2000 Derringer Award Results

The Short Mystery Fiction Society's 2000 Derringer Awards results were determined by a vote of the membership at large after member-volunteer judges narrowed the submissions to finalists. Winners bolded:

Our preference is to list month, year, and day of publication where applicable, but some of this information is missing from our older records. Please email me (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM) if you have any information to correct or add.

Best Flash (Up to 1,200 words) (Tie)

• "When in Rome" by Dorothy Francis (Murderous Intent, December 1999/January 2000)
• "Just a Man on the Sidewalk" by Carol Kilgore (TheCase.com, March 12–18, 1999)
• "Blind Justice" by Lynda Douglas (Novel Advice, August 15, 1999)
• "Absent-Minded" by L. C. Mohr (Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, June/July 1999)
• "The Armored Car" by Tim Myers (MysteryNet, August 1999)

Best Short Story (1,201–10,000 words)

• "The Way to a Man's Heart" by Elizabeth Dearl (TheCase.com, February 10, 1999)
• "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" by Chris Huntington (Blue Murder #9)
• "One More Kill" by Matt Hughes (Blue Murder, December 1999)
• "The Bread of Affliction" by Michael Kahn (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, September/October 1999)
• "Taking Care of Frank" by Anthony Mann (Crimewave #2, 1999)

Best Novella (10,001–25,000 words)

• "Saint Bobby" by Doug Allyn (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 1999)
• "Annie's Dream" by Bentley Dadmun (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, December 1999)
• "Death in the Dales" by C. M. Chan (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, January 1999)

Best First Short Story

• "Death in Full Bloom" by Ray Wonderly (Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, August 1999)

Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

• Henry Slesar

Derringers for Reader Support

• Robert Foster
• Jiro Kimura

1999 Derringer Award Results

As Short Mystery Fiction Society messages from 1996–99 were lost when the group moved from Lyris to OneList, the word counts in this record are estimates, added for context after the fact. The word counts in our records of 2000 on are verified by Yahoo! Groups' archive, which includes its acquisition of OneList and eGroups archives.

Please email me (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM) if you have any information to correct or add.

Winners bolded.

Best Flash (Up to 1,200 words)

• "Pretty Kitty" by Joyce Holland (Murderous Intent, Winter 1998)
• "Exchange of Information" by Kimberly Brown (TheCase.com, February 6, 1998)
• "Key to Success" by Richard Ciciarelli (TheCase.com, November 4, 1998)
• "The Christmas Guest" by Dorothy Francis (TheCase.com, December 16, 1998)
• "Checkmate!" by Dale B. Hall (TheCase,com, October 2, 1998)
• "Rough Times" by Paul Harrison (TheCase.com, March 6, 1998)
• "Mother's Helper" by John Herrmann (Murderous Intent, Spring 1998)
• "Pocket Picked" by Jesse Knight (TheCase.com March 18, 1998)
• "The Used Car" by Sheryl Snell-Massie (TheCase.com, May 1, 1998)
• "Daddy's Pet" by Fay Thompson (TheCase.com, January 14, 1898)
• "The Other Woman" by Kate Thornton (TheCase.com, October 21, 1998)
• "Anything for the Chief" by Linda K. Wright (as Geri Myerson) (TheCase.com, October 14, 1998)

Best Short Story (1,201–10,000 words)

• "Capital Justice" by Kris Neri (Blue Murder #1, 1998)
• "The Murder of Ernest Trapnell" by Erik Arneson (Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine, Fall 1998)
• "Gator Bayou" by Joyce Holland (Fogfire Magazine, Spring 1998)
• "The Deadly Diamonds" by Robert Iles (Blue Murder #5, 1998)
  
• "To the Farm" by Dina Leacock (writing as Dianne Arrelle) (Blue Murder #2, 1998)
• "A Loss of Income" by Seymour Shubin (Murderous Intent, Spring 1998)
• "Just Like in the Movies" by Kate Thornton (Blue Murder #1, 1998)
• "Drop Dead Zone" by M.E. Troy (Mystery Buff Magazine, April 1998)
• "Two Tickets to Paradise" by Barbara White-Rayczek (Death Knell III, 1998)

Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

• Edward D. Hoch

Derringer for Reader Support of Short Mystery Fiction

• Kate Derie

1998 Derringer Award Results

This incomplete record of the Short Mystery Fiction Society's first Derringer Awards goes as far into the Society's past as possible. Though the group dates back to 1996, our messages before December 1999 were lost when we moved from Lyris to OneList.

With no official record of the word counts considered for the 1998 Derringers, I referred to an online cached copy of Murderous Intent's guidelines and the 1999 Derringers novella category to estimate the word counts of the 1998 winning stories and provide context for the category titles.

Please email me (G_SO at YAHOO dot COM) if you have any information to correct or add.


Best Flash (200–400 words)

• "Curiosity Kills" by Michael Mallory (Murderous Intent, Fall 1997)

Best Short Short (400—1,200 words)

• "Guavaberry Christmas" by Kate Grilley (Murderous Intent, Fall 1997)

Best Short Story (1,200–5,000 words) (Tie)

• "The Adventurers" by Barbara White-Rayczek (Murderous Intent, Winter 1997)
• "L.A. Justice" by Kris Neri (anthologized in Murder by 13, Intrigue Press, November 1998)

Best First Short Story

• "Back Stairs" by Eileen Brosnan (Murderous Intent, Fall 1997)

Best Novella (More than 10,000 words)

• "Image of Conspiracy" by Margo Power (1997, Madison Publishing Co., Vancouver, WA)