The Rap Sheet

“And These Days, Everyone Is a Detective”

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:16:00 +0000

I mentioned previously on this page that Agatha Christie’s amateur detectives Tommy and Tuppence, introduced in 1922’s The Secret Adversary, are to be revived in a six-part, modern-day mystery drama set to begin airing on BritBox come Tuesday, September 15. But now we have a new, slightly longer trailer for the series—embedded above—which stars Antonia Thomas as “spirited actress” Tuppence, with Josh Dylan playing crime writer Tommy Beresford. The seemingly ubiquitous Imelda Staunton (The Crown) has been cast as Aunt Ada, “a wry, retired private detective and mentor.”

Put Forward for the Petrona

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 22:44:00 +0000

Twelve crime novels from Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are longlisted candidates for the 2026 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year:

• One True Word, by Snæbjörn Arngrímsson,
translated by Larissa Kyzer (Pushkin Vertigo, Iceland)
• Murder Tide, by Stella Blómkvist,
translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus, Iceland)
• Broken, by Jón Atli Jónasson,
translated by Quentin Bates (Corylus, Iceland)
• Into Thin Air, by Ørjan N. Karlsson,
translated by Ian Giles (Orenda, Norway)
• The Writing in the Water, by John Ajvide Lindqvist,
translated by Michael Meigs (Amazon Crossing, Sweden)
• Wolf Hour, by Jo Nesbø,
translated by Robert Ferguson (Harvill Secker, Norway)
• The Heirs of the Arctic, by Aslak Nore,
translated by Sean Kinsella (MacLehose Press, Norway)
• The Grave in the Ice, by Satu Rämö,
translated by Kristian London (Zaffre, Finland)
• Black as Death, by Lilja Sigurðardóttir,
translated by Lorenza Garcia (Orenda, Iceland)
• The Wake, by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir,
translated by Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton, Iceland)
• The Girl with Ice in Her Veins, by Karin Smirnoff,
translated by Sarah Death (MacLehose Press, Sweden)
• The Winter Job, by Antti Tuomainen,
translated by David Hackston (Orenda, Finland)

A press release notes that “The Petrona Award was established to celebrate the work of Maxine Clarke, one of the first online crime fiction reviewers and bloggers, who died in December 2012. Maxine, whose online persona and blog was called Petrona, was passionate about translated crime fiction but in particular that from the Scandinavian countries.

“The award is open to crime fiction in translation, either written by a Scandinavian author or set in Scandinavia and published in the UK in the previous calendar year.”

This year’s winner will be announced on September 24.

* * *

In other awards news, the winner and runner-up in this year’s Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition have been revealed.

Kathy Schilbach, a retired teacher in West Sussex, who writes as Kate Finnemore, has been named as the overall victor for “Making Friends,” a “disturbing tale about a mysterious and anxious woman who has a dark secret to keep.” She will receive the £1,000 first prize along with a guest appearance at the Bloody Scotland Festival, scheduled to take place from September 18 to 20 in Stirling. Ross Alexander, a Scottish author based in East Lothian, was chosen as the runner-up “Life Wasted,” described as “a gripping confession from an unlikely vigilante who took justice into his own hands to free a woman from her abusive, alcoholic husband.” He will receive £500 in prize money.

Both of their stories are to be published on the Bloody Scotland and Glencairn Glass (whiskyglass.com) Web sites.

Clearing the Backlog

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 15:30:00 +0000

• The Australian Crime Writers Association has announced its shortlists of nominees for four 2026 Ned Kelly Awards. Here are the contenders in its Best Crime Fiction category:

— Liar’s Game, by Jack Beaumont (Allen & Unwin)
— Lyrebird, by Jane Caro (Allen & Unwin)
— The Other Child, by Susi Fox (Penguin Australia)
— Mad Mabel, by Sally Hepworth (Pan Macmillan Australia)
— The Ghost Walk, by Karen Herbert (Fremantle Press)
— Fire in the Head, by Daniel Oakman (Black Inc)
— The White Crow, by Michael Robotham (Hachette Australia)
— The Casino, by Iain Ryan (Ultimo Press)

Also released are candidate lists for the Best International, Best Debut Crime Fiction, and Best True Crime prizes. The winners are to be revealed sometime in September.

• After 30 years in print, Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine is suddenly a free, digital-only publication. Editor George Easter explains in the new, Summer 2026 issue that “I’m doing away with subscriptions. … I’ve been handling subscriptions for 45 years (30 with my wife Michele’s consumer magazine and 34 years with DP, with some overlap) and I’m burned out. I want to simplify my life. It doesn’t cost much to get each issue out and I can handle that just fine. Also, no more filing a tax return for DP. Hooray! Those of you who still have current subscriptions with future issues paid for will still get those issues and just think, you’ll get free ones from that point on.” Access the latest PDF mag here, and digital back issues here.

• Incidentally, note that on page 23 of the brand-new Deadly Pleasures you will find four categories of nominees for the 2026 Barry Awards, sponsored as ever by the magazine. All readers are invited to cast their votes for favorite works, one title per division, by sending Easter an e-mail message at george@deadlypleasures.com. The deadline for expressing opinions is Tuesday, September 15.

• In Reference to Murder points us to a first photo of “Edward Bluemel as Agatha Christie’s iconic Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in BritBox’s upcoming six-part drama series Hercule. The origin series, which is currently shooting in Liverpool, is an intimate study of legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Britain between the wars. Hercule will center around three of Agatha Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis.” Deadline adds that “the series will premiere on the BBC and BritBox in North America in 2027,” and it is said to enjoy a three-season production commitment.

• Below is a 90-second trailer for Marble Hall Murders, the six-part TV adaptation of of Anthony Horowitz’s third Susan Ryeland mystery, set to begin airing in the States on PBS come Sunday, September 6.

• The Rap Sheet’s UK correspondent, Ali Karim, had the chance recently to address some questions to Jack Jewers, author of The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys (2023) and its sequel, Seething Lane, due out on the other side of the pond early next month. Ali describes Seething Lane as “a dark swashbuckling adventure-cum-detective whodunit-cum-historical thriller.” His interview can be relished here.

• The Disney-oriented Web site Inside the Magic quotes Amy Pascal, one of a pair of veteran producers working on a new, MGM Amazon iteration of Ian Fleming’s James Bond, as saying it’s “a good bet” that we’ll know who will next portray British Agent 007 on screen “by the end of this year.” In addition, the site offers tidbits of information regarding the forthcoming children’s adventure novel James Bond and the Secret Agent Academy, penned by Gold Dagger award-winning author M.W. Craven and set to reach stores in April 2027. It’s apparently the first entry in a projected series.

• Frank Gregorsky is back with a fresh (August 2026) edition of the quarterly PDF periodical Detective Drama Gems, which revisits episodes of classic TV crime and mystery shows. Under consideration this time are stories from Dragnet, The Felony Squad, and the Canada/USA hybrid series Night Heat. You can read all about them here.

International Salutes to Crime

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 02:23:00 +0000

I’ve been away from Rap Sheet headquarters for the last few days, so I was delayed in reporting two morsels of crime-fiction awards news.

