Blog Archives
2008 CWA Daggers Short-Lists
Shortlists for the 2008 CWA / Duncan Lawrie Daggers were announced at a reception at the British Library on 3rd June. The authors shortlisted for the £20,000 Duncan Lawrie Dagger, the world’s largest prize for a crime novel, are James Lee Burke (The Tin Roof Blowdown), Colin Cotterill (Coroner’s Lunch), Frances Fyfield (Blood From Stone), … Continue reading
Book Review: The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
There is an eternal debate about whether the best Crime Fiction can ever hold its head up as the equal of the literary novel. Just as ‘proper’ authors like Martin Amis, William Boyd and even Charles Dickens can and have turned their hand to mystery fiction, so there exists a strata of ‘crime’ novelists who really … Continue reading
Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2008
2008 Longlist Announced The longlist was announced today for one of the most prestigious awards in the international crime writing calendar – the 4th Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the only literary prize of its kind to be voted for by the general public. This year’s list is a vibrant and … Continue reading
Macavity Awards announced at Bouchercon 2007
The Mystery Readers International Macavity Awards were presented at Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, in Anchorage, AK, on 9/27. Congratulations to all. Best Novel The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine) Best First Novel Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone (Michael Joseph Ltd/Penguin-U.K./ HarperCollins – U.S) Best Nonfiction Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire … Continue reading
Book review: Exit Music by Ian Rankin
What is loudly heralded as the final case for Edinburgh Detective Inspector John Rebus sees Ian Rankin returning to the form that established his name as one of Britain’s keenest crime writers back in the mid-1990s. Although the most recent outings lacked the vigour and richness that elevated the series’ undoubted highlight, Black and Blue, … Continue reading
Book review: Death Message by Mark Billingham
Death Message Mark Billingham, Little Brown The latest outing for overworked London Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, kicks off when our very likeable hero receives a grisly, blurred photograph via his cellphone. It shows what looks very much to the DI (who’s become something of an expert in such matters) like a dead man. But there’s … Continue reading
Book review: The Blind Man of Seville by Robert Wilson
The Blind Man of Seville Robert Wilson, Harper Collins Those paying attention to events at the literary end of crime fiction will know Wilson as the author of six previous thrillers, all of them stylish and enhanced by exotic locations. The first four were magical, enthralling works of detective noir set in west Africa. The … Continue reading