IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

The Daggers 2006 - the Crime Writers Association UK

Last night's British Daggers were awarded as follows:

The Duncan Lawrie Dagger (formerly called "The CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Fiction"): Ann Cleeves - Raven Black (Macmillan);

The CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger: Nick Stone - Mr Clarinet (Penguin);

The Duncan Lawrie International Dagger: Fred Vargas (author) and Siân Reynolds (translator) - The Three Evangelists (Harvill);

The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction: Linda Rhodes, Lee Sheldon and Kathryn Abnett - The Dagenham Murder (The Borough of Barking and Dagenham);

The CWA New Blood Dagger: Louise Penny - Still Life (Headline);

The CWA Dagger in the Library: Jim Kelly;

The Dèbut Dagger: Otis Twelve – the pseudonym of US writer D V Wesselmann – Imp.

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Also: Simon Beckett's The Chemistry of Death (Bantam Press) was highly commended in the Duncan Lawrie Dagger category.

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Elmore Leonard was awarded the 2006 Cartier Diamond Dagger earlier this year.

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Congratulations to all the winners!

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Note: Thanks to the CWA for noting there's a circumflex in the name Siân, but you have it over the wrong vowel!

Harrogate Crime Writing Festival 2006

Just three weeks tomorrow, (God willing), I'm heading north to Yorkshire for the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival.

It promises to be even more fun than last year, with a wonderful gathering of authors at the events.  The programme runs through to Sunday morning (23 July).  Tickets can be booked separately for the events.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with people I met there last year as well as others I've bumped into at other festivals/events during the year, who I hope will be coming along.

Kenneth Griffith RIP

A goodbye to Kenneth Griffith, who has died at 84 years of age.  He was an actor - and that phase of his life I will certainly remember.  He also became a producer, hidden behind the scenes, but producing something for the screen that enlightened us, in his later years.

As an actor, he featured well, within my youth.  The screen displayed its recording and someone said "That's Kenneth Griffith".

Yes, it was Kenneth Griffith.  There can be no other.

Currently reading...

... "Nirvana Bites" by Debi Alper.

Debi Alper's début "Nirvana Bites" is a tour de force in south London quirky and survival living, with crime not too far away.  The pace of this novel has made me put to one side my other reading for the moment, but only for a moment.

I'm drawn in.  I look forward to sharing my thoughts in the near future.

A note for UK Laurie R. King fans...

Word reached me today, still to be fully confirmed, that Laurie R. King will be touring the UK in early September to coincide with the release of her books in the UK by Poisoned Pen Press.  Bristol is one location (a booked certainty, I'm told); Edinburgh another (on the cards - to be confirmed).  When I have the full details of the tour, I will post them up.

Laurie R. King's new publisher - Poisoned Pen Press in the UK - will see the author back on the shelves in the UK, in good form.  For a while, purchases of her books have relied upon imports from the US; old UK stocks for older titles and second hand sales.

If you appreciate good, intelligent and original crime fiction, then it's good to make a note.

So, ladies and gentlemen, who are already avid readers, keep your early September diaries flexible - there's an event you may just want to go to.  If new to Laurie R. King - then do try her books.  Perhaps take in a bookshop book signing event, if there's one near you. 

As noted previously on here, I will feature the Martinelli series nearer the date of publication.  And again, as I've said before on here, A Grave Talent, the first in the series is superb.

Buried - Mark Billingham

Mark Billingham brings us another story in the engaging and entertaining DI Tom Thorne series.  As with the previous stories, Billingham again pulls off an original tale.

In a nutshell: Luke Mullen is missing and presumed kidnapped.  But this case is different.  Luke is 16 years old, so he's not the usual age for a kidnap case.  There's been no ransom demand.  Luke is also the son of a now retired ex-DCI in the Metropolitan Police.  The obvious place to start is with a list of those who may have a grudge against ex-DCI Mullen.  The list is prepared, but then Thorne discovers that Mullen left out someone who was really most worthy of a place on it...

