Winners of the 2008 Reviewers' Choice Awards Announced

Where Serpents Sleep was nominated by Romantic Times for a 2008 Reviewers' Choice Award. The awards were given out at the RT convention a week or two ago and the results have now been posted on RT's website. There are lots of categories, but the winners in the area of Best Mystery and Suspense Novels are:





• Amateur Sleuth: Too Pretty to Die by Susan McBride (Avon, February 2008)


• Contemporary Mystery: Sleep Softly by Gwen Hunter (Mira, February 2008)


• First Mystery: Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer (Doubleday, July 2008)


• Historical Mystery: Where Serpents Sleep by C. S. Harris (Obsidian, November 2008)


• PI / Procedural Novel: The Dirty Secrets Club by Meg Gardiner (Dutton, June 2008)


• Suspense / Thriller: Dark Summer by Iris Johansen (St. Martin's Minotaur, October 2008)


I don't know what kind of effect these awards have on readers, but next to the RITAS these awards are considered the biggest in the romance business and definitely do count with publishing houses, so it's always nice to win, even now that I've moved into mystery/thrillers.

Thank you, Romantic Times.

Serenity

It’s been a hectic month. The LA Bookfestival, Bouchercon, out-of-town guests, newspaper, TV, and radio interviews, booksignings, and a three-week bout of the flu I’m just beginning to recover from. But this past weekend, Steve and I grabbed the chance to go up to the lake and just sit on the porch and soak in the beauty of changing leaves reflected in still water.

It was our first visit to the lake since Hurricane Gustav two months ago. When we left, the power was still off and we abandoned huge piles of broken limbs, so we’ve been anxious to get back up there and make sure everything was all right. It was, but unfortunately we couldn’t stay as long as we’d have liked, since we had a TV appearance scheduled for first thing Monday morning.

And, as if life weren’t hectic enough, Where Serpents Sleep is released today. Somehow, given the election-day timing, I doubt too many people will be rushing out to buy it! I don’t know about you, but I am soooo glad this election is almost over. I’ve been finding it very hard to concentrate this past week. And I have Book Number Five in the series due so soon I can’t breathe when I think about it. I need to go back to the lake…

Still Alive, Barely

I brought a nasty case of flu home with me from Baltimore that I still haven't shaken. But I wanted to share this STARRED Publishers Weekly review of Where Serpents Sleep, which hits the stores the first Tuesday in November. I could have done without the "predictable" line (excuse me?!) but since they gave it a star, I can't really complain!

"Where Serpents Sleep: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery C.S. Harris. NAL/Obsidian. The savage murder of eight prostitutes at a London house of refuge provides Sebastian St. Cyr with yet another challenging puzzle in Harris's outstanding fourth mystery to feature the Regency-era gentleman sleuth. St. Cyr, who's been despondent ever since a stunning personal revelation toward the end of 2007's Why Mermaids Sing, is roused from his funk by Hero Jarvis, the fearless and independent daughter of his mortal enemy. Jarvis, who was doing research at the house of refuge at the time of the murders and barely survived the massacre herself, asks for St. Cyr's help in tracking down those responsible. The amateur detective finds no shortage of suspects, ranging from the pimp of some of the dead girls to Bow Street magistrate Sir William Hadley, who had patronized them. While the developing attraction between St. Cyr and Jarvis is a little too predictable, Harris does a nice job of weaving the many plot strands together while exploring the complex character of her protagonist. (Nov.)"

Another Great Cover

The cover of WHERE SERPENTS SLEEP has been finalized, and it's wonderful...



Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately. I'm busy getting the new C.S. Graham website ready to go live, plus reading galleys and trying to get ready to move my mom into our house. Hopefully things will settle down soon!