First off, organizers of New Zealand’s annual Ngaio Marsh Awards have released their longlist of works vying for 2026 Best Novel honors:

• Lucky Thing, by Tom Baragwanath (Text)
• Carved in Blood, by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)
• Softly Calls the Devil, by Christopher Blake (Bonnier Echo)
• The Birds Began to Sing, by Jeffrey Buchanan (Text)
• Black Silk and Buried Secrets, by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins)
• The Deadly Dispute, by Amanda Hampson (Penguin)
• Bella Donna, by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)
• The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Bonnier)
• When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole, by Geoff
Parkes (Penguin)
• The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Moa Press)
• Hooked Up, by Fiona Sussman (Bateman)
• A Beautiful Family, by Jennifer Trevelyan (Allen & Unwin)

The finalists for this year’s best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA prizes are to be announced within the next couple of months.

* * *

Meanwhile, the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch, declared earlier this week that Ron Currie’s The Savage Noble Death of Babs Dionne (Putnam) is the winner of the 2026 Hammett Prize for “literary excellence in crime writing.” Also in contention for that accolade were El Dorado Drive, by Megan Abbott (Putnam); Party of Liars, by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur); The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam); and The Lizard, by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov Editions).

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Revue of Reviewers: 8-16-26

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 14:58:00 +0000

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

Fab Four

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 21:09:00 +0000

• Julie Hennrikus, the executive director of Sisters in Crime, has been chosen to receive the 2026 David Thompson Special Service Award. This prize, named in honor of a Texas bookstore owner and crime-fiction publisher who passed away back in 2010, recognizes Hennrikus for her “extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the crime-fiction field.” In addition to her work for SinC, Hennrikus is the author of mysteries published under the noms de plume Julie Hennrikus, Julia Henry, and Julianne Holmes. She will be given her Special Service Award during this year’s Bouchercon opening ceremonies in Calgary, Alberta, on October 22.

• The Netflix true-crime anthology series Monster returns on Thursday, September 17, with an eight-episode look back at the notorious 1892 ax murders attributed to Lizzie Borden. The official description of this season reads: “When the repressed daughter of a wealthy New England family and her rebellious maid find themselves trapped in a house built on humiliation and cruelty, they escape into a fantasy of sex, power, and revenge. The gruesome unsolved murders that follow don’t just shock the world—they give birth to an icon who refuses to live imprisoned in a cage, choosing instead to forge her own legend: shocking, monstrous, and gloriously free.” Ella Beatty (the daughter of film stars Annette Bening and Warren Beatty) will portray Lizzie, with Vicky Krieps playing the Bordens’ live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan. As series creator Ryan Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter, this show will also find Krieps playing Elizabeth Báthory (1560-1614), a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial murderer. “It is an interesting season,” he observed, “because it is the Lizzie Borden story, but there are also other female ‘killers’ who I was always interested in exploring. I always wanted to do something about Aileen Wuornos [a Florida prostitute convicted of slaying some of her male clients in 1989 and 1990]. I’ve always wanted to do something about the Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who Dracula was modeled after. So we are kind of doing this fantasia of women vs. the system, and it’s not what they did, it’s the question of: What made them do it? Why did they do it, if they did it?” A rather horrific trailer for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story can be found here.

• Swedish journalist-author David Lagercrantz, who continued Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series after Larsson’s demise, and who has a new novel of his own about crime-solving professor Hans Rekke (Post Mortem) due out later this month, recently contributed a list of his 10 favorite Scandi Noir novels to Forbes magazine. Of course Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo made the cut, but so did stories by Henning Mankell, Karin Fossum, and Arnaldur Indriðason.

• Meanwhile, fictionist Anthony Horowitz (A Deadly Episode) picks six of his favorite books for the British news magazine The Week.

Plenteous Peepers

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:11:00 +0000

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over these last three weeks spent posting tributes to fictional private detectives in Killer Covers, it’s that I cannot keep two blogs cruising along simultaneously at a lively clip. While I have produced two dozen posts in Killer Covers during this period, my work on The Rap Sheet has slowed to a crawl.

Nonetheless, I am pleased with my efforts on that sister site. The “Slice of P.I.” series, as I could not resist calling it, has offered readers book fronts from works by Max Allan Collins, George Harmon Coxe, G.G. Fickling, Lawrence Block, Agatha Christie, Bill S. Ballinger, Stephen Greenleaf, Sara Paretsky, and numerous others. At the same time, it’s showcased artists—familiar and not—ranging from Joe DeVito, David Plourde, and Gerald Powell to Mara McAfee, Robert K. Abbett, James Meese, and Robert McGinnis.

But today I’ll close out that series with a quirky, mostly forgotten novel by a quirky, definitely not forgotten author. While anticipating said post’s arrival, check out previous “Slice of P.I.” entries here.

Bullet Points: Bursting at the Seams Edition

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 19:42:00 +0000

It’s been a good long while since I put together one of these news bits columns, so I have some serious catching-up to do!

• The finalists for 2026’s Hammett Prize have been announced by the International Association of Crime Writers, North American Branch. This commendation is presented annually to a work, published in the previous year, that judges say demonstrates “literary excellence in crime writing.” Here are the five latest candidates:

— El Dorado Drive, by Megan Abbott (Putnam)
— Party of Liars, by Kelsey Cox (Minotaur)
— The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam)
— The Savage Noble Death of Babs Dionne, by Ron Currie (Putnam)
— The Lizard, by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov Editions)

Expect to hear news of the winner later this summer. Lists of previous Hammett Prize nominees and recipients are available here.

• Believe it or not, among the 13 novels on this year’s longlist of Booker Prize nominees is one plucked straight from the crime/thriller category: All Them Dogs (Riverhead), by Irish fictionist Djamel White. The award’s Web site calls it “by turns savage, thrilling and unexpectedly tender, ... a gripping story of violence, lust, and greed that explores one man's struggles to find his place in an unsparing world.” Whether All Them Dogs will find a place on the Booker shortlist, slated to be revealed on September 22, is anybody’s guess.

• Following this year’s release of A River Red with Blood, the 23rd outing for cop-turned-P.I. Charlie Parker, John Connolly explains in his latest newsletter that his next novel—due out in May 2027—will be The Castle, “a standalone thriller with political overtones, set in a Connecticut suburb in 1973.” He goes on to say:

The Castle is a safe haven, a gated community in a U.S. nation troubled by the war in Vietnam, political assassinations, and the growing shadow of Watergate. For the disillusioned publisher Hamer, it is an escape from a world that has disappointed him.

But something is very wrong in the Castle. A teenage boy has gone missing. There are thefts, threats, shootings. Hamer has begun to fear the Castle may not be so safe after all, and he and his neighbors are the targets of a conspiracy with a single purpose: to destroy five families and punish them for the sins of their children. And one of those families could be his own.

Connolly calls this “a book about secrets: the secrets of the state, the secrets of families, and perhaps the secrets we hide even from ourselves. I’ve been working on it for three years now, and I think—I hope—that it’s about as good a thriller as I can write.”

