The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

2007 Anthony Awards (aka 2007 Bouchercon Awards)

I have listed the 2007 Anthony Award nominees and winners from the 2007 Bouchercon that just took place in Anchorage, Alaska. There were very many familiar names to cozy mystery readers, but of course, some new names that we "have to watch" in the Best First Novel category.  I know I have said this many times before…. What an honor to be nominated for one of these very special awards!

The winner in the Best Novel category is Laura Lippman for her novel No Good Deeds.  Louise Penny won the Best First Novel Anthony Award for her novel Still Life. The Best Paperback Original Novel category was won by Dana Cameron  for Ashes and Bones. My Father’s Secret by Simon Wood was the winner in the Short Story category and Jim Huang & Austin Lugar edited Mystery Muses in the Best Critical and Non Fiction category.

On another note… I am almost finished with my current Ann Granger novel. I am really enjoying it, but for some reason I don’t seem to be finding a lot of reading time. As usual, Meredith (one of the two main characters) finds herself in the middle of her boyfriend’s murder investigation. I love this Mitchell and Markby series!

The reason it is taking me so long to finish the novel is because I’m in the middle of trying to do a type of spring cleaning… We all suffer from seasonal allergies… even our dog is on allergy medication! (But to be perfectly honest… we are also allergic to dust… which I must admit to seeing IF I put my reading glasses on!)

NYPD Blue VS. Morse, Sherlock Holmes, Prime Suspect

OK… First things first… I have to admit that I never got on the NYPD Blue bandwagon. I definitely tried, but I just couldn’t quite "get the show" the way other people were… One of my good cozy mystery reading friends absolutely loved the show, so I tried to like it on different occasions. Try as I did, I just didn’t "get it."

So, after I finished the Edgar’s’ Best Television Episode Awards, I was left with some doubts as to my taste in television mystery shows.

In 1996, NYPD Blue beat out Rumpole of the Bailey (YES>>>John Mortimer’s classic Rumpole show!!!), Sherlock Holmes (YES>>> the one with Jeremy Brett!!!), and Prime Suspect (YES>>> Helen Mirren’s glorious detective show!!!)

Previously (1994), NYPD Blue beat the Inspector Morse show. Need I describe that show to anyone? I mean, is there anyone who hasn’t seen the great portrayal of John Thaw as Endeavour Morse!?! 

After seeing just how well NYPD Blue did with the prestigious Edgars, I think that there are only two things that I can say:

1)  Tell me it ain’t so!

2)  I will have to try to watch NYPD Blue again…  It must be one heck of a terrific show if it was considered better than all of the above-mentioned great shows!

The Edgars Television Awards… Just How Old Do You Feel!?!?

I posted the Edgar Awards’ Best Episode for a Television Series winners and nominees a few days ago, and  BOY, do I feel old!

The following lists of television shows were amongst the winners and nominees. (I know that there were many other shows, but for the purposes of this blog, I only used some of the Edgar winning and nominated shows.)  

Some of these shows actually bring a smile to my face… I haven’t thought of them in so many years, and they invoke great memories of playing outside, choosing a favorite character to be for that particular, care-free, imaginative play time… Back when it was safe enough to go outside to run around and play all day, with a mere "See you later, Mom." and the "Be back for dinner." response. (I mean, didn’t everybody "dibs" being Honey West?!?!)

Let’s see how far back you go!  On your mark… Get set… Enjoy your own favorite memories…

The 1990s brought us such mystery shows as: 
     Prime Suspect
     Inspector Morse
     Silent Witness
     Rumpole
     Sherlock Holmes
     Hercule Poirot
     Quantum Leap
     Law and Order
     The Practice
     The X-Files
     The Commish
     Picket Fences
     Murder, She Wrote
     L. A. Law
     Simon and Simon
     NYPD Blue
The 1980s brought us mystery shows that included:
     The Return of Sherlock Holmes
     Rumpole (Yes, again…)
     P. D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh
     Simon and Simon (Another show that went on to the 1990s list)
     Cagney and Lacey
     Moonlighting
     Murder, She Wrote (Jessica was also busy in the 1990s!)
     Matlock
     The New Mike Hammer
     Remington Steele
     Quincy
     Magnum, P. I.
     Lou Grant
     Hill Street Blues
     Matt Houston
     Wiseguy
     Miami Vice
The 1970s’ mystery shows (and I have to admit… I remember them very well!) included:
     Columbo
     Quincy
     Rockford Files
     Streets of San Francisco
     Kojak
     Vega$
     Baretta
     Police Story
     Policewoman
     Hawaii Five-O
     McCloud
     Mannix
     Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
     Toma
     Mod Squad
     Petrocelli
     Rod Serling’s Night Galery
     ABC Movie of the Week
     NBC Movie of the Week
The 1960s:  (Hmmm… maybe I only remember these in recent reruns!)
     Judd for Defense
     Mission: Impossible 
     Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
      I, Spy
     Honey West  
     The Fugitive 
     The Defenders
     Dupont Show of the Week
     Kraft Suspense Hour and Kraft Mystery Theatre 
     Dow Hour of Great Mysteries 
     Bob Hope Presents
The 1950s: (Now I KNOW I wouldn’t have remembered Dragnet without the benefit of reruns!)
     Dragnet
     Studio One
     Alcoa Hour
     Elgin Hour
     Playhouse 90 
    

Aha! So That's Who He Is!

I continue to work on the Edgar Awards…. the Best First Novel category. Well, I am embarrassed to admit it, but I didn’t know who Richard L. Fish is…. other than I know that there is a special Edgar Award which is given every year in his name. Well, imagine my surprise this afternoon when I discovered that he won the Best First Novel in 1963 (for a novel called The Fugitive.) He wrote many other books…. as Richard L. Fish and Robert L. Pike. Aha! Now I know….

And, I have to admit that there are many other names who don’t mean a thing to me on those lists. But, when I stumble on the names of authors who I do "follow" now….from years ago,  I am gently surprised about the ebb of time… I don’t even remember a time when these authors were not in my repertoire of authors…. but, doing the Best FIRST Novel category…. I am reminded that they weren’t always best selling authors.

Dell Shannon (Case Pending) won the Best First Novel in 1961… now I know I wasn’t reading mysteries back then… no matter how cozy they were!  And how about 1965’s roster of Best First Novel authors…. Harry Kemelman (Friday the Rabi Slept Late) and Amanda Cross (In the Last Analysis.) Tony Hillerman (The Blessing Way) in 1971, and The Thomas Berryman Numbers introduced James Patterson in 1977. A few years later, another Patterson came into the mystery book world with his first novel… In 1980, Richard North Patterson won the Best First Novel for The Lasko Tangent.  Five years later, Jane Haddam/Orania Papazoglou was nominated for her Sweet, Savage Death.

I have enjoyed seeing when different authors "pop up" on some of these award lists. It is always interesting to see how a first best novel leads to later best novels, and in some of the authors’ cases… many best novel awards.

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