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2005 Mystery Award Nominees & Winners (Fiction)
Page Modified: April 7, 2008
Books published in 2005.
Agatha, Anthony, Barry, Mary Higgins Clark, Dilys, Edgars, Arthur Ellis Awards, Hammett, Lambda, Macavity Awards, Nero Wolfe & Shamus Nominees - and assorted others when possible.The 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.
- Die a Little
Author: Abbott, Megan E.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 23 ISBN: 0743261704 Date: 2005
Kirkus
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
Barry Award Nominee Best First Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best First Novel
Shadow-dodging through 1950s Hollywood glamor and its seedy flip-side, Die a Little tells the story of a femme fatale costume girl whose masquerade as the perfect housewife is clever enough to fool her detective husband, but not her suspicious sister-in-law.
Suggested Reading: Noir | Debuts
Updated 12.16.04 - The Blood-dimmed Tide
Author: Airth, Rennie
Publisher: Viking $ 24.95 ISBN: 0670899968 Date: 2005
PW
Barry Award Nominee Best British Novel Published in the UK in 2005
The author of the "New York Times" Notable Book River of Darknessreturns with a macabre tale of the social struggles of post-World War I Britain and the looming menace of Hitler's Germany. When a young girl is savagely murdered in rural English village, the crime catapults former Inspector John Madden into the grisly world of a brutal killer.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 6.20.05 - Owl's Well That Ends Well
Author: Andrews, Donna
Publisher: Minotaur $ 21.95 ISBN: 0312329385 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best Novel
A shady book and antiques dealer is murdered at a yard sale, and when a professor friend is accused, Meg discovers she must find the killer to keep the professor's career on course.
Updated 1.30.06 - Homicide My Own
Author: Argula, Anne
Publisher: Pleasure Boat $ 16 ISBN: 1929355211 Date: 2005
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Orginial
Homicide My Own resides in that strange and fascinating land between mystery fiction and detective fiction, adjoined with the mystique of philosophy and Native American customs. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 1.30.06 - Breaking Faith: Brodie Farrell
Author: Bannister, Jo
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312343019 Date: 2005
Mary Higgins Clark Award Nominee
Brodie finds the perfect house for a famous rock musician and his entourage--that is, until the body of a young woman turns up on the grounds. As Brodie and the police delve into the woman's past, they find connections to the present that no one wants to believe.
Updated 1.30.06 - Lifeless
Author: Billingham, Mark
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060841664 Date: 2006
Barry Award Nominee British Novel Published in the UK in 2005
To find a vicious killer, Tom Thorne enters a dark and disturbing world with its own rules, its own hierarchy, and plenty of secrets.
Updated 1.30.06 - Jury of One
Author: Bradford, Laura
Publisher: Hilliard & Harris $ 16.95 ISBN: 1591330947 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best First Novel
Updated 1.30.06 - Islandbridge
Author: Brady, John
Publisher: McArthur & Company (Canada): Date: 2005
Hammett Award Nominee
Updated 1.30.06 - Spectres in the Smoke: A Creeping Narrative
Author: Broadbent, Tony
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312290268 Date: 2005
Booklist
Bruce Alexander Award for Best Historical Mystery
In austere, post-World War II England, Jethro the cat burglar must again take on the mantle of spy for MI5 as he attempts to prevent a plot to undermine Britain's new Labour Government.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 9.17.05 - Bloodlines
Author: Burke, Jan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 24.95 ISBN: 074322390X Date: 2005
PW
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best Novel
Intrepid reporter Irene Kelly covers the groundbreaking of a shopping center--and the discovery of a buried car containing human remains. Old cases are resurrected, and new dangers arise as she pursues a story that may end her career--and her life.
Suggested Reading: Cold Cases
Updated 12.27.04 - One Shot: Jack Reacher
Author: Child, Lee
Publisher: Delacorte $ 25 ISBN: 0385336683 Date: 2005
LJ
Macavity Award Nominee Best Novel
This astonishing new thriller takes Jack Reacher on his most relentless quest for justice yet. The case isn't what it seems; lives are tangled in baffling ways; and the killer missed one shot--giving Reacher one shot at the truth.
