The 2009 Anthony Awards

I had the privilege and fun of being present at the Anthony Awards that were presented at Bouchercon in Indianapolis this past weekend.
Here are the winners!

Best Novel: THE BRASS VERDICT, by Michael Connelly

Best First Novel: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson

Best Paperback Original: STATE OF THE ONION, by Julie Hyzy

Best Short Story: "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover (from HARDCORE HARDBOILED)

Best Critical/Nonfiction: ANTHONY BOUCHER: A BIBLIOGRAPHY, by Jeffrey Marks

Best Children's/Young Adult: THE CROSSROADS, by Chris Grabenstein

Best Cover Art: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, designed by Peter Meselund

Special Service Award: Jon & Ruth Jordan

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees! It was great seeing that there were two Chicagoland connections - Julie Hyzy and Sean Chercover. We knew they were good. Now everyone else knows they are too!

Never Thought I'd Join a Bandwagon, But Then I Read Charlaine Harris

Yep, the header says it all. I have fallen into obsession with Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books. I started tentatively. Finally got a hold on the first one - Dead Until Dark - and read it straight through. I loved Sookie, loved her issues and her "disability" as she called it. Oh and there were vampires. I'm not a HUGE vampire fan and I was not sure quite what to expect. But in Harris' world, it seems normal and logical and matter of fact. That folks, is called good writing. She created a funky world with back story and a multitude of characters that continue to be fleshed out (no irony with that word) throughout the series.

As I have flown through the books (I admit I still have one more to go - but then there are NO more til a new one comes out and besides it is really interrupting my sleep and my grad student class), I have marvelled how creative this world is, and how Sookie is a sensitive person regardless of what happens to her. That delicacy of feeling that you find in the books makes me extremely vary of seeing the TV show made from her work (True Blood). I just don't think you can "act" that stuff.

So why am I so surprised that I like these books? These books have been hyped a lot lately, and if I had a dollar for every book that was hyped that I did not care for - well, I would be very well off indeed! But nope, I have been seduced into staying up til 2 in the morning and not caring. That my friends is what a book obsession is all about. Harris is a talented gal. I have read her other series before this and have enjoyed them as well. (I met her once at a mystery convention - very nice lady too!)

Sookie's just a waitress in a tiny town in Louisiana. People think she is stupid because she has trouble concentrating - well that's because she hears everyone's thoughts all the time. Kind of like non stop chatter in your head. When she meets her first vampire - Bill - she delightedly discovers that she can not hear his thoughts. And he and the other vampires discover there is more to her than what you just see on the surface. It is really a saga about discovering another world and being valued for the talents that others see in you. Join the adventures. Just make sure you start reading early so you can get to bed at a reasonable hour. Because you are not going to want to stop. Trust me. A very fun and good read. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Dead Until Dark (2001)
Living Dead in Dallas (2002)
Club Dead (2003)
Dead to the World (2004)
Dead as a Doornail (2005)
Definitely Dead (2006)
All Together Dead (2007)
From Dead to Worse (2008)
Dead and Gone (2009)

A Touch of Dead (2009) short stories

Holmes on the Range

Meet the Amlingmeyers. A pair of brothers riding the range from one grub stake to the next. Are they just obsessed cowpokes thinking about food, smokes, horses, women and more food? Nope. Old Red (Gustav) and Big Red (Otto) have other things on their mind. Like detecting. Just like that Sherlock fellow. Welcome to the world of Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith.

Old Red's obsession with all things Holmes - read to him by his brother from Harper's Magazine - leads them to adventure. The slightly shady outfit they have signed up with - the Bar VR - ends up having two deaths on the premises. And the foreman really does not seem to care since everyone is supposed to be preparing for the arrival of the foreign owners of the ranch. Just who is lying to whom? And just what is going on with the ranch finances and stock? And those fancy English folks might have a hand in this mess too.

Hockensmith's characters are great fun. The story is told in Big Red's voice and he is a perfect doubting Thomas about his brother's detection skills. But he will stand by him as a loyal "Watson" and family member should. Old Red sometimes doubts himself - he is just an average uneducated cowboy - but he has studied his hero Holmes' methods.

With wonderful characters and a twisty plot, this series is off to a great start. I'm eager to read the rest. A very fun read!