• If you haven’t yet noticed, my Killer Covers blog is currently rolling out a succession of posts celebrating private eyes.

• I’m a huge fan of stories that illuminate small, seemingly insignificant aspects of crime-fiction storytelling. So Olivia Rutigliano’s new CrimeReads piece, “The 8 Best Fake Crime Novels in Film and TV, Ranked,” is right up my alley.

• The debut of Amazon Prime’s Reacher, Season 4, is teed up for Wednesday, August 12. This latest run of eight episodes will be based on Lee Child’s 2009 novel, Gone Tomorrow. It finds Reacher (played by Alan Ritchson) having “a chance encounter with a distraught stranger on a train [that] goes horribly wrong,” only to see our hero “drawn into a complex and deadly game that pits him against ruthless foes from the highest echelons of power.” A trailer for Reacher is below.

• The program is already looking ahead to its next season. “Amanda Ip, Jay Baruchel, Ciara Bravo and Kevin Durand will star opposite Alan Ritchson,” says The Hollywood Reporter, “as Reacher in the fifth season ... will be based on Lee Child’s novel Make Me. The series ... will catch up with Ritchson’s title character after his train stops in the mysterious town of Mother’s Rest where he teams with a private investigator in the search for a missing person.”

• Meanwhile, watch for the premiere of Prime’s Reacher spin-off series, Neagley, starring Danish actress Maria Sten as the most dangerous operative among Jack Reacher’s Special Investigators, on Wednesday, September 16. (It has its own trailer here.) And Kill Zone, the third entry in Dan Ames’ Frances Neagley novel series, is due out on August 17, with another, Blow Back, coming in November.

• In other television news, The Chelsea Detective, with Adrian Scarborough and Vanessa Emme, will return to Acorn TV for a fourth season on Monday, August 10. A trailer and brief synopses of the four new 90-minute episodes can be found here.

• Max Allan Collins reports that Death by Fruitcake, his 90-minute indie film that brings to life main characters from the Trash ’n’ Treasures mystery series he’s been penning for almost two decades with his wife, Barbara (under their joint pseudonym, Barbara Allan) recently debuted on the streaming TV service Tubi.

• Deadline brings word that “Cooper & Fry are heading to the U.S. after streamer BritBox snapped up the British crime drama. The show has performed well on Paramount-owned broadcast network 5 in the UK and now has a U.S. home. BritBox has snagged Season 1 of the show for U.S. and Canada, while Netflix has taken second window UK rights. Adapted from Stephen Booth’s bestselling detective novels, Cooper & Fry follows unlikely detective duo Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, played by Robert James-Collier (Downton Abbey) and Mandip Gill (Doctor Who). Set in and around England’s picturesque Peak District, the series follows Cooper, who is struggling to emerge from the shadow of his late father, while Fry is an outsider fleeing tragedies in her past. Together, they tackle grisly crimes in the remote countryside.” All eight episodes of Season 1 will drop on Monday, August 17; look for a one-minute trailer here. A second season has already been commissioned, with episodes adapted from Booth’s novels The Devil’s Edge, Fall Down Dead, One Last Breath, and The Murder Road.

• Maigret, based on Georges Simenon’s many mysteries, will return to PBS-TV’s Masterpiece rotation for a sophomore season beginning on Sunday, October 18. Benjamin Wainwright (Belgravia: The Next Chapter, Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim) reprises his lead role as French police detective Jules Maigret, with Stephanie Martini (The Gold, Last Kingdom) playing his wife, Louise. What can we expect from the half-dozen new episodes? PBS offers this plot brief:

An epic power struggle is happening in La Brigade Criminelle in Maigret Season 2. Maigret’s boss, Director of Police Xavier Guichard, has become suspicious of Maigret’s methods and decides to ‘take him down a peg.’ One of Maigret’s colleagues leaves, another is transferred by Guichard and replaced by George Bonfils, who is immediately unpopular with Les Maigrets. As Maigret investigates new crimes, the line between guilt and innocence is blurred. The unconventional detective will have to work out his own unique form of justice for victims and perpetrators alike.

These stories are adapted from Simenon’s The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien, Maigret’s Revolver, and The Yellow Dog.

• Agatha Christie created the characters Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence (née Cowley), for her 1922 novel, The Secret Adversary. They carried on their detecting escapades through four more books, into the early 1970s. Their debut on television came in the 10-part, 1983-1984 series Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime, starring Francesca Annis and James Warwick. A terrific six-episode show, Partners in Crime, resurrected the pair in 2015, this time portrayed by David Walliams and Call the Midwife’s Jessica Raine in a drama set during the 1950s. Now, Britbox has scheduled a six-part reboot, Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence, to commence airing on Tuesday, September 15. The action in this new TV serial takes place in the present day, with the private detective protagonists reimagined as on-and-off romantic partners. Antonia Thomas (The Good Doctor, Still Up) will play “spirited actress” Tuppence, while Josh Dylan (The Buccaneers, Mamma Mia 2) portrays Tommy, “a meticulous and charming crime writer.” Mystery Fanfare furnishes a video preview.

• According to In Reference to Murder, “Morgan Spector is in talks to headline Netflix’s series adaptation of Dan Brown‘s latest novel, The Secret of Secrets, tackling the role of Professor Robert Landgon played by Tom Hanks in the film versions. Rebecca Hall (The Town) is also in talks for the female lead opposite Morgan. Spector already stars in HBO’s The Gilded Age as railroad tycoon George Russell, but sources say he would be able to do both series with proper scheduling should Gilded Age get renewed for a fifth season. In The Secret of Secrets, symbologist Robert Langdon (Spector) races against ancient forces and time to rescue his girlfriend, missing scientist Katherine Solomon (Hall), and her groundbreaking manuscript whose discoveries have the power to forever change humanity’s understanding of the mind. If the deals come to fruition, it will mark the first TV series acting collaboration for real-life couple Spector and Hall, who have starred together in a handful of plays and movies, including the Broadway revival of Machinal, Christine, and Permission.”

• And Icelandic author Lilja Sigurðardóttir has reached a deal with Germany’s ZDF Studios and Iceland producer Glassriver to translate her five “Áróra Investigation” novels for the small screen. Variety delivers this synopsis of Sigurðardóttir’s popular yarns: “Set across Iceland and London, the series follows Áróra, a tough fraud investigator with Icelandic roots who returns home to search for her missing sister. What begins as a family mission soon expands into a wider criminal investigation as she teams with Daniel, an Icelandic police detective and potential love interest, exposing corruption, betrayal and violence beneath Iceland’s rugged landscape.”

• It seems every time I think about how many free hours I might gain by signing off from Facebook, that social-networking site dispenses some fresh nugget of information I didn’t know I needed. Case in point: A post from somebody named Donald Bishop, who writes:

If you ever wondered who that beautiful young woman was who was running down the beach combing her hair and then turning to face the camera in the opening of [the original] Hawaii Five-O, now you know, her name is Elizabeth Logue. She is a native Hawaiian, apparently still alive. Her full name is Elizabeth Louise Malamalamaokalani White Logue. Apart from that iconic shot in the intro, she has only 2 other screen credits to her name. In 1961, she had a role in a low-budget Italian exploitation film shot in Tahiti called Nude Odyssey. Her only other part was in the Julie Andrews/Max Von Sydow film Hawaii, based on James Michener’s novel of the same name. She also did a short promotional film for the state of Hawaii to lure tourists to the island paradise.

