The Barry Awards

George Easter, editor of Deadly Pleasures Magazine, has announced the nominees for the annual Barry Awards, which will be held on the first night of Bouchercon:

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL

THE GUARDS by Ken Bruen (Minotaur $23.95)

THE SMALL BOAT OF GREAT SORROWS by Dan Fesperman (Knopf, $24.00)

KEEPING WATCH by Laurie R. King. (Bantam $23.95)

SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane, (Morrow, $25.95)

EVERY SECRET THING by Laura Lippman (Morrow $ 24.95)

A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BLOOD by Julia Spencer-Fleming (St. Martin’s Minotaur, $23.95)

BEST FIRST MYSTERY NOVEL

MISSION FLATS by Bill Landay (Bantam Press, June £12.99; Delacorte, September $23.95)

BRIDGE OF SIGHS by Olen Steinhauer (St. Martin’s Minotaur, $23.95)

THE BARBED-WIRE KISS by Wallace Stroby (St. Martin’s Minotaur $24.95)

MONKEEWRENCH by P. J. Tracy. (Putnam

MAISIE DOBBS by Jacqueline Winspear (Soho, $24.00)

CLEA’S MOON by Edward Wright (Putnam, $23.95)

BEST BRITISH MYSTERY NOVEL

LAZYBONES by Mark Billingham ((Little, Brown £12.99)

FULL DARK HOUSE by Christopher Fowler (Doubleday, £12.99)

THE MURDER EXCHANGE by Simon Kernick (Bantam Press, £12.99)

THE HOUSE SITTER by Peter Lovesey (Little Brown, £16.99)

THE DISTANT ECHO by Val McDermid (HarperCollins, £17.99)

THE AMERICAN BOY (U.S. title: AN UNPARDONABLE CRIME) by Andrew Taylor (Flamingo, £17.99)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

DEALING IN MURDER by Elaine Flinn (Avon, $6.50)

WISDOM OF THE BONES by Christopher Hyde (Onyx, $7.50)

THE COURIER by Jay MacLarty (Pocket Star, $6.99)

TOUGH LUCK by Jason Starr (Vintage Crime, $12.00

THE SHADOW OF VENUS by Judith Van Gieson (Signet, $5.99)

MURDER BETWEEN THE COVERS by Elaine Viets (Signet, $5.99)

BEST MYSTERY SHORT STORY

Doug Allyn- “The Blind Pig” (EQMM May 2003)

Robert Barnard- “Rogues’ Gallery” (EQMM March 2003)

Brendan DuBois- “Always Another War” (AHMM July-August 2003)

Clark Howard- “The Mask of Peter” (EQMM April 2003)

Donald Olson- “Rogue’s Run” (EQMM April 2003)

Congratulations to all the nominees. Full disclosure: I was on the nominating committee, the first time I’ve ever really had to do that sort of thing. It was a very rewarding, but very difficult, experience to have to pick the best books of the year and balance my own choices with the rest of the group. Hopefully, we did our job in creating shortlists that truly reflect the best in mystery that was 2003. Because of my involvement, I’m not going to go into a lengthy post-mortem, but feel free to use the comments box to make your own views clear.