Updated 3.21.05 - The James Deans
Author: Coleman, Reed Farrel
Publisher: Plume $ 13 ISBN: 0452286506 Date: 2005
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
Barry Award Nominee Best Paperback Novel
Anthony Award Winner Best Paper Back Original Novel
Macavity Award Nominee Best Novel
It's the summer of 1983. Moe Prager, ex-NYPD cop and reluctant P.I., is once more cajoled into putting his life on hold in order to untangle the web of a long unsolved mystery. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 1.30.06 - The Lincoln Lawyer
Author: Connelly, Michael
Publisher: Little Brown $ 26.95 ISBN: 0316734934 Date: 2005
Booklist PW
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best Novel
Macavity Award Winner Best Novel
"New York Times" bestselling author Connelly delivers his first legal thriller--an incendiary tale about a cynical defense attorney whose one remaining spark of integrity may cost him his life.
Suggested Reading: Legal Stars
Updated 9.17.05 - Red Leaves
Author: Cook, Thomas H.
Publisher: Harcourt $ 23 ISBN: 0151012504 Date: 2005
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best Novel
When his teenaged son is the prime suspect in a child's disappearance, a father must protect him from the community's steadily growing suspicion, even when he's not so sure his son is innocent.
Updated 1.30.06 - Pride Runs Deep
Author: Cooke, R. Cameron
Publisher: Jove $ 7.99 ISBN: 0515138339 Date: 2006
PW
Thriller Award Winner Best Paperback Original
Set in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, this explosive debut "powerfully captures the heroic highs and hellish lows of our WWII submariners--warriors who served valiantly and silently beneath the sea" (W.E.B. Griffin).
Updated 7.17.06 - Thirty-Three Teeth
Author: Cotterill, Colin
Publisher: Soho $ 24 ISBN: 1569473889 Date: 2005
Kirkus
Dilys Winner
From the acclaimed author of The Coroner's Lunch comes a tale of justice done, Laotian shamanic style. With the assistance of his helpers, Dr. Siri Paiboun, the national coroner of Laos, elucidates the causes of mysterious deaths.
Suggested Reading: Laos
Updated 6.9.05 - Witch Way to Murder: Ophelia and Abby
Author: Damsgaard, Shirley
Publisher: Avon $ 6.99 ISBN: 0060793481 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best First Novel
This delightful cozy debut introduces Ophelia Jensen, a psychic small-town librarian and her grandmother Abby, a benevolent witch. When an epidemic of catastrophes, including homicide, rock their tranquil town, Ophelia and Abby set out to make things right.
Updated 1.30.06 - Better Off Wed: Annabelle Archer
Author: Durham, Laura
Publisher: Avon $ 6.99 ISBN: 0060738316 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Winner Best First Novel
A real-life wedding planner makes her debut and introduces Annabelle Archer, a wedding planner and amateur sleuth in Washington, D.C. When a socialite drops dead at her daughter's wedding reception, Annabelle must unveil the killer to keep her partner out of prison.
Updated 1.30.06 - In a Teapot
Author: Faherty, Terence
Publisher: Mystery Company $ 18 ISBN: 1932325042 Date: 2005
Dilys Nominee
A film version of THE TEMPEST, William Shakespeare's final play, featuring the cream of Hollywood's aristocratic British Colony? When the project is announced in 1948, it sounds like an idea that can't miss. But then the whispers start about one of those British actors and a burlesque queen, and murder follows shortly. Enter Scott Elliott, top operative of Hollywood Security and the soon-to-be husband of the lovely Ella Englehart. To get to the altar, Elliott must dodge blonde bombshells and gangsters, and solve a mystery that echoes Shakespeare's crowning work. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 1.30.06 - Improbable
Author: Fawer, Adam
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060736771 Date: 2005
Thriller Award Winner Best First Novel
David Caine, a compulsive gambler plagued by crippling epileptic seizures, gets more than he bargained for while testing an experimental medicine. Unsure whether he's perceiving an alternate reality or suffering a psychotic breakdown, Caine discovers that powerful forces want him for their own. A highly original debut novel by an aspiring new talent.