Below is a compilation of opening sequences from Hawaii Five-O’s 12 seasons as part of CBS’s prime-time line-up (1968-1970).

• Speaking of Facebook, Frederick, Maryland-based publisher Level Best Books declared there weeks ago that it has formed Level Best Books UK, “a wholly owned subsidiary based in London that will serve as the publisher's official presence in the United Kingdom and represent the company's interests throughout Great Britain.” The venture “will be led by Shawn Reilly Simmons, publisher and CEO of Level Best Books, and internationally acclaimed mystery author Martin Edwards, who will serve together as co-directors.”

• This “collaborative mystery” from Britain’s Detection Club should be fun. Sadly, we must wait until 2028 for its appearance.

• I’m quite behind in drawing reader attention to Frank Gregorsky’s fine Detective Drama Gems. Issue 18 marks the start of that publication’s sixth year, and contains background on the 1961-1962 ABC-TV series The New Breed, as well as the Canadian cop drama Night Heat (1985-1989) and “Fade in to Murder,” a memorable 1976 episode of Columbo that pitted Peter Falk’s shabby but clever Los Angeles police lieutenant against former Star Trek captain William Shatner, who played the self-obsessed star of a TV detective show. Issue 19 celebrates the radio version of Dragnet, the 1966-1969 ABC program Felony Squad, and another episode of Night Heat. The next edition of Gems is expected in November.

• Published and unpublished works alike have achieved wins in this year’s contest for the Daphne du Maurier Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, sponsored by the Kiss of Death Chapter of Romance Writers of America. Click here to see the full results.

• A new crime-fiction periodical is to be launched soon! Beginning in October (so, in time for it to be heavily promoted at Bouchercon in Calgary), SMFS Mystery Magazine will appear three times a year featuring content from some familiar members of the Short Mystery Fiction Society. In addition to short stories, the mag is expected to incorporate interviews by Kevin Tipple and M.E. Proctor, and reviews by June Lorraine Roberts and Mat Coward. I’m guessing we will hear more about buying subscriptions once we get closer to the publication date. The cover of Issue 1 is embedded on the left.

• Hot off the presses (or at least still warm) is the Summer 2026 “Mysteries Set in France” edition of Mystery Readers Journal. Grab a copy for yourself here. And note that this follows a similarly themed number of the magazine from the spring of 2012, which looks to be available now only in PDF format.

• The next issue of MRJ will address the topic of “Cross-Genre Mysteries.” Submissions of articles, reviews, and author essays are due by August 20. Guidelines can be accessed here.

• This is good news, indeed! Scottish novelist Peter May wrote recently on Facebook (yeah, damn Facebook again!): “I know that I indicated strongly that The Black Loch [2024] would be my last book. But I also said, never say never. So there’s going to be just one more.” His post also drops “some visual clues” to a location he suggests is “very similar” to an imaginary one featured in Island of the Dead, set to go on sale from Riverrun next January.

• Sometime Rap Sheet contributor Peter Handel hatched his own blog almost a year ago. It’s called Carnivorous: A Steady Diet of Crime Fiction and has of late brought forth a couple of interviews destined to reward your scrutiny. The first is with Amy Bloom and focuses around Blunt Instrument (Mysterious Press), which marks her entry into the mystery-fiction world. The second finds Handel talking with Greg Shepard, the director of vintage publisher Stark House Press. Bookmark Carnivorous, if you have not already done so.

• Finally, we must say good-bye to some people who greatly impacted this field of fiction. Gail Bowen, the Canadian author of more than 20 novels starring Joanne Kilbourn, a political science professor in Saskatchewan with a sideline in solving crimes, passed away on June 25 at age 83, “following a brief battle with cancer.” Japanese writer Keigo Higashino, who reportedly produced 106 books during his lifetime, but may be remembered best for his Detective Galileo mysteries (The Devotion of Suspect X, etc.), perished on July 23 as a result of colorectal cancer; he was 68 years old. And Joanna Pettet may have been a London-born actress, rather than a wordsmith, but her contributions to crime and mystery fiction were still important. She guested on such boob-tube series as The Fugitive, Mannix, The Delphi Bureau, Banacek, Harry O, and Murder, She Wrote, and played “the scantily clad Mata Bond,” daughter of David Niven’s James Bond, in the 1967 spy parody Casino Royale. Pettet was 83 when she died in Temecula, California, on July 7.

Aussie Women Show Their Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 03:17:00 +0000

Sisters in Crime Australia has announced its shortlists of books being considered for the 2026 Davitt Awards. The winners will be revealed on Friday, September 12, during a special ceremony in Melbourne.

Adult Fiction:
• At Café 64, by Shaeden Barry (Echo)
• Learned Behaviours, by Zeyneb Gamieldien (Ultimo Press)
• Unbury the Dead, by Fiona Hardy (Affirm Press)
• Mad Mabel, by Sally Hepworth (Macmillan Australia)
• The Bluff, by Joanna Jenkins (Allen & Unwin)
• Melaleuca, by Angie Faye Martin (HQ Fiction)

Non-fiction:
• Groomed, by Sonia Orchard (Simon & Schuster)
• Outrageous Fortunes: The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-writer, and Her Criminal Son, by Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex (Black Inc.)
• The Red House, by Kate Wild (Allen & Unwin)

Young Adult:
• What Have They Done to Liza McLean? by Amy Doak (Penguin
Random House Australia)
• A Murder Is Going Down, by Kate Emery (Allen & Unwin)
• We Saw What You Started, by Carla Salmon (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Children’s Books:
• Run, by Sarah Armstrong (Hardie Grant Children’s)
• The Girl and the Ghost, by Jacqueline Harvey (Penguin Random
House Australia)
• Oceanforged: The Wicked Ship, by Amelia Mellor (Simon &
Schuster Australia)
• True South, by Gisela Ervin-Ward (Midnight Sun)

PaperBack: “Keep Cool, Mr. Jones”

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:35:00 +0000

Part of a series honoring the late author and blogger Bill Crider.

Keep Cool, Mr. Jones, by Timothy Fuller (Dell, 1952), with a front cover painted by Robert Stanley.

Author Fuller was still a student at Harvard University when he published his first mystery novel, Harvard Has a Homicide (1936). It introduced Edmund “Jupiter” Jones, described as a cocky, “eccentric grad student in the fine arts at Harvard who wins a valet in a craps game.” There was more than a modicum of Ellery Queen in Jones, and at least one latter-day reviewer has criticized the character for treating his Black servant, Sylvester, “in a ‘status quo’ racist way.” Yet Fuller proved to be a “sly and witty writer,” and his whodunits were deemed sinuous and entertaining enough that he was invited to produce another three over the next seven years—Reunion with Murder (1941), Three Thirds of a Ghost (1941), and This Is Murder, Mr. Jones (1943)—all following his gentleman sleuth as he graduated college then remained at Harvard as an assistant professor of fine arts.

