The Wolfe Pack, a New York-based fan organization, has announced its nominees for the 2010 Nero Award, "presented each year to an author for the best mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories." The contenders are:

The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch

The Crack in the Lens by Steve Hockensmith

Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks

The winner will be named during the Black Orchid Banquet, which is will be held December 3, 4, and 5 in New York. Reservations are now being taken; the registration form and Calendar of Events is available.

I just finished reading Library Journal's recent first authors of the season reviews ('First Novels Forecast a Lush Spring'; 3/15/09) and CPL has six of the new mystery selections on our shelves for your reading enjoyment: Hangman Blind by Cassandra Clark, Posed for Murder by Meredith Cole, Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H.