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2004 Mystery Award Nominees & Winners (Fiction)
Page Modified: April 7, 2008
Books published in 2004.
Agatha, Anthony, Barry, Mary Higgins Clark, Dilys, Edgars, Arthur Ellis Awards, Hammett, Lambda, Macavity Awards, Nero Wolfe & Shamus Nominees - and assorted others when possibleThe Anthony Awards are determined at Bouchercon each year. Malice Domestic Agatha Awards are for the best cozy books per category. The Barry Awards are nominated by the staff of Deadly Pleasure mystery magazine. The Mary Higgins Clark Award is given for the book written most closely in the Mary Higgins Clark tradition. The Chester Himes Award is given to a black mystery writer for a body of work. The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association presents the Dilys Winn Awards for the books most fun to sell. The Mystery Writers of America presents the Edgar Awards for achievement for the best work in the mystery field. The Arthur Ellis Awards are presented at the Canadian Crime Writers meeting. The International Association of Crime Writers' presents the Hammett Award to works of excellence by and American or Canadian writer. The Lamda Mystery awards are part of literary awards given in a a variety of areas to recognize gay/lesbian writers. The Mystery Readers International Award for Excellence is the Macavity, named in honor of T.S. Eliot's "Curious Cat". The Nero Wolfe award is given to a novel that members of the organization think best reflects the Nero Wolfe tradition. The Shamus Awards are presented by the Private Eye Writers of America to honor writers of P.I. novels.
Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine unless otherwise noted.
Listings are arranged alphabetically by author.
- Murder on the Leviathan: An Erast Fandorin Mystery
Author: Akunin, Boris
Publisher: Random $ 21.95 ISBN: 1400060516 Date: 2004
Kirkus
Gumshoe Best European Crime Novel Nominee
Paris, March, 1878: When Lord Littleby is discovered in his rue Grenelle residence with his head bashed in, surrounded by the bodies of seven servants and two children who appear to have died from overdoses of morphine, the distinguished Paris police commissioner Gauche is determined to solve the case.
Updated 2.23.04 - Little Girl Lost
Author: Aleas, Richard
Publisher: Five Star $ 26.95 ISBN: 1594141118 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
In a stunning debut novel by a Shamus Award nominee, the former girlfriend of P.I. John Blake is found dead on the roof of New York's seediest strip club. Now he must uncover her secret life as a striptease queen.
Updated 2.3.05 - We'll Always Have Parrots
Author: Andrews, Donna
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312277326 Date: 2004
Lefty Winner - tie (humorous mystery)
Agatha Nominee Best Novel
Meg travels with her actor-fianc Michael to a fan convention for "Porfiria, Queen of the Jungle"--a cheesy cult TV show on which Michael has a minor role. But when the show's star is found murdered, the police have plenty of suspects.
Updated 1.5.04 - Uncommon Grounds
Author: Balzo, Sandra
Publisher: Five Star $ 25.95 ISBN: 1594141959 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best First Novel
Macavity Nominee Best First Novel
Updated 5.18.05 - Relative Danger
Author: Benoit, Charles
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590580915 Date: 2004
PW Booklist
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
Picture a hotel room in 1948 Singapore. Picture a dispute between black marketer and thief Russell Pearce and an associate-an associate who opens fire and murders Russell Pearce. Fast forward to present-day Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Young Doug Pearce, just fired from his steady job in the brewery, has never strayed far from home. But he's always found stories of his Uncle Russ, the family black sheep, fascinating. In comes a letter from an old friend of his dead uncle inviting him up to Toronto. Doug, at loose ends and bored with killing time, accepts. On arrival, he learns that wealthy and glamorous Edna has an agenda: she has assembled enough clues to solve the murder of Russell Pearce and to recover a legendary red diamond he was thought to be smuggling. Doug, nervous but game, agrees to play detective. How bad can it be to jet off to a glamour spot or two and have an adventure? Whoa! By the end of his first day in Casablanca, Doug knows he's made a mistake. And while he meets people eager to help-a retired museum curator, a beautiful and self-absorbed heiress, and her elderly father, a colleague of Russell Pearce-it becomes clear that someone else is interested in Doug, someone who is also looking for the diamond. From Morocco to Egypt to Bahrain to Singapore, Doug stumbles on. And whether he's escaping across Cairo rooftops, ducking bullets in a high-speed desert chase, or killing time in a crowded Egyptian jail cell, Doug is sure of one thing: He has no clue what he's doing. But surely he'll think of something as he's propelled full circle back to Singapore and the famed Raffles Hotel. He's definitely not 007...but will he prove to be a zero? - Publisher Marketing
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 2.5.04 - Flight of Aquavit: Russell Quant
Author: Bidulka, Anthony
Publisher: Insomniac $ 15.95 ISBN: 1894663756 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Gay Mystery Nominee
Detective Russell Quant is faced with personal threats he can't ignore, a friend who may be a foe and a cagey client with a treacherous monkey on his back.
Updated 1.5.04 - The Librarian
Author: Beinhart, Larry
Publisher: Thunder's Mouth $ 15.95 (paper) ISBN: 1560256362 Date: 2004
Kirkus
The acclaimed Edgar-winning mystery writer returns with this timely election novel that is to the present administration what his American Hero (filmed as Wag the Dog ) was to Bush senior.
