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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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July 24, 2006

Anthony Award nominations

And I must say, the cliche is true - it really is just an honor to be nominated:

Best Mystery Novel
 Bloodlines, Jan Burke, Simon and Schuster
 Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly, Little, Brown
 Mercy Falls, William Kent Krueger, Atria
 Red Leaves, Thomas H. Cook, Harcourt
 To the Power of Three, Laura Lippman

Best First Mystery
The Baby Game, Randall Hicks, Wordslinger Press
Die a Little, Megan Abbott, Simon and Schuster
 Immoral, Brian Freeman, St. Martin’s Minotaur
 Officer Down, Theresa Schwegel, St. Martin’s Minotaur
 Tilt-a-Whirl, Chris Grabenstein, Carroll & Graf

Best Paperback Original
 Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Susan McBride, Avon
 The James Deans, Reed Farrel Coleman, Plume
 A Killing Rain, P.J. Parrish, Pinnacle
 Kiss Her Goodbye, Allan Guthrie, Hard Case Crime
 Six Bad Things, Charlie Huston, Ballantine

Best Short Story
“Driven to Distraction,” Marcia Talley, Chesapeake Crimes II, Quiet Storm
“House Rules,” Libby Fischer Hellmann, Murder in Vegas, Forge
“Killer Blonde,” Elaine Viets, Drop-Dead Blond, Signet
“Misdirection,” Barbara Seranella, Greatest Hits, Carroll & Graf
“There is No Crime on Easter Island,” Nancy Pickard, EQMM

Best Critical/Nonfiction
Behind the Mystery, Stuart Kaminsky, Hot House
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, Melanie Rehak, Harcourt
Heirs of Anthony Boucher, Marv Lachman, Poison Pen
New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Leslie S. Klinger, W.W. Norton
Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel, Hallie Ephron, Writer’s Digest

Best Fan Publication
Crimespree Magazine, Jon and Ruth Jordan
Deadly Pleasures, George Easter
Mystery News, Lynn Kaczmarek and Chris Aldrich
Mystery Scene Magazine, Brian Skupin and Kate Stine
Mystery Readers Journal, Janet Rudolph

Special Service to the Field
George Easter, Deadly Pleasures
Janet Rudolph, Mystery Readers International
Maddy Van Hertbruggen, 4 Mystery Addicts
Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind

Winners will be announced on Saturday, September 30, at Bouchercon in Madison, Wisconsin. Congratulations to all the nominees.

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Comments

Congrats Sarah and all the nominees.

Congratulations Sarah!! what a great list it is indeed.

Wonderful lists -- warmest congrats to Sarah, Jon & Ruth, and all nominees..

Sarah, CrimeSpree, Brian, Allan, P.J., Laura, et al... so much to root for here. Congrats all.

This is a list where it's hard to imagine an outcome that won't delight people -- especially Best Novel. I could root for anyone on that list, but I am especially thrilled to see Bloodlines, which was in my top five.

And now I really have to read Red Leaves, which I've been delaying only because I thought it would wreck my head, given the nature of my current WIP. (Fallout from an unsolved tragedy, etc.)

Congratulations to you Sarah, and to all the nominees.....

Wow, congrats to you and to all. A great list.

I agree with Laura. It's a fine list that will delight many, many readers. There are lots of my favorites from last year listed, particularly in the Best Novel and Best PBO categories. And special congratulations to Janet and Sarah both in the Special Services arena!

This is Al's week.

And congrats to Laura and Sarah and Theresa... (I sound like Romper Room... and if you get that reference, you must be from Jersey.)

Excellent news, good luck Sarah - you are in excellent company - 4 great folk tough choices in all brackets.

Being nominated is just great, good luck you are all winners in my book

Ali
www.shotsmag.co.uk

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/AKarim1462/leechild.jpg

Here'a yet another congrat, Sarah! Yes-the cliche is true, ain't it a grand feeling?

It's great to see so many favorites nominated - but sad to note others I'd hoped would be short-listed missing.

Ahem, Mr. White -- Romper Room was a Baltimore-creation, the brainchild of the Clasters, Bert and Nancy. The show was filmed here and local teachers then did inserts. But the Magic Mirror was born on TV Hill.

And Miss Nancy was a great handicapper. I once spent a day at the track with her.

I come from the Miss Molly era... I don't even know who Miss Nancy is.

Oh Sarah, I'm delighted for you.

And all the other nominees.

A great list, indeed. And as a native Angeleno, I must do a shout-out for Hobo Kelly, although Romper Room was pretty cool, too. Didn't know about the local inserts.

Rock on Sarah. We always knew you were, er, special. And screw this Romper room BS. I'm a Polka Dot Door kid. That song...

Congrats, Sarah. Cash payments have been sent to the appropriate people. Don't worry. I'm on the case.

Congrats Sarah! Confessions is always something I look forward to reading as a rookie scribbler.

Congrats, Sarah. A well-deserved honor.

Oh... and congrats Megan! I should really read these entire lists before I post. And Reed!

That's why I went with 'all the nominees'.

Oh and there were a number of places with their own Romper Room shows. I was on the one in Boston. We had Miss Jean. I still remember being extremely depressed that I was sick the day they used the punching balls.

Excellent news, Sarah. Congratulations and everyone repeat after me:

"I'm a fucking nominee!"

It gets you the best seats in all the finer restaurants. Trust me.

Congrats Sarah. It is always wonderful to have so many friends nominated and so deserving of recognition. I'm once again glad that I don't have to decide....you guys are all winners in my mind.

Wow!! Excellent list. Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated especially Sarah, Jon and Ruth. I think it will be interesting to see the results.

Ayo

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