This Year’s Anthony Contenders Are ...

This morning brings the announcement of nominees for the 2011 Anthony Awards--and The Rap Sheet is included among them!

Having been nominated once before for this honor, only to lose in the end, I’ll refrain from getting too excited at my prospects this time. Nonetheless, it is certainly a welcome affirmation of the effort that goes into keeping up this blog, that readers should think it deserving of such marked recognition.

Here are all of the nominees:

Best Novel:

• Bury Your Dead, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

• I’d Know You Anywhere, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (Morrow)

• The Lock Artist, by Steve Hamilton (Minotaur)

• Faithful Place, by Tana French (Viking)

Best First Novel:

• Rogue Island, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge)

• The Poacher’s Son, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)

• Snow Angels, by James Thompson (Putnam)

• Damage Done, by Hilary Davidson (Forge)

• The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore (Twelve)

Best Paperback Original:

• The Hanging Tree, by Brian Gruley (Touchstone)

• Expiration Date, by Duane Swierczynski (Minotaur)

• Drive Time, by Hank Phillipi Ryan (Mira)

• Long Time Coming, by Robert Goddard (Bantam)

• Vienna Secrets, by Frank Tallis (Random House)

Best Short Story:

• “The Frame Maker,” by Simon Wood (The Back Alley)

• “Homeless,” by Pat L. Morin (from Mystery Montage; Top)

• “Scent of Lilacs,” by Doug Allyn (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2010

• “Swing Shift,” by Dana Cameron (from Crimes by Moonlight, edited by Charlaine Harris; Berkley)

• “The Hitter,” by Chris Holm (Needle)

• “So Much in Common,” by Mary Jane Maffini (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2010

Best Graphic Novel:

• A Sickness in the Family, by Denise Mina (Vertigo Crime)

• Beasts of Burden, by Jill Thompson and Evan Dorkin (Dark Horse)

• Richard Stark’s Parker, Vol. 2: The Outfit, by Darwyn Cooke (IDW)

• The Chill, by Jason Starr (Vertigo Crime)

• Scalped Vol. 6: The Gnawing, by Jason Aaron (Vertigo)

• Tumor, by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon (Archaia Studios Press)

Best Critical /Non-Fiction (tie for 5th):

• Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: 50 Years of Mysteries in the Making, by John Curran (Harper)

• Thrillers: 100 Must Reads, edited by David Morrell and Hank Wagner (Oceanview Publishing)

• Sherlock Holmes for Dummies, by Steven Doyle and David A. Crowder (Wiley/For Dummies)

• The Wire: Truth Be Told, by Rafael Alvarez (Grove Press)

• Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, by Yunte Huang (Norton)

Best Web Site/Blog:

• Jen’s Book Thoughts, edited by Jen Forbus

• Stop, You’re Killing Me!, edited by Stan Ulrich and Lucinda Surber

• The Rap Sheet, edited by J. Kingston Pierce

• The Sirens of Suspense, edited by Chantelle Aimée Osman

• Spinetingler Magazine, edited by Sandra Ruttan

Attendees at this fall’s Bouchercon in St. Louis (September 15-18) will choose the Anthony winners, and presentations of the awards will take place during a brunch on the morning of September 18.

Congratulations to all of the nominees!