Anthony Award Nominations 2021

Anthony Boucher for whom the Anthony Awards are named

Best Hardcover Novel

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

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

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books)

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

The First to Lie – Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge Books)

Best First Novel

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)

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco Press)


Best Paperback Original/E-Book/Audiobook Original Novel

The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins (Griffin)

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

Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)

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

Dirty Old Town by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)


Best Short Story

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

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

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)

Best Juvenile/Young Adult

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)

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

Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall byAlex 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 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)

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

Editor’s Comment: Three of my favorite books, BLACKTOP WASTELAND, WINTER COUNTS and THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB are nominated, so I’m a happy camper.