Big Easy Pickings

I returned home last evening from New Orleans, where I attended this year’s Bouchercon, “Blood on the Bayou: Case Closed” (September 3-7). There are many photos and memories from those days away that I am hoping to share on this page, but first, let’s recap the announcements of prize winners delivered at the conference.

ANTHONY AWARDS
The Anthonys are named for Anthony Boucher (aka William Anthony Parker White), a prominent 20th-century author, editor, and crime-fiction critic. Anthony nominees and recipients are selected by Bouchercon attendees. The 2025 winners were announced during a special evening ceremony on September 6.

Best Hardcover Novel:
The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore (Riverhead)

Also nominated: Missing White Woman, by Kellye Garrett (Mulholland); The Grey Wolf, by Louise Penny (Minotaur); Alter Ego, by Alex Segura (Flatiron); and California Bear, by Duane Swiercynski (Mulholland)

Best First Novel:
You Know What You Did, by K.T. Nguyen (Dutton)

Also nominated: The Mechanics of Memory, by Audrey Lee (CamCat); Ghosts of Waikiki, by Jennifer K. Morita (Crooked Lane); Good-Looking Ugly, by Rob D. Smith (Shotgun Honey); and Holy City, by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best Paperback/E-book/Audiobook:
Echo, by Tracy Clark (Thomas & Mercer)

Also nominated: The Last Few Miles of Road, by Eric Beetner (Level Best); Served Cold, by James L’Etoile (Level Best); Late Checkout, by Alan Orloff (Level Best); and The Big Lie, by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best/Historia)

Best Historical: The Murder of Mr. Ma, by John Shen Yen Nee and S.J. Rozan (Soho Crime)

Also nominated: The Lantern’s Dance, by Laurie R. King (Bantam); The Witching Hour, by Catriona McPherson (Mobius); The Bootlegger’s Daughter, by Nadine Nettmann (Lake Union); and The Courtesan’s Pirate, by Nina Wachsman (Level Best/Historia)

Best Paranormal:
A New Lease on Death, by Olivia Blacke (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Five Furry Familiars, by Lynn Cahoon (Kensington Cozies); Exposure, by Ramona Emerson (Soho Crime); Lights, Cameras, Bones, by Carolyn Haines (Minotaur); and Death in Ghostly Hue, by Susan Van Kirk (Level Best)

Best Cozy/Humorous:
Cirque du Slay, by Rob Osler (Crooked Lane)

Also nominated: A Cup of Flour, a Pinch of Death, by Valerie Burns (Kensington Cozies); A Very Woodsy Murder, by Ellen Byron (Kensington Cozies); Ill-Fated Fortune, by Jennifer J. Chow (Minotaur); Scotzilla, by Catriona McPherson (Severn House); and Dominoes, Danzón, and Death, by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane)

Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel:
When Mimi Went Missing, by Suja Sukumar (Soho Teen)

Also nominated: The Big Grey Men of Ben MacDhui, by K.B. Jackson (Reycraft); The Sasquatch of Harriman Lake, by K.B. Jackson (Reycraft); First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet, by Josh Proctor (Level Elevate); and The Sherlock Society, by James Ponti (Aladdin Paperbacks)

Best Critical/Non-fiction: The Serial Killer’s Apprentice, by Katherine Ramsland and Tracy Ullman (Crime Ink)

Also nominated: Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors’ Perspectives on Their Craft, edited by Phyllis M. Betz (McFarland); Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing the Columbo Killers, by Chris Chan (Level Best); On Edge: Gender and Genre in the Work of Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, and Leigh Brackett, by Ashley Lawson (Ohio State University Press); and Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder, by Greg Lilly (History Press)

Best Anthology/Collection:
Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem: Bouchercon Anthology 2024, edited by Heather Graham (Down & Out)

Also nominated: Murder, Neat: A Sleuthslayer’s Anthology, edited by Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman (Level Short); Scattered, Smothered, Covered & Chunked: Crime Fiction Inspired by Waffle House, edited by Michael Bracken and Stacy Woodson (Down & Out); Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir, edited by Tod Goldberg (Soho Crime); and Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead, edited by Josh Pachter (Down & Out)

Best Short Story:
“Something to Hold Onto,” by Curtis Ippolito (from Dark Yonder, Issue 6, edited by Katy Munger and Eryk Pruitt; Thalia Press)

Also nominated: “A Matter of Trust,” by Barb Goffman (from Three Strikes—You’re Dead, edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley; Wildside Press); “Twenty Centuries,” by James D.F. Hannah (from Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir, edited by Tod Goldberg; Soho Crime); “Satan’s Spit,” by Gabriel Valjan (from Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem: Bouchercon Anthology 2024, edited by Heather Graham; Down & Out); and “Reynisfjara,” by Kristopher Zgorski (from Mystery Most International, edited by Rita Owen, Verena Rose, and Shawn Reilly Simmons; Level Short)

Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient:
Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire series

David Thomas Memorial Special Service Award Recipients:
Lucinda Surber and Stan Ulrich, for their efforts on behalf of the annual Left Coast Crime convention, their management of the Web site Stop, You’re Killing Me!, and their other contributions to the crime-fiction field.