Thorne is loaned to another team to assist in this investigation, allowing us to see him, yet again, slipping into a new set of colleagues with the finesse of the surface of a cheese grater.   Holland also makes the move, which puts him in a fortuitous position to assist with another ongoing investigation...    (Another good plot in itself.)  Hendricks, the pathologist, finds his way back to Thorne's flat and sofa, albeit temporarily.  (Love is never smooth, is it?)  He's not the only visitor to Thorne's flat in this book, but you'll have to read it to find out more.

London is Thorne's beat; it's also Billingham's.  Billingham is a confident and reliable purveyor of London today - how it really is beneath the surface and what the Met experiences on a day to day basis.

Page turning, but with plenty of substance and intrigue, if you love/like this series, Buried is unmissable.  If you are new to the Thorne series, I reckon you might just get captured and seek out the backlist.

Andrew Taylor - A Stain on the Silence

Andrew Taylor's latest novel is one of psychological suspense.  More than that; it's also a fascinating exploration into the minds of teenagers and the transition from child to adult.  Unlike his previous novels this one is firmly set in the present; the flashbacks or reminiscences being some twenty plus years ago.  Taylor's perceptive eye on culture, the way we live and the nature of relationships is as keen and detailed in the contemporary setting as it is for the 1950s in his wonderful Lydmouth series.

This is a story about families and friends and secrets.  As the story unfolds, each secret revealed like a petal falling from a flower until finally we reach the core and the biggest secret of all and the impact it had on all concerned.

I started the book expecting a leisurely read but finished it in three sittings.  And oh to be a fly on the wall in Chipping Weston when the final secret's out!

In a nutshell: James is happily enjoying his life but one day he receives a call from a woman he knew in his youth.  Lily tells him that she's dying of cancer and that, as the result of their union twenty four years ago, James has a daughter.  Lily then asks for James's assistance, as he is the only person who can help their daughter now.  Their pregnant daughter is on the run, fearing that the police are about to knock on her door to accuse her of murder...

A pacey read, we, like James, do not know whose story to trust.  And like James's wife, we wonder just what James himself is hiding ... altogether.  Many twists line the route to the final resolution and a brilliantly inspired ending.

Finally, how wonderful it was to be reading words I have not heard uttered for years.  As modern culture in the UK sees us moving ever more to convenience foods, this novel had me thinking that the same applies to the English language.  We used to treat it with respect; now it's merely there for our convenience.  Taylor reminds us that it is also there to be savoured, should we accept the invitation.

The top twenty nouns used in the English language...

I saw this in a newspaper during the week.  Apparently, the top twenty nouns used are:

1. time
2. person
3. year
4. way
5. day
6. thing
7. man
8. world
9. life
10. hand
11. part
12. child
13. eye
14. woman
15. place
16. work
17. week
18. case
19. point
20. government.

I was struck by how many nouns were "time" related.  Always living to a schedule, we never seem to have enough of it.

Interesting too that even though we in Britain are not exactly rigorous in using our right to vote at elections, "government" comes in at number 20.  Perhaps we're always moaning?

Anyway, I was reminded recently of the wealth and breadth and colour we have in the English language when I read a book by Andrew Taylor.  See post above.

Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2006 - voting on the shortlist is now open

The shortlist has now been announced and you vote online here.  (Voting ends on July 13th.)

Congratulations and all the best to those shortlisted:

• Lindsay Ashford for Strange Blood
• Stephen Booth for One Last Breath
• Martin Edwards for The Coffin Trail
• Susan Hill for The Various Haunts of Men
• Val McDermid for The Torment of Others
• Ian Rankin for Fleshmarket Close.

The winner will be announced during the opening night event at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival on  Thursday 20 July, which starts at 7:30 pm.

Lindsay Ashford and Strange Blood had passed me by until a couple of weeks ago when I saw an article in Wales's national newspaper the Western Mail.  You can find it online here.

Author Event - Dulwich Readers' Group 29 June 2006

Debi Alper, author of Nirvana Bites and Trading Tatania has been invited to speak to Dulwich Readers' Group on 29 June at 7:30pm in her capacity as a "local author".  The event is free to all and includes refreshments; address as follows:

Dulwich Library, 368 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8NB.

Debi is likely to do short readings from both books and to take questions.  Questions might include topics such as the writing process; getting published; writing thrillers; bringing in local locations; juggling parenting, working and writing; blogging - as she's experienced in all.