The World's Finest Mystery Part 3

And so to a year in books: 2000 began with a bang with a controversial debut that went straight onto the best-seller lists, Mo Hayder's Birdman, a serial-killer novel that was disliked by many but whose dark power reached out far beyond the specialized crime readers.h.i.+p (as had John Connolly's Every Dead Thing the year before). Mo Hayder was a G.o.dsend to publicists with her blond film-star looks, murky past, and shy demeanor, but I reckon she is a major talent and here to stay. Another left-of-field blockbuster appeared in the Spring as a paperback original: Jake Arnott's The Long Firm, a sardonic and powerful tale inspired by the notorious Kray brothers East End empire of thuggery, with a strong gay, ironic voice that made it very much a word-of-mouth success. This was soon to be followed by J. J. Connolly's Layer Cake, another first-person tale of a career criminal whose world is collapsing around him, another literary debut sparkling with zest and originality. All three books, although undoubtedly belonging to the crime and mystery genre, were not marketed as such, which allows a pause for thought, but then neither of the authors originated within the crime community. This is a trend that is accelerating in Britain, with so many new, younger authors adopting the genre as matter of course, regardless of cliches and traditions. A healthy trend, if you ask me.

The year also began with Ian Rankin's Set in Darkness, the twelfth Inspector Rebus, and the novel that established his unchallenged domination of the best-selling lists, where most of his backlist camped throughout the year. (At one stage his novels occupied eight of the top fifteen positions on the Scottish best-seller lists!) Many other well-established writers came out with new books: Michael Gilbert, still active in his eighties, with The Mathematics of Murder, a short-story collection; Catherine Aird (Little Knell); Simon Brett (The Body on the Beach); Natasha Cooper (Prey to All); Ruth Dudley-Edwards (the comedic Anglo-Irish Murders); Jonathan Gash (Die Dancing, featuring his new heroine Dr. Clare Burtonall); Paula Gosling (Underneath Every Stone); Reginald Hill (Arms and the Woman); Sarah Caudwell (the posthumous The Sirens Sang of Murder, which sadly only appeared in the U.S.A.); Bill James (Kill Me); Margaret Yorke (A Case to Answer); June Thomson (The Unquiet Grave); Quintin Jardine (with two books: Screen Savers, featuring Oz Blackstone, and Thursday's Legends, featuring Skinner); Val McDermid (Killing in the Shadows); H. R. F. Keating (another recidivist, with The Last Detective, and his final Inspector Ghote mystery, Breaking and Entering); Nicolas Freeling (Some Day Tomorrow); Martina Cole (Broken, another of her wildly successful East End gangster moll sagas, which outsell most other better-known British authors by a mile and more); Michael Dibdin (Thanksgiving, a haunting, elegiac noir excursion that disappointed many reviewers used to his pithy Inspector Zen chronicles, but which I adored); Roy Lewis (Forms of Death); Jo Bannister (Changelings); Robert Barnard (Unholy Dying); W. J. Burley (Wycliffe and the Sign of Nine); Gwendoline Butler (A Coffin for Christmas); Ann Granger (Shades of Murder); Agatha Christie... well, a novelized play by the great Christie expanded by Charles...o...b..rne, The Spiders Web; Janet Laurence (The Mermaid's Feast); Frances Fyfield (Undercurrents); Peter Lovesey (The Reaper); Minette Walters (The Shape of Snakes); d.i.c.k Francis (Shattered, which might turn out to be his final book, following the death of his wife, Mary, with whom he collaborated); and Ruth Rendell twice, with a story collection, Piranha to Scurfy, as herself, and Gra.s.shopper as "Barbara Vine."

The above list would make for an incomparable feast of mystery writing by any standards, but was restricted to well-established writers. To confirm the incomparable choice afforded to British readers, here is another necessarily abbreviated rundown of books published in 2000 by authors who have already made a distinct mark on the crime and mystery scene over the past decade; many of these will be the stars of tomorrow: John Baker (The Chinese Girl); Hilary Bonner (Deep Deceit); Russell James (Painting in the Dark); Carol Anne Davis (Noise Abatement); Janet Neel (O Gentle Death); Ken Bruen (The McDead, the final volume in his White underworld trilogy); Paul Charles (The Ballad of Sean and Wilko); Lee Child (The Visitor); Judith Cutler (Dying by Degrees, Power Games); Leslie Forbes (Skin, Shadow and Bone); Elizabeth Corley (Fatal Legacy); Kate Ellis (The Funeral Boat); Patricia Hall (Skeleton at the Feast); Paul Johnson (The Blood Tree); Frank Lean (Boiling Point); Phil Lovesey (When Ashes Burn); Jim Lusby (Crazy Man Michael); Barry Maitland (Silvermeadow); Veronica Stallwood (Oxford Shadows); Margaret Murphy (Dying Embers). Notable newcomers included Stephen Booth (Black Dog); Joolz Denby (Stone Baby); Stephen Humphreys (Sleeping Partner); Mary Scott (Murder on Wheels); David Aitken (Sleeping with Jane Austen); and Sarah Diamond (The Beach Road).

