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2024 ThrillerFest Awards

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Thriller writers bring us thrills and chills and keep us turning the pages long into the wee hours of the morning. We love those stay-awake reads! Check out the 2024 International Thriller Writer ThrillerFest Awards finalists and winners (indicated in red). Congratulations to all!

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
S.A. Cosby – ALL THE SINNERS BLEED
Robert Dugoni – HER DEADLY GAME
J.T. Ellison – IT’S ONE OF US
Mick Herron – THE SECRET HOURS
Joe Ide – FIXIT
C.J. Tudor – THE DRIFT

BEST FIRST NOVEL
I.S. Berry – THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW
Amy Chua – THE GOLDEN GATE
Margot Douaihy – SCORCHED GRACE
Kerryn Mayne – LENNY MARKS GETS AWAY WITH MURDER
Steve Urszenyi – PERFECT SHOT: A THRILLER

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Tracy Clark – HIDE
Luke Dumas – THE PALEONTOLOGIST
Tess Gerritsen – THE SPY COAST
Lisa Gray – TO DIE FOR
Jonathan Maberry – CAVE 13: A JOE LEDGER AND ROGUE TEAM INTERNATIONAL NOVEL
J. Todd Scott – CALL THE DARK

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Sorboni Banerjee, Dominique Richardson – RED AS BLOOD
Darcy Coates – WHERE HE CAN’T FIND YOU
Courtney Gould – WHERE ECHOES DIE
Andrea Hannah – WHERE DARKNESS BLOOMS
Elizabeth Wein – STATELESS

BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Jeff Buick – THE VULTURE FUND
Rona Halsall – THE BIGAMIST
Matt Phillips – A GOOD RUSH OF BLOOD
Lisa Regan – CLOSE HER EYES
Robert Swartwood – THE KILLING ROOM
Laura Wolfe – THE IN-LAWS

From the ITW site: “With more than 5,000 members in 49 countries, representing over 3.2 billion book sales, ITW is the world’s leading organization for thriller writers. ITW helps authors hone their craft, learn about the business aspects of publishing, and helps connect writers with readers.”

 

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Halloween Mystery List – 2024

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Halloween will be here before you know it and if you’d like to pick up a fun read with a seasonal theme, here are ninety-four titles in our updated 2024 Halloween Mystery List. Some have been around for ages, but others have recently been published or re-published. There are dozens more books with a Halloween theme, so if your favorite is not on the list, please let us know the title and author in the comments.

Click on the bold titles to read more about the individual books.

Stacey Alabaster – The Pumpkin Killer
Susan Wittig Albert – Witches’ Bane
Meri Allen – Fatal Fudge Swirl
Ritter Ames and 8 others – Midnight Mysteries: Nine Cozy Tales
Donna Andrews – Lord of the Wings
Gretchen Archer – Double Jinx

Laurien Berenson – Howloween Murder
Susan Bernhardt – The Ginseng Conspiracy
Morgana Best – The Halloween Time Spell
Bethany Blake – Dial Meow for Murder
Susan Boles – Death of a Wolfman
Ginger Bolton –Boston Scream Murder
Lilian Jackson Braun – Cat Who Talked to Ghosts
Christin Brecher – 15 Minutes of Flame
Allison Brook – Death Overdue
Rita Mae Brown – The Litter of the Law
Catherine Bruns – Dessert Is the Bomb
Mollie Cox Bryan – Scrapbook of the Dead
Anna Celeste Burke – All Hallows’ Eve Heist
Jessica Burton – Death Goes Shopping
Ellen Byron – French Quarter Fright Night

Thea Cambert – Halloween at Pumpkin Hill
Nora Charles – Death with an Ocean View
Laura Childs – Frill Kill
Agatha Christie – The Hallowe’en Party
Cate Conte – Nine Lives and Alibis
Susan Rogers Cooper – Not in My Backyard
E.J. Copperman – Night of the Living Deed
Maya Corrigan – Crypt Suzette
Kathy Cranston – Pumpkins are Murder
Isis Crawford – A Catered Costume Party
James J. Cudney – Haunted House Ghost

Kathi Daley – The Inn at Holiday Bay
Kim Davis – Cake Popped Off
Krista Davis – Murder Outside the Lines
Jana Deleon – Swamp Spook
Steve Demaree – Murder on Halloween
Leighann Dobbs – Halloween Party Murder
Carole Nelson Douglas – Cat with an Emerald Eye
Kaitlyn Dunnett – Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones

J.C. Eaton – Mischief, Murder and Merlot
Janet Evanovich – Plum Spooky
Sharon Farrow – Mulberry Mischief
Connie Feddersen – Dead in the Pumpkin Patch
Vickie Fee – It’s Your Party, Die If You Want To
Honora Finkelstein – The Lawyer Who Died Trying
‘Jessica Fletcher’ & Donald Bain – Trick or Treachery

