Despite the faltering economy, almost 1,700 fans flocked to Indianapolis this weekend to attend the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. The Guest of Honor was genre heavyweight Michael Connelly, while S.J. Rozan, best known for her Lydia Chin and Bill Smith PI series, served as Toastmaster, and Katherine Kennison, who founded the Magna Cum Murder mystery conference in nearby Muncie, Indiana, was the Fan Guest of Honor. Al Hubin, an editor, reviewer and crime fiction scholar who created the popular mystery fanzine The Armchair Detective, was the Lifetime Achievement honoree. For the first time, Bouchercon recognized a children’s author, with Wendelin Van Draanen as the Honored Youth Author, and included a program called “Boucherkids,” aimed at children, families and young adult librarians. In her acceptance speech, Van Draanen told the audience she hoped to bring the children’s and adult programs together in the future “because when the kids’ books writers write good mysteries, kids like mysteries and they’ll become adults and read your books!”
In addition to Bouchercon celebrating its fortieth year, 2009 is also the 150th birthday of Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the 75th anniversary of the Baker Street Irregulars (a community of Holmes enthusiasts), and the 200th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, the creator of one of fiction’s first detectives, C. Auguste Dupin. Fans were treated to panels on both Doyle and Poe, with commentary from the likes of Laurie R. King—who incorporates the character of Holmes into her Mary Russell series—and Michael Connelly. Other panels included “Fixers” (instead of being cops or federal agents, these characters just solve problems) with Lee Child; “The Dark Side of the Fair Sex” (female characters as killers, hardboiled protagonists and everything in between) with Chelsea Cain; “The Never-Ending Puzzle” (traditional mysteries in the modern age) with moderator Carolyn Hart; and “Telling Women’s Stories” with crime fiction groundbreakers Sara Paretsky, who reinvented the private eye genre with her series featuring female Chicago investigator V I Warshawski, and Liza Cody, whose Anna Lee was Britain’s first fictional female PI.
In an effort to keep up with rapidly changing technology and its impact on the publishing industry and readers, this year’s convention also featured a presentation by Amazon’s Dan Slater—who handles author and vendor relations—about the advances in e-books in general and the Kindle family in particular. Slater looked to assure audience members that Amazon’s intention was not to undermine physical book sales but to help enhance the reading experience by allowing customers to find any book ever printed in any language and download it quickly. On the creative side, there was also a craft room set up where fans and authors could try their hands at scrapbooking, knitting and fizzy bath salts, to name a few.
Connelly was interviewed by fellow Little, Brown author Michael Koryta, speaking in front of a huge audience in the Indianapolis Convention Center. He discussed his long-running series—and how its aging hero may soon have to retire his badge—as well as how his early admiration of Raymond Chandler inspired him to write his own mysteries.
The convention was also flush with awards announcements, beginning with Thursday’s presentation of the Barry, Shamus, and Macavity awards. The Barry awards (voted on by readers of Deadly Pleasures and Mystery News) went to Arnaldur Indridason’s The Draining Lake (Best Novel), Tom Rob Smith’s Child 44 (Best First Novel), Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Best British Crime Novel), Brett Battles’s The Deceived (Best Thriller), and Julie Hyzy’s The State of the Onion (Best Paperback Original). Voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, the Macavity awards went to Deborah Crombie’s Where Memories Lie (Best Mystery Novel), Stieg Larssson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Best First Novel) and Rhys Bowen’s A Royal Pain (Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award). On the hardboiled side, winners of the Shamus Awards, voted on by the Private Eye Writers of America, were also announced. 2008 winner Reed Farrell Coleman (Soul Patch) again picked up the Best P.I. Novel prize for Empty Ever After, while Lori Armstrong’s Snow Blind and Ian Vasquez’s In the Heat won for Best P.I. Paperback Original and Best P.I. First Novel, respectively. Mitch Alderman’s “Family Values,” from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, won the Best P.I. Short Story award.
Bouchercon attendees cast their votes for the Anthony Awards and the winners were announced in a Saturday ceremony presided over by toastmaster S.J. Rozan. Continuing its winning streak, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo picked up awards for Best Cover Art (designed by Peter Mendelsund) and Best First Novel. Larsson’s editor at Knopf read a brief tribute to the deceased Swedish author—whose trilogy has become a hot commodity in the crime fiction world—from his father and brother, who expressed both their pride in Larsson’s accomplishments and their regret that he could not collect the awards himself. Chris Grabenstein’s debut young adult novel, The Crossroads, won the Best Children’s/Young Adult Award, while Crimespree magazine co-founders Ruth and Jon Jordan won the Special Service Award for their contribution to the mystery community. In addition to Crimespree, Ruth was a co-organizer of 2008’s Bouchercon in Baltimore and Jon is organizing the 2011 convention set for St. Louis. Sean Chercover won the Best Short Story award for “A Sleep Not Unlike Death,” from Hardcore Hardboiled. For his book on Bouchercon namesake Anthony Boucher, Jeffrey Marks won the award for Best Critical Nonfiction Work for Anthony Boucher: A Bibliobiography. In his acceptance speech, Marks joked that the surefire way to win an award is write about the prize’s namesake.
At the end of the busy weekend, attendees were treated to a book bazaar, where they could pick up free copies of books by their favorite authors and get them autographed. The lobby of the Hyatt Hotel was abuzz with fans clutching stacks of books and chatting with friends. In 2010, the convention moves west to San Francisco for “Bouchercon by the Bay.” Don’t worry, it’s not too early to register: www.bcon2010.com
