Best Sellers

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Edgars Continued - Best Paperback Original and Mary Higgins Clark Award

Edgar Awards are also given to the Best Paperback Original. Many of the popular mystery authors today started publishing as paperback authors and they look to award those they think might follow that tradition. The nominees in the category are:

Complication by Isaac Adamson - a plot that like the title is very complicated. An older brother finds a letter while clearing out his fathers estate that causes him to go rushing off to Prague to investigate what had happened to his brother who had been missing for 5 years. Reviews seem to say that the storyline keeps you interested and the pacing is good as well as decent characterization. No one complained that they could not follow all the twists and turns although reading about it got me dizzy.

Whiplash River by Lou Berney -appears to be the 2nd in a series featuring "Shake" Bouchon - a wheel man for an Armenian crime ring. Shake has left crime behind and opened a restaurant in Belize. Unfortunately, that blows up and he becomes involved in an intricate, dangerous plot.

Bloodland by Alan Glynn - an out of worked journalist gets sucked into writing the story of a Hollywood star who was killed in a helicopter crash and gets pulled into the world of international intrigue. All the reviews I've read on this one have been really strong. I might have to read it.

Blessed are the Dead by Malla Nunn - this is the 3rd in a series featuring Emmanuel Cooper, a detective in mid 1950 South Africa burdened by apartheid laws. In this title, he investigates the death of a Zulu chief's daughter.

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters - WOW! This is an interesting concept. This is the first of a trilogy featuring Hank Palace, a Concord, NH policeman. An asteroid is speeding to earth and there is nothing that anyone can do. All pundits say that the earth and people on it will cease to exist in 6 months. Hank has only wanted to be a policeman as long as he remembers so he continues to investigate crimes that others would like him to put aside.

The Mary Higgins Clark award is giving to a woman whose title is written closest in the same style and is supported by Mary Higgins Clark publisher, Simon & Schuster. This year's nominees are:

Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton - DC Lacey Flint goes undercover to Cambridge as a student to investigate student suicides.

A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell - journalist Hannah Vogel is in Poland with her son when she hears about the deportation of Polish Jews. She manages to get herself arrested by the SS; rescued by her son and an ex lover; and stuck in Berlin in hiding.

The Reckoning by Jane Casey - Maeve Kerrigan, a detective for the London Police Murder Squad, is at it again. This time, she is attempting to find out who is killing the local pedophiles.

The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan - Jane Ryland, a disgraced journalist, is trying to track down a secret mistress of a Senate candidate. Jake Brogan, a detective, is looking into the serial murder of young women. Somehow, these two cases are linked.

Sleepwalker by Wendy Corsi Staub - Allison Taylor MacKenna faced tragedy 10 years ago but now she is happily married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. But suddenly, her nightmare seems to be walking the streets again and she is afraid that her husband is involved.

All are or will be available from the library. Enjoy sampling these to see who you think should win.

No comments:

Post a Comment