Anthony Awards

Anthony Awards
Awarded for	Best in mystery fiction
Presented by	Bouchercon World Mystery Convention
First awarded	1986
Website	www.bouchercon.com

The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America.^[1] Among the most prestigious awards in the world of mystery writers, the Anthony Awards have helped boost the careers of many recipients.^[2]

Categories[]

Awards are voted for by members attending the annual event and are given in the following categories:

• Best Novel
• Best First Novel
• Best Paperback Original
• Best Short Story
• Best Critical / Non-fiction Work
• Special Service award

The ceremony may also include a number of "wild card" awards.

Anthony Award winners[]

2021[]

• Best Novel award – S. A. Cosby, Blacktop Wasteland
• Best First Novel award – David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Winter Counts
• Best Paperback Original award – Jess Lourey, Unspeakable Things
• Best Young Adult award – Richie Narvaez, Holly Hernandez and the Death of Disco
• Best Short Story award – Alex Segura, "90 Miles"
• Best Critical/Non-Fiction Work award – Sarah Weinman, Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession
• Best Anthology or Collection award – Heather Graham (editor), Shattering Glass: A Nasty Woman Press Anthology

2020[]

• Best Novel award – Hank Phillippi Ryan, The Murder List
• Best First Novel award – Tara Laskowski, One Night Gone
• Best Paperback Original award – Gigi Pandian, The Alchemist’s Illusion
• Best Young Adult award – Jen Conley, Seven Ways to Get Rid of Harry
• Best Short Story award – Alex Segura, "The Red Zone"
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – Mo Moulton, "The Mutual Admiration Society: How Dorothy L. Sayers and her Oxford Circle Remade the World for Women"
• Best Anthology or Collection - Verena Rose, Rita Owen, and Shawn Reilly Simmons, editors, Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible

2019[]

• Best Novel award – Lou Berney, November Road
• Best First Novel award – Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer
• Best Paperback Original award – Lori Rader-Day, Under a Dark Sky
• Best Short Story award – S.A. Cosby, "The Grass Beneath My Feet"
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – Michelle McNamara, I'll Be Gone in the Dark

2018[]

• Best Novel award – Attica Locke, Bluebird, Bluebird
• Best First Novel award – Kellye Garrett, Hollywood Homicide
• Best Paperback Original award – Lori Rader-Day, The Day I Died
• Best Short Story award – Hilary Davidson, “My Side of the Matter”
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
• Bill Crider Award for Best Novel in a Series – Sue Grafton, Y is for Yesterday
• Best Anthology – Gary Phillips, editor, The Obama Inheritance
• Best Online Content – Jungle Red Writers

2017[]

• Best Novel award – Louise Penny, A Great Reckoning
• Best First Novel award – Joe Ide, IQ
• Best Paperback Original award – James W. Ziskin, Heart of Stone
• Best Short Story award – Megan Abbott, Oxford Girl
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
• Best Young Adult Novel – April Henry, The Girl I Used to Be
• Best Anthology or Collection – Greg Herren, editor, Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016
• Best Novella – B.K. Stevens – The Last Blue Glass

2016[]

• Best Novel award – Chris Holm, The Killing Kind
• Best First Novel award – Glen Erik Hamilton, Past Crimes
• Best Paperback Original award – Lou Berney, The Long and Faraway Gone
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – Val McDermid, Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime
• Best Short Story award – Megan Abbott, The Little Men
• Best Young Adult Novel – Joelle Charbonneau, Need
• Best Anthology or Collection – Art Taylor, editor, Murder Under the Oaks ^[3]

2015[]

• Best Novel award – Laura Lippman, After I'm Gone
• Best First Novel award – Lori Rader-Day, The Black Hour
• Best Paperback Original award – Catriona McPherson, The Day She Died
• Best Short Story award – Art Taylor, "The Odds Are Against Us"
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – Hank Phillippi Ryan, ed., Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer's Journey

2014[]

• Best Novel award – William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace
• Best First Novel award – , Yesterday's Echo
• Best Paperback Original award – Catriona McPherson, As She Left It
• Best Short Story award – John Connolly, "The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository"
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – Daniel Stashower, The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot To Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War

2013[]

• Best Novel award – Louise Penny, The Beautiful Mystery
• Best First Novel award – Chris Pavone, The Expats
• Best Paperback Original award – Johnny Shaw, Big Maria
• Best Short Story award – Dana Cameron, "Mischief in Mesopotamia" from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, November 2012
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award – John Connolly and , Books to Die For: The World's Greatest Mystery Writers on the World's Greatest Mystery Novels

2012[]

• Best Novel award — Louise Penny, A Trick of the Light
• Best First Novel award — Sara J. Henry, Learning to Swim
• Best Paperback Original award — Julie Hyzy, Buffalo West Wing
• Best Short Story award — Dana Cameron, "Disarming" from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, June 2011
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Charlaine Harris, The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

