2009 Edgar Award Nominations pt. 4

by Greg "The Undead Rat" on April 23, 2009

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This is the fourth installment of the 2009 Edgar Award Nominations, brought to you by the RATS of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

You can view the entire list of Edgar Award Nomination on the Mystery Writers of American website.

Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library. Please note: The Clevnet system only owns two of these books at this time.

Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical

African American Mystery Writers	African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study Author: Bailey, Frankie Y. Format: Trade Paperback Type: Non-Fiction Page Count: 277pp. Pub. Date: November 12, 2008 Publisher: McFarland
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical The book describes the movement by African American authors from slave narratives and antebellum newspapers into fiction writing, and the subsequent developments of black genre fiction through the present. It analyzes works by modern African American mystery writers, focusing on sleuths, the social locations of crime, victims and offenders, the notion of doing justice, and the role of African American cultural vernacular in mystery fiction. A final section focuses on readers and reading, examining African American mystery writers’ access to the marketplace and the issue of the double audience raised by earlier writers.



Hard-Boiled Sentimentality	Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories Author: Cassuto, Leonard Format: Hardcover Type: Non-Fiction Page Count: 344pp. Pub. Date: October 9, 2008 Publisher: Columbia University Press
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Leonard Cassuto’s cultural history links the testosterone-saturated heroes of American crime stories to the sensitive women of the nineteenth-century sentimental novel. From classics like The Big Sleep and The Talented Mr. Ripley to neglected paperback gems, Cassuto chronicles the dialogue — centered on the power of sympathy — between these popular genres and the sweeping social changes of the twentieth century, ending with a surprising connection between today’s serial killers and the domestic fictions of long ago.



Scene of the Crime	Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction Author: Geherin, David Format: Trade Paperback Type: Non-Fiction Page Count: 223pp. Pub. Date: February 25, 2008 Publisher: McFarland
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Offering analysis of the fiction of 15 authors for whom the setting greatly contributes to their overall literary style, this book focuses on the many ways that “place” figures in modern crime and mystery novels. The authors (and their settings) are: Paris — Georges Simenon Venice –Donna Leon American Southwest — Tony Hillerman South Central Los Angeles — Walter Mosley Washington, D.C. — George P. Pelecanos Chicago — Sara Paretsky Southern Louisiana — James Lee Burke South Florida — Carl Hiaasen Edinburgh — Ian Rankin Botswana — Alexander McCall Smith South Africa — James McClure Stockholm — Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo Mexico City — Paco Ignacio Taibo II Sicily — Leonardo Sciascia Ancient Rome — Lindsey Davis



The Rise of True Crime	The Rise of True Crime: 20th-Century Murder and American Popular Culture Author: Murley, Jean Format: Hardcover Type: Non-Fiction Page Count: 192pp. Pub. Date: August 30, 2008 Publisher: Greenwood Publishing/Praeger Publishers
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical During the 1950s and 1960s True Detective magazine developed a new way of narrating and understanding murder. This publication was more sensitive to context, gave more psychologically sophisticated accounts, and was more willing to make conjectures about the unknown thoughts and motivations of killers than others had been before. This turned out to be the start of a revolution. With skyrocketing crime rates and the appearance of a frightening trend toward social chaos in the 1970s, books, documentaries, and “fiction” films in the true crime genre tried to make sense of the Charles Manson crimes and the Gary Gilmore execution events. And in the 1980s and 1990s, true crime taught pop culture consumers about forensics, profiling, and highly technical aspects of criminology. We have thus now become a nation of experts, with many ordinary people able to speak intelligently about blood-spatter patterns and “organized” vs. “disorganized” serial killers. Through the suggestion that certain kinds of killers are “monstrous” or outside the realm of human morality, and through the perpetuation of the “stranger-danger” idea, the true crime aesthetic has both responded to and fostered our culture’s fears. True crime is also the site of a dramatic confrontation with the concept of evil, and one of the few places in American public discourse where moral terms are used without any irony, and notions and definitions of evil are presented without ambiguity. When seen within its historical context, true crime emerges as a vibrant and meaningful strand of popular culture, one that is unfortunately devalued as lurid and meaningless “pulp.” The Rise of True Crime examines the various genres of true crime using the most popular and well-known examples. And despite its examination of some of the potentially negative results of the genre, it is written for people who read and enjoy true crime, and wish to learn more about it.



Edgar Allan Poe	Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories Author: Poe, Harry Lee Format: Hardcover Type: Non-Fiction Page Count: 160pp. Pub. Date: 2008 Publisher: Sterling Publishing/Metro Books
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Edgar Allan Poe has become so strongly associated with the dark nature of his work that, in some minds, it’s as if he’s the central character — rather than the author — of the many horror and mystery tales that bear his name. And yet, well over a century after his death, his story remains as fascinating as those he wove, largely because the shadow cast by Poe was not one of his own design. In Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories, Poe’s biography comes to life through images and fascinating memorabilia, including: A portion of his handwritten manuscript for the poem “A Dream Within a Dream.” Contentious letters he exchanged with his foster father, John Allan. The bon indicating his intention to marry his cousin Virginia. His controversial obituary as it appeared in the New York Daily Tribune. After touring his visual, interactive biography, fans of Poe will read “The Raven” and countless other classics with new appreciation.