Things We Do in the Dark, by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur)
The Fervor, by Alma Katsu (Putnam)
The Children on the Hill, by Jennifer McMahon (Simon & Schuster)
Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone (MCD)
Sundial, by Catriona Ward (Macmillan)
BEST AUDIOBOOK
Young Rich Widows, by Kimberly Belle, Fargo Layne, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie; narrated by Dina Pearlman, Karissa Vacker, Helen Laser, and Ariel Blake (Audible)
The Lies I Tell, by Julie Clark; narrated by Anna Caputo and Amanda Dolan (Audible)
The Photo Thief, by J.L. Delozier; narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs and Jeffrey Kafer (CamCat)
Things We Do in the Dark, by Jennifer Hillier; narrated by Carla Vega (Macmillan Audio)
The Silent Woman, by Minka Kent; narrated by Christine Lakin and Kate Rudd (Blackstone)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
The Resemblance, by Lauren Nossett (Flatiron)
Blood Sugar, by Sascha Rothchild (Putnam)
Dirt Creek (aka Dirt Town), by Hayley Scrivenor (Flatiron)
A Flicker in the Dark, by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)
The Fields, by Erin Young (Flatiron)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
The Lies I Told, by Mary Burton (Montlake)
No Place to Run, by Mark Edwards (Thomas & Mercer)
Unmissing, by Minka Kent (Thomas & Mercer)
The Housemaid, by Freida McFadden (Grand Central)
Anywhere You Run, by Wanda Morris (Morrow)
The Couple Upstairs, by Holly Wainwright (Pan Macmillan)
The Patient’s Secret, by Loreth Anne White (Montlake)
BEST SHORT STORY
“Russian for Beginners,” by Dominique Bibeau (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], March/April 2022)
“The Gift,” by Barb Goffman (from Land of 10,000 Thrills, edited by Greg Herren; Down & Out)
“Publish or Perish,” by Smita Harish Jain (EQMM, September/October 2022)
“33 Clues Into the Disappearance of My Sister,” by Joyce Carol Oates (EQMM, March/April 2022)
“Schrödinger, Cat,” by Anna Scotti (EQMM, March/April 2022)
“Stockholm,” by Catherine Steadman (Amazon Original Stories)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Our Crooked Hearts, by Melissa Albert (Flatiron)
Sugaring Off, by Gillian French (Algonquin Young Readers)
Daughter, by Kate McLaughlin (Wednesday)
What’s Coming to Me, by Francesca Padilla (Soho Teen)
I’m the Girl, by Courtney Summers (Wednesday)
BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Evasive Species, by Bill Byrnes (Self-published)
The Couple at Causeway Cottage, by Diane Jeffrey (HarperCollins)
The Seven Truths of Hannah Baxter, by Grant McKenzie (Self-published)
The Hollow Place, by Rick Mofina (Self-published)
Fatal Rounds, by Carrie Rubin (Self-published)
Two other awards will be presented at ThrillerFest:
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)