Updated 1.30.06 - Company Man
Author: Finder, Joseph
Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 03112319169 Date: 2005
LJ
Barry Award Nominee Best Thriller
Recent widower and CEO of the major company in a small town is trapped by a conspiracy to sell the company out from under him and to corner him on murder charges for the death of a man who was stalking his family.
Suggested Reading: Financial Crime Fiction
Updated 3.21.05 - Consent to Kill
Author: Flynn, Vince
Publisher: Atria $ 24.95 ISBN: 0743270363 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Thriller
The bestselling author of The Third Option and Memorial Day delivers his seventh heart-stopping thriller starring CIA operative Mitch Rapp. In the duplicitous world of espionage, the hunter is about to become the hunted as Rapp must face unimaginable tragedy with the ruthless determination that has captured imaginations across the globe.
Updated 1.30.06 - The Girl in the Glass
Author: Ford, Jeffrey
Publisher: Dark Alley $ 13.95 ISBN: 0060936193 Date: 2005
Edgar Winner Best Paperback Original
At once a hypnotically compelling mystery and a stunningly evocative portrait of Depression-era New York, The Girl in the Glass is a masterly literary adventure from a writer of exemplary vision and skill.
Updated 1.30.06 - Immoral
Author: Freeman, Brian
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312340427 Date: 2005
LJ
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
Barry Award Nominee Best First Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best First Novel
Macavity Award Winner Best First Novel
In a moral world, murder is the ultimate crime, a killer pays the ultimate price, and the victim remains buried. Unless everyone is immoral.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 8.24.05 - Run the Risk
Author: Frost, Scott
Publisher: Putnam $ 19.95 ISBN: 0399152482 Date: 2005
Kirkus
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
A detective faces a horrifying choice between love and duty in this hair-raising debut. Scott Frost, who is currently at work on a second Alex Delillo novel, is a screenwriter whose credits include the television classics Twin Peaks and Life Goes On.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 1.5.05 - Hide Your Eyes
Author: Gaylin, Alison
Publisher: Signet $ 5.99 ISBN: 045121448x Date: 2005
Edgar Nominee Best First Novel by an American Author
From a fresh, funny, feminine voice in suspense fiction comes this chilling, charming, and hip debut, about a New York City woman who goes after two psychos she spies dumping a dubious-looking ice chest into the Hudson.
Updated 1.30.06 - Vanish
Author: Gerritsen, Tess
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345476972 Date: 2005
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
Macavity Award Nominee Best Novel
In "New York Times" bestselling author Tess Gerritsen's most suspenseful work yet, an FBI agent, working against a madman's murderous timetable, battles to protect his pregnant wife. "Crime writing at its unputdownable, nerve-tingling best."--Harlan Coben.
Updated 1.30.06 - Tilt A Whirl
Author: Grabenstein, Chris
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 23.95 ISBN: 0786715847 Date: 2005
Booklist LJ
Anthony Award Winner Best First Novel
There isn't much sun in the fun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt A Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet summer tourist town of Sea Haven. John Ceepak, a former MP just back from Iraq, heads up the murder investigation.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Amusement & Theme Parks
Updated 10.4.05 - Kiss Her Goodbye
Author: Guthrie, Allan
Publisher: Leisure $ 6.99 ISBN: 0843953551 Date: 2005
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
Anthony Award Nominee Best Paperback Original
After his wife and young daughter die, loan shark enforcer Joe Hope is charged with murder. With the help of Scotland's hardest man (and one hard woman), Joe sets out to find out who framed him.
Suggested Reading: Scottish Crime Fiction | Hard-Boiled/Noir
Updated 1.30.06 - Cast Adrift
Author: Gutteridge, Peter
Publisher: Allison $ 25.95 ISBN: 0749083557 Date: 2005
2006 Lefty Award - Humorous Mystery
Nick Madrid is back, with his friend Bridget. The duo are faced with their biggest danger yet when they end up shipwrecked, will they survive. . .
