Blood-Letter #143

Sep 6, 2018 | Blood-Letter

In this issue of the Blood-Letter: a preview of our September Bloody Thursday guest Ingrid Thoft, a preview of Bouchercon, and more!

September 2018
CONTENTS:

Bloody Thursday, September 27, 2018

We Welcome Spotted Owl Award Winner Ingrid Thoft

Ingrid Thoft

We are excited to welcome back Ingrid Thoft, previously a Spotted Owl Best Debut Mystery winner for Loyalty, and now winning the Spotted Owl Award for her latest book, Duplicity.

Ingrid was born in Boston and is a graduate of Wellesley College. Her interest in the PI life and her desire to create a believable PI character led her to the certificate program in private investigation at the University of Washington.  She lives in Seattle with her husband.

Ingrid has written four novels featuring Fina Ludlow: Loyalty, Identity, Brutality and Duplicity. She was awarded the Shamus Award for best PI novel of 2015 by the Private Eye Writers of America for Brutality at the New Orleans Bouchercon.

Duplicity, by Ingrid Thoft

She has been invited to join the Jungle Red Writers blog, which features authors Julia Spencer Fleming, Lucy Burdette, Hallie Ephron, Rhys Bowen, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Deborah Crombie, and Jenn McKinlay. The site invites you to “join them everyday for book recommendations, guest blog entries, and lively discussions.”

Please put coming to hear Ingrid in person on your calendar now!

Bloody Thursday is free and open to the public. The reception begins at 7:00 pm, with the program following at 7:30 pm at TaborSpace. Refreshments will be available during the reception.

We are beginning our second season at TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont St., Portland, Oregon 97215. Free parking is available in the block across from the entrance. Bus line #15 will drop you off right by the door.

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2018-2019 Bloody Thursday Events

  • September 27, 2018: Ingrid Thoft, Spotted Owl Award Winner
  • November 15, 2018: Lou Berney, award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone and the forthcoming November Road
  • January 24, 2019: Panel: Chuck Caruso, Curtis Chen, and Jennifer Wolfe
  • March 28, 2019: Mystery Comics Panel
  • May 23, 2019: Nancy Rommelmann, author of To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder

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Left Coast Crime Scholarships

The Left Coast Crime national committee is offering FIVE scholarships to Left Coast Crime #29 in Vancouver, British Columbia, March 28-31, 2019. The LCC Scholarships include a free registration to the convention in Vancouver (currently $300 Canadian) plus $200 US expense money (or Canadian equivalent). For more info on LCC #29, visit the Whale of a Crime website.

Purpose: LCC Scholarships are intended for anyone needing financial assistance to attend the convention, and seek to encourage fandom and talent in crime writing of all types.

Qualifications: The scholarships are open to everyone. You only need to complete the application process. Prior attendance at LCC is not required.

Application Process: Simply email the following items in one email package to Scholarship@LeftCoastCrime.org – and please include “Scholarship” in the subject line:

  1. Name and mailing address
  2. Telephone number
  3. Year of birth
  4. Brief description of your current occupation or circumstances
  5. A 200-500 word essay explaining your interest in crime fiction and what attending the convention would mean to you
  6. If you are a writer, please include a short sample of your fiction or non-fiction writing, blog post, or book review

Deadline: Applications must be received by November 30, 2018.

Decision and Announcement: The scholarship committee will let each of the applicants know the results by December 15, 2018. We won’t publicize the names of those awarded scholarships, but recipients are free to make their own announcements.

Questions? Email us at Scholarship@LeftCoastCrime.org

The Fine Print: The decision of the judges is final and if you aren’t awarded a scholarship, you promise to still say nice things about Left Coast Crime.

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Bouchercon 2018

Greetings from St. Petersburg, Florida — Bouchercon 2018St. Petersburg, Florida
September 6-9, 2018

Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, is about to begin (or is over, depending on when you read this newsletter.) The featured participants are:

  • Karin Slaughter – Guest of Honor
  • Ian Rankin – Lifetime Achievement (And Not Done Yet) Honoree
  • Lisa Unger – Toastmaster
  • Tim Dorsey – Florida Guest of Honor
  • Sara Blaedel – International GOH
  • Sean Chercover – Guest of Honor
  • Mark Billingham – International GOH
  • John D. MacDonald – Ghost of Honor
  • Judy Bobalik – Fan Guest of Honor
  • Ayo Onatade – Fan Guest of Honor