Another Fast Romantic Read

It is a quick read, but a fun one. Janelle Denison's book Heat Waves is a nice crisp romance. Erica has a radio show in Chicago. Her "hook" is that she talks about sex. But all her knowledge - she crams before each show - is tested when she gets a regular caller, Ian. They have a bit of chemistry on air. And when he challenges her - and the result is a date - the getting to know you part begins.

But Erica is not sure she wants Ian to see the woman behind the radio personality. Does he even want to? Ian wants to know more about this talented woman. And the rest of Chicago gets to listen in while the ratings for her show soar.

Denison does a great job giving us a pair of real people, with real problems and back stories. Everything is not solved instantly and they do have to decide how they can develop their relationship. Bringing in a bit of "on air" sexy talk adds to the humor. A fun frothy read. A keeper.

Books, Obsessions and Real Life

I have been reading a ton of stuff! But it is not here. SIGH! I'm working on catching up. And I've been in a book obsession. I blame it all on that. The staying up til 2 am on a work night. Sorry - I don't have the bounce back that I used to.

Having a book obsession is a rare and wonderful thing. The book, the setting, the characters have entranced you. The author has seduced you into their written world and you could care less about what time it is. All you want to know is - WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! ! !

Yes - obsessed. It doesn't happen as often as you think. So enjoy it, tolerate it, cope with it. And it will fade.

Until the next time...

When Your Lie about Your Age, The Terrorists Win

Humor is very subjective. And things that did not make you laugh when you were twenty, may make you keel over with laughter when you're forty. Life changes you, I guess. Or maybe your ability to laugh at yourself.

In the book, When Your Lie about Your Age, The Terrorists Win: Reflections on Looking in the Mirror, Carol Leifer manages to do just that. She looks at her life and just laughs. Leifer, a stand up comedienne, and writer for shows like Seinfeld and the Larry Sanders Show, shows us a snapshot of her life as it is at 50 years of age.

Some of her observations:
- She claims that "after 40 the body develops a wicked sense of humor".
- "You may not rationalize eating an entire pint of ice cream by claiming it was for the calcium."
- The sunny side of the street is the one with the threat of cancer on it."

With these silly bits how can you go wrong? A very fun quick read - but a sense of wry humor is a must!

Fast Reads in Romance

I've been studying category romances with a formal genre study group and have discovered some lovely ones. Nice quick romances and a romantic suspense one, too. So here are some brief reviews.

Yours, Mine...Or Ours? by Karen Templeton
Two families come together by circumstances and finances, to help restore a battered inn in New Hampshire. The heroine is a local with two small kids, and our hero is an ex-cop with a teen-age daughter who is taking a chance on his dream of owning a B&B. A good story that mixes realism with the romance.

In Safe Hands by Linda Conrad
A fast paced romantic suspense tale. She's trying to find the relatives of the child she has fostered. He is trying to find his brother who is missing. Their quests collide and they team up to find the answers. It takes place in southern Texas near the border, and has a paranormal element in the "second sight" that runs in her family.

Once Upon a Valentine's by Holly Jacobs
She meets him when she sets her ex's couch on fire in her backyard. He is one of the first responders. She has to do community service with his fire department outreach team. She's trying to finish her nursing boards, take care of her kids, and plan the next PTA party which happens to be for Valentine's Day. A nice group of characters who take the time to get to know each other. A good mix of realism with the romance.

The Right Mr. Wrong by Cindi Myers
She is a recovering skiing champion, so what is she doing on ski patrol? He's the foreign playboy of the patrol who never dates the locals. While she's recovering trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, they get to know each other past the dubious first impressions. Nice details about the skiing community and their co-workers. A good story about people who have been hurt who are slowly working out a relationship.

And speaking of snow, Winter's Heat is a fun anthology with stories from Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jade Lee and Anna DeStefano. It asks the question - just what happens to people who win a free all expenses paid romantic weekends to a brand new skiing resort? Especially if they entered as a joke, don't have anyone to come with them, or bring their gay best friend since they don't have a boyfriend. Problems arise when the press and a guest celebrity complicates matters. Will this weekend be fun? Or just a disaster?

What Happens in London

Julia Quinn's books always seem to have a quirky element that makes them different. And I mean that in a good way. I'm trying to decide exactly what that is. It probably is a few different factors. She writes well, she has witty dialog between her lead characters, she lets her lovers get to know each other, and she sneaks in secondary characters that leave you wanting their story next. It sounds so easy. She makes it read so easy. But it is not. That my friends, is why her books work.

