Awards, nominations and winners!

The Edgar® Awards were presented to the winners at their 64th Gala Banquet, on April 29, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City and the winners are:-

Grandmaster: Dorothy Gilman, author of the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries
Best Novel: The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)
Best First Novel by an American Author: In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

Best Paperback Original: Body Blows by Marc Strange (Castle Street Mysteries)
Best Short Story: "Amapola" by Luis Urrea in Phoenix Noir (Akashic Books)
Best Critical/Biographical: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Detectives, edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group-Little, Brown)
Best Juvenile: Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (HMH Children's Book)
Best Young Adult: Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperTeen)
Best TV Episode Teleplay: "Place of Execution," teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS) (based on the novel by Val McDermid)
Best Fact Crime: Columbine by Dave Cullen (Twelve)
Ellery Queen Award: Poisoned Pen Press, Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald
Raven Award #1: Zef Buffman, International Mystery Writers Festival
Raven Award #2: Mystery Lovers Bookshop (Oakmont, PA)
Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: "A Dreadful Day" by Dan Warthman, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines)

More information can be found here from the MWA and here from the Wall Street Journal.

On Wednesday 28 April 2010 SJ Bolton won the Simon & Schuster- Mary Higgins Clark Award for her novel Awakening (Minotaur Books). The award was presented at the MWA's Agents and Editors Party. More info can be found here.

The winners of the annual Reviewers' Choice Awards were announce by RT Book Reviews (Romantic Times). The nominees and winners of these awards, given in many categories, are selected by a staff of over 50 reviewers representing the readers' voice in the women's fiction industry.

The winners in the Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller category are (for books published in 2009):
Amateur Sleuth: Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke (Kensington)
Contemporary Mystery: Kill For Me by Karen Rose (Grand Central)
First Mystery: A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Historical Mystery: What Remains of Heaven by C. S. Harris (NAL)
PI/Police Procedural Novel: A Darker Domain by Val McDermid (Harper)
Suspense/Thriller: The Messenger by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)
A complete list of all the nominees and winners can be found here


Deadly Ink have announced the following nominations for the 2010 David G. Sasher, Sr. Award-aka "The David"- for the best mystery published during the prior year (2009).

Lincoln Child - Terminal Freeze
Mary Jane Clark - Dying For Mercy
Harlan Coben - Long Lost
Hallie Ephron - Never Tell a Lie
Parnell Hall - Dead Man's Puzzle
Elaine Viets - Killer Cuts

Attendees at the 2010 Deadly Ink Mystery Conference will vote for their favorite, and the winner will be announced at the Saturday Night Awards Banquet. The 2010 Deadly Ink Mystery Conference will take place June 25-27, 2010 at Parsippany Sheraton, Parshippany, NJ where the Guest of Honor will be Gillian Roberts.

The Arthur Ellis Award Shortlist was announced on Thursday April 22, 2010. These are the annual awards for the Best in Canadian crime fiction presented by the Crime Writers of Canada

Best Crime Novel:
Aloha, Candy Hearts by Anthony Bidulka
Arctic Blue Death by R.J. Harlick
Finger's Twist by Lee Lamothe
Death Spiral by James W. Nichol
High Chicago by Howard Shrier

Best First Novel:

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth J. Duncan
The Weight of Stones by C.B. Forrest
A Magpie's Smile by Eugene Meese
Darkness at the Stroke of Noon by Dennis Richard Murphy

Best Crime Writing in French:
Je compte les morts by Genevieve Lefebvre
Le mort du chemin des Arsène by Jean Lemieux
La faim de la terre by Jean-Jacques Pelletier
Peaux de chagrin by Diane Vincent

Best Non-Fiction:
The Fat Mexican: The Bloody rise of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club by Alex Caine
Runaway Devil by Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose
The Slasher Killings by Patrick Brode
Post Mortem by Jon Wells
Murder without Borders by Terry Gould

Best Juvenile:
Not Suitable for Family Viewing by Vicki Grant.
Haunted by Barbara Haworth-Attard.
Homicide Related by Norah McClintock.
The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade
The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones

Best Unpublished First Crime Novel(the Unhanged Arthur)
This Cage of Bones by Pam Barnsley
Confined Space by Deryn Collier
The Corpse Flower by Gloria Ferris
A Bait of Pleasure by Blair Hemstock
Putting Them Down by Peter Kirby

Best Short Story
"Backup" by Rick Mofina
"Prisoner in Paradise" by Dennis Richard Murphy
"Nothing is Easy" by James Petrin
"Time Will Tell" by Twist Phelan
"Clowntown Pajamas" by James Powell

The winners will be announced on May 27


Agatha Awards -

The winners of the Agatha Awards have been announced and they are:-

Best Novel:
The Brutal Telling, by Louise Penny

Best First Novel:
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley

Best Short Story:


"On the House," by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best Nonfiction:
Dame Agatha's Shorts, by Elena Santangelo

Best Children's/Young Adult:
The Hanging Hill, by Chris Grabenstein


China Miéville has won a third Arthur C Clarke Award with his novel The City and The City. More information can be found in an article in the Guardian. Last month the book won the British Science Fiction Association prize for best novel.


