Keeping Abreast of the Anthonys

Unfortunately, I was absent from my office yesterday when the lists of nominees for the 2020 Anthony Awards were announced. So only this morning am I catching up with that news.

Best Novel:
• Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha (Ecco)
• They All Fall Down, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge)
• Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• The Murder List, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
• Miami Midnight, by Alex Segura (Polis)

Best First Novel:
• The Ninja Daughter, by Tori Eldridge (Agora)
• Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton)
• One Night Gone, by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)
• Three-Fifths, by John Vercher (Agora)
• American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson (Random House)

Best Paperback Original:
• The Unrepentant, by E.A. Aymar (Down & Out)
• Murder Knocks Twice, by Susanna Calkins (Minotaur)
• The Pearl Dagger, by L.A. Chandlar (Kensington)
• Scot & Soda, by Catriona McPherson (Midnight Ink)
• The Alchemist’s Illusion, by Gigi Pandian (Midnight Ink)
• Drowned Under, by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen Press)
• The Naming Game, by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Press)

Best Critical Non-fiction Work:
• Hitchcock and the Censors, by John Billheimer (University
Press of Kentucky)
• The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of the Collins Crime Club, by John Curran (Collins Crime Club)
• The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women, by Mo Moulton (Basic)
• The Trail of Lizzie Borden: A True Story, by Cara Robertson
(Simon & Schuster)
• The Five: The Untold Stories of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, by Hallie Rubenhold (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Best Short Story:
• “Turistas,” by Hector Acosta (from ¡Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico, edited by Angel Luis Colón;
Down & Out)
• “Unforgiven,” by Hilary Davidson (from Murder a-Go-Gos: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go’s, edited by
Holly West; Down & Out)
• “The Red Zone,” by Alex Segura (from ¡Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas!)
• “Better Days,” by Art Taylor (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May/June 2019)
• “Hard Return,” by Art Taylor (from Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman; Wildside Press)

Best Anthology or Collection:
• The Eyes of Texas: Private Eyes from the Panhandle to the Piney Woods, edited by Michael Bracken (Down & Out)
• ¡Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico, edited by Angel Luis Colón (Down & Out)
• Crime Travel, edited by Barb Goffman (Wildside Press)
• Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible, edited by Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and Shawn Reilly Simmons (Wildside Press)
• Murder A-Go-Go’s: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go's, edited by Holly West (Down & Out)

Best Young Adult:
• Seven Ways to Get Rid of Harry, by Jen Conley (Down & Out)
• Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer (Tor Teen)
• Killing November, by Adriana Mather (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
• Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay (Kokila)
• The Deceivers, by Kristen Simmons (Tor Teen)
• Wild and Crooked, by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury YA)

(The news release about these awards notes: “This year, there are two categories with more than five nominees. This is the result of a tie for fifth place. When this occurs, according to Bouchercon standing rules, all of the authors who have tied become nominees.”)

Due to the pandemic-caused cancellation of this year’s Bouchercon—during which the Anthony Awards would normally have been presented—the winners of these prizes will be declared online on October 17 as part of a Virtual Bouchercon.

Congratulations to all of the 2020 contenders!