BARRY AWARDS
The Barrys are sponsored by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine and have been dispensed annually since 1997. Winners are determined by a vote of the magazine’s subscribers and other readers. These prizes, as well as the rest of the awards listed in this post, were given out on September 4, during Bouchercon’s opening ceremonies.

Best Mystery Novel: The Waiting, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Also nominated: Spirit Crossing, by William Kent Krueger (Atria); The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore (Riverhead); Midnight and Blue, by Ian Rankin (Mulholland); California Bear, by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland); and All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker (Crown)

Best First Mystery Novel: Ordinary Bear, by C.B. Bernard (Blackstone)

Also nominated: The Expectant Detectives, by Kat Ailes (Minotaur); Paper Cage, by Tom Baragwanath (Knopf); In the Blink of an Eye, by Jo Callaghan (Random House); First Lie Wins, by Ashley Elston (Pamela Dorman); and Listen for the Lie, by Amy Tintera (Celadon)

Best Paperback Original Mystery Novel: Double Barrel Bluff, by Lou Berney (Morrow Paperbacks)

Also nominated: All the Rage, by Cara Hunter (Morrow Paperbacks); Smoke Kings, by Jahmal Mayfield (Melville House); Someone Saw Something, by Rick Mofina (Mira); Wordhunter, by Stella Sands (Harper Paperbacks); and Sin City, by James Swain (Independently published)

Best Action Thriller: Hero, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)

Also nominated: Assassin Eighteen, by John Brownlow (Hanover Square Press); First Strike, by Stephen Leather (Independently published); The Seventh Floor, by David McCloskey (Norton); Hunted, by Abir Mukherjee (Mulholland); and The Price You Pay, by Nick Petrie (Putnam)

Click here to learn about previous Barry Award recipients.

SHAMUS AWARDS
Given out by the Private Eye Writers of America ever since 1982, the Shamuses honor the finest detective novels and short fiction published during a given year. Winners are selected by PWA members.

Best P.I. Hardcover:
Trouble in Queenstown, by Delia Pitts (Minotaur)

Also nominated: Kingpin, by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press); The Hollow Tree, by Phillip Miller (Soho Crime); Farewell, Amethystine, by Walter Mosley (Mulholland); and Death and Glory, by Will Thomas (Minotaur)

Best Original P.I. Paperback:
Call of the Void, by J.T. Siemens (NeWest Press)

Also nominated: Geisha Confidential, by Mark Coggins (Down & Out); Quarry’s Return, by Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime); Not Born of Woman, by Teel James Glenn (Crossroad Press); Bless Our Sleep, by Neil S. Plakcy (Samwise); and The Big Lie, by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best)

Best First P.I. Novel:
Twice the Trouble, by Ash Clifton (Crooked Lane)

Also nominated: The Devil’s Daughter, by Gordon Greisman (Blackstone); Fog City, by Claire M. Johnson (Level Best); The Road to Heaven, by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson (Dundurn Press); and Holy City, by Henry Wise (Atlantic Monthly Press)

Best P.I. Short Story:
“Deadhead,” by Tom Andes (Issue 10.1: A Case of KINK—Cowboy Jamboree Magazine)

Also nominated: “Alibi in Ice,” by Libby Cudmore (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July/August 2024); “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” by M.E. Proctor (from Janie’s Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith, edited by Michael Bracken; White City Press); “Under Hard Rock,” by Ed Teja (Black Cat Weekly #164); and “The Five Cent Detective,” by S.B. Watson (from Crimeucopia: Great Googly-Moo!; Murderous Ink Press)

The Eye Lifetime Achievement Award:
Christine Matthews (aka Marthayn Pelegrimas), author and wife of the late Robert J. Randisi, a PWA co-founder.

Past Shamus Award winners are listed here.

DERRINGER AWARDS
“Since 1998, the Short Mystery Fiction Society has awarded the annual Derringers—[named] after the popular pocket pistol—to outstanding published stories and people who've greatly advanced or supported the form,” reports the SMFS Web site. Its 2025 Derringer Award winners in four categories were announced in May, but the recipients’ medals were not handed out until last week’s Bouchercon.