The Short Mystery Fiction Awards also known as the Derringer Awards have been announced.

The 2010 Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer For Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Lawrence Block.

BEST FLASH STORY (Up to 1,000 Words)
"And Here's To You, Mrs. Edwardson," by Hamilton Waymire (Winner)Published in the webzine *Big Pulp*, November 23, 2009
"Awake" by David Dean Published in EQMM, July 2009
"Gutterball" by Stephen D. Rogers Published in Woman's World Magazine, Sep 7, 2009
"The Right Track" by R.T. Lawton Published in Woman's World Magazine, 10/26/09
"Unplanned" by Libby Cudmore Published in Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers, August 2009


BEST SHORT STORY (1,001 - 4,000 Words)
"Identity Theft" by Robert Weibezahl Published in Beat to a Pulp, March 2009
"The Biography of Stoop the Thief" by Steven Torres Published in Uncage Me!, July 2009
"The Hard Sell" by Jay Stringer Published in Beat to a Pulp, 2009
"The Right to Remain Silent" by Debbi Mack Published in Back Alley Webzine, August 2009
"Twas the Night" by Anita Page (Winner)Published in The Gift of Murder, 2009


BEST LONG STORY (4,001 - 8,000 Words)
"A Stab in the Heart" by Twist Phelan Published in EQMM, February
"Famous Last Words" by Doug Allyn (winner) Published in EQMM, November
"Regarding Certain Occurrences in a Cottage at the Garden of Allah" by Robert S. Levinson Published in AHMM, November
"Snow on Bloedkoppie" by Berhard Jaumann (translated from the German by Mary Tannert)Published in EQMM, August
"The Shipbreaker" by Mike Wiecek Published in EQMM, March/April


BEST NOVELETTE (8,001 - 17,500 Words)
"Adjuncts Anonymous" by B.K. Stevens Published in AHMM, June
"Julius Katz" by Dave Zeltserman (Winner)Published in EQMM, September/October
"The Last Drop" by R.W. Kerrigan Published in EQMM, February
"The Pirate's Debt" by Toni L.P. Kelner Published in EQMM, August
"Uncle Brick and Jimmy Kills" by Allan Leverone Published in Mysterical-E

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.

A Mulligan for The American Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Despite the brilliance of Noomi Rapace in the original Swedish Film version of Stieg Larsson’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, it seems that Producer Scott Rudin and Director David Fincher have cast British actress Carey Mulligan as Lisabeth Salander in the US remake, reports The Sunday Times this morning –

FOR Carey Mulligan, who sprang to fame last year in the hit British film, An Education, Hollywood has come knocking. She is set to play Lisbeth Salander, punk heroine of the bestselling thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Mulligan has won the approval of David Fincher, the director, and also the family of the late Stieg Larsson, the Swedish author who created Salander. The choice follows weeks of casting rumours, with producers sifting through nearly 5,000 potential candidates.

Hollywood insiders say Mulligan can expect to be paid up to £10m for the three films covering Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, which has sold 1m copies in Britain and 25m worldwide. This will make her one of Britain’s best-paid actresses.

Mulligan has made no secret of her desire to play Salander, a fierce “biker chick” computer hacker who helps an out-of-luck journalist investigate a long-missing woman in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the first book in the trilogy.

“I am obsessed with those books,” she said last month. “I would love to do them. I am not going to lie about that. I would love to play Lisbeth Salander.”

Since then Scott Rudin, the Hollywood producer who shared an Oscar with the Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men in 2008 and been nominated for 13 other Oscars, has won over the family of Larsson, who died in 2004. They had been wary about the prospect of a Hollywood film.

“They now understand what kind of film he is making and they like Carey,” said an industry source last week.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has already been filmed in Swedish under its original title, Men Who Hate Women, with Noomi Rapace, a stage actress, playing the bisexual Salander. It was popular in Scandinavia but its subtitles have prevented it becoming a mainstream hit in America, where it opened last month.

The new version may be relocated to Canada as a compromise for American audiences. It will not reach cinemas until all three books have been turned into Swedish-language films by the team behind the television hit Wallander.

The final decision on casting will be made soon by Fincher, director of Fight Club, Se7en and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He has been talking to Mulligan’s representatives at Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles, which has been seeking a “breakout” role for their young British client.

Read More from The Sunday Times Here

Bookseller Industry Awards Shortlists Announced

The Bookseller announces it’s first Industry Awards -

The first Bookseller Industry Awards shortlist has been announced with 16 categories covering the publishing and retail industry.

The awards combine the British Book Industry Awards, also known as the trade Nibbies, and TheBookseller's own Retail Awards.