Updated 1.30.06 - Dark Angel
Author: Harper, Karen
Publisher: Mira $ 7.50 ISBN: 0778321797 Date: 2005
Mary Higgins Clark Award Winner
Harper delivers the final chapter in her Maplecreek Amish trilogy. Convinced that her adopted infant daughter has been switched with another child, Leah Kurtz turns to Dr. Mark Morelli, who has come to study the genetic disease that plagues Leah's community.
Updated 1.30.06 - All Shook Up: Eddie Dancer
Author: Harrison, Mike
Publisher: ECW $ 15.95 ISBN: 1550226886 Date: 2005
Macavity Award Nominee Best First Novel
This hard-edged, energetic mystery features Eddie Dancer--Canada's newest and toughest private eye. Two years as a city cop have convinced Eddie he is better off working for himself as a private investigator. When he is hired to track down a tough, professional bank robber, Eddie has no idea he is about to pry the lid off a very nasty can of worms. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 1.30.06 - Baby Game
Author: Hicks, Randall
Publisher: Wordslinger $ 22.95 ISBN: 096316385X Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best First Novel
Macavity Award Nominee Best First Novel
Attorney Toby Dillion's idyllic life changes when a Hollywood glamour couple asks for his help in adopting a baby. The feel-good story curdles into danger when the baby's kidnapped, the birth mother is missing, and other suspects turn up dead.
Updated 1.30.06 - Dark Harbor
Author: Hosp, David
Publisher: Warner $ 24.95 ISBN: 044657693x Date: 2005
LJ
Barry Award Nominee Best First Novel
A stunning debut thriller reminiscent of the novels of David Baldacci. When the body of his co-worker and ex-lover is found in Boston Harbor, attorney Sean Finn becomes a suspect in her murder. With an ambitious female police detective also after answers, Finn is unaware of what's at stake if the truth about the killing is finally uncovered.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Thrillers | If You Like David Baldacci
Updated 5.18.05 - Shadow Valley
Author: Hunter, Gwen
Publisher: Mira $ 6.99 ISBN: 0778321304 Date: 2005
Mary Higgins Clark Award Nominee
While on a photography shoot in the Appalachian Mountains, a mother and daughter are accosted by a stranger, who kidnaps the daughter. Soon, the hunt is on to stop a sadistic abductor from following through on his promise to kill the girl.
Updated 1.30.06 - Six Bad Things
Author: Huston, Charlie
Publisher: Ballantine $12.95 (paper) ISBN: 0345464796 Date: 2005
Booklist
Edgar Nominee Best Paperback Original
Barry Award Nominee Best Paperback Novel
Anthony Award Nominee Best Paperback Original
From the author of the Hitchcockian debut Caught Stealing comes a fast-paced crime thriller about a good man who just wants to go home--and the bad past that won't let him.
Suggested Reading: Surfer Stars | Hard-Boiled
Updated 5.9.05 - Silence in the Grave
Author: Inridason, Arnaldur
Publisher: Minotaur $ 22.95 ISBN: 0312340710Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee British Novel Published in the UK in 2005
Downtrodden detective Erlendur and his team must once again look into Reykjavik's hidden past to unravel a case of human nastiness. Alive with tension and atmosphere and disturbingly real, this is an outstanding continuation of the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries.
Updated 1.30.06 - Night's Child
Author: Jennings, Maureen
Publisher: McClelland $ 18.95 ISBN :0771043740 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Paperback Novel
After thirteen-year-old Agnes Fisher faints at school, her teacher, the young and still idealistic Amy Slade, is shocked to discover in the girl's desk two stereoscopic photographs. One is of a dead baby in its cradle, and on the back Agnes has scrawled a terrible message. Worse, the other photograph is of Agnes in a pose captioned "What Mr. Newly Wed Really Wants." When Agnes doesn't show up at school the next day, her teacher takes the two photographs to the police. Murdoch, furious at the sexual exploitation of such a young girl, resolves to find the photographer - and to put him behind bars.
Night's Child is the fifth novel in Maureen Jennings's highly praised historical mystery series. Two of the stories have already been adapted for the small screen, in acclaimed movies aired by the Bravo network. Another four movies are in development - good news for Jennings's fast-growing number of avid fans. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 1.30.06 - The Cold Dish
Author: Johnson, Craig
Publisher: Viking $ 23.95 ISBN: 0670033693 Date: 2005
Dilys Nominee
The body of a young man is found in Absaroka County, Wyoming. It is possible that Cody Pritchard is the victim of a hunting accident--or is someone seeking retribution for his part in raping a mentally disabled Cheyenne girl?
