BARRY AWARD NOMINEES – 2020

The Editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, George Easter, has announced the Barry Award Nominees for 2020. The winners of this year’s Barry Awards will be announced during the Opening Ceremonies at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Sacramento, California on October 15, 2020.

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 Novel, Best Paperback Original and Best Thriller. Eligibility for the Awards are based on release dates and format in the United States. There will also be an award for the Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Past Decade.

The nominees in the various categories are:

BEST NOVEL

• THE LOST MAN, Jane Harper
• IF SHE WAKES, Michael Koryta
• METROPOLIS, Philip Kerr
• THE BORDER, Don Winslow
• YOUR HOUSE WILL PAY, Steph Cha
• THIRTEEN, Steve Cavanagh

BEST FIRST NOVEL

• THE CHESTNUT MAN, Soren Sveistrup
• THE SILENT PATIENT, Alex Michaelides
• AMERICAN SPY, Lauren Wilkinson
• SAVE ME FROM DANGEROUS MEN, S. A. Lelchuk
• SCRUBLANDS, Chris Hammer
• TO THE LIONS, Holly Watt

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

• THE GODMOTHER, Hannelore Cayre  
• WINNER KILLS ALL, R. J. Bailey
• KILLING QUARRY, Max Allan Collins
• FATE, Ian Hamilton
• MISSING DAUGHTER, Rick Mofina
• NO GOOD DEED, James Swain

BEST THRILLER

• MISSION CRITICAL, Mark Greaney
• BACKLASH, Brad Thor
• THE CHAIN, Adrian McKinty
• THE BURGLAR, Thomas Perry
• TRUE BELIEVER, Jack Carr
• WHITE HOT SILENCE, Henry Porter
  
  

BEST MYSTERY/CRIME NOVEL OF THE DECADE

• GONE GIRL, Gillian Flynn
• NOVEMBER ROAD, Lou Berney
• SUSPECT, Robert Crais
• THE DRY,  Jane Harper
• THE BLACK HOUSE, Peter May
• CARTEL, Don Winslow
  
  

I think that the lists are very strong. 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, than some other awards which are decided by a small handful of authors and experts.

I was pleased to see Australian authors Jane Harper and Chris Hammer, both of whom books were only released in America last year, on the lists, as well as occasional Australian Adrian McKinty.

The Best Novel category is particularly strong with some very good books on the list, including Philip Kerr’s final novel, Metropolis.I was also very impressed with Michael Kortya’s If She Wakes and Jane Harper Harper’s The Lost Man, while Steve Cavanagh’s Thirteen was a very popular book last year. I suspect that voting will be very close in this category.

Jane Harper’s The Dry is also an nominee for Best Mystery/Crime Novel of the Decade, which I suspect will also be a very hotly contested category.

Some of my personal favourites from last year did not make it onto the lists, but overall I think it is a very good mix of nominees, which represent a broad spectrum of the genre.

Congratulations to all the nominees, it will be very interesting to see who the eventual winners are.

Here are links to my reviews of some of the award nominees:
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/the-chain-by-adrian-mckinty-hachette-release-9-july-2019-a32-99/ ;
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/throwback-thursday-scrublands-by-chris-hammer-allen-unwin-a32-99/ ;
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/white-hot-silence-by-henry-porter-quercus-a32-99-or-16-99/ ;
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/metropolis-by-philip-kerr-quercus-a32-99/ )