Otto Penzler Books revived

Evidently, the Carroll & Graf imprint died some time ago, although someone forgot to tell me when it happened. But have no fear, for Penzler, who does so many things and wears so many hats it’s hard to keep track (but Maxim still trumps him, after a fashion, because he writes fiction after all) will acquire and edit six books a year in a two-year deal for Harcourt:

Drawing on his lifetime interest in the mystery genre � and longtime relationships with mystery writers from James Ellroy to Ed McBain � Penzler will launch his imprint in spring ’05 with a novel called “Red Leaves,” by Thomas H. Cook, who had previously been published by Bantam.

Also on that list is “The Enemy of God,” by “Prince of the City” author Robert Daly, and a collection of short stories, “The Female of the Species,” from the very prolific Joyce Carol Oates.

Should be interesting to see if any of the C&G authors follow suit to Harcourt, of if Penzler will simply start over from scratch, which is what it appears he is doing.