If You Can Make It in L.A. ...

The shortlist of nominees for this year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prizes has been announced, including five contenders in the Mystery/Thriller category:

• Echo Park, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• City of Tiny Lights, by Patrick Neate (Riverhead)
• The Night Gardener, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)
• The Zero, by Jess Walter (HarperCollins)
• The Winter of Frankie Machine, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

In addition, Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone (Little, Brown), which could easily be defined as a work of crime fiction, has been nominated in the general fiction category.

Awards will be handed out on Friday, April 27, just prior to the start of the 12th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.