Neill Denny, editor-in-chief of The Bookseller, said: “The shortlist represents an exceptionally strong group of people and companies, all of whom have inspiring stories of excellence and creativity. We will be telling them over the next few weeks, ahead of unveiling the winners in May. We wish them all good luck.”

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 17th May at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Champagne corks must be popping at Quercus Publishing as both Christopher MacLehose and Quercus Publishing have nominations no doubt due to the phenomenal success of the Stieg Larsson trilogy. It's great to see the breadth of the UK publishing industry being celebrated

Photo (c) Ali Karim 2008 Nicci and Lucy of Quercus Publicity celebrate the launch of the GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO at the London Press Association in January 2008 [with Ayo and Mike Stotter Editor of Shots Ezine]

The Full Nominations are –

SUE BUTTERWORTH YOUNG BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR (HarperCollins)
Claire Boothby—Waterstone's
Georgina Hanratty—Tales on Moon Lane
Lorna Duncanson—Seven Stories
Shelly Roberts—Sainsbury's

Rachael Lloyd—Foyles

PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR (PPC and Midas)
Anna Robinson—Simon & Schuster for Lion Man by Ian McGeechan
Joe Pickering—Penguin for Legend of a Suicide by David Vann
Lyndsey Dalladay—Transworld for Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
Mari Yamazaki—Penguin Press for The Sartorialist by Scott Schumann
Reetu Kabra—Puffin for DOT Robot by Jason Bradbury

INNOVATION IN THE PUBLISHING SUPPLY CHAIN (IBS)
Bertrams
Hachette—Printer Direct Delivery Solution
Macmillan Distribution—MDL Midas System
Nielsen
SBS Worldwide

CHILDREN'S INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR (Walker Books)
Book Nook
Children's Bookshop Edinburgh
Children's Bookshop Muswell Hill
Mainstreet Trading Company
Norfolk Children's Book Centre

RIGHTS PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR (Frankfurter Buchmesse)
Alex Nicholas—Orion Children's Books
Andrea Joyce—Canongate
Andy Hine—Little, Brown
Graham Cook—Haynes
Jason Bartholomew—Hodder & Stoughton

MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Wiley)
Gemma Barry—Waterstone's, Lancaster
Sion Hamilton—Foyles, Charing Cross Road
Steve Orchard—Blackwell, Charing Cross Road
Susan Sinclair—Foyles, Royal Festival Hall and St Pancras

LITERARY AGENT OF THE YEAR (Orion/Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Jo Unwin—Conville & Walsh
Jonny Geller—Curtis Brown
Luigi Bonomi—LBA

DIRECT BOOKSELLING COMPANY OF THE YEAR (BDS)
Amazon.co.uk
Book Depository
Play.com
Scholastic Book Clubs

DIGITAL INNOVATION (Futurebook)
Accent Press—Xcite Books
Bloomsbury—Bloomsbury's Public Library Online
Ebury—Tess Daly Baby Diaries
Enhanced Editions
Harlequin Mills & Boon
HarperCollins—Authonomy.com

IMPRINT AND EDITOR OF THE YEAR (The Bookseller)
HarperCollins—Lynne Drew, HarperFiction
HarperCollins—Nicholas Pearson, Fourth Estate
Little, Brown—Lennie Goodings, Virago
Orion—Gollancz Team
Penguin Group—Stuart Proffitt, Allen Lane
Quercus—Christopher MacLehose, MacLehose Press

CHILDREN'S BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR (Usborne)
Asda
Foyles
Play.com
Sainsbury's
W H Smith

MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR (Nielsen)
Hodder & Stoughton—Under the Dome
Orion—True Blood
Puffin—The Very Hungry Caterpillar 40th Anniversary
Quercus—Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy
Titan—Watchmen
Transworld—Dan Brown
W H Smith—Times Recommended Read

INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR (Gardners Books)
Kemptown Bookshop
Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights
One Tree Books
The Chepstow Bookshop
White Rose Books

INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR (Lightning Source)
Constable & Robinson
Hay House Publishers
John Blake
Kyle Cathie
Quiller Publishing
Search Press

GENERAL OR CHAIN BOOKSELLING COMPANY OF THE YEAR (Martina Cole)
Asda
Blackwell
Foyles
Sainsbury's
W H Smith

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR (Publishing Technology)
Faber & Faber
Little, Brown Book Group
Orion Publishing Group
Quercus Publishing
Simon & Schuster UK
Transworld

Read More from The Bookseller

Shots passes our best wishes to all the nominated considering what a tough year we’ve all endured.

Gone Baby Gone in the UK

The Bookseller reports some big news for British Dennis Lehane fans –

Little, Brown has fought off com­petition from four other publishers to acquire the rights to the next two titles by American author Dennis Lehane. Deputy publisher David Shelley bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Sarah Nundy, deputy managing director at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, sold on behalf of Ann Rittenberg of Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency.

Lehane's previous nine novels, including Shutter Island and Mystic River, have been published by Transworld in the UK. Both novels, along with Gone, Baby, Gone, have been made into films.

