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Barry Awards (Crime Fiction) – 2022

Established in 1997, the Barry Awards are presented at the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, held this year in Minneapolis. The winners were announced at the Opening Ceremonies on September 8th. 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/Crime Novel
THE DARK HOURS, Michael Connelly

RAZORBLADE TEARS, S. A. Cosby
LAST REDEMPTION, Matt Coyle
CLARK AND DIVISION, Naomi Hirahara
BILLY SUMMERS, Stephen King
WE BEGIN AT THE END, Chris Whitaker

 

Best First Mystery/Crime Novel
WHO IS MAUDE DIXON?, Alexandra Andrews

GIRL A, Abigail Dean
DOWN RANGE, Taylor Moore
FALLING, T. J. Newman
SLEEPING BEAR, Connor Sullivan
STEEL FEAR, Brandon Webb & John David Mann

 

Best Paperback Original
THE HUNTED, Gabriel Bergmoser

ARSENIC AND ADOBO, Mia P. Manansala
BLACK CORAL, Andrew Mayne
THE GOOD TURN, Dervla McTiernan
SEARCH FOR HER, Rick Mofina
BOUND, Vanda Symon

 

Best Thriller
THE DEVIL’S HAND, Jack Carr

THE NAMELESS ONES, John Connolly
DEAD BY DAWN, Paul Doiron
RELENTLESS, Mark Greaney
SLOUGH HOUSE, Mick Herron
FIVE DECEMBERS, James Kestrel

 

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2022 Anthony Awards – BoucherCon

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 for the coveted Anthony Award. The winners (indicated in red) were announced during BoucherCon in September.

 

Best Novel

“Runner” by Tracy Clark

“Razorblade Tears” by SA Cosby

“The Collective” by Alison Gaylin

“Clark and Division” by Naomi Hirahara

“These Toxic Things” by Rachel Howzell Hall

 

Best First Novel

“Her Name is Knight” by Yasmin Angoe

“The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris

“Walking Through Needles” by Heather Levy

“Arsenic and Adobo” by Mia Manansala

“All Her Little Secrets” by Wanda M Morris

 

Best Paperback/EBook/ AudioBook

“The Ninja Betrayed” by Tori Eldridge

“Warn Me When It’s Time” by Cheryl A Head

“Bury Me In Shadows” by Greg Herren

“The Mother Next Door” by Tara Laskowski

“Bloodline” by Jess Lourey

 

Best Childrens/YA

“Cold Blooded Myrtle” by Elizabeth Bunce

“Bury Me in Shadows” by Greg Herren

“The Forest of Stolen Girls” by June Hur

“I Play One on TV” by Alan Orloff

“Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche” by Nancy Springer

 

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

 

 

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2022 – Macavity Awards

The Macavity Awards are nominated by members and friends of Mystery Readers International, and subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal. The winners were announced in September at BoucherCon in. 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

  • Michael Connelly: The Dark Hours
  • S.A. Cosby: Razorblade Tears
  • Val McDermid: 1979
  • Alan Parks: Bobby March Will Live Forever
  • Chris Whitaker: We Begin at the End
  • Colson Whitehead: Harlem Shuffle

Best First Mystery Novel

  • Alexandra Andrews: Who is Maude Dixon?
  • Abigail Dean: Girl A
  • Erin Flanagan: Deer Season
  • Mia P. Manansala: Arsenic and Adobo
  • Wanda M. Morris: All Her Little Secrets

Best Short Mystery  

  • Tracy Clark: “Lucky Thirteen” (Midnight Hour, Crooked Lane Books)
  • Richard Helms: “Sweeps Week” (EQMM, July/August 2021)
  • Steve Hockensmith: “Curious Incidents” (EQMM, January/February 2021)
  • R.T. Lawton: “The Road to Hana” (AHMM, May/June 2021)
  • G.M. Malliet: “The White Star” (EQMM, July/August 2021)
  • Gigi Pandian: “The Locked Room Library” (EQMM, July/August 2021)
  • Dave Zeltserman: “Julius Katz and the Two Cousins” (EQMM, July/August 2021)

Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Mystery 

  • Rhys Bowen: The Venice Sketchbook
  • Naomi Hirahara: Clark and Division
  • Susan Elia MacNeal: The Hollywood Spy
  • Sujata Massey: The Bombay Prince
  • Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Velvet was the Night
  • Lori Rader-Day: Death at Greenway                                                                                                                                                                     

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2022 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards

From the Killer Nashville site:We believe all engaging stories have three elements: mystery, thriller, and suspense. Since 2008, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards have recognized the best stories from the previous year told through various media utilizing the elements of mystery, thriller, and/or suspense. Judges are professional writers, book reviewers, librarians, academics, and—in specialized cases—specific industry peers. Focus is on quality, not popularity.”

Congratulations to the finalists and winners (indicated in red)!

2022 Best Action Adventure Finalists
“Murder at Buckskin Joe” – J.v.L. Bell

“Killers!: A Natalie McMasters Mystery” – Thomas A. Burns, Jr.
“Castoffs of the Gods” / Sonja Dewing
“The Cornmarket Conspiracy” / Sharon Hoisager
“Fatal Depth” / Timothy S. Johnston
“Beneath a Wrathful Sun” / M. Elliot Lamb
“The Pilate Scroll” / M.B. Lewis
“Came A Horseman” / Paul McHugh
“Alaskan Christmas Escape” / Juno Rushdan
“The Last of Her” / Brent Spencer


2022 Best Cozy Finalists

Where the Light Shines Through” –  Kathleen Bailey

“Dead on My Feet”-  Patricia Broderick
“An Embarrassment of Itches” / M.K. Dean
“Time After Tyme” / Kay DiBianca
“The Evening’s Amethyst” / M. K. Graff
“Suitable for Framing” / Lori Roberts Herbst
“The Unkindness of Ravens” / M.E. Hilliard
“Muffins & Magic” / Polly Holmes
“Death By Chance” / Abigail Keam
“The Fog Ladies: In the Soup” / Susan McCormick
“Gone Missin’” / Peggy O’Neal Peden
“Death at the Salon” / Louise Rose-Innes
“Murder Worth a Thousand Words” / Becki Willis
“Stitch, Bake, Die!” / Lois Winston


2022 Best Historical Finalists

Heirs of Falcon Point” –  Traci Abramson

“Cry of the Innocent” / Julie Bates
“The Turncoat’s Widow” / Mally Becker
“After Alice Fell” / Kim Taylor Blakemore
“The Artist Colony” / Joanna FitzPatrick
“No One Must Know” / Susan Frances
“Murder Under A Full Moon: A 1930s Mona Moon Mystery” / Abigail Keam
“Murder Under A New Moon” / Abigail Keam
“The Promise of Deception” / Jessica Sly
“Zebra: Friends by Fate. Enemies by Destiny” / Jill Wallace


2022 Best Investigator Finalists

All That Fall” –  Kris Calvin

“The Blessed Bones” / Kathryn Casey
“Girl Missing” / Kate Gable
“Be Mine Forever” / D.K. Hood
“In the Name Of” / Candace Irving
“Now & Then” / Justin M. Kiska
“The Lost Dragon Murder” / Michael Allan Mallory
“The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon” / Marcy McCreary
“Striking Range: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery” / Margaret Mizushima
“Hide in Place” / Emilya Naymark
“At First Light” / Barbara Nickless
“The Labyrinth” / Owen Parr
“The Winter Girls” / Roger Stelljes


2022 Best Mystery Finalists

An Ambush of Widows” – Jeff Abbot

“Red Rabbit On The Run” –  Jodi Bowersox
“Bluff” / John DeDakis
“A Killer’s Daughter” / Jenna Kernan
“When Silence Screams” / Mark Edward Langley
“The Dark Remains” / William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin
“Spirit: An Andrea Kelley Mystery (The Archivist Book 2)” / Elle Andrews Patt
“The Archivist” / Rex Pickett
“The Scorpion’s Tail” / Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
“Grave Reservations” / Cherie Priest
“The Ruthless” / David Putnam
“Hunted in the Holler” / Drew Strickland
“Death and Consequences, An Eastern Shore Mystery” / Cheril Thomas
“The First Day of Spring” / Nancy Tucker
“Bye, Buy Baby” / Becki Willis


