Anthony Nominees

Great news this year! One of our regular bloggers on The Poisoned Fiction review has been nominated for an Anthony Award for best website this year(Chantelle Aimée Osman). If you get a chance head over to her website and say Hi. We are also happy to note that 4 out of the 5 authors nominated for best first novel signed at The Poisoned Pen.  To find out more about this prestigious award head over to the Bouchercon Website. 

 

 BEST WEBSITE/BLOG
Jen's Book Thoughts - Jen Forbus [www.jensbookthoughts.com]
The Rap Sheet - J. Kingston Pierce [therapsheet.blogspot.com]
Sirens of Suspense - Chantelle Aimée Osman [www.sirensofsuspense.com]
Spinetingler - Sandra Ruttan [www.spinetinglermag.com]
Stop, You're Killing Me! - Lucinda Surber, Stan Ulrich [www.stopyourekillingme.com]

BEST NOVEL
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Tom Franklin [William Morrow]
Faithful Place - Tana French [Viking]
The Lock Artist - Steve Hamilton [Minotaur Books]
I'd Know You Anywhere - Laura Lippman [William Morrow]
Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny [Minotaur Books]

BEST FIRST NOVEL
Damage Done - Hilary Davidson [Forge Books]
Rogue Island - Bruce DeSilva [Forge Books]
The Poacher's Son - Paul Doiron [Minotaur Books]
The Sherlockian - Graham Moore [Twelve]
Snow Angels - James Thompson [Putnam]

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Long Time Coming - Robert Goddard [Bantam]
The Hanging Tree - Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
Drive Time - Hank Phillippi Ryan [Mira]
Expiration Date - Duane Swierczynski [Minotaur Books]
Vienna Secrets - Frank Tallis [Random House]

BEST SHORT STORY
"Scent of Lilacs" - Doug Allyn, EQMM Sep/Oct'10
"Swing Shift" - Dana Cameron, Crimes By Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side [Berkley]
"The Hitter" - Chris F. Holm, Needle: A Magazine of Noir Summer'10
"So Much in Common" - Mary Jane Maffini, EQMM Sep/Oct'10
"Homeless" - Patricia L. Morin, Mystery Montage: A Collection of Short Story Mystery Genres [Top]
"The Frame Maker" - Simon Wood, The Back Alley Webzine Vol III No.3

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL
Scalped Vol 6: The Gnawing - Jason Aaron [Vertigo]
Richard Stark's Parker, Vol 2: The Outfit - Darwyn Cooke [IDW Press]
Tumor - Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon [Archaia Studios Press]
Sickness in the Family - Denise Mina [Vertigo]
Beasts of Burden - Jill Thompson, Evan Dorkin [Dark Horse]
The Chill - Jason Starr [Vertigo]

BEST CRITICAL/NONFICTION
The Wire: Truth Be Told - Rafael Alvarez [Grove Press]
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks - John Curran [Harper Collins]
Sherlock Holmes for Dummies - Steve Doyle [For Dummies]
Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History - Yunte Huang [W W Norton]
Thrillers: 100 Must Reads - David Morrell [Oceanview]

Barbara's eNews now available on Kindle

In an odd twist, we are able to publish our blogs so that you can read them on your Kindle. What we've done in this case is to have Barbara's eNews which goes out 2-3 times a week come directly to your Kindle. Having this feature does cost $1.99 per month for an otherwise free service, but it does give you added convenience. Just visit the Amazon blog page here to subscribe. 

Arthur Ellis Shortlist

THE 2011 ARTHUR ELLIS SHORTLISTS

Best Crime Novel
A Criminal to Remember, Michael Van Rooy, Turnstone Press
Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny, Little, Brown UK
In Plain Sight, Mike Knowles, ECW Press
Slow Recoil, C.B. Forrest, RendezVous Crime
The Extinction Club, Jeffrey Moore, Penguin Group

Best First Crime Novel
The Damage Done, Hilary Davidson, Tom Doherty Associates
The Debba, Avner Mandelman, Random House of Canada
The Penalty Killing, Michael McKinley, McClelland & Stewart
The Parabolist, Nicholas Ruddock, Doubleday Canada
Still Missing, Chevy Stevens, St. Martin's Press

Best French Crime Book
Cinq secondes, Jacques Savoie, Libre Expression
Dans le quartier des agités, Jacques Côté, Éditions Alire
La société des pères meurtriers, Michel Châteauneuf, Vent d’Ouest
Quand la mort s'invite à la première, Bernard Gilbert, Québec Amerique
Vanités, Johanne Seymour, Libre Expression

