Newsy Stuff

Huge congratulations to Sue Grafton who has received the Lifetime achievement award at Malice Domestic and Janet Rudolph who has been awarded the Poirot Award.

The nominations for the 2011 Dilys Awards have been announced by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. The Dilys Award has been given annually since 1992 by IMBA to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling. The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, the founder of the first specialty bookseller of mystery books in the United States.

The winner will be announced during this year's Left Coast Crime.

The nominations are:-

Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill (Soho Press)
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur Books)
Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)
Once a Spy by Keith Thomson (Doubleday)
Savages by Don Winslow (Simon & Schuster)

The Public Lending Right (PLR) have released the list of the most borrowed authors between July 2009 and June 2010. Children’s authors dominate the top 10 and only three adult authors are amongst them. All the adult authors are American. However, what does come across is that the UK adult borrowing public read a lot of gritty crime and thrillers with all of the top 10 most borrowed books coming from this genre. Unsurprisingly US authors dominate with Lee Child and Ian Rankin the only two British authors in the top 10. The UK’s most borrowed book was Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.

Other crime writers in the top 400 include MC Beaton at 13, Clive Cussler and Alexander McCall Smith at 15 and 16 respectively, Ian Rankin at 18, Michael Connelly at 22, Tess Gerritsen at 26. Positions 32 to 34 are Patricia Cornwell, Agatha Christie and Jeffrey Deaver. 37 and 38 are Harlan Coben and John Grisham. 46,47 and 49 are Jonathan Kellerman, David Baldacci and JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts). Ruth Rendell is at 51, whilst Martina Cole comes in at 53. Positions 56-60 belong to Val McDermid, Dick Francis Quintin Jardine, Peter Robinson and Reginald Hill respectively. Henning Mankell, Karin Slaughter and Chris Ryan are at 69 to 71. Other authors on the list include Robber Goddard, Mark Billingham, Kathy Reichs, Karen Rose, Anne Perry, Robert B Parker, Peter James, Janet Evanovich, John Connolly, Nicci French, PC Doherty, PD James, Simon Kernick, John Harvey, Donna Leon, Linda fairstein, Sue Grafton, Stieg Larsson, Michael Jecks, Linwood Barclay, James Lee Burke, R J Ellroy, Robert Crais, Lindsey Davis and Mo Hayder to name a few.

The Stieg Larsson saga is one that will continue to go on for quite sometime. An article in the New Yorker wonders why people love the Stieg Larsson novels

Another article on Stieg Larsson can be found in the Canadian magazine The Walrus. Paul Wilson writes about how he found Stieg Larsson’s Inner sanctum.

Slate also have an article by Sasha Watson where she discusses the forthcoming memoirs of Steig Larsson’s long-time partner Eva Gabrielsson. The memoir entitled (in English) There Are Things I Want You to Know" about Stieg Larsson and Me has recently been published in France and Sweden. The English language version is due to be published in June by Seven Stories Press.

According to an article in the Guardian 15 unpublished short stories by Dashiell Hammett have been found and one of them is due to be published in The Strand Magazine. A boon to fans of Dashiell Hammett and it is hoped that one day all the stories will be published as a collection.

If you have not yet stopped over at the Mullholland Books website and started reading Black Lens the short story collaboration between Ken Bruen and Russell Ackerman, then you must do so at once! Excellent story which is well worth making the time and effort to read.

Channel 4 and More4’s The TV Book Club will be featuring exclusive interview between Val McDermid and Forensic Anthropologist Professor Sue Black. The interview can be seen this Sunday 20th February at 7.30pm on More4 and on Monday 21st February at 12.30pm on Channel 4.

Films, films and more films!

According to Australian Broadcasting News Peter Temple’s award winning crime novel Truth is coming to the big screen. The full article can be found here. In 2010 Peter Temple won the Miles Franklin Award for Truth. It was the first work of genre fiction to ever win the prestigious prize.

It seems that Poe is all the rage at the moment! According to Inside TV ABC has ordered a crime drama pilot where Edger Allen Poe solves mysteries.

