Cartoon of the Day: Cats

Happy Caturday!

STAUNCH BOOK PRIZE SHORTLIST

From The Bookseller

Here's a controversial crime fiction award. What do you think? Feel free to make comments below.

The £2,000 Staunch Book Prize was launched by screenwriter Bridget Lawless in January to find the best thriller in which no woman gets beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered.

At launch, the prize attracted some criticism from authors such as Sophie Hannah and Val McDermid with accusations of censorship and “missing the point”. Organizers of CrimeFest in Bristol subsequently withdrew its offer of a offered a complimentary pass and panel appearance for the winning writer.

However nine months on, a six-strong international shortlist has been revealed, featuring titles from Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and a number of indies from across the globe as well as one unpublished manuscript. Read more here.


Staunch Book Prize Shortlist

The Appraisal by Anna Porter (ECW press)
East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman (HQ),
If I Die Tonight by A L Gaylin (PRH)
On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong( Text Publishing).
The Kennedy Moment by Peter Adamson (Myriad Editions)
Cops and Queens by Joyce Thompson (seeking publisher)

Irish Book Awards Crime Fiction Book of the Year Shortlist

Finalists have been selected in 16 categories for the 2018 An Post Irish Book Awards. Here are the nominees in the Crime Fiction Category.

Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year Shortlist 

A House of Ghosts, by W.C. Ryan (Zaffre)
One Click, by Andrea Mara (Poolbeg Press)
Skin Deep, by Liz Nugent (Penguin)
The Confession, by Jo Spain (Quercus)
The Ruin, by Dervla McTiernan (Sphere)
Thirteen, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)

HT: The Rap Sheet

Cartoon of the Day: Author Reading

And Then There Were Six: Guest Post by Miranda James

Miranda James:
And Then There Were Six 

One cat in the house can be handful enough, but what about … six? That’s the case in the latest “Cat in the Stacks” mystery, when Charlie finds a box with five kittens on his doorstep one December morning.

In this case, the title of the book came to me before the storyline. I knew the book would be set at Christmastime, and the title Six Cats A Slayin’ popped right into my head. Once I had that title, I had to come up with a way for six cats to enter into the story.

Hence the box of kittens on the doorstep. Charlie, softie that he is, wouldn’t just take the kittens to the shelter, especially after the mysterious person who left them included a note begging for his help.

Then there’s Diesel. How would Diesel react to five frisky kittens in his domain? He’s used to putting up with Stewart Delacorte’s little poodle, Dante, but kittens? Well, turns out Diesel doesn’t seem to mind them at all.

Besides the mystery of who left the kittens on the doorstep, there is also the mystery of the new neighbor across the street. Geraldine Albritton claims to have grown up in Athena, Mississippi, but Charlie’s friend Melba Gilley has never heard of her. So who is Geraldine Albritton? And what could possibly go wrong at her open house/holiday party when all the neighbors are invited?

***
Miranda James is the New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, including Claws for Concern, Twelve Angry Librarians, and No Cats Allowed as well as the Southern Ladies Mysteries, including Fixing to Die, Digging Up the Dirt, and Dead with the Wind. James lives in Mississippi.

DAY OF THE DEAD CRIME FICTION

What holiday could be more fitting to Mysteries than El Dia de los Muertos: Day of the Dead? You'll love this list. Be sure and check my updated Halloween Crime Fiction list for other mysteries that start on Halloween and include Day of the Dead. 

Day of the Dead Crime Fiction

Day of the Dead by Kristi Belcamino
Scrapbook of the Dead by Mollie Cox Bryan
The Day of the Dead by John Creed
Trick or Treason by Kathi Daley
Day of the Dead by Brenda Donelan
A Cemetery, a Cannibal, and the Day of the Dead by CC Dragon
The Day of the Dead by Nicci French
The Day of the Dead: the Autumn of Commissario Ricciardi by Maurizio de Giovanni
Days of the Dead by Barbara Hambly
Sugar Skull by Denise Hamilton
Dios De Los Muertos by Kent Harrington
The Wrong Goodbye by Chris Holm
Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance
Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
Devil's Kitchen by Clark Lohr
Weave Her Thread with Bones by Claudia Long
Day of the Dead by Manuel Luis Martinez
Bread of the Dead by Ann Myers
Oink by Judith Newton
Day of the Dead by Mark Roberts
The Day of the Dead by Bart Spicer
The Day of the Dead Mystery (The Boxcar Children Mysteries) by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Any titles missing?