Live Readers to Pick the Dead Goods

The Dead Good Reader Awards. You’ve never heard of them? That’s probably because their creation was only announced this last April by the crime fiction-oriented UK Web site Dead Good. There are six prizes in total, each “celebrat[ing] a unique element in crime writing” and in some cases a specific author who has gained renown in the genre. Winners are to be selected through online polling as well as by a vote among attendees at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, England, July 16-19.

Today brought news of the shortlisted nominees.

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book:
• The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Transworld)
• I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Transworld)
• The Defence, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
• I Let You Go, by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere)
• The Lie, by C.L. Taylor (Avon)
• No Other Darkness, by Sarah Hilary (Headline)

The Lee Child Award for Best Loner or Detective:
• Cormoran Strike, created by Robert Galbraith (Little, Brown)
• John Rebus, created by Ian Rankin (Orion)
• Harry Hole, created by Jo Nesbø (Vintage)
• Lacey Flint, created by Sharon Bolton (Transworld)
• David Raker, created by Tim Weaver (Michael Joseph)
• Vera Stanhope, created by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan)

The Val McDermid Award for Fiendish Forensics:
• Bones Are Forever, by Kathy Reichs (Cornerstone)
• Die Again, by Tess Gerritsen (Transworld)
• The Ghost Fields, by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
• Flesh and Blood, by Patricia Cornwell (Harper)
• Rubbernecker, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld)
• Time of Death, by Mark Billingham (Sphere)

The Reichenbach Falls Award for Most Epic Ending:
• The Defence, by Steve Cavanagh (Orion)
• The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Transworld)
• The Nightmare Place, by Steve Mosby (Orion)
• I Let You Go, by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere)
• Personal, by Lee Child (Transworld)
• The Skeleton Road, by Val McDermid (Sphere)

The Dr. Lecter Award for Scariest Villain:
• The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes (Harper)
• Into the Darkest Corner, by Elizabeth Haynes (Myriad)
• An Evil Mind, by Chris Carter (Simon & Schuster)
• The Stand, by Stephen King (Hodder)
• You Are Dead, by Peter James (Macmillan)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (Quercus)

The Patricia Highsmith Award for Most Exotic Location:
• Amsterdam, The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die, by Marnie Riches (Maze)
• Bardsey Island, The Bones Beneath, by Mark Billingham (Sphere)
• Boston, The Kind Worth Killing, by Peter Swanson (Faber)
• Greece, The Long Fall, by Julia Crouch (Headline)
• Nepal, The Lie, by C.L. Taylor (Avon)
• Oslo, Police, by Jo Nesbø (Vintage)

To vote for all your favorites among this bunch, use these links:

The Dead Good Recommends Award for Most Recommended Book
The Lee Child Award for Best Loner or Detective
The Val McDermid Award for Fiendish Forensics
The Reichenbach Falls Award for Most Epic Ending
The Dr. Lecter Award for Scariest Villain
The Patricia Highsmith Award for Most Exotic Location

The biggest vote-getters will be declared during a special event at the Crime Writing Festival on Friday, July 17.

FOLLOW-UP: There were a couple of questions I thought hadn’t been answered by press releases about these Dead Good Reader Awards. The first was, “What is the last date on which readers can vote for their favorite books in this competition?” Rhiannon Griffiths, a content assistant at Penguin Random House in the UK, got back to me via e-mail this morning, explaining that “The deadline for votes is 18th July, as visitors to Harrogate crime writing festival will have the opportunity to vote in person.” Second question: “Are the Dead Good Reader Awards supposed to be presented annually? If so, are some of the specific prizes likely to change … because I cannot imagine you would get a wholly new crop of nominees every year if you ask readers for the ‘Scariest Villain’ or the ‘Most Epic Ending.’” Again, Ms. Griffiths responds: “We’re hoping to run the Dead Good Reader Awards annually but some of the categories will change” Now we know.