About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Shortlists for 2013 Arthur Ellis Awards Released

Tonight in a series of events across Canada the shortlists for the Arthur Ellis Awards sponsored by the Crime Writers of Canada were announced. It is a little discouraging as I have not read any of the books listed in any of the categories. The shortlists are:

Best Novel


  • Linwood Barclay, Trust Your Eyes, Doubleday Canada
  • Giles Blunt, Until the Night, Random House Canada
  • Sean Chercover, The Trinity Game, Thomas & Mercer
  • Stephen Miller, The Messenger, Delacorte Press
  • Carsten Stroud, Niceville, Knopf

Best First Novel


  • Peggy Blair, The Beggar’s Opera, Penguin Canada
  • Deryn Collier, Confined Space, Simon & Schuster
  • Peter Kirby, The Dead of Winter, Linda Leith Publishing
  • Chris Laing, A Private Man, Seraphim
  • Simone St. James, The Haunting of Maddy Clare, NAL

Best Novella


  • Lou Allin, Contingency Plan, Orca Rapid Reads
  • Vicki Delany, A Winter Kill, Orca Rapid Reads
  • Barbara Fradkin, Evil behind that Door, Orca Rapid Reads
  • Christopher Moore, "Reunion", Phnom Penh Noir, Heaven Lake Press

Best Short Story


  • Melodie Campbell, “Life without George” in Over My Dead Body Mystery Magazine, August 2012
  • Sandy Conrad, “Sins of the Fathers” in Daughters and Other Strangers, The Brucedale Press
  • Scott MacKay, “Cruel Coast” in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, July 2012
  • Jas R. Petrin, “Mad Dog” in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, October 2012
  • Yasuko Thanh, “Spring-blade Knife” in Floating Like the Dead, McClelland & Stewart

Best Nonfiction


  • Anita Arvast, Bloody Justice: The Truth behind the Bandidos Massacre at Shedden, John Wiley & Sons
  • Guy Lawson, Octopus: Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street’s Wildest Con, Crown Books/Random House
  • Steve Lillebuen, The Devil’s Cinema: The Untold Story behind Mark Twitchell’s Kill Room, McClelland & Stewart
  • Bruce Livesey, Thieves of Bay Street: How Banks, Brokerages and the Wealthy Steal Billions from Canadians, Random House Canada

Best Juvenile/YA


  • Lisa Harrington, Live to Tell, Cormorant Books
  • Y.S. Lee, The Agency: The Traitor in the Tunnel, Candlewick Press
  • Sylvia McNicoll, Crush Candy Corpse, James Lorimer & Company
  • Shane Peacock, Becoming Holmes, Tundra Books
  • Elizabeth Stewart, The Lynching of Louie Sam, Annick Press

Best Crime Book in French


  • Mario Bolduc, La Nuit des albinos: Sur les traces de Max O’Brien, Libre Expression
  • André Jacques, De pierres et de sang, Druide
  • Jean Lemieux, L’homme du jeudi, La courte échelle
  • Martin Michaud, Je me souviens, Goélette
  • Richard Ste Marie, L’inaveu, Alire

Best Unpublished First Crime Novel: the Unhanged Arthur


  • William Hall, Cold Black Tide
  • Ilonka Halsband, The Raffle Baby
  • Coleen Steele, Sins Revisited
 
Tickets for the Arthur Ellis Awards Gala on May 30 at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto are now available.

6 comments:

  1. I've not even heard of many of the authors, let alone not having ready any. Sigh. Too many writers, not enough time :)

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  2. Bill - Thanks for sharing this. I'm guilty too of not reading these. There just isn't enough time to read everything one would like to read.

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  3. Bernadette: Thanks for the comment. Sigh and sigh again. Not enough time in Saskatchewan either.

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  4. Margot: Thanks for the comment. I wish I could find alittle more time but it is unlikely.

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  5. Thanks for this list. I am always interested in sampling Canadian authors, even though it may take a while before I can get to them.

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  6. TracyK: Thanks for the comment. I look forward to more reading trips north to Canada by yourself.

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