2011[]

• Best Novel award — Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead
• Best First Novel award — Hilary Davidson, Damage Done
• Best Paperback Original award — Duane Swierczynski, Expiration Date
• Best Short Story award — Dana Cameron, "Swing Shift", from Crimes By Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — John Curran, Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks
• Special Service award — Ali Karim, Shots

Wildcard awards:

• Best Graphic Novel — Jason Starr, The Chill
• Best Website / Blog — Lucinda Surber & Stan Ulrich, "Stop, You're Killing Me!"
• Lifetime Achievement award — Sara Paretsky

2010[]

• Best Novel award — Louise Penny, The Brutal Telling
• Best First Novel award — Sophie Littlefield, A Bad Day for Sorry
• Best Paperback Original award — Bryan Gruley, Starvation Lake
• Best Short Story award — Hank Phillippi Ryan, "On the House", from Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — P.D. James, Talking About Detective Fiction
• Special Service award — no award issued

2009[]

• Best Novel award — Michael Connelly, The Brass Verdict
• Best First Novel award — Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Best Paperback Original award — Julie Hyzy, State of the Onion
• Best Short Story award — Sean Chercover, "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" from Hardcore Hardboiled
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Jeffrey Marks, Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography
• Special Service award — Jon and Ruth Jordan, publishers and editors of Crimespree magazine

Wildcard awards:

• Best Children's / Young-adult novel — Chris Grabenstein, The Crossroads
• Best Cover art — Peter Mendelsund, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Lifetime Achievement award — Allen J. Hubin

2008[]

• Best Novel award — Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know
• Best First Novel award — Tana French, In the Woods
• Best Paperback Original award — P. J. Parrish, A Thousand Bones
• Best Short Story award — Laura Lippman, "Hardly Knew Her" from Dead Man's Hand
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Jon Lellenberg & Daniel Stashower & Charles Foley, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters
• Special Service award — Jon and Ruth Jordan, publishers and editors of Crimespree magazine

Wildcard awards:

• Best Website / Blog — Lucinda Surber & Stan Ulrich, "Stop, You're Killing Me!"
• Lifetime Achievement award — Robert Rosenwald and Barbara G. Peters

2007[]

• Best Novel award — Laura Lippman, No Good Deeds
• Best First Novel award — Louise Penny, Still Life
• Best Paperback Original award — Dana Cameron, Ashes and Bones
• Best Short Story award — Simon Wood, "My Father's Secret", from Crimespree Magazine B'con 2006 Special Ed, pp 20–22
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Jim Huang & Austin Lugar – Mystery Muses
• Special Service award — Jim Huang, Crum Creek Press and The Mystery Company

Wildcard awards:

• Lifetime Achievement award — James Sallis

2006[]

• Best Novel award — William Kent Krueger, Mercy Falls
• Best First Novel award — Chris Grabenstein, Tilt-a-Whirl
• Best Paperback Original award — Reed Farrel Coleman, The James Deans
• Best Short Story award — Barbara Seranella, "Misdirection", from Greatest Hits
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Marv Lachman, The Heirs of Anthony Boucher
• Special Service award — Janet Rudolph, Mystery Readers International

Wildcard awards:

• Best Fan Publication — Jon and Ruth Jordan, Crimespree Magazine
• Lifetime Achievement award — Robert B. Parker

2005[]

• Best Novel award — William Kent Krueger, Blood Hollow
• Best First Novel award — Harley Jane Kozak, Dating Dead Men
• Best Paperback Original award — Jason Starr, Twisted City
• Best Short Story award — Elaine Viets, "Wedding Knife", from Chesapeake Crimes
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Max Allan Collins & et al., Men's Adventure Magazines
• Special Service award — no award issued

Wildcard awards:

• Best Cover art — Sohrab Habibion, Brooklyn Noir
• Lifetime Achievement award — Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller

2004[]

• Best Novel award — Laura Lippman, Every Secret Thing
• Best First Novel award — P. J. Tracy, Monkeewrench
• Best Paperback Original award — Robin Burcell, Deadly Legacy
• Best Short Story award — Rhys Bowen, "Doppelganger", from Blood on Their Hands
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Gary Warren Niebuhr, Make Mine a Mystery: A Reader's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction
• Special Service award — no award issued

Wildcard awards:

• Best Young-adult mystery — J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Best Historical mystery — Rhys Bowen, For The Love Of Mike

2003[]

• Best Novel award — Michael Connelly, City of Bones
• Best First Novel award — Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter
• Best Paperback Original award — Robin Burcell, Fatal Truth
• Best Short Story award — Marcia Talley, "Too Many Cooks", from Much Ado About Murder
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Jim Huang, They Died in Vain: Overlooked, Underappreciated and Forgotten Mystery Novels
• Special Service award — no award issued

