Left Coast Crime Award Nominees

There are four awards presented at the annual Left Coast Crime banquet.  The short-list of nominees was announced earlier this morning:

The Lefty has been awarded for the best humorous mystery novel since 1996. This year’s nominees are:

• Donna Andrews, The Real Macaw (Minotaur)
•  Rita Lakin, Getting Old Can Kill You (Dell)
•  Jess Lourey, October Fest (Midnight Ink)
•  Kris Neri, Magical Alienation (Red Coyote Press)
•  Cindy Sample, Dying for a Dance (L & L Dreamspell)
•  John Vorhaus, The Albuquerque Turkey (Crown)

The Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, first awarded in 2004, is given to mystery novels covering events before 1960. This year’s nominees are:

•  Rhys Bowen, Naughty in Nice (Berkley Prime Crime)
•  Rebecca Cantrell, A Game of Lies (Forge)
•  Ann Parker, Mercury’s Rise (Poisoned Pen Press)
•  Priscilla Royal, A Killing Season (Poisoned Pen Press)
•  Jeri Westerson, Troubled Bones (Minotaur)
•  Jacqueline Winspear, A Lesson in Secrets (Harper)

The Golden Nugget is a special award given to the best mystery set in California, in recognition of the location of this year’s convention. The nominees are:

•       Jan Burke, Disturbance (Simon & Schuster)
•       Michael Connelly, The Drop (Little, Brown)
•       Janet Dawson, Bit Player (Perseverance Press)
•       Sue Grafton, V Is for Vengeance (Putnam)
•       Kelli Stanley, City of Secrets (Minotaur)

Eureka! is a special award this year for the best first mystery novel. The nominees are:

•  Sally Carpenter, The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper (Oak Tree Press)
•  Darrell James, Nazareth Child (Midnight Ink)
•  Tammy Kaehler, Dead Man’s Switch (Poisoned Pen Press)
•  Rochelle Staab, Who Do, Voodoo? (Berkley Prime Crime)

Congratulations, and good luck to all the nominees!