September 6, 2002

Lawrence Block reports: Harrison Ford evidently liked what he saw in the script Scott Frank re-wrote at hsi suggestion, and has agreed to star in A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES for Jersey Films/Universal Pictures. Joe Carnahan, the hit of the Sundance Film Festival with NARC, has been signed to direct, and they expect to shoot the thing in January 2003.

Jill Churchill sent us this: I'm happy to let you know that THE HOUSE OF SEVEN MABELS is in the bookstores now. Jane and Shelley become involved as decorators of a shabby Victorian house that's being renovated. Bitsy Burnside, former PTA room mother tyrant, who forced Jane and Shelley in the old days to make hundreds of cupcakes and miles of crepe paper garlands, is now very profitably divorced and wants to make a bundle on the project to renovate the house. Unfortunately she's also fallen in with a contractor who is a rabid feminist who wants to hire only women to do the work.

Before Jane and Shelley sign a contract, dangerous pranks are being played to create damage to the project. Awful smells when the furnaces are first tried out, wrecked sheetrock, electrical flaws, salted newly poured concrete. But as they're still trying to hammer out a decent contract, Jane puts two and two together and figures out whodunit.

I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it. I love the very last chapter which came out of the blue when I mistakenly thought the book was finished.

The paperback version of Someone to Watch Over Me comes out next month. Meantime, take a look at my website at http://www.cozybooks.com to see my gardens and my needlepoint under the category News.

SOURCE FOR USED LIBRARY BOOKS

Libraries can now sell their better books on the web. These may be books that have been donated to the library, duplicate copies or surplus materials. The library can raise much-needed funds and the public can get great books at great prices. The website below has a searchable database of books available.

www.librarybooksales.org

MACAVITY AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Mystery Readers International announces Macavity Award Nominees for works published in 2001. The Macavity is nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International, the largest reader/fan based organization in the world. Winners will be announced at Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention in October 2002.

Best Mystery Novel
MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane (Morrow)
THE DEADHOUSE by Linda Fairstein (Scribner)
FOLLY by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
TELL NO ONE by Harlan Coben (Delacorte)
SILENT JOE by T. Jefferson Parker (Hyperion)

Best First Mystery Novel
THE JASMINE TRADE by Denise Hamilton (Scribner)
BLINDSIGHTED by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)
OPEN SEASON by C. J. Box (G.P. Putnam's)
PERHAPS SHE'LL DIE by M.K. Preston (Intrigue)

Best Bio/Critical Mystery Work
WRITING THE MYSTERY: A Start to Finish Guide for Both Novice and Professional by G. Miki Hayden (Intrigue)
SELDOM DISAPPOINTED: A Memoir by Tony Hillerman (HarperCollins)
THE HISTORY OF THE MYSTERY by Max Allan Collins (Collectors Press)
MY NAME'S FRIDAY: The Unauthorized but True Story of Dragnet and the Films of Jack Webb by Michael J. Hayde (Cumberland House)
WHO WAS THAT LADY? CRAIG RICE: The Queen of Screwball Mystery by Jeffrey Marks (Delphi Books)

Best Mystery Short Story
"My Bonnie Lies" by Ted Hertel (The Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers, Michael Hemmingson, editor; Carroll & Graf)
"Bitter Waters" by Rochelle Krich (Criminal Kabbalah, Lawrence W. Raphael, editor; Jewish Lights)
"The Would-Be Widower" by Katherine Hall Page (Malice Domestic 10, Nevada Barr, editor; Avon)
"The Abbey Ghosts" by Jan Burke (AHMM, Jan 2001)

Authors, if you have news you'd like us to include in our Crime Scene column, please email us.