Seven more years passed after the release of This Is Murder, Mr. Jones, with readers presuming the series had ended, before Fuller finally delivered his fifth and final puzzler with the same lead, Keep Cool, Mr. Jones. As the blog Beneath the Stains of Time explains, this “compact, breezy story” imagines “an older Jones living in the suburban Boston village of Saxon with a wife and three young children. Jupiter had hung up his deerstalker nearly six years ago, however, ‘much as the banker must bank or the preacher preach,’ Jupiter ‘had been grotesquely conditioned to deduce amateurishly.’” Two incidents get his investigative juices flowing again: the trapping of four people in a walk-in freezer, which he surmises was a failed murder attempt; and the subsequent slaying of Saxon’s chief of police. Might those events be connected in some manner?

Following the Scribes and Claymores

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:26:00 +0000

These days, there are so many prizes given in the field of crime, mystery, and thriller fiction, that it’s easy to fall behind in reporting them all. So consider this essentially a catch-up post.

Yesterday, the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers announced the winners of its 2026 Scribe Awards for “excellence in the field of writing tie-in fiction for media franchises.” There were seven categories of contenders this year, but the one that seems most pertinent to Rap Sheet readers is General Fiction. Among those nominees, the winner is Raymond Benson’s The Hook and the Eye (Ian Fleming), which employs ex-CIA op Felix Leiter—familiar from several James Bond novels—as the lead in a story that finds him tangling with spies in Manhattan and tasked with safely transporting an “impossibly beautiful and impossibly secretive” woman to Texas.

Also vying for top honors in General Fiction were Murder, She Wrote: Snowy With a Chance of Murder, by Barbara Early (Berkley); Cwej: The Midas Touch, by James Hornby (Independently published); Return of the Maltese Falcon, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime); Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory, by Sarah Cawkwell (Aconyte); and Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees, by Terrie Farley Moran (Berkley).

* * *

In addition to the Silver Falchion Awards, next month’s Killer Nashville conference will see presented the Claymore Awards, “given to a diverse collection of the top unpublished manuscripts submitted in 2026.” Below are the finalists in just two of 19 divisions.

Best Mystery:
• Exit, Wound, by Mark Dillman
• The Mystery of the Wolf, by David Goodlett
• Answers Will Come, by Henry James Kaye
• All the Buried Secrets, by Kim Nuesse
• The Holiday Slayer, by Janet Shawgo
• The End of Us, by Elissa Thompson

Best Investigator (includes procedural, serious private eye, detective, and noir):
• In Plain Sight, by Jacquelyn Dohoney
• Hunting the Archer, by John Foley
• Victim’s Voice, by Henry James Kaye
• Reflections in the Mist, by Avram Lavinsky
• Centaur Standing, by Clare Monteschio
• Return to Newstead Hills, by CJ Prince

Click here to see the full lineup of 2026 Claymore candidates. The winners of these commendations as well as the Silver Falchions will be revealed in the Tennessee capital on Saturday, August 22.

A Warm Reception for “Frozen”

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:54:00 +0000

Last evening brought the news that British crime novelist Elly Griffiths (aka Domenica de Rosa) has won this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award for The Frozen People (Quercus).

Also contending for that prize were The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper); The Death of Us, by Abigail Dean (Hemlock Press); Beautiful Ugly, by Alice Feeney (Pan); Clown Town, by Mick Herron (Baskerville); and Quantum of Menace, by Vaseem Khan (Zaffre).

The announcement of Griffiths’ victory was delivered on the opening night of the 2026 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

Revue of Reviewers: 7-23-26

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

Awaiting the Falchions and Scribes

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 19:13:00 +0000

The organizers of this year’s Killer Nashville conference, scheduled to take place in the Tennessee capital from August 20 to 23, have announced the finalists for their Silver Falchion Awards. There are 18 categories of nominees in all, but two that might be of particular interest to Rap Sheet readers are featured below.

Best Mystery:
• The Demonologists’ Legacy, by K. Scott Culpepper (Scotland)
• A Dead Draw, by Robert Dugoni (Thomas & Mercer)
• Rule One, by Michael Lucker (Wordeee)
• Hard Town, by Adam Plantinga (Grand Central)
• Damage Control, by Kirsten Shuford (Kirsten Shuford)
• Broke Road, by Matthew Spencer (Thomas & Mercer)

Best Thriller:
• Welcome to Cottonmouth, by Jay S. Bell (Blackstone)
• Line of Succession, by David Bruns and J.R. Olson (Severn River)
• Seraph, by Cheryl Fallin (Waterfowl)
• The Forbidden Strain, by Brian Montross (Independently published)
• The Butcher and the Liar, by S.L. Woeppel (Books Fluent)
• All That Lies Beneath, by D.L. Wood (Independently published)

Click here to see the full rundown of 2026 Silver Falchion candidates. The winners will be revealed on Saturday, August 22.

* * *

Meanwhile, the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers has released its contenders for the 2026 Scribe Awards. A press release on Facebook says these prizes are meant to acknowledge and promote authors “working in this often overlooked and underrepresented facet of publishing and the entertainment industry.”

In the General Fiction category are several crime-fiction titles:

• Murder, She Wrote: Snowy With a Chance of Murder, by
Barbara Early (Berkley)
• Cwej: The Midas Touch, by James Hornby (Independently published)
• Return of the Maltese Falcon, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime)
• The Hook and the Eye, by Raymond Benson (Ian Fleming)
• Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory, by Sarah Cawkwell (Aconyte)
• Murder, She Wrote: The Body in the Trees, by Terrie Farley
Moran (Berkley)

The recipient of this and other Scribe Awards will be made known later this month during the 2026 San Diego ComicCon.

Macavitys Hunt for Homes

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 00:42:00 +0000

Nominees were announced today for the 2026 Macavity Awards, sponsored by Mystery Readers International.

Best Mystery Novel:
• Crooks, by Lou Berney (Morrow)
• King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Clown Town, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
• River of Lies, by James L’Etoile (Oceanview)
• The White Crow, by Michael Robotham (Scribner)
• All This Could Be Yours, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery:
• Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes, by Sandra Jackson-Opoku (Minotaur)
• Dead Money, by Jakob Kerr (Bantam)
• Voices of the Elysian Fields, by Michael Rigg (Level Best)
• Stillwater, by Tanya Scott (Grove Atlantic)
• History Lessons, by Zoe B. Wallbrook (Soho Press)

Best Mystery Non-fiction:
• Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover’s Travel Guide to New England, by Dawn M. Barclay (Level Best)
• Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation, by Michael Cannell (Minotaur)
• Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, by Caroline Fraser (Penguin Press)
• V Is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death, by Kathryn Harkup (Bloomsbury Sigma)
• Edgar Allan Poe: A Life, by Richard Kopley (University of
Virginia Press)
• Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Work of Elmore Leonard, by C.M. Kushins (Mariner)