According to The Wrap Louis Bayard’s Edgar Alan Poe novel The Pale Blue Eye is also due to be adapted into a film. Crazy Hearts director Scott Cooper is to direct the film. In The Pale Blue Eye a young Poe acts as a detective at West Point.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Dreamworks have acquired an original screen play script Voices from the Dead featuring Arthur Conan Doyle and Houdini from Michael J Straczynski. It is a fictional account of the two where they team up with a psychic to solve a set of murders in 1920's New York.

The Hollywood Reporter is also reporting that director Lasse Hallstrom is to direct his first ever thriller. It is to be the adaptation of Lars Kepler’s best selling crime novel The Hypnotist. The Hypnotist is the first of a planned series of eight novels, two of which have been published, following the fraught-filled murder investigations of Stockholm detective Joona Linna.

It looks as if 2011 is Michael Connelly year!

Watch an excellent but brief interview with Michael Connelly discussing some aspects of writing the book, and the film adaptation, in a brief but interesting YouTube piece below

Here in the UK on St Patrick’s Day the film tie in mass paperback for The Lincoln Lawyer will be released to coincide with the film which is released on 18 March. Barely a month later on 14 April the latest Micky Haller series The Fifth Witness will be released. Early in July the mass paperback version of The Reversal will be released. This will be followed 3 months later with The Drop!

According to Collider.com Josh Bazell’s award winning novel Beat the Reaper is due to be directed by D J Caruso for 20^th Century Fox. In Beat the Reaper a former mobster turned doctor has his word turned upside down when his past comes back to haunt him.

Agatha Award Nominations!

The Agatha Award nominees have been announced! The awards will be given out at Malice Domestic 23, which will be held April 29-May 1, 2011 at the Hyatt, Bethesda, MD. The Agatha Awards honor the "traditional mystery." That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others

Best Novel:

Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)

Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)

Drive Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Mira)

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber (St. Martin's Paperbacks)

Best First Novel:

The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames (Berkley)
Murder at the PTA by Laura Alden (Signet)

Maid of Murder by Amanda Flower (Five Star/Gale)

Full Mortality by Sasscer Hill (Wildside Press)

Diamonds for the Dead by Alan Orloff (Midnight Ink)

Best Non-fiction:

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum (Penguin)

Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran (Harper)

Sherlock Holmes for Dummies by Stephen Doyle & David A. Crowder (For Dummies)

Have Faith in Your Kitchen by Katherine Hall Page (Orchises Press)

Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang (W.W. Norton & Co.)

Best Short Story:

"Swing Shift" by Dana Cameron, Crimes by Moonlight (Berkley)

"Size Matters" by Sheila Connolly, Thin Ice (Level Best Books)
"Volunteer of the Year" by Barb Goffman, Chesapeake Crimes: They Had it Comin' (Wildside Press)

"So Much in Common" by Mary Jane Maffini, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - Sept./Oct. 2010

"The Green Cross" by Liz Zelvin, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - August 2010

Best Children's/Young Adult:
Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (Dutton Children's)

Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus by R. L. LaFevers (Houghton Mifflin)

The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y. S. Lee (Candlewick)

Virals by Kathy Reichs (Razorbill)

The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith (Atheneum)

The winners will be announced at the 2010 Agatha Awards banquet to be held on Saturday, April 30, 2011.

Crime in the Fast Lane!

Amy Myers along with her husband Jim who is a car aficionado have started a new series featuring car detective Jack Colby. The first book in the series is called Classic in the Barn and is due to be published by Severn House by 25 February. The first short story featuring him was published in the February issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

When Jack Colby glimpses a 1938 Lagonda V12 lying uncared for in a Kentish country barn, he just has to have a closer look – which brings him face to face with its angry owner, Polly Davies, former TV presenter and widow of car dealer Mike. Is it the car or Polly that captivates Jack’s heart? No question, he has to find out more about both.

Jack’s enquiries are abruptly cut short when some days later he finds Polly’s murdered body lying outside the barn. Convinced that the Lagonda is somehow involved, he is determined to bring her killer to justice.

But Jack drives in the fast lane – and hazard lights are always flashing

Amy and Jim have a classic car of their own a robin-egg blue Karmann Ghia, which was immortalised on screen recently in a brief appearance in a Dulux advertisement.

Look out for the new series it is bound to be enjoyed by those who love cars!

