Left Coast Crime is an annual conference organised by mystery fiction fans for mystery fiction fans, first held in San Francisco in 1991. It is concerned with western North American region mysteries, but the conference itself travels worldwide, having been held in Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as different parts of the United States. The conference enables fans to mix with authors. A prominent author of western mystery fiction is invited to be guest speaker. In December 2019

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

awarded the convention organization the 2020

Raven Award The Raven Award is an award given annually by the Mystery Writers of America as part of the Edgar Awards. The recipient can be a writer, editor, reviewer, or librarian or possibly a professional in the field: medical examiners and forensic special ...

for "outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing."

Lefty Awards

Best Humorous Mystery Novel Award

Conference participants have voted on an award for the most humorous mystery novel since 1996.

Best Historical Mystery Novel

The Best Historical Mystery Novel Award, also known as the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, established in 2004, is presented "to mystery novels covering events before 1960."

Best Mystery Novel

Best Début Mystery

The Lefty for Best Debut Mystery has gone by many names, include the Eureka! Award (2012), the Rosebud Award (2015), and finally, the Left for Best Debut Mystery.

Wildcard Awards

In addition to regular Lefty Awards, wildcard awards have occasionally been presented. One regularly occurring wild card award is based on geographical location, with its name changing depending upon the location of the convention, such as the Otter (

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

, 2004), the Calavera (

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

, 2005), the Rocky (

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 2008;

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, 2013), and the Rose (

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 2015). Left Coast Crime has also presented awards according to other geographic regions, such as the Hillerman Sky (Southwest settings, 2011), the Golden Nugget (California settings, 2012), the Squid (US settings, 2014), and the Calamari (non-US settings, 2014). Other wildcard awards "include the Watson, for the mystery with the best sidekick ( Santa Fe 2011 &

2013), and the ''Hawaii Five-O'', for best law enforcement or police procedural ( Waikoloa, Hawaii 2009). The ''Panik'' award was given in memory of Paul Anik for best LA noir (

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

2010). Cover art was recognized with the ''Arty'' (

2008)."

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Mystery and detective fiction awards 1991 establishments in the United States Awards established in 1996