Eva Gates – The Spook in the Stacks
Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames) – Stirring the Plot
Sarah Graves – Nail Biter

Carolyn Haines – Hallowed Bones
Ellen Hart – Sweet Poison
Kelly Hashway – Halloween Homicide
Julia Henry – Digging Up the Remains
Lee Hollis – Death of a Wicked Witch
Carolyn Q. Hunter – Pumpkin Pie Waffle
Ellen Elizabeth Hunter – Murder on the Ghost Walk

Sybil Johnson – Designed for Haunting
Daniel Judson – The Violet Hour
Heather Justesen – Muffins & Murder

Jenny Kales – A Stew to A Kill
Tonya Kappes – A Halloween Homicide
Andrew Klavan – The Animal Hour
Libby Klein – Mischief Nights are Murder
Cynthia Kuhn – The Spirit in Question

Joyce & Jim Lavene – Ghastly Glass
James Lilley – Death Knocks Twice
Linda Lovely – Picked Off
Alice Loweecey – The Clock Strikes Nun
Karen MacInerney – Deadly Brew
Ed McBain – Tricks: an 87th Precinct Mystery
Jenn McKinlay – Dark Chocolate Demise
G.A. McKevett – Poisoned Tarts
Leslie Meier – Wicked Witch Murder
Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross – Halloween Party Murder
Alexis Morgan – Death by Jack-O-Lantern
Lynn Morrison – Stakes and Spells
Mandy Morton – Cat Among the Pumpkins
Liz Mugavero – A Biscuit, a Casket
Julie Mulhern – Send in the Clowns

Elizabeth Penney – The Fatal Folio
Katie Penryn – The Witch Who Hated Halloween
Leigh Perry – The Skeleton Haunts a House
Summer Prescott & 7 others – A Very Cozy Halloween
Raquel V. Reyes – Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking
Barbara Ross – Scared Off

Mary Seifert – Halloween, Hound, & Housesitting
Debra Sennefelder A Corpse at the Witching Hour
Rachael Stapleton – Black Cats, Corpses and the Pumpkin Pantry
Kathleen Suzette – Gnome for Halloween

Rebecca Tope – Death in the Cotswolds
Diane Vallere – Masking for Trouble
Kirsten Weiss – Gourd to Death
Linnea West – Halloween Hayride Murder

If you’ve read any books in the Halloween Mystery List for 2024, please let us know what you thought.

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2024 Barry Awards – Crime Fiction

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Established in 1997, the Barry Awards are presented at the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, held this year in Nashville. The winners were announced at the Opening Ceremonies in August. Voted on by readers of the Deadly Pleasures mystery magazine, the award was named in honor of Barry Gardner, an American critic and lover of great crime fiction. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Mystery or Crime Novel
Lou Berney, DARK RIDE
S. A. Cosby, ALL THE SINNERS BLEED
Eli Cranor, OZARK DOGS
Jordan Harper, EVERYBODY KNOWS
Dennis Lehane, SMALL MERCIES
Adrian McKinty, THE DETECTIVE UP LATE

Best First Mystery or Crime Novel
Michael Bennett, BETTER THE BLOOD
I.S. Berry, THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW
Bruce Borgos, THE BITTER PAST
Amy Chua, THE GOLDEN GATE
Deepti Kapoor, AGE OF VICE
Nina Simon, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT
Iris Yamashita, CITY UNDER ONE ROOF

Best Paperback Original
Mystery or Crime Novel
Mia P. Manansala, MURDER AND MAMON
Rick Mofina, EVERY THING SHE FEARED
Jake Needham, WHO THE HELL IS HARRY BLACK?
Jesse Sutanto, VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS
Vanda Symon, EXPECTANT
Scott Von Doviak, LOWDOWN ROAD

Best Thriller
Mark Greaney, BURNER
Mick Herron, THE SECRET HOURS
John Lawton, MOSCOW EXILE
Anthony McCarten, GOING ZERO
T. J. Newman, DROWNING

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2024 Anthony Awards

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Bouchercon is an annual conference named after Anthony Boucher, a mystery author and critic who helped found the Mystery Writers of America. This event honors various segments of the mystery and crime fiction community. Take a look at the nominees and winners (indicated in red) for the coveted Anthony Award. The winners were announced in Nashville during BoucherCon.

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL

  • All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
  • Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
  • Time’s Undoing by Cheryl A. Head
  • Face of Greed by James L’Etoile
  • The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

BEST PAPERBACK NOVEL

  • No Home for Killers by E.A. Aymar
  • Hide by Tracy Clark
  • Because the Night by James D.F. Hannah
  • The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
  • Magic City Blues by Bobby Matthews
  • Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

BEST FIRST NOVEL

  • The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
  • Play the Fool by Lina Chern
  • Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy
  • Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
  • City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

BEST CHILDREN’S/YA

  • Finney and the Secret Tunnel by Jamie Lane Barber
  • Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunch
  • The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson
  • The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Souders
  • Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose by Nancy Springer

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Real Courage” by Barb Goffman
  • “Knock” by James D.F. Hannah
  • “Green and California Bound” by Curtis Ippolito
  • “Ticket to Ride” by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski
  • “Tell Me No Lies” by Holly West

Congratulations to all!