Shelley said: "He has actually been one of my favourite authors and it has always been a dream of mine to publish him and, when the opportunity came up, I jumped at it. It's like a dream come true. We've got fantastic plans on how to break him through to the next level."

Read More Here

Newsy Stuff

Crimefest have announced their Awards shortlist –

The awards will be given out at Cimefest during the Gala Dinner at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel on Saturday, 22 May. The Awards are as follows -

eDUNNIT AWARD
The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction ebook first published in the UK in 2009.

The award is sponsored by Reader from Sony and the winning author receives £1,000 and a Sony eReader. The winner also receives a commemorative award provided by Bristol Blue Glass.

eDunnit Award nominees:
Josh Bazell for Beat The Reaper (Random House)
Steve Berry for The Charlemagne Pursuit (Hodder & Stoughton)
Juan Gomez-Jurado for Contract With God (Orion)
Bernard Knight for Crowner Royal (Simon & Schuster)
Carol McCleary for The Alchemy of Murder (Hodder & Stoughton)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and leading British crime fiction reviewers voted for the winning title from the shortlisted entries containing additional econtent.

One CrimeFest delegate whose vote coincides with the winning title will be randomly selected and receives an eReader courtesy of Sony.

THE LAST LAUGH AWARD

The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the British Isles in 2009. The £500 award is sponsored by Goldsboro Books, Britain's book collector's bookseller. The winner also receives a commemorative award provided by Bristol Blue Glass.

Last Laugh Award nominees:
Colin Bateman for The Day of the Jack Russell (Headline)
Josh Bazell for Beat the Reaper (Random House)
Chris Ewan for The Good Thief's Guide to Paris (Long Barn Books)
Suzette Hill for Bone Idle (Constable & Robinson)
Malcolm Pryce for From Aberystwyth with Love (Bloomsbury)
Len Tyler for Ten Little Herrings (Macmillan)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and leading British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
One CrimeFest delegate whose vote coincides with the winning title will be randomly selected and receives copies of the shortlisted titles.

SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARDS


The Sounds of Crime Awards are for the best abridged and unabridged crime audiobooks first published in the UK in 2009 in both printed and digital formats, and available for download from the Audible UK website. The Bristol Blue commemorative award goes to both the author and the reader of he winning entry.

The Sounds of Crime Awards are sponsored by Audible UK, the Internet's leading premium spoken audio source.

Nominees for Best Abridged Crime Audiobook:
Dan Brown for The Lost Symbol (abridged by Karen DiMattia). Reader: Paul Michael (Orion)
Lee Child for Gone Tomorrow (abridged by Carolanne Lyme). Reader: Kerry Shale (Random House)
Peter James for Dead Tomorrow (abridged by Kati Nicholl). Reader: William Gaminara (Pan Macmillan)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (translated by Reg Keeland; abridged by Isabel Morgan). Reader: Martin Wenner (Quercus)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Played with Fire (translated by Reg Keeland; abridged by Isabel Morgan). Reader: Martin Wenner (Quercus)
Ian Rankin for The Complaints (abridged by Kati Nicholl). Reader: James Macpherson (Orion)

Nominees for Best Unabridged Crime Audiobook:

Dan Brown for The Lost Symbol. Reader: Paul Michael (Whole Story Audio Books)
Michael Connelly for The Scarecrow. Reader: Peter Giles (Orion)
Peter James for Dead Tomorrow. Reader: David Bauckham (Whole Story Audio Books)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (translated by Reg Keeland). Reader: Saul Reichlin (Whole Story Audio Books)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Played with Fire (translated by Reg Keeland). Reader: Saul Reichlin (Whole Story Audio Books)
Ian Rankin for The Complaints. Reader: Peter Forbes (Whole Story Audio Books)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and Audible UK customers and recipients of the CrimeFest newsletter voted to establish the shortlists and winners. One Audible UK customer or CrimeFest delegate whose votes coincides with the winning titles will be randomly selected and receives an iPod and the shortlisted titles. More info about the conference can be found here.

Forthcoming books to look forward to -

Orion are due to publish The Somnabulist the debut novel by Essie Fox. It is said to be a gripping Victorian Gothic mystery that is wonderfully commercial with shades of Sarah Waters and Diane Setterfield, along with nods to Wilkie Collins and Charlotte Bronte. Orion have also acquired the rights to the debut novel of thriller writer and ex-MI6 field operative Matthew Dunn. in a substantial pre-emptive deal for three books. All three will feature Dunn's charismatic British MI6 operator Will Cochrane. The debut novel is entitled, Megiddo after the codename of the book's villain. Megiddo will be published in hardback in July 2011. More information can be found here.

Craig Russell has been contracted to produce two more books in his Lennox series for Quercus Publishers. The first book in the series Lennox was contracted by Jane Wood back in 2008. Information can be found here. Jane wood has also acquired the rights to six of Tony Park’s African standalone thrillers. Information regarding this can be found here. The first to be published will be Silent Predator in November 2010.

