The 2020 International Thriller Writers Awards winners were announced at a virtual ThrillerFest on July 11.

The award is given by the International Thriller Writers, whose emeritus directors include Lee Child and R.L. Stine.

However, the award news was overshadowed by the group’s RWA-type implosion last month when most of the working board members resigned, some following out the door a director who quit over the board’s inadequate response to an ITW member’s harassment complaint. Others left when a statement issued by the board about the protests against police violence and racism was criticized as insensitive by a large number of authors.

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL

• Adrian McKinty — The Chain (Mulholland Books)

BEST FIRST NOVEL

• Angie Kim — Miracle Creek (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL

• Dervla McTiernan — The Scholar (Penguin Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

• Tara Laskowski — “The Long-Term Tenant” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

• Tom Ryan — Keep This To Yourself (Albert Whitman & Company)

BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL

• Kerry Wilkinson — Close To You (Bookouture)