To be presented at this year’s Bouchercon in Minneapolis. The awards are named after the esteemed critic and writer Anthony Boucher.

Anthony Award Nominations 2022

Best Novel

RUNNER by Tracy Clark (Kensington)
RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
THE COLLECTIVE by Alison Gaylin (Morrow)
CLARK AND DIVISION by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
THESE TOXIC THINGS by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)

Best First Novel

HER NAME IS KNIGHT by Yasmin Angoe (Thomas & Mercer)
THE OTHER BLACK GIRL by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Atria)
WALKING THROUGH NEEDLES by Heather Levy (Polis)
ARSENIC AND ADOBO by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley Prime Crime)
ALL HER LITTLE SECRETS by Wanda M. Morris (Morrow)

Best Paperback/EBook/AudioBook

THE NINJA BETRAYED by Tori Eldridge (Agora)
WARN ME WHEN IT’S TIME by Cheryl A. Head (Bywater)
BURY ME IN SHADOWS by Greg Herren (Bold Strokes)
THE MOTHER NEXT DOOR by Tara Laskowski (Graydon House)
BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)

Comments: Usually the Anthony Award nominations have a lot of similarity to the Barry Award nominations (both fan-based), but not his year. Only RAZORBLADE TEARS by S. A. Cosby and ARSENIC AND ADOBO by Mia P. Manansala appear on both lists.

I have the same criticism of these nominations that I did of the Goodreads Summer List: 13 female authors and 2 male authors. Unbalanced. I agree that Shawn Cosby wrote the best crime novel of 2021, but I don’t think that all of the female authors nominated wrote better books than Michael Connelly, Chris Whitaker, Mick Herron, James Kestrel and Stephen King. Just sayin’.