Reporting on Books

On our US trips to Bouchercon and Thrillerfest, it is always a pleasure to hook up with Carol Fitzgerald of Book Reporter, as her weekly newsletter is full of information and insights on what’s hot. Carol has a leaning towards crime and thrillers, as well as other genres, though her Thriller Guru is the writer Joe Hartlaub, a man well versed in the thriller genre. I first met Carol and Joe at the inaugural ITW Thrillerfest in Phoenix 2006, where we were involved in the Jack Reacher ‘trial’.

Carol has some new features that she has put online for readers, the first new site is TheBookReportNetwork.com launched on February 29th 2012 with a goal to reach college students and twenty-somethings with a site all their own.

“20 Over 30,” their newest feature on 20SomethingReads.com features 20 mystery authors over the age of 30 suggesting books for twenty-somethings. Quite a lineup of talent participating in this feature, which is something we look forward to making an annual Edgars Week tradition (it went live last week)
http://www.20somethingreads.com/features/20-over-30-mystery-writers

Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com’s Mystery/Thriller guru created a Mystery Bookshelf for 20SomethingReads.coms with 20 titles published over the last two years that he thinks would be of interest to twenty-somethings. You can see his selections here:
http://www.20somethingreads.com/bookshelves/mysteries/a-mystery-lovers-bookshelf

If you are not part of the Book Reporter Network, then click here and keep informed by signing up for her weekly newsletter, out each Saturday Morning!

Criminal Splattering's

Norwegian crime fiction authors Gunnar Staalesen (The Writing on the Wall) and Thomas Enger (Burned) are due to attend CrimeFest this year.  However, if you can’t wait until then they will be appearing at a Nordic Noir book club event on 23 May where they will be talking about and exploring the history of and recent trends in Norwegian crime fiction.  More information can be found on the Nordic Noir book club website.

The Agatha Awards were given out at Malice Domestic on Saturday 28 April 2012.  The winners are as follows –

Best Novel: 
Three Day Town by Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)

Best First Novel: 
Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry (Crown)

Best Non-fiction: 
Books, Crooks And Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure by Leslie Budewitz (Linden)

Best Short Story: 
Disarming by Dana Cameron, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine – June 2011

Best Children’s/Young Adult: 
The Black Heart Crypt by Chris Grabenstein (Random House)

Best Historical Novel: 
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)

Congratulations to all the winners.  A full list of all the nominees can be found here.

With The Killing and Borgen winning such a wide fan base, there are a number of articles floating around cyber space about the phenomenon. The BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby visited the sets of both productions to try to unearth the secrets to their success.  Read her report here.  From the Independent.

Very funny and silly but well worth the read.  Forbes have posted their annual 15 fictional millionaires.  Their list of the fiction’s richest.  On the list is C Montgomery Burns the most hated man in Springfield.  Forbes managed to snag an interview with him.  Also on the list are Lisbeth Salander, Tony Stark and Wayne Bruce amongst others.

According to the Guardian and The Hollywood Reporter the estate of cult science-fiction writer Philip K Dick is to revive a legal battle for profits from the futuristic Matt Damon thriller The Adjustment Bureau.  The representatives first filed a lawsuit against director George Nolfi and production company Media Rights Capital in October 2011, claiming its targets refused to pay millions of dollars in royalties.  It was thrown out two months ago.  The Adjustment Bureau is loosely based on Dick's 1953 short story Adjustment Team, in which everyday existence is revealed to be a product of mysterious unseen manipulators.  The full complaint can be read here.

Shotsblog has blogged about the forthcoming prequel to The Godfather, The Family Corleone and the law suits that have surrounded it on more than one occasion.  They can be read here and here.  Now according to Entertainment Weekly now a trailer for the forthcoming book can be seen below.

The Book Bond have previewed a number of the vintage classic James Bond book covers that are due to be published in September 2012.  Personally I am in two minds about them.  Some of them are okay but hmm, I think they could have been better.