Updated 1.30.06 - Half Broken Things
Author: Joss, Morag
Publisher: Delta $ 22 ISBN: 0385339402 Date: 2005
PW Booklist
Dilys Nominee
When a mixture of deceit, good luck, and misfortune draws three strangers--an aging house-sitter, a struggling con man, and a pregnant young woman--together at Walden Manor, each sees one final chance to start over.
Suggested Reading: Psychological Suspense Stars
Updated 8.15.05 - Alibi
Author: Kanon, Joseph
Publisher: Holt $ 26 ISBN: 080507886x Date: 2005
LJ
Hammett Award Nominee
A riveting tale of love, revenge, and murder by the author of Los Alamos and The Good German. As Europe slowly begins to recover from the ravages of the Second World War, a young American comes to Venice, where he falls in love with a Jewish woman haunted by her own devastating experiences from the war.
Suggested Reading: Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 3.21.05 - Good Day to Die
Author: Kernick, Simon
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312349955 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee British Novel Published in the UK in 2005
Updated 1.30.06 - Now You See Me
Author: Krich, Rochelle
Publisher: Ballantine$ 13.95 ISBN: 0345468120 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Paperback Novel
The highly anticipated fourth mystery featuring true-crime writer Molly Blume begins as Molly reluctantly agrees to help a man find his daughter, who ran away with someone she met on the Internet. Molly's regrets are soon validated when she learns she's not been told the whole truth.
Updated 1.30.06 - Mercy Falls
Author: Krueger, William Kent
Publisher: Atria $ 24 ISBN: 0743445880 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Anthony Award Winner Best Novel
In this follow-up to Blood Hollow, Tamarack County Sheriff Corcoran O'Connor investigates the high-profile murder of a powerful Chicago businessman. When he's then targeted by a sniper, O'Connor must move through a maze of murder, adultery, and deceit.
Updated 1.30.06 - The Inside Ring
Author: Lawson, Michael
Publisher: Doubleday $ 24.95 ISBN: 0385515316 Date: 2005
Kirkus
Barry Award Nominee Best Thriller
After an assassination attempt on the president, an honest lawyer with strong political connections flies under the radar on a twisted path through the Secret Service, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security to uncover how security's inside ring has been compromised.
Suggested Reading: Political Thrillers
Updated 2.8.05 - Solomon vs. Lord
Author: Levine, Paul
Publisher: Bantam $ 5.99 ISBN: 0440242738 Date: 2005
Macavity Award Nominee Best Novel
When a high-profile murder trial throws two of Miami's hottest attorneys together, sparks fly in this "terrific courtroom drama that's also funny as hell" (Dave Berry).
Updated 1.30.06 - Door to Bitterness
Author: Limon, Martin
Publisher: Soho $ 23 ISBN: 1569474044 Date: 2005
Booklist
Hammett Award Nominee
The pair of G.I. cops Martin Limon first introduced in Jade Lady Burning (a "New York Times Notable Book of the Year) are back with a vengeance in their latest adventures in Seoul and the sin cities surrounding the capital in the 1970s. North Korea is menacing, Vietnam is burning as these two weave through the back alleys and bordellos, as they try to tip back the scales of justice in the right direction. - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 9.17.05 - To The Power of Three
Author: Lippman, Laura
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060506725 Date: 2005
Anthony Award Nominee Best Novel
One of the most acclaimed authors in crime fiction pens a realistic and surprising tale about three high school girls who have been friends since childhood, the secrets that pull them apart, and the ultimate betrayal.
Updated 1.30.06 - Cold Granite
Author: MacBride, Stuart
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 031233995x Date: 2005
Booklist PW LJ
Barry Award Nominee Best First Novel
DCI Logan McRac returns to his job in Aberdeen CID after recuperating from a gunshot wound and finds himself assigned to a brutal serial killer case.