Suggested Reading: Political Fiction
Updated 8.9.04 - Evan's Gate
Author: Bowen, Rhys
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312301146 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
When Welsh constable Evan Evans finds the skeleton of a young child buried in the front yard of a shepherd's cottage, the discovery eerily coincides with a present-day missing child case that's suddenly taking up all of Evan's time.
Updated 2.3.05 - The
Killing of the Tinkers
Author: Bruen, Ken
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312304110 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best Novel
Macavity Nominee Best Novel
PW
When Jack Taylor blew town at the end of Bruen's dazzling novel The Guards , his alcoholism was a distant memory and his sober dreams of a new life in London were shining in his eyes. Now Jack's back in Galway a year later with a new leather jacket on his back and a pint of Guinness on his mind. So much for new beginnings.
Updated 12.29.03 - Cold Case
Author: Burcell, Robin
Publisher: Avon $ 6.99 ISBN: 0061053775 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best Paperback Original Novel
Macavity Nominee Best Novel
This fourth installment of Burcell's award-winning series finds San Francisco homicide detective Kate Gillespie plunged back into a murder case that nearly got her killed during the first investigation.
Updated 5.18.05 - The Cloud Atlas
Author: Callahan, Liam
Publisher: Delacorte $ 22.95 ISBN: 0385336942 Date: 2004
Kirkus
LJ
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
In a richly inspired debut reminiscent of Snow Falling on Cedarsand The English Patient , this stirring novel, set against a magnificent Alaskan backdrop, reveals one of the most closely guarded secrets of World War II in a tale that is both a heart-quickening mystery and a unique love story.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Historical Fiction Stars | World War Stars
Updated 3.1.04 - The Enemy: A Jack Reacher Novel
Author: Child, Lee
Publisher: Delacorte $ 25 ISBN: 0385336675 Date: 2004
LJ Kirkus PW Booklist
Dilys Nominee
Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Soldier's son. An elite military cop, he was one of the army's brightest stars. But in every soldier's life, there is a turning point. One case that can shatter a career or turn a lawman into a renegade. And make him question words like honor, valor, and duty. For Jack Reacher, this is that case....
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Conspiracy Theory
Updated 3.22.04 - Snap Shot
Author: Chittenden, Meg
Publisher: Berkley $ 5.99 ISBN: 0425198030 Date: 2004
Calavera Nominee (Left Coast geographical area)
The small town of Port Findlay, Washington, can't protect photographer Diana Gordon from the past, the killer watching her every move, and the man who wants to steal her heart.
Updated 2.3.05 - Till the Cows Come Home
Author: Clemens, Judy
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590580826 Date: 2004
Agatha Nominee Best First Novel
Anthony Nominee Best First Novel
Stella Crown works hard and loves her life. She runs her own dairy farm with the trusted help of longtime assistant Howie, rides her Harley on the weekends, and has enough friends to suit her just fine. But on her twenty-ninth birthday, things start to change. A neighborhood child dies from a strange and threatening illness, a string of mysterious disasters place Stella and her farm in peril, not to mention her friend Abe showing up with a new woman on his arm, creating confusing emotions all around. Electrical outages, flooded barns, and cows running loose in the countryside are bad enough, but when her livestock begins turning up dead, Stella knows someone, or something, is out to get her. Though doctors quickly announce the discovery of the neighbor child's cause of death, another child dies before they can declare victory over the illness, sending the community into a state of near panic. While trying to solve the mystery behind her own troubles, Stella begins to think she alone might hold the answers to the children's deaths. Striking out on her own, afraid to trust anyone -- friends, neighbors, or the gorgeous stranger she's fallen for -- Stella must find her enemy before anyone else, including herself, ends up dead. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 2.17.05 - Shadow Play
Author: Cole, David
Publisher: Avon $ 6.99 ISBN: 006051194x Date: 2004
Calavera Nominee (Left Coast geographical area)
In her sixth thriller, computer hacker Laura Winslow ventures into the seedy underworld of Las Vegas casinos, and teams up with a former U.S. Customs official, to investigate the deaths of three off-duty special agents.
Updated 2.3.05 - Into the Web
Author: Cook, Thomas
Publisher: Bantam $ 6.99 ISBN: 0553580922 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
The Edgar Award-winning author of Peril weaves a stunning tale of intrigue in this enthralling new thriller about a man pulled back into a twisted web of deceit and violence from which he thought he escaped
Updated 2.3.05 - Garden of Beasts:
A Novel of Berlin 1936
Author: Deaver, Jeffrey
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24.95 ISBN: 0743222016 Date: 2004
PW Library
Journal
Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award - British Crime Writer's Association
Called the reigning "master of ticking-bomb suspense" ( People ), Deaver has written a gripping international thriller--with a range of real political figures and Olympic athletes--that introduces his most psychologically complex hero to date.