The Anthony Awards are presented at the conference. The nominees are:

Best Novel

  • The Late Show, by Michael Connelly
  • Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz
  • Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke
  • Glass Houses, by Louise Penny
  • The Force, by Don Winslow

Best First Novel

  • Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett
  • She Rides Shotgun, by Jordan Harper
  • The Dry, by Jane Harper
  • Ragged; or The Loveliest Lies of All, by Christopher Irvin
  • The Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka

Best Paperback Original

  • Uncorking a Lie, by Nadine Nettmann
  • Bad Boy Boogie, by Thomas Pluck
  • What We Reckon, by Eryk Pruitt
  • The Day I Died, by Lori Rader-Day
  • Cast the First Stone, by James W. Ziskin

Bill Crider Award For Best Novel In A Series

  • Give Up the Dead (Jay Porter #3), by Joe Clifford
  • Two Kinds of Truth (Harry Bosch #20), by Michael Connelly
  • Y is for Yesterday (Kinsey Millhone #25), by Sue Grafton
  • Glass Houses (Armand Gamache #13), by Louise Penny
  • Dangerous Ends (Pete Fernandez #3), by Alex Segura

Best Critical/Non-Fiction Book

  • From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon, by Mattias Bostrom
  • The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards
  • Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann
  • Chester B. Himes: A Biography, by Lawrence P. Jackson
  • Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction, by Jessica Lourey

Best Online Content

  • Writer Types Podcast
  • Do Some Damage: An Inside Look at Crime Fiction
  • Jungle Red Writers
  • Dru’s Book Musings
  • BOLO Books

Also presented at Bouchercon are the Barry Awards, chosen by the readers of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine.

Best Novel

  • The Late Show, by Michael Connelly
  • The Marsh King’s Daughter, by Karen Dionne
  • Exit Strategy, by Steve Hamilton
  • The Force, by Don Winslow
  • Prussian Blue, by Philip Kerr
  • Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz

Best First Novel

  • The Dry, by Jane Harper
  • She Rides Shotgun, by Jordan Harper
  • The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal
  • The Irregular, by H.P. Lyle
  • A Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee
  • My Absolute Darling, by Gabriel Tallent

Best Paperback Original

  • Safe from Harm, by R.J. Bailey
  • The Deep Dark Descending, by Allen Eskens
  • Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett
  • The Day I Died, by Lori Rader-Day
  • Blessed are the Peacemakers, by Kristi Belcamino
  • Super Con, by James Swain

Best Thriller

  • Gunmetal Gray, by Mark Greaney
  • Spook Street, by Mick Herron
  • The Freedom Broker, by K.j. Howe
  • The Old Man, by Thomas Perry
  • Unsub, by Meg Gardiner
  • Trap the Devil, by Ben Coes

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New From Northwest Authors

Some recently published books (August & September) being considered by the Spotted Owl Committee:

  • Moving Targets, by Warren Easley
  • A Long Time Coming, by Aaron Elkins
  • Field of Bones, by J.A. Jance
  • The Weight of Silence, by Gregg Olsen

Check the FOM website to find out about a new book by FOM member Doc Macomber.

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Membership Renewal

FOM memberships coincide with our Bloody Thursday program schedule which runs from September 1 to the following August 31. Dues are $20.00 annually. Friends of Mystery is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Dues and additional donations are deductible to the full extent of the law. Please send your renewal donation to:

Friends of Mystery
PO Box 8251
Portland, Oregon 97207

Include your name, address, city, state, zip code, telephone and email address. If you wish to receive a hard copy of the newsletter please indicate that – otherwise we will send it by email.

Member News

Friends of Mystery is happy to publish news and press releases from our members in our Member News section, with the following considerations:

  • The news must be related to mystery or true crime writing, films, and television, as well as non-fiction examinations of the mystery genre.
  • Friends of Mystery will not be able to edit announcements, and will publish them as provided.
  • Friends of Mystery will include one image with each announcement, if provided.
  • Friends of Mystery is not responsible for the content of news announcements, and we reserve the right to not publish any announcements which we feel will reflect poorly on the organization and do not advance the organization’s mission.

Submissions Needed

Members and readers are encouraged to submit book or film reviews, comments on authors, and recommendations for books to read or questions about mysteries, crime fiction and fact. If you have suggestions of mysteries worth sharing, please contact the editor at: jlvoss48@gmail.com.