2022 Best Sci-fi / Fantasy Finalists

Journey to the Past” –  Esteban Corio

“Schrodinger’s Cat” –  Ronald Crittenden
“Hall of Skulls” / Jamie Eubanks
“The Last Beekeeper” / Jared Gulian
“House of Bastiion” / K.L. Kolarich
“Beryl Blue, Time Cop” / Janet Raye Stevens
“Tomb of the Queen” / Joss Walker
“Consent, Vol. 1: Erdos” / Wilson Whitlow
“Missing on Orbital 4: A Jake Hemlock Adventure” / Cory Wilcox


2022 Best Suspense Finalists

“In Harm’s Way” – Traci Abramson

“Redemption” – Traci Abramson
“Nanny Needed” / Georgina Cross
“Waiting for the Night Song” / Julie Carrick Dalton
“Hostile Intent” / Lynette Eason
“Furious: Sailing into Terror” / Jeffrey James Higgins
“Rattlesnake Road” / Amanda McKinney
“Redemption Road” / Amanda McKinney
“The Reunion” / Kiersten Modglin
“Cottonmouth: A Jessica James Mystery” / Kelly Oliver
“Woman in Shadow” / Carrie Stuart Parks
“Her Ocean Grave” / Dana Perry
“The Next Wife” / Kaira Rouda
“What Comes After” / JoAnne Tompkins
“Beneath the Marigolds” / Emily C. Whitson


2022 Best Thriller Finalists

Her Name is Knight” – Yasmin Angoe

“The Ambulance Chaser” – Brian Cuban
“The Chaos Kind” / Barry Eisler
“Devil’s Ledger” / Lorraine Evanoff
“A Slow Fire Burning” / Paula Hawkins
“Furious: Sailing into Terror” / Jeffrey James Higgins
“56 Days” / Catherine Ryan Howard
“Blink of an Eye” / Iris Johansen
“The Missing Piece” / John Lescroart
“Stone the Dead Crows” / Carrie Magillen
“The Family Tree” / Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry
“Point Option” / Ian O’Connor
“The Kingdoms” / Natahsa Pulley
“The Siren” / Katherine St. John
“Impostor Syndrome” / Kathy Wang


2022 Silver Falchion Best Books of 2021
“Girl Missing” / Kate Gable
“The Reunion” / Kiersten Modglin

 

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Shamus Awards – 2022

The 2022 Shamus Award Winners, for private eye novels and short stories first published in the United States in 2021, have been announced. PWA’s (Private Eye Writers of America) definition of a Private Eye: a person paid to investigate crimes who is not employed by a government agency. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (noted in red).

BEST PI HARDCOVER
RUNNER  by Tracy Clark
LAST REDEMPTION  by Matt Coyle
PAY OR PLAY  by Howard Michael Gould
FAMILY BUSINESS  by S. J. Rozan
HEAD CASE  by Michael Wiley

 

BEST ORIGINAL PI PAPERBACK
EVERY CITY IS EVERY OTHER CITY  by John McFetridge
THE BURDEN OF INNOCENCE  by John Nardizzi
ANGELS IN THE WIND  by Manuel Ramos
FROG IN A BUCKET  by Clive Rosengren
AN EMPTY GRAVE  by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

 
BEST FIRST PI NOVEL
PORNO VALLEY  by Philip Elliot
A DEAD MAN’S EYES  by Lori Duffy Foster
SUBURBAN DICKS  by Fabian Nicieza
THE ARRANGEMENT  by M. Ravenel
LOST LITTLE GIRL  by Gregory Stout

 
BEST  PI SHORT STORY
DISPOSABLE WOMEN  by Michael Bracken (ToughCrime.com)
SIXTEEN LIES  by Matt Goldman (EQMM September/October)
SWEEPS WEEK  by Richard Helms (EQMM July/August)
ORO DE TONTOS (FOOL’S GOLD)  by Tom Larsen (AHMM November/December)
THE HIDDEN PLACES  by Linda Stansberry (EQMM May/June)

 

 

 

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2022 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism

 

 

 

 

The 2022 winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Journalism have been announced. The Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to the American news organization that wins the Public Service category. Congratulations to all the talented writers and staffs! (Descriptions of the Public Service Category, as well as the individual awards, are credited to the Pulitzer site) Click on the links (in brown) to learn more about the winners.