Suggested Reading: World War Stars
Updated 5.20.04 - Carnage on the Committee
Author: Edwards, Ruth Dudley
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590581334 Date: 2004
Lefty Nominee (humorous mystery)
As the judges of a literary prize chip away at the author list, someone else is chipping away at them.... When the chairperson of the prestigious Knapper-Warburton Literary Prize dies in suspicious circumstances, Robert Amiss (the token sane member of the judging panel) wastes no time in summoning Baroness "Jack" Troutbeck to step into the chair. Speculation that a killer may be targeting the judges worries the baroness not in the slightest - it's the prospect of immersing herself in modern literature that fills her with dread. But noblesse must oblige, even when it means joining the ranks of the superciliati sitting in judgement of the literati. With the baroness at the helm, the judges resume the task of whittling away at the short-list. But the killer, too, has resumed work and is whittling away at the judges one by one. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 2.3.05 - Rain Storm
Author: Eisler, Barry
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399151923 Date: 2004
PW
Gumshoe Best Thriller Winner
In Eisler's third novel, his romantic, conscientious Japanese-American assassin, John Rain, has fled to Brazil to escape the killing business, but he becomes a reluctant player in an international game far deadlier and more insidious.
Updated 7.6.04 - Holy Guacamole
Author: Fairbanks, Nancy
Publisher: Prime Crime $ 5.99 ISBN: 0425199223 Date: 2004
Lefty Nominee (humorous mystery)
Food writer Carolyn Blue's sixth mystery involves the death of the artistic director of an opera company who eats some bad guacamole. A scorned soprano admits to making the dish to get back at him for passing her over for her dream role. But Carolyn learns foul play, not foul food, is the real culprit. Includes Tex-Mex recipes.
Updated 2.3.05 - Perfect Sax
Author: Farmer, Jerrilyn
Publisher: Morrow $ 22.95 ISBN: 0380978903 Date: 2004
Lefty Nominee (humorous mystery)
Mary Higgins Clark Award Nominee
A sour note is struck at a hot L.A. gala when a priceless saxophone is stolen from the auction, a body is discovered, and Madeline Bean starts to suspect a killer may be gunning for her, too.
Updated 2.3.05 - Dead Men Rise Up Never
Author: Faust, Ron
Publisher: Dell $ 6.99 ISBN: 0553586556 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
From the acclaimed author comes an explosive novel of corruption, abduction, and murder in a coastal town whose dark side conceals the worst desires of the human heart.
Updated 2.3.05 - The Wake-Up
Author: Ferrigno, Robert
Publisher: Pantheon $ 19.95 ISBN: 0375422498 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Best Thriller Nominee
When Frank Thorpe, a deeply moral former undercover operative, sees a hard-charging art dealer knock down a Latino child in LAX airport, he decides to teach him a lesson. But Thorpe's plans get a little out of hand, and Thorpe becomes immersed in a criminal underworld peopled by a drug dealing surfer with a socially-climbing wife, two mentally challenged goons with a penchant for violence, and a vicious Romanian named Vlad. The Wake-Up is an absolutely irresistible, outrageously comic thriller that starts off with a bang and never lets up until the end.
Updated 2.3.05 - Something Rotten
Author: Fforde, Jasper
Publisher: Viking $ 24.95 ISBN: 0670033596 Date: 2004
Dilys Nominee
Two years after Thursday Next's Ultraworld adventure, the now ex-head of Jurisfiction returns home. But the Swindon to which Thursday returns is not the one she left, for something is rotten in the state of England.
Updated 2.3.05 - Dark Voyage
Author: Furst, Alan
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 1400060184 Date: 2004
Kirkus Booklist PW
Gumshoe Best Thriller Nominee
Tangier, April 1941. In the tradition of The Polish Officer and Blood of Victory, Dark Voyage is Alan Furst at his best - a superb adventure of historical espionage at sea and in the waterfront alleys of port cities, as a decent, good-hearted man becomes a fighting hero in an increasingly threatening world. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: All Stars| Espionage | World War Stars
Updated 7.19.04 - Hancock Park
Author: Forrest, Katherine V.
Publisher: Prime Crime $ 22.95 ISBN: 0425195988 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Lesbian Mystery Nominee
Two-time Lambda Award winner and bestselling author Katherine V. Forrest sets her dogged Los Angeles homicide detectives Kate Delafield and Joe Cameron on an investigation in which cold-blooded murder is only the beginning.
Updated 2.3.05 - Hard, Hard City
Author: Fusilli, Jim
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399152172 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Best Mystery Winner
In the latest installment of Fusilli's critically acclaimed series, enigmatic hero and occasional private eye Terry Orr searches for a missing gifted student at his daughter's request. But he gets more than he bargained for when the trail leads to murder, as his own life hangs in the balance.
Updated 2.3.05 - The Drowning Tree
Author: Goodman, Carol
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345482114 Date: 2004
Mary Higgins Clark Award Nominee
In her newest work, the critically acclaimed author of The Lake of Dead Languages and The Seduction of Water demonstrates how old secrets never truly remain buried.
Updated 2.3.05 - The Role Players: Dick Hardesty
Author: Grey, Dorien
Publisher: GLB $ 13.95 ISBN: 187919449X Date: 2004
Lambda Best Gay Mystery Nominee
Updated 2.3.05 - Last Lullaby
Author: Hamilton, Denise
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0743245407 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Best Mystery Nominee
The acclaimed author of The Jasmine Trade offers an electrifying, multicultural look at the gritty underbelly of Los Angeles, starring the sharp-edged, streetwise reporter/sleuth Eve Diamond.
