2002 Derringer Award Results

The Short Mystery Fiction Society's 2002 Derringer Awards results were determined by a vote of the membership at large after member-volunteer judges narrowed the submissions to finalists. Winners bolded:

Best Short Short (Up to 1,500 words)

• "In the Heat of the Moment" by Nick Andreychuk (Futures, February 2001)
• "Greenhouse Pest" by Tim Myers (Futures, November 2001)
• "A Matter of Interest" by Stephen D. Rogers (HandHeldCrime, September 2001)
• "Lucrezia and The Thief" by Henry Slesar (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 2001)

Best Short Story (1,501–6,000 words)

• "All The Fine Actors" by Earl Staggs (EWG Presents Without A Clue, April 2001)
• "Cuts Like A Knife" by Michael Bracken (Fedora: Private Eyes and Tough Guys, Wildside Press, July 2001)
• "Smoky Didn't Send Me" by Charles Cutter (Alfred Hitchock's Mystery Magazine, December 2001)
• "Tunnel of Malice" by Margaret DiCanio (Futures, October 2001)
• "The Last Letter" by Mike Wiecek (Alfred Hitchock's Mystery Magazine, January 2002)

Best Longer Story (More than 6,000 words)

• "Early Morning Rain" by Jean McCord (Futures, October/November 2001)
• "Lesser-Included Offense" by Jeffery Deaver (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May 2001)
• "Harry's Lament" by Bentley Dadmun (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, June 2001)
• "The Mondo Whammy" by David Handler (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2001)
• "Avenging Miriam" by Peter Sellers (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, December 2001)

A Silver Derringer was posthumously awarded to Cathleen Jordan, saluting her years as editor of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (1981–2002).

2001 Derringer Award Results

The Short Mystery Fiction Society's 2001 Derringer Awards results were determined by a vote of the membership at large after member-volunteer judges narrowed the submissions to finalists. Winners bolded:

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

• "Polls Don't Lie" by Earl McGill (Blue Murder, 2000)
• "The New Lawyer" by Mike Wiecek (Crimestalker Casebook, Spring 2000)
• "Accident" by Guy Belleranti (About.com Mysteries)
• "Sunken Dreams" by Tim Myers (Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, December 2000)
• "Lucky Man" by Ali Seay (About.com Mysteries)

For Best Short (1,201–10,000 words)

• "Erie's Last Day" by Steve Hockensmith (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May 2000)
• "The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald" by Jennifer Ashley (Over My Dead Body, Spring 2000)
• "Amish Butter" by Jacqueline Fiedler (Unholy Orders: Mysteries with a Religious Twist, Intrigue Press, November 2000)
• "The Dark Tower" by Gwen Moffat (Malice Domestic 9, Avon Books, April 2000)
• "Tom Wasp and Anybody's Child" by Amy Myers (Scenes of Crime: CWA Anthology 2000, Constable, September 2000)

Best Novella (More than 10,000 words)

• "Lilacs and Lace" by Lynda Douglas (Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, June 2000)
• "The Death Row Pet Show" by Doug Allyn (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, April 2000)
• "Attitude Thing" by William J. Carroll, Jr., (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, May 2000)
• "Blood Paths" by Clark Howard (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 2000)
• "The Sedgemoor Strangler" by Peter Lovesey (Criminal Records, Orion, April 2000)

Best Puzzle Story

(A story of any length that is formatted to require an interactive response from the reader before the solution is revealed)

• "The Cabin Killer" by Henry Slesar (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 2000)
• "Happy Acres Homicide" by Richard Ciciarelli (Solve-It #227, MysteryNet.com)
• "Killing the Old Survivors" by Gary Sensening (Solve-It #215, MysteryNet.com)

Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement

• John Lutz:

  I was more than pleased to learn that I was going to receive the Society's Golden Derringer award for lifetime achievement. The news prompted me to learn the identities of the previous winners, writers whose work I've had the highest regard for over the years. I agree with the notion that short fiction writers often get short shrift (though Ed Hoch is going to receive the MWA's Grandmaster Edgar in May -- long overdue). The Short Mystery Fiction Society is a valuable feature of the literary landscape. I've always thought and said that the mystery short story is more demanding than the novel, requiring a more extensive bag of tricks and more adroitness and precision. It's gratifying to know there are others out there who agree. The award is much appreciated, and without question has the neatest name of any award to be won.
  
  I thank you.

Derringer for Reader Support

• Babs Lakey

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)