2024 Lefty Award Winners

 

Left Coast Crime 2024 presented the four Lefty Awards at the 34th annual convention in Bellevue, Washington: Humorous, Historical, Debut, and Best. The awards were voted on at the convention and presented at the banquet on Saturday, 13^th April at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. 

The Lefty nominees have been selected by convention registrants, and LCC is delighted to announce the 2024 Lefty Award winners for books published in 2023:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel: 

Cheap Trills by Wendall Thomas (‎Beyond the Page Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel for books set before 1970 (Bill Gottfried Memorial):

Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel:

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel:  

Hide by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer)

The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests. Lefty Awards have been given since 1996. 

Left Coast Crime "Lefty Award 2024" Award Nominations

 

Left Coast Crime 2024 will be presenting four Lefty Awards at our 34th annual convention, to be held this April in Bellevue, Washington: Humorous, Historical, Debut, and Best. The awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, April 13, at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. 

The Lefty nominees have been selected by convention registrants, and LCC is delighted to announce the 2024 Lefty Award nominees for books published in 2023:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel. The nominees are:

Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley Prime Crime)

The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg (Level Best Books)

A Sense for Murder by Leslie Karst (Severn House)

Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson  (Severn House)

Dying for a Decoration by Cindy Sample (Cindy Sample Books)

Cheap Trills by Wendall Thomas (‎Beyond the Page Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel for books set before 1970 (The Bill Gottfried Memorial). The nominees are:

Night Flight to Paris by Cara Black (Soho Crime)

The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos (Minotaur Books)

Death Among the Ruins by Susanna Calkins (Severn House)

A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)

Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head (Dutton)

Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel. The nominees are:

Play the Fool by Lina Chern (Bantam)

Scorched Grace  by Margot Douaihy (Gillian Flynn Books)

Dutch Threat by Josh Pachter (Genius Book Publishing)

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes  (Dutton)

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories). The nominees are:

Hide by Tracy Clark, (Thomas & Mercer)

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Odyssey’s End by Matt Coyle (Oceanview Publishing)

Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper (Mulholland Books)

Face of Greed by James L’Etoile (Oceanview Publishing)

The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian (Minotaur Books)

The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests. Lefty Awards have been given since 1996.

In 2020, Left Coast Crime received the Raven Award from Mystery Writers of America, for “outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing.”

The 34th annual Left Coast Crime Convention will take place in Bellevue, Washington, April 11-14, 2024. This year’s Guests of Honor are authors Megan Abbott and Robert Dugoni. Fran Fuller is the Fan Guest of Honor, and author Wanda Morris will serve as Toastmaster.

2022 Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award Winners Announced

 

Left Coast Crime have presented the Lefty Awards at the 32nd annual convention. 

The awards were voted on at the convention and presented at the banquet. LCC is delighted to announce the 2022 Lefty winners for books published in 2021:

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel.

Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)

Bill Gottfried Memorial Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel for books set before 1970.

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara, (Soho Crime)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel.

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories).

Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books)

Congratulations to all the winners and the nominated authors.

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The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. Usually held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests. Lefty Awards have been given since 1996.

Left Coast Crime is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation holding annual mystery conventions in the West. Each LCC convention raises money to support a local literary organization and is staffed entirely by volunteers.

2016 Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards winners

Left Coast Crime 2016, “The Great Cactus Caper,” awarded four Lefty awards on Saturday 27 February 2016 at the 26th annual LCC convention, held this year in Phoenix. The full list of nominations can be found here.

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel (given since 1996)

Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)

Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bruce Alexander Memorial, first given in 2004) for books covering events before 1960.

Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

Lefty for Best LCC Regional Mystery Novel set in the LCC Geographic Region (Mountain Time Zone and all time zones westward to Hawaii)

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)

Lefty for Best World Mystery Novel (set outside LCC Geographic Region)

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by fans of mystery literature for fans of mystery literature, including both readers and authors. Usually held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to provide an event where mystery fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests.