Rough night; rough day

I did not sleep well last night. I hate that. Hopefully tonight will be better.

I re-read both CATCHING FIRE and MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins. There is a reason why these books reign supreme in the YA dystopian world ... they're that good. Maybe this will get me out of my slump-ishness. We'll see.

The Edgar Awards were announced this week. These are presented by the Mystery Writers of America and are widely acknowledged to be the most prestigious awards in the genre. Usually the nominees that the committees select are rather obscure. This year there are some recognizable names; in fact all but one in the best novel category, a short story collaboration, and most in the best paperback category are familiar to me. How novel.

Though these awards don't mean much to me, I always look through the list to see what I've read. One. I've read one. MURDER AT THE BRIGHTWELL by Ashley Weaver which I enjoyed much more than I thought I would and will read her next one when it comes out. I have COP TOWN by Karin Slaughter as an ARC on my Kindle but I've held off reading it because I'm thinking it will be very similar to a previous book she did about women cops in the 1970s also. I have seen one of the nominated TV episode teleplays, Sherlock, one of my favorite shows ever. And that's it. That is it. Some awards in the genre acknowledge the sub-category of historical mysteries which, of course, is what I'm most interested in. Edgars as you can see here, don't. And most telling, the two books I've somewhat touched upon here are historical mysteries -- if you count the 70s as historical which, forty years on I suppose some could. Here are the nominees (the banquet when the winners are announced is held in April): 

Best Novel

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
Wolf by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster – Scribner)
The Final Silence by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown)
Coptown by Karin Slaughter (Penguin Randomhouse – Delacorte Press)

Best First Novel

Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman (W.W. Norton)
Invisible City by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books)
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)
Bad Country by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)
Shovel Ready by Adam Sternbergh (Crown Publishers)
Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver (Minotaur Books – A Thomas Dunne Book)

Best Paperback Original

The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (Penguin Randomhouse – Penguin Books)
Stay With Me by Alison Gaylin (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Barkeep by William Lashner (Amazon Publishing – Thomas and Mercer)
The Day She Died by Catriona McPherson (Llewellyn Worldwide – Midnight Ink)
The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books)

Best Fact Crime

Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America
by Kevin Cook (W.W. Norton)
The Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman (HarperCollins Publishers – William Morrow)
The Other Side: A Memoir by Lacy M. Johnson (Tin House Books)
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
by William Mann (HarperCollins Publishers – Harper)
The Mad Sculptor: The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation
by Harold Schechter (Amazon Publishing – New Harvest)

Best Critical/Biographical

The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis
by Charles Brownson (McFarland & Company)
James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction
by Jim Mancall (McFarland)
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands: Classic Film Noirby Robert Miklitsch (University of Illinois Press)
Judges & Justice & Lawyers & Law: Exploring the Legal Dimensions of Fiction and Film
by Francis M. Nevins (Perfect Crime Books)
Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe
by J.W. Ocker (W.W. Norton – Countryman Press)

Best Short Story

"The Snow Angel" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Doug Allyn (Dell Magazines)
"200 Feet" – Strand Magazine by John Floyd (The Strand)
"What Do You Do?" – Rogues by Gillian Flynn
(Penguin Randomhouse Publishing –Bantam Books)
"Red Eye" – Faceoff  by Dennis Lehane vs. Michael Connelly (Simon & Schuster)
"Teddy" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Brian Tobin (Dell Magazines)

Best Juvenile

Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
 (Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Nick and Tesla's Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove by "Science Bob" Pflugfelder
and Steve Hockensmith  (Quirk Books)
Saving Kabul Corner by N.H. Senzai (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile by Marcia Wells
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Young Adult

 The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano (Penguin Young Readers Group – Kathy Dawson Books)
Fake ID by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Children's Books - Amistad)
The Art of Secrets by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Prince of Venice Beach by Blake Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

TV Episode Teleplay

"The Empty Hearse" – Sherlock, Teleplay by Mark Gatiss (Hartswood Films/Masterpiece)
"Unfinished Business" – Blue Bloods, Teleplay by Siobhan Byrne O'Connor (CBS)
"Episode 1" – Happy Valley, Teleplay by Sally Wainwright (Netflix)
 "Dream Baby Dream" – The Killing, Teleplay by Sean Whitesell (Netflix)
"Episode 6" – The Game, Teleplay by Toby Whithouse (BBC America)

Robert L. Fish Memorial ( best first short story by an American author)

"Getaway Girl" – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine by Zoë Z. Dean (Dell Magazines)

Mary Higgins Clark (suspense fiction)

A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton (Minotaur Books)
The Stranger You Know by Jane Casey (Minotaur Books)
Invisible City by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books)
Summer of the Dead by Julia Keller (Minotaur Books)
The Black Hour by Lori Rader-Day (Prometheus Books – Seventh Street Books)

Grand Master (recognition for important contributions to the mystery genre over time, as well as a significant output of consistently high quality)

Lois Duncan
James Ellroy

Raven Awards (outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing)

Ruth & Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
Kathryn Kennison, Magna Cum Murder

Ellery Queen Award ( to honor writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery publishing industry)

Charles Ardai, Editor & Founder, Hard Case Crime

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster