Book Notes — Best Mystery/Crime novels of the New Century, Updated for 2013

Louise Penny, 2013 Macavity and Anthony for The Beautiful Mystery

Each year there are hundreds of awards given for mystery-related writing.  What follows is a list of awards for the top award  (“best novel” of the year) as determined by the genre’s most established award givers — Mystery Writers of America (The Edgar and Anthony),  Private Eye Writers of America (The Shamus), Mystery Readers International (The Macavity) and the comprehensive mystery review quarterly, Deadly Pleasures (The Barry).

Congratulations to all the 2013 winners and to all of the nominees. Check the organizations’ web sites for best first novels, best short stories and other outstanding accomplishments by today’s crime writers. 

2000   Jan Burke, Bones, Edgar

            Don Winslow, California Fire and Life, Shamus

            Peter Robinson, In a Dry Season, Anthony

            Sujata Massey, The Flower Master, Macavity

            Peter Robinson, In a Dry Season, Barry

2001   Joe R. Lansdale, The Bottoms, Edgar

           Carolina Garcia-Aguilera, Havana Heat, Shamus

           Val McDermid, A Place of Execution, Anthony

Val McDermid, A Place of Execution, Macavity

Nevada Barr Deep South, Barry

2002   T. Jefferson Parker, California Girl, Edgar

            S. J. Rozan, Reflecting the Sky, Shamus

            Dennis Lehane, Mystic River, Anthony

            Laurie R. King, Folly, Macavity

            Dennis Lehane, Mystic River, Barry

2003   S. J. Rozan, Winter and Night, Edgar

            James W. Hall, Blackwater Sound, Shamus

            Michael Connelly, City of Bones, Anthony

            S.J. Rozan, Winter and Night, Macavity

            Michael Connelly, City of Bones, Barry

2004   Ian Rankin, Resurrection Men, Edgar

            Ken Bruen, The Guards, Shamus

            Laura Lippman, Every Secret Thing, Anthony

            Peter Lovesey, The House Sitter, Macavity

            Laura Lippman, Every Secret Thing, Barry

2005   T. Jefferson Parker, California Girl, Edgar

            Ed Wright, While I Disappear, Shamus

            William Kent Krueger, Blood Hollow, Anthony

            Ken Bruen, The Killing of the Tinkers, Macavity

            Lee Child, The Enemy, Barry

2006   Jess Walter, Citizen Vince, Edgar

            Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer, Shamus

            William Kent Krueger, Mercy Falls, Anthony

            Michael Connelly, The Lincoln Lawyer, Macavity

            Thomas H. Cook, Red Leaves, Barry

2007   Jason Goodwin, The Janissary Tree, Edgar

            Ken Bruen, The Dramatist, Shamus

            Laura Lippman, No Good Deeds, Anthony

            Nancy Pickard, The Virgin of Small Plains, Macavity

            George Pelecanos, The Night Gardener, Barry

2008   John Hart, Down River, Edgar

            Reed Farrel Coleman, Soul Patch, Shamus

            Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know, Anthony

            Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know, Macavity

            Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know, Barry

2009   C. J. Box, Blue Heaven, Edgar

            Reed Farrel Coleman, Empty Ever After, Shamus

            Michael Connelly, The Brass Verdict, Anthony

            Deborah Crombie, Where Memories Lie, Macavity

            Arnaldur Indridason, The Draining Lake, Barry

2010   John Hart, The Last Child, Edgar

            Marcia Muller, Locked In, Shamus

            Louise Penny, The Brutal Telling, Anthony

            John Hart, The Last Child, Macavity

            John Hart, The Last Child, Barry

2011   Steve Hamilton, The Lock Artist, Edgar

            Lori Armstrong, No Merci, Shamus

            Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead, Anthony

            Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead, Macavity

            Steven Hamilton, The Lock Artist, Barry

2012   Mo Hayder, Gone, Edgar

           Michael Wiley, A Bad Night's Sleep, Shamus

           Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light, Anthony

           Susan Gran, Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, Macavity

           Jussi Adler Olsen, The Keeper of Lost Causes, Barry

   

2013   Dennis Lehane, Live By Night, Edgar

            Robert Crais, Taken, Shamus

Louise Penny, The Beautiful Mystery, Anthony

            Louise Penny, The Beautiful Mystery, Macavity

Peter May, The Blackhouse, Barry

Best Crime Fiction Awards — Who Needs Them?

Dick Francis, most Edgars

During the last 30 days or so, it has been award time in the crime fiction world.  Not the winners, but the nominees.  There are dozens and dozens of organizations wanting to give crime writers their due, not only for best novel of the year but also in many sub-categories — best first novel, best paperback original, best short story, etc. — all vital to the genre.  Many of the most coveted awards will be announced this fall as the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) holds its annual convention — Bouchercon.

Should we care?  These are difficult times for everyone who reads, writes, reviews and publishes crime books. Even the professional organizations are struggling to find ways to acknowledge and honor contributors while the dramatic changes in e-book and self (independent) publishing have complicated the way they have been doing so since they began doing business. Anybody can publish a book.  And sometimes, it seems, everyone is.  To be fair and inclusive is nearly impossible. Some, MWA for example, have adjusted submission criteria.  Others have added categories. In any event, awards no matter what shape they may take, will likely remain part of many readers’ vetting process.

Laura Lippman, picking up the prizes

Paying attention to formal accolades is not the only way to find good books, particularly if you are interested in establishment-challenging sub-genre books and break-out-of-the-box, emerging writers. However, most of the library-going and book-buying public are traditional readers.  They are looking for something new or different to read with some assurance they are not too far out of their comfort zone. Browsing a list of award winners isn’t a bad place to start.

I’ve picked five professional crime-writing related organizations that have been honoring writers with awards since (at least) the year 2,000.  Some have been doing so longer. To contemplate who, among contemporary crime writers, might be considered best of the best, I checked the following award histories to see who won the “best novel” award more than once.  Here are the results:

MWA (The Edgar)*

Historically, Dick Francis picked up the most Edgars with three.  James Lee Burke won two prior to 2000. In this century, John Hart and T. Jefferson Parker have picked up two, Hart for successive novels.

John Hart, up and coming

Mystery Readers International (Macavity)

Michael Connelly, Nancy Pickard and Peter Lovesey have each won two since the first award was given in1987.

Deadly Pleasures magazine (Barry)

Michael Connelly and Laura Lippman have each garnered two.

Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) (Shamus)*

From the birth of the Shamus in 1982, Sue Grafton has been honored with the award three times, Max Allan Collins and Bill Pronzini twice.  Also, since 2000 Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman have picked up two.

MWA (The Anthony)*

Michael Connelly has received four Anthonys.  Louise Penny, Sue Grafton and Laura Lippman have been awarded the prize three times. S, J. Rozan and William Kent Krueger have each won twice.

Other Notes 

In 2008, Laura Lippman won three of the five top awards for What The Dead Know.  In 2011, John Hart also received three of the five major prizes with The Last Child. The Edgar for Best Novel of 2013 was announced at ceremonies in New York earlier this year.  Dennis Lehane picked it up for Live By Night.

Click here for the complete list of 21^st century “best novel" winners from the above organizations.

*To clarify, MWA has two awards, the Edgar determined by the organization and the Anthony determined by a vote of the membership.  To qualify for PWA’s Shamus, the novel must feature a P.I who is paid for his or her work.

OLD GOLD — Edgar Award Winning Wendy Hornsby's Early Classics, Ready For Your E-Book Pleasure

Early works by some of our best, current crime writers have been out of print for years. But times are changing. Many of these highly praised novels are available again as e-books and or trade paperbacks. “Old Gold” is a periodic blog feature that focuses on these reissued treasures. Here's Wendy Hornsby’s story in her own words.

I love used bookstores.   For a few bucks you can fill your arms with treasure:  new authors to try, old favorites to meet again.

There came a time when my own books began to show up in used bookstores.  It always tickled me to find them.  It still does.   Every author should be happy to see a book remain in circulation in any form.  There is a great investment of time and heart and soul in the production of those pages.  How painful it would be if those books entirely vanished from view.

  

Enter the brave new world of e-books, a used bookstore by other means.  For about what I’d pay at a used bookstore, I can fill up my e-reader with new discoveries and, if I may, Old Gold.

It took me about a minute to understand that if I could convert all my out-of-print titles to e-books, they need never go out of print again.  My problem, as always, was time.  Do-it-yourself electronic re-publication, even with a hired “producer,” can be complicated, fussy, somewhat costly, and very time consuming.

Last fall, MysteriousPress.com, partnered with Open Road, offered to publish my backlist in every e-format out there; God bless Otto Penzler.  My only hand in the process was to send hard copies of the books.

  

At Christmas, Otto sent me note to take a look at www.MysteriousPress.com.  And there they all are, five books in the Maggie MacGowen series and the two Kate and Tejeda books, all with bright new covers, as pretty as can be.   A happy day.

To borrow from Baron von Frankenstein, “They live!”

Edgar Award winning author Wendy Hornsby is the author of nine mystery novels and many short stories.  The Paramour’s Daughter, from Perseverance Press, is her most recent book.  For further information see www.WENDYHORNSBY.com.