So last weekend in St. Louis, the powers that be in the mystery world put on Bouchercon, the annual world mystery convention.  Writers and fans gather to fawn over one another and tell each other how awesome they all are.  They also give out a bunch of awards and one group of awards, The Shamus Awards, are given by the Private Eye Writers of America to the best books published annually in the private eye subgenre of mystery.  They are like the Oscars for private eye novels.  Only cooler.

And I’m happy to tell you that one of my best friends in the whole wide world, Lori Armstrong, won Best Novel for her book NO MERCY.  In case you don’t know, this is kind of a BIG DEAL.  I’m sure she went out and bought a private jet and a pet monkey.  Because that’s how she rolls.

So if you don’t go buy LIQUID SMOKE today, go buy NO MERCY.  Or better yet…BUY BOTH.  Because if you don’t buy one, you will probably perish from the Earth.  Seriously.