2024 BARRY AWARD NOMINEES
The Editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, George Easter, has revealed the Barry Award Nominees for 2024. The winners of these awards will be announced at the Opening Ceremonies of the Nashville Bouchercon on August 29, 2024.
The nominees were chosen by panels of experts in mystery/crime fiction. The readers/subscribers of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine will determine by vote who wins each category.
The Awards are in four categories: Best Novel, Best First Mystery or Crime Novel, Best Paperback Original Mystery or Crime Novel, and Best Thriller. Eligibility for the Awards are based on release dates and format in the United States.
The nominees, in alphabetical order, in the various categories are:
BEST NOVEL
- Lou Berney, DARK RIDE
- S. A. Cosby, ALL THE SINNERS BLEED
- Eli Cranor, OZARK DOGS
- Jordan Harper, EVERYBODY KNOWS
- Dennis Lehane, SMALL MERCIES
- Adrian McKinty, THE DETECTIVE UP LATE
BEST FIRST MYSTERY OR CRIME NOVEL
- Michael Bennett, BETTER THE BLOOD
- I.S. Berry, THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW
- Bruce Borgos, THE BITTER PAST
- Amy Chua, THE GOLDEN GATE
- Deepti Kapoor, AGE OF VICE
- Nina Simon, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT
- Iris Yamashita, CITY UNDER ONE ROOF
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL MYSTERY OR CRIME NOVEL
- Mia P. Manansala, MURDER AND MAMON
- Rick Mofina, EVERY THING SHE FEARED
- Jake Needham, WHO THE HELL IS HARRY BLACK?
- Jesse Sutanto, VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS
- Vanda Symon, EXPECTANT
- Scott Von Doviak, LOWDOWN ROAD
BEST THRILLER
- Mark Greaney, BURNER
- Mick Herron, THE SECRET HOURS
- John Lawton, MOSCOW EXILE
- Anthony McCarten, GOING ZERO
- T. J. Newman, DROWNING
- Ruth Ware, ZERO DAYS
The nominees are selected by a broad panel of experts from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, and will be voted on by crime fiction fans. I think that this makes the awards more representative of what readers think, rather than some other awards which are decided by a small handful of authors and experts.
Overall, I think that the lists are strong. There is a slight bias towards American titles in the Best Novel category, but I think that this mainly reflects the strength of the individual books and it is offset by the broader spread of books in the other categories. It was good, however, to see the inclusion of Adrian McKinty’s Irish crime novel The Detective Up Late in the Best Novel list.
Not all of the titles that I would have liked to have seen on the list are there, but certainly some of my favourites made it! It is disappointing that no Australian books made the cut, but I think that this is mainly due to the delayed overseas release dates of many of the outstanding Aussie books from 2023. It was very good, however, to see titles from three New Zealand authors: Vanda Symon, Michael Bennett and Anthony McCarten scattered throughout the categories.
I was also pleased to see some of my favourites from 2023 on the list, including books from Mick Herron, John Lawton, Michael Bennett, Jordan Harper and Adrian McKinty.
All the categories look strong, especially the Best Thriller Category, which has a diverse range of titles from Mark Greaney’s action orientated military thriller, to the more cerebral spy novels by Mick Herron and John Lawton, to T. J. Newman’s exciting disaster novel and two very good ‘chase’ thrillers by Ruth Ware and Anthony McCarten.
I also really liked the Paperback Original category, which features a real mix of books, including titles by authors such as Vanda Symon, Rick Mofina, Scott Von Doviak and Jake Needham, who really deserve to be better known.
The lists are also a good guide to some of the best crime and thriller novels of 2023 and I encourage you to try some of the books that you are unfamiliar with.
Congratulations to all the nominees, it will be very interesting to see who the eventual winners are. I am looking forward to being in Nashville to see the winners being announced.
Personal Disclosure: I am on the Nominating Committees for the various categories.
Here is a link to George’s post on the Awards at his Deadly Pleasures site: http://new.deadlypleasures.com/2024/02/26/the-barry-award-nominations-2024/
Here are links to my personal favourites of 2023: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/the-years-best-my-favourite-crime-novels-and-thrillers-of-2023/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/best-debut-crime-novels-and-thrillers-of-2023/