Ariana Franklin (Part 2)

Shots last month blogged about the sad death of Ariana Franklin. Her husband the film critic Barry Norman has written a loving tribute to her in the Daily Mail which can be found here. It is a very heartfelt article which despite the topic does bring a smile to your face and will ensure that she is remembered by many.

Barry Awards 2011 Nominations

Shots are delighted to announce Deadly Pleasures 2011 Barry Award Nominations Shortlist. Voting is carried out by Deadly Pleasures readers, with winners announced at this years Bouchercon in St. Louis

We toast all the nominated and hope to see you in St Louis this autumn.

Best Novel

NOWHERE TO RUN, C. J. Box (Putnam)
CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, Tom Franklin (Morrow)

THE LOCK ARTIST, Steve Hamilton (Minotaur)

MOONLIGHT MILE, Dennis Lehane (Morrow)

BURY YOUR DEAD, Louise Penny (Minotaur)

SAVAGES, Don Winslow (Simon & Schuster)

Best First Novel

GUTSHOT STRAIGHT, Lou Berney (Morrow)

ROGUE ISLAND, Bruce DeSilva (Forge)

THE POACHER’S SON, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)

SHERLOCKIAN, Graham Moore (Twelve)

THE HOLY THIEF, William Ryan (Minotaur)

ONCE A SPY, Keith Thomson (Doubleday)

Best British Novel

STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG, Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)

BLOOD HARVEST, S. J. Bolton (Bantam Press)

THE WHISPERERS, John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)

THE WOODCUTTER, Reginald Hill (HarperCollins)

THREE SECONDS, Roslund & Hellstrom (Quercus)

FOURTH DAY, Zoe Sharp (Allison & Busby)

Best Paperback Original

THE HANGING TREE, Bryan Gruley (Touchstone)

THE DEAD LIE DOWN, Sophie Hannah (Penguin)

EGGSECUTIVE ORDERS, Julie Hyzy (Berkley)

FEVER AT THE BONE, Val McDermid (Harper)

THE RHETORIC OF DEATH, Judith Rock (Berkley)

A SMALL DEATH IN THE GREAT GLEN, A.D. Scott (Atria)

Best Thriller

13 HOURS, Deon Meyer (Grove Atlantic)

AMERICAN ASSASSIN, Vince Flynn (Atria)

THE BRICKLAYER, Noah Boyd (Harper)

BOLT ACTION, Charles Charters (Hodder U.K.)

ON TARGET, Mark Greaney (Jove)

THE REMBRANDT AFFAIR, Daniel Silva (Putnam)

Best Short Story

Mitch Alderman, "Requiem for Antlers" (AHMM Jan.-Feb. 2010)

Robert Barnard, "Family Values" (EQMM Feb. 2010)

Caroline Benton, "The Body in the Dunes (EQMM Jan. 2010)

Loren D. Estleman, "The List" (EQMM May 2010)

Terence Faherty, "The Seven Sorrows" (EQMM Mar.-Apr. 2010)

Ellen Larson, "When the Apricots Bloom" (AHMM July-Aug. 2010)

Notes about the Barry Awards
In 1997, the editorial staff of Deadly Pleasures decided that since one of the magazine's stated goals was to search out and report on the best works being published in the field of crime fiction each year, it would be a natural fit to present awards for excellence. Then came the dilemma of what to name the award. At the time all associated with the magazine were still reeling from the untimely death of Barry Gardner, who was arguably the best fan reviewer on the planet, so it was decided to name the award after him so as to keep his memory alive (not unlike what Bouchercon and its Anthony awards have done for writer/critic Anthony Boucher, who also suffered an untimely and early death). For a biography of Barry Gardner, click on his name above.

Some have asked me from time to time, what are submission guidelines for the Barry Award. It is pretty simple: get us a copy of the book or short story and hope one of us reviews it. Our staff doesn't even attempt to read everything. We try to keep our ears to the ground and read what people are talking about. And from time to time we find Barry Award nominees by our own idiosyncratic reading. In short, we don't have an organized reading program whereby all members of the nominating committee read the same books. We choose people on the committee who read widely and try to find consensus among them. It isn't perfect, but no system is.