Sugg Suggested Reading: Scottish Crime Fiction Stars | All Stars | Debuts
Updated 6.15.05 - The Good Girl's Guide to Murder: Debutante Dropout Mystery
Author: McBride, Susan
Publisher: Avon $ 6.99 ISBN: 0060563907 Date: 2005
Award Nominee
Unwillingly dragged back into her upper-crust mama's social whirl, Andy Kendricks sets out to find a killer when a body turns up in the rubble of the torched studio of an intolerable TV show hostess.
Updated 1.30.06 - No Country for Old Men
Author: McCarthy, Cormac
Publisher: Knopf $ 24.95 ISBN: 0375406778 Date: 2005
Booklist PW
Hammett Award Nominee
Set along a bloody frontier in our own time, this is McCarthy's first novel since Cities of the Plain completed his acclaimed, bestselling Border Trilogy. Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, instead finds men shot dead, a load of heroin, and over $2 million in cash. Packing the money out, he knows, will change everything.
Updated 5.23.05 - The Dead Don't Get Out Much
Author: Maffinni, Mary Jane
Publisher: Napoleon $ 12.95 ISBN: 1894917308Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Paperback Novel
Remembrance Day is a proud day for Camilla's good friend Mrs. Violet Parnell, one of five thousand Canadian women who went overseas during World War II. But the day after Remembrance Day, Mrs. Parnell vanishes. Camilla, with only a few letters and documents to guide her, follows her friend to Tuscany, chasing through historic towns, across high promontories, and along steep mountain roads. Vanishing partisans and Allied aircraft crash sites keep Camilla hopping as she tries to find Mrs. P before someone with a deadly serious reason to keep the past hidden finds her first.
Updated 1.30.06 - The Firemaker
Author: May, Peter
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312342942 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Margaret Campbell, a Chicago forensic pathologist, has been invited by the Chinese government to teach at the Beijing police university. She has accepted the six-week assignment with misgivings but is desperate to escape a troubled life in America. Arriving in Beijing, she checks "nothing to declare" on the health declaration they gave her on the plane---nothing, that is, "except a broken heart and a wasted life, neither of which was contagious."
She gets off to a bad start when her car knocks senior detective Li Yan off his bicycle. In a furious clash, he dresses her down in perfect English. But Li soon finds himself reintroduced to Margaret by his superiors when the newly promoted detective's first case requires Margaret's special expertise to identify a horribly burned corpse. Thrown together to track down the killer, Margaret and Li must bury their personal and cultural differences when they uncover a conspiracy that threatens not only their lives, but the lives of millions. - Publisher Marketing
Updated 1.30.06 - Rituals of the Season
Author: Maron, Margaret
Publisher: Warner $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892968095 Date: 2005
PW LJ
Agatha Nominee Best Novel
The multiple winner of the most coveted prizes for mystery fiction, Maron is back with a new tale featuring her perennially popular sleuth, Judge Deborah Knott.
Updated 7.12.05 - Field of Blood
Author: Mina, Denise
Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0316735930 Date: 2005
PW LJ
Barry Award Nominee Best British Novel Published in the UK in 2005
In the explosive start of a new series by the author of the acclaimed Garnethill trilogy, neophyte journalist Paddy Meehan becomes intimately involved in her first assignment - the brutal murder of a local boy.
Suggested Reading: Scottish Crime Fiction Stars
Updated 6.29.05 - The Body in the Snowdrift: Faith Fairchild
Author: Page, Katherine Hall
Publisher: Morrow $ 23.95 ISBN: 0060525304 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Winner Best Novel
Caterer Faith Fairchild and family are off for a week-long stay at the Pine Slopes resort in Vermont to celebrate her father-in-law's birthday. All seems to going be well until Faith stumbles upon the body of a local lawyer.
Updated 1.30.06 - A Kllling Rain
Author: Parrish, P.J.
Publisher: Pinnacle $ 6.99 ISBN: 078601606x Date: 2005
Anthony Award Nominee Best Paperback Original
The "New York Times" bestselling author and Detective Louis Kincaid return for this complex and compelling tale. What should have been a routine case for Kincaid takes a grisly turn when he pursues a twisted madman who's made hunting humans into a bloodsport in the Florida Everglades.