The Watermen by Patrick Easter is the first of a new historical series by a debut author and is set around the London docks in the late 18th Century. The Waterman introduces Tom Pascoe a patrolman with the Marine Police, Britain's first organised Police Force and will be published by Quercus.

Poolbeg Press, Ireland are due to publish Murder at Shandy Hill by Michael Sheridan’s and is an account of a sensational Victorian murder played out with a potent mix of love, betrayal, lust and naked hatred – said to be Ireland's answer to The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Simon & Schuster are due to publish Babylon Nights – the second novel by Daniel Depp which sees private investigator David Spandau hired as bodyguard to a Hollywood actress at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Courier by Ava McCarthy is the follow up to The Insider, which sold in 12 territories. Feisty heroine Harry Martinez witnesses a brutal murder and uncovers a trail of diamond-smuggling which takes her from exclusive horse racing society in Ireland to the brutal world of jewel mining in South Africa. The Courier is due to be published by HarperCollins. They are also due to publish The Woodcutter a standalone novel by Reginald Hill

Random House are due to publish A Dance of Ghosts by Kevin Brooks. A Dance of Ghosts introduces readers to Essex-based private detective John Craine. Brooks is better known as a young adult writer.

The debut novel by Gerry O'Carroll, a legendary Irish detective is The Gathering of Souls. This is the first in a series featuring Detectives Moss Quinn and Joe Doyle and is due to be published by Liberties Press, Ireland. The Gathering of Souls is an authentic, dark tale of obsession, revenge and redemption.

Doubleday are due to publish The Fat Years by Chan Koon-Chung. Said to be the Chinese version of Nineteen Eighty-Four it has been banned in mainland China and follows a writer, obsessed with detective stories as he goes on a quest to uncover the events of a month mysteriously absent from official Chinese records. The Fat Years will be published in the summer of 2011.

From Little Brown Publishers comes Tania Carver’s second novel The Creeper in September 2010 and in January 2011 The Stonehenge Legacy by Sam Christer. In The Stonehenge Legacy a policewoman and an Oxford historian investigate the murder of a man found at Stonehenge.

Macmillan will publish James Herbert’s Ash in October 2010 and it features his most popular character David Ash, the sceptical paranormal detective. David Jackson’s Pariah is due to be published by Macmillan and is out in March 2011. It is a slick, edgy and cinematic novel following New York Police Detective Callum Doyle as he battles to save his family – and himself – from a dangerous and mysterious killer. Also forthcoming from them is Brian McGilloway’s new novel Little Girl Lost in April 2011. Brian McGilloway who is better known for his excellent Inspector Devlin Series introduces readers to his first female lead in Detective Lucy Vaughan.

Serpent’s Tail are due to publish Falling Glass by Adrian McKinty in March 2011. In Falling Glass Killian a Northern Ireland enforcer finds himself in the world of cross and double-cross as he searches for the wife and daughter of a businessman.

After a seven year hiatus Tom Clancy will have his first book published in December 2010. The book Dead or Alive will be published simultaneously in the US and in the UK.

The world’s fascination with Stieg Larsson does not seem to be abating. Columbia Pictures a subsidiary of Sony Corp have bought the movie rights to Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. They will be working alongside Yellow Bird AB who made the Swedish language versions of the films. More information can be found in the following article.

Ridley Scott the director of Gladiator is due to adapt Richard Harris’s novel Pompeii into a four hour mini-series. More information can be found here.

China Miéville’s novel The City and The City has won the British Science Fiction Award for best novel. The City and The City is story of a murder investigation in parallel worlds. The full article can be found here. The City and The City has also been nominated for the 2010 Hugo Awards Best Novel. The 2010 Hugo Awards will be presented in Melbourne, Australia during Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention. The Hugo Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday 5 September 2010.

Roger Ellory’s Anniversary Man

It just seems like yesterday when Roger Ellory told me about THE ANNIVERSARY MAN at last year’s London Book Fair, and now I read this from Booklist –

"This is one of those police-procedural gems that come along once in a blue moon. The book is entirely free of the tired formulas that drive way too many procedurals and that often seem more oriented towardsecuring movie rights than telling a story. And what a story this is! NYPD Detective Ray Irving—overworked, underpaid, and absolutely dedicated to his job—risks his code of ethics and, ultimately, his life to track down a serial killer who is imitating the crimes of some of the worst monsters our society has spawned. An increasing number of leads begin flowing in from newspaper researcher John Costello, a psychologically damaged survivor of the “Hammer of God” killer. Two decades after that traumatic event, Costello now seems to have garnered an uncannily encyclopedic knowledge of serial murderers. Costello’s almost prescient information soon makes him Irving’s number-one resource as well as his number-one suspect. Although Ellory is widely acclaimed in his native Britain, his books have not yet received widespread distribution in the U.S. Following A Quiet Belief in Angels (2009), this could be the one to put his name in lights in this country. Expect his name to be on every crime-fiction fan’s lips in short order." — Elliott Swanson