In the promises-confirmed department, many young writers demonstrated that their raved-over early steps were not flukes and are on the fast track for stardom; they include Martyn Bedford (Black Cat, an impressive follow-up to the haunting The Houdini Girl); Nicholas Royle (The Director's Cut); Patrick Redmond (The Puppet Show); Lauren Henderson (Chained, featuring the indomitable Sam Jones), who was also a founder and chief troublemaker of the Tart Noir group (and Web site) of politically incorrect female writers with att.i.tude, which also enlisted Sparkle Hayter, Katy Munger, and Stella Duffy; Laura Wilson (Dying Voices); John Williams (Cardiff Dead); Jane Adams (Angels Gateway); and Denise Mina (Exile, which might still win her a third award in three years!).

Three distinct niches in crime and mystery writing have always proven particularly suited to the British and in all three subgenres, they again excelled. Fueled by ever-increasingly popularity, the historical mystery continues to thrive and among the year's offerings were Lindsey Davis (Ode to a Banker); Alys Clare (Ashes of the Elements; Tavern in the Morning); Judith Cook (School of the Night); Paul Doherty, prolific as ever (The Treason of the Ghosts, featuring Hugh Corbett, and The Anubis Slayings, set in Ancient Egypt); Susanna Gregory (Masterly Murder); Philip Gooden (Sleep of Death); Michael Jecks (The Traitor of St. Giles, The Boy Bishop's Glovemaker); Bernard Knight (An Awful Secret); Hannah Marsh- alias Tim G.o.dwin (Distraction of the Blood; Death Be My Theme); Iain Pears (the long-awaited Immaculate Deception); Kate Sedley (St. John's Fern); Peter Tremayne (with a double dose of Sister Fidelma, a collection of stories Hemlock at Vespers and a novel, Our Lady of Darkness); Sylvan Hamilton (The Bone Peddlar); Deryn Lake (Death at the Apothecary's Hall); Edward Marston (The Amorous Nightingale, The Elephants of Norwich); Barbara Nadel (A Chemical Prison); Michael Pearce (A Cold Touch of Ice); Marilyn Todd (The Black Salamander); Gillian Linscott (Perfect Daughter); and David Wishart (Old Bones). On similar form were the exponents of comic crime, including Christopher Brookmyre (Boiling a Frog); Marc Blake (24 Carat Schmooze); Peter Guttridge (The Once and Future Con); and Charles Spencer (Under the Influence).

The end of the cold war hasn't slowed British thriller writers down, and they continue to find murky territory to explore. Pride of place naturally goes to John Le Carre for The Constant Gardener, a major return to form, but one must also mention Raymond Benson's latest James Bond adventure Double or Death; Colin Forbes (Sinister Tide); Clive Egelton (The Honey Trap); Ken Follett (Code to Zero); Robert G.o.ddard (Sea Change); Michael Ridpath (Final Venture); Brian Freemantle (a Charlie m.u.f.fin caper, Dead Men Living); Donald James (Vadim, the third and maybe final volume in his brilliant near-future postcivil-war Russia police procedural series); and Peter May (The Killing Room). Over the past decade, a strong individual strain of distinctly British noir writing, both influenced and distanced from its American model, has established itself and echoes of it can be seen in many of the books and authors mentioned above in various categories. Some writers, however, stand on their own, and are at the vanguard of this movement. Many also published new books in 2000, and they include John Connolly (Dark Hollow); Mike Phillips (A Shadow of Myself); Jerry Raine (Slaphead Chameleon); Martyn Waites (Candleland); Mark Timlin (All the Empty Places); Maxim Jakubowski (On Tenderness Express); Boris Starling (Storm); Rob Ryan (Nine Mil); and the Tokyo-based David Peace, who offered the second volume of his searing Yorks.h.i.+re quartet 1977, confirming the promise of his debut 1974.

