Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Agathas, Edgars and Dame Ruth Rendell: ’tis the season of book awards, and a sad passing

This is the season for awards.

The 2015 Agatha Awards


The 2015 Agatha Awards were announced at the annual Malice Domestic gathering in Bethesda, Maryland this weekend. Agathas (named, obviously, for Ms. Christie) are awarded for traditional mysteries first published in the U.S. by a living author. “Traditional
mysteries” contain no explicit sex and “no excessive gore or gratuitous violence.” And the winners are:

  • Best Contemporary Novel: Truth Be Told by Hank Phillippi Ryan
  • Best Historical Novel: Queen of Hearts by Rhys Bower
  • Best First Novel: Well Read, Then Dead by Terrie Farley
  • Best Nonfiction: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey by Hank Phillippi Ryan (ed.)
  • Best Short Story: The Odds Are Against Us by Art Taylor
  • Best Children’s/Young adult: The Code Buster’s Club, Case#4, The Mummy’s Curse by Penny Warner

Sara Paretsky was presented with Malice Domestic’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Guest of Honor” was the mother-son team writing as Charles Todd and International Guest of Honor was Ann Cleeves.


The 2015 Edgar Awards


Mystery Writers of America presented the 2015 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, “honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television” at its 69th Gala Banquet on April 29 in New York. This year’s winners are:


  • Best Novel: Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
  • Best First Novel by an American Author: Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman
  • Best Paperback Original: The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani
  • Best Fact Crime: Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
  • Best Critical/Biographical: Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe by J.W. Ocker
  • Best Short Story: “What Do You Do?” – Rogues by Gillian Flynn
  • Best Juvenile: Greenglass House by Kate Milford
  • Best Young Adult: The Art of Secrets by James Klise
  • Best Television Episode Teleplay: “Episode 1” – Happy Valley, Teleplay by Sally Wainwright

The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award, presented each year to the best first short story by an American Award, went to Getaway Girl – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine By Zoë Z. Dean.


Dame Ruth Rendell has died

Photo by Felix Clay
Dame Ruth Rendell died on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at the age of 85. She was the author of more than sixty novels, including the much-loved Inspector Reginald Wexford series, as well as twenty standalone novels. She wrote under her own name as well as the nom de plume Barbara Vine.

She was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for excellence in crime writing. Her final book, Dark Corners, is due to be published in October.

Thank you for your books, Dame Ruth. Rest in Peace.

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