Read More from Roger’s US Publisher’s The Overlook Press who incidentally published one my favourite US Espionage writers – Robert Littell

Shots Ezine have followed Roger’s career with great interest over the years, and we were glad to see him finally achieving a great audience – if you’ve not explored the dark and insightful mind of Roger Ellory, it’s time you did

More information here

The Girl Who Took 4% of the UK Book Market Last Week

I know I’ve been obsessed with the Stieg Larsson Trilogy from the ‘get-go’ but it seems the fever has spread throughout the UK As reported in The Bookseller -

The final installment in the late Stieg Larsson's Millennium crime trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, sold a phenomenal 98,167 copies in just three days last week. The book, which went on sale on 1st April, comfortably tops this week's Official UK Top 50.

It is one of the strongest sales from a paperback fiction title since records began, and the biggest in a single Sunday-to-Saturday week since John Grisham's The Broker (Arrow) sold 99,146 copies in the week leading up to Christmas Day in 2005. The first book in the trilogy, The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, sold 39,989 copies last week with sales split between the original mass-market edition (21,724) and the new film tie-in edition (18,265), while The Girl Who Played with Fire sold 29,271 copies. In total, just over £800,000 was spent on the three titles, with volume sales accounting for 4% of all book sales last week.While The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest débuts at the summit of the overall chart, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro's San Francisco-set Women's Murder Club thriller, 9th Judgement (Century), debuts at the top of the Original Fiction list thanks to a three-day sale of 13,159 copies.

Lee Child's 61 Hours (Bantam Press) falls one place to second position in that list while Philip Pullman's controversial re-telling of the story of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Canongate), joins the Original Fiction list in third place.

Read More from The Bookseller

Photo © 2010 Ali Karim taken of Hakan Nesser, Eva Gedin, Mark Lawson, Barry Forshaw and Lynda La Plante talking at The Swedish Embassy in London

ITW 2010 Shortlists Out!

The International Thriller Writers [ITW] are proud to announce the finalists for the 2010 Thriller Awards – Congratulations to the Nominated

Best Hard Cover Novel:

VANISHED by Joseph Finder

LONG LOST by Harlan Coben

FEAR THE WORST by Linwood Barclay

THE NEIGHBOR by Lisa Gardner

THE RENEGADES by T. Jefferson Parker

Best Paperback Original:

SHADOW SEASON by Tom Piccirilli
URGE TO KILL by John Lutz

VENGEANCE ROAD by Rick Mofina

THE COLDEST MILE by Tom Piccirilli

NO MERCY by John Gilstrap

Best First Novel:

FRAGMENT by Warren Fahy
DEAD MEN’S DUST by Matt Hilton

COLLISION OF EVIL by John J. Le Beau

DRACULA: THE UN-DEAD by Dacre Stoker

RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL by Jamie Freveletti

Best Short Story:

THE DESERT HERE AND THE DESERT FAR AWAY by Marcus Sakey
A STAB IN THE HEART by Twist Phelan

AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS by F. Paul Wilson

ICED by Harry Hunsicker

BOLDT’S BROKEN ANGEL by Ridley Pearson

Shots passes our congratulations to all the finalists!

2010 Thriller Awards Winners - To be announced at ThrillerFest V

July 10, 2010. Grand Hyatt, NYC

Special thanks to Vicki Hinze, VP Awards Allen Wyler, Awards Committee Chair Julie Korzenko, Liaison And the 2010 Thriller Awards Judges

Read the Rap Sheet Reports of when Shots Editors Mike Stotter and Ali Karim attended Thrillerfest in 2007

Thrillerfest 2007 Part III
http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2007/07/escape-to-new-york-part-iii.html

Thrillerfest 2007 NY Part II
http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2007/07/escape-to-new-york-part-ii.html

Thrillerfest 2007 NY Part I
http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2007/07/escape-to-new-york-part-i_24.html

Photo (c) 2010 A Karim featuring NY Times Bestselling Writers and ITW Members Heather Graham and F. Paul Wilson at the World Horror Convention Brighton, signing ITW 100 Thriller Novels

Adrian Magson buys a Trenchcoat

Crime Writer Adrian Magson emailed Shots Ezine recently about a change in the direction of his writing, so I asked him to let Shots know what’s happening in his world -

I never expected to get two series on the go together, but I’m not complaining!
I've always wanted to write a spy thriller, but consistent with world events and slightly outside the pure intelligence-gathering or counter-espionage aspect. With the aftermath of the Stockwell shooting and other events bringing the security services' operations into the daylight, and the Russians flexing their muscles over South Ossettia (I wrote the Russian bit about a week or so before it happened, which was really spooky) 'Red Station' (Severn House – August 2010) seemed to provide the ideal blend. Following a disastrous drugs operation, and the death of two civilians, Harry Tate, an MI5 officer, is banished to an intelligence outpost staffed by security services ‘wipe-outs’. Unfortunately for Harry, when the Russians choose the same time to march across the border, this gives his bosses the opportunity to get rid of him and his new colleagues altogether.

