The Hungry Detective

The Edgar nominees were released a couple weeks ago. I have thoughts as you would expect from someone who now seems to update this blog only 2-3 times a year. But before that let me again wonder aloud why this was not broadcasted. The MWA put the Awards on YouTube in 2021. I had hoped this would push the membership to announce the awards with something more dynamic than a press release. Put a couple people on a YouTube screen, little bit of a back and forth, and announce some nominations. They have a YouTube channel that has been dormant for 8 months... the irony is not lost on me... but alas.... As for the nominations, I always squint my eyes at the list and think... 'Not only have I not read these books, but I have also never heard of these books.' Please do not get me wrong. I love Crime Fiction. I have read it for 30 years. The vastness of the field ensures the possibility that with every new book you read you can discover a new favorite author or sub-genre that will se...

Yay! Another year, another Edgar Awards in the book. As for my predictions, three is not too bad. One year, however, I am going to hit it, and when I do it is going to be beautiful. Winners below. Congratulations to them and all who were nominated.  Don't forget to read these books!  BEST NOVEL GONE -  Mo Hayder  -Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press BEST FIRST NOVEL - AN AMERICAN AUTHOR BENT ROAD -  Lori Roy  - Penguin Group USA - Dutton BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL THE COMPANY MAN -  Robert Jackson Bennett  - Hachette Book Group – Orbit Books BEST FACT CRIME DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President -  Candice Millard  - Random House - Doubleday BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL ON CONAN DOYLE: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling -  Michael Dirda  - Princeton University Press BEST SHORT STORY “THE MAN WHO TOOK OF HIS HAT OFF TO THE THE DRIVER OF THE TRAIN” – Ellery Queen My...

I predicted absolutely nothing last year. My general advice if you are betting this is to go in the opposite direction. To the authors I have 'chosen' this year... I'm sorry. I spent most of 2011 out of the Crime Fiction trade so I'm even less acquainted with this year's books more than normal. In general it was great to see all of small press stuff got nominated, particularly as it is an indication that I'm not the only one who is left wanting by the major Crime Fiction publishers. My fingers are crossed in a big way for THE RANGER. I have read Mr. Atkins going back to CROSSROAD BLUES. It is always great to see authors who you love recognized. Even if THE RANGER fails to capture the big prize I hope it brings more people to his work.  Good luck to all the authors. I hope the night is a blast no matter how things end up. Cheers! BEST NOVEL THE RANGER - Ace Atkins -Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons BEST FIRST NOVEL - AN AMERICAN AUTHOR BE...

As someone who has been absent from Crime Fiction for over a year it is not surprising that most of the books nominated are unknown to me. Still Edgar nominations are an exciting time. There always a number of books that I try/want/need to seek out. Of all the nominees I am happiest to see Ace Atkins nominated for Best Novel. I've read Mr. Atkins from the beginning. I have three/four books in front of me, but I would love to catch up with Mr. Atkins work. It sounds like a nice way to spend the early part of Spring. Awards will be handed out in late April. I'll try not to embarrass myself with this year's predictions.    BEST NOVEL THE RANGER - Ace Atkins -Penguin Group USA – G.P. Putnam’s Sons GONE - Mo Hayder -Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X - Keigo Higashino -Minotaur Books 1222 - Anne Holt -Simon and Schuster - Scribner FIELD GRAY - Philip Kerr -Penguin Group USA - G.P. Putnam’s Sons – Marion Wood Books BEST...

2011 Edgar nominations appear tomorrow. I'll posted the nominations and the usual commentary here, but there is always the Edgar site if you are looking to avoid my particular brand of drivel.

Nothing so over as the 2010 Edgar Awards.  The Hungry Detective extends their congratulations to all the winners and equally deserving nominees. My gratitude to Ms. Weinman's twitter reportage . Cheers! Best Novel THE LAST CHILD by John Hart - Minotaur Books Best First Novel by an American Author  IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff - Minotaur Book Best Paperback Original BODY BLOWS by Marc Strange - Dundurn Press – Castle Street Mysteries Best Fact Crime COLUMBINE by Dave Cullen - Hachette Book Group - Twelve Best Critical/Biographical     THE LINEUP: THE WORLD'S GREATEST CRIME WRITERS TELL THE INSIDE STORY OF THEIR GREATEST DECTECTIVE edited by Otto Penzler - Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company Best Short Story "AMAPOLA" – Phoenix Noir by Luis Alberto Urrea - Akashic Books Best Juvenile CLOSED FOR THE SEASON by Mary Downing Hahn - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books Best Young Adult     REALITY...

