Left Coast Crime Lefty Awards Announced

 

Left Coast Crime 2026 — San Francisco Schemin’ — will be presenting four Lefty Awards at the convention in San Francisco, California. 

Registrants of the Left Coast Crime Conventions in San Francisco and Denver were able to nominate three titles in each category. 

The 2026 Lefty Awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.

Lefty Nominees for Best Humorous Mystery Novel

Solid Gold Murder by Ellen Byron, (Kensington)

Star-Crossed Egg Tarts by Jennifer J Chow (St Martin's Paperbacks)

Bye Bye Blackbird by Elizabeth Crowens (Level Best Books)

Scot's Eggs by Catriona McPherson (Severn House)

All’s Faire in Love and Murder by Cindy Sample (Cindy Sample Books)

Lefty Nominees for Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bill Gotttfried Memorial) for books covering events before 1970

Huguette by Cara Black (Soho Crime)

The Girl in the Green Dress by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur Books)

A Daughter's Guide to Mothers and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)

City Lights by Claire M Johnson (Level Best Books)

Knave of Diamonds by Laurie R King (Bantam)

The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler (Kensington)

Lefty Nominees for Best Debut Mystery Novel

Whiskey Business by Adrian Andover (Chestnut Avenue Press)

We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry (Bantam)

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L Dove(Berkley)

The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs(William Morrow)

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino (Celadon Books)

Mortal Zin by Diane Schaffer(Sibylline Press)

Lefty Nominees for Best Mystery Novel

Crooks by Lou Berney(William Morrow)

Throwing Shadows by Claire Booth (Severn House)

Edge by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer)

Waters of Destruction by Leslie Karst (Severn House)

River of Lies by James L’Etoile (Oceanview Publishing)

The Library Game by Gigi Pandian (Minotaur Books)

To be eligible for the 2026 Lefty Awards, the mystery/crime/thriller novels must have been published for the first time in the United States or Canada during 2025, in book or ebook format. (If published in other countries before 2025, a book is still eligible if it meets the US or Canadian publication requirement.)

Congratulations to all the nominated authors.

2020 Hammett Prize Nominees

 

The International Association of Crime Writers, North America have announced the 2020 Hammett Nominees. 

The Hammett Prize is given for literary Excellence in Crime Writing. This is a distinguished award for a single book and is open to writers at any stage in their career

Congratulations to all the nominees.

The following books (in alphabetical order) have been selected for the short list:

In Old Bombay by Nev March (Minotaur) Based on a true story, in 1892 a soldier recovering from wounds investigates a murder.

The Mountains Wild by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur) - A New York detective revisits the disappearance of her cousin in Ireland two decades ago.

Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black (Soho)- In World War II, a young female sniper is sent to Paris to assassinate the Führer.

When These Mountains Burn by David Joy (Putnam) - A father in Appalachia confronts the opioid epidemic in an attempt to rescue his son.

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco) - Vigilante Virgil Wounded Horse investigates the spread of heroin on the reservation.

The 2020 reading committee, consisted of Christopher Chan, Marni Graff, Debbi Mack, and Chair J. Madison Davis 

Left Coast Crime Nominees 2014

The nominees have been announced in four categories of awards to be presented during Left Coast Crime in Monterey. Awards will be announced at the Banquet on March 22 2014.

The Lefty: Best Humorous Mystery Novel –

The Hen of the Baskervilles by Donna Andrews (Minotaur Books)

The Fame Thief by Timothy Hallinan (Soho Crime)

The Last Word by Lisa Lutz (Simon & Schuster)

The Good Cop by Brad Parks (Minotaur Books)

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

The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award: Best Historical Mystery Novel Covering Events Before 1960

Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime)

His Majesty’s Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)

Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur Books)

Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell (Mulholland Books)

Covenant with Hell by Priscilla Royal (Poisoned Pen Press)

Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear (HarperCollins)

The Squid: Best mystery set within the United States

W Is for Wasted by Sue Grafton (Putnam, Marian Wood Books)

Purgatory Key by Darrell James (Midnight Ink)

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books)

The Wrong Girl by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

A Killing at Cotton Hill by Terry Shames (Seventh Street Books)

The Calamari: Best Mystery Set Anywhere Else in the World

Murder Below Montparnasse by Cara Black (Soho Crime)

Hour of the Rat by Lisa Brackmann (Soho Crime)

As She Left It by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny (Minotaur Books)

Mykonos After Midnight by Jeffrey Siger (Poisoned Pen Press)

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Crimefest 2010 - Day 4 (Part 3) Final Hours

Okay, so the final hours have come and gone at Crimefest 2010. I managed to attend Jake Kerridge's interview with M C Beaton and Lindsey Davis. It was the kind of interview that was certainly worth settling down to and enjoying. Jake Kerridge had certainly done his homework. The banter between M C Beaton and Lindsey Davis was evident and it was more like listening to two old friends having a friendly chat whilst the odd question was thrown in than a formal interview.

The most anticipated panel for Sunday was of course Crossfire: Criminal Mastermind. Three crime writers and one crime fiction reviewer placed themselves in the spotlight and in the hands of Maxim Jakubowski as they took part in Criminal Mastermind. Martin Edwards was the returning winner from last year and this year he was up against Peter Guttridge, Ali Karim and Cara Black. As I indicated in an earlier post I would not be taking bets on whether or not anyone would be able to dethrone Martin. It was a really enjoyable panel even though I did find myself acting as time keeper on Maxim's behalf. I am not going to post the final results of Criminal Mastermind but I can tell you the final positions. In fourth place was Cara Black, in joint second place was Peter Guttridge and Ali Karim and as was expected in first place and thus retaining his title was Martin Edwards. Rather sadly we found out at the end of the quiz that it had been agreed before hand that if Martin Edwards were to retain his title then he would not be coming back next year to defend it. A shame but a decision that I can understand.

I am aware that I have not posted any pictures from Crimefest but I will be doing so over at the Shotsmag website in due course. A number of photographs were taken and look out for the picture of me alongside Tonino Benacquista.

Crimefest 2011 will take place between 19 and 22 May.

Murder Is Everywhere

Dan Waddell emialed me to mention a new blog that he is part of, with an international feel: Yrsa Siguroardottir, Leighton Gage, 'Michael Stanley', Cara Black and myself blog each week on different days from our different corners of the globe. An original initiative (the group thinks) and one that will hopefully appeal crime fans of many hues.

Here's the link http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.com/