If he scoops the Big One on April 29th, Declan Hughes (right) will be forever known in these here parts as Mr Ed. For lo! It has come to pass, and not a moment too soon, that the Venerable Other Declan has been nominated for an Edgar in the Best Novel category, for last year’s Ed Loy tale, THE PRICE OF BLOOD (aka THE DYING BREED). Naturally, being a work-shy slug-a-bed, I haven’t read any of the other novels nominated, but I have read THE PRICE OF BLOOD and it’ll be a fine, fine novel indeed that pips it at the post by a short head (the novel deals in part with the murky world of Irish horse-racing, see). Dec was kind enough to ring yours truly yesterday afternoon with the hot-off-the-presses news, to give me the scoop, but unfortunately I was here all day yesterday, and not so concerned with books and stuff. Thankfully, Lilyput is on the mend and coming back to herself again, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch offering their best wishes.
Elsewhere in the Edgars, Siobhan Dowd’s BOG CHILD has been nominated in the Juvenile section, while Martin McDonagh has been nominated for Best Motion Picture Screenplay, for In Bruges.
Incidentally, Dec Hughes’ fourth Ed Loy offering, ALL THE DEAD VOICES, will be released in June. Quoth Dec:
Ed Loy is hired by the beautiful Anne Fogarty to find the man who killed her father fifteen years ago: it could be a gangland IRA boss, it could be a property developer with Sinn Fein and government connections, it could be semi-reformed gangster George Halligan. Plunged into a murky world of post-peace process evasions and half-truths where no-one is who he appears to be, Loy eventually finds himself digging his own grave on a deserted farm in the dead of night, his options dwindled to nothing more than the fight for mere survival.I’m betting he makes it …
Tell Lily we're thinking of her, and hugging like mad.
ReplyDeleteGreat news indeed, to see DH get the recognition he deserves! (And here's hoping Lily is breathing easier.)
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the thoughts, folks ... Lily is doing very well, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Dec
I missed the news about Lilly altogether. Please give her hugs and s nice, soft blanket to cuddle under from Corky and me.
ReplyDeleteAs for Mr. Hughes, he and his book are both deserving of the recognition. Ed loy is the best, most fully developed of the recent new PI heroes, and, as Dec's impassioned talk at Baltimore Bouchercon showed, he is a sincere and active advocate for everyone who loves PI fiction, reader and writer alike.