Reading right now:

            Jeff Lindsay’s “Dexter’s Final Cut.” This is the seventh book in the Dexter series. If you watched the TV series finale, you might already miss Dexter and want to hit the books. I haven’t always agreed with the direction that the books have gone, but the character is original and interesting. In the latest book, Dexter is tempted by fame in Hollywood.      

On hold right now:

            The Lincoln Lawyer is back in “The Gods of Guilt.” This is Michael Connelly’s fifth book in the Mickey Haller series and I can’t wait. While you’re waiting for this to come out in December, you should watch the movie again!

Other Mysterious things:

A new season of “Homeland” started. It is so great—don’t miss it.

2013 SHAMUS AWARDS: For works published in 2012: The winner was announced at the Private Eye Writers of America banquet in Albany, New York, in late September.

BEST HARDCOVER P.I. NOVEL

• Taken by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole)  (winner in this category)
• Robert B. Parker's Lullaby by Ace Atkins (Spenser)
• Hunting Sweetie Rose by Jack Fredrickson (Dek Elstrom)
• Blues in the Night by Dick Lochte (Dave "Mace" Mason)
• The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Jane Ryland)

BEST FIRST P.I. NOVEL

• Black Fridays by Michael Sears (Jason Stafford) (winner in this category)
• Hush Money by Chuck Greaves (Jack MacTaggart)
• Murder Unscripted by Clive Rosengren (Eddie Collins)
• Racing the Devil by Jaden Terrell (Jared McKean)
• The Twenty-Year Death by Ariel S. Winter (Dennis Foster)

BEST ORIGINAL PAPERBACK PI NOVEL

• And She Was by Alison Gaylin (Brenna Spector) (winner in this category)
• Death Warmed Over by Kevin J. Anderson (Dan Shambles)
• Archie Meets Nero Wolfe by Robert Goldsborough (Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin)
• False Negative by Joseph Koenig (Adam Jordan)
• Pulse by John Lutz (Frank Quinn)

BEST INDIE P.I. NOVEL

• White Heat by Paul Marks (Duke Rogers) (winner in this category)
• Stranger in Town by Cheryl Bradshaw (Sloane Monroe)
• Enamored by O'Neil De Noux (Lucien Caye)
• One-Eyed Jack by Christopher J. Lynch (John Sharp)
• Devil May Care by James Mullaney (Crag Banyon)