Mysterious Bits And Pieces
The words above make for a better column title than a menu item.
The Edgar nominees have just been announced by the Mystery Writers of America. Here's a quick look at the major categories (winners will be announced at the Edgar Allan Poe Awards banquet on April 26):
Best Novel: "The Pale Blue Eyes" by Louis Bayard; "The Janissary Tree" by Jason Goodwin; "Gentlemen and Players" by Joanne Harris; "The Dead Hour" by Denise Mina; "The Virgin of Small Plains" by Nancy Pickard; "The Liberation Movements" by Olen Steinhauer.
Best First Novel: "The Faithful Spy" by Alex Berenson; "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn; "King of Lies" by John Hart; "Holmes on the Range" by Steve Hockensmith; "A Field of Darkness" by Cornelia Read.
Best Short Story: "The Home Front" by Charles Ardai; "Rain" by Thomas H. Cook; "Cranked" by Bill Crider; "Building" by S.J. Rozan.
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The world of crime fiction lost a major figure, though a forgotten one, when A.I. Bezzerides died on January 1 at the age of 98. Who, you may ask, was that? He was the author of a tough, sweat-inducing suspense novel titled "Long Haul," published in 1938, which underwent a title change and became the famous noir film "They Drive by Night," starring George Raft and Humphrey Bogart.
Now a cult classic, it is the story of long-distance truckers and the challenges they face with hijackers, crashes, and exhaustion as they carry produce to markets while the rest of America sleeps.
He used similar characters and the same jackhammer style to write "Thieves' Market," filmed by Jules Dassin as "Thieves' Highway." Bezzerides also wrote the screenplay for the enduring film noir, "Kiss Me Deadly," based on a novel by Mickey Spillane. It was directed by Robert Aldrich and starred Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer.
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Also recently deceased was the much younger Barbara Seranella, who passed away at the age of 50 on January 21. After working for 17 years as an auto mechanic, she turned to writing and enjoyed immediate success.
Her first book, "No Human Involved," made its debut as no. 5 on the Los Angeles Times best-seller list, where her books were frequent visitors. The series of eight novels featured Munch Mancini, a gritty, no-nonsense auto mechanic (now where did she get that idea?).
Just about all her books are in print, but I'd recommend starting with the first. Her last book, "Deadman's Switch," will be published in April.
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Another small publishing house is opening its doors, which should come as a source of enormous joy to readers who like British mysteries. Named Bloody Brits Press, it was created by an American, Kelly Smith, who recently moved to England.
It will produce original titles (the first is Danuta Reah's "Bleak Water") as well as trade paperback reprints (beginning with Val McDermid's "Star Struck," which had been published in the United Kingdom but not in America). Most of the early titles are reprints of Ms. McDermid's popular Kate Brannigan series.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the editorial director responsible for selecting titles for publication by Bloody Brits Press is the same Val McDermid, who was recently named the 16th most influential person in British publishing by the London Observer.
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With absolutely no interest in video games, I'm not sure why I mention this, but maybe somebody reading a book column will, incredibly, feel differently "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (oh, that's why I mention it) is a computer game developed by the elegantly named Frogware and released by Focus Home Interactive.
It is described as "the most risky adventure of (Holmes's) career: an original confrontation between the universe of Sherlock Holmes and the myth of Cthulhu (sic) for a fight between the rational and the supernatural." It's a 3-D game, and you can play either Holmes or Dr. Watson and interact with more than 60 characters in five disturbing universes."
Sounds peachy, but I'll give it a skip. Growing up in the South Bronx, I spent too much time trying not to interact with anyone in that disturbing universe.
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From the ridiculous to the sublime, I'll close with words of wisdom from "The Tiger in the Smoke" by Margery Allingham: "Lying wastes more time than anything else in the modern world."
Mr. Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan and the editor of the"Best American Mystery Stories." He can be reached at ottopenzler@mysteriousbookshop.com.
