It was the beginning of what would turn into a very rainy weekend in Saskatoon when I left on Thursday morning for 5 days 6 nights in Toronto.

Rainy Saskatoon - They say this is the wettest spring on record.

Upon landing I was on the go, dashing to my hotel, the downtown Hilton, to freshen up and change and head to the Mysteriously Yours Theatre for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Awards.

Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre

The sixth Russell Quant mystery, Aloha, Candy Hearts was shorlisted in the Best Crime Novel Category.

Aloha Candy Hearts: A Russell Quant Mystery

Alas, my colleague, Howard Shrier was the winner of the award for his novel High Chicago. Many congratulations to Howard and our fellow shortlisted writers, RJ Harlick,  Lee Lamothe, and James W. Nichol. It was a fun night, spent in the company of many fine writers and those who support us, including my editor Gillian Rodgerson.

The next day was my last board meeting and AGM as treasurer of the CWC, followed by the start of the Bloody Words Mystery Conference (the 10th anniversary).

With Maureen Jennings

Maureen Jennings (of Murdoch Mysteries – books and TV series – fame) was there along with her equally famed husband of Iden Ford Photography who took these and many other wonderful photos throughout the weekend.

With Jim Napier, crime fiction reviewer for the Sherbrook Record.

You can also look up Iden at idenfordphotography.com  and Jim at www.deadlydiversions.com.

Saturday was the Bloody Words Banquet and presentation of both the Hammett and Bony Pete Awards.

First bestowed in 1992, the Hammett Award is given out by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers to reward a work of literary excellence (fiction or non-fiction) in the field of crime writing, by a US or Canadian author.

Being on the board of IACW, I was honoured to be asked to read an excerpt from one of the this year’s nominees – Jedediah Berry for The Manual of Detection.

The Manual of Detection

And then, Jedediah won the prize. Congratulations Jedediah.

The Bony Pete for best short story, went to Catherine Astolfo, my fellow CWC board memeber and incoming presdient.

The Bony Pete Award - it actually looks like this - and it shakes and rattles too

Catherine Astolfo

Just a note: both Catherine and Maureen have been subjects of my 10 Silly Things You Didn’t Know About Canadian Crime Writers blog series that you can find here – just search for their names to get their quicker than scrolling down.

 And somewhere, somehow that night, Iden caught me and Bloody words organizer Cheryl Freedman, IACW President Steve Steinbock and his wife Sue, and Catherine Astolfo registering our shock as we jointly read page 51 of Jill Edmondson’s (seated at front) new book!

The horror!

And now its off to a board retreat. I’ve greatly enjoyed working with the people on this board – Kay Stewart, Nat Grant, Lou Allin, Sue Pike, Cathy Astolfo, Garry Ryan, Alison Bruce, and our new Administrator Mel Campbell. i will really mis then all.  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….:) and now its over.