What Happens in London is her latest, and it features Olivia and Harry. Olivia is very lovely lady, but really has not found that special someone to wed. Harry meets her by chance and at first glance they do not really like each other. It probably doesn't help that he thinks she is a beautiful twit and she's heard gossip that he's killed his fiancee. And it does not help that Olivia has taken to spying on him - since he's next door - and has discovered he does have some secrets. Having your neighbor notice that you're spying does make it a bit awkward the next time you meet them at a ball.

Harry does Russian translation for the British government and ends up being assigned to watch Olivia since her latest suitor seems to be a Russian prince that the government wants to watch. Hence, he ends up meeting with Olivia more than he ever intended. Their dialog of getting to know each other and to like each other - really sets this book apart.

Filled with a mix of various quiet scenes and some hilarity - the scene of Harry's cousin enacting a Gothic novel for the Prince and the household is pretty funny - the future lovers grow to appreciate each other. And isn't that what a romance is supposed to be about? A very good read.

Catching up with Hannah Swensen and the Gang

Following characters through a series sometimes feels like trying to keep up with your distant friends' latest news. Some of the ongoing characters make you laugh. And some will amaze you with the changes in their character or their latest hobbies. But they feel like old pals that you want to spend some more time with. And when it comes down to it - that is the work of the talented skills of the author, who makes her readers enjoy these fictional friends.

Joanne Fluke who writes the Hannah Swensen mysteries series manages to keep her series fresh and full of life with her engaging characters. Hannah is still baking away at her bakery business, The Cookie Jar, and she is still the one most likely to find a dead body in her tiny town of Lake Eden, Minnesota.

In the Key Lime Pie Murder, she finds the dead body at the local county fair and has to waste a lovely Key Lime pie in her discovery. (Disclosure here - I love Key Lime pie and to have it fall to the ground! What a tragedy! What a waste! Sigh!) And she has to sleuth while being a judge for the various baked goods contests, supplying goodies for another booth and getting hooked into being a magician's assistant.

During the Carrot Cake Murder, she's just helping out a friend at one of the biggest family reunions in area. And she manages to find the prodigal relative who reappeared for the reunion, dead in the main building where the festivities are taking place. Talk about problems with the relatives. There are more than a few suspects here.

The latest outing for Hannah is the Cream Puff Murder. She's on a diet with a vengeance - she's trying to fit in a dress her mother ordered for her - and she finds the fitness instructor dead in the gym's jacuzzi. The instructor (a reoccurring character) had a lot of male fans but basically most of the females and wives in town did not care for her. But who took their threats to the next level? And how come most of the police force had to be taken off the case?

Amidst the sleuthing, comes the latest tidbits about Hannah's family, who help her hunt out the latest gossip on the deceased. And we get the updates on her love life (Will she ever make a decision between Norman and Mike? This last book may have a clue!) and her beloved fat cat Moishe. And then there are the recipes. One word. YUM! Can you tell that I like this series? A very good read.

Wicked Plants

Have you threatened to poison someone lately? Apparently it is easier to do than you think. (Not that I'm suggesting anything of course!) But in the book, Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart, you can get a lot of information about dangerous plants and their nasty and lethal side effects.

Everything from Castor beans, Arrow poisons and deadly Nightshade is covered here. Stewart and her illustrators make the details very plain. This tree bark will kill you, this plant will try, and this one can be found in every backyard on your block. Hmmm. Maybe a plant identification session of your yard is in order. Stewart makes the seemingly dry topic interesting, informative and entertaining. This well written and researched book is a great resource your botany shelf. Perfect for those mystery writers who are trying to get rid of a character!

This book makes you want to heed what your mother used to say; "you do not know where that's been, don't put that in your mouth!" A very good read.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker: A Memoir

Confections of a Closet Master Baker: A Memoir by Gesine Bullock-Prado is not your typical foodie book. Going from Hollywood to a bakery in Vermont might not be the regular career path that everyone takes, but Gesine isn't everyone. She's Sandra Bullock's younger sister and was involved with her production company. But her passion is baking. And that is what kept rearing it's head in La La Land.

Rather then the stories of Hollywood, what I really loved about the book was her stories of growing up in Germany - her mother was an opera singer there, and staying with her relatives. And her German pastries! (Yum! I'm not a big baker - but even I'm encouraged to try some of the easier recipes in here.) When Gesine makes her transition to full time baker, she finds she feels closer to her deceased mother through her memories of baking with her.