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2024 Edgar Awards

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The MWA (Mystery Writers of America) nominees for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards honor the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2023. The 78th Annual Edgar® Awards were bestowed on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York City. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red).

BEST NOVEL
Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

BEST FIRST NOVEL
The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski
The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch
Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Boomtown by A.F. Carter
Hide by Tracy Clark
The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

BEST FACT CRIME
In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child by Kim Cross
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt
Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters
I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter
The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy by Joe Sexton

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Girl Forgotten by April Henry
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum
My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon
Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmerman

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE SCREENPLAY
“Time of the Monkey” – Poker Face, Written by Wyatt Cain & Charlie Peppers (Peacock)

“I’m a Pretty Observant Guy” – Will Trent, Written by Liz Heldens (ABC)

“Dead Man’s Hand” – Poker Face, Written by Rian Johnson (Peacock)

“Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty is Restore)” – Dark Winds, Written by Graham Roland & John Wirth (AMC)

“Escape from Shit Mountain” – Poker Face, Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman


The Lilian Jackon Braun Memorial Award
Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien
Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow
Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns
The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell


Additional Award Nominees (Best Juvenile, Best Critical/Biographical, Best Short Story, Mary Higgins Clark Award, Sue Grafton Memorial Award) can be found at  EdgarAwards.com

 

 

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Agatha Awards for 2023 Titles

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The Agatha Awards are bestowed upon crime fiction and nonfiction works centered on the mystery to be solved, rather than the violence that surrounds the deeds. This year’s awards were handed out in person in late April, 2024. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Contemporary Mystery
“Wined And Dined in New Orleans” – Ellen Byron
“Helpless” – Annette Dashofy
“The Weekend Retreat” – Tara Laskowski
“A Case of the Bleus” – Korina Moss
“The Raven Thief” – Gigi Pandian

Best Historical Mystery
“Death Among the Ruins” – Susanna Caulkins
“Act Like A Lady, Think Like a Lord” – Celeste Connally
“I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died” – Amanda Flower
“Times Undoing” – Cheryl Head
“The Mistress of Bhatia House” – Sujata Massey

Best First Mystery Novel
“Glory Be” – Danielle Arceneaux
“The Hint of Light” – Kristin Kisska
“Dutch Threat” – Josh Pachter
“Crime and Parchment” – Daphne Silver
“Mother and Daughter Murder Night” – Nina Simon

Best Mystery Short Story
“The Knife Sharpener” – Shelley Costa in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, July/Aug 2023
“A Good Judge of Character” – Tina De Bellegarde in Malice Domestic Murder Most Traditional
“Real Courage” – Barb Goffman in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #14
“Ticket to Ride” – DruAnn Love/Kristopher Zgorski in Happiness is a Warm Gun
“Shamu, World’s Greatest Detective” – Richie Narvaez in Time in San Diego BoucherCon 2023

 

 

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2023 – Macavity Awards

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The Macavity Awards are nominated by members and friends of Mystery Readers International, and subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal.  Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!
Mystery Readers International, Mystery Readers Journal, and the Macavity Awards, were created by Anthony Award winner, Janet Rudolph.

Best Mystery Novel:
Laurie R. King: Back to the Garden 
Chris Pavone: Two Nights in Lisbon 
Louise Penny: A World of Curiosities 
Ian Rankin: A Heart Full of Headstones 
Deanna Raybourn: Killers of a Certain Age 
Alex Segura: Secret Identity

Best First Mystery:
Jacqueline Bublitz: Before You Knew My Name
A.J. Devlin: Five Moves of Doom
Ramona Emerson: Shutter
Rob Osler: Devil’s Chew Toy
Jane Pek: The Verifiers
Nita Prose: The Maid

Best Mystery Short Story:
Brendan DuBois: “The Landscaper’s Wife” (Mystery Tribune, Aug/Sep 2022)
Barb Goffman: “Beauty and the Beyotch” (Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Jan 2022)
Donna Moore: “First You Dream, Then You Die” (Black is the Night, Titan Books)
Anna Scotti: “Schrödinger, Cat” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Mar/Apr 2022)
Catherine Steadman: “Stockholm” (Amazon Original Stories)
Jess Walter: “The Angel of Rome” (in The Angel of Rome and Other Stories, Harper)
Melissa Yi: “My Two-Legs” (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2022)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery:
Mariah Fredericks: The Lindbergh Nanny
Catriona McPherson: In Place of Fear 
Wanda M. Morris: Anywhere You Run
Ann Parker: The Secret in the Wall
Gary Phillips: One-Shot Harry
Lev A.C. Rosen: Lavender House

 

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