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Picks of the Week

  • Harry Dolan: Bad Things Happen

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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.

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November 15, 2005

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» Schotten dicht? from krimiblog.de
Mit Argusaugen blicken einige englische Krimiautoren und -autorinnen auf ihre ausländischen Kolleg/innen. Nachdem der Isländer Arnaldur Indridason den diesjährigen Golden Dagger der englischen Crime Writers Association gewonne... [Read More]

Comments

I hate to disabuse them, but they are NOT the "British Crime Writers' Association"... British specificality is mentioned nowhere.

It's job is to promote British crime writing? Nonsense. It's job is to promote crime writing. British crime writing tends to promote itself by being, well, based in Britain.

I've sent strongly worded emails about this.

Needless to say, I am very, very angry. (I would be less so if there were a "Best Translated Crime Novel" award somewhere in sight, but as of yet there isn't...)

I really can't believe this.

According to my CWA Crime Writers Association membership booklet 14th edition June 2005 it says:
The Crime Writers' Association was founded by the late John Creasey in 1953. Full membership is limited to published writers of crime fiction or non-fiction who are resident in GB but, at the discretion of the Committee, writers from overseas are welcome...
So what's this tempest brewing in a teapot?

Does American English count?

How do we compare this to the Edgar for best first which only goes to an "American" author? - not the Edgar for best novel, which I just checked and has no limits but MWA does limit the "best first" award.
I dunno if it's a tempest, an uproar or what since I'm not familiar with the other nominees this year. I GEt it even if it makes me uncomfortable. Three out of the last 8? So? They ARE 52 years old (hey! we were born the same year!) and if I understand the "dagger of daggers" that means they've given awards for that long. I did read another book by the winner and was croggled to see him win this; he did not strike me as more than a pretty generic, fairly ordinary crime novelist. Maybe this book was really different. And while technically "Britain" isn't in the title, I would say that pertty much everyone who knows awards and organizations in the genre thinks of them as the British orgainzation. Yes they have non-British members (as I checked on their website, which yes does end in co.uk).

If they change the rules, I'd like to think that the translator, as a creator in his or her own right, counts for something in the equation. Maybe the translator should have to be British or living in Britain.

The CWA was given very little opportunity in the press to comment on this and to put our side of the argument. I would like to say that we are actively seeking sponsorship for an award for books in translation that reward the translator as well as the writer.

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