Eyes on the Prizes

This weekend brought thousands of crime-fiction authors and fans to Anchorage, Alaska, for the 18th annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, named in honor of 20th-century writer, critic, and editor Anthony Boucher. It was a chance for readers to hobnob with novelists whose work they’ve admired, and for writers to party amongst themselves and hear what the people who buy their books think of their efforts. Oh, and did I mention the partying?

As usual, Bouchercon was also the occasion during which a variety of annual commendations of several varieties were handed out. Below is a list of the winners. Click on the name of each award to find information about other books nominated for those same prizes.

ANTHONY AWARD WINNERS
Best Novel: No Good Deeds, by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins)
Best First Novel: Still Life, by Louise Penny (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Best Paperback Original: Ashes and Bones, by Dana Cameron (Avon)
Best Short Story: “My Father’s Secret,” by Simon Wood (Crimespree Magazine, Bouchercon Special Issue)
Best Critical Non-fiction: Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today’s Mystery Writers, edited by Jim Huang and Austin Lugar (Crum Creek Press)
Special Services Award: Jim Huang, Crum Creek Press and The Mystery Company

SHAMUS AWARD WINNERS
Best Hardcover: The Dramatist, by Ken Bruen (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Best Paperback Original: An Unquiet Grave, by P.J. Parrish (Pinnacle)
Best First Novel: The Wrong Kind of Blood, by Declan Hughes (Morrow)
Best Short Story: “The Heart Has Reasons,” by O’Neil De Noux (Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September 2006)
“The Eye” Award (recognizing a lifetime’s achievement: Stuart M. Kaminsky
“The Hammer” Award (recognizing a memorable private eye character or a series): Hollywood gumshoe Shell Scott, created by Richard S. Prather
St. Martin’s/Private Eye Writers of America Contest Winner: Keith Gilman

MACAVITY AWARD WINNERS
Best Mystery Novel: The Virgin of Small Plains, by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)
Best First Novel: Mr. Clarinet, by Nick Stone (Michael Joseph Ltd./Penguin)
Best Non-fiction: Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today’s Mystery Writers, edited by Jim Huang and Austin Lugar (Crum Creek)
Best Short Story: “Till Death Do Us Part,” by Tim Maleeny (from Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust, and Murder, edited by Harlan Coben; Little, Brown)
Sue Feder Historical Mystery: Oh Danny Boy, by Rhys Bowen (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

BARRY AWARD WINNERS
Best Novel: The Night Gardener, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)
Best First Novel: Still Life, by Louise Penny (St. Martin’s Minotaur)
Best British Novel: Priest, by Ken Bruen (Bantam Press)
Best Thriller: The Messenger, by Daniel Silva (Putnam)
Best Paperback Original: The Cleanup, by Sean Doolittle (Dell)
Best Short Story: “The Right Call,” by Brendan DuBois (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2006)
Don Sandstrom Memorial Award (for lifetime achievement in mystery fandom): Beth Fedyn.

READ MORE: “Mystery Writers Convene in Alaska with CSI Experts, Judges, and Cadaver Dogs,” by Steve Quinn (AP).