Updated 1.30.06 - Drama City
Author: Pelecanos, George
Publisher: Little Brown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0316608211 Date: 2005
Booklist
Edgar Nominee Best Novel
In this blistering and soulful novel of the DC underworld, an ex-con finds himself caught between the light and the dark sides of the street after a malevolent young killer spoils his chances to stay straight.
Suggested Reading: Drug Traffic Stars | Hard Boiled
Updated 3.3.05 - The Patriots Club
Author: Reich, Christopher
Publisher: Delacorte $ 26 ISBN: 0385337280 Date: 2005
Thriller Award Winner Best Novel
"New York Times" bestselling author Christopher Reich delivers a novel of unique power and a blend of action and intrigue in this thriller that links his trademark "high-concept espionage" with an ingenious historical conspiracy.
Updated 1.30.06 - 7 Deadly Wonders
Author: Reilly, Matthew
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 23 ISBN: 0743270533 Date: 2005
Booklist
Barry Award Nominee Best Thriller
The "New York Times" bestselling author and "pedal-to-the-medal action novelist" ("Publishers Weekly") is back in high gear on the greatest treasure hunt of all time--a headlong race to find the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Suggested Reading: If You Like Clive Cussler | Thrillers
Updated 12.5.05 - Strange Affair - Inspector Banks
Author: Robinson, Peter
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060544333 Date: 2005
PW
Macavity Award Nominee Best Novel
Murder cuts close to home in this powerful new tale of suspense from "a gifted creator" ("Boston Globe")--one of the best and most original talents writing today.
Suggested Reading: British Police
Updated 1.19.05 - Lost
Author: Robotham, Michael
Publisher: Doubleday $ 24.95 ISBN: 0385508662 Date: 2006
LJ
London detective Vincent Ruiz (Suspect) returns and is accused of faking amnesia when he's found shot in the leg, but with no memory of how. Ruiz turns to psychologist Joe O'Loughlin, and soon a twisted trail of grief, vengeance, and the search for redemption is revealed.
Updated 12.27.05 - Map of Bones
Author: Rollins, James
Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060763876 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Thriller
When parishioners are burned to death in a German cathedral, the U.S. sends in the SIGMA force. The team discovers someone has stolen the priceless treasure stored in the cathedral's golden reliquary: the bones of the biblical Magi.
Updated 1.30.06 - Sudden Death
Author: Rosenfelt, David
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892967838 Date: 2005
PW LJ
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Following the success of Bury the Lead, a "Today" show Book Club Pick selected by Janet Evanovich, Rosenfelt delivers an exciting new mystery featuring defense attorney Andy Carpenter. When a star running back for the New York Giants is murdered, could rivalry have turned a player from the Jets into a cold-blooded killer?
Suggested Reading: Legal Stars
Updated 5.4.05 - Private Wars: Queen and Country
Author: Rucka, Greg
Publisher: Bantam $ 24 ISBN: 0553802771 Date: 2005
Barry Award Nominee Best Thriller
Secret agent Tara Chace, introduced in A Gentleman's Game, is coaxed back into the game with a chance to vindicate herself. Sent to Uzbekistan, Tara is going to find out that the War on Terror is more terrifying that anyone knows.
Updated 1.30.06 - Officer Down
Author: Schwegel, Theresa
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 0312343140 Date: 2005
Edgar Winner Best First Novel by an American Author
Anthony Award Nominee Best First Novel
Knocked unconscious during an impromptu sting, a hospitalized police officer wakes to the news that her partner was shot and killed at the scene--by her gun. So far there's no evidence anyone else was there.
Suggested Reading: Debuts
Updated 1.30.06 - The Tenor Wore Tapshoes
Author: Schweizer, Mark
Publisher: St James Music Press $ 12.95 ISBN: Date: 2005
Dilys Nominee
Hayden Konig leads a charmed life. He’s rich, he loves his full-time job as Police Chief in the little mountain town of St. Germaine, NC, as well as his part-time employment as the organist and choirmaster at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. He’s also working on his third detective story and is convinced that purchasing Raymond Chandler’s typewriter and using it to compose his opus will impart some magic to his demented prose. He couldn’t be more mistaken.
