Best Sellers

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Nominations for Major Mystery Awards

Spring is the time that the Mystery Writers Association announces their annual Edgar award for best novel and the Sister’s In Crime announce theirs for the same category. If you want to see what they are judging, here are the nominee’s for the awards:

Edgar Award for Best Novel










Ace Atkins’ The Ranger – Quinn Colson, an Army Ranger, returns to his home town to attend the funeral of his uncle who had been the sheriff. He discovers that they declared his uncle’s death a suicide and decides to spend his time investigating. Meth dealers, crooked politicians and dishonest developers watch out for Quinn on the prowl. This appears to be a new series for Atkins and it has been compared to Lee Child’s Reacher series.
Mo Hayder’s Gone – this title is the fifth in the Jack Caffery-Flea Marley series. When a car is hijacked with an 11 year old girl in the back seat, the search is on. The hijacker calls the police and they discover that that the girl was the aim – not the car and that more kidnappings are planned. An edge of your seat thriller that is hard to put down. THE WINNER

Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X – a Japanese thriller that is slow to start but then hard to put down. Described as a multi-faceted cultural reading experience that is also a superbly crafted psychological suspense novel. A divorced single mother receives a surprise visit from her violent ex-husband and the ex-husband ends up dead. The mother’s next door neighbor helps her cover up the murder. This thriller is more about the how than the whom but is highly recommended.









Anne Holt’s 1222 – Norway’s number 1 crime writer continues a series featuring Hanne Wilhelmsen, a wheelchair bound disabled on the job police woman. 269 passengers from a derailed train during a snow storm take refuge in a centuries old hotel. That night, one of the passengers is murdered. Hanne is called upon to investigate when the storm continues and no rescue is in sight.
Philip Kerr’s Field Gray – this is the seventh in the Bernie Gunther series. In this series, he follows Germany, where Bernie is a policeman, from pre WWII to post WWII. This title finds Bernie as a suspect and the witness, questioned by US Army war crimes investigators, by the CIA, and by French intelligence. It is really the story of Germany and is more historical novel than crime thriller.
Agatha Best Novel








Donna Andrews’ The Real Macaw – In this 13th book in the series, Meg has to deal with her 4 months old set of twin boys, her extended family, her blacksmithing business and a house full of animals that had been rescued from a closing shelter while investigating a murder. Humor abounds.
Krista Davis’ The Diva Haunts the House –Sophie Winston is in charge of decorating for the community haunted house. Her rival, Natasha Smith, tries to outdo her by throwing her own Halloween party but her effort even has a dead body in the decoration. This is the 5th book in this humorous series.
G.M. Malliet’s Wicked Autumn- The first book in a series about Father Max Tudor – the village clergyman whose was an MI5 British agent in his past life. The self-appointed leader of the community, Wanda Batton-Smythe is found dead while setting up the Harvest Fest. Who better to help investigate this village mystery than a former spy?
Margaret Maron’s Three-Day Town – The 17th in the Deborah Knott series also brings back Sigrid Harald, a character that Maron had not written about in 16 years. Deborah and her husband of one year, Dwight Bryant, take a belated honeymoon to New York. They were given the use of an apartment near Times Square and were asked to deliver a box containing a vulgar bronze sculpture to Sigrid Harald. Upon their arrival in New York, the building superintendent is found dead in their apartment. This becomes a working vacation. Maron is a master and the book is a success.
Louise Penny’s A Trick of the Light – a murder in the small town of Three Pines and who should investigate? Inspector Armand Gamache with his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir, of course. This is the 7th in the series and is just as entrancing and well written as the others. Penny is an award winner already, will she get another one?

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