Lining Up for the Anthonys

Organizers of this year’s Bouchercon—scheduled to take place in San Diego, California, from August 30 to September 3—have announced the finalists for the 2023 Anthony Awards, in nine categories.

Best Hardcover:
• Like a Sister, by Kellye Garrett (Mulholland)
• The Devil Takes You Home, by Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland)
• The Bullet That Missed, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman)
• A World of Curiosities, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
• The Maid, by Nita Prose (Ballantine)
• Secret Identity, by Alex
Segura (Flatiron)

Best Paperback/E-book/Audiobook:
• Real Bad Things, by Kelly J. Ford (Thomas & Mercer)
• Dead Drop, by James L’Etoile (Level Best)
• The Quarry Girls, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)
• Hush Hush, by Gabriel Valjan (Historia)
• In the Dark We Forget, by Sandra S.G. Wong (HarperCollins)

Best First Novel:
• Don’t Know Tough, by Eli Cranor (Soho Crime)
• Shutter, by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)
• The Bangalore Detectives Club, by Harini Nagendra (Pegasus)
• Devil’s Chew Toy, by Rob Osler (Crooked Lane)
• The Maid, by Nita Prose (Ballantine)

Best Historical:
• The Lindbergh Nanny, by Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
• In Place of Fear, by Catriona McPherson (Mobius)
• Anywhere You Run, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)
• Danger on the Atlantic, by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)
• Under a Veiled Moon, by Karen Odden (Crooked Lane)
• Lavender House, by Lev A.C. Rosen (Forge)

Best Humorous:
• Bayou Book Thief, by Ellen Byron (Berkley)
• Death by Bubble Tea, by Jennifer J. Chow (Berkley)
• A Streetcar Named Murder, by T.G. Herren (Crooked Lane)
• Scot in a Trap, by Catriona McPherson (Severn House)
• Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking, by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane)

Best Short Story:
• “Still Crazy After All These Years,” by E.A Aymar (from Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon, edited by Josh Pachter; Down & Out)
• “The Impediment,” by Bruce Robert Coffin (from Deadly Nightshade: Best New England Crime Stories 2022, edited by Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, and Leslie Wheeler; Crime Spell)
• “Beauty and the Beyotch,” by Barb Goffman (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, February 2022)
• “The Estate Sale,” by Curtis Ippolito (Vautrin Magazine,
Summer 2022)
• “C.O.D.,” by Gabriel Valjan (from Low Down Dirty Vote, Volume 3: The Color of My Vote, edited by Mysti Berry; Berry Contest)

Best Critical/Non-fiction:
• The Alaska Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story That Shocked America, by James T. Bartlett (Terrirory)
• The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators, by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)
• American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper, by Daniel Stashower (Minotaur)
• Promophobia: Taking the Mystery Out of Promoting Crime Fiction, edited by Diane Vallere (Sisters in Crime)
• Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free, by Sarah Weinman (Ecco)
• Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman, by Lucy Worsley (Pegasus Crime)

Best Children’s/Young Adult:
• In Myrtle Peril, by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
• Daybreak on Raven Island, by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young Readers)
• #Shedeservedit, by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes Press)
• The New Girl, by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Sourcebooks Fire)
• Vanish Me, by Lee Matthew Goldberg (Wise Wolf)
• Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade, by Nancy Springer (Wednesday)

Best Anthology:
• Low Down Dirty Vote, Volume 3: The Color of My Vote, edited by Mysti Berry (Berry Contest)
• Lawyers, Guns, and Money: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Warren Zevon, edited by Libby Cudmore and Art Taylor (Down & Out)
• Land of 1,000 Thrills: Bouchercon Anthology 2022, edited by Greg Herren (Down & Out)
• Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon, edited by Josh Pachter (Down & Out)
• Crime Hits Home: A Collection of Short Stories from Crime Fiction’s Top Authors, edited by S.J. Rozan (Hanover Square Press)

Winners will be announced during a banquet at the convention on Saturday, September 2.