Photo of Opening Awards [Barry and Macavity Awards] at Bouchercon 2010 San Francisco (c) 2010 Ali Karim

Alessandro Perissinotto at the Italian Cultural Institute

(Left to right Karin (translator) Alessandro Perissinotto, Daniela De Gregorio, Michael G Jacob and Barry Forshaw) (Picture ©Ayo Onatade)

On Monday 7 February the Italian Cultural Institute in London played host to Italian author Alessandro Perissinotto (along with a translator) whose first novel in a trilogy Blood Sisters (Una Piccola Storia Ignobile) has recently been published by Hersilia Press. Perissinotto was interviewed by crime critic Barry Forshaw and was joined by author Michael Gregorio (Michael G Jacob and Daniela De Gregorio).

Born in 1964 Alessandro Perissinotto is a Professor at Turin University and also writes articles and comments on homicide for the Italian newspaper La Stampa. Perissinotto explained that the strict translation of the title from Italian to English would have been A Short Ignoble Story but that he had been impressed with the change of the title to Blood Sisters as it gave a sense of what the story is about. Perissinotto went on to say that he did not do much reading as a boy and that he had actually intended to become a mechanic for Fiat. When asked if he read any other Italian authors he explained that he did enjoy reading Andrea Camilleri but that he found that Camilleri wrote too fast for him to keep up with. The fascination with translation of Scandinavian novels was also raised with the question being why had Italian novels not been caught up with the trend especially since there were a number of good Italian crime writers around. Perissinotto thought that commercial success did not always equal literary success. He went on to explain that in Italy there was a desire to write novels that talked about reality and they appeared to have achieved quite a lot of success with this. There had also been a change in the way that crime novels were now seen in Italy. Before they had been looked down on but this had now changed.

The author also explained that the idea of lies and truth were very important in the story. The follow-up to Blood Sisters is L'ultima notte bianca (but not yet published) is also about someone that disappears.

Alessandro Perissinotto was also asked how many of his novels were taken from real events and he explained that he had been unable to write about a number of them in the newspaper and that some of his stories did have a background in reality. Alessandro Perissinotto also admitted that there was a strong regional bias when it came to thrillers and crime novels because they were about the area.

Michael Gregorio were also asked how did they manage to come up with their name and they explained that it came about after a three way discussion with their editors in the UK and in the US. They also explained that they had found the first book a bit intimidating to write. They also explained how they split the writing duties. They worked a lot on the plot outline and then decided who would write which chapter. They knew each other’s weaknesses so it was fairly easy for them to write this way.

Also present was Howard Curtis who translated Blood Sisters.

Ripley's Return

We always enjoy Mike Ripley’s “Getting Away With Murder Column” at Shots and Deadly Pleasures Magazine, so I was delighted to hear of the re-issues of Mr Riley’s Angel Series.

TELOS Books are reissuing ANGEL CITY (1994) and ANGEL CONFIDENTIAL (1995) in paperbacks editions with specially written Introductions by the author, as well as electronic/Kindle/ I-pad electronic versions of lots of early Angels.

At last, Angel makes it into the 21st – century, and Mike Ripley even has a fan-website which has background to these very funny crime novels.

If you've never read about the adventures of Cab Driver Private Investigator Fitzroy Maclean Angel, I'd get on the 'knowledge' now!

Crime Fiction's Theakstons Old Peculier Festival

I just booked my tickets for this year’s Theakstons Old Peculier Harrogate Crime-Writing Festival, as this year Sharon Canavar and her team have a spectacular line up, including special guests Joe Finder Lee Child, Martina Cole, Howard Marks, Dennis Lehane and Tess Gerritsen. This year, programming chair Dreda Say Mitchell, author of Geezer Girls and more recently Gangster Girl takes the helm, choosing the theme of ‘true crime’ as the inspiration for the programme. The event is being held 21-24 July 2010 at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate [England].

Other highlights include a panel discussion with former prison inmates-turned-writers including Noel ‘Razor’ Smith; journalists who have made the transition to writing crime fiction; and Val McDermid’s regular “New Blood” event, showcasing her selection of some of the most exciting and hotly tipped emerging talent. Festival-goers will also have the opportunity to rub shoulders with the cream of international crime writing at the annual Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year party where one author will be awarded the prestigious prize.

