Announcing the 2021 Anthony Award winners

Over the weekend, during a virtual celebration of “Bouchercon,” the world mystery convention, the winners of the Anthony Awards were announced. The “Anthonys” honor the year’s best achievements in mystery and crime fiction. This is the thirty-sixth year the awards have been handed out. Keep scrolling below for a list of the year’s Anthony winners and nominees. Congratulations to all the authors.

___________________________________

BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL

___________________________________

Winner:

Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Nominees:

What You Don’t See, by Tracy Clark (Kensington)

Little Secrets, by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books)

And Now She’s Gone, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge Books)

The First to Lie, by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books)

***

Tracy Clark on 8 Fictional Divas in Desperate Need of a Reality Check

S.A. Cosby on how Pain is Universal

Jennifer Hiller on how How Being a Parent Helps Me Write Thrillers

Rachel Howzell Hall on the Art of Disappearing

Hank Phillippi Ryan on a Reporter’s Tips for Going Undercover

___________________________________

BEST FIRST NOVEL

___________________________________​

Winner:

Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco Press)

Nominees:

Derailed, by Mary Keliikoa (Camel Press)

Murder in Old Bombay, by Nev March (Minotaur Books)

Murder at the Mena House, by Erica Ruth Neubauer (Kensington)

The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Pamela Dorman Books)

***

Mary Keliikoa on Hardworking Moms in Mysteries

Nev March on an Old Family Mystery

Erica Ruth Neubauer on Historical Mysteries Set in the 1920s

Richard Osman on why all British people are potential murderers

David Heska Wanbli Weiden on why indigenous crime fiction matters

___________________________________

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL/E-BOOK/AUDIOBOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL

___________________________________

Winner:

Unspeakable Things, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)

Nominees:

The Fate of a Flapper, by Susanna Calkins (Griffin)

When No One is Watching, by Alyssa Cole (William Morrow)

The Lucky One, by Lori Rader-Day (William Morrow)

Dirty Old Town, by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)

***

Alyssa Cole on social justice in crime fiction

Jess Lourey on the year’s newly launched crime and mystery series

Lori Rader-Day talks with Deborah Halber about crime-solving communities and the Doe Network

___________________________________

BEST SHORT STORY

___________________________________

Winner:

“90 Miles,” by Alex Segura, Both Sides: Stories From the Border (Agora Books)

Nominees:

“Dear Emily Etiquette,” by Barb Goffman, EQMM (Dell Magazines)

“The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74,” by Art Taylor, AHMM (Jan-Feb) (Dell Magazines)

“Elysian Fields,” by Gabriel Valjan, California Schemin’ (Wildside Press)

“The Twenty-Five Year Engagement,” by James W. Ziskin, In League with Sherlock Holmes (Pegasus Crime)

***

Alex Segura on new work from Ed Brubaker

James W. Ziskin on Using a Few Tricks from Proust to Find the Past

___________________________________

BEST JUVENILE/YOUNG ADULT

___________________________________

Winner:

Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco, by Richie Narvaez (Piñata Books)

Nominees:

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, by Fleur Bradley (Viking Books for Young Readers)

Premeditated Myrtle, by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)

From the Desk of Zoe Washington, by Janae Marks (Katherine Tegen Books)

Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, by Alex Segura (Disney Lucasfilm Press)

***

Alex Segura on “Bog Bodies”

___________________________________

BEST CRITICAL NON-FICTION WORK

___________________________________

Winner:

Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession, edited by Sarah Weinman (Ecco Press)

Nominees:

Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy, by Leslie Brody (Seal Press)

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics and the Birth of American CSI, by Kate Winkler Dawson (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club, edited by Martin Edwards (Collins Crime Club)

The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia, by Emma Copley Eisenberg (Hachette Books)

Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman behind Hitchcock, by Christina Lane (Chicago Review Press)

***

Christina Lane on the women behind Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’

Martin Edwards on The Man Who Didn’t Fly, A Most Original Mystery

Sarah Weinman on the brief life of Linda Millar

Kate Winkler Dawson on how, a hundred years ago, a ‘criminalist’ deciphers the story behind a murder from a single ear

___________________________________

BEST ANTHOLOGY OR COLLECTION

___________________________________

Winner:

Shattering Glass: A Nasty Woman Press Anthology, edited by Heather Graham (Nasty Woman Press)

Nominees:

Both Sides: Stories from the Border, edited by Gabino Iglesias (Agora Books)

Noiryorican, by Richie Narvaez (Down & Out Books)

The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter (Untreed Reads Publishing)

California Schemin,‘ edited by Art Taylor (Wildside Press)

Lockdown: Stories of Crime, Terror, and Hope During a Pandemic, edited by Nick Kolakowski and Steve Weddle (Polis Books)

***

Nick Kolakowski on the best getaway drivers in crime fiction