Vote for the Three Best Irish Crime Novels of 2011 and Win a Signed Copy of Absolute Zero Cool

2011 has been a great year for Irish crime writing.  The first notable title was the anthology Down These Mean Streets, featuring short stories and interviews from everybody who is anybody presently writing in the crime genre in Ireland. This was followed by a great slew of crime fiction from new and established authors.




Over on his blog, Crime Always Pays, Declan Burke is showcasing what are, in his expert opinion, 21 out of the 22 best Irish crime novels published this year,  by asking you to vote for your top three novels.  The 22nd novel is, of course Declan's own Absolute Zero Cool, and a signed copy of that book will be the prize for the person who votes for the three best Irish crime novels in the right order. Here is how the blog post kicks off:

"Well, it's that time of the year again, folks, when we have a look back at the Irish crime titles released in the last twelve months or so, and make a ham-fisted attempt at deciding which was the best of the lot for the not-entirely-covetedCrime Always Pays Novel of the Year Award - or CAPNYA, if you prefer. I say ham-fisted, because all such 'awards' are by definition a lottery of subjective opinions, opinion being a polite word for prejudice; the good news there is, opinions are free, and so is leaving a comment in the box beneath this post. So, if you have a few moments to spare, and have an opinion on what might be the best Irish crime title of 2011, please join in the fun.  

To make it (slightly) interesting, and because the real object of the exercise is to bring the titles of great books to the attention of those who might have missed them first time around, I'm going to ask you to name your top three books, in 1-2-3 order, with the person who gets closest to the right 1-2-3 bagging themselves a signed copy of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL by yours truly (runner-up gets two signed copies, etc.). In the event that two or more contributors tie, the names will go into a bobbly hat."

To read the rest of the blog post and to vote for the three Best Irish crime novels of 2011, please go to this link: Crime Always Pays Novel of the Year Award. Among the books presented, Adrian McKinty's Falling Glass has already won a 2011 Audible.com award.



Some of the 21 titles up for the award can be seen in the picture at the top left of this article.