Catching the Critics’ Eyes

Later this week we should hear which books and authors have won a variety of annual awards at the Left Coast Crime convention, being held in Monterey, California, beginning tomorrow. But meanwhile, The Strand Magazine has announced the nominees for its 2013 Critics Awards for Best Mystery Novel and Best First Mystery Novel.

Best Novel:
• The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes (Mulholland)
• Solo, by William Boyd (Harper)
• Sandrine’s Case, by Thomas H. Cook (Mysterious Press)
• A Serpent’s Tooth, by Craig Johnson (Viking)
• Ratlines, by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
• The Double, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

Best First Novel:
• Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly (Grove Press)
• Ghostman, by Roger Hobbs (Knopf)
• A Killing at Cotton Hill, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street)
• Walking Into the Ocean, by David Whellams (ECW Press)
• Norwegian by Night, by Derek Miller (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

In addition, authors Peter Lovesey and R.L. Stine have been named as the latest recipients of The Strand’s Lifetime Achievement Award “for excellence in crime and thriller writing.”

All of these commendations will be handed out during an invitation-only cocktail party to be held in New York City on July 9.