Macavity/Barry Awards Ceremonies
As usual, the Barry Awards and the Macavity Awards were presented during the Opening Ceremonies of Bouchercon on Thursday night.

A couple of things were out of the ordinary this year. One was that Janet Rudolph was absent and asked me to present her Macavity Awards, which I was happy to do. The other was that I had asked two-time Barry Award winner (MYSTIC RIVER and GONE, BABY GONE) Dennis Lehane to present the Barry Award for Best Mystery, which he presented to his friend Shawn (S.A.) Cosby for RAZORBLADE TEARS.

Shawn was the big winner of the convention. He won the all three Best Mystery of the Year Awards (Barry, Macavity and Anthony) as well as an Anthony for Best Short Story. He gave heartfelt acceptance speeches for all the awards but he took some extra time with the Anthony Award. When he finished, Shawn received a standing ovation, something I have never seen before at Bouchercon. He certainly is something special – a wonderful blend of talent and humility.

Other Barry Award winners were Connor Sullivan for SLEEPING BEAR.

— And FIVE DECEMBERS by James Kestrel. Eli Cranor accepted the award for James Kestrel. Thanks to John Bychowski for Bouchercon photos.

Dervla McTiernan won the Barry Award for Best Paperback Original for THE GOOD TURN. Dervla could not attend.

Best Panel

My favorite panel that I attended was called On The Silver Screen, moderated by Kate Melmon. The authors Karen Dionne, Jeffery Deaver, Jo Nesbo and Dennis Lehane talked about their written works being converted to movies or television. Their stories were fascinating. All agreed that it is best for authors to sit back and cash the checks and let the film producers do all the work without their input. The moderator asked the panel what was the first movie they saw as children and what was their reaction. Jo Nesbo said that when he was a young boy his older brother went to see The Guns of Navarone, came home and told Jo in great detail about the movie. Jo, of course, was mesmerized by the whole experience. Years later he got to watch the film himself and was disappointed. His brother’s description plus Jo’s own imagination were a lot better than the actual film. Karen Dionne’s book THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER (Barry Award winner) is in post-production and should be available sometime next year. She has seen it and is very pleased with how it turned out. Dennis Lehane told a funny story about working on The Wire.

Old Friends Week
Although some of my closest friends in the mystery community were not at Bouchercon this year, most notably “Mystery” Mike Bursaw, Steele Curry and Larry Gandle (recovering from gall bladder surgery – which he has done and reports that he is fine), there were others whom I was able to see and have satisfactory and enjoyable chats with. Former review columnists for DP Donus Roberts, Bev DeWeese and Beth Fedyn were there. It had felt like ages since I’d last had personal contact with them. Bev is suffering from the effects of advanced age but is still sharp as a tack. It was also fun to talk to Al Abramson, David Magayna, Kim Krabill, Peter Rozovsky, Judy Bobalick, Steve Stillwell (grumpy as ever), Dave & Cindy Scott, David Brown and others. One subscriber of ours came up to me and declared, “You cost me a lot of money!” Then proceeded to tell me about reading the magazine and making a long list of books to buy which she does online. She then told me that she loved the magazine.

Fun Dinners
On Wednesday night I invited myself to go with friends Ted Hertel and Ted Fitzgerald, who were standing outside the hotel with S. J. Rozan. They didn’t seem to mind my butting in so we walked about two blocks to Hell’s Kitchen and had a very enjoyable meal. Ted has worked for years with the Shamus Awards sponsored by the Private Eye Writers of America. So I asked him about the present state of that sub-genre of late. From my perspective private eye fiction isn’t as popular as it has been in decades past. But he was able to convince me that my opinion may be wrong. As we were leaving we had a short conversation with Barbara Peters about some of her challenges in running The Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona during the Pandemic. Apparently getting books back and forth across the Canadian border was and still is a nightmare. S. J. Rozan’s next book is a standalone co-written with another author.
Friday night was dinner with Donus Roberts, his daughter Robin and good friend Kirk Shryoc. You may be familiar with Donus from his review column in DP. I admire his energy and drive because, in retirement, he has created and built a very successful bookstore in South Dakota. Robin teaches high school English and is her father’s out-of-town used book buyer. She had some interesting tales to tell about some of her more unusual experiences. Kirk is a relatively new crime fiction/thriller fan and his first Bouchercon was Toronto in 2017. He’s fun to be with because he’s like a kid in a candy store finding great new authors to read and collect. He’s quickly become one of my favorite fans to be around. He is also the Treasurer of the Bouchercon National Board.
Saturday. I always reserve a night to share a meal with two of my best friends and favorite people Maggie Mason and Nancy Mitchell. They are real “foodies” and the annual meal is a result of many hours of research coming up with the best restaurants in the area and making reservations months in advance. I’m used to more mundane fare so it is a special treat (and a new adventure) to go with them to the special places that they find – and I’m never disappointed. This year it was at the Spoon and Stable, where the portions were small and therefore there was room for dessert, which I almost never have. Everything was a little different than what I was used to (in a good way) and the waiter was really, really good.

