Stout Contenders

The New York-based Nero Wolfe fan organization, The Wolfe Pack, today announced the finalists for its 2011 Nero Award, “presented each year to an author for the best mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories.” The nominees are:

• Ice Cold, by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)

• The Book of Spies, by Gayle Lynds (St. Martin’s Press)

• Bury Your Dead, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

• The Midnight Show Murders, by Al Roker and Dick Lochte (Delacorte)

• Think of a Number, by John Verdon (Crown)

This prize will be presented during the Black Orchid Banquet, traditionally held on the first Saturday in December in New York City.

Previous winners and finalists are listed here.