The second Harry Tate novel comes out next year.

With 'Death on the Marais' (Allison & Busby - Oct) I wanted to write something different, and a French cop story set in the 60s was the result. I was partly educated in France during the 60s, so know the area and era, and it appealed to me to take a top criminal investigator (Lucas Rocco) out of Paris and dump him into the agricultural heartland of Picardie, to see what happens. He’s rough, tough, but still a cop, and there’s a second Rocco novel on the way, too.

David Headley pulled out all the stops to get these deals, and I’m very grateful to him. I also owe thanks to Mike Stotter and Adrian Muller, who have been quietly supporting me behind the scenes, and Ali Karim, too, for always being so supportive. Thank you guys!

Photo © 2009 Bouchercon Indianapolis – Adrian and Ann Magson at The Slippery Noodle

Newsy Stuff

Some news worthy bits of information –

Left Coast Crime has come and gone and some awards were given out in the process. They are as follows –

The Dilys Award (given out by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to “the mystery title of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling”): The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley (Delacorte)
The Lefty Award (for a humorous mystery): Getting Old Is a Disaster, by Rita Lakin (Dell)
The Bruce Alexander Award (for a historical mystery set before 1950): A Trace of Smoke, by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge)
The Panik Award (for L.A.-based noir, honoring deceased LCC 2010 chairman Paul Anik): Death Was in the Picture, by Linda L. Richards (St. Martin’s Press). Congratulations to all the winners. A full list of the nominations can be found here

According to Publishers Weekly David Baldacci’s new book Deliver Us from Evil will be published not only as a hardback but also as an e-book and an enhanced e-book. The enhanced e-book he explains will contain audio, video and photos along with deleted original text so that the reader can see the creative process. The full article can be found here.

Dutton are pinning high hopes on John Grisham’s young readers book that is due out on May 25. The initial print run for Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer is a million. More information can be found here.

Not one to beat about the bush Ian Rankin in an interview with Breandain O'Shea of Deutsche Welle just before the Lit Cologne explains why he believes that some of the best crime fiction is literature. And some of the best literature is crime fiction. He also talks about the bitchiness that can be found at literary festivals. The whole interview can be found here.


Nordic Bookblog have the first review of the collaborative effort between James Patterson and Liza Marklund. The novel is called Postcard Killers and the whole review can be found on the Nordic Bookblog.

According to Booktrade, best selling author Caroline Lawrence who is known for her Roman Mysteries is set to start a new series. The rights for The Western Mysteries: The Case Of The Counterfeit Injuns and three further 'cases' in the series have been sold to Orion publishers. More information can be found here.

Authors may have to think carefully where they set their books in future if this Montmartre fabric store has anything to do with it. They are suing author Lalie Walker after she set her recent crime novel in the area. The full article can be found in the Guardian.

It is a shame that Stieg Larsson is not alive to see how much his work is being appreciated. According to The Local (Sweden’s News in English) the film of The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo has opened to rousing reviews in the US. The article can be found here.

Mark Timlin in the Independent gives Lee Child’s new Reacher book 61 Hours the thumbs up. The continuation will make for a most interesting read when it is released this March.

Stieg Larsson and Swedish Crime Fiction

On Thursday 18 March the Swedish Ambassador Staffan Carlsson played host to a wide range of crime fiction reviews, authors and other dignitaries when he hosted “Crimes of the Millennium – Stieg Larsson and the rise of Swedish Mystery Fiction at the Swedish Embassy. Radio presenter Mark Lawson chaired the event whilst the panel members were crime fiction critic Barry Forshaw who has just finished writing a biography of Stieg Larsson, (The Man who Left Too Soon), Eva Gedin (Larsson’s publisher), crime writer Lynda La Plante and Swedish author Håkan Nesser. The event was also being recorded for the British Library.

In a wide-ranging discussion they discussed the success of the Millennium Trilogy. Barry Forshaw wondered whether the poignancy of his early death could have had something to do with it. His publisher Eva Gedin dismissed this as she pointed out that Larsson died in November 2004 before any of the books had in fact been published. She informed the audience that she had immediately been enthusiastic about the manuscripts when she had seen them but at the Frankfurt book fair in 2004 she was not sure about the buzz that had been created. Surprisingly, they had been pre-empted by German publishers and there had been a lot of interest from Scandinavian countries. They had been pleased that Random House had picked up the series because they published some of his favourite US authors. Another question that arose was whether or not we the reader are getting the manuscripts as Larsson wrote them. His publisher explained that they were very well written but he wanted to be edited. However she did not agree that his death caused his success. She believed that he was a great crime novelist. Author Håkan Nesser also agreed as he commented, “hype is a hype is a hype”. He felt that it was Larsson’s time and that there are times when hype was needed.