Three Authors I Was Anxious To Meet
There were three authors in attendance at Bouchercon whom I was most looking forward to meeting for the first time. They were: S. A. Cosby, Attica Locke and Jo Nesbo. I met all three and I was totally impressed. Shawn is a big man with the easy, friendly country manner of someone raised in rural Virginia. At some point during the week he commented that, if he had known he was going to win all the awards he did, he would have bought a suit. We’re glad he didn’t. He came across as being at ease with being himself. We saw him surrounded by a number of young black women who were clearly excited to be in his company. I hope they didn’t consider themselves groupies. I wondered if I should warn them that Shawn’s wife owns a funeral business and they could be easily taken care of.
When I talked to Attica Locke, she turned out to be as charming and gracious as could be. I told her how much I liked her Texas Ranger series (BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD and HEAVEN IS MY HOME) and complained that she doesn’t write fast enough to satisfy her fans. She says that she is working on the third in that series.
My only opportunity to interact with Jo Nesbo was doing some paging of books for signature. Jo speaks English very well but has a somewhat reserved personality. With such a short name he can sign a high volume of books in a short period of time.

Site for 2026 Bouchercon
Calgary, Canada has been approved for the site of the 2026 Bouchercon. I’m excited about that for two reasons other than the normal ones I have for going to an annual Bouchercon. When my father immigrated from England, he first went to Calgary, Canada. I’ve never been there. The other is that it is the home of Steele Curry, a valued contributor to Deadly Pleasures. The University of Calgary is known for its extensive collections of genre fiction, especially science fiction. A few years ago Steele donated his sizeable collection of crime fiction and spy thrillers to the University of Calgary and they built a special wing onto the library to house his collection. I want to visit the library and hope that Steele can arrange a tour.

Dennis Lehane
When Dennis published his first book, A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR, in 1994 he was an instant hit with the mystery fiction crowd I hung out with. Somewhere around the same time as his book came out Gary Warren Niebuhr decided to sponsor a convention that celebrated private eye fiction and he called it EyeCon. I’m pretty sure that was the first “mystery” convention that Dennis attended. As my friends and I recognized him and told him how much we liked his first novel, I can still remember my first impression of Dennis as being somewhat bewildered by all the attention that came as an unexpected shock.

Well, apparently Maggie Mason was the very first fan he met at that convention and when he encountered her at Bouchercon this year he not only remembered her by name but also recounted that early experience and thanked her for being so welcoming to the community. Maggie was walking on cloud nine for the rest of the convention when she wasn’t stalking Dennis to get a picture taken with him and another with him and Shawn Cosby. Dennis’ main reason for being at the convention was to support Shawn. Much like James Crumley passed a mantle (of future stardom) onto Dennis, Dennis wants to pass a similar mantle onto Shawn. There is a new Dennis Lehane novel (SMALL MERCIES) coming out in April, 2023.

Two Book Recommendations from Oline Cogdill
Oline Cogdill is a nationally-syndicated reviewer and a member of our Barry Award nominating committee. Hers is an opinion I value highly so each time I encounter her I ask for recommendations. This time around she had two. She called Wanda M. Morris (ALL HER LITTLE SECRETS 2021 and ANYWHERE YOU RUN 2022) as the “real deal” and a woman who “can really write well.” Her other recommendation was a first mystery – ALL THAT’S LEFT UNSAID by Tracey Lien. I’m going to follow up on her recommendations.

No Real Book Spy
I was finally going to meet Ryan Steck, the creator of the wonderful The Real Book Spy website dedicated to the thriller novel subgenre. We’ve corresponded in the past and I was glad to see that he was scheduled to present a Tribute to Vince Flynn on Friday morning. But when I got to the panel room, he wasn’t on the podium. I found out that he and his family had contracted Covid – for the third time! I felt bad for missing him again but far worse for what he and his family have had to go through. Best wishes for quick recovery to him and his family. Hank Phillippi Ryan also missed due to testing positive for Covid. We always miss her smiling face when it is not present.