The BAFTA 2012 Television Award nominees have been announced.  The full list can be found here.  Once again Benedict Cumberbatch has been nominated for Best Actor in his role as Sherlock.  His co-star and last year’s BAFTA award winner for Best Supporting Actor Martin Freeman has once again been nominated, but this year he will be up against his Sherlock co-star Andrew Scott who plays Moriarty.  The Drama Series category sees previous winners Misfits and Spooks up against each other, alongside ITV1’s Scott and Bailey.  Borgen and The Killing II are up against each other for the International Award.  The award ceremony will take place on 27 May 2012.

Gary Phillips has always been one of my favourite crime writers from the first time I picked-up Violent Springs and read his first published novel featuring PI Ivan Monk to our subsequent and very infrequent meetings.  The last time we met was at St Louis in 2011.  He remains and has always been one of the nicest people to talk to.  I found it most interesting to read his blog post on the MysteriousPress.com blog about what led him to write Violent Springs.  It was also pleasing to note that the Ivan Monk series can now be read as e-books.  If you have not read them yet then please do.  His ability to weave into his stories the social dynamics of everyday life and situations is one of the best things about the series.  I for one would love him to write another Ivan Monk book.

The long list for the Desmond Elliott Prize for new writers has been announced and the full list can be found here.  Congratulations go to all the nominees but specifically to SJ Watson who has made the long list with his novel Before I Go to Sleep.  Not only that but Before I go to Sleep has also been voted TV Book Club viewers best read of the series.  Elizabeth Haynes's Into the Darkest Corner took second place.

CrimeFest is less than a month away and the Shots gang will be there in full force as usual.  As in previous years see here, here and here for some insights to my previous attendance at CrimeFest. I shall once again be blogging and hopefully this year tweeting as well using the hastag #CrimeFest2012.

According to The Bookseller Hodder and Stoughton have acquired the Roman Britain debut novel The Lion and The Lamb, by Durham academic Dr John Henry Clay.  Set in Britain in AD 366, depicts the struggles of a young soldier with a mysterious past, drawn into a conspiracy that threatens all he holds dear as the enemies of Rome rebel during the Great Barbarian Conspiracy.

2012 Edgar Award Winners

TheMystery Writers of America have announced the winners of the 2012 EDGAR© Awards. The full list of the nominees can be found here.

Best Novel
Gone by Mo Hayder (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best First Novel By An American Author
Bent Road by Lori Roy (Dutton)

Best Paperback Original
The Company Man by Robert JacksonBennett (Orbit Books)

Best Fact Crime
Destiny Of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard (Doubleday)

Best Critical/Biographical
On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda (Princeton University Press)

Best Short Story
The Man Who Took His Hat Off to The Driver of Train by Peter Turnbull for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Best Juvenile
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)

Best Young Adult
The Silence of Murder by Dandi DaleyMackall (Knopf BFYR)

Best Play
The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig (Cleveland Playhouse, Cleveland, OH)

Best Television Episode Teleplay
Homeland pilot by Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff (Showtime)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD (Best first short story)
A Good Man Of Business by David Ingram for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

GRAND MASTER
Martha Grimes

RAVEN AWARDS
M is for Mystery Bookstore, San Mateo, CA

Molly Weston, Meritorious Mysteries

ELLERY QUEEN AWARD
Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post/Hearst Media News Group

Congratulations to all the winners!

CRIMEFEST AWARDS SHORTLISTS 2012

We’re all getting excited for the upcoming Crimefest Event. This year’s CrimeFest will be taking place in Bristol from 24th-27th May. A host of top names from the crime world, including Lee Child, Sue Grafton, P.D. James, Jeffrey Deaver and Roslund & Hellström, are lined up to help CrimeFest celebrate its fifth year as one of the most popular events in the crime fiction calendar.