Last week, the Shots Team attended the launch party at Brown’s Court Rooms in London. The event was very well attended with crime writers, publishers, editors and reviewers all excited about this year’s event.

Festival Chief Executive Sharon Canavar said: “We are very excited about the You’re Booked website. Over the years it became increasingly clear that one festival weekend wasn’t enough to discuss all the fantastic crime writing out there and so it’s great that we now have a site where fans can continue the conversation. We hope it will become one of the top online destinations to find out the latest and best of the crime fiction genre. Log on now!”

Dreda Say Mitchell said: “It’s such an honour to be selected to chair the crime festival and I’ve had great fun helping to choose the themes and authors who will all be descending upon Harrogate, the crime-writing capital of the world! At a time when funding for the arts and libraries in particular is ever decreasing, it’s even more important to have a festival that encourages people to pick up a book and get reading. I can’t wait!”

Simon Theakston, Executive Director of T&R Theakston said: “We are extremely proud of our ongoing association with Harrogate’s world-class crime fiction festival. This year’s line-up is a potent mix of home grown and international talent and we look forward to welcoming a host of stellar names from across the Atlantic to do battle with Britain’s finest perhaps over a glass or two of our Old Peculier ale.”

Last weeks party also marked the launch of the Festival’s brand new online venture You’re Booked. This website will be an interactive hub for crime writers and readers alike to celebrate the genre by posting their own reviews, joining the book club, as well as reading exclusive interviews with top authors and reading essential writing tips from industry experts. I was flattered last year to be interviewed by the Harrogate team for the new website, due to my passion fro crime and thriller fiction.

This year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival returns to the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate which is now part of the Classic Lodges hotel collection. A £6m refurbishment programme was completed in 2006 at the Grade II listed building which dates back to 1840 and is set in five acres of beautiful gardens. The perfect venue for murder mysteries, the Old Swan Hotel is where legendary crime novelist Agatha Christie was eventually tracked down after her mysterious disappearance in 1926, 85 years ago this year.

2011 will see the announcement of the seventh 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 £3000 prize and handmade engraved beer barrel are Mark Billingham (who scooped the award twice both in 2005 and 2009), 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.

Booking Information -

Weekend packages for the 2011 Festival start from £329 per person (based on twin or double accommodation) or from £399 per person for single accommodation.

Weekend Break packages are also 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).

Individual festival tickets will go on sale from April.

For booking and information call the Festival Office on: +44 (0) 1423 562303 or click here

See you in the bar, and remember The Shots Team will be fielding a team for the Harrogate Crime-Fiction Quiz, to reclaim our crown!

Photos (c) 2009-2011 Ali Karim

Barry Forshaw and Michael Gregorio in conversation with Alessandro Perissinotto

An investigation on the banality of evil conducted by psychologist Anna Pavesi, who uses her knowledge of the human soul as other detectives use scientific police methods…

The countryside around Milan is wrapped in eerie darkness as psychologist Anna Pavesi digs in the icy soil, looking for... what? Just over a week earlier, Anna is approached by the well-heeled Benedetta Vitali with a request to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death in a road accident of her half-sister Patrizia and the subsequent disappearance of Patrizia’s body. Anna is not a detective, there has been a misunderstanding, but she is short of money and agrees to take on the assignment. It will lead her into a labyrinth of false clues and willful deception in which nothing is as it seems. Was Patrizia’s death merely a commonplace hit-and-run incident on a country lane, or was there something more sinister behind it? As she digs deeper, Anna realises that even her own life may be in danger...

Barry Forshaw and Michael Gregorio will be in conversation with Alessandro Perissinotto for the launch of Blood Sisters (Hersilla Press) on Monday February 8 at the Italian Cultural Institute at 7:00pm. The event is free but booking is essential. Booking information can be found here. Blood Sisters is the first book in the Anna Pavesi trilogy.

David Hewson and The Fallen Angel

Huge congratulations to David Hewson who has not only recently signed a deal with Bavaria Media Italia (via Blake Friedmann Agency) for all eleven of his excellent crime novels including his Nic Costa series which are set in Italy to be made into television movies but is also celebrating the publication of his ninth book in the Nic Costa series which is due to be published on 4 February 2011 by Macmillan

Bavaria Media Italia have optioned screen rights in order to develop and produce a major international series of six television movies. The series is planned to be shot in English by Bavaria which will work in conjunction with co-production partners from several European territories. Bavaria's Philipp Kreuzer will Executive Produce the series; Bavaria Media TV will handle international sales. The concept for the series is currently being written in Rome.
The deal was negotiated for Hewson by Conrad Williams of Blake Friedmann's Film/TV department and for Bavaria by Philipp Kreuzer and legal counsel Georg Hoess.

