Anthony Award Finalist—Times Two!

Bouchercon has announced the finalist for the 2021 Anthony Awards—and what a thrill to find my own work on the slate!

“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74,” originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and then the title story for my collection for Crippen & Landru, has been named a finalist for Best Short Story, alongside stories by Barb Goffman, Alex Segura, Gabriel Valjan, and James W. Ziskin. (You can read my story here.)

And California Schemin’: Bouchercon Anthology 2020 has been named a finalist for Best Anthology or Collection, alongside books edited by Heather Graham, Gabino Iglesias, Josh Pachter, and Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle, plus a single-author collection by Richie Narvaez.

Congratulations to all—and to writers on the full slate of finalists below!

Best Hardcover Novel

  • What You Don’t See – Tracy Clark
  • Blacktop Wasteland – S.A. Cosby – Flatiron Books
  • Little Secrets – Jennifer Hillier – Minotaur Books
  • And Now She’s Gone – Rachel Howzell Hall – Forge Books
  • The First to Lie – Hank Phillippi Ryan – Forge Books

Best First Novel

  • Derailed – Mary Keliikoa – Camel Press
  • Murder in Old Bombay – Nev March – Minotaur Books
  • Murder at the Mena House – Erica Ruth Neubauer – Kensington
  • The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman – Pamela Dorman Books
  • Winter Counts – David Heska Wanbli Weiden – Ecco Press


Best Paperback Original/E-Book/Audiobook Original Novel

  • The Fate of a Flapper – Susanna Calkins – Griffin
  • When No One is Watching – Alyssa Cole – William Morrow
  • Unspeakable Things – Jess Lourey – Thomas & Mercer
  • The Lucky One – Lori Rader-Day – William Morrow
  • Dirty Old Town – Gabriel Valjan – Level Best Books


Best Short Story

  • “Dear Emily Etiquette” – Barb Goffman – EQMM – Dell Magazines
  • “90 Miles” – Alex Segura – Both Sides: Stories From the Border – Agora Books
  • “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74” – Art Taylor – AHMM (Jan-Feb) – Dell Magazines
  • “Elysian Fields” – Gabriel Valjan – California Schemin’ – Wildside Press
  • “The Twenty-Five Year Engagement” – James W. Ziskin – In League with Sherlock Holmes – Pegasus Crime

Best Juvenile/Young Adult

  • Midnight at the Barclay Hotel – Fleur Bradley – Viking Books for Young Readers
  • Premeditated Myrtle – Elizabeth C. Bunce – Algonquin Young Readers
  • From the Desk of Zoe Washington – Janae Marks – Katherine Tegen Books
  • Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco – Richie Narvaez – Piñata Books
  • Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall – Alex Segura – Disney Lucasfilm Press


Best Critical or Nonfiction Work

  • Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy – Leslie Brody – Seal Press
  • American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics and the Birth of American CSI – Kate Winkler Dawson – G.P. Putnam’s Sons
  • Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club – Martin Edwards, ed. – Collins Crime Club
  • The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia – Emma Copley Eisenberg – Hachette Books
  • Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman behind Hitchcock – Christina Lane – Chicago Review Press
  • Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession – Sarah Weinman, ed. – Ecco Press


Best Anthology or Collection

  • Shattering Glass: A Nasty Woman Press Anthology – Heather Graham, ed. – Nasty Woman Press
  • Both Sides: Stories from the Border – Gabino Iglesias, ed. – Agora Books
  • Noiryorican – Richie Narvaez – Down & Out Books
  • The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell – Josh Pachter, ed. – Untreed Reads Publishing
  • California Schemin’ – Art Taylor. ed. – Wildside Press
  • Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic – Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle, eds. – Polis Books
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