“Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” wins Agatha Award

I’m happy, honoured and excited to announce that “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” has won the 2009 Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

The Agatha Awards, given annually by Malice Domestic, honor the “traditional mystery.” That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that:

contain no explicit sex
contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence

And every bit as gratifying is the fact that fellow Canadian, Louise Penny’s novel, “A Brutal Telling”, has won the Agatha for Best Novel – for an astonishing (and record-setting) third year in a row!
Congratulations, Louise!

If you’re looking for a truly great mystery series, have a look at Louise’s website at:
www.louisepenny.com

Louise’s Armand Gamache books are as good as mystery gets. I recommend them highly.

As if that weren’t enough, Canada’s Elizabeth Duncan was also shortlisted for Best Novel, for her book “The Cold Light of Mourning”. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s at the very top of my list.
Congratulations, Elizabeth! Well done!

Check out Elizabeth’s website at:

http://www.elizabethjduncan.com/

What a great day for Canadian mystery writers! I’m honoured to be in such distinguished company.