Best Mystery Short Story:
• “Six-Armed Robbery,” by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier (from Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous, edited by John Betancourt, Carla Coupe, and Michael Bracken; Wildside Press)
• “Hollywood Prometheus,” by Christa Faust (from Crime Ink: Iconic: An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Queer Icons, edited by John Copenhaver and Salem West; Bywater)
• “Finding Jimmy Baldwin,” by Cheryl Head (from Crime Ink: Iconic)
• “The Devil Himself,” by Vaseem Khan (from Double Crossing Van Dine, edited by Donna Andrews, Greg Herren, and Art Taylor;
Crippen & Landru)
• “The Skies Are Red,” by Richie Narvaez (from On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology, edited by Curtis Ippolito; Rock and a Hard Place Press)
• “Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush,” by Dave Zeltserman (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September/October 2025)

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery:
• Bye Bye Blackbird, by Elizabeth Crowens (Level Best)
• A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder, by Dianne Freeman (Kensington)
• City Lights, by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best)
• The Case of the Christie Conspiracy, by Kelly Oliver (Boldwood)
• The Case of the Missing Maid, by Rob Osler (Kensington)
• No. 10 Doyers Street, by Radha Vatsal (Level Best)

The Macavitys are named after Macavity the Mystery Cat, a character in T.S. Eliot’s 1939 poetry book, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Ballots for this year’s prize will be cast by a members of MRI, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal, and “friends of MRI.” Winners are to be announced sometime this coming fall.

Revue of Reviewers: 7-6-26

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:38:00 +0000

Critiquing some of the most interesting recent crime, mystery, and thriller releases. Click on the individual covers to read more.

Dispensing Daggers

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 02:29:00 +0000

A bit over a month after announcing its shortlist of candidates, the British Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has revealed the winners of its 2026 Dagger Awards, “celebrating the very best in crime writing.”

KAA Gold Dagger: The Death of Us, by Abigail Dean (Hemlock Press)

Also nominated: King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Headline); Not Quite Dead Yet, by Holly Jackson (Michael Joseph); The Girl in Cell A, by Vaseem Khan (Hodder Fiction); The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon (River Swift Press); and The Art of a Lie, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle)

Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Headline)

Also nominated: The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper); The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Simon & Schuster UK); A Sting in Her Tale, by Mark Ezra (No Exit Press); Such Quiet Girls, by Noelle Ihli (Pan); The Good Father, by Liam McIlvanney (Zaffre); and We Are All Guilty Here, by Karin Slaughter (HarperCollins)

ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-fiction: That Dark Spring, by Susannah Stapleton (Picador)

Also nominated: Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland, by Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee (Pegasus Crime); The Spy in the Archive: How One Man Tried to Kill the KGB, by Gordon Corera (William Collins); The Murder Game, by John Curran (HarperCollins/Collins Crime Club); Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, by Caroline Fraser (Fleet); and The Illegals, by Shaun Walker (Profile)

Historical Dagger: A Granite Silence, by Nina Allan (Riverrun)

Also nominated: Barvick Falls, by Rob McInroy (Tippermuir); The Devil’s Draper, by Donna Moor (Fly on the Wall Press); Gunner, by Alan Parks (Baskerville); The Art of a Lie, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle); and A Case of Life and Limb, by Sally Smith (Raven)

Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger: The Winter Job, by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston (Orenda)

Also nominated: Murder Mindfully, by Karsten Dusse, translated by Florian Duijsens (Faber & Faber); The Lake, by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce (Penguin Random House); Red Water, by Jurica Pavičić, translated by Matt Robinson (Bitter Lemon Press); Big Bad Wool, by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang (Allison & Busby); and Strange Pictures, by Uketsu, translated by
Jim Rion (Pushkin Press)

Whodunnit Dagger (for “cosy crime, traditional mysteries, and Golden Age crime” stories): A Murder for Miss Hortense, by Mel Pennant (Baskerville)

Also nominated: The Christmas Cracker Killer, by Alexandra Benedict (Simon & Schuster UK); Little Secrets, by Victoria Goldman (Three Crowns Publishing UK); Etiquette for Lovers and Killers, by Anna Fitzgerald Healy (Fleet); A Queer Case, by Robert Holtom (Titan); and Bad Influence, by C.J. Wray (Orion)

Twisted Dagger (for “psychological and suspense thrillers”): We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough (Orion)

Also nominated: What Happens in the Dark, by Kia Abdullah (HQ Fiction); Her Many Faces, by Nicci Cloke (Harvill Secker); Some of Us Are Liars, by Fiona Cummins (Macmillan); Scenes from a Tragedy, by Carole Hailey (Corvus); and The Bodies, by Sam Lloyd (Bantam)

ILP John Creasey (First Novel) Dagger: The Wolf Tree, by Laura McCluskey (Hemlock Press)

Also nominated: The Peak, by Sam Guthrie (HarperCollins); The Lost Detective, by Elspeth Latimer (Story Machine); The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Viper); Coram House, by Bailey Seybolt (Raven); and Holy City, by Henry Wise (No Exit Press)

Short Story Dagger: “The Apple Falls Not Far,” by Ambrose Perry (Canongate)

Also nominated: “Split Your Silver Tongue,” by S.A. Cosby (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos: New Stories Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; No Exit Press); “The Karpman Drama Triangle,” by Denise Mina (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos); “Full Circle,” by Abir Mukherjee (from Playing Dead: Short Stories in Honour of Simon Brett by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards; Severn House); “Strangers on a School Bus,” by Peter Swanson (from Birds, Strangers and Psychos); and “Waiting,” by Michael Wood (from Criminal Pursuits: This Is Me, edited by Samantha Lee Howe; Telos)

Emerging Author (for unpublished novels): Blind Side of the Sun,
by Michael Nikitin

Also nominated: Ill Met by Murder, by Rod Cookson; The Man Who Fit the Case, by Sophia Georghiou; Just a Simple Wedding, by Kate Koester; The Fixer, by Lorna Mathew; The Madam of Morningside, by Rebecca McFarland; and The Pattern of Absence, by Melisssa Tonkin

Dagger in the Library (“for a body of work by an established
crime writer that has long been popular with borrowers from libraries”): Tim Sullivan

Also nominated: Paula Hawkins; J.D. Kirk; Clare Mackintosh; Freida McFadden; and Abir Mukherjee

Publishers’ Dagger (“awarded annually to the Best Crime and Mystery Publisher of the Year”): Bitter Lemon Press

Also nominated: Faber & Faber; No Exit Press (Bedford Square); Pan Macmillan; Simon & Schuster; and Viper (Profile)

Red Herring Award Recipient: Fiona Veitch Smith (for service
to the CWA)

Diamond Dagger Recipient: Mark Billingham

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and runners-up!

Grading Sleuthhounds

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:51:00 +0000

I spent the last few days out of town, so missed the announcement of this year’s Shamus Award nominees, made by the Private Eye Writers of America. Below are those contenders, in four categories.

