<p><span class="full-image-float-right ssNonEditable"><span><img alt="" src="/storage/covers/gardencover.png?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1233132879879" /></span></span>There are lots of awards in this business, but, for me, it’s clear which mean the most: anything that comes from the world of libraries. Without libraries I wouldn’t be a writer. It’s as simple as that. The wonderful little public library in Yorkshire where I grew up was a treasure trove of fiction, history, geography, art and science. It fired my imagination as a child and teenager. I could never have found that breadth of material in any local book store even if I could have afforded to buy it (and I couldn’t).</p>
<p>So it’s extremely flattering to learn that the American Library Association has voted the sixth Nic Costa novel mystery of the year in its annual Reading List Council awards.&#160;To receive an award like this for a book set in Rome, with an entirely Italian cast, and centred around an obscure invented sixteen century painting, is, to me, one more example of the generosity of spirit that typifies the publishing world in America. I’m immensely grateful to everyone at Bantam Dell for showing such prolonged faith in me — this is the eighth book of mine they have published in seven years. And also to the many members of International Thrillerwriters who’ve helped me become better known in the US, and freely shared their wisdom and experiences over the years.</p>
<p>The citation kindly says, ‘In contemporary Rome an unknown lascivious painting by Caravaggio,&#160;grisly murders, and a heart-stopping chase mark series detective Nic&#160;Costa’s return. The perfidious villains can only be outwitted by inventive&#160;police work and an unexpected ally in this masterfully crafted puzzler.’ The other titles in the mystery shortlist were&#160;<em>The Black Tower </em>by Louis Bayard,&#160;<em>The Calling </em>by Inger Ash Wolfe,&#160;<em>The Cruelest Month </em>by Louise Penny, and&#160;<em>Vienna Blood </em>by Frank Tallis.</p>
<p>In 2008 the UK had a wonderful venture called the National Year of Reading which brought authors back into libraries up and down the land. It was a great success, I think, and a reminder to authors that libraries really matter and deserve our support. So to everyone in the ALA and libraries everywhere I’d like to say thanks — for the award, but more importantly for being there. Readers and writers alike need unsung heroes like you, today more than ever.</p>