Updated 2.3.05 - Havana Room
Author: Harrison, Colin
Publisher: FSG $ 24 ISBN: 0374299862 Date: 2004
Kirkus
PW
Hammett Prize Nominee
In his gripping new thriller, Harrison tells the story of a man who falls from the heights of power and wealth in New York, and finds himself in a dangerous and potentially lethal state of affairs.
Updated 10.7.03 - An Intimate Ghost
Author: Hart, Ellen
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312317476 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Lesbian Mystery Nominee
Ray Lawless, prominent defense attorney and father of Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless, tries his biggest case yet defending an accused serial murderer and arsonist whom the media has dubbed "The Fireman."
Updated 2.3.05 - Flesh and Blood
Author: Harvey, John
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 25 ISBN: 0786713593 Date: 2004
Booklist
Silver Dagger Award - British Crime Writer's Association
Retired Detective Inspector Elder is drawn back into the unsolved disappearance of a young girl when his prime suspects are released from prison and another girl dies. An increasingly desperate Elder battles his own demons as he and his family are drawn into the very heart of the crime.
Updated 7.13.04 - Arson and Old Lace
Author: Harwin, Patricia
Publisher: Pocket $ 6.50 ISBN: 0743482247 Date: 2004
Agatha Nominee Best First Novel
This first book in a new series introduces sixtysomething librarian Catherine Penny. When Catherine arrives at a 17th-century cottage in the English village of Far Wychwood, an apparent arson-murder arouses her sleuthing instincts.
Updated 2.17.05 - Twelve-Step Fandango
Author: Haslam, Chris
Publisher: Dark Alley $ 13.95 ISBN: 0060585390 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
When a friend appears out of the blue riding a motorcycle that conceals five kilos of high-grade cocaine, Martin Brock has everything he needs to make his dreams a reality.
Updated 2.3.05 - What Others Know
Author: Hayden, L.C.
Publisher: Topshelf $14.95 ISBN: 1929976267Date: 2004
Calavera Nominee (Left Coast geographical area)
Six years after Dan Springer's wife is murdered and his daughter disappears, he receives a call that leads him through the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and into the heart of rival mobs. In his quest to learn what others know, he finds that the road is paved with lies, deception, and murder.
Updated 2.3.05 - Scent of a Killer
Author: Heggan, Christiane
Publisher: Mira $ 6.50 ISBN: 0778320057 Date: 2004
Mary Higgins Clark Award Nominee
When her ex-husband is murdered, Jenna Mayerson decides to investigate. With the help of PI Frank Renaldi, Jenna delves into a deadly game of corporate espionage.
Updated 2.3.05 - Jackson Square Jazz
Author: Herren, Greg
Publisher: Kensington $ 23 ISBN: 0758202148 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Gay Mystery Nominee
The buff, blond go-go boy of Bourbon Street Blues is back, embroiled with a few good men and a murder case that is turning the Big Easy into anything but.
Updated 2.3.05 - Good Morning, Midnight
Author: Hill, Reginald
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060528079 Date: 2004
Kirkus PW LJ
People's Choice Award - British Crime Writer's Association
The "sorcerer of style" ( New York Times Book Review ) is at the top of his form in this suspenseful story of a mysterious death that echoes one in the past.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
Updated 9.20.04 - Rift Zone
Author: Hillhouse, Raelynn
Publisher: Forge $ 24.95 ISBN: 0765310139 Date: 2004
LJ
Gumshoe Best Debut Nominee
Raelynn J. Hillhouse has constructed an engrossing novel of espionage, action, and heart-pounding danger. Told with knowledge and authenticity, Rift Zone takes you inside the workings of communist East Germany and the Soviet Union. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested Reading: Espionage | Spy Girls
Updated 7.13.04 - Summer of the Big Bachi
Author: Hirahara, Naomi
Publisher: Delta $ 12 (paper) ISBN: 0385337590 Date: 2004
PW
Macavity Nominee Best First Novel
In a stunning debut novel set against the lush and dangerous backdrop of modern-day Los Angeles, a Hiroshima survivor must come face-to-face with the past he thought he had buried at war's end.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 3.29.04 - Retribution
Author: Hoffman, Jilliane P.
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399151273 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best First Novel
LJ
An elite prosecutor faces the most lethal predator she's ever encountered, in this debut novel inspired by the author's own experiences as an Assistant State Attorney in Florida.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | Legal Stars
Updated 3.15.04 - Prince of Thieves
Author: Hogan, Chuck
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 074326455x Date: 2004
Booklist
Hammett Prize Nominee
Recently optioned by Law & Order producer Dick Wolf, Prince of Thieves is the story of a branch manager who survives a bank robbery that nearly ends in disaster only to fall for a man who, unbeknownst to her, is a criminal mastermind.
Updated 6.10.04 - Caught Stealing
Author: Huston, Charlie
Publisher: Ballantine $ 21.95 ISBN: 034546477x Date: 2004
Booklist
Gumshoe Best Debut Nominee
Huston's debut novel is "Tarantino meets Hitchcock meets Westlake meets Bukowski in a wild, relentlessly entertaining ride." -- Wallace Strobe, author of The Barbed-Wire Kiss .