Best P.I. Hardcover:
• The Big Empty, by Robert Crais (Putnam)
• Photograph, by Brian Freeman (Blackstone)
• Hatchet Girls, by Joe R. Lansdale (Little, Brown)
• Gray Dawn, by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown)
• Mirage City, by Lev AC Rosen (Minotaur)

Best First P.I. Novel:
• Chase Harlem, by Elise Burke Brown (Rising Action)
• Miles in Time, by Lee Mathew Goldberg (Wise Wolf)
• Where the Bones Lie, by Nick Kolakowski (Datura)
• Shadow of the Eternal Watcher, by Josh Mendoza (Inkshares)
• The Witch’s Orchard, by Archer Sullivan (Minotaur)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel:
• The Hook and the Eye, by Raymond Benson (Ian Fleming)
• Sunday or the Highway, by Cindy Fazzi (Thomas & Mercer)
• City Lights, by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best)
• Midnight Streets, by Phil Lecomber (Titan)
• Catch Me on a Blue Day, by M.E. Proctor (Shotgun Honey)

Best P.I. Short Story:
• “The Roosevelt Affair,” by Adam Meyer
(from Crimeucopia: A Coterie of Dicks; Murderous Ink Press)
• “The One Cry,” by F.H. Batacan
(from Accidents Happen, by F.H. Batacan; Soho Crime)
• “Dr. Bones,” by Libby Cudmore
(Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], May/June)
• “Hours on the Phone,” by Gregory Fallis (EQMM, July/August)
• “The Shadows,” by Charles John Harper (EQMM, May/June)

The winners will be declared during the opening ceremonies at Bouchercon 2026, to be held in Calgary, Alberta, from October 21 to 25. Click here to learn more about that convention.

Who’s Ready to Party in Stirling?

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:07:00 +0000

Organizers of the international crime-fiction event Bloody Scotland today released their longlist of nominees for the 2026 McIlvanney Prize:

• The Hollow Boys, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper)
• 138 Main Street, by Gavin Bell (Simon & Schuster UK)
• Quite Ugly One Evening, by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus)
• A Bad, Bad Place, by Frances Crawford (Bantam)
• Unknown, by Heather Critchlow (Canelo Crime)
• Solitary Agents, by David Goodman (Headline)
• We Know What You Did, by Kirsty Lockwood (Orion)
• Rat Race, by Callum McSorley (Pushkin Vertigo)
• The Diary of Lies, by Philip Miller (Polygon)
• The Pinnacle, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill)
• The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Viper)
• Liar Thief, by May Rinaldi (Black Spring Crime)

This award is named for novelist William McIlvanney (Laidlaw) and is intended to honor “the best Scottish Crime book of the year.” It’s sponsored by The Glencairn Glass.

The winner will be announced on Friday, September 18, along with this year’s recipient of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize. There are five contenders for that latter commendation, all penned by women and all but one of them also a candidate for the McIlvanney:

• A Bad, Bad Place, by Frances Crawford (Bantam)
• Original Sins, by Linda Duncan McLaughlin (Into Books)
• We Know What You Did, by Kirsty Lockwood (Orion)
• The Vanishing Place, by Zoë Rankin (Viper)
• Liar Thief, by May Rinaldi (Black Spring Crime)

These presentations are elements of the schedule for the 2026 Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival, which will take place in Stirling, Scotland, from September 18 to 20.

The Choices Just Keep Coming

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:45:00 +0000

With today marking the start of July, it’s time for an update on the status of The Rap Sheet’s selection of new summer books.

As you know by now, I am in the habit of adding titles to my quarterly picks lists as their period of prime relevancy rolls on. This season’s inventory is no different. The count started above 400, and I’ve expanded it with more than a dozen other works since its posting on June 7. Among the extras: Bone Horn, by Prudence Bussey-Chamberlain (Soft Skull); The Grapevine, by Alexandra Sokoloff and Craig Robertson (Blackstone); The Propaganda Murders, by Lynn Brittney (Iris); Don’t Look Away, by Daniel Kenitz (Scribner); Mr. and Mrs. Dixon Hide a Body, by Jennifer Holdich (Sourcebooks Landmark); Deliverance, by Saima Mir (Point Blank); A Killing in Lagos, by Amen Alonge (Quercus); and Faculty of Liars, by R.L. Heber (Point Blank).

Again, click here to see the full roster.

Dobyns Reaches His Finish Line

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:36:00 +0000

Stephen Dobyns, the New Jersey-born poet, ex-reporter and former English professor, and crime fictionist, died on June 14 at age 85. Among his many books were 11 novels starring Charlie Bradshaw, described by The Thrilling Detective Web Site as a onetime cop and “small-town private eye in Saratoga Springs, New York.” The first entry in that series was Saratoga Longshot, which reached print in 1976. The final Bradshaw yarn appeared in 2017 under the title Saratoga Payback. He also penned standalone works of crime fiction, such as Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? (2015) and The Two Deaths of Senora Puccini (1988).

In a Facebook post this week, editor, critic, and occasional Rap Sheet contributor Jim Thomsen explained that he’d been in the midst of composing an article for Substack about Dobyn’s 1987 noir yarn, A Boat Off the Coast, when he learned of the author’s demise. At the conclusion of that article, he notes:

I’m a big admirer of Stephen Dobyns, though I’m guessing he’s neither the first or even hundred and first name you might think of when you think of a “noir author,” nor was he the type to habituate the hotel bar at a Bouchercon-type conclave and thus gain the slavish admiration of the social-media class.

First, because he’s primarily thought of as a poet (fourteen published volumes of verse since 1972). Second, because his fiction worked in many idioms. His first published novel, A Man of Little Evils (1973), was a John le Carré-like spy novel set in England. And soon after he wrote the first of eleven non-noirish private-detective novels set in Saratoga Springs, New York, and starring the hangdog, sad-sack Charlie Bradshaw. The rest of his novels, while all having elements of crime, defy easy categorization beyond “literary,” and his latter-day efforts had something of a madcap comic bent, as witnessed by his last, Is Fat Bob Dead Yet?

Some of his crime novels are noir-inflected, but only A Boat Off the Coast has the bullet that hits the noir bone.

According to an online obituary, “a memorial service will be held in September” in Connecticut, where Dobyns passed away.

Pünd’s Concluding Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:14:00 +0000

Americans who have wondered lately when the TV adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s third Susan Ryeland mystery, Marble Hall Murders, might finally be aired should be pleased to hear that PBS has scheduled its run to begin on Sunday, September 6.

This six-part presentation of Horowitz’s third and reportedly final Ryeland whodunit will bring back Lesley Manville as the book editor-cum-sleuth, with Tim McMullan again playing fictional detective Atticus Pünd. The story finds Ryeland shepherding into print a novel that relaunches the Atticus Pünd detective series, following the death (in Magpie Murders) of its creator, Alan Conway. This new author is Eliot Chace, troubled heir to the fortune of his grandmother Miriam, a renowned children’s book author. While Miriam’s long-ago death hadn’t appeared at all suspicious, Eliot raises doubts by centering his tale on the murder of a Miriam stand-in. The puzzle’s solution is in Eliot’s book, which imagines a newly retired Pünd called in to solve the slaying of Lady Margaret Chalfont, who had grown frightened of her husband. But before Susan can find the concealed solution, she becomes the prime suspect in another slaying.

