Little Secrets (William Morrow)
Alexandra Andrews, Who Is Maud Dixon (Little, Brown and Company)
Marco Carocari, Blackout (Level Best Books)
Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl (Atria Books)
Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo (Berkley Prime Crime)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel
(winner) William Kent Krueger, Lightning Strike (Atria Books)
Tracy Clark, Runner (Kensington Books)
S.A. Cosby, Razorblade Tears (Flatiron Press)
Matt Coyle, Last Redemption (Oceanview Publishing)
P.J. Vernon, Bath Haus (Doubleday)

Page 265 of 276

C.J. Box

Murder by the Stars: Celebrity Mystery Authors

Fave Raves of the Year

Kellye Garrett

Leslie Meier

My Book: Pivoting to the Dark Side

Capitol Crimes: Intrigue in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches

Candice Fox

My Book: Legacy in the Blood

A Love of Mystery Crossword

Departments

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Reviews

Small Press Reviews: Covering the Independents

Very Original: Paperback Originals Reviewed

Sounds of Suspense: Audiobooks Reviewed

What About Murder? Reference Books Reviewed

Short and Sweet: Short Stories Considered

Mystery Scene Reviews

Miscellaneous

"Over the years, darker ideas have come to me..."

As soon as September hits, every available food item is suddenly flavored like pumpkin, just as every front stoop is covered with decorative gourds. So it’s not particularly surprising that at some point I began to read seasonally as well...

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