The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

2009 Edgar Awards…

There is no excuse for being so late in adding the 2009 Edgars (Edgar Allan Poe Awards) >>> I’m sorry it has taken me so long. But, better today than not at all!

 2009 Edgar Nominees:

Best Novel: 

Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (Winner)

Missing by Karin Alvtegen

Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno

The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes

The Night Following by Morag Joss

Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

 Best First Novel:

The Foreigner by Francie Lin (Winner)

The Kind One by Tom Epperson

Sweetsmoke by David Fuller

Calumet City by Charlie Newton

A Cure for Night by Justin Peacock

Best Paperback Original:

China Lake by Meg Gardiner (Winner)

The Prince of Bagram Prison by Alex Carr

Money Shot by Christa Faust

Enemy Combatant by Ed Gaffney

The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli

Best Short Story:

Skinhead Central by T. Jefferson Parker  (Winner)

A Sleep Not Unlike Death by Sean Chercover

Skin and Bones by David Edgerley Gates

Scratch a Woman by Laura Lippman

La Vie en Rose by Dominique Mainard

Best Fact Crime:

American Lightning: Terror, Mystery and the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum  (Winner)

For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder That Shocked Chicago by Simon Baatz

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution by T.J. English

The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Hans van Meegeren by Jonathan Lopez

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Best Critical/Biographical:

Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to his Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Winner)

African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey

Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories by Leonard Cassuto

Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction by David Geherin

The Rise of True Crime by Jean Murley

Best Juvenile:

The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Winner)

Enigma: A Magical Mystery by Graeme Base 

Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

The Witches of Dredmoore Hollow by Riford McKenzie

Cemetery Street by Brenda Seabrooke

Best Young Adult:

Paper Towns by John Green  (Winner)

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo

Getting the Girl by Susan Juby

Torn to Pieces by Margot McDonnell

Best Play:

The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza, Goodman Theatre, Chicago (Winner)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, Arizona Theatre Company

Cell by Judy Klass, International Mystery Writers’ Festival

Best Television Episode Teleplay:

Prayer of the Bone… Patrick Harbinson, Wire in the Blood  (Winner)

Streetwise… Paul Grellong, Law & Order: SVU

Signature… Judith McCreary, Law & Order: SVU

You May Now Kill the Bride… Barry O’Brien, CSI: Miami

Burn Card… Ed Zuckerman & David Wilcox, Law & Order

Best Motion Picture Screen Play:

In Bruges… Martin McDonagh, Focus Features (Winner)

The Bank Job… Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais, Lionsgate

Burn After Reading… Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Focus Features

Tell No One… Guillaume Canet & Phillipe Lefebvre, based on the book by Harlan Coben, Music Box Films

Transsiberian… Brad Anderson & Will Conroy, First Look International

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award:

Buckner’s Error by Joseph Guglielmelli, Queen’s Noir, Akashic Books

Raven Awards:

Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland

Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

The Simon & Schuster – Mary Higgins Clark Award:

The Killer’s Wife by Bill Floyd (Winner)

Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton

Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer

A Song for You by Betsy Thornton

The Fault Tree by Louise Ure

Grand Masters:

James Lee Burke

Sue Grafton

♦For more Mystery Book Awards, see main page.♦

Win a (Free) Miniature Reading/Crime Scene!

I wrote about a new author (to me!) who I am now reading: Camille Minichino (who also writes under the pseudonym Margaret Grace) and was very surprised to get a “comment” reply offering a miniature reading/crime scene drawing for us to enter. For those of you who are already Minichino’s fans, you probably know that she makes miniatures as a hobby. So, not only is she a physicists with her Ph.D. from Fordham University, and a Cozy Mystery author, but she also is a miniaturist.

When you visit Minichino’s site, be sure you click on the “gallery” link at the bottom. You will be very impressed by her library of miniatures… I certainly am! They are truly wonderful, tiny/little scenes.

I just want to be sure that you all don’t miss out on this very generous offer… And, since I am never sure if people read all of the comments posted (I certainly do!), here is a portion of her comment:

“If it’s not too intrusive here, I’d like to offer a couple of presents to readers of this blog: a miniature reading/crime scene. Just use DANNA’S LIST as the subject if you’re interested, and send to camille@minichino.com by June 3. I’ll draw a name soon after. (If Danna is among the entries, I’ll send one to her separately!) I promise there will be NO other follow-up except notice of the next book if you choose.

For samples of scenes I’ve donated to auctions and shipped to other drawing winners, you can visit the gallery at dollhousemysteries.com. (This link no longer works.)