Possibly affected by the number of magazines currently hosting a platform for short stories, only three anthologies appeared this year. Martin Edwards edited a final CWA volume Scenes of the Crime, while the undersigned published the third, and also final volume, in his series of historical mystery collections initially set up in homage to the late Ellis Peters. Murder Through the Ages featured many of the usual suspects from British, U.S., and European sh.o.r.es. I also managed to showcase various mystery writers (including Val McDermid, Nicholas Blincoe, Stella Duffy, Denise Danks, and Manda Scott) in a collection of stories inspired by the Internet The New English Library Book of Internet Stories.

Lest the reader think I have indulged in sheer list-making above, I'm pleased to point out that the t.i.tles and writers mentioned in the course of this retrospective only cover a quarter of so of the books by British authors published in the U.K. in 2000. An indication, if one were needed, of the health of the genre on these sh.o.r.es. Long may it continue.

World Mystery Report: Australia.

David Honeybone and Lucy Suss.e.x.

The Ned Kelly Awards for Australian Crime Writing were revived in 2000 after a hiatus of several years, and were presented at the Night Cat Bar, Fitzroy, on August 31, to coincide with the Melbourne Writer's Festival. Apart from the awards, the highlight of the evening was a spirited debate between a motley bunch of crime writers, journalists, and lawyers on the subject of "Is truth stronger than fiction?" On the Truth side were crime writers Carolyn Morwood, Shane Maloney, Peter Temple, and Liz Gaynor, QC (Queen's Counsel); on the Fiction side were author Barry d.i.c.kens, crime journalist John Silvester, and QCs John Smallwood (married to Gaynor), and Doug Salek. U.S. author Laurie King was also in attendance, and had the Australian idioms translated for her by Sue Turnbull. For the first time, true-crime writing was included in the Nonfiction category.

The winners of the Ned Kelly Awards were as follows: Best Novel: Shooting Star by Peter Temple (Bantam) Best First Novel: The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders by Marshall Browne (Duffy & Snellgrove) Best True Crime: Huckstepp by John Dale (Allen & Unwin); Rule and Silvester, Underbelly 3 (Sly Ink) Perhaps the most controversy of the year was produced by Inez Baranay's article for the Australian Author (May 2000) "Oz Cri-Fi in the Gun," a cover story with the subheading "Has Australian gumshow gone off the boil?" She took the position that crime writing in Australia was in a sorry state, languis.h.i.+ng unread, with writers not delivering fiction suited to the local market's needs- although Baranay did quote various authors and publishers who strongly disagreed. In any case, the healthy amount of local crime publis.h.i.+ng during the year, despite the imposition of a 10 percent goods and services tax on books, which raised their retail prices, would seem to belie Baranay's article.

The last quarter of the year saw new books from established writers including: Peter Temple's third Jack Irish book, Dead Point, (Bantam); and Andrew Masterson's sacrilegious and highly amusing The Second Coming (HarperCollins), featuring messiah turned P. I. Joe Panther. Shane Maloney's fourth Murray Whelan book, The Big Ask (Text), was launched at Readings Bookshop in Melbourne by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, with various state and federal Labor party politicians rubbing shoulders with the crime fans. Peter Doyle has written a prequel to his award-winning books Get Rich Quick and Amaze Your Friends set in Sydney in the 1950s. The Devil's Jump (Arrow) features a young Billy Glasheen and charts his early apprentices.h.i.+p as a "lurk" merchant at the end of the war. Shamus winner Marele Day made a brief but welcome to the crime fold, by collecting her Mavis Levack short detective stories (an Australian Miss Marple) as Mavis Levack, P. I. (Allen and Unwin), in which her main series detective Claudia Valentine also makes an appearance.

Janis Spehr won the Scarlet Stiletto Award for the second year running with her story "Dead Woman in the Water." Sydney crime writer Gabrielle Lord presented the awards in Melbourne.

It was also quite a good year for exhibitions devoted to the subject of crime fiction. The Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, included much crime in its "Sensational Tales: Australian Popular Publis.h.i.+ng 1890s1990s" exhibit. In Sydney, the Justice and Police Museum was host to "Hardboiled: the Detective in Popular Fiction," which ran every weekend until October 2001. A continuing exhibition at the State Library of Victoria is "Cover Girl Cries Murder: Australian Pulp Fiction of the 1950s," largely showcasing the library's important recent acquisition of work by Marc Brody (Melbourne journalist W. H. Williams), a collection of seventy-two novels that were the author's own copies. Other pulp fictions on display were by "Carter Brown," "Larry Kent," and rare items by "K. T. McCall," once billed as "crime fiction's best-selling female author." Text also reprinted a blast from Australian crime fiction's past with The Murder of Madeleine Brown, originally published in 1887 by the socialist poet Francis Adams. The introduction, marred only by a lack of references, was by Shane Maloney.

