Narrowing the Anthonys Field

Organizers of this year’s Bouchercon convention (to be held in Toronto, Ontario, from October 12 to 15) have announced the rundown of nominees for the 2017 Anthony Awards in eight categories:

Best Novel:
• You Will Know Me, by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown)
• Where It Hurts, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam)
• Red Right Hand, by Chris Holm (Mulholland)
• Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Novel:
• Dodgers, by Bill Beverly (Crown)
• IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland)
• Decanting a Murder, by Nadine Nettmann (Midnight Ink)
• Design for Dying, by Renee Patrick (Forge)
• The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Best Paperback Original:
• Shot in Detroit, by Patricia Abbott (Polis)
• Leadfoot, by Eric Beetner (280 Steps)
• Salem’s Cipher, by Jess Lourey (Midnight Ink)
• Rain Dogs, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street)
• How to Kill Friends and Implicate People, by Jay Stringer
(Thomas & Mercer)
• Heart of Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Best Short Story:
• “Oxford Girl,” by Megan Abbott (from Mississippi Noir, edited by Tom Franklin; Akashic)
• “Autumn at the Automat,” by Lawrence Block (from In Sunlight or in Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block; Pegasus)
• “Gary’s Got a Boner,” by Johnny Shaw (from Waiting to Be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak, Inspired by The Replacements, edited by Jay Stringer; Gutter)
• “Parallel Play,” by Art Taylor (from Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press)
• “Queen of the Dogs,” by Holly West (from 44 Caliber Funk: Tales of Crime, Soul, and Payback, edited by Gary Phillips and Robert J. Randisi; Moonstone)

Best Critical Non-fiction Work:
• Alfred Hitchcock: A Brief Life, by Peter Ackroyd (Nan A. Talese)
• Letters from a Serial Killer, by Kristi Belcamino and Stephanie Kahalekulu (CreateSpace)
• Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin (Liveright)
• Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, by David J. Skal (Liveright)
• The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer,
by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury/Penguin)

Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel:
• Snowed, by Maria Alexander (Raw Dog Screaming)
• The Girl I Used to Be, by April Henry (Henry Holt)
• Tag, You’re Dead, by J.C. Lane (Poisoned Pen Press)
• My Sister Rosa, by Justine Larbalestier (Soho Teen)
• The Fixes, by Owen Matthews (HarperTeen)

Best Anthology:
• Unloaded: Crime Writers Writing Without Guns, edited by Eric Beetner (Down & Out)
• In Sunlight or in Shadow, edited by Lawrence Block (Pegasus)
• Cannibals: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrens, edited by
Jen Conley (Down & Out)
• Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016, edited by
Greg Herren (Down & Out)
• Waiting to Be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak, Inspired by The Replacements, edited by Jay Stringer (Gutter)

Best Novella (8,000-40,000 words):
• Cleaning Up Finn, by Sarah M. Chen (CreateSpace)
• No Happy Endings, by Angel Luis Colón (Down & Out)
• Crosswise, by S.W. Lauden (Down & Out)
• Beware the Shill, by John Shepphird (Down & Out)
• The Last Blue Glass, by B.K. Stevens (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, April 2016)

Nominations for the annual Anthony Awards are made by Bouchercon attendees, who also choose the winners. This is a fan competition, rather than a juried one calling on the expertise of book critics and others. Congratulations are due all of the finalists listed above!

The victors in each category will be announced at the end of a brunch scheduled to be held on October 15, during Bouchercon 2017. A news release says: “While the Sunday Brunch is a ticketed event (buy your tickets through the Registration process), all Bouchercon attendees may attend the short awards ceremony that immediately follows.”