What amounts to Crime Fiction Oscar's...although it plays more like the Tony's*.... occurs tomorrow night.  I had such high hopes to read more of the Edgar nominees, but this is a yearly lament. I guess in the way of full disclosure is that I don't read all the books nominated. Big surprise, I know. These picks are 80% gut reaction, 15% sense of history, and 5% percent based on some unpronounceable French philosophy. I do this post for two reasons. First, the analytics bounce is nice for my ego. Two, because it is fun to be right just as much as it is fun to be wrong about these picks. In any case The Hungry Detective extends their congratulations and best wishes to all of the nominees. I'll post the winners as soon as someone's twitter account tells me. BEST NOVEL THE MISSING by Tim Gautreaux - Random House - Alfred A. Knopf THE ODDS by Kathleen George - Minotaur Books THE LAST CHILD by John Hart - Minotaur Books MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DE...

I woke with some excitement today knowing that 2010 Edgar nominations were close. But sadly with the passing of Robert Parker, the nomination announcement is a bit muted. Mr. Parker was honored as a Grand Master in 2002 and in 1977 Mr. Parker won Best Novel for PROMISED LAND . I have some quick reactions to the nominations. You can find them beneath the relevant category. Certainly taken as a whole this group of books strikes me as bit more commercial (not quite the right word) minded than last year's group. This is not meant as a slight against last year's books and those who selected them, but certainly a lot less head scratching this year. BEST NOVEL THE MISSING by Tim Gautreaux - Random House - Alfred A. Knopf THE ODDS by Kathleen George - Minotaur Books THE LAST CHILD by John Hart - Minotaur Books MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH by Charlie Huston - Random House - Ballantine Books NEMESIS by Jo Nesbø , translated by Don Bartlett - HarperCollins A BEAUTIFUL PL...

C.J. Box is one of those authors I have always wanted to read. Sitting, very lonely, on the shelf is his first book OPEN SEASON . First in his Joe Pickett series, I never read it and now I feel I am too far behind to play catch up. BLUE HEAVEN is his first non-series title. BLUE HEAVEN is set in North Idaho, the panhandle of the state. This section of Idaho has become a refuge for former/retired Los Angeles police officers. A lot of what BLUE HEAVEN is about is the uneasy relationship between the native population of Idaho and their new residents. Each group holds little respect for the other, each believing that their way of life holds more value than the other. The story of BLUE HEAVEN surrounds the unfortunate witnessing of a murder by two young kids. The murder is that of a cop, killed by his own brethren to cover up for a highly lucrative crime in their past. The book is an intense thriller when its focus is on the evil that men do. The ordinariness of human deceit and how chara...

Another Edgar Awards has come and gone. The Hungry Detective has done its usual bad job of prognostication . 4 out 12 is not good, but I did get Best Novel. WooHoo! As for the rest. Oh well. I am only listing the winners... and congratulations to them! A complete list of nominees and my picks can be found here . Special thanks to Ms. Weinman's Twitter account. Cheers! Best Nove l Blue Heaven - C.J. Box Best First Novel by an American Author The Foreigner - Francie Lin Best Paperback Original China Lake - Meg Gardiner Best Fact Crime American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century - Howard Blum Best Critical/Biographical Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories - Dr. Harry Lee Poe Best Short Story “Skinhead Central,” - T. Jefferson Parker (from The Blue Religion, edited by Michael Connelly) Best Juvenile The Postcard - Tony Abbott Best Young Adult Paper Towns - John Green Best Play The Ballad of Emmett Till - Ifa...

Here we are again, and I'll be honest since their announcement last January I have hardly looked over the list. Elaborate plans to read more of the nominated fell through very quickly. The relative obscurity of some of these titles made it difficult to track down books via the library. I am sure the books are all fine, written by gifted and talented writers. And I don't think anyone wants the Edgar's to turn into a popularity contest, but many of the noms in the 'Big Three' Fiction category are definite thinkers. They almost seem like a rejection of what was generally agreed as the best books of 2008. Still it awfully easy for me to 'Monday Morning Quarterback' the whole thing. So let me again wish all the nominees the grandest of congratulations and best of luck on the 30th of April. The Hungry Detective's picks are in RED . Best Nove l Missing - Karin Alvtegen Blue Heaven - C.J. Box Sins of the Assassin - Robert Ferrigno The Price of Blood - Declan Hu...