It’s always a great honor to hear from readers. Thanks for the chance to meet you this way.

Best, Camille/Margaret”

As a Cozy Mystery reader, I think that a miniature reading/crime scene would be a great addition to my home!  Good luck!

2008 Agatha Award Winners (OR Should That Be 2009 Agatha Awards ?)

Here are the 2008 Agatha Awards that were given out at the Malice Domestic convention this past weekend. I have gone ahead and included the list from 2007 also… ss a sort of reminder of all of the great Cozy Mystery authors who have recently been nominated. (Not to worry, though… I have the list of all of the winners and nominees from many years on the site!) All of the nominated authors are winners in my book!

BEST NOVEL

 2008: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Winner)

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews

A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen

Buckingham Palace Gardens by Anne Perry

I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming

2007: A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny  (Winner)

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

Hard Row by Margaret Maron

Murder with Reservations by Elaine Viets

BEST FIRST NOVEL

2008: Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet (Winner)

Through a Glass, Deadly by Sarah Atwell 

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris

Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan

2007: Prime Time by Hank Phillipi Ryan (Winner)

A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch

A Real Basket Case by Beth Groundwater

Silent In The Grave by Deanna Raybourn

BEST SHORT STORY

2008: The Night Things Changed by Dana Cameron (Winner) (from Wolfsbane and Mistletoe)

Killing Time by Jane Cleland

Dangerous Crossing by Carla Coupe

Skull & Cross-Examinations by Toni L.P. Kelner

A Nice Old Guy by Nancy Pickard

2007: A Rat’s Tale by Donna Andrews (Winner)

Please Watch Your Step by Rhys Bowen

Casino Gamble by Nan Higginson

Popping Round To The Post by Peter Lovesey

Death Will Clean Your Closet by Elizabeth Zelvin

BEST NON-FICTION

2008: How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson  (Winner)

African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey

Anthony Boucher, A Bibliography by Jeff Marks

Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe

The Suspicions of Mr. Whitcher, or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale

2007: Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life In Letters by Charles Foley, Jon Lellenberg, & Daniel Stashower  (Winner)

The Official Nancy Drew Handbook by Penny Warner

BEST CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT

2008:  The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Winner)

Into the Dark by Peter Abrahams

A Thief in the Theater (A Kit Mystery) by Sarah Masters Buckey

The Great Circus Train Robbery by Nancy Means Wright

2007: A Light in the Cellar by Sarah Masters Buckey (Winner)

Bravo Zulu, Samantha! by Kathleen Benner Duble

Cover-Up: Mystery at The Super Bowl by John Feinstein

The Falconer’s Knot by Mary Hoffman Bloomsbury

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers

MALICE DOMESTIC AWARDS

2008: Lifetime Achievement: Anne Perry

♦For more Mystery Book Awards, see main page.♦

Camille Minichino / Margaret Grace … One & the Same!

Yes, that’s right… Camille Minichino (aka Margaret Grace) is my latest Cozy find… My friend (from my last blog entry) did not steer me wrong! (Thank you, Cora!)

I just finished Murder in Miniature (the first in Grace’s Miniature Mystery Series) and I am currently reading The Hydrogen Murder (the first in her Periodic Table Mystery Series), which gives me nine more cozies to look forward to reading. I love discovering new authors who I can play “catch-up” with, since that leaves me with a bounty of books to enjoy before having to wait (+/-) a year for her next mystery.

Camille Minichino writes the way I think… She has a logical sequence to her story lines. Just when I find myself wondering about something, so do her main characters! I love that! She doesn’t rely on what I call the “idiot plot” which has the main character finding out a bit of information and keeping it from the reader until the very last page of the book. (I hate that!) I love the fact that Minichino lets us play along with her main characters as they sleuth through the given mysteries.

I love the small town feeling in both of her cozy mystery series. (Of course, only having read the first in her Grace series and not being finished with the first in her Minichino series, I can’t vouch for the following books’ locations.) Everyone knows everyone, they have histories that have been shared at one point in their lives.

I love all of her characters so far. Love the fact that the author hasn’t had to “get my attention” with unnecessary swearing… Love the fact that the heroines/sleuths in both series know what they want out of life, and even though they are retired,they have very full lives, which don’t consist of only sleuthing.

As I said at the beginning of this entry… I am always excited about finding a new Cozy author to follow. I’m glad my friend told me about her, and I’m glad Minichino / Grace is writing such good Cozies!

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