Wildcard awards:

• Best Cover art — Michael Kellner from photograph by Christopher Voelker, Measures of Poison

2002[]

• Best Novel award — Dennis Lehane, Mystic River
• Best First Novel award — C. J. Box, Open Season
• Best Paperback Original award — Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark
• Best Short Story award — Bill Crider & Judy Crider, "Chocolate Moose", from Death Dines at 8:30
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Tony Hillerman, Seldom Disappointed
• Special Service award — Doris Ann Norris

Wildcard awards:

• Best Cover art — Michael Storrings, from photograph by Josef Beck, Reflecting the Sky
• Best Young-adult mystery — Penny Warner, The Mystery of the Haunted Caves

2001[]

• Best Novel award — Val McDermid, A Place of Execution
• Best First Novel award — Qiu Xiaolong, Death of a Red Heroine
• Best Paperback Original award — Kate Grilley, Death Dances to a Reggae Beat
• Best Short Story award — Edward D. Hoch, "The Problem of the Potting Shed", from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine July 2000
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Jim Huang, 100 Favorite Mysteries Of The Century

Wildcard awards:

• Best Anthology / Short-story collection — Lawrence Block, Master's Choice II
• Best Fan publication — Chris Aldrich & Lynn Kaczmarek, Mystery News
• Lifetime Achievement award — Edward D. Hoch

2000[]

• Best Novel award — Peter Robinson, In a Dry Season
• Best First Novel award — Donna Andrews, Murder with Peacocks
• Best Paperback Original award — Laura Lippman, In Big Trouble
• Best Short Story award — Meg Chittenden, "Noir Lite", from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine January 1999
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Willetta L. Heising, Detecting Women (3rd edition)

Wildcard awards:

• Best Series of the century — Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot series
• Best Writer of the century — Agatha Christie
• Best Novel of the century — Daphne Du Maurier, Rebecca
• Lifetime Achievement award — Jane Langton

1999[]

• Best Novel award — Michael Connelly, Blood Work
• Best First Novel award — William Kent Krueger, Iron Lake
• Best Paperback Original award — Laura Lippman, Butchers Hill
• Best Short Story award — Barbara D'Amato, "Of Course You Know that Chocolate Is a Vegetable", from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine November 1998
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — George Easter, Deadly Pleasures Magazine

Wildcard awards:

• Lifetime Achievement award — Len & June Moffatt

1998[]

• Best Novel award — S. J. Rozan, No Colder Place
• Best First Novel award — Lee Child, Killing Floor
• Best Paperback Original award — Rick Riordan, Big Red Tequila
• Best Short Story award — Jan Grape, "A Front Row Seat", from Vengeance is Hers and Edward D. Hoch, "One Bag of Coconuts", from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine November 1997
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — no award issued

Wildcard awards:

• Best Cover art — Michael Kellner, Night Dogs

1997[]

• Best Novel award — Michael Connelly, The Poet
• Best First Novel award — Dale Furutani, Death in Little Tokyo and Terris McMahan Grimes, Somebody Else's Child
• Best Paperback Original award — Terris McMahan Grimes, Somebody Else's Child
• Best Short Story award — Carolyn Wheat, "Accidents Will Happen", from Malice Domestic 5
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Willetta L. Heising, Detecting Women 2: Reader's Guide and Checklist for Mystery Series Written by Women

Wildcard awards:

• Best Fanzine — The Armchair Detective
• Lifetime Achievement award — Donald E. Westlake

1996[]

• Best Novel award — Mary Willis Walker, Under the Beetle's Cellar
• Best First Novel award — Virginia Lanier, Death in Bloodhound Red
• Best Paperback Original award — Harlan Coben, Deal Breaker
• Best Short Story award — Gar Anthony Haywood, "And Pray Nobody Sees You", from Spooks, Spies, and Private Eyes
• Best Critical / Non-Fiction Work award — Kate Stine, The Armchair Detective Book of Lists, 2nd Edition

Wildcard awards:

• Best Cover art — Pamela Patrick, The Body In The Transept
• Best Editor — Sara Ann Freed
• Best Magazine / Digest / Review publication — The Armchair Detective
• Best Movie — The Usual Suspects
• Best Publisher — St. Martin's Press
• Best Short Story collection — Marcia Muller, The McCone Files: The Complete Sharon McCone Stories
• Best True crime — Ann Rule, Dead By Sunset: Perfect Husband, Perfect Killer?
• Best TV show — The X-Files

1995[]

• Best Novel award — Sharyn McCrumb, She Walks These Hills
• Best First Novel award — Caleb Carr, The Alienist
• Best Paperback Original award — no award issued
• Best Short Story award — Sharyn McCrumb, "The Monster of Glamis", from Royal Crimes
• Best Critical work — B.A. Pike & J. Cooper, Crime Fiction, 2nd Edition