The Australian crime-film sensation of the year was Chopper, the true story of criminal Mark Read, which won A.F.I. awards for best direction, best actor, and supporting actor. It was also featured at Sundance Film Festival. The film version of Dorothy Porter's award-winning detective novel-poem, The Monkey's Mask, was released in March 2001, along with a tie-in edition of the book from PanMacmillan. Paul Thomas has had his character t.i.to Ihaka transferred to the television. New Zealander Thomas, who won the inaugural Ned Kelly Award for Inside Dope, wrote the screenplay for "Ihaka Blunt Instrument" which was screened by Channel Ten. The tough Maori cop visits Sydney, ostensibly on a training exercise, only to find himself solving a long-closed case with the help of a female federal officer.

Crime Factory is a new Australian crime magazine. The first issue was published in February 2001. Predominantly concerned with crime fiction, it also includes a section devoted to true crime. The first issue has interviews with prolific Melbourne writer Kerry Greenwood, Tami Hoag, Edna Buchanan, and Edward Bunker. For further information see www.crimefactory.net.

World Mystery Report: Canada.

Edo van Belkom.

Although most lovers of mystery and crime fiction might not consider it a work that's truly in genre, the most talked about and celebrated Canadian crime novel of 2000 is probably Margaret Atwood's The Blind a.s.sa.s.sin. Atwood's tenth novel is a family drama that delves into the seedy underworld of the 1930s, replete with references to pulp fiction gin joints and the rest of the period's staples. The book won the coveted 2000 Booker Prize and is a top contender for all of the usual Canadian literary honors, such as the Governor General's Award. A more traditional crime novel that garnered plenty of attention within the genre is Deadly Decisions, the third novel by forensic anthropologist and best-selling author Kathy Reichs.

As crime novelists, Atwood and Reichs are as dissimilar as two writers can be (one is a "literary writer" and the other is a scientist moonlighting as a mystery author), but in a somewhat roundabout way they are both in the same boat and indicative of the sort of thing that goes on in all Canadian literary genres.

Canadians are eager to embrace someone like Atwood as a crime novelist because her inclusion validates the genre as a whole. Atwood was the subject of a similar inclusion when her novel The Handmaid's Tale was p.r.o.nounced to be science fiction, a label she rejected at every opportunity. And Reichs, while only spending six months of the year working for the Quebec government- the other half is spent in North Carolina where she works in the office of the chief medical examiner and is a professor at the University of North Carolina- is still considered Canadian by her Canadian publisher, Canadian booksellers, and Canadian awards administrators.

The truth is that there are many great crime and mystery novels published each year by Canadians living year-round in that country and publis.h.i.+ng all of their works in the genre. The year 2000 saw the publication of new novels by John Ballem (Machineel); Gail Bowen (Burying Ariel); Laurence Gough (Funny Money); Lyn Hamilton (The Celtic Riddle); Kenneth Oppel (The Devil's Cure); Caroline Roe- a.k.a. Medora Sale (Solace For a Sinner); and Eric Wright (The Kidnapping Of Rosie Dawn). Other notable books included Hangman by Michael Slade, a pseudonym, this time for Vancouver lawyer Jay Clarke and his daughter Rebecca; and Evil Never Sleeps, written by real-life police detective K. G. E. Konkel. Also, Peter Robinson published a new Inspector Banks novel called Cold Is the Grave. Robinson, a transplanted Brit, enjoys dual literary citizens.h.i.+p- much like Reichs- and is Canadian while in Canada but claimed by the British whenever he lands in the U.K., which is a couple of times a year.

A couple of short-fiction publications of note were a pair of anthologies a.s.sociated with the Crime Writers of Canada. First is the Arthur Ellis Awards anthology, edited by Peter Sellers, and published by Quarry Press (P.O. Box 1061, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 4Y5). The book features a history of the CWC, the first twelve winners of the Best Mystery Short Story from 1988 to 1999, a complete list of Ellis Award nominees during that period, and a list of international awardwinning works by Canadians. All royalties from the book go to the CWC to help pay for the ongoing administration of the awards. The second anthology is Over the Edge, a reprint anthology featuring works by members of the CWC, edited by Peter Sellers and Robert J. Sawyer, and published by Pottersfield Press (83 Leslie Rd. East Lawrencetown, N.S., B3Z 1P8).

Toronto played host to the seventeenth annual Arthur Ellis Awards banquet in May with a satellite awards dinner held simultaneously on the West Coast in an RCMP officers' mess. Winners of this year's hangman's trophy were: Best Novel: The Feast of Stephen, Rosemary Aubert Best True Crime: Cowboys and Indians, Gordon Sinclair Jr.

