Ghost Hero by S.J. Rozan (Minotaur) has won the 2012 Dily Award, recognizing the mystery title of the year that members of the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association most enjoyed selling. The award is named for Dilys Winn, founder of the first mystery bookstore in the U.S. Rozan was presented the prize at the Left Coast Crime 2012 conference in Sacramento, Calif.
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Juvenile humor reigns supreme, even after April Fool's Day. Saiyuud Diwong's Cooking with Poo, a recipe book that derives its title from the chef/author's nickname (which is Thai for crab), won the Diagram prize for the oddest book title of the year.
The Guardian reported that Diwong "lives in Bangkok's Klong Toey slum, where she runs a community cookery school." Her book bested a shortlist that included Mr. Andoh's Pennine Diary: Memoirs of a Japanese Chicken Sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge; The Great Singapore Penis Panic and the Future of American Mass Hysteria; and Estonian Sock Patterns All Around the World.
There is no cash prize for the dubious honor, but previous winner Michael Young, author of Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way, said: "Since the award of the prize, I am pleased to say that my writing career is once again flourishing. Editors are keen to publish my words. Being the winner of the Diagram prize has, I feel, given both the book and me a great deal of credibility, which perhaps without the epithet 'prize-winning' we would never have achieved."