Cosby’s Southern Noir Triumphs Up North

Bouchercon 2022 has shaped up as a most favorable convention for Gloucester, Virginia​, author S.A. Cosby, so far as prize wins go. Not only did his book Razorblade Tears receive the Barry and Macavity awards for Best Mystery Novel, but it has also now collected the Anthony Award for Best Novel. In addition, Cosby picked up the latest Anthony for Best Short Story. Below is the full complement of this year’s Anthony champs.

Best Novel:
Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Also nominated: Runner, by Tracy Clark (Kensington); The Collective, by Alison Gaylin (Morrow); Clark and Division, by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime); and These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)

Best First Novel:
Arsenic and Adobo, by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley Prime Crime)

Also nominated: Her Name Is Knight, by Yasmin Angoe (Thomas & Mercer); The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Atria); Walking Through Needles, by Heather Levy (Polis); and All Her Little Secrets, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)

Best Short Story:
“Not My Cross to Bear,” by S.A. Cosby (from Trouble No More: Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues, edited by Mark Westmoreland; Down & Out)

Also nominated: “The Search for Eric Garcia,” by E.A. Aymar (from Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color, edited by Abby L. Vandiver; Crooked Lane); “The Vermeer Conspiracy,” by V.M. Burns (from Midnight Hour); “Lucky Thirteen,” by Tracy Clark (from Midnight Hour); “Doc’s at Midnight,” by Richie Narvaez (from Midnight Hour); “The Locked Room Library,” by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2021); and “Burnt Ends,” by Gabriel Valjan (from This Time for Sure: Bouchercon Anthology 2021, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan; Down & Out)

Best Children’s/YA:
I Play One on TV, by Alan Orloff (Down & Out)

Also nominated: Cold-Blooded Myrtle, by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers); Bury Me in Shadows, by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes); The Forest of Stolen Girls, by June Hur (Feiwel & Friends); and Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, by Nancy Springer (Wednesday)

Best Anthology:
This Time for Sure: Bouchercon Anthology 2021, edited by Hank Phillippi Ryan
(Down & Out)

Also nominated: Under the Thumb: Stories of Police Oppression, edited by S.A. Cosby (Rock & A Hard Place Press); Midnight Hour: A Chilling Anthology of Crime Fiction from 20 Authors of Color, edited by Abby L. Vandiver (Crooked Lane); Trouble No More: Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues, edited by Mark Westmoreland (Down & Out); and When a Stranger Comes to Town, edited by Michael Koryta (Hanover Square Press)

Best Paperback/EBook/AudioBook (paperback publishers listed):
Bloodline, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)

Also nominated: The Ninja Betrayed, by Tori Eldridge (Agora); Warn Me When It’s Time, by Cheryl A. Head (Bywater); Bury Me in Shadows, by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes); and The Mother Next Door, by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)

Best Critical/Non-fiction:
How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)

Also nominated: The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice, by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press); Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession, by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (Andrews McMeel); Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York, by Elon Green (Celadon); and The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story, by Kate Summerscale (Penguin Press)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ellen Hart

International Lifetime Achievement Award: Alexander McCall Smith

This year’s Bouchercon concludes early tomorrow afternoon. The 2023 convention, “Murder at the Marina,” is slated to take place in San Diego, California, from next August 30 to September 3.

READ MORE: “The State of the Crime Novel: A Roundtable Discussion with Crime Authors,” by Molly Odintz (CrimeReads).