Best First Crime Novel: Lost Girls, Andrew Pyper Best Short Story: "One More Kill" (from Blue Murder Magazine), Matt Hughes Best Juvenile Novel: How Can a Brilliant Detective s.h.i.+ne in the Dark? Linda Bailey Best Novel (French): Louna, Lionel Noel.

In addition the CWC honored four volunteers who had served the organization over the past sixteen years with the Derrick Murdoch Award: Eddie Barber, Rick Blechta, John North, and David Skene-Melvin.

Finally, no year-end roundup would be complete without a mention of b.l.o.o.d.y Words. In its second year, b.l.o.o.d.y Words (www.b.l.o.o.d.ywords.com) is Canada's only annual mystery conference, taking place in Toronto each June. This year's guest of honor was L. R. Wright, while special guests were Howard Engel and Caroline Roe (Medora Sale) and McClelland and Stewart editor Dinah Forbes.

World Mystery Report: Germany.

Thomas Woertche.

The year 2000 saw a radical change concerning the German mystery market that affected most German authors of the genre. The German crime-fiction/suspense market is strongly dominated by foreign authors, especially Americans. But that is true for all of Europe; even the British complain about "U.S. steamrolling." Compared to Britain, however, Germany has always suffered an enormous contradiction (due to the nearly complete lack of crime-fiction tradition) between quant.i.ty and quality, i.e., the large number of crime writers and their books and the tiny number of those among them who have international reputations.

What happened last year, thanks to the general and international "concentration on the book market," is that most of the big publis.h.i.+ng companies closed down their traditional and established crime lines. Cla.s.sics like rororo Thriller (Rowohlt Publishers' famous "black line") vanished as well as the not-less-famous Gelbe Reihe ("yellow line") of Ullstein Publishers, the Goldmann Krimis, the Heyne Krimis (of, respectively, Goldmann, a division of Bertelsmann, and Heyne Publishers). That means that a lot of authors of solidly woven "pret-a-porter" novels lost their publis.h.i.+ng grounds. They had to seek asylum with either print-on-demand alternatives- and that kind of publisher, like Verlag der Criminale, popped up almost immediately- or with small publis.h.i.+ng houses. Some of the latter, like Grafit Verlag in Dortmund or the rather recently founded Militzke Verlag in Leipzig, did have some reputation before, mostly as a forum for regional to national literature. For them it was, of course, also a chance to broaden their programs. Edition Treves in Trier got more sophisticated, and Emons Verlag in Cologne even includes fas.h.i.+onable period pieces now, from medieval times to eighteenth-century backgrounds.

With big companies closing down crime-fiction lines, the readers and aficionados of crime fiction of course do not vanish. And the big publishers do indeed take care of them by displaying global blockbusters such as Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, Mary Higgins Clark, Elizabeth George et al. Again, this is true for Europe as a whole, but there are differences. Swedish best-seller Henning Mankell for example is top-selling in Germany too, whereas American Donna Leon, with her Venice-based novels, is a German top-seller only.

The most interesting side effect stemming from the big companies genre-list shutdown has been mostly ignored in public debate. Mystery novels, suspense, crime fiction, these subgenres of fiction, are no longer labeled as such in the big companies' catalogs. It's "integrated," and that means "lost," in their mainstream lines. The label now is simply "novel." The result: the term "genre" is back where it used to be until two decades ago- equal to bad, low stuff.

However, there are promising counterwaves. The small Distel-Verlag in Heilbronn, for instance, recently started a completely new line, specializing in cla.s.sic and new French writers, cooperating with the famous "Serie noir" of Paris publisher Gallimard. Unionsverlag in Zurich, Switzerland, started its "UT metro" line in spring 2000, presenting suspense fiction not from the usual sources- Anglo-Saxon fields like the U.S. or the U.K.- but from literally all over the world: Asia, Africa, Latin America, Australia, and Europe (including Turkey).

The consequences of these changes are enormous for most of the German-writing and German-speaking authors. Last decade's "scene kings and queens" -made not primarily by broad audiences but by opinion leaders of the very scene itself- like Ingrid Noll, Doris Gercke, Sabine Deitmer, Peter Zeindler (Swiss), Jurgen Alberts, Regula Venske, et al. are remarkably silent. It seems as though the readers (and buyers) are tired of all the middle-cla.s.s cozies and "diaper mysteries."

