The Nero Award is presented each year to an author for the best American Mystery written in the tradition of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories.
Stephen Spotswood for Fortune Favors the Dead (Doubleday).
2021 BLACK ORCHID NOVELLA AWARD
The Black Orchid Novella Award is presented jointly by The Wolfe Pack and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine to celebrate the novella format popularized by Rex Stout.
Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson for “The Man Who Went Down Under.” The novella will be published in the July 2022 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.
Honorable mentions for the Black Orchid Novella Award went to:
“Bad Apples” by Kathleen Marple Kalb (writing as Nikki Knight)
“The Inside Shake” by Jason Koontz
“House of Tigers” by William Burton McCormick
“The Mystery of the Missing Woman” by Regina M. Sestak
Sansom is the creator of the bestselling Shardlake series, set in the reign of Henry VIII and following the sixteenth-century lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak.
[Thanks to Cora Buhlert and Todd Mason for these stories.]
The 2021 International Thriller Writers Awards winners were announced on July 10 during the virtual Thrillerfest. The award is given by the International Thriller Writers, whose board of directors boasts such famous members as the authors Heather Graham and Kathy Reichs.
BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
S.A. Cosby – Blacktop Wasteland (Flatiron Books)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
David Heska Wanbli Weiden – Winter Counts (Ecco)
BEST ORIGINAL PAPERBACK NOVEL
John Marrs – What Lies Between Us (Thomas & Mercer)
The finalists for the 2021 International Thriller Writers Awards have been announced. The award is given by the International Thriller Writers, whose board of directors boasts such famous members as the authors Heather Graham and Kathy Reichs. ITW will announce the winners at a virtual ThrillerFest on July 10.
BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
S.A. Cosby – BLACKTOP WASTELAND (Flatiron Books)
Joe Ide – HI FIVE (Mulholland Books)
Richard Osman – THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB (Penguin)
Ivy Pochoda – THESE WOMEN (Ecco)
Lisa Unger – CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 (Park Row)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
Jasmine Aimaq – THE OPIUM PRINCE (Soho Press)
Don Bentley – WITHOUT SANCTION (Berkley)
Kyle Perry – THE BLUFFS (Michael Joseph)
Francesca Serritella – GHOSTS OF HARVARD (Random House)
David Heska Wanbli Weiden – WINTER COUNTS (Ecco)
BEST ORIGINAL PAPERBACK NOVEL
Alyssa Cole – WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING (William Morrow Paperbacks)
Layton Green – UNKNOWN 9: GENESIS (Reflector Entertainment)
John Marrs – WHAT LIES BETWEEN US (Thomas & Mercer)
Andrew Mayne – THE GIRL BENEATH THE SEA (Thomas & Mercer)
Benjamin Stevenson – EITHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT (Penguin Random House Australia)
BEST SHORT STORY
Steve Hockensmith – “The Death and Carnage Boy” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Laura Lippman – “Slow Burner” (Amazon Original Stories)
Alan Orloff – “Rent Due” (Down & Out Books)
Elaine Viets – “Dog Eat Dog” (Untreed Reads)
Andrew Welsh-Huggins – “The Mailman” (Down & Out Books)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Demetra Brodsky – LAST GIRLS (Tor Teen)
Andrea Contos – THROWAWAY GIRLS (Kids Can Press)
Kit Frick – I KILLED ZOE SPANOS (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Lily Sparks – TEEN KILLERS CLUB (Crooked Lane Books)
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)
The finalists for the 2020 International Thriller Writers Awards have been announced. The award is given by the International Thriller Writers, whose board of directors boasts such famous members as Lee Child and R.L. Stine. ITW will announce the winners at a virtual ThrillerFest on July 11.
BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
David Baldacci — ONE GOOD DEED (Grand Central Publishing)
Joe Clifford — RAG AND BONE (Oceanview Publishing)
Blake Crouch — RECURSION (Crown)
Rachel Howzell Hall — THEY ALL FALL DOWN (Forge Books)
Adrian McKinty — THE CHAIN (Mulholland Books)
Denise Mina — CONVICTION (Mulholland Books)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
Samantha Downing — MY LOVELY WIFE (Berkley)
Angie Kim — MIRACLE CREEK (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
John McMahon — THE GOOD DETECTIVE (G.P. Putnam’s Son)
Alex Michaelides — THE SILENT PATIENT (Celadon Books)
Lauren Wilkinson — AMERICAN SPY (Random House)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Max Allan Collins — GIRL MOST LIKELY (Thomas & Mercer)
Alison Gaylin — NEVER LOOK BACK (William Morrow Paperbacks)
Alastair Luft — JIHADI BRIDE (Black Rose Writing)
Dervla McTiernan — THE SCHOLAR (Penguin Books)
Lisa Sandlin — THE BIRD BOYS (Cinco Puntos Press)
Kate White — SUCH A PERFECT WIFE (Harper Paperbacks)
BEST SHORT STORY
Hector Acosta — “Turistas” (Down & Out Books)
Michael Cowgill — “Call Me Chuckles” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Tara Laskowski — “The Long-Term Tenant” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Lia Matera — “Snow Job” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction
and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in
paperback from May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019. The
winner is announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival,
hosted in Harrogate each July.
