DASHIELL HAMMETT AWARD

The winner of the 2023 Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing was named by the International Association of Crime Writers (North American Branch) on June 17. The award is given to a book, originally published in the English language in the United States or Canada, “that best represents the conception of literary excellence in crime writing.”

• Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

Other Nominees

• The Almost Widow by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (Harper Avenue)
• Night Letter by Sterling Watson (Akashic)
• The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Stealing by Margaret Verble (Mariner)

NGAIO MARSH AWARDS

The organizers of New Zealand’s annual Ngaio Marsh Awards have released their longlist of 12 nominees for the 2024 Best Novel prize:

• Dice, by Claire Baylis (Allen & Unwin)
• The Caretaker, by Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)
• Ritual of Fire, by D.V. Bishop (Macmillan)
• Birnam Wood, by Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Pet, by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• El Flamingo, by Nick Davies (YBK)
• Double Jeopardy, by Stef Harris (Quentin Wilson)
• The Quarry, by Kim Hunt (Spiral Collectives)
• Devil’s Breath, by Jill Johnson (Black & White/Bonnier)
• Going Zero, by Anthony Mccarten (Macmillan)
• Home Before Night, by J.P. Pomare (Hachette)
• Expectant, by Vanda Symon (Orenda)

The longlist is currently being considered by an international panel of crime and thriller writing experts from the USA, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Finalists for Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA will be announced in early August, with the finalists celebrated and winners announced as part of a special event held in association with WORD Christchurch in late August.

KILLER NASHVILLE SILVER FALCHION

Finalists have been announced for the 2024 Silver Falchion award given by the Killer Nashville Writers Conference in Franklin, Tennessee. The Silver Falchion award categories cover the spectrum of popular literature.

BEST MYSTERY

• Mouse in the Box by Lewis Allan
• Indigo Road by Reed Bunzel
• Beautiful Death by John Deal
• Secrets Don’t Sink by Kate B. Jackson
• BeatNikki’s Café by Renee James
• The Empty Kayak by Jode Millman

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS

The Strand Magazine has announced the nominees for its 2024 Strand Magazine Critics Awards.

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Mulholland)
• Small Mercies, by Dennis Lehane (Harper)
• Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Prom Mom, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• Time’s Undoing, by Cheryl A. Head (Dutton)
• The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)

BEST DEBUT MYSTERY

• Fadeaway Joe, by Hugh Lessig (Crooked Lane)
• Mother-Daughter Murder Night, by Nina Simon (Morrow)
• The House in the Pines, by Ana Reyes (Dutton)
• Don’t Forget the Girl, by Rebecca McKanna (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• Adrift, by Lisa Brideau (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I.S. Berry (Atria)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (both)

• Kathy Reichs 
• Max Allan Collins 

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR AWARD

• Jonathan Karp of Simon and Schuster

PUBLIC SAFETY WRITERS ASSOCIATION WRITING COMPETITION

At the Public Safety Writers Association Conference, the winners of the PSWA Writing Awards were announced.

The Marilyn Meredith Award for Excellence in Writing

• Colin Conway

Best Book Cover

• Hope Dies Last, A Stefan Kopriva Mystery by Frank Zafiro

Published Fiction Books–Police Procedural

• Colin Conway for The Fate of Our Years, A 509 Crime Story

Published Fiction Books–Thriller

• Devil Within, A Nathan Parker Detective Novel by James L’Etoile

Published Fiction Books–Suspense

• Hope Dies Last, A Stefan Kopriva Mystery by Frank Zaffiro

Published Non-Fiction Book

• The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story That Shocked America by James Bartlett

Best Published Memoir

Living With Mr. Fahrenheit by Lisa Beecher