A teaser for the coming series can be enjoyed here.

Revealing Fingerprints

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:23:00 +0000

It seems like yesterday—and indeed, it was just a bit over a month ago—that we were announcing the finalists for this year’s Fingerprint Awards, to be presented at London’s 2026 Capital Crime festival. Well, that event has been taking place over the last three days, and we now have the winners of those prizes. They come in eight categories.

Audiobook of the Year:
Don’t Let Him In, by Lisa Jewell (Simon & Schuster Audio)

Also nominated: King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby (Headline); We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough (Orion); Beautiful Ugly, by Alice Feeney (Macmillan); and Artificial Wisdom, by Thomas R. Weaver (Transworld Digital)

True Crime Book of the Year:
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, by Virginia Roberts-Guiffre (Doubleday)

Also nominated: Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen, by Hallie Rubenhold (Doubleday); Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, by Caroline Fraser (Fleet); A History of Modern Britain in Twenty Murders, by Professor David Wilson (Sphere); and A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children, by Haley Cohen Gilliland (Avid Reader Press)

Debut Crime Book:
Deadline, by Steph McGovern (Macmillan)

Also nominated: Broken, by Jón Atli Jónasson (Corylus); Death at the White Hart, by Chris Chibnall (Michael Joseph); The Day of the Roaring, by Nina Bhadreshwar (Hemlock Press); and This Is Not a Game, by Kelly Mullen (Century)

Genre-Busting Book:
Kill Them with Kindness, by Will Carver (‎Orenda)

Also nominated: Little Red Death, by A.K. Benedict (Simon & Schuster UK); Blood Like Ours, by Stuart Neville (Simon & Schuster UK); Small Fires, by Ronnie Turner (Orenda); and Manhattan Down, by Michael Cordy (Bantam)

Historical Crime Book of the Year:
The Burning Grounds, by Abir Mukherjee (Harvill)

Also nominated: The Art of a Lie, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Mantle); The Rush, by Beth Lewis (Viper); Dangerous, by Essie Fox (Orenda); and Marble Hall Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Century)

Thriller Book of the Year:
Don’t Let Him In, by Lisa Jewell (Century)

Also nominated: The Chemist, by A.A. Dhand (HQ); Human Remains, by Jo Callaghan (Simon & Schuster UK); The Man Made of Smoke, by Alex North (Michael Joseph); and Some of Us Are Liars, by Fiona Cummins (Macmillan)

Overall Crime Book of the Year:
The Final Vow, by M.W. Craven (Constable)

Also nominated: The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper); Quantum of Menace, by Vaseem Khan (Zaffre); The Good Father, by Liam Liam McIlvanney (Zaffre); and We Live Here Now, by Sarah Pinborough (Orion)

Thalia Procter Lifetime Achievement Award: Trisha Jackson, publishing director for fiction at publisher Pan Macmillan

Publishing Crime Book Campaign of the Year: Pan MacMillan, for The Art of a Lie, by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

Commending the Best of This Genre

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:40:00 +0000

Harrogate International Festivals this morning announced its shortlist of nominees for the 2026 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, which is intended to recognize the “most prestigious crime fiction” published in the UK and Ireland. From an original list of 18 titles, the following six remain:

• The Midnight King, by Tariq Ashkanani (Viper)
• The Death of Us, by Abigail Dean (Hemlock Press)
• Beautiful Ugly, by Alice Feeney (Pan Fiction)
• The Frozen People, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• Clown Town, by Mick Herron (Baskerville)
• Quantum of Menace, by Vaseem Khan (Zaffre)

Readers are now invited to choose their favorite from among these books by clicking here. Voting will close on Thursday, July 16, at 23:59 GMT. The winner is to be revealed on Thursday, July 23, the opening night of this year’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lambda Literary offers the recipients of its 38th Annual Lambda Awards (the “Lammys”) for excellence in LGBTQ+ books. Taking top honors in the Best LGBTQ+ Mystery category is A Queer Case, by Robert Holtom (Titan). The other finalists were Every Sweet Thing Is Bitter, by Samantha Crewson (Crooked Lane); Girl Falling, by Hayley Scrivenor (Flatiron); Mirage City, by Lev AC Rosen (Minotaur); and The Case of the Missing Maid, by Rob Osler (Kensington).

“Bold and Brave” Win the Day

noreply@blogger.com (J. Kingston Pierce) — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:52:00 +0000

Sisters in Crime Australia recently released its longlists of books being considered for the 2026 Davitt Awards, “celebrating excellence in crime writing by Australian women.”

Adult Fiction:
• At Café 64, by Shaeden Barry (Echo)
• Lyrebird, by Jane Caro (Allen & Unwin)
• Unfinished Business, by Shankari Chandran (Ultimo Press)
• Skull River, by Pip Fioretti (Affirm Press)
• When She Was Gone, by Sara Foster (HarperCollins Australia)
• Revelation Beach, by Susan Francis (Wild Dingo Press)
• Learned Behaviours, by Zeyneb Gamieldien (Ultimo Press)
• Unbury the Dead, by Fiona Hardy (Affirm Press)
• Mad Mabel, by Sally Hepworth (Macmillan Australia)
• The Canvas Killings, by Elise Janes (JETT)
• The Bluff, by Joanna Jenkins (Allen & Unwin)
• Melaleuca, by Angie Faye Martin (HQ Fiction)
• The Wolf Tree, by Laura McCluskey (HarperCollins Australia)
• The Prospect, by Fleur McDonald (HarperCollins Australia)
• Stillwater, by Tanya Scott (Allen & Unwin)
• Nemesis, by Patricia Wolf (Echo)

Non-fiction:
• Groomed, by Sonia Orchard (Simon & Schuster)
• Outrageous Fortunes: The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-writer, and Her Criminal Son, by Megan Brown and Lucy Sussex (Black Inc.)
• The Red House, by Kate Wild (Allen & Unwin)

Young Adult:
• What Have They Done to Liza McLean? by Amy Doak (Penguin Random House Australia)
• A Murder Is Going Down, by Kate Emery (Allen & Unwin)
• We Saw What You Started, by Carla Salmon (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Children’s Books:
• Run, by Sarah Armstrong (Hardie Grant Children’s)
• The Girl and the Ghost, by Jacqueline Harvey (Penguin Random
House Australia)
• Oceanforged: The Wicked Ship, by Amelia Mellor (Simon &
Schuster Australia)
• True South, by Gisela Ervin-Ward (Midnight Sun)
• Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend (Hachette Children’s)
• Promises and Other Lies, by Sue Whiting (Walker)

Ruth Wykes, who chairs the Davitt Awards judging panel, is quoted as saying these works “were the ones that entertained, challenged, taught us, and stayed with us long after we had read the final chapters. Stories that were bold and brave, or beautifully nuanced.”

This year’s shortlists are to be announced in July, and at that same time, voting will commence for the 2026 Readers’ Choice Award. All of the winners are to be declared in August or September.

The Davitt Awards are named for Ellen Davitt (1812-1879), the author of Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud (1865).