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 4.6.04 - Putt to Death
Author: Isleib, Roberta
Publisher: Prime Crime $ 5.99 ISBN: 0425195309 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best Paperback Original Novel
Touring pro Cassie Burdette stumbles over the body of a member who was trying to turn a posh Connecticut country club into an environmentally friendly domain. It's then that she realizes that golf can be a contact sport.
Updated 5.18.05 - Commitment to Die: Kristin Ashe
Author: Jordan, Jennifer L.
Publisher: Beanpole $ 11.95 ISBN: 0966735900 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Lesbian Mystery Nominee
Updated 2.3.05 - I
Dreamed I Married Perry Mason: A Cece Caruso Mystery
Author: Kandel, Susan
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060581050 Date: 2004
Kirkus
Agatha Nomination Best First Novel
Susan Kandel has written an adventurous, humorous debut novel that takes us on a well-researched romp through California's past and present, complete with turn-of-the-century robber barons and the haute couture of the '40s."--Barbara Seranella ( Unpaid Duesand Unwilling Accomplice ).
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Author, Author
Updated 3.25.04 - The Madman's Tale
Author: Katzenbach, John
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345464818 Date: 2004
PW
Hammett Prize Nominee
Anthony Nominee Best Novel
From the New York Times bestselling author of Just Cause and The Analyst comes a menacing depiction of long-dormant evil--a tale set in and around an asylum and told by a madman.
Updated 5.3.04 - Whiskey Sour
Author: Konrath, J.A.
Publisher: Hyperion $ 21.95 ISBN: 1401300871 Date: 2004
PW
Gumshoe Best Debut Nominee
Anthony Nominee Best First Novel
Macavity Nominee Best First Novel
Between avoiding the FBI and its moronic profiling computer, joining a dating service, mixing it up with street thugs, and parrying the advances of an uncouth P.I., Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels must find a frightening killer who calls himself "The Gingerbread Man."
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 2.1.05 - Life Expectancy
Author: Koontz, Dean
Publisher: Bantam $ 27 ISBN: 0553804146 Date: 2004
PW
Gumshoe Best Thriller Nominee
With his bestselling blend of nail-biting intensity, daring artistry, and storytelling magic, Koontz returns with an emotional rollercoaster tale of five days in the life of an ordinary man born to an extraordinary legacy--a story that will challenge the way readers perceive good and evil, life and death, and everything in between.
Updated 11.15.04 - Tonight I Said Goodbye
Author: Koryta, Michael
Publisher: Minotaur $ 21.95 ISBN: 0312332459 Date: 2004
LJ
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
A remarkable crime novel from the winner of the 2003 SMP/PWA Prize for Best First PI Novel, this debut finds two private investigators searching for a young girl and her mother after the child's father is found dead of an apparent suicide.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 9.20.04 - Dating Dead Men
Author: Kozak, Harley Jane
Publisher: Doubleday $ 22.95 ISBN: 0385510187 Date: 2004
LJ
Kirkus
PW
Gumshoe Best Debut Nominee
Agatha Winner Best First Novel
Anthony Nominee Best First Novel
Macavity Nominee Best First Novel
Kozak's debut novel is a smart, funny, fast-paced mystery in the tradition of Janet Evanovich featuring greeting card artist and small business owner Wollie Shelley, a woman who's looking for love--and job satisfaction--in all the wrong places when she literally stumbles across a murder that irrevocably changes her life (in some ways, for the better).
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts | All Stars | If You Like Janet Evanovich
Updated 12.8.03 - Grave Endings
Author: Krich, Rochelle
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345468104 Date: 2004
Calavera Winner (Left Coast geographical area)
Mary Higgins Clark Award Winner
Crime writer Molly Blume is determined to solve the six-year-old mystery of her best friend's death in this sequel to Krich's national bestseller, Dream House.
Updated 2.3.05 - Blood Hollow
Author: Krueger, William Kent
Publisher: Atria $ 24 ISBN: 0743445864 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best Novel
Winner of the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award and the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, Krueger is a wholly original talent among mystery writers. Now, in a briskly paced novel that outstrips even its predecessors in its ability to ratchet up the suspense, Krueger takes readers back to Aurora, Minnesota, where the charismatic Cork O'Connor encounters his most baffling whodunit to date.
Updated 5.18.05 - Country of
Origin
Author: Lee, Don
Publisher: Norton $ 24.95 ISBN: 0393058123
PW Booklist
Edgar Winner Best First Novel by an American Author
The mystery of an American woman's disappearance in Tokyo is intertwined with the mystery of her origins. Her best chance at being found may lie in the improbable hands of a neurotic Japanese cop ridiculed by his peers.
Suggested Reading: Asian American Stars | Debuts
Updated 5.7.04 - Doctored Evidence
Author: Leon, Donna
Publisher: Atlantic $ 22 ISBN: 0871139189 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Nominee Best European Crime Novel
Leon's riveting new novel follows Commissario Guido Brunetti down the winding streets of contemporary Venice as he throws open the doors of a case his superiors would rather leave closed.
