The 2010 Hammett Prize Nominees

From Janet Rudolph comes the nws that the International Association of Crime Writers has just announced its final flight of five for the Hammett Prize, awarded for literary excellence in crime writing:

Megan Abbott, BURY ME DEEP (Simon & Schuster)

Ace Atkins, DEVIL’S GARDEN (Putnam)

Jedediah Berry, THE MANUAL OF DETECTION (The Penguin Press)

Walter Mosley, THE LONG FALL (Riverhead)

George Pelecanos, THE WAY HOME (Little, Brown)

The prize will be presented during the Bloody Words X Mystery Conference in Toronto, Canada, held from May 28-30. Congratulations to all the nominees! And I wholeheartedly agree with J. Kingston Pierce’s assertion that the shortlist is “both a strong and interesting list of nominees.”