Until a body is found inside the altar of St. Barnabas, the biggest crime that Hayden has had to deal with is the theft of “The Immaculate Confection”, a cinnamon bun that looks like the Virgin Mary. The body, however, turns out to be one of the “incorruptibles,” and has been in the altar for over sixty years.
Added to this, a tent evangelist has come to town — Brother Hogmany MacTavish — and he’s having revivals every night featuring Binny Hen the Scripture Chicken, a chicken that chooses the scriptures for Brother Hog’s sermons.
As All Saints Day approaches, Hayden and his friend Pete are coerced into attending the “Iron Mike Men’s Retreat," but when another murder takes place in St. Germaine, it’s time to get serious. Could the bounty hunter called in to find the “Immaculate Confection” have something to do with it? - Publisher Marketing
Updated 1.30.06 - Knit One, Kill Two
Author: Sefton, Maggie
Publisher: Prime Crime $ 6.99 ISBN: 042520359x Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best First Novel
This exciting first installment to a brand-new series introduces Kelly Flynn, who must untangle the mystery behind her aunt's murder. Includes a knitting pattern and recipe from a delicious dish featured in the story.
Updated 1.30.06 - Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes
Author: Swain, James
Publisher: Ballantine $ 19.95 ISBN: 0345475445 Date: 2005
Kirkus
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
After a death-defying jump from a burning casino hotel room, Ricky Smith's luck changes. Surviving the five-floor nosedive into the pool, the loser is miraculously transformed into a major-player winner.
Suggested Reading: Take a Gamble
Updated 1.5.05 - The Belen Hitch: Sasha Solomon
Author: Taichert, Pari Noskin
Publisher: Univ of New Mexico $ 24.95/14.95 ISBN: 0826399158/0826339166 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best Novel
Now in paperback--avant garde art and railroad history mix with murder in the second Sasha Solomon mystery from Agatha Award nominee Pari Noskin Taichert.
Updated 1.30.06 - Blood Relations
Author: Tillman, Lisa
Publisher: Hilliard & Harris $ 16.95 ISBN: 1591331226 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best First Novel
Updated 1.30.06 - Citizen Vince
Author: Walter, Jess
Publisher: Regan $ 24.95 ISBN: 0060394412 Date: 2005
Kirkus
Edgar Winner Best Novel
From a highly acclaimed young novelist comes a story of witness protection, petty thievery, local politics and murder set against the turbulent backdrop of the 1980 presidential election.
Suggested Reading: Political Fiction
Updated 1.30.06 - Trouble in Spades: Nina Quinn
Author: Webber, Heather S.
Publisher: Avon $ 6.50 ISBN: 0060723483 Date: 2005
Agatha Award Nominee Best Novel
The life of garden landscaper and sleuth Nina Quinn is turned even more topsy-turvy when her brother-in-law-to-be mysteriously disappears, a neighborhood thief strikes, and a couple of corpses are inconveniently dug up.
Updated 1.30.06 - The Power of the Dog
Author: Winslow, Don
Publisher: Knopf $ 25.95 ISBN: 0375405380 Date: 2005
LJ
Dilys Nominee
Hammett Award Nominee
Barry Award Nominee Best Novel
Macavity Award Nominee Best Novel
From the highly praised author of The Life and Times of Bobby Z comes a huge, sprawling, breakneck-paced novel about America's drug world--its devastations and deliriums, its complexities of alliances and betrayals, its life-shaping effect on all the pawns, the kings, and the law enforcers who inhabit it both willingly and not.
Suggested Reading: Drug Traffic
Updated 5.4.05 - Pardonable Lies: Maisie Dobbs
Author: Winspear, Jacqueline
Publisher: Holt $ 23 ISBN: 0805078975 Date: 2005
LJ PW Booklist
Agatha Nominee Best Novel
In the third novel of this bestselling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful World War I memories to resolve the mystery of a pilot's death.
Suggested Reading: All Stars | Historical Crime Fiction
Updated 8.16.05
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