Said David Hewson: "It is enormously flattering to have eleven of your books snapped up for option in one swoop and with such high ambitions for English language, feature length TV dramas. There is a lot of work to be done on a project of this magnitude. I am happy that is has already started."

Bavaria plans to develop and partner this series in 2011 with production slated for 2012. It will be shot on location in and around central Rome.

David Hewson’s novels are published in 23 languages around the world. In his latest book The Fallen Angel, when British academic Malise Gabriel falls to his death from a Rome apartment, detective Nic Costa rapidly comes to realise that there is much more to the accident than he first thought. It also becomes apparent that Malise’s family — mysterious and tragic daughter Mina, stoic wife Cecilia and troubled son Robert — may be keeping vital information hidden. Nic becomes obsessed with the case, intrigued by Mina’s story which seems to be linked to the sixteenth-century real-life tragedy of a young Italian noblewoman, Beatrice Cenci.

As the investigation deepens, Rome’s dark and seedy side is uncovered, revealing a tangle of deceit, treachery and corruption. Costa realises that the key to the truth lies with the Gabriel’s. Why are they so unwilling to co-operate, and who, or what, is the reason for their silence?

A video of David Hewson talking about The Fallen Angel is below -

David will also be in conversation with Barry Forshaw at the Italian Cultural Institute on Monday 21 February 2011. More information can be found here.

IN MEMORIAM

1934 – 2011

Historical mystery writer dies at the age of 77.

Ariana Franklin (Diana Norman) the author of the Mistress of the Art of Death Series featuring the fictional medieval pathologist Adelia Aguilar has died at the age of 77. Diana was the wife of the well-known and well-regarded film critic Barry Norman.

As Ariana Franklin she wrote four books in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. The first book in the series The Mistress of the Art of Death was published in 2007 and won the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger. It was also awarded the Flint Axe Award in Sweden. In 2008 it won the Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery (Macavity Award).

The Death Maze (US: The Serpent’s Tale) 2008 the second book in the series was shortlisted for the 2008 Ellis Peters Award.

Relics of the Dead (US: Grave Goods) the third book in the series was published in 2009.

The Assassins Prayer (US: The Murderous Possession) 2010 is the fourth book in the series.

Her 2006 novel City of Shadows was shortlisted for a Barry Award for Best novel in 2007.

Under the name Diana Norman she wrote a number of acclaimed historical novels.

More information can be found on the BBC website.

A 2008 interview with Ariana Franklin for Shotsmag can be found here.

C J Box interview on BBC Radio 5

C.J. Box will be appearing in the main books interview on BBC Radio 5 “Live Up All Night” at 4.30am tomorrow. (11:30am Eastern Time, 10:30am Central Standard Time, 9:30am Mountain Standard Time, 8:30am Pacific Time)

You can listen to it here

C.J Box will be talking about Open Season', the first book in the Joe Pickett series and the UK launch of the entire Joe Pickett series and life in Wyoming.

The Talented Mr. Smith

This morning while getting ready to face the day, I was delighted to hear Mark Smith, on BBC Radio 4 being interviewed by the Morning Crew. I have enjoyed the disturbing work such as Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Roslund Hellstrom’s Three Seconds published by Quercus.

Then I read this press release, and raised my morning coffee to Mark, because as a fellow businessman myself, I know how hard [and nerve-shredding] it is starting a large company from scratch - so here's the reward -

Mark Smith, co-founder and Chief Executive of Quercus Publishing Plc, the independent print and digital publishing company, was named last night as Entrepreneur of the Year at the Grant Thornton Growth Company Awards.

Mr.Smith, aged 41, founded Quercus in 2004 with Wayne Davies. Both men were colleagues at Orion Books, a subsidiary of the Hachette group. Over the past six years they have grown the company into a business with over £30m annual revenues and operations in the USA and Australia in addition to its UK base.