CrimeFest 2012 will be host to several special events, including a launch event in association with Pan Macmillan for the novelisation of the Scandinavian TV drama ‘The Killing’, and the CWA Shortlist Reception - announcing the shortlist for their prestigious Dagger awards, as well as a full programme of author talks and panels.

Crime’s biggest hitters Lee Child, George Pelecanos and Anthony Horowitz are pitted against newcomers including S.J. Watson and Thomas Enger in CrimeFest’s fifth annual awards ceremony

CrimeFest is thrilled to announce the shortlists for the 2012 CrimeFest Awards. Now in their fifth year, the awards shortlists are stronger than ever, as high profile names battle for acclaim in the following categories:

The Audible Sounds of Crime Awards are for the best abridged and unabridged crime audiobooks in both printed and audio formats, with shortlists and winning titles selected by Audible UK listeners.

Nominees for Best Abridged Crime Audiobook:

Lee Child / The Affair read by Kerry Shale [Random House Audiobooks]

James Henry / First Frost read by David Jason [Random House Audiobooks]

Simon Kernick / The Payback read by Daniel Weyman [Random House Audiobooks]

Donna Leon / Drawing Conclusions read by Andrew Sachs [Random House Audiobooks]

Alexander McCall Smith / The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party  [Hachette Digital read by Adjoa Andoh]

  

Nominees for Best Unabridged Crime Audiobook:

Ben Aaronovitch / Rivers of London read by Kobna [Orion Audio / Holdbrook-Smith]          

Michael Connelly / The Fifth Witness read by Peter Giles [Orion Audio]

David Hewson / The Fallen Angel read by Saul Reichlin [Whole Story Audio Books]

Anthony Horowitz / The House of Silk read by Derek Jacobi  [Orion Audio]

S. J. Watson / Before I Go To Sleep read by Susannah Harker [Random House Audio with AudioGO]

The Goldsboro Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel, with shortlist and winning title selected by a team of British crime fiction reviewers. The shortlist is:

Declan Burke / Absolute Zero Cool [Liberties Press]

Colin Cotterill / Killed at the Whim of a Hat [Quercus Publishing]

Chris Ewan / The Good Thief's Guide to Venice [Simon & Schuster]

Christopher Fowler / Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood [Doubleday]

Carl Hiaasen / Star Island [Sphere]

Doug Johnstone / Smokeheads [Faber and Faber]

Elmore Leonard / Djibouti [Weidenfeld & Nicolson]

L.C. Tyler / Herring on the Nile [Macmillan]

The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction ebook first published in both hardcopy and in electronic format, with the shortlist and winning title selected by a team of British crime fiction reviewers. The nominees are:

Linwood Barclay / The Accident [Orion]

Thomas Enger  / Burned [Faber and Faber]

Dennis Lehane / Moonlight Mile [Little, Brown Book Group]

Adrian Magson / Death on the Rive Nord [Allison & Busby]

Denise Mina / The End of the Wasp Season [Orion]

Steve Mosby / Black Flowers [Orion]

George Pelecanos / The Cut  [Orion]

With both major and independent publishers represented, and the mix of national and international, new and established authors, the shortlists very much reflect the spirit of CrimeFest.

Co-organiser and co-founder of CrimeFest, Adrian Muller, said: “The shortlists are the best we have ever had, and they fit in perfectly with the killer line-up of Featured Guest Authors and our extensive programme of events to help us celebrate CrimeFest’s fifth anniversary”.

The winners of each award are to be announced at CrimeFest’s annual Gala Dinner on Saturday 26th May.

To book you place go to > www.crimefest.com as we hope to see you in the bar!

Photo Top © 2009 Ali Karim of The Shots Team with one of Crimefest 2009 Guests of Honour Michael Connelly.