I really like the reminiscing in this book and thinks Gesine tells her tale well. Now if I can just get her to send me a batch of macaroons... A good read.

Death Will Get You Sober

Sometimes a book will take you into a subculture that you have never really paid that much attention to before. And the reason for the non-attention may just be that it never touched your life or your family or was even brought to your notice. (We humans are really a self-absorbed group.) So Death Will Get You Sober by Elizabeth Zelvin is not your average mystery set in New York City. It's main character, Bruce, is a recovering alcoholic. We first meet him in the detox unit at the Bowery. He's just starting to get out of his latest bender. It takes him awhile to realize that the two deaths happened while he was there (one of which was his roommate who seemed "perfectly" fine) were not deaths by natural or in this case known chemical causes. The deaths were dismissed as the casualties of a lifetime of drinking. But were they really? And what about those other deaths of long time alcoholics at those other detox centers? Were these people just being written up as the latest statistic?

Zelvin (who is a practicing psychotherapist) has run a detox center. She knows of what she writes about and she does it with respect, and manages to bring a bit of humanity to both sides of the detox situation - both the workers who trying to get the alcoholics sober and the alcoholics themselves. There are no "bad guys/good guys" here. And who knew that there were so many AA meetings throughout NYC?

I really enjoyed the characters and founding myself rooting for Bruce as he struggled through his multiple AA meetings. His pals, Jimmy and Barbara are quirky couple: him with his obsession with computers and her trying not to be an enabler. I found Barbara's character very compelling because I felt that I knew people who were like her - one who never said no and never wanted to make a scene. I found myself by the end of this really nicely paced read, wondering what happened in next book to these people. And will Bruce make it being sober? Looking forward to the next one. A very good read.

The Naked Baron

I believe it is a testimony to an author's plotting skill, when one finds a romance that really has two storylines going on and it works. Sally MacKenzie in her book The Naked Baron, does it quite well, thank you very much. We are introduced right away to Grace and Dawson - the younger couple. She is unsure and feeling ungainly since she is a woman of size and stature in a group of petite debutants. Dawson is not a fan of petite twits and when Grace comes on the scene he feels that this is the one. The older couple, Grace's Aunt Kate who is newly widowed and Dawson's Uncle Alex - a bachleor - find themselves facing each other accross a ballroom after many years. Their previous relationship did not end well. Kate was forced to marry someone else, and Alex has never really recovered from it. It is obvious the attraction is still there.

Will Grace take a chance on Dawson? Will she even realize Aunt Kate has had a past love? (She's a bit overwhelmed with Dawson at the moment.) Will it be okay in the end? Join the fun with these lively and likeable characters. I've just discovered this author and I'm hoping to read some more of her work. A fun and frothy read.

Simenon's Maigret

Georges Simenon's classic mystery character is Chief Inspector Maigret. It's hard reviewing a "classic". Is it classic because it is timeless? (These stories are fairly timeless.) Or is it a classic because the author was in the right time and place in the fiction - in this case - mystery timeline?

I read two books featuring Maigret. The first was Maigret Goes Home. He goes back to solve a murder in the village where he grew up. Most of the locals do not remember him. But he remembers the murder victim - the Countess of the estate that he grew up on. Maigret's main detecting style is to ask a lot of questions and wait to see what shakes loose. And while he is waiting he watches village life slowly pass by.

The other book was Maigret and the Hotel Majestic. Set in a Paris luxury hotel, the setting is bustling and frantic. The guests come in, the help makes them comfortable and the process starts again. A bit of a bump is caused when one of those guests is found murdered in the kitchen staff's area. Why would this elegant lady be down there? Who was she really? And who knew her before she was so rich and important? It is a story of youthful loves, dreams and abandoning it all to reach more practical goals. Maigret is well known in this local, but finds himself digging into the pasts of guests and staff alike. Again, he asks all the questions and sees what rises to the surface.

I liked the second better book much better than the first. Once I finally figured out Maigret's style, I think I finally understood the author's pacing. Simenon has tried to make his books a representation of France as he had known it. The timeless cafes, coffees and cigarettes. He succeeded so well - that the Hotel book contains no clue as to when it was written - during the occupation of Paris in World War II. But that does not interfere with Maigret. Perhaps that is why he is a classic. A good read.