Tuesday 31 October 2017

Books from Profile Books

October 2017

Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense: these are ten (and a quarter) of her most chillingly compelling short stories, collected here together for the first time.  In these tales, a businessman boasts about cheating on his wife, only to find the tables turned. A beautiful country rectory reverberates to the echo of a historical murder. A compulsive liar acts on impulse, only to be lead inexorably to disaster. And a wealthy man finds there is more to his wife's kidnapping than meets the eye.   Atmospheric, gripping and never predictable, this is Ruth Rendell at her inimitable best. A Spot of Folly is by Ruth Rendell.

June 2018

The Case of the Purloined Brooch: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Sensational Glasgow Murder and the Quest for Justice by Margalit Fox.  On 21 December 1908 Marion Gilchrist, a wealthy 82-year-old spinster, was found bludgeoned to death in her Glasgow home. There were no suspects and no signs of forced entry, but a valuable diamond brooch was missing. Seventeen years later a convict called William Gordon was released from Scotland's remote Peterhead Prison: concealed in a false tooth and written on waterproof paper minutely folded and tightly rolled, was an urgent message. It was from Oscar Slater, the German Jew and part-time pimp, who had spent the previous 16 years in Peterhead for Marion Gilchrist's murder. The message appealed for help from the one man he believed could prove his innocence: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This book is a vivid account, drawn entirely from contemporary sources, of Sir Arthur's ultimately successful quest to overturn Slater's conviction, now considered one of the great miscarriages of justice in Scottish history.


Sunday 29 October 2017

Video Footage from 2017 CWA Dagger Awards London


We present some video footage from last week’s Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards from London.

Shots Magazine wish to pass thanks to CWA Chair Martin Edwards, CWA Director Dea Parkin and Mike Stotter CWA Dagger Liaison Officer for allowing Shots Magazine to publish / stream these videos for our readers.

Barry Forshaw MC welcomes guests to 2017 CWA Dagger Awards


To Download / Stream Link Click Here

Martin Edwards presents Barry Forshaw with Red Herring Special Award


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Martin Edwards presents Ann Cleeves with 2017 CWA Diamond Dagger


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Mick Herron awarded 2017 Ian Fleming Steel CWA Dagger


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For the full results of the event Click Here and for more information about getting involved with The Crime Writers Association Click Here and for photos from Ayo Onatade Click Here


Ngaio Marsh Awards 2017


Fresh blood on the ferns: new voices dominate Ngaio Marsh Awards

The usual suspects took a back seat as first-time crime writers Fiona Sussman, Finn Bell, and Michael Bennett swept the spoils at the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Awards in Christchurch on Saturday night. 

The talented trio made history on several fronts at a special WORD Christchurch event hosted in Dame Ngaio’s hometown by Scorpio Books as part of nationwide NZ Bookshop Day celebrations. 

Each of our winners this year is a remarkable storyteller who uses crime writing as a prism through which to explore broader human and societal issues,” said Ngaios founder Craig Sisterson. “When we launched in 2010 we wanted to highlight excellence in local crime writing, beyond traditional ideas of puzzling whodunits or airport thrillers. Our 2017 winners emphasise that broader scope to the genre, and showcase the inventiveness and world-class quality of our local storytellers.”

Sussman is the first female author to win the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE (Allison & Busby) is her second novel but the first foray into crime storytelling for the former GP who grew up in Apartheid South Africa. It explores the ongoing impact of a brutal home invasion on both victim and perpetrator. “Laden with empathy and insight,” said the international judging panel. “A challenging, emotional read, harrowing yet touching, this is brave and sophisticated storytelling.”

It took Sussman seven years to research and write her winning novel. She travelled Aotearoa visiting prisons, talking to police and victims, inmates and ex-gang members, and seeking advice from Māori writers to ensure she brought authenticity to the disparate worlds of her characters. She won a Ngaios trophy, special edition of a Dame Ngaio book, and $1,000 cash prize courtesy of WORD Christchurch.

Self-published e-book author Finn Bell won Best First Novel for DEAD LEMONS and was a finalist for Best Crime Novel for PANCAKE MONEY. His debut explores themes of addiction, loss, and recovery as a wheelchair-bound man contemplating suicide decamps to a remote cottage in Southland, only to be obsessively drawn into a dangerous search for a father and daughter who went missing years before. 

Bell has worked in night shelters, charities, hospitals, and prisons. He is the first author to ever have two books become finalists in a single year. The judges called him "a wonderful new voice in crime writing” who “delivers a tense, compelling tale centred on an original, genuine, and vulnerable character."

Experienced filmmaker Michael Bennett (Te Arawa) won the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non Fiction for IN DARK PLACES (Paul Little Books), the astonishing tale of how teenage car thief Teina Pora spent decades in prison for the brutal murder of Susan Burdett, and the remarkable fight to free him. The international judging panel called it “a scintillating, expertly balanced account of one of the most grievous miscarriages of justice in New Zealand history".

Decades ago a woman from Christchurch was among the biggest names in the books world,” said Sisterson. “In recent years there’s a growing appreciation abroad for the top talent of our contemporary Kiwi crime writers; a reputation that’s going to flourish even more thanks to this year’s winners.”

