I first want to say: Congratulations to all of the Nominees and Winners!
Some of you may be asking: “What is a Lefty Award?” Well, they are mystery book awards that are voted on at the Left Coast Crime convention every year – since 1996. The voters of these Left Coast Crime Awards have to be registered for the convention and they vote on authors who have been nominated for writing some of the best mystery novels of the year.
I am always delighted when I see the names of authors I recognize and enjoy – since a lot of the authors write Cozy Mystery series. (Neat, neat, neat!) This year the Left Coast Crime convention took place last month in Reno, Nevada (March 24, 2018). The mystery books had to have been originally published during 2017 – unless it’s a book that was previously published outside of North America, but published for the first time in North America during 2017.
2018 Lefty Award Nominees and Winners:
Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel
Ellen Byron: A Cajun Christmas Killing (Winner)
Donna Andrews: Gone Gull
Marla Cooper: Dying on the Vine
Cynthia Kuhn: The Art of Vanishing
Cindy Sample: Dying for a Diamond
Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel:
(historical being pre 1960)
Rhys Bowen: In Farleigh Field (Winner)
Jennifer Kincheloe: The Woman in the Camphor Trunk
Renee Patrick: Dangerous To Know
Priscilla Royal: The Proud Sinner
Jeri Westerson: Season of Blood
Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel:
Kellye Garrett: Hollywood Homicide (Winner)
Susan Alice Bickford: A Short Time To Die
Wendall Thomas: Lost Luggage
Nancy Tingley: A Head in Cambodia
Kathleen Valenti: Protocol
Lefty for Best Mystery Novel
William Kent Krueger: Sulfur Springs (Winner)
Matt Coyle: Blood Truth
Louise Penny: Glass Houses
Terry Shames: An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock
James W. Ziskin: Cast the First Stone
Again, Congratulations to ALL of you!
Kathleen K says
Thanks, Dana. What an awesome selection. I have read some of them and will be looking at the others you have mentioned.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kathleen, you’re welcome! It’s always a safe bet to go with an award-winning book.
Ellen Byron says
Thanks so much for sharing this, Danna. Left Coast Crime is such a fun conference. I encourage mystery fans to add it to their bucket list. It’s in a different location every year. 2019 will be Vancouver, 2020, San Diego.
The Lefty Award keeps you humble because pretty much everyone assumes you won an award for being left-handed – which I happen to be!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ellen, congratulations on your win in Best Humorous Mystery Novel – perhaps the “Coziest” of the categories! I do wish that I had the time to attend this sort of convention!
Nina D says
That’s a fun award!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Nina, I hope you have the time to check out some of the winning books!
Margaret StashEmpress says
So glad to see In Fairleigh Field won! Probably the best book I’ve read all year.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret, I hope I’ll actually have time to read this one soon – it’s nice on occasion to read something both a little less Cozy and stand-alone.
Linda MH says
Congratulations to all these wonderful authors!
I am thrilled to see Ms. Byron won the award in her category. I love her series–it is one of my favorites!! Thanks for sharing this information with us, Danna.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda, you’re very welcome – and of course, I join you in congratulating Ellen Byron on her win!