In the Vaults of The Dragon Tattoo

As the Shots team enjoyed viewing David Fincher’s version of Stieg Larsson’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, we were delighted to be invited to the UK press launch of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on Blu-ray and DVD. The launch was hosted at new London Film Museum, Covent Garden, where an exclusive exhibition of iconic film and book memorabilia from the David Fincher film was on display. It was apt that the display was in the Exhibition Vaults, suitably creepy considering the dark Imagery of the source material. The exhibition includes a tattoo booth where the Shots team got themselves emblazoned with the iconic tattoos as fashioned by Rooney Mara [aka Lisabeth Salander]. The other displays included film props, such as the torture devices, the wall flower frames that emblazoned Henrik Vanger’s wall, photo still, audio visual displays and much more, all in the creepy vaults of The London Film Museum. The exhibition is well worth a visit but a warning – it is strictly over 18’s only.

The London Film Museum’s brand new exhibition space follows a multi-million pound refurbishment of the original Flower Cellars in the heart of Covent Garden.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – the gripping, hard-edged thriller based on the first of Stieg Larsson’s suspenseful and spell-binding “Millennium” trilogy – arrives on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital Download on April 23. This highly anticipated motion picture from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings together an all-star ensemble cast led by Daniel Craig (James Bond franchise), Rooney Mara (The Social Network),and Stellan Skarsgård (Thor).

More Information available here -

The Vaults at The London Film Museum, Covent Garden

45 Wellington Street

London, WC2E 7BN

Phone: 020 3617 3010

http://www.londonfilmmuseum.com

If you wish to attend the exhibition, note that the entrance to the Vaults is off Covent Garden Piazza next to the London Transport Museum, and well worth a visit, but note it is restricted for Adults Only.

Photo Top © A Karim 2012 of Barry Forshaw, Mike Stotter, Nicci Praça of Quercus Publishing and Ayo Onatade and some of the exhibition pieces including artwork for the upcoming crime-writer Denise Mina’s graphic novel adaptation of the Stieg Larsson trilogy.

News about Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

Harrogate celebrates the 10^th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival

 2012 programme announced: Jo Nesbo, Harlan Coben, John Connolly, Kate Mosse, Peter Robinson, Peter James and Ian Rankin to headline

19-22 July 2012 at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate

This year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival celebrates its tenth year. To mark the occasion, the cream of international crime fiction will once again gather in Harrogate to raise a glass of Theakstons’ finest to the biggest festival in the country championing crime writing, the most popular literary genre in the UK today. 

Headlining the festival this summer are heavyweights Jo Nesbo, Harlan Coben, John Connolly, Kate Mosse, Peter Robinson, Peter James and Ian Rankin. Each year the festival is chaired by a different high-profile crime writer, and this year popular British author Mark Billingham, creator of D.I. Tom Thorne, takes the helm.

Billingham said: “In just ten years, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate has become the biggest and best of its kind in the world and it’s an honour to be chairing the Programming Committee once again. I’m confident that we’ve handpicked a programme this year that will rival anything seen at the festival before. Big names? Of course. But this festival has always been about introducing crime fiction lovers to the very best of the newer talent on offer too, and we’ve got plenty from all over the world. Whether you like your crime fiction cosy as crumpets or dark as a bloodstain in the shadows, at this year’s festival there will be something for everyone!

Other highlights include a dedicated look at award-winning BBC TV series Luther (including insights into the new series) with author/screenwriter Neil Cross, journalist Miranda Sawyer and cast and crew; Swedish superstar Camilla Lackberg discussing the art of translation; Creative Thursday – a master class in writing crime fiction; Dragons’ Pen, where punters get a chance to pitch their would-be bestsellers to a panel of professionals; and Val McDermid revealing the most exciting emerging crime authors in her New Blood panel.

With four days packed with events, and over 80 authors in attendance, the festival will also serve up its usual helping of heated debate including: whether we are currently in a golden age of crime fiction; an author’s moral responsibility when writing in the genre; why women are the biggest consumers of crime fiction; plus former intelligence agents, investigative journalists and criminal prosecutors discuss putting top secrets into print.

The annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year will also be announced on the opening night of the festival, Thursday 19 July.

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston, said: “I am hugely proud of our association with Harrogate’s world-class crime fiction festival. This year’s line-up is a fantastic mix of household names and brand new talent and, for this tenth festival, we look forward to giving both writers and ticket-holders a warm welcome and catching up on all the latest crime writing gossip over a pint of Old Peculier ale!”

The annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival started in 2003 and is held at The Old Swan Hotel in the beautiful spa town of Harrogate. Ranked one of the top three literary festivals in the UK by The Guardian, featuring in The Independent’s ‘The 50 Best Festivals’, and with fans including broadcaster Mark Lawson, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is a must for both dedicated crime fiction fans and newcomers to the genre. 

Many of the authors are available for interview both beforehand and throughout the festival. For press passes, interview bookings, or further information contact Liz Hyder on 07939 372 865/ liz@riotcommunications.com or Preena Gadher on 07833 431 119 / preena@riotcommunications.com

About the festival

The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is the UK’s biggest and longest running event dedicated to the celebration of crime fiction. Taking place annually over four days each July, the Festival programmes over 80 of the best UK and international crime authors across over 20 events. It is promoted by the north of England’s leading arts festival organisation, Harrogate International Festivals.

About Theakstons

Title sponsor of the Festival since 2005, Theakstons Old Peculier ale is produced by T & R Theakston Ltd. It is one of the country’s most famous and highly regarded traditional ale brewers. Theakstons was established in Masham, North Yorkshire in 1827 by Robert Theakston. After a brief period in the 1980s when the company was acquired by Scottish & Newcastle plc, the company has been back under family ownership since autumn 2003.  It now operates as an independent brewer producing five permanent brands in the Theakstons range including the iconic Old Peculier – its best-known beer with a rich, dark flavour, celebrated by ale enthusiasts all over Britain and around the world.

Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year

2012 will see the announcement of the eighth Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. A major accolade in the crime writing field, the prestigious prize is voted for by members of the public. Previous winners of the £3,000 prize and handmade engraved beer barrel are Mark Billingham (who scooped the award twice in both 2005 and 2009), Lee Child (2011), RJ Ellory (2010), Val McDermid (2006) and debut authors Alan Guthrie (2007) and Stef Penney (2008). The winner will be announced by broadcaster and festival regular Mark Lawson on the opening night of the festival.

·      Longlist announcement: week beginning 14^th May

·      Shortlist announcement week beginning 2^nd July

·      Winner announced 19^th July

Festival tickets

Festival tickets will go on sale on 26^th April. For booking information contact the box office on: +44 (0) 1423 502 116. Weekend Break packages are available to book now. Packages include a pass to all Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival events* with three nights bed and English breakfast accommodation at either the Festival venue, or at other high quality Festival Hotels close by, (*excludes Creative Thursday and the Come Die With Me Dinner on the Saturday evening of the Festival). 

Weekend packages for the 2012 Festival start from as little as £349 per person based on twin or double accommodation) or from £399 per person for single accommodation. For booking and information call the Festival Office on: +44 (0) 1423 562303.

The Old Swan Hotel 

The Old Swan in Harrogate is a fitting venue for the festival as it is where legendary crime novelist Agatha Christie was eventually discovered after her mysterious disappearance in 1926. It is the newest member of Classic Lodges Hotel Group which features nine hotels in fabulous locations from the Scottish Borders to the Sussex Downs, the Cotswolds to the Yorkshire Dales. Each hotel has a fascinating history and shares the Classic Lodges' signature warm welcome, and the very highest standards of comfort and hospitality. All well located, Classic Lodge Hotels are idea for leisure breaks, conferences and weddings.

www.classiclodges.co.uk

News on the Jack Reacher film

According to Screenrant.com, the long awaited One Shot film, which is based on the Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, may be retitled. At present, the film is going by the title Reacher. Ever since it was announced that Tom Cruise was to play the role of the enigmatic character Reacher it has been a source of consternation amongst loyal fans of the books. This is due mainly to the fact that they do not see Cruise as Reacher and do not feel that he will do the character justice. Read the full article here



Cinemablend’s contributor Eric Eisenberg who recently attended CinemaCon has more background on the film and the footage that he saw. This can be read here.

