Rewards from Raleigh

I finally returned home earlier this evening from the 2015 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, a four-day event held in Raleigh, North Carolina. During my time in the Tar Heel State, I had intended to post … well, at least something. But as it turned out, I was unable to remember the password necessary to get into my Blogger account, so I couldn’t do a darn thing with The Rap Sheet while I was away. Only now am I able to post the results of four different prize competitions announced during this last weekend.

ANTHONY AWARDS

(Winners chosen by Bouchercon attendees)

Best Novel: After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Also nominated: Lamentation, by Joe Clifford (Oceanview); The Secret Place, by Tana French (Viking); The Long Way Home, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); and Truth Be Told, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)

Best First Novel: The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street)

Also nominated: Blessed Are the Dead, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow); Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur); and The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street)

Best Paperback Original: The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)

Also nominated: Stay with Me, by Alison Gaylin (Harper); The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); World of Trouble, by Ben H. Winters (Quirk); and No Stone Unturned, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Critical or Non-fiction Work: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland); Death Dealer: How Cops and Cadaver Dogs Brought a Killer to Justice, by Kate Clark Flora (New Horizon); Dru’s Book Musings, by Dru Ann Love; and Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman)

Best Short Story: “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November 2014)

Also nominated: “Honeymoon Sweet,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014; Down & Out); “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Barb Goffman and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press); “Howling at the Moon,” by Paul D. Marks (EQMM), November 2014); and “Of Dogs & Deceit,” by John Shepphird (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, November 2014)

Best Anthology or Collection: In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon, edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Pegasus)

Also nominated: FaceOff, edited by David Baldacci (Simon & Schuster); Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron (Down & Out); Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen, edited by Joe Clifford (Gutter); and Carolina Crimes: Nineteen Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing, edited by Karen Pullen; Wildside Press)

In addition, this year’s David S. Thompson Award, recognizing “extraordinary efforts to develop and promote the mystery and crime fiction community,” was given to Bill and Toby Gottfried.

SHAMUS AWARDS

(Presented by the Private Eye Writers of America)

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel: Hounded, by David Rosenfelt (Minotaur)

Nominated: The Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus); The Silkworm, by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland); Tokyo Kill, by Barry Lancet (Simon & Schuster); and Peter Pan Must Die, by John Verdon (Crown)

Best First P.I. Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Bad Country, by C.B. McKenzie (Minotaur); Last of the Independents, by Sam Wiebe (Dundurn); Wink of an Eye, by Lynn Chandler Willis (Minotaur); and City of Brick and Shadow, by Tim Wirkus (Tyrus)

Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel: Moonlight Weeps, by Vincent Zandri (Down & Out)

Also nominated: The Detective and the Pipe Girl, by Michael Craven (Bourbon Street); Beauty with a Bomb, by M.C. Grant (Midnight Ink); Critical Damage, by Robert K. Lewis (Midnight Ink); and Street Justice, by Kris Nelscott (WMG)

Best P.I. Short Story: “Clear Recent History,” by Gon Ben Ari (from Tel Aviv Noir, edited by Etgar Keret and Assof Gavron; Akashic)

Also nominated: “The Ehrengraf Fandango,” by Lawrence Block (from Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf, by Lawrence Block; CreateSpace); “Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets,” by Vali Khalili (from Tehran Noir, edited by Salar Abdoh; Akashic); “Mei Kwei, I Love You,” by Suchen Christine Lim (from Singapore Noir, edited by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan; Akashic); and “Busting Red Heads,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March 2014)

Best Indie P.I. Novel: The Shadow Broker, by Trace Conger (CreateSpace)

Also nominated: Nobody’s Child, by Libby Fischer Hellmann (Red Herrings); Played to Death, by B.V. Lawson (Crimetime Press); The Kids Are All Right, by Steve Liskow (CreateSpace); and Get Busy Dying, by Ben Rehder (CreateSpace)

In addition, The Eye (Lifetime Achievement) Award was presented to Parnell Hall, creator of the long-running Stanley Hastings series of private eye novels.

BARRY AWARDS
(Presented by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine)

Best Novel: Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles (Morrow)

Also nominated: The Marco Effect, by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Dutton); The Rest Is Silence, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime); Hollow Girl, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Tyrus Books); Providence Rag, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge); and Strange Shores, by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur)

Best First Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Night Heron, by Adam Brookes (Redhook); Ice Shear, by M.P. Cooley (Morrow); Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking); The Weight of Blood, by Laura McHugh (Spiegel & Grau); and She’s Leaving Home, by William Shaw (Mulholland)

Best Paperback Original: The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens
(Seventh Street Books)

Also nominated: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker (Penguin); The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin); Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria); The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street Books); and Eleven Days, by Stav Sherez (Europa Editions)

Best Thriller: Those Who Wish Me Dead, by Michael Koryta
(Little, Brown)

Also nominated: Suspicion, by Joseph Finder (Dutton); The Water Rat of Wanchai, by Ian Hamilton (Picador); An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf); I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes (Atria); and House Reckoning, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press)

The Don Sandstrom Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in mystery fandom went to Jane Lee.

MACAVITY AWARDS
(Presented by Mystery Readers International)

Best Mystery Novel: The Killer Next Door, by Alex Marwood (Penguin)

Also nominated: The Lewis Man, by Peter May (Quercus); The Last Death of Jack Harbin, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street); The Day She Died, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink); The Missing Place, by Sophie Littlefield (Gallery); The Long Way Home,
by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery Novel: Invisible City, by Julia Dahl (Minotaur)

Also nominated: The Black Hour, by Lori Rader-Day (Seventh Street); Someone Else’s Skin, by Sarah Hilary (Penguin); Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking); Blessed Are the Dead, by Kristi Belcamino (Witness Impulse); and Dry Bones in the Valley, by Tom Bouman (Norton)

Best Mystery-Related Non-fiction: Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Henery Press)

Also nominated: The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis, by Charles Brownson (McFarland); Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, by J.W. Ocker (Countryman); and 400 Things Cops Know: Street Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman, by Adam Plantinga (Quill Driver)

Best Mystery Short Story: “Honeymoon Sweet,” by Craig Faustus Buck (from Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014, edited by Dana Cameron; Down & Out)

Also nominated: “The Shadow Knows,” by Barb Goffman (from Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside); “Howling at the Moon,” by Paul D. Marks (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], November 2014); “The Proxy,” by Travis Richardson (ThugLit #13,
September/October 2014); and “The Odds Are Against Us,” by Art Taylor (EQMM, November 2014)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery: A Deadly Measure of Brimstone, by Catriona McPherson (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Queen of Hearts, by Rhys Bowen (Berkley Prime Crime); Present Darkness, by Malla Nunn (Atria); An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris (Knopf); Hunting Shadows, by Charles Todd (Morrow); and Things Half in Shadow, by Alan Finn (Gallery)

ADDENDUM: Although the winners of this year’s Derringer Awards for short mystery fiction were announced back in March, it wasn’t until Bouchercon that those prizes were delivered. Author and previous Derringer recipient Art Taylor made the presentations.