Lynda La Plante expressed the view that she felt that the title was attention grabbing. The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo was published in Sweden as Män som hatar kvinnor; the closest translation to the original title is Men Who Hate Women. As she went on to explain, the book comes through and hits you. She did not feel however that The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest were as good as the first book. It was unlike the Da Vinci Code, which was aimed at a specific audience. Lynda La Plante did however agree with Håkan Nesser and his publisher that his death had no sway in the popularity of the books. Eva Gedin also explained that on his death it became difficult to sell the rights to his books. France was apparently the first to buy the rights outside Scandinavia. In Germany however they have one-word titles, which are felt not to be expressive.

The question of who his influences were also arose and Gedin explained that two of them were Pippi Långstrump (Longstocking) and also the Twin Detectives.

The Chair Mark Lawson wanted to know whether or not Larsson was an economical writer. Håkan Nesser thought that he was not. But as he explained, you tended to read quickly and therefore not notice the language. He felt that he was not economical with words. Lynda La Plante felt that in book 3 there were too many characters. In contrast to this Eva Gedin said that she had liked book 3 and that Larsson had wanted a group of people and did not want there to be only 2 and that she felt that he had plotted the characters right. Håkan Nesser on the other hand felt that in the film there were too many characters and thus one got lost, as you were unable to keep track of them. He also commented that things were now changed in the 90s and that good crime fiction was getting closer to the main stream. Larsson’s publisher also expressed the view that he was aware of the fact that he was writing crime fiction and that what he wanted to do was to entertain especially since he had been reading the genre since his early teens.

Lynda La Plante expressed the view that he had created in-depth characters. Barry Forshaw also commented that he felt that Larsson was fully aware of tradition but that he wanted to do things differently from someone such as Henning Mankell for example.

Mark Lawson also raised the issue of themes that could be found in his books and these included cyber crime, political corruption and domestic violence. Barry Forshaw raised the point as to whether or not Larsson had feminist pretentions? Eva Gedin pointed out that the serial killer in the book was based on real cases. She also acknowledged that there had been some critics of the film due to the amount of violence.

Of course the perennial question as to whether or not there were any other novels was also arose. Gedin informed the audience that whilst it may be possible there were none that she knew of and that she was quite content with the 3 that had been published. Barry Forshaw also said that he felt a sense of closure and that his conclusion was that he did not think that there were any other books.

Mark Lawson also raised the topic of Swedish crime fiction in general and asked what were its particular qualities. Håkan Nesser explained that his books were not political in contrast to Henning Mankell’s, which were political, and Stieg Larsson’s, which were extremely political. He also explained that it was felt that their characters were not supposed to have any emotion. Barry Forshaw also pointed out that they had strong women characters. Mark Lawson also pointed out the fact that landscape and setting were also very important and had been used by Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell very strongly. Gedin also identified the fact that Swedish crime tended to be set in small cities and towns. Barry Forshaw also said that one should not forget the social analysis that is also pulled apart in their books. According to Håkan Nesser they show the political decline of Swedish society. Lynda La Plante confessed that she found Henning Mankell boring and depressing as crime was everywhere in the world. She also felt that whilst they were trite they were well written.

The event at the Swedish Embassy was well attended and amongst those in attendance included my fellow Shotsmag contributor Ali Karim, Karen Meek from Euro Crime, critic Jessica Mann, CWA Diamond Dagger Award winner Andrew Taylor, CWA Gold Dagger Winner Ann Cleeves, Andrew Clark and Chris Simmonds from Crime Squad, Selina Walker from Transworld Publishers and freelance journalist Jake Kerridge to name a few. With members of the audience also given the opportunity to ask questions and from the type of the questions that were asked, as well it is clear that the phenomenon that is Stieg Larsson and his books still have a long way to run.

National Crime Fiction Week

Website to help celebrate crime writing week

The Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has created a new website to promote National Crime Fiction Week.

A nationwide celebration of crime writing, National Crime Fiction Week will run from Monday June 14, for one week.

Members of the CWA will take part in readings, discussions, readers’ group events and workshops all over the country, including in many libraries.

The website, on www.crimefictionweek.co.uk, will provide information, events listings, contacts and posters for download.

The CWA also has print flyers which can be sent out to events organisers, and reader development officers. Please direct requests to info@thecwa.co.uk

A key part of the week will be the announcement of the winner of the Young Crime Writers' Competition. Organised by the CWA in partnership with library authorities nationwide, the entries will be judged by members of the CWA.

CWA Chair Margaret Murphy said: “This promises to be an exciting week that celebrates crime writing in all its forms.

“We are already receiving excellent support from libraries and other interested organisations and we are confident that will build even further as the week approaches.”

* If you have organised a Crime Fiction Week event, you can add it onto the website by filling in the form on the website (take the JOIN IN link).

NOTES TO MEDIA

For press enquiries or more information on the CWA, please visit the website,

www.thecwa.co.uk, or contact media.enquiries@thecwa.co.uk