‘Winning this award is a terrific compliment to the whole Quercus team,’ Mr.Smith said. ‘Creating a substantial and profitable business from scratch in a highly competitive sector like publishing is challenging, and we have had our problems along the way. But we have always stuck to our original vision – a business which combines the best aspects of new technology publishing with the key elements of more traditional publishing.’

Quercus listed on the PLUS market in 2006, and has a current market capitalization of c. £24m. In the six months to June 2010 it made £3.3m pre-tax profit on revenues of £15m. Last month it launched a US-based joint venture company, Silver Oak, in partnership with Barnes & Noble, the world’s biggest bookseller. The first book to be published by Silver Oak, Three Seconds, is currently No 9 in the New York Times Top Ten Bestsellers list.

Photo of Mark Smith with Eva Gedin [Stieg Larsson’s Editor] at the Swedish Embassy in London © 2009 Ali Karim

Robin Jarossi's CRIMINAL ACTS FEBRAURY 2011

BOARDWALK EMPIRE
Sky Atlantic, Tuesday, 1 February, 9pm

It’s here at last – HBO’s much heralded Prohibition drama that will leave most British TV execs feeling they need a drink.
Because when they contemplate commissioning the umpteenth job lot of Midsomer Murders or Silent Witness, Boardwalk Empire will remind them just how good a crime series can be when it has this much talent and ambition behind it.
And of course it had much more cash behind it than any British series – the 90-minute opener, directed by Martin Scorsese, is rumoured to have cost $20-odd million. For that we get a sweeping, epic drama about power, delving into the wild 1920s, the dawn of the modern American gangster, all told with lavish sets, chilling violence and terrific storytelling.
It’s 1920, the eve of Prohibition and Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson (Steve Buscemi), Treasurer of Atlantic City, is meeting some serious mobsters from New York – Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg), Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) and a young, trigger-happy thug called Al Capone (British actor Stephen Graham).
While nightclub revellers celebrate the new booze ban by cracking open the champagne, Nucky is pledging to keep the booze flowing. But we soon see that problems are looming for this politician who wants to play with the gangsters.
His protégé and driver, Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt), a veteran of the Great War who wants to get rich in peacetime, teams up with Capone to hijack Nucky’s booze consignment for New York. The heist goes wrong, four men are shot, and Nucky gains an enemy in the menacing Arnold Rothstein.
Nucky, a widower, also encounters Irish immigrant and battered wife Margaret Schroeder (played by another Brit, the Scottish Kelly Macdonald), who at first is timid but as she mingles with the power-brokers and hustlers surrounding Nucky, we sense that she is no fool, and that Nucky is slowly being drawn to her.
It’s a charismatic performance by Buscemi, who won a Golden Globe in January, as did the series for best dramatic series.
Boardwalk Empire, based on a book about Atlantic City’s corrupt past by Nelson Johnson and overseen by Sopranos scriptwriter Terence Winter, brings alive again an astonishing period that was once fashionable in classic movies such as James Cagney’s The Roaring Twenties. But the series is in many ways more vivid – from the ragtime, to the spectacle of boxing dwarves and other mad stunts of the time.
But make no mistake – Broadwalk Empire’s magic is not just down to budget. The Americans, particularly those hired by HBO, just think bigger and produce better television. The series brilliantly weaves true events with the dramas of complex, believable characters.
It’s a wild period. And then, of course, there is Scorsese’s skill at rubbing out dirty rats in brilliant set-piece sequences. Unmissable.

BLUE BLOODS

Sky Atlantic, Tuesday, 1 February, 10.30pm

The other new crime series helping to launch Sky Atlantic on its first night immediately follows Boardwalk Empire.

Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck as a New York police commissioner in a series that is part family drama, part cop show. In a rather contrived premise, the Reagans are virtually a multi-generational family police force.
In addition to Frank (Selleck), there’s his father, Henry (Lou Cariou), a former police chief; eldest son and detective Danny (Donnie Wahlberg); daughter Linda (Bridget Moynahan, an assistant DA; and youngest son, Jamie (Will Estes), a Harvard law grad who couldn’t resist joining New York’s finest despite his qualifications. Oh, and Frank’s other son, Joe, was killed in the line of duty.
You can see where this is going. Plenty of opportunities arise for family conflicts and arguments round the dinner table. So, when Danny batters a suspected child kidnapper in the opening episode, sis Linda is on his case because the guy could now go free on a technicality.
Blue Bloods certainly has blue blood in its veins, so that it favours Danny doing what a cop’s gotta do. And though Linda sticks up for the rights of the individual for a while, by the end she and Danny can bond over the news that a suspect is being shipped to Florida – where, happily, they have the death penalty.