Updated 2.3.05 - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Lindsey, Jeff
Publisher: Doubleday $ 22.95 ISBN: 038551123x
PW Booklist LJ
Dilys Winner
Macavity Nominee Best Novel
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a new kind of mystery novel starring a lovable serial killer, one Dexter Morgan, who only kills bad people and who cringes at the sight of blood.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Serial Killers | All Stars
Updated 6.17.04 - By a Spider's Thread
Author: Lippman, Laura
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060506695 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Best Mystery Nominee
Edgar Best Novel Nominee
Agatha Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Nominee Best Novel
The winner of countless literary awards from crime fiction, Lippman brings back her complex and vulnerably human Baltimore P.I., Tess Monaghan, in a tense, expertly spun tale of a family torn asunder by forces it can barely comprehend.
Updated 2.3.05 - Return of the Dancing Master
Author: Mankell, Henning
Publisher: New Pr $ 24.95 ISBN: 1565848608 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Best European Crime Novel Winner
This is the new thriller from the internationally bestselling author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries.
Updated 2.3.05 - High Country Fall
Author: Maron, Margaret
Publisher: Mysterious $ 24 ISBN: 0892968087 Date: 2004
Booklist PW
Agatha Nomination Best Novel
Macavity Nominee Best Novel
With friends and family overreacting to her announcement that she plans to marry Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, Judge Deborah Knott gratefully seizes the opportunity to work a week on the bench at Cedar Gap. But Deborah's peaceful break is interrupted by murder.
Updated 6.21.04 - Blue Blood
Author: McBride, Susan
Publisher: Avon $ 6.50 ISBN: 0060563893 Date: 2004
Lefty Winner - tie (humorous mystery)
Anthony Nominee Best Paperback Original Novel
This new mystery series introduces reluctant Dallas socialite Andy Kendricks. "Suspense, humor, friendship, snobbery, and televangelists . . . Blue Blood is positively gripping."--Sarah Stohmeyer (Bubbles Ablaze).
Updated 2.3.05 - The Wombat Strategy
Author: McNab, Claire
Publisher: Alyson $ 13.95 ISBN: 1555838367 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Lesbian Mystery Nominee
Bestselling mystery novelist McNab launches her newest series with knockabout Aussie dyke Kylie Kendall. Kylie gets more than she bargained for when, along with 51 percent of a Los Angeles-based private detective agency, she inheritsa deadly case and a beautiful, but not-so receptive business partner.
Updated 2.3.05 - The Pearl Diver
Author: Massey, Sujata
Publisher: HarperCollins $ 23.95 ISBN: 0066212960 Date: 2004
Agatha Nominee Best Novel
The latest book in the Agatha and Macavity Award-winning mystery series finds the young and wily sleuth, Rei Shimura, searching for missing women in Washington, D.C.
Updated 2.17.05 - Amagansett
Author: Mills, Mark
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399151842 Date: 2004
LJ Booklist
John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award - British Crime Writer's Association
Amagansettis a novel as sweeping and haunting as the landscape of sky and sea it evokes. Beautifully and powerfully told, it announces the arrival of a gifted writer who skillfully weaves together a delicate love story, a brutal murder, an unforgettable evocation of a place and time, and characters shaped by the epic forces of nature, class, war, and memory. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 8.12.04 - Remembering Sarah
Author: Mooney, Chris
Publisher: Atria $ 25 ISBN: 0743463781 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
In this gripping story of loss, compassion, and forgiveness, a man must confront a family history steeped in lies, deceit, and hardest of all, the persistent suspicion that his daughter might still be alive.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 2.3.05 - Bahamarama
Author: Morris, Bob
Publisher: Minotaur $ 21.95 ISBN: 0312328893 Date: 2004
LJ
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
As unpredictable as island trade winds, Bahamarama twists and turns its wayto a stunning conclusion and announces the arrival of a writer who is sure to surprise and delight mystery fans for years to come.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 9.20.04 - The Witch in the Well
Author: Newman, Sharan
Publisher: Forge $ 24.95 ISBN: 0765308819 Date: 2004
Bruce Alexander Winner (historical)
It's 12th-century France, and Catherine LeVendeur doesn't believe the magical legends her family has handed down: that they are the descendants of a knight of Charlemagne's and a faerie. But, when bodies begin appearing, and the castle's well goes dry, she must uncover the mysteries.
Updated 2.3.05 - California Girl
Author: Parker, T. Jefferson
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060562366 Date: 2004
Kirkus LJ
Gumshoe Best Mystery Nominee
Edgar Winner Best Novel
Hammett Prize Nominee
Anthony Nominee Best Novel
Macavity Nominee Best Novel
A different world then, a different world now . . . California in the 1960s. For the Becker brothers, the past is always present and it comes crashing back when the body of the lovely and mysterious Janelle Vonn is discovered in an abandoned orange packing house.
Updated 10.19.04 - Family Claims
Author: Phelan, Twist
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590581105 Date: 2004
Calavera Nominee (Left Coast geographical area)
Hannah Dain, a skilled business lawyer, is on the verge of leaving her family's law firm for a better job. But her plan is derailed when a real estate deal she's put together suddenly goes bad. Two million dollars of investors' money has disappeared. If the mistake was Hannah's, her firm is on the hook for the whole amount. Career on the line, Hannah decides to investigate despite a disapproving father and antagonistic older sister. Having long ago abandoned efforts to heal the family rift, Hannah now enjoys her separate existence, whether drafting a complex IPO or bicycling miles through the hot Arizona desert. Although she exonerates the firm, a car bomb and two murders thwart the police's identification of the culprit behind the scheme. At work on a new deal, Hannah is assisted by Cooper Smith, the firm's computer consultant and her former lover. Compelled to dig deep for key information, Hannah uncovers a greater threat all too close to home. Only by exposing long-buried family secrets can she save her reputation, her law firm and her life. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 2.3.05 - A Question of
Blood: Inspector Rebus
Author: Rankin, Ian
Publisher: Little Brown $ 22.95 ISBN: 0316095648 Date: 2004
PW
Gumshoe Best European Crime Novel Nominee
When a former soldier and recluse murders two 17-year-old students at a posh Edinburgh boarding school, Rebus immediately suspects there is more to the case than meets the eye.
Updated 1.5.04 - Five for Silver
Author: Reed, Mary and Eric Mayer
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590581121 Date: 2004
PW
Bruce Alexander Nominee (historical)
The year is 542. While plague stalks Constantinople, an angel sets John the Eunuch on the trail of a human killer. Peter, John's elderly servant, claims a heavenly visitor revealed a murder to him. It transpires Peter's old army friend has indeed been stabbed, but then John discovers that Gregory was not what he appeared to be. Is the solution to the mystery to be found in a hidden identity, in the will made by a dying ship owner with a wayward son, or perhaps even amid the oracles in the merchant's garden? John's quest leads him to churchmen and whores, lawyers and bear trainers. Suspects include a dealer in dubious antiquities, a resourceful bookseller, a court poet fixated on bereavement, and a holy fool who outrages the city by dancing with the dead and invading the empress' private bath. Only a man of unbending principle could hope to find justice in a terrified city where the good and the bad are struck down indiscriminately, where disorder rules, and where witnesses may die before they can be questioned. A city, in short, where death is the murderer's accomplice. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 3.22.04 - Playing With
Fire
Author: Robinson, Peter
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 006019877x Date: 2004
Booklist
Hammett Prize Nominee
Macavity Nominee Best Novel
Multiple-prize-winning and international bestselling author Robinson returns with a new novel of burning suspense, as a deadly case of arson leads Inspector Banks into his most dangerous case yet.
Suggested Reading: On Fire
Updated 11.25.03 - The Halo Effect
Author: Rose, M.J.
Publisher: Mira $ 12.95 ISBN: 0778320804 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best Paperback Original Novel
Renowned sex therapist Morgan Snow is treating Cleo Thane, a prostitute who caters to the city's wealthy and powerful. After Cleo delivers a tell-all manuscript to Morgan, she disappears. Now Morgan and Detective Noah Jordain must use the manuscript to catch a killer.
Updated 5.18.05 - Tyrant of the Mind
Author: Royal, Priscilla
Publisher: Poisoned Pen $ 24.95 ISBN: 1590581350 Date: 2004
Bruce Alexander Nominee (historical)
A nun and a monk defy death and dishonor at her family's Welsh fortress... In the winter of 1271, Death stalks the corridors of Wynethorpe Castle on the Welsh border. When the Grim Reaper touches the beloved grandson of the castle lord, Baron Adam sends for his daughter, Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal, and her sub-infirmarian, Sister Anne, to save the child with prayers and healing talents. Escorting them to the remote fortress is Brother Thomas, an unwilling monk fighting his private demons. Death may be denied once in his quest for souls but never twice. Soon after the trio arrives, an important guest is murdered. The prioress's brother, bloody dagger in hand, stands over the corpse. All others may believe in his guilt, but Eleanor is convinced her brother is innocent. Outside her priory, in a world of armed men, Eleanor may have little authority, but she is determined to untangle the Gordian knot of thwarted passions and old resentments even if it means defying her father, a man with whom she longs to make peace. As passions rise with the winter wind and time runs short, Eleanor, Anne and Thomas struggle to find the real killer. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 2.3.05 - Absent Friends
Author: Rozan, S.J.
Publisher: Delacorte $ 24 ISBN: 0385338031 Date: 2004
PW Booklist LJ
Gumshoe Best Mystery Nominee
The secrets of a group of childhood friends unravel in this haunting thriller by Edgar Award winner S.J. Rozan. Set in New York in the unforgettable aftermath of September 11, Absent Friends brilliantly captures a time and place unlike any other.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | 911 Stars
Updated 9.22.04 - Murder in a Mill Town
Author: Ryan, P.B.
Publisher: Prime Crime $ 6.50 ISBN: 0425197158 Date: 2004
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
The path of a missing young woman through the seedy parts of 1868 Boston is traced by governess Nell Sweeney, who suddenly finds herself caught in a scandalous scene of lies and money.
Updated 2.3.05 - Misdemeanor Man
Author: Schaffer, Dylan
Publisher: Bloomsbury $ 23.95 ISBN: 1582344604 Date: 2004
Gumshoe Best Debut Winner
Macavity Nominee Best First Novel
Filled with surprising twists and unforgettable characters, this gripping, irreverent legal thriller is about broken hearts, dropped pants, and the magic of Barry Manilow.