Best Crime Nonfiction
Northern Light, Roy MacGregor, Random House
On the Farm, Stevie Cameron, Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Our Man in Tehran, Robert Wright, HarperCollins Canada

Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book
Borderline, Allan Stratton, HarperCollins
Pluto's Ghost, Sheree Fitch, Doubleday Canada
The Vinyl Princess, Yvonne Prinz, HarperCollins
The Worst Thing She Ever Did, Alice Kuipers, HarperCollins
Victim Rights, Norah McClintock, Red Deer Press

Best Crime Short Story
In It Up To My Neck, Jas R. Petrin, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
So Much in Common, Mary Jane Maffini, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
The Big Touch, Jordan McPeek, Thuglit.com
The Piper's Door, James Powell, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
The Bust, William Deverell, Whodunnit: Sun Media’s Canadian Crime Fiction Showcase

Best First Unpublished Novel
(Unhanged Arthur)
Better Off Dead, John Jeneroux
Uncoiled, Kevin Thornton
When the Bow Breaks, Jayne Barnard

Taken from: http://www.crimewriterscanada.com/ 

The Crime Writers of Canada – How it all began

By Tony Aspler, founding President

In the summer of 1982 seven men with criminal intent met in Dooley’s bar, a suitably insalubrious downtown Toronto watering hole for what we had in mind. The co-conspirators were the late Derrick Murdoch, mystery reviewer for The Toronto Star, British novelist Tim Heald, book reviewer, the late Doug Marshall, editor John Pearce, authors Howard Engel, Larry Morse and myself. The noise in the establishment was such that we were driven out to the more lofty and salubrious surroundings of the rooftop bar in the Park Plaza.

The purpose of the meeting was to form an association of crime writers modeled on the Crime Writers of Great Britain. Although my genre at the time was political thrillers (I co-wrote three with Gordon Pape – ‘Chain Reaction’, ‘The Scorpion Sanction’ and ‘The Music Wars’) I was voted by default, to be the first President of the fledgling Crime Writers of Canada.

For the first year we met monthly in a room at the Toronto Reference Library, a fitting venue since it houses one of the world's foremost collections of library materials devoted to the life and works of Arthur Conan Doyle. At those early meetings we would invite an expert in different aspects of crime – cops, forensic scientists, criminal lawyers, etc. Eddie Greenspan was one of our guests whom we subsequently co-opted into presenting the Arthur Ellis Awards. These awards were named after the nom de travail of Canada’s hangmen. The wooden statuettes (a condemned man on a gibbet whose arms and legs flail when you pull a string – considered by some to be in execrable taste) were designed under the supervision of Tim Wynn-Jones, who subsequently retreated from the crime fold to write children’s books. (See note below)

The first recipient of the Arthur Ellis Award, in those days a single prize for the best novel published the previous year, was won by Eric Wright for ‘The Night The Gods Smiled,’ beating out works by William Deverell and Ted Wood. Next year it was Howard Engel for his second Benny Cooperman novel, ‘The Ransom Game.’ Both Eric and Howard would in turn ascend the throne of the Presidency of the Crime Writers of Canada. We used to publish a quarterly newsletter called ‘Fingerprints’ and the first item was the President’s letter, titled ‘Speech from the Throne.’

For my part, I returned to pure crime fiction with ‘Titanic’ and a series of Ezra Brant wine murder mysteries, ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Beaujolais’, ‘The Beast of Barbaresco’ and ‘Death on the Douro.’ I’m currently working on ‘Nightmare in Napa.’

A note on Arthur by Tim Wynn-Jones

I'm happy to clarify Arthur's history. It was my job to head the committee, as Tony said. And my big contribution, as far as I'm concerned, was in realizing that a book prize is kind of a stage prop. The darn thing should look good in somebody's hands as well as on their mantel. So I thought to go to a stage designer, Peter Blais, who happened also to be a wonderful actor, and who happened to be someone I had acted with and knew to have a wicked sense of humour. He got it! He understood what I was trying to say and came up with the jumping jack. So Peter very much deserves the kudos for Arthur and I'm just pleased to have got him on board. It's the best prize around, as far as I'm concerned. I'm lucky enough to have won one and also to have won an Edgar and Arthur beats Edgar all to heck!

Video Games and Crime Fiction...together at last.

