Crime Fiction Awards News To Begin 2022

Crime fiction award season is gearing up and the finalists for the 2022 Barry Awards and 2021 Agatha Awards have been announced.

2022 BARRY AWARDS

BEST MYSTERY/CRIME NOVEL

  • The Dark Hours, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
  • Razorblade Tears, S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
  • Last Redemption, Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
  • Clark and Division, Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
  • Billy Summers, Stephen King (Scribner)
  • We Begin at the End, Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY/CRIME NOVEL

  • Who Is Maude Dixon?, Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)
  • Girl A, Abigail Dean (Viking)
  • Down Range, Taylor Moore (William Morrow)
  • Falling, T. J. Newman (Simon & Schuster)
  • Sleeping Bear, Connor Sullivan (Emily Bestler/Atria)
  • Steel Fear, Brandon Webb & John David Mann (Bantam)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

  • The Hunted, Gabriel Bergmoser (Harpercollins)
  • Arsenic and Adobo, Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
  • Black Coral, Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)
  • The Good Turn, Dervla Mctiernan (Blackstone)
  • Search For Her, Rick Mofina (Mira)
  • Bound, Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

BEST THRILLER

  • The Devil’s Hand, Jack Carr (Emily Bestler/Atria)
  • The Nameless Ones, John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria)
  • Dead By Dawn, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
  • Relentless, Mark Greaney (Berkley)
  • Slough House, Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
  • Five Decembers, James Kestrel (Hardcase Crime)

The winners of these awards will be announced at the Opening Ceremonies at the Minneapolis Bouchercon on September 8, 2022.

THE 2021 AGATHA AWARD NOMINEES

BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL

  • Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
  • Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
  • The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
  • Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
  • Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)
  • BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL
  • Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
  • Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
  • The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
  • Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)
  • The Devil’s Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)
  • BEST FIRST NOVEL
  • The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
  • A Dead Man’s Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books)
  • Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
  • Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books)
  • Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)
  • BEST SHORT STORY
  • “A Family Matter” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021)
  • “A Tale of Two Sisters” by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
  • “Doc’s at Midnight” by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books)
  • “The Locked Room Library” by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021)
  • “Bay of Reckoning” by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
  • BEST NON-FICTION
  • The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press)
  • Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
  • The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press)
  • How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)
  • BEST CHILDREN’S/YA MYSTERY
  • ?Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
  • The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan)
  • I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)
  • Leisha’s Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books)
  • Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

The awards will be presented during Malice Domestic, which is being held April 22-24 in Bethesda, MD.

[Thanks to Cora Buhlert and Todd Mason for the information.]

One thought on “Crime Fiction Awards News To Begin 2022

  1. I read the first three book in Mick Herron’s Slough House series because his latest got stellar reviews. He creates incredible twisty back-stabbing plots and his flawed characters are entertaining. Highly recommend. Towards the end of the first one I thought “WHAT???”, and the second “REALLY??”

    I really wondered if the government and the spy business were really like that and, honestly, would absolutely not be surprised. Probably worse.

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