We’re entering the annual convention season for mystery writers and fans, where attendees often vote for and announce the previous year’s mystery award winners. First up are the Left Coast Crime Awards, also known as Leftys, announced earlier this month at the Left Coast Crime convention in Seattle. Four main awards were given and books with female protagonists swept all categories:
Lefty for Best Mystery Novel of 2023
Hide by Tracy Clark. I’m a huge fan of Tracy Clark’s Cass Raines series so I’m excited to see she’s begun a new series featuring hard-boiled Chicago Detective Harriet Foster. In Foster’s first outing, she’s on the hunt for a serial killer who favors red-heads while also dealing with the sudden death of her partner and being a Black women in a male-dominated department. Book 2 in the series has been released and Book 3 is on the way.
Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel of 2023
Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon. I loved this story of three very different headstrong women – grandmother, mother and teenage daughter – coming together to solve a crime after the youngest stumbles across a body. Each character is sharply drawn and their interactions felt true to life, particularly the relations between Los Angeles real estate entrepreneur Lana and her nature-loving adult daughter Beth.
Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel of 2023
Cheap Trills by Wendall Thomas. This is the latest chapter in the Cyd Redondo mystery series featuring the travel agent who specializes in senior citizen travel. It’s 2007 and Eat, Pray, Love fever has swept the neighborhood of Bridge Bay, Brooklyn, prompting book club lovers to head to Bali. When Cyd’s mom secretly joins the travelers, Cyd must head over and help her out of a murder investigation.
Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel of 2023
Evergreen by Naomi Hirahara. Book two in the Japantown Mystery series finds us in Los Angeles in 1946, where Japanese-American nurse’s aide Aki Ito and her family are adjusting to life after being released from a World War II detention center. Aki must act to protect her family when her husband’s best friend becomes embroiled in possible elder abuse and then murder. Book one in the series was also an award winner.
To learn more about Left Coast Crime, please visit the group’s website.
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