Barrys Come Early This Season

The 2021 Barry Awards, organized as always by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, were supposed to have been dispensed on August 26, during opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in New Orleans. But with that convention now cancelled, DP editor George Easter says, “I see no reason to delay the announcement of the Barry Award winners.” So here you go, everyone!

Best Novel:
Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Also nominated: The Boy from the Woods, by Harlan Coben (Grand Central); The Law of Innocence, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown); And Now She’s Gone, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge); Moonflower Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper); and All the Devils Are Here, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)

Best First Novel:
Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)

Also nominated: Deep State, by Chris Hauty (Emily Bester); Murder in Old Bombay, by Nev March (Minotaur); The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman); The Eighth Detective, by Alex Pavesi (Henry Holt); and Darling Rose Gold, by Stephanie Wrobel (Berkley)

Best Paperback Original:
Turn to Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street)

Also nominated: When No One Is Watching, by Alyssa Cole (Morrow); Mongkok Station, by Jake Needham (HP); Hide Away, by Jason Pinter (Thomas & Mercer); Bad News Travels Fast, by James Swain (Thomas & Mercer); and Darkness for Light, by Emma Viskic (Pushkin Vertigo)

Best Thriller:
Eddie’s Boy, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)

Also nominated: Double Agent, by Tom Bradby (Atlantic Monthly); Blind Vigil, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview); One Minute Out, by Mark Greaney (Berkley); The Last Hunt, by Deon Meyer (Atlantic Monthly Press); and The Wild One, by Nick Petrie (Putnam)

Congratulations to all of this year’s nominees.