Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award for First Mystery

Mysterious Press announced today that a winner has been selected for the first Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award for debut mystery novel. The award, which is in honor of Mysterious Press' longtime editor who passed away in June 2003, was given to Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson. The award consists of a $10,000 advance and publication in hardcover by Mysterious Press, an imprint of the TimeWarner Book Group.

Set in New Haven, Sacred Cows features Annie Seymour, a police reporter for a New Haven daily who is covering the murder of ayoung woman who was a student at Yale. Sharp-talking with a self-deprecating sense of humor, Annie is a fresh and original new sleuth on the mystery scene.

In announcing the award Mysterious Press editor Kristen Weber said, "Sara Ann had a flair for discovering new talent and this novel continues that tradition." It will be published in September 2005.