 

The Washington Post Public Service Category
For its compellingly told and vividly presented account of the assault on Washington on January 6, 2021, providing the public with a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days.

 

Staff of the Miami Herald Breaking News Reporting
For its urgent yet sweeping coverage of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex, merging clear and compassionate writing with comprehensive news and accountability reporting.

 

Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of the Tampa Bay Times Investigative Reporting
For a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.

 

Staff of Quanta Magazine, New York, N.Y., notably Natalie Wolchover Explanatory Reporting
For coverage that revealed the complexities of building the James Webb Space Telescope, designed to facilitate groundbreaking astronomical and cosmological research.

 

Madison Hopkins of the Better Government Association and Cecilia Reyes of the Chicago Tribune Local Reporting
For a piercing examination of the city’s long history of failed building- and fire-safety code enforcement, which let scofflaw landlords commit serious violations that resulted in dozens of unnecessary deaths.

 

Staff of The New York Times National Reporting
For an ambitious project that quantified a disturbing pattern of fatal traffic stops by police, illustrating how hundreds of deaths could have been avoided and how officers typically avoided punishment.

 

Staff of The New York Times, notably Azmat Khan, contributing writer International Reporting
For courageous and relentless reporting that exposed the vast civilian toll of U.S.-led airstrikes, challenging official accounts of American military engagements in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. (Moved by the Board from the Public Service category, where it was also nominated.)

 

Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic Feature Writing
For an unflinching portrait of a family’s reckoning with loss in the 20 years since 9/11, masterfully braiding the author’s personal connection to the story with sensitive reporting that reveals the long reach of grief.

 

Melinda Henneberger of The Kansas City Star Commentary
For persuasive columns demanding justice for alleged victims of a retired police detective accused of being a sexual predator.

 

Salamishah Tillet, contributing critic at large, The New York Times Criticism
For learned and stylish writing about Black stories in art and popular culture–work that successfully bridges academic and nonacademic critical discourse.

 

Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco of the Houston Chronicle Editorial Writing
For a campaign that, with original reporting, revealed voter suppression tactics, rejected the myth of widespread voter fraud and argued for sensible voting reforms.

 

Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider, New York, N.Y. Illustrated Reporting and Commentary
For using graphic reportage and the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public.

 

Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times Breaking News Photography
For raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country. (Moved from Feature Photography by the jury.)

Win McNamee, Drew Angerer, Spencer Platt, Samuel Corum and Jon Cherry of Getty Images
For comprehensive and consistently riveting photos of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

 

 

 

 

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2022 Hammett Prize

The Hammett Prize is bestowed by The International Association of Crime Writers (North American Branch). The award was given in June, 2022 for a 2021 work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by an American or Canadian author. The prize is the famous ‘Thin Man’ bronze trophy, and bragging rights. 🙂


Congratulations to the winner (indicated in red) and all the nominees!

  • Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby – a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change—and maybe even redemption. 
  • Stung, by William Deverell – a lawyer must defend seven boisterous environmentalists accused of sabotaging an Ontario plant that pumps out a pesticide that has led to the mass death of honeybees.
  • Five Decembers, by James Kestrel – a gripping thriller, a staggering portrait of war, and a heartbreaking love story.
  • Harlem Shuffle, by Colson Whitehead – entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.
  • The Sacrifice of Lester Yates, by Robin Yocum – new political thriller from the author of bestselling novel The Essay.

(book descriptions from Barnes & Noble and Amazon) 

 

 

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