Thursday, June 08, 2023

Critical Decisions

Today brought word from The Strand Magazine of its nominees, in two different categories, for the 2023 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Contenders were chosen by a select group of book reviewers and other journalists from around the United States.

Best Novel:
Anywhere You Run, by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)
Back to the Garden, by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
Desert Star, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
Her Last Affair, by John Searles (Mariner)
A World of Curiosities, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Secret Identity, by Alex Segura (Flatiron)

Best Debut:
Jackal, by Erin E. Adams (Bantam)
A Flicker in the Dark, by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)
Before You Knew My Name, by Jacqueline Bublitz (Atria/Emily Bestler)
Don’t Know Tough, by Eli Cranor (Soho)
Shutter, by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime)

Both winners are expected to be named during an online event in September. (UPDATE: As it turned out, that announcement didn’t come until January 2024.)

In addition, the quarterly mystery fiction publication has named authors James Lee Burke and Lee Child as the latest recipients of its Strand Lifetime Achievement Awards. Meanwhile, Dan Smetanka, vice president and editorial chief of Counterpoint Press, has been named as the 2023 Strand Publisher of the Year.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)

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