2014 Left Coast Crime Awards

2014 Left Coast Crime Awards

"The Left Coast Crime Convention is an annual event sponsored by fans of mystery literature for fans of mystery literature, including both readers and authors. Usually held in the western half of North America, LCC’s intent is to provide an event where mystery fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests."

The Lefty: best humorous mystery novel

The Good Cop by Brad Parks

"As long as Newark Eagle-Examiner reporter Carter Ross t

urns in his stories on deadline, no one bats an eye if he doesn’t wander into the newsroom until 10 or 11 in the morning. So it’s an unpleasant surprise when he’s awakened at 8:38 a.m. by a phone call from his boss, telling him a local policeman was killed and to get the story. Shaking himself awake, Carter heads off to interview the cop’s widow. And then he gets another call: the story’s off, the cop committed suicide. In The Good Cop, Brad Parks is back with all the humor, charm, and human insight his readers have come to expect, and more." publisher

The Squid: best mystery series set within the United States

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

                              "A New York Times Bestselling Author -- New Bremen,  Minnesota, 1961. It was the Twins' debut season; the country had a new,  young president. But for thirteen- year- old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited often and took many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder. Frank was forced to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years. Forty years later, he tells the story of discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God." publisher
 

The Calamari: best mystery series set anywhere else in the world (and this year's winner of everything else ... )

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

"Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it’s a time of dazzling

snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn’t spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo." publisher