Staring alongside Cruise will be Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall and film maker Werner Herzog who is best known for being behind the camera instead of in front of it. Herzog will play Cruise’s nemesis

Lee Child has spoken about the long and tortuous root that it has taken One Shot to be made into a film. The article done for the Wall Street Journal can be found on the Shotsblog. Tom cruise has also spoken about the controversy surrounding him playing Reacher.

The film is due to be released on 21 December 2012 in the US and in February in the UK

Circles of Shadows and the Holy Roman Empire

Today’s guest blog is by Imogen Robertson who talks about the background to her latest novel Circle of Shadows.  Imogen Robertson is the author of the Westerman and Crowther series.  Island of Bones the fifth book in the series was shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award in 2011.  She has also been long-listed for the 2012 Dagger in the Library for her body of work.  Circle of Shadows is the sixth book in the series

Every novel comes about through a mix of accident and design.  Circle of Shadows was born out of a very selfish desire to find out more about the Holy Roman Empire in the 18th century, a book on an alchemist who set up his own version of Freemasonry, a silver swan and a carnival mask. 

I read German at university, and while I loved the literature it was not until I picked up a short biography of Goethe recently that I realised how little I knew about the context in which his work was written.  This was also about the time that Simon Winder’s wonderful Germania came out and his colourful accounts of some of the eccentricities of the small Courts of the 18th century sharpened my appetite even more.  When the time came to start thinking of the next Westerman and Crowther mystery I knew where I wanted to set it.  The states of the Empire that make up modern Germany were packed with the sort of colours and contrasts that make research of the period such a pleasure.  I sucked in stories of cabinets of curiosity, the subtleties of social hierarchy, the forward looking rulers who aimed to be philosopher kings and those whose energy and wealth were spent purely in the pursuit of pleasure.  The accounts of British travellers of the period are wonderful - fascinated, bemused impressed and uncomprehending in turn.  What, I thought, would Harriet and Crowther make of this?  

I cannot remember how I came across Iain McCalman’s book The Seven Trials of Cagliostro, but I’m very glad that I did.  This shaman or charlatan, depending on your perspective.  He had a colourful and varied career that took him across Europe, healing the sick, growing diamonds for the Cardinal de Rohan and setting up his own version of Freemasonry on the way.  Through him I found myself tumbling into the history of Freemasonry and its many offshoots which spread across Europe in the 1700s; some mystical, some philanthropic and some political.  He also sent me off looking for the philosopher’s stone.  Most people know that Newton was a dedicated alchemist, but I admit I was surprised to discover to what degree alchemy as a practical and spiritual practice was still being pursued long after his death. 

The silver swan automaton in Bowes has been entertaining visitors to that gorgeous museum for generations.  I remember it vividly from when I was a child, and I filmed it in my previous incarnation as a children’s TV director.  I knew I wanted to have someone in the Court who was an outsider like Harriet and Crowther.  A skilled craftsman, a foreigner who shared some common ground with them would be ideal, and so Adnan and Sami brothers who design and build automata were born. 