The situation is well reflected in the 2000 awards for crime fiction. The Glauser, an annual award of German-language crime-writers club Syndikat was given to Uta-Maria Heim for her novel Engelchens Ende. Syndikat represents a large number of authors, but actually very few of even national importance. Uta-Maria Heim is a good writer and not part of that network, and so it's a little sensation that someone from "outside" got last year's Glauser.

Even more significant for the change is the German Mystery Award (Deutscher Krimipreis) for 2000. While the Glauser comes with DM 10,000 (about $4,500), the Deutscher Krimipreis does not include money. But it is the award with the highest prestige- it cannot be manipulated. It has a national (meaning German-language) and an international category. The national winner for 2000 was Ulrich Ritzel's Schwemmholz (published by a tiny Swiss publisher, Libelle Verlag). In second place was Ann Chaplet's Nichts als die Wahrheit (by Verlag Antje Kunstmann, Munich, an independent mainstream publisher), and coming in third was Sam Jaun's Fliegender Sommer (by another tiny Swiss publisher, Cosmos Verlag).

Ritzel's novel is his second. He used to be a courtroom and police reporter in a small southern German town. Sam Jaun is Swiss, living partly in Berlin, who comes up with a new Swiss-countryside mystery about every seven years.

Many other authors who have been acclaimed and accepted by the readers during the last year are either complete outsiders or newcomers, like Horst Eckert, Jurg Juretzka, or Heinrich Steinfeld and Wolf Haas (both of Vienna, Austria). Munich writer Friedrich Ani's fine novel German Angst had a likewise fine success and Tobias O. Meissner published the season's most interesting novel, Todestag (by Eichborn Verlag), about a fatal a.s.sault on Chancellor Schroder. Todestag, unlike most of the present German-language fiction in general, is serious and even thrilling literature.

In short, the borderline between "genre" and "mainstream" seems to be blurred not only by the big companies' politics but also by the fact that it looks as if authors and their representatives are submitting to this trend. That could be a positive signal- but I doubt that optimism makes sense here. German mainstream literature- i.e., "high" literature- is famous (and notorious) for its general refusal to narrate reality. But that's exactly crime fiction's finest tradition- and Germany's reality offers material galore for writers to return to the pure, raw storytelling of the genre. Some of them have never lost that strain and likewise never renounced literary quality. Pieke Biermann, for instance, who brought acknowledgment of crime fiction to the literary pages with her series of novels about a Berlin homicide squad, is now working on a street-cop novel. For, in the slightly modified words of the wonderful Bob Truluck, "All in all, street level is where crime fiction belongs."

The 2000 Short Story Edgar Awards.

Camille Minichino.

Chair, Edgar Short Story Committee, 2000.

Here's an image I can't shake: a nervous ex-con thrusts a five-inch blade into the pulsating throat of a cow, slitting it from ear to ear, and retches as blood pours out like s.h.i.+ny red gla.s.s, the stench of manure in the background. Clark Howard's "The Killing Floor" puts you in a slaughterhouse and keeps you there long after you've finished the story. A standout in a year of more than 500 short stories.

At first my new a.s.signment was exciting- day after day, padded envelopes from UPS, priority U.S. mail cartons, chunky FedEx packages, all filled with FREE books and magazines, delivered to my door!

The Edgar Short Story submissions.

Then I realized I had to read them all- every issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchc.o.c.k Mystery Magazine, Futures, Blue Murder, and a.s.sorted e-zines. Anthologies like Deadly Dozen, Crime Through Time III, Malice Domestic, Unholy Orders. Not only that, I had to handle them. Create a database, log in authors, from Abbott, Jeff in Magnolias and Mayhem, to Zackel, Frederick in Carvezine.

Some people think there are already enough Edgars; that the Awards Banquet goes on far too long. Not me. In fact, since not every story has everything the reader is looking for, I'd add a few categories. Best Female Character, for one. For this I'd pick the overweight Patricia- sweating and straining against the pedals of a stationary bike, planning revenge on her condescending aerobics instructor ("Spinning," by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, EQMM, July).

Why not a Best t.i.tle Award- maybe "Taking Out Mr. Garbage" (Judith Kelman, Murder Among Friends) or "Jesus Kicks Some" (Bruce F. Murphy, Blue Murder Magazine, October/November). For Best Weapon, I'd choose the leg of lamb ("Copycat," Joan Myers, Deadly Dozen). And I'd love to create a Best Pet-Free Story Award (the excellence of "Twelve of the Little b.u.g.g.e.rs" by Mat Coward in EQMM, for January notwithstanding). I'd give the Far Out Award to the ingenious story featuring quantum teleportation (it's not just for photons anymore) from Michael Burstein ("The Quantum Teleporter," a.n.a.log magazine, February), or to the talking doll in "Chatty Patty" (Taylor McCafferty, Magnolias and Mayhem). A Cliche Award might balance all the positives- this year: like a deer in the headlights (you know who you are).