For more information about the Ngaio Marsh Awards, contact the Judging Convenor: craigsisterson@hotmail.com or ngaiomarshaward@gmail.com. 

Friday 27 October 2017

CWA 2017 Dagger Awards


On Thursday 26th October the 2017 Crime Writers Dagger Awards were given out at the Grange City Hotel London.  The evening started with a drinks reception before the dinner. It was a lovely chance to get to say hello and catch up with so many friends and crime writers who were in attendance.
Belinda Bauer &Abir Mukherjee

Christine Poulson &Ayo Onatade
Current Chair of the CWA Martin Edwards kicked off the evening by welcoming everyone to the event after dinner.  This was followed by a very witty and entertaining after dinner speech by Robert Thorogood who is best known as being the author of the Death in Paradise series. 

Before the formal awards were given out Barry Forshaw was awarded the Red Herring award, which is normally given to someone whose contributions to the work of the CWA, are of special merit and should be celebrated and recognised.   Huge congratulations go to Barry Forshaw for the Red Herrings Award.

The following Dagger Awards were awarded –

Diamond Dagger to Anne Cleeves

Dagger in the Library to Mari Hannah

In their acceptance speeches both Anne Cleeves and Mari Hannah extolled the virtues of local libraries and urged people to support them.

Sophie Goodfellow & William Ryan
Debut Dagger sponsored by Orion Publishing Group
For the opening of a crime novel from a writer with no publishing contract (presented Leigh Russell)
Strange Fire by Sherry Rankin (Winner)
The Reincarnation of Himmat Gupte by Neeraj Shah
Lost Boys by Spike Dawkins
Red Haven by Mette McLeod
Broken by Victoria Slotover

Ayo Onatade &Thalia Proctor
The CWA Short Story Dagger (Presented by Ayo Onatade)
The Assassination by Leye Adenle in Sunshine Noir Edited by AnnaMaria Alfieri & Michael Stanley (White Sun Books)
Murder and its Motives by Martin Edwards Edited by Martin Edwards in Motives for Murder (Sphere)
The Super Recogniser of Vik by Michael Ridpath Edited by Martin Edwards in Motives for Murder (Sphere)
What You Were Fighting For by James Sallis Edited by Patrick Millikin in The Highway Kind (Mulholland Books)
The Trials of Margaret by LC Tyler in Motives for Murder Edited by Martin Edwards (Sphere) (Winner)
Snakeskin by Ovidia Yu in Sunshine Noir Edited by AnnaMaria Alfieri & Michael Stanley (White Sun Books)

Ayo Onatade & Ali Karim
The CWA International Dagger (Presented by Janet Laurence)
A Cold Death by Antonio Manzini, (4th Estate) Tr Antony Shugaar
A Fine Line by Gianrico Carofiglio, (Bitter Lemon Press)  Tr Howard Curtis
Blood Wedding by Pierre Lemaître, (MacLehose Press) Tr Frank Wynne
Climate of Fear by Fred Vargas, (Harvill Secker) Tr Siân Reynolds
The Dying Detective by Leif G W Persson, (Doubleday) Tr Neil Smith (Winner)
The Legacy of the Bones by Delores Redondo, (HarperCollins) Tr Nick Casiter & Lorenza Garcia

Leye Adenle & Ayo Onatade

The CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger (presented by Jon Coates)
The Devil’s Feast by M. J. Carter (Fig Tree)
The Ashes of Berlin by Luke McCallin (No Exit Press)
The Long Drop by Denise Mina (Harvill Secker)
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker) (Winner)
By Gaslight by Steven Price (Point Blank)
The City in Darkness by Michael Russell (Constable)

Sophie Goodfellow &Ayo Onatade
The John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger (Presented by Maxim Jakubowski)
The Pictures by Guy Bolton (Point Blank)
Ragdoll by Daniel Cole (Trapeze)
Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard (Corvus)
Sirens by Joseph Knox (Doubleday)
Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land (Michael Joseph)
Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker (Twenty 7) (Winner)
Joseph Knox’s novel Siren was also highly commended.

AnnaMaria Alfieri & Leye Adenle
CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (presented by Corrine Turner)
You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott (Picador)
The Killing Game by J S Carol (Bookouture)
We Go Around in the Night and Are Consumed by Fire by Jules Grant (Myriad Editions)
Redemption Road by John Hart (Hodder & Stoughton)
Spook Street by Mick Herron (John Murray) (Winner)
The Constant Soldier by William Ryan (Mantle)

Wayne Brookes & Ayo Onatade
The CWA Gold Dagger (Presented by Richard Reynolds)
The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer (Bantam Press)
Dead Man’s Blues by Ray Celestin (Mantle)
The Dry by Jane Harper (Little, Brown) Winner
Spook Street by Mick Herron (John Murray)
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill Secker)
The Girl in Green by Derek B. Miller (Faber & Faber)

Congratulations to all the winners and nominated authors.

Martin Edwards

Robert Thorogood & Ayo Onatade

Ayo Onatade & Anne Cleeves

Anne Cleeves & Leye Adenle

L-R Mari Hannah, Mick Herron, Chris Whittaker & L C Tyler

Abir Mukherjee & Mari Hannah

Ayo Onatade & Barry Forshaw
Ayo Onatade & L C Tyler

 © All pictures Ayo Onatade 2017