Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind: Macavity Awards

Picks of the Week

Harry Dolan: Bad Things Happen
BAD THINGS HAPPEN is a nifty debut, cleverly told and unfurled from the very first line: "The shovel has to meet certain requirements" on through meeting "the man who calls himself David Loogan." There are reasons for concealment, just as there are reasons the editor of a mystery magazine bearing little resemblance to EQMM or AHMM might bring him into the fold, thus catalyzing a series of murderous events. The twists come quickly and the dialogue is sharp and if it falls apart slightly at the end, no matter - I want to read much more from Dolan from now on.
Ian MacKenzie: City of Strangers: A Novel
MacKenzie's debut novel reminded me a lot of Paul Auster's NEW YORK TRILOGY, whether it was intended or not, in terms of his choice of words, the thrust of the narrative and the existential nature of the main character (whose first name, incidentally, is Paul) caught up in a snowballing sequence of strange and violent events in and around New York City. MacKenzie straddles the line between thriller and internal examination of a man's failings, and his ability to do so establishes him as a young writer of serious talent and future.
Megan Abbott: Bury Me Deep
In a word: amazing. In more words: Megan Abbott, who has never delivered anything less than an excellent novel, exceeds expectations and takes a very bold and very necessary step forward both in the quality of the prose, the development of her characters and especially in portraying how obsession seeps into the very soul of people, transforming them into their worst nightmares all too easily. Just read this book. And then tell many others to do so as well.
Ninni Holmqvist: The Unit
Understandably, echoes of THE HANDMAID'S TALE are hard to ignore in this dystopic examination of a society where fertility is so high a priority that older, single, marginal women are shut away in secret locales to live out the rest of their lives in seemingly perfect harmony - at least, until the "donations" begin. But Holmqvist's marvelous book doesn't browbeat her thesis into the reader and smartly expands her ideas to look at the plight of all marginalized folk, women and men alike, and how the promise of comforts can be the most horrifying of all. Prepare to be disturbed, but prepare further to think about the ramifications.
Paula Froelich: Mercury in Retrograde
This is possibly the most perfect novel for today's economically challenged times. Why? Because it has plenty of glitz and glamor and blind items, as befitting a narrative by the deputy editor of Page Six, but Froelich isn't arch or snarky or acid-tongued in the slightest. Her trio of protagonists land in all manner of embarrassing situations but they aren't played for mean-spirited laughs. The New York here is something of a fantasy-land, but not so far off the mark that it's completely unbelievable. Most of all it's clear Froelich remains sincere and optimistic about her chosen city, and has retained her sense of fun. So no need to check your brain at the door, but sometimes it just needs to chill out and relax.

June 22, 2004

Macavity Awards

Mystery Readers International announces the Nominees for the 2003 Macavity Awards:

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt (Putnam)
For the Love of Mike by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin's)
The Guards by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Done for a Dime by David Corbett (Ballantine)
The House Sitter by Peter Lovesey (Soho)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY NOVEL

Night of the Dance by James Hime, St. Martin's Minotaur
Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca C. Pawel (Soho)
The Bridge of Sighs by Olen Steinhauer (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho press)

BEST NON-FICTION

Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction, Vol. 3 by Colleen A Barnett (Poisoned Pen Press)
A Second Helping of Murder: More Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers by Jo Grossman & Robert Weibezahl (Poisoned Pen Press)
Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction by Gary Warren Niebuhr (Libraries Unlimited)
Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith by Andrew Wilson (Bloomsbury)

BEST SHORT STORY
"The Grass Is Always Greener" by Sandy Balzo (EQMM, March 2003)
"Rogues Gallery" by Robert Barnard (EQMM,_March 2003)
"Texas Two-Step" by Diana Deverell (AHMM, February 2003)
"No Man's Land" by Beth Foxwell (Blood On Their Hands, ed. by Lawrence Block, Berkley Prime Crime)
"War Crimes" by G. Miki Hayden (A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime, ed. by Jeffery Deaver, Berkley Prime Crime)
"Child Support," by Ronnie Klaskin (A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime,
ed. by Jeffery Deaver, Berkley Prime Crime)
"Red Meat" by Elaine Viets (Blood On Their Hands, ed. by Lawrence
Block, Berkley Prime Crime)

The Macavity Awards will be given at Bouchercon, the World Mystery convention, in October in Toronto. Congratulaions to all the nominees.

Posted at 09:53 AM in World of Mystery | Permalink

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Comments

Go Olen. 2nd time is gotta be the charm.

Tough choice for best novel. Like seeing Dave Corbett up for an award. However, Mr. Bruen your star shines so bright these days.

Posted by: Aldo | June 22, 2004 at 09:55 AM

No, I won't bemoan the lack of online short fiction recognition... even though I want to. Instead, I'll wish Bruen the best of Celtic luck.

Posted by: Ray | June 22, 2004 at 12:18 PM

Amazingly, Ray, I came on to be-moan the same thing. I guess eventually one of us is going to have to get into AHMM, huh?

Posted by: Dave White | June 22, 2004 at 12:35 PM

I know guys, it's getting to be a broken record about the lack of online fiction anywhere. I think that if there's going to be an attitude change, it'll be of the slow-progression type. I mean hey, a year or two ago, who'd have thought that bloggers would be so prevalent amongst the new freelancing crowd?

What I want to know is, considering the bumper crop of first novels last year, the MRI folks could only get four nominees? Hello? Bill Landay, Wallace Stroby, Lono Waiwaiole, and no doubt I'm forgetting others?

The other problem with the awards is that I'm so deep into 2004 books (and starting to think about 2005) that 2003 seems so long ago...mostly because it was.

Posted by: Sarah | June 22, 2004 at 12:48 PM

Congrats to Olen and Ken and David. I'm looking forward to seeing the Anthony nominations too. In fact, I'd better get choosing :o) I DO like awards where I get to nominate and vote.
Donna

Posted by: Donna | June 22, 2004 at 03:32 PM

Congratulations to eveyone who got nominated. I am particularly interested in the Best Non-Fiction and I hope that Colleen Barnett wins this time around. All three volumes of her Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction are a must for those of us that need background information on early female characters. They are amongst the best crime fiction reference books available.

Ayo

Posted by: Ayo Onatade | June 23, 2004 at 08:28 AM

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