2018 HAMMETT PRIZE WINNER

The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers announced that August Snow, by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime), has been named the winner of the organization's annual HAMMETT PRIZE for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing.

The winning title was chosen by a group of three distinguished outside judges: Vera Marowitz, owner of the Bookworm in Bernardsville, New Jersey; Robert Sutherland-Cohen, author of Tesla for Beginners; John Timpane, Media and Fine Arts Editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The judges selected from among four finalists nominated from the hundreds of crime books published in 2017. These four titles were selected by the organization's nominations committee headed by Del Staecker.

Other books nominated for the 2017 HAMMETT PRIZE were The Marsh King’s Daughter: A Novel, by Karen Dionne (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), The Tragedy of Brady Sims: A Novel, by Ernest J. Gaines, and Two Days Gone: A Novel, by Randall Silvis (Sourcebooks Landmark).

Mr. Jones was awarded a bronze trophy, designed by West Coast sculptor Peter Boiger. The award was announced during a lunch for the finalists at New York’s Algonquin Hotel on July 13.