Who Deserves the Dilys?

It’s official now: There are six contenders in the race for the 2014 Dilys Award, which is named in honor of Dilys Winn, author and the founder of Murder Ink, the first specialty mystery bookshop in America. “The Dilys Award,” explains blogger-editor Janet Rudolph, “is given annually by the IMBA (Independent Mystery Booksellers Association) to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers have most enjoyed selling.” This year’s nominees are:

• Seven for a Secret, by Lyndsay Faye (Amy Einhorn/Putnam)
• The Black Country, by Alex Grecian (Putnam)
• Spider Woman’s Daughter, by Anne Hillerman (Harper)
• Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger (Atria)
• Pagan Spring, by G.M. Malliet (Minotaur)
• The Land of Dreams, by Vidar Sundstol; translated by Tiina Nunnally (University of Minnesota Press)

A winner will be announced during the 24th annual Left Coast Crime convention, “Calamari Crime,” which is to be held in Monterey, California, from March 20 to 23.