The opener is bulging with plot exposition to set up the whole series, so that the first time we see family together they all clunkily introduce themselves and their professions to us and each other. We then get a stream plot cliffhangers in quick succession. Is the widower Frank having an affair? Should Jamie join an undercover operation investigating his brother’s death? And was Joe the victim of police criminality?
Where the HBO-produced Boardwalk Empire is ambitious and exceptional, Blue Bloods (CBS) is standard cop-show fare. Still, filmed on New York’s streets, the show looks sharp, and it’s good to see Selleck back again.

THE BIG SLEEP

Radio 4, Saturday, 5 February, 2.30pm

Listen out for insolent tones of Philip Marlowe as the first of Radio 4’s Raymond Chandler adaptations, The Big Sleep, hits the air in February. Toby Stephens plays the private eye in Chandler’s classic tale about Marlowe being hired by the rich General Sternwood to deal with a blackmailer. The other plays in this and the next series include: Farewell My Lovely (1940); The High Window (1942); The Lady in the Lake (1943); The Little Sister (1949); The Long Goodbye (1953); and two lesser-known novels, Playback (1958) and Poodle Springs, unfinished at the time of Chandler's death in 1959. The second series completing the Classic Chandler collection will be broadcast in the autumn.

Robin Jarossi is a TV jounalist and editor of CrimeTimePreview.com

Nominations! Nominations and more nominations!

Left Coast Crime Nominations

The nominations for the awards due to be given out at the 2011 Left Coast Crime Convention have been announced. This year the 22nd annual Left Coast Crime Convention will take place in Santa Fe, New Mexico, March 24-27, 2011

The Lefty is awarded to the best humorous mystery novel. The nominees are:

Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)
Swift Justice by Laura DiSilverio (Minotaur Books/Thomas Dunne Books) Old Dogs by Donna Moore (Busted Flush Press)
Revenge for Old Times' Sake by Kris Neri (Cherokee McGhee)
The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein by J. Michael Orenduff (Oak Tree Press)
The Lefty has been awarded since 1996.


The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, is given for mystery novels covering events before 1950. It was first awarded in 2004. The nominees are:


A Night of Long Knives by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge Books)
Murder for Greenhorns by Robert Kresge (ABQ Press)
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur Books)
The Demon’s Parchment by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur Books)
The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

The Hillerman Sky Award is a special award given this year, in honour of the convention’s New Mexico location and is given to the mystery that best captures the landscape of the Southwest. The nominations are:

Wild Penance by Sandi Ault (Berkley Hardcover)
The Bone Fire by Christine Barber (Minotaur Books)
The Spider's Web by Margaret Coel (Berkley Hardcover)
Snare by Deborah J Ledford (Second Wind Publishing)

The Watson is another special award given this year to the mystery novel with the best sidekick. The nominees are:

Wild Penance by Sandi Ault (Berkley Hardcover)
Dead Lift by Rachel Brady(Poisoned Pen Press)
Rolling Thunder by Chris Grabenstein (Pegasus)
Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson (Viking)
To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn (Atria)

Dilys Award Nominations:

The nominees for the Dilys Award, which is given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers to the book booksellers most enjoyed selling are:

Love Songs from a Shallow Grave by Colin Cotterill

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
Once a Spy by Keith Thomson

Savages by Don Winslow.

The winner will be announced in March at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe.

Hammett Prize Nominees:-

The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers have announced the nominees for their annual Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a US or Canadian author.

The nominees are:-

Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster by Jonathan Eig (Simon & Schuster)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel by Tom Franklin (William Morrow)
Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)

The Nearest Exit by Olen Steinhauer, (St. Martin's/Minotaur

The winner of the Hammett Prize will be announced on September 20 during the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Conference.

Congratulations to all the nominees!