Sara J. Henry's LEARNING TO SWIM Takes Wings

Vermont author alert! But much more ... southern Vermont resident Sara J. Henry, whose debut crime fiction LEARNING TO SWIM earned enthusiastic blurbs from such seasoned crime fiction authors as Lisa Unger, Reed Farrel Coleman, and Michael Robotham, is looking for your support.

Her thriller has won a slew of award nominations, including for an Agatha Award for best first novel; the Barry Award for best first novel; and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. Fantastic!

But the rules around voting for the Agatha at Malice Domestic mean that every one of your votes -- if you are attending that fabulous conference (I wish I could this year!) -- is essential if the book's going to have a chance. That means: Please make time to read this one, quick-in-a-hurry, if you haven't already. It's an extraordinary debut, tightly written, tautly plotted, and in the long run, a book that reaches the heart.

Left, Sara J. Henry; right, yours truly (talking of course).

Sara can't exactly ask you (I ran into her yesterday at David Wilson's "Mystery on Main Street" bookshop in Brattleboro, VT), so I offered to speak up on behalf of this well-written book. (1) Please read it ASAP. (2) If you're attending Malice Domestic, please consider giving it your vote.

I can hardly wait to see the results of your work! Oh yes, looking for the list of all the nominees? Here you are:

2011
Best Novel:
The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews (Minotaur)
The Diva Haunts the House by Krista Davis (Berkley)
Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet (Minotaur)
Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron (Grand Central Publishing)
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Best First Novel:
Dire Threads by Janet Bolin (Berkley)
Choke by Kaye George (Mainly Murder Press)
Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry (Crown)
Who Do, Voodoo? by Rochelle Staab (Berkley)
Tempest in the Tea Leaves by Kari Lee Townsend (Berkley)
Best Non-fiction:
Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure by Leslie Budewitz (Linden)
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks by John Curran (Harper)
On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda (Princeton University Press)
Wilkie Collins, Vera Caspary and the Evolution of the Casebook Novel by A. B. Emrys (McFarland)
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris (Ace)
Best Short Story:
"Disarming" (PDF) by Dana Cameron, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine - June 2011
"Dead Eye Gravy" by Krista Davis, Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology (Wildside Press)
"Palace by the Lake" by Daryl Wood Gerber, Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology (Wildside Press)
"Truth and Consequences" by Barb Goffman, Mystery Times Ten (Buddhapuss Ink)
"The Itinerary" by Roberta Isleib, MWA Presents the Rich and the Dead (Grand Central Publishing)
Best Children's/Young Adult:
Shelter by Harlan Coben (Putnam)
The Black Heart Crypt by Chris Grabenstein (Random House)
Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press)
The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (EgmontUSA)
The Code Busters Club, Case #1: The Secret of the Skeleton Key by Penny Warner (EgmontUSA)
Best Historical Novel:
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
Murder Your Darlings by J.J. Murphy (Signet)
Mercury's Rise by Ann Parker (Poisoned Pen Press)
Troubled Bones by Jeri Westerson (Minotaur)
A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear (Harper)