Event---Left Coast Crime Award Nominees Announced

February 4, 2013 — Colorado Springs, CO — Left Coast Crime 2013, “Where Murder Is the Last Resort,” will be giving four awards at the 23rd annual LCC convention to be held in Colorado Springs. The awards will be voted on at the convention and presented at a banquet on Saturday, March 23, at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. The nomination period has just concluded, and LCC is delighted to announce the nominees for books published in 2012:

The Lefty has been awarded for the best humorous mystery novel since 1996. This year’s nominees are:
 • Mike Befeler, Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder (Five Star)
 • Laura DiSilverio, Swift Run (Minotaur)
 • Jess Lourey, December Dread (Midnight Ink)
 • Lisa Lutz, Trail of the Spellmans (Simon & Schuster)
 • Brad Parks, The Girl Next Door (Minotaur) 
 • Nancy Glass West, Fit To Be Dead (Southwest Publications)
 
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, The Twelve Clues of Christmas (Berkley Prime Crime)
 • Rebecca Cantrell, A City of Broken Glass (Forge)
 • Dennis Lehane, Live by Night (William Morrow)
 • Catronia McPherson, Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder (Minotaur)
 • Jacqueline Winspear, Elegy for Eddie (HarperCollins)
 
The Rocky, for the best mystery novel set in the Left Coast Crime Geographical Region (first awarded in 2004). The nominees are:
 • Margaret Coel, Buffalo Bill’s Dead Now (Berkley Prime Crime)
 • Chuck Greaves, Hush Money (Minotaur)
 • Beth Groundwater, Wicked Eddies (Midnight Ink)
 • Darrell James, Sonora Crossing (Midnight Ink)
 • Craig Johnson, As the Crow Flies (Viking)

The Watson, for the mystery novel with the best sidekick (first awarded in 2011). The nominees are:
 • Juliet Blackwell, In a Witch’s Wardrobe (Obsidian)
 • Robert Crais, Taken (Putnam)
 • Chris Grabenstein, Fun House (Pegasus)
 • L.C. Hayden, When the Past Haunts You (CreateSpace)
 • Rochelle Staab, Brouja Brouhaha (Berkley Prime Crime)

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 23rd annual Left Coast Crime Convention will take place in Colorado Springs, CO, March 21–24, 2013. This year’s Guests of Honor are authors Craig Johnson and Laura Lippman. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips is a Special Guest. Tom and Enid Schantz are the Fan Guests of Honor. Author David Corbett will serve as Toastmaster, and Parnell Hall will entertain as the “Last Resort” Troubadour.

For more information on Left Coast Crime 2013, please visit http://www.leftcoastcrime.org/2013/