Published widely elsewhere, The Hungry Detective is posting the list of 2009 Edgar Nominees for our own personal edification. You might be asking yourself what religious knowledge are we getting out of this. I ask you does it really matter when THD has not posted in over two weeks? Ya, that's what I thought you said. The Hungry Detective extends our congratulations to all the nominees. Best Nove l Missing - Karin Alvtegen Blue Heaven - C.J. Box Sins of the Assassin - Robert Ferrigno The Price of Blood - Declan Hughes The Night Following - Morag Joss Curse of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz Best First Novel by an American Author The Kind One - Tom Epperson Sweetsmoke - David Fuller The Foreigner - Francie Lin Calumet City - Charlie Newton A Cure for Night - Justin Peacock Best Paperback Original The Prince of Bagram Prison - Alex Carr Money Shot - Christa Faust Enemy Combatant - Ed Gaffney China Lake - Meg Gardiner The Cold Spot - Tom Piccirilli Best Fact Crime For the Thrill of It: ...

The Edgars got handed out last night and once again THD was not in attendance. Forgive the quick digression because it is one that I feel that I have made before. At this point in the life of the internet and the invaluable tool it has become for all things Crime Fiction, I am incredulous that that the MWA can't post video highlights of the Award Ceremony. I don't need the whole show (although I'd be cool with that too), just the winner and the little speech they may provide would be wonderful content for the MWA website. I'll take the less cynical route and write that this probably has been discussed and shot down to due certain rights and author release issues. Excuse me for a moment while I get off my high horse and take off these chaps. Ok. All better. I've listed the four the categories that I covered in depth on Sunday . Winners are in red . The Complete list of winners is here . Best Novel Christine Falls by Benjamin Black Priest by Ken Bruen The Yiddish ...

Noms are here. THD picks are here . Live blooging here . I'll be here . Good Luck to all the nominees.

Last year around this time THD was consulted by Vegas odds makers for our thoughts on the 2007 Edgar Awards. Many lost their shirt using THD's picks . Reports of valuable First Editions ripped in half and shelving destroyed by bookies who came to collect on ill formed wagers were a poorly kept secret in the Crime Fiction community. The underground betting scene for crime fiction awards is not pretty. Lot of tears... and a surprising amount of real blood Needless to say, this year, THD is free of those leeches in Sin City and we are free to offer you our odds on this year's awards. Best Novel Christine Falls by Benjamin Black 7/1 Priest by Ken Bruen 10/1 The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon 20/1 Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman 3/2 Down River by John Hart 5/1 The inclusion of the Chabon book caused a significant amount of ruckus. But I don't think there will be a repeat of 2006 when Jess Walter's slightly out of genre, Citizen Vince , was a surprise ...

When is the MWA going to figure out how to get their Edgar nominations broadcasted live like the Academy Award nominations? It strikes me that in this age of meaningless hyperbole about incredibly worthless events that the MWA could find a way to trumpet their noms with something that carries a little more weight than what amounts to a press release. One thinks that it would not be too much trouble to use the MWA website to generate some buzz by having a countdown to nomination announcement? As I am not a frequent(... by which I mean hardly ever...) visitor to the MWA website it is possible this took place and I just missed. Any way here are the Big Three Awards, and here's a link to all the nominations Best Novel Christine Falls - Benjamin Black Priest - Ken Bruen The Yiddish Policemen’s Union - Michael Chabon Soul Patch - Reed Farrel Coleman Down River - John Hart Best First Novel by an American Author Missing Witness - Gordon Campbell In the Woods - Tana French Snitch...

Well...... I didn't even come close. I felt pretty good picking Nancy Pickard's The Virgin of Small Plains . Mainly because she is an established author with a number of good books behind her. It felt like it was her time. Who knows maybe she did too. I take little consolation in the fact that Jason Goodwin appeared to be nobody's pick..... even Mr. Goodwin or at least his editor didn't think he had a chance.... because she told him not to show up! The Winners . Report 1 From Confessions . Report 2 from Dave White . Happy... somewhat... surprise is the win for Life On Mars in the TV category. Second... and final series has already transmitted in the UK. USA air date? Next year I will definitely make a concerted effort to read more of the nominees so I can be not so embarrassingly ill informed. Apologies from the Editor and Publisher of The Hungry Detective.

Tonight the Mystery Writers of America put on their big awards banquet, the Edgar Awards . Yesterday was a one day symposium with the highlight being Stephen King's talk . The Edgars are Grand Dame awards for Crime Fiction. I have never attended an awards ceremony..... my lack of black tie couture would likely bar me from the proceedings... and the fact that I am not a published mystery writer would take care of the rest. One of the great things about this community is that the fan based organizations pick up the slack for readers and fans who would like to mingle among the writers of this wonderous genre. B'Con , Left Coast Crime , Sluethfest , Magna Cum Murder , Malice Domestic , etc. Anyway, you should acquaint yourself with the nominees . Best Novel I have read 2/3 rds of only one of the nominees. I should be able to finish up The Pale Blue Eye this week. I also own The Dead Hour by Denise Mina . Hard to handicap a race when you have not read any of the nominees. Howeve...