ITW THRILLER AWARDS. The finalists for the 2019 International
Thriller Writers Awards have been announced. The award
is given by the International
Thriller Writers, whose board of directors boasts such famous
members as Lee Child and R.L. Stine. ITW will announce
the winners at ThrillerFest XIV on July 13, 2019 at the Grand
Hyatt, New York City.
BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
Lou Berney — NOVEMBER ROAD (William Morrow)
Julia Heaberlin — PAPER GHOSTS (Ballantine Books)
Jennifer Hillier — JAR OF HEARTS (Minotaur Books)
Karin Slaughter — PIECES OF HER (William Morrow)
Paul Tremblay — THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD (William Morrow)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
Jack Carr — THE TERMINAL LIST (Atria/Emily Bestler Books)
Karen Cleveland — NEED TO KNOW (Ballantine Books)
Ellison Cooper — CAGED (Minotaur Books)
Catherine Steadman — SOMETHING IN THE WATER (Ballantine Books)
C. J. Tudor — THE CHALK MAN (Crown)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Jane Harper — THE LOST MAN (Pan Macmillan Australia)
John Marrs — THE GOOD SAMARITAN (Thomas & Mercer)
Andrew Mayne — THE NATURALIST (Thomas & Mercer)
Kirk Russell — GONE DARK (Thomas & Mercer)
Carter Wilson — MISTER TENDER’S GIRL (Sourcebooks Landmark)
BEST SHORT STORY
Jeffery Deaver — “The Victims’ Club” (Amazon Original Stories)
Emily Devenport — “10,432 Serial Killers (In Hell)” (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)
Scott Loring Sanders — “Window to the Soul” (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)
Helen Smith — “Nana” in KILLER WOMEN: CRIME CLUB ANTHOLOGY #2 (Killer Women Ltd.)
Duane Swierczynski — “Tough Guy Ballet” in FOR THE SAKE OF THE GAME: STORIES INSPIRED BY THE SHERLOCK HOLMES CANON (Pegasus Books)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Teri Bailey Black — GIRL AT THE GRAVE (Tor Teen)
Gillian French — THE LIES THEY TELL (HarperTeen)
Marie Lu — WARCROSS (Penguin Young Readers/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)
Dana Mele — PEOPLE LIKE US (Penguin Young Readers/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers)
Peter Stone — THE PERFECT CANDIDATE (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Clare Chase — MURDER ON THE MARSHES (Bookouture)
Gary Grossman — EXECUTIVE FORCE (Diversion Books)
Samantha Hayes — THE REUNION (Bookouture)
T.S. Nichols — THE MEMORY DETECTIVE (Alibi)
Alan Orloff — PRAY FOR THE INNOCENT (Kindle Press)
The Arthur Ellis Awards are not
named after a writer, but after the official pseudonym of Canada’s hangman and
the trophy is a jumping jack type wood figure on a gallows. Cora
Buhlert says “It’s the only award with a creepier trophy than the old World
Fantasy Award.”
BEST
CRIME NOVEL
Though
the Heavens Fall,
by Anne Emery (ECW Press)
BEST
FIRST CRIME NOVEL
(Sponsored by Rakuten Kobo)
Cobra
Clutch, by A.J. Devlin (NeWest Press)
BEST
CRIME NOVELLA –
The Lou Allin Memorial Award
Murder
Among the Pines,
by John Lawrence Reynolds (Orca Book Publishers)
BEST
CRIME SHORT STORY
(Sponsored by Mystery Weekly Magazine)
“Terminal
City,” by Linda L. Richards (Vancouver Noir, Akashic Books)
BEST
CRIME BOOK IN FRENCH
Adolphus
– Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme, by Hervé Gagnon (Libre Expression)
BEST
JUVENILE/YOUNG ADULT CRIME BOOK
Escape, by Linwood Barclay (Puffin
Canada)
BEST
NONFICTION CRIME BOOK
The
Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the
World,
by Sarah Weinman (Alfred A. Knopf Canada)
BEST
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT –
aka The Unhanged Arthur (Sponsored by Dundurn Press)
James M. Cain: Double Indemnity (Translated by Þórdís Bachmann)
Keigo Higashino: The Devotion of Suspect X (Translated by Ásta S. Guðbjartsdóttir)
Shari Lapena: A Stranger in the House (Translated by Ingunn Snædal)
Pierre Lemaitre: Three Days and a Life (Translated by Friðrik Rafnsson)
Henning Mankell: After the Fire (Translated by Hilmar Hilmarsson)
The jury for the award is composed of Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime
Minister of Iceland, Kolbrún Bergþórsdóttir journalist and literary critic, and
Ragnar Jónasson, crime writer.