In the complaint department: too many stories fell short of true mystery, better labeled "best-kept secret stories." A sample of unsatisfying denouements: the bride was really not his grandchild; third-party confessions such as I-saw-your-mother-murder-your-father (or vice versa); and one story where I, the cop, killed my partner's daughter- all delivered in a telling fas.h.i.+on. And, of course, there were the too-cute endings, like "he" was really the dog (or cat), not the husband.

For me, "Missing in Action" (Peter Robinson, EQMM, November) had it all. Imagine weaving a story about a missing child around his mother's speech impediment.

The whole truth: it's awesome to have almost the entire body of short stories of the year 2000 in front of me, in an overflowing maroon crate.

To all of you who wrote these stories, thanks. Really. Be sure we were honored to consider your work and to give every submission careful attention.

Edgar Awards 2000- Short Story Honorable Mentions: Doug Allyn, "The Christmas Mitzvah," Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, December; Denise Barton, "The Ticket," Futures, FebruaryMarch; Beverly "Booger" Brackett, Handheld Crime; Michael Burstein, "The Quantum Teleporter," a.n.a.log, September; Hal Charles, "Slave Wall," EQMM, February; Terrence Faherty, "The Third Manny," EQMM, February; John M. Floyd, "Blue Wolf," Alfred Hitchc.o.c.k's Mystery Magazine, February; Ed Gorman, "Anna and the Players," EQMM, November; Tony Hickie, "Decimation," AHMM, March; Edward D. Hoch, "The Fading Woman," EQMM, April; Clark Howard, "The Killing Floor," Crippen & Landru; Rob Kantner, "My Best Fred McMurray," AHMM, October; Roch.e.l.le Krich, "Widow's Peak," Unholy Orders; Taylor McCafferty, "Chatty Patty," Magnolias and Mayhem; Sharyn McCrumb, "Lark in the Morning," Crime Through Time III; Joan Myers, "Copycat," Deadly Dozen; Tom Tolnay, "The Stealing Progression," EQMM, August; Alison White, "The Bluebird," EQMM, February; William Sanders, "Smoke," Crime Through Time III; Walter Satterthwaite, "Missolongi," AHMM, October; Lisa Seidman, "Over My Shoulder," Deadly Dozen; Serita Stevens, "The Unborn," Nefarious; Steven Saylor, "The Consul's Wife," Crime Through Time III; Peter Straub, "Porkpie Hat," Magic Terror.

The Year 2000 in Mystery Fandom.

George A. Easter.

The American public buys and reads millions of mysteries every week. Most lovers of the mystery genre are content simply with the enjoyment of reading good crime novels. But there are several thousand who are so interested in the genre that they require more. These are the mystery fans who make up mystery fandom.

Mystery fans form and attend local mystery reading groups; they collect paperback and/or hardcover first editions; they go online and contribute to such sites as Dorothy L; they haunt their local mystery bookstores and attend author signings; they subscribe to mystery publications; and finally, they attend mystery conventions.

MYSTERY CONVENTIONS 2000.

The Big Kahuna of annual mystery conventions is Bouchercon, the international mystery convention named for Anthony Boucher, noted deceased mystery critic, which was held in Denver in September, 2000. (Bouchercon 2001 will be in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. in November, 2001.) The guest of honor was the venerable Elmore Leonard who entertained us with his crusty sense of humor. Also honored was Jane Langton, the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award, who mesmerized us with her wit, charm and gentility.

Earlier in the year a wonderful regional convention called Left Coast Crime (situated each year somewhere in the Western United States in February or March) was held in Tucson, Arizona. Sue Grafton was the guest of honor and Harlan Coben acted as toastmaster for the banquet. These smaller regional conventions (500600 attendees) are more relaxed than a Bouchercon. The authors in attendance are not meeting with their agents, publishers, or publicists and so have more time to chat with the fans. Each convention has a book dealers room with lots and lots of new and used books for sale. If you plan on attending a convention, be prepared to exceed any mental budget you may set for book purchases.

Another very popular mystery convention is Malice Domestic, which is held each year in Arlington, Virginia. The purpose of this convention is to celebrate the "traditional" mystery, sometimes referred to as the "cozy" mystery (containing little or no violence, profanity or s.e.x).

The guest of honor was the highly-entertaining Simon Brett and the toastmaster was Eileen Dryer. The fans who attended the convention voted on the Agatha Awards (see below).

MYSTERY FAN AWARDS 2000.