Some huge names have written stories in conjunction with the release of a new video game. (Oates, Lansdale, Block) Frustratingly this collection will only be for sale as an ebook collection. That aside however, they have done quite a nice job creating pulp-style covers, it's a neat way to reach a new audience and it means new stories for us! 

Rockstar Video Games' logo

"In honor of L.A. Noire, Rockstar Games and Mulholland Books have teamed up to create a collection of short stories that celebrate detective fiction and the genre's contemporary masters. Readers will enjoy eight original short fiction stories, many of which revisit the characters and cases in the game, providing a new spin to tell the tales of emotionally torn protagonists, depraved schemers and ill-fated victims.

With original short fiction selections by Lawrence Block, Duane Swierczynski, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Santlofer, Joyce Carol Oates, Francine Prose, Megan Abbott, and Andrew Vachss, these stories expand upon the world of L.A. Noire.

 Below you can read our latest full story, "Hell of an Affair" by Duane Swierczynski, as well as our first full story, "What's In A Name" by Jonathan Santlofer. Both are available as either a downloadable PDF or via our online reader. Look for more works from the collection to be released here leading up to and through the release of L.A. Noire on May 17th.

 On June 6th, look for the release of the complete L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories to be available at all major eBook retailers. Residents of the US and Canada can pre-order their copies now for $0.99 (coming soon for the UK and Australia)."


More details can be found at rockstargames.com(link). You can download and read Duane Swierczynski's short story here and Megan Abbott's here. I recommend just heading over to the site though, for navigation's sake.

Hi-tech Student

SAN DIEGO NOIR - A REVIEW

  "San Diego Noir" is the latest in the Akashic Books locality-based series. For those of you unfamiliar with the set, they are a collection of short stories tied to a particular city or geographic area.  Often they are edited by authors associated with the places in the title.
    
     The latest installment consists of stories by some nationally well-known writers and some local and first-time authors.  This fits the usual pattern in the series.

     Maryelizabeth Hart, an indie bookseller, has done a wonderful job in gathering a strong collection of  crime stories.  They range from tales of San Diego during World War 2 to the present and all its issues.

     The better known authors(Jeff Parker, Don Winslow, Luis Alberto Urrea, et al) deliver strong stories as expected.  However, the stories by writers, I at least, do not know, give us equally compelling tales.

     The art of the short story and its popularity has waned over the years. Akashic, in this series, numbering over 45 volumes and counting, has done a lot to keep the genre alive.  Without divulging too much(Don't you hate it when reviews lay out the entire plot of books?) I found the following especially effective.

     T. Jefferson Parker pens a classic noir with a Hollywood, by way of San Diego, twist.
   

Maryelizabeth Hart will be signing
at The Poisoned Pen with husband,
fellow author and co-owner of
The Mysterious Galaxy, Jeff Mariotte. 

Jeff Mariotte

  Jeffrey Mariotte presents us with a nasty noir dilemma.

     Martha Lawrence gives us a very clever story with a delightful Southern California mystical angle.

     Don Winslow(presently riding the success of his novel "Satori") is one of my favorite authors and he comes through big time here.  His story takes place in 1945 but is just as timely in its subject then as it is now.

     Gar Anthony Haywood drops us into the wicked fun of San Diego's Comic-Con: Bad things ensue.

     Gabriel Barillas shows us San Diego from the perspective of the illegals in a heart-breaker of a story.

     The great Luis Alberto Urrea take Junior Garcia back to the "hood" and even incorporates a trip to Arizona and its controversial stand on immigration.

     Eight more tales round out the collection, even a kind of vampire noir, and they all portray San Diego from unique perspectives.  If you enjoy short stories, noir-crime, or have visited San Diego this a good opportunity to see the city from some very different angles.

     While Hart's book is a standout I would be remiss in not mentioning our own addition to the series.  "Phoenix Noir"($16), edited by the Poisoned Pen's own bookseller to the world, Patrick Millikin, has a truly star-studded roster of authors.  In fact the aforementioned Luis Alberto Urrea's story won the Edgar award as the best of the year.  While I am sure that readers of the Poisoned Pen blog already own this volume, for any who do not, now is your chance.  It has great stories that exploit all areas of our valley by terrific writers.  Buy it or order it and Patrick will gladly sign and personalize it for you.

     And finally remember:  Buying books at the Poisoned Pen is good for the soul.


    -Steve Schwartz




To browse the Noir editions from Akashic which The Poisoned Pen has on hand, click here.