Congrats Edgar Winners!

This just in from Mystery Writers of America--the winners of the Edgar awards for best mysteries of the year:

BEST NOVEL
Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
The Foreigner by Francie Lin (Picador)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
China Lake by Meg Gardiner (New American Library – Obsidian Mysteries)

BEST FACT CRIME
American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum (Crown Publishers)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr. Harry Lee Poe (Metro Books)

BEST SHORT STORY
"Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown and Company)

BEST JUVENILE
The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin Young Readers Group – Dutton Children’s Books)

BEST PLAY
The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY
“Prayer of the Bone” – Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (BBC America)

BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY
In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh (Focus Features)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD
"Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli (Akashic Books)

GRAND MASTER
James Lee Burke
Sue Grafton

RAVEN AWARDS
Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland
Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD
The Killer’s Wife by Bill Floyd (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Congrats all!

Great Reviews for Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

The reviews for Madness of Lord Ian are pouring in, and they're all (so far) fantastic. I'm speechless (ok, I've never been speechless in my life--let's say I'm stunned). I never expected this.

Romantic Times BookReviews 4.5 Top Pick! (You have to be a subscriber to read this one until a couple months from now). Here's a quote: "By tackling an unusual theme, à la Laura Kinsale, Ashley touches readers on many levels. Brava!"

All About Romance--Desert Isle Keeper review

The Good, The Bad, The Unread A+ review

Barbara Vey's Publisher's Weekly blog

There are others out there, and I have heard there are more to come.

A friend of mine noted that this book reminded her much of the Captain Lacey mysteries (it does feature a murder mystery and a Scotland Yard detective, who will be a recurring character--but she also means it has the same kind of tone and feeling).

In other words, if you like the Captain Lacey series, I hope you will give this one a try.

German editions

I sold German rights to the six published Lacey mysteries, and they're just now coming out in Germany. Nice covers! I think the third should be out sometime soon.




The Hanover Square Affair


















A Regimental Murder (They wanted to use another place name.)

Host of authors at Poisoned Pen

Poisoned Pen mystery bookstore has a nice list of authors coming by to sign books in the next couple of months. Even if you don't live near Phx/Scottsdale, the store generally keeps some signed stock that you can order.

The events list is here:

http://www.poisonedpen.com/event-calendar/events.html

I'm excited about the Lindsey Davis one in May--if you haven't heard her speak, she's hilarious. She will have a discussion and sign Alexandria, the newest Falco mystery. If you attend, I'll be in the audience. Laughing, I imagine.

Ashley Gardner

Number One Ladies

I'm thrilled that HBO is airing the dramatization of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It's one of my favorite series, and I'm loving watching it come to life. (I'm also thrilled I was too lazy to cancel HBO between True Blood seasons.)

I think they've captured the flavor and the characters well (I always fear disaster when books become series). The character of Grace is played more broadly than I pictured, but I'm enjoying the fun they're having.

If you don't have HBO, keep an eye out for the DVD release. I think the series worth viewing. They filmed the episodes in Botswana, and the visuals are stunning.