The major fan awards in mystery fiction are the Anthony Awards, the Agatha Awards, the Macavity Awards, and the Barry Awards. Following are the awards that were won in the year 2000, for works published in 1999.

ANTHONY AWARDS 2000.

Voted on by attendees of Bouchercon, 2000 Best Novel: Peter Robinson, In a Dry Season Best First Novel: Donna Andrews, Murder With Peac.o.c.ks Best Paperback Original: Laura Lippman, In Big Trouble Best Short Story: Margaret Chittenden, "Noir Life," EQMM 1/99 Best Critical Nonfiction: Willetta Heising, Detecting Women, 3rd edition Best Series of the Century: Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot Best Writer of the Century: Agatha Christie Best Novel of the Century: Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca AGATHA AWARDS 2000.

Voted on by attendees of the Malice Domestic XII Convention Best Novel: Earlene Fowler, Mariner's Compa.s.s Best First Novel: Donna Andrews, Murder with Peac.o.c.ks.

Best Nonfiction: Daniel Stashower, Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle Best Short Story: Nancy Pickard, "Out of Africa" in Mom, Apple Pie, and Murder MACAVITY AWARDS 2000.

Voted on by subscribers to Mystery Readers International Journal Best Novel: Sujata Ma.s.sey, The Flower Master Best First Novel: Paula L. Woods, Inner City Blues Best Nonfiction: Tom Nolan, Ross Macdonald Best Short Story: Kate Grilley, "Maubi and the Jumbies" in Murderous Intent, Fall 1999 BARRY AWARDS 2000.

Voted on by subscribers of Deadly Pleasures magazine Best Novel: Peter Robinson, In A Dry Season Best First Novel: Donna Andrews, Murder With Peac.o.c.ks Best British Crime Novel: Val McDermid, A Place Of Execution Best Paperback Original: Robin Burcell, Every Move She Makes MYSTERY MAGAZINES 2000.

One of the most popular ways mystery fans keep up with what is going on in the field is by subscribing to one or more mystery magazines. The most popular of the current fan magazines are: Drood Review, published bi-monthly for a yearly cost of $17.00. Articles and reviews in a newsletter format. 484 E. Carmel Dr., #378, Carmel, IN 46032 or order at www.droodreview.com.

Mystery News, published bi-monthly for a yearly cost of $20.00. Newspaper format includes cover interview, columns, articles, many reviews and a listing of current and upcoming books. Black Raven Press, PMB 152, 262 Hawthorn Village Commons, Vernon Hills, IL 60061 or order at www.blackravenpress.com.

Mystery Readers International Journal, published quarterly for a yearly cost of $24.00. Each issue treats a mystery theme. Calendar year 2001 will feature New England Mysteries, Partners in Crime, Oxford, and Cambridge. P.O. Box 8116, Berkeley, CA 94707 or order at www.mysteryreaders.org.

Mystery Scene, published five times a year for a yearly cost of $32.00. Eighty-eight pages of articles and reviews. Heavy emphasis on author contributions. 3601 Skylark Lake SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403.

Deadly Pleasures, published quarterly, for a yearly cost of $14.00. Eighty pages of articles, reviews, news, and regular columns, including the popular Reviewed to Death column. P.O. Box 969, Bountiful, UT 84011 or order at www.deadlypleasures.com.

CHANGING OF THE MYSTERY GUARD 2000.

Each year the mystery fiction genre experiences a changing of the guard. Longtime mystery fans mourn the deaths of some of the old guard and celebrate the arrival of some very talented newcomers. The year 2000 saw the pa.s.sing of Sarah Caudwell, Robert W. Campbell, Duncan Kyle, Lucille Fletcher, Elizabeth Lemarchand, Patricia Moyes, Roger Longrigg (known to most by one of his three pen names, Ivor Drummond, Frank Parrish, or Domini Taylor) and Miles Tripp. And it saw the first novels published by future stars Stephen Horn, Mo Hayter, David Liss, Scott Phillips, Bob Truluck, Sheldon Siegel, Qiu Xiaolong and Glynn Marsh Alam.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Spinning.

KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH has spent most of her professional life working in the fields of science fiction and fantasy. She has also done significant editing in those fields, most notably as the previous editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. And then she became a crime-fiction writer. Like that. Suddenly, suspense stories bloomed from that contraption on her desk just as science fiction once had. And what stories they've been. Last year, under the name Kris Nelscott, she debuted her first crime series with the novel A Dangerous Road. We're pleased to present two of the several of her stories published this year. First, "Spinning," which appeared in the July issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and may be her best story yet.