Updated 2.3.05 - The Intelligencer
Author: Silbert, Leslie
Publisher: Atria $ 24 ISBN: 0743432924 Date: 2004
Dilys Nominee
A Renaissance scholar and former private investigator herself, first-time author Silbert parlays her experiences into one of the most page-turning thrillers to come along in years. An exciting blend of Elizabethan espionage and modern day intrigue, The Intelligencer is a remarkable debut, one that bears comparison to the best of A.S. Byatt and Caleb Carr.
Updated 2.3.05 - A Death in Vienna
Author: Silva, Daniel
Publisher: Putnam $ 25.95 ISBN: 0399151435 Date: 2004
PW
Gumshoe Best Thriller Nominee
The sins of the past reverberate into the present, in an extraordinary novel by the new master of international suspense. Art restorer and sometime spy Gabriel Allon is sent to Vienna to authenticate a painting, but the real object of his search becomes something else entirely: to find out the truth about a photograph that has turned his world upside down.
Suggested Reading: Espionage
Updated 1.5.04 - Out of the Deep I Cry: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery
Author: Spencer-Fleming, Julia
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312312628 Date: 2004
PW
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Nominee Best Novel
Julia Spencer-Fleming does it again in this third mystery series featuring Episcopal priest (and retired Army chopper pilot) Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ van Alstyne in the quiet town of Millers Kill, New York.
Updated 3.11.04 - The Confession
Author: Stansberry, Domenic
Publisher: Hard Case$ 6.99 ISBN: 0843953543 Date: 2004
Edgar Winner Best Paperback Original
A nightmarish tale of psychological suspense from the two-time Edgar Award-nominated author of The Last Days of Il Duce. Accused of strangling his lover, a forensic psychologist goes on the run to prove his innocence. But is he so innocent?
Updated 2.3.05 - Twisted City
Author: Starr, Jason
Publisher: Vintage $ 12 ISBN: 1400075068 Date: 2004
Anthony Nominee Best Paperback Original Novel
From the acclaimed noir novelist Jason Starr comes this savage portrait of a misanthropic man stuck in a New York nightmare. Written in caustic, streamlined prose, Twisted City is a chilling depiction of how quickly one's life can take a turn for the worst.
Updated 5.18.05 - The Clovis Incident
Author: Taichert, Pari Noskin
Publisher: Univ of New Mexico $ 24.95/14.95 ISBN: 0826331858 /0826331866 Date: 2004
Agatha Nominee Best First Novel
"Hop in and hold tight! It's a wild ride with hard-nosed, soft-hearted Sasha Solomon. In Clovis, Sasha discovers shady characters, a hunky cop, and a passel of possible space aliens. . . . A beguiling new voice in mystery."--Deborah Donnelly, author of May the Best Man Die - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 2.17.05 - Murder on Marble Row
Author: Thompson, Victoria
Publisher: Prime Crime $ 21.95 ISBN: 0425196100 Date: 2004
Bruce Alexander Nominee (historical)
In turn-of-the-century New York City, midwife Sarah Brandt is helping Sergeant Frank Malloy uncover the identity of an arsonist who is presumed to have murdered a wealthy industrialist in an explosion.
Updated 2.3.05 - Death by Discount: Mara Gilgannon
Author: Vermillion, Mary
Publisher: Alyson $ 13.95 ISBN: 1555838634 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Lesbian Mystery Nominee
Thirty-something Mara Gilgannon finds herself back in her dinky hometown of Aldoburg, Iowa, helping her Aunt Zee keep her struggling radio station alive while unraveling clues surrounding the murder of Glad, Zee's longtime partner. Mara begins to suspect that Glad's vocal opposition to a Wal-Mart opening in the town, an issue that has sharply divided Aldoburg, may have more to do with the murder than was originally supposed. But nothing is ever simple- especially when a beautiful police officer catches Mara's eye. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 2.3.05 - Moth and Flame: Benjamin Justice
Author: Wilson, John Morgan
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312309848 Date: 2004
Booklist
Lambda Best Gay Mystery Nominee
The latest in the Lambda Literary Award-winning mystery series finds disgraced journalist Benjamin Justice discovering a link between a writer's death and a controversial condo development.
Updated 2.3.05 - Birds of a Feather
Author: Winspear, Jacqueline
Publisher: Soho $ 25 ISBN: 1569473684 Date: 2004
PW
Dilys Nominee
Bruce Alexander Nominee (historical)
Agatha Winner Best Novel
Maisie Dobbs is back and this time she has been hired to find a wealthy grocery magnate's missing daughter. The case is complicated by the violent deaths of three of the heiress' friends. Maisie discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of The Great War.
Updated 5.3.04 - Shadow of the Wind
Author: Zafon, Carlos Ruiz
Publisher: Penguin $ 24.95 ISBN: 1594200106 Date: 2004
Kirkus
Dilys Nominee
Gumshoe Best European Crime Novel Nominee
The international literary sensation--a runaway bestseller in Spain--is about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.
Updated 1.29.04 - Someone You Know
Author: Zebrun, Gary
Publisher: Alyson$ 13.95 ISBN: 1555838383 Date: 2004
Lambda Best Gay Mystery Nominee
Newspaper columnist Daniel Caruso has a wife he loves deeply, a daughter who means everything to him, and a secret that could destroy them, in this debut novel of psychological terror, sexual obsession, and the devastating price of secrecy.
Updated 2.3.05
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