The Anthonys are awarded annually, and presented at the annual Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention.

http://bouchercon2010.blogspot.com/

The Macavity’s are nominated and voted on by Mystery readers International, and are named for Macavity, the Mystery cat, in T.S. Eliot’s “Book of Practical Cats”.

http://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2010/06/macavity-award-nominees-2010.html

Alan

It was announced last evening, at the annual Arthur Ellis Dinner in Toronto, that “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” has won the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. The Arthur Ellis Awards are given annually by the Crime Writers of Canada.

I couldn’t be more thrilled. A great deal of the credit belongs to Kristin Cochrane and Brad Martin, whose legendary team at Doubleday Canada/Random House have supported Flavia since she was no more than a poisonous little gleam in her author’s eye.

My profound thanks to the Crime Writers of Canada for this most prestigious award.

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.

The Spotted Owl Award winner is chosen by a volunteer committee of Friends of Mystery members from a list of nominee mysteries, the authors of which must reside in the Pacific Northwest. A total of 72 books were considered for this year’s award.

The 2010 award marks the 15th year of Spotted Owl winners. Previous winners are Kate Wilhelm, Kris (Nelscott) Rusch, and Lowen Clausen, who have each won the award twice. Other winners include Earl Emerson, John Straley, Tom Mitcheltree, L.L. Thrasher, Marcia Simpson, G.M. Ford, Kevin O’Brien, Mike Doogan and Phil Margolin.

Runners up for the 2010 Spotted Owl award were:

Mike Lawson for House Secrets
Robert Dugoni for Wrongful Death
Stan Jones for Village of the Ghost Bears
Chelsea Cain for Evil at Heart
Phillip Margolin for Fugitive
Steve Martini for Guardian of Lies
Aaron Elkins for Skull Duggery
Dana Stabenow for Whisper to the Blood
Clyde Ford for Whiskey Gulf

The Arthur Ellis Awards are presented annually at the end of May, and are named for Arthur Ellis, the sobriquet of Canada’s last official hangman.

The Dilys is presented annually by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association to the book its members most enjoyed hand-selling during the previous year, and is named for Dilys Winn, who founded America’s first specialty mystery book store.

Fellow Canadian Louise Penny’s “The Brutal Telling” was also one of the deserving nominees – and Louise, bless her, was one of the first to e-mail congratulations.

Now that’s class!

Alan

The book is published in Germany by Blanvalet under the Penhaligon imprint.

Here’s the new book trailer:

The book’s title (published in Italy by Mondadori) is “Flavia de Luce E Il Delitto Nel Campo Dei Cetrioli”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qooNGaDiCg

Have a look! Give it a rating!