May Mysteries & Morris Dancing

 "What potent blood hath modest May."- Ralph W. Emerson

Last year I posted a list of May Mysteries, and I'm updating that entry here. I  love May Day with its Morris Dancing and the Maypole, all dating back to more pagan Celtic times. And, although May may seem idyllic, it can actually be murderous! I will also have an updated list of Mother's Day mysteries which, of course, take place in May. Let me know if I've forgotten any May mysteries.

30 Days in May by Wayne Hancock
May Day by Jess Lourey
Five Days in May by Christopher Hartpence
May Day in Magadan by Anthony Olcott
A Hot Day in May by Julian Jay Savarin
The May Day Murders by Scott Wittenburg

For over 30 years at dawn on May Day, Berkeley Morris Dancing takes place at Inspiration Point in Tilden Park.  The Berkeley Morris Dancers will be performing later in the day at 12:15 at the University of California Botanical Garden. Here's a link to other May Day Morris dancing around the World.

Morris Dancing Mysteries: 
Death of a Fool by Ngaio Marsh
Dead Men's Morris by Gladys Mitchell

The Death-Cap Dancers by Gladys Mitchell 

Apparently some Morris Dancing took place in Oxford two weeks ago. Read about it in Martin Edwards' Blog.

Edgar Awards 2010

If you can't be at the Edgars, and you really want to know who wins as it happens, you could have followed @sarahw or @murderbooks on Twitter, as I did. It was almost like being there. Well, almost because I definitely missed the banter between Lee Child and Laura Lippman, the acceptance speeches, and all the other singing and dancing--and I'm sure there was some. How come no one set up a webcam or streaming video?


Best Novel: The Last Child by John Hart (Minotaur Books)

Best First Novel by an American Author: In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (Minotaur Books)

Best Paperback Original: Body Blows by Marc Strange (Castle Street Mysteries)

Best Short Story: "Amapola" by Luis Urrea in Phoenix Noir (Akashic Books)

Best Critical/Biographical: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Detectives, edited by Otto Penzler (Hachette Book Group-Little, Brown)

Best Juvenile: Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn (HMH Children's Book)

Best Young Adult: Reality Check by Peter Abrahams (HarperTeen)

Best TV Episode Teleplay: "Place of Execution," teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (PBS) based on Val McDermid's novel)

Best Fact Crime: Columbine by Dave Cullen (Twelve)

Ellery Queen Award: Poisoned Pen Press, Barbara Peters & Robert Rosenwald

Raven Award #1: Zef Buffman, International Mystery Writers Festival

Raven Award #2: Mystery Lovers Bookshop (Oakmont, PA)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: "A Dreadful Day" by Dan Warthman, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (Dell Magazines)

The Simon & Schuster-Mary Higgins Clark Award: (Presented at MWA’s Agents & Editors Party on Wednesday, April 28, 2010): Awakening by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)

Grandmaster: Dorothy Gilman, author of the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries

Thanks to everyone tweeting #edgars10

Reviewers' Choice Awards: RT Book Reviews

The winners of the annual Reviewers' Choice Awards were announce by RT Book Reviews (Romantic Times). The nominees and winners of these awards, given in many categories, are selected by a staff of over 50 reviewers representing the readers' voice in the women's fiction industry.


The winners in the Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller category are (for books published in 2009):

Amateur Sleuth: Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke (Kensington)
Contemporary Mystery: Kill For Me by Karen Rose (Grand Central)
First Mystery: A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Historical Mystery: What Remains of Heaven by C. S. Harris (NAL)
PI/Police Procedural Novel: A Darker Domain by Val McDermid (Harper)
Suspense/Thriller: The Messenger by Jan Burke (Simon & Schuster)

For Nominees, go HERE and scroll down.

Deadly Ink David Nominations

Deadly Ink announced the following nominations for the 2010 David G. Sasher, Sr. Award-aka The David- for the best mystery published during the prior year (2009).

Lincoln Child - TERMINAL FREEZE
Mary Jane Clark - DYING FOR MERCY
Harlan Coben - LONG LOST
Hallie Ephron - NEVER TELL A LIE
Parnell Hall - DEAD MAN'S PUZZLE
Elaine Viets - KILLER CUTS

Attendees at the 2010 Deadly Ink Mystery Conference will vote for their favorite, and the winner will be announced at the Saturday Night Awards Banquet

2010 Deadly Ink Mystery Conference
June 25-27, 2010
Parsippany Sheraton, Parshippany, NJ
Guest of Honor: Gillian Roberts

Elizabeth George in Berkeley April 30

Join Mystery Readers International, NorCal for a Literary Salon with Elizabeth George on Friday, April 30 at 2 p.m, Berkeley. Please RSVP for directions. Space is limited.

Elizabeth George's 16th Detective Inspector Lynley novel, This Body of Death, has just been published, and we're  pleased to have Elizabeth George join us in Berkeley where she will discuss writing, the latest novel, and more. It's been about 15 years since George has been to one of our salons, so it's about time.

Eleven of her novels, featuring Inspector Lynley, have been adapted for television by the BBC as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Her first published novel was A Great Deliverance in 1988, featuring Thomas Lynley, Lord Asherton, a Scotland Yard inspector of noble birth; Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, Lynley's partner, from a very working-class background; Lady Helen Clyde, Lynley's girlfriend and later wife, of noble birth as well; and Lynley's friends Simon and Deborah St. James.

THIS BODY OF DEATH

"Bestseller George's richly rewarding 16th novel to feature Det. Insp. Thomas Lynley (after Careless in Red) offers an intricate plot that will satisfy even jaded fans of psychological suspense. Aggressively career-minded Isabelle Ardery, the new acting superintendent of London's Metropolitan Police, boldly manages to lure Lynley, who's been grieving over his wife's murder, back from Cornwall to look into a murder case. The body of Jemima Hastings, a young woman recently relocated from Hampshire, has turned up in a London cemetery. With suspects in both locales and numerous leads to follow and interviews to conduct, Ardery succeeds in raising the hackles of Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers, Det. Insp. John Stewart, and other members of the investigating team. George tantalizes with glimpses of a horrific earlier murder case; showcases Lynley at his shrewdest, most diplomatic best; and confounds readers with a complex array of evidence, motives, and possible solutions." STARRED REVIEW
-- Publishers Weekly

Los Angeles Times Book Prizes: 2010

The L.A. Times  Book Prizes were awarded last night at the Los Angeles Times Building. One of my favorite books published in 2009, Stuart Neville's The Ghosts of Belfast (Soho Press) won the award for Mystery/Thriller. This category was judged by Sarah Weinman, Oline Cogdill, and Dick Adler.  Here's their citation:

"Stuart Neville’s stunning debut novel delivers an inspired, gritty view of violence’s aftermath and the toll it takes on each person involved – especially on one haunted, redemption-seeking ex-IRA hitman. Along the way, Neville condenses the fear and hate that has troubled Northern Ireland, still under the thumb of decades of domestic terrorism, for decades." 

Exactly!!!  Can't wait for Neville's next novel.

The Finalists wrote great books, too, but only one could win.

• Megan Abbott, Bury Me Deep (Simon & Schuster)
• David Ellis, The Hidden Man (Putnam)
• Attica Locke, Black Water Rising (HarperCollins)
• Val McDermid, A Darker Domain (HarperCollins)
• Stuart Neville, The Ghosts of Belfast (SOHO Press)

 For the complete list of the 2010 LA Times Book Prizes, go HERE.

And, in case you didn't know, this weekend is the Los Angeles Festival of Books in association with UCLA. Lots of mystery panels and talks... it's a carnival of books, book people, fans, you name it.