BARRY AWARD NOMINEES 2021

The Editor of Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine, George Easter, has announced the Barry Award Nominees for 2021. The winners of these awards will be announced at the Opening Ceremonies at the New Orleans Bouchercon on August 26, 2021.

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.

The nominees in the various categories are:

BEST NOVEL

• THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, Harlan Coben
• THE LAW OF INNOCENCE, Michael Connelly
• BLACKTOP WASTELAND, S. A. Cosby
• AND NOW SHE’S GONE, Rachel Howzell Hall
• MOONFLOWER MURDERS, Anthony Horowitz
• ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, Louise Penny

BEST FIRST NOVEL

• DEEP STATE, Chris Hauty
• MURDER IN OLD BOMBAY by Nev March
• THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, Richard Osman
• THE EIGHTH DETECTIVE (EIGHT DETECTIVES in Australia and the UK), Alex Pavesi
• WINTER COUNTS, David Heska Wanbli Weiden
• DARLING ROSE GOLD, Stephanie Wrobel

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

• WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING, Alyssa Cole  
• MONGKOK STATION, Jake Needham
• HIDE AWAY, Jason Pinter
• BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST, James Swain
• DARKNESS FOR LIGHT, Emma Viskic
• TURN TO STONE, James W. Ziskin

BEST THRILLER

• DOUBLE AGENT, Tom Bradby
• BLIND VIGIL, Matt Coyle
• ONE MINUTE OUT, Mark Greaney
• THE LAST HUNT, Deon Meyer
• EDDIE’S BOY, Thomas Perry
• THE WILD ONE, Nick Petrie
  

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 particularly pleased to see Australian author Emma Viskic on the list for Darkness For Light, which was released last year in America as a Paperback Original. It is a great novel and hopefully will do well in the voting.

All the categories look strong, especially The Best Thriller category which features some of my favourite books of last year, including Tom Bradby’s Double Agent, Thomas Perry’s Eddie’s Boy and Deon Meyer’s The Last Hunt (which I read and reviewed in 2019 before its release in America in 2020). Matt Coyle’s Blind Vigil is also a strong entry. I suspect that voting will be very close in this 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 that represent the broad spectrum of the genre from traditional mysteries to police novels to hard action thrillers and domestic suspense.

The lists are also a good guide to some of the best crime and thriller novels of 2020 and I encourage you to try some of the books that you are unfamiliar with. Especially those on the Best First Novel and Best Paperback Original lists, which contain some authors that are probably less well known to a lot of readers. Along with Emma Viskic, Australian readers may also wish to try Jake Needham’s Asian based thrillers.

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

Here is a link to George’s post on the Awards at his Deadly Pleasures site: http://new.deadlypleasures.com/2021/03/19/2021-barry-award-nominations/

Here are links to my reviews of some of the award nominees:
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/blacktop-wasteland-by-s-a-cosby-flatiron/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/deep-state-by-chris-hauty/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/the-thursday-murder-club-by-richard-osman-viking-september-2020/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/darkness-for-light-by-emma-viskic-echo/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/double-agent-by-tom-bradby-bantam-may-2020/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/thriller-round-up-november-2020/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/the-last-hunt-by-deon-meyer-hodder-stoughton-a32-99/
https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/eddies-boy-by-thomas-perry-black-cat-december-2020/