Quick Takes
Saw Otto Penzler who has recently turned 80, but looks 70 and in very good shape. I asked him about a new writer of his (Mysterious Press), A. F. Carter, whose first two books greatly impressed me. The only biographical information available for the public is that A. F. lives and works in New York City. I did worm out of him that A.F. is a veteran writer and is male, but that was it. It’s apparently a tightly held secret.
James Byrne, author of THE GATEKEEPER, was easily “outed” as veteran writer Conrad Haynes.
Joe Finder says that he took a break from writing during the Pandemic shutdown, but he is back at work on his next novel.
Charles Todd was the perfect gentleman (as always), but it seemed to me that he was a little lost without his mother at his side.
P.J. Tracy – I haven’t seen her since she and her mother won a Barry Award eons ago for MONKEEWRENCH. But she remembered me and I got a big hug, which was nice. Another writer carrying on despite the loss of a co-writing mother.
Karen Odden – I was asked by SallyAnne McCartin, a publicist and a friend, to make contact with this history mystery writer, which I did at the Soho reception. A pleasant and informative conversation ensued. Karen told me that Sally had given her the mission of finding me as well, so we had a picture taken (by David Heska Wanbli Weiden) of us together to send to Sally with the message “Mission Accomplished.” By coincidence I received Karen’s new book. UNDER A VEILED MOON, from her publisher Crooked Lane today. Stay tuned.

Surprising News about Mystery Scene Mystery Magazine
Robin Agnew who owned the Aunt Agatha Mystery Bookstore in Michigan before it shut down, told me that Mystery Scene Magazine, for which she reviews, may be shutting down if it can’t find a buyer to take it over. Kate Stine asked me in an email to publicize its availability for purchase. Anyone interested may contact Kate at: katestine@mysteryscenemag.com
The last issue published by Kate will be the Winter #174 Issue. I will be sorry to see it go if no one takes it over. It has had the highest production values of any mystery magazine and some excellent contributors such as Oline Cogdill, Craig Sisterson, Hank Wagner, Kevin Burton Smith, John Valeri, and Robin Agnew to mention just a few.

Soho Crime Reception
Bouchercon usually has a round of publisher party/receptions, but this year I only noticed the Soho Crime one. If there were others, I wasn’t aware of them. In fact, there was not the publisher presence at Bouchercon this year that there usually is. I don’t know the reason for that other than possibly Covid or budget considerations. St. Martin’s Minotaur and Morrow were conspicuously absent. Atria, Sourcebooks, Kensington and Forge had small book giveaways in the Hospitality Suite, but that was it.
Back to Soho Crime, one of my favorite publishers. I met its publisher Bronwen Hruska and Mick Herron’s editor Juliet Grames at Left Coast Crime earlier this year and I wanted to have more interaction with them and get to know them better, which I did. They have such a fine line of authors and are always finding more. Peter Lovesey and Mick Herron are perennial favorites. I really liked their publication of the debut novel SHUTTER by Ramona Emerson this year.

Book Bazaar
There was a Book Bazaar again this year. I like this convention feature. You get a certain number of tickets and you go into a room with books stacked up on a number of tables. You pick the four books you want, hand in your tickets and leave the room with your books. It’s much better than the old method of the convention stuffing the convention bags with books. More often than not, they were books you weren’t interested in reading.
Connie Perry, who ran the New Orleans Bouchercon and is a whiz at organization, is a permanent employee of the Bouchercon National Board now and is charged with helping each local committee put on their Bouchercons. She sat me down and asked me to be the Book Bazaar publisher liaison for the next four Bouchercons. She wasn’t completely sure about next year’s San Diego, but Nashville, New Orleans and Calgary are sure things. I had this job for the first New Orleans convention and I have a system down pat so I won’t have to re-invent the wheel. I’m concerned about the Calgary Book Bazaar and getting books across the border, but we have a few years to work on that.

Overall Impressions
First of all, it was so good to see everyone in person after what seemed like a very long time. I expected more hiccups at the convention than occurred and the convention seemed to be pretty well run. Congratulations to the organizers. There were 1301 paid attendees, a little more than expected – due to a surge of late signees. That’s down from a usual 1600 to 1800. We knew the Book Dealers room would not have the same number of dealers as usual and Mystery Mike’s absence was sorely felt by many. But I understand that the organizers tried very hard to get more dealers and their pleas went unheeded. The hospitality suite had coffee and pastries in the early morning, but nothing else for the rest of the day. I suspect that this was due to lack of budget or publisher sponsorship, something I hope and expect will improve with future Bouchercons as our attendances increases and we learn to deal with the continuing presence of Covid in our nation. Onward and upward to Bouchercon 2023 in San Diego, California.