Then finally the carnival mask.  My partner and I headed off to Germany and spent a couple of weeks travelling in and around what is now Baden-Württemberg in the South West of the country.  We fell in love with the region.  The history of this part of Germany is complex and runs deep.  We saw the plain crowns of 11th century Kings, Roman bath houses and basilicas and the great baroque palaces built in imitation of Versailles.  We also went walking in the Black Forest and found, in a beautiful town called Gengenbach, the Museum of Fools.  It celebrates the customs of carnival where people dress in the masks of witches and party through the night to prepare for the arrival of Lent.  The masks worn in this and similar festivals across the area fascinated me and I thought of a man, drugged and confused, in the midst of those celebrations believing he was surrounded by monsters, then waking under guard accused of murder and with no memory of his innocence or guilt.  I had my opening scene.  So, accident and design.  It’s like a good stew; you gather up the ingredients and simmer.

For more information about Imogen Robertson and her work see her blog and her website.

Criminal splatterings

Congratulations go to Stephen King who was awarded the mystery/thriller award on Friday 20 April 2012 by Gar Anthony Haywood at the 32^nd Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for his novel 11/22/1963 (Scribner)

The Crime Writers of Canada have announced the 2012 shortlist for the Arthur Ellis Award.  Winners will be announced on May 31, 2012, at the Arthur Ellis Awards Banquet.  This year marks the 30th Anniversary of Crime Writers of Canada.

Best Crime Novel

A Trick of the Light (St. Martin’s Press) by Louise Penny

Before the Poison (McClelland and Stewart) by Peter Robinson

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Doubleday Canada) by Alan Bradley

I'll See you in My Dreams (McClelland and Stewart) by William Deverell

The Guilty Plea (Simon & Schuster) by Robert Rotenberg

 

Best First Novel

The Man Who Killed (Douglas & McIntrye) by Fraser Nixon

The Survivor (Simon & Schuster) by Sean Slater

The Water Rat of Wanchai (Anansi) by Ian Hamilton

Tight Corner (BPS Books) by Roger White

Watching Jeopardy (XLibris) by Norm Foster

Best Crime Book in French

La chorale du diable (Les Editions Guélette) by Martin Michaud

Pwazon (Editors Triptyque) by Diane Vincent

Pour Ne Pas Mourir ce soir (Lévesque Éditeur) by Guillaume Lapierre-Desnoyers

Best Juvenile or Young Adult Crime Book

Blink & Caution (Candlewick Press) by Tim Wynne-Jones

Charlie's Key (Orca Book Publishers) by Rob Mills

Empire of Ruins (HarperCollins) by Arthur Slade

Held (Annick) by Edeet Ravel

Missing (Orca Book Publishers) by Becky Citra

Best Crime Nonfiction

A Season in Hell (Harper Collins) by Robert Fowler

Hot Art: Chasing Thieves and Detectives Through the Secret World of Stolen Art (Douglas & McIntyre) by Joshua Knelman

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Pottersfield) by Steven Laffoley

The Pirates of Somalia (Harper Collins) by Jay Bahader

The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob (Wiley) by Adrian Humphreys

Best Crime Short Story

A New Pair of Pants (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine) by Jas. R. Petrin

Beer Money (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) by Shane Nelson

The Girl with the Golden Hair (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine) by Scott Mackay

The Perfect Mark (Flash Fiction Magazine) by Melodie Campbell

What Kelly Did (North Word Magazine) by Catherine Astolfo

Best Unpublished First Novel - “Unhanged Arthur”

 Gunning for Bear by Madeleine Harris-Callway

Last of the Independents by Sam Wiebe

Snake in the Snow by William Bonnell

The Rhymester by Valerie A. Drego

Too Far to Fall by Shane Sawyer

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Laura Wilson in the Guardian reviews crime fiction novels from CWA Gold Dagger winner William Broderick, debut author Mari Hannah, Julia Crouch’s follow up novel Every Vow You Break from her follow-up well received debut novel Cuckoo and a classic vintage reissue.

Want to know who is Mark Billingham’s favourite author or what fictional character he resembles the most?  If so and you want to find the answer to those burning questions and more then have a read of One minute with Mark Billingham in the Independent to find out

Interesting and brilliant review of Håkan Nesser’s latest book Hour of the Wolf by Barry Forshaw in the Independent.