Wildcard awards:

• Best Anthology / Short Story collection — Tony Hillerman, The Mysterious West
• Best Film — Pulp Fiction
• Best True crime — David Canter, Criminal Shadows: Inside the Mind of the Serial Killer
• Best TV Series — Prime Suspect
• Lifetime Achievement award — Ruth Rendell

1994[]

• Best Novel award — Marcia Muller, Wolf in the Shadows
• Best First Novel award — Nevada Barr, Track of the Cat
• Best Paperback Original award — no award issued
• Best Short Story award — Susan Dunlap, "Checkout", from Malice Domestic 2
• Best Critical work — Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg & Larry Segriff, The Fine Art Of Murder: The Mystery Reader's Indispensable Companion

Wildcard awards:

• Best Anthology / Short Story collection — Martin H. Greenberg, Mary Higgins Clark presents Malice Domestic 2
• Best True crime — Ann Rule, A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases
• Lifetime Achievement award — Tony Hillerman

1993[]

• Best Novel award — Margaret Maron, Bootlegger's Daughter
• Best First Novel award — Barbara Neely, Blanche on the Lam
• Best Paperback Original award — no award issued
• Best Short Story award — Diane Mott Davidson, "Cold Turkey", from Sisters in Crime 5
• Best Critical work — Ellen Nehr, Doubleday Crime Club Compendium 1928-1991

Wildcard awards:

• Best Motion Picture — The Crying Game
• Best True Crime — Barbara D'Amato, The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery: The True Story of the Dr. John Branion Murder Case
• Lifetime Achievement award — Hammond Innes and Ralph McInerny

1992[]

• Best Novel award — Peter Lovesey, The Last Detective
• Best First Novel award — Sue Henry, Murder on the Iditarod Trail
• Best Paperback Original award — no award issued
• Best Short Story award — Liza Cody, "Lucky Dip", from A Woman’s Eye
• Best Critical work — Maxim Jakubowski, 100 Great Detectives

Wildcard awards:

• Best Anthology / Short Story collection — Sara Paretsky, A Woman's Eye
• Best True crime — David Simon, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
• Lifetime Achievement award — Charlotte MacLeod

1991[]

• Best Novel award — Sue Grafton, "G" Is for Gumshoe
• Best First Novel award — Patricia Cornwell, Postmortem
• Best Paperback Original award — James McCahery, Grave Undertaking & Rochelle Krich, Where's Mommy Now?
• Best Short Story award — Susan Dunlap, "The Celestial Buffet", from Sisters in Crime 2
• Best Critical work — Jon L. Breen & Martin H. Greenberg, Synod Of Sleuths

Wildcard awards:

• Best Motion Picture — Presumed Innocent
• Best Television series — Mystery!
• Lifetime Achievement award — William Campbell Gault

1990[]

• Best Novel award — Sarah Caudwell, The Sirens Sang of Murder
• Best First Novel award — Karen Kijewski, Katwalk
• Best Paperback Original award — Carolyn Hart, Honeymoon with Murder
• Best Short Story award — Nancy Pickard, "Afraid All The Time", from Sisters in Crime

Wildcard awards:

• Best Movie — Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Best TV Series — Inspector Morse
• Lifetime Achievement award — Michael Gilbert

1989[]

• Best Novel award — Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs
• Best First Novel award — Elizabeth George, A Great Deliverance
• Best Paperback Original award — Carolyn Hart, Something Wicked
• Best Short Story award — no award issued

Wildcard awards:

• Lifetime Achievement award — Dorothy Salisbury Davis

1988[]

• Best Novel award — Tony Hillerman, Skinwalkers
• Best First Novel award — Gillian Roberts, Caught Dead in Philadelphia
• Best Paperback Original award — Robert Crais, The Monkey's Raincoat
• Best Short Story award — Robert Barnard, "Breakfast Television", from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, January 1987

Wildcard awards:

• Best Movie — The Big Easy
• Best TV Series — Mystery!

1987[]

• Best Novel award — Sue Grafton, "C" Is for Corpse
• Best First Novel award — Bill Crider, Too Late to Die
• Best Paperback Original award — Robert Wright Campbell, The Junkyard Dog
• Best Short Story award — Sue Grafton, "The Parker Shotgun", from Mean Streets

1986[]

• Best Novel award — Sue Grafton, "B" Is for Burglar
• Best First Novel award — Jonathan Kellerman, When the Bough Breaks
• Best Paperback Original award — Nancy Pickard, Say No to Murder
• Best Short Story award — Linda Barnes, "Lucky Penny", from The New Black Mask, No. 3

Wildcard awards:

• Best Movie — Witness
• Best TV Series — Murder, She Wrote
• Grand Master — Barbara Mertz

References[]

External links[]

• Official website of Bouchercon World Mystery Convention