The Strand Magazine Critics Awards Nominees

The Strand Magazine announced the Nominees for its 2024 Critics Awards. 

Best Mystery Novel:
• All the Sinners Bleed, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper (Mulholland)
• Small Mercies, by Dennis Lehane (Harper)
• Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
• Prom Mom, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
• Time’s Undoing, by Cheryl A. Head (Dutton)
• The Secret Hours, by Mick Herron (Soho Crime)

Best Debut Mystery:
• Fadeaway Joe, by Hugh Lessig (Crooked Lane)
• Mother-Daughter Murder Night, by Nina Simon (Morrow)
• The House in the Pines, by Ana Reyes (Dutton)
• Don’t Forget the Girl, by Rebecca McKanna (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• Adrift, by Lisa Brideau (Sourcebooks Landmark)
• The Peacock and the Sparrow, by I.S. Berry (Atria)

Lifetime Achievement Award (both)

Kathy Reichs 

Max Allan Collins 

Publisher of the Year Award

Jonathan Karp of Simon and Schuster

HT: The Rap Sheet. 

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS WINNERS

Quarterly crime-fiction and mystery magazine The Strand announced the winners of the annual Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction and publishing, The Strand Critics Awards are judged by an ever-changing group of book critics and journalists. This year’s judges were chosen from The Boston Globe, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press. Congratulations to all!
 

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARD BEST NOVEL WINNER: 

Secret Identity Alex Segura (Flatiron Books)

Nominees:

Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris (William Morrow)
Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
Desert Star by Michael Connelly (Little Brown)
Her Last Affair by John Searles (Mariner Books)
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
 
STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARD  BEST DEBUT WINNER:

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (Minotaur)

Nominees:

Jackal by Erin E. Adams (Bantam)
Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz (Atria/Emily Bestler)
Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho)
Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Soho)
 
 
Strand Lifetime Achievement Awards: James Lee Burke and Lee Child 

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS

Strand Magazine Critics Awards were announced last night. Congratulations to all!

BEST MYSTERY DEBUT (2021) 

Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka, Translated by Sam Malissa (Harry Abrams) 

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL (2021) 

Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books) I

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR 

Morgan Entrekin, president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic Inc. in New York City. 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Sandra Brown 

Nelson DeMille

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS NOMINEES

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS NOMINEES. Congratulations to all. 

BEST MYSTERY DEBUT (2021) 

Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown and Co.) 

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Atria Books) 

Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka, Translated by Sam Malissa (Harry Abrams) 

Lightseekers by Femi Kayode (Mulholland Books) 

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey) 

All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris (William Morrow) 

BEST MYSTERY NOVEL (2021) 

The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Co.) 

Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books) I

The Low Desert by Tod Goldberg (Counterpoint) 

These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas and Mercer) 

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman (William Morrow) 

1979 by Val McDermid (Atlantic Monthly) 

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR 

Morgan Entrekin, president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic Inc. in New York City. 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Sandra Brown 

Nelson DeMille

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS 2020

The Strand Magazine announced the winners of  the 2020 Strand Critics Awards last night at a fun Zoom Part. Hank Phillipi Ryan and
Andrew Guilli officiated. Great fun! Such a pleasure to attend on Zoom. The Awards recognize excellence in the field of mystery fiction and publishing. 


THE STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS

Best Mystery Novel
The Sentence Is Death, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)

Best Debut Novel:
Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim (Sarah Crichton)

Bronwen Hruska of Soho Press is this year's recipient of the Publisher of the Year Award. 

Tess Gerritsen and Walter Mosley were awarded Lifetime Achievement. 

STRAND MAGAZINE CRITICS AWARDS

The Strand Magazine announced the winners of the  2019 Strand Critics Awards last night at a cocktail party in New York City.

Best Mystery Novel: Tie
Transcription, by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown)
Sunburn, by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins)

Best Debut Mystery Novel:
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor  (Crown)
The Strand also announced the recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Awards: Heather Graham and Donna Leon.  

Also named was Dominique Raccah, the publisher/CEO of Sourcebooks, as its Publisher of the Year Award.

STRAND CRITIC AWARDS

The Strand Magazine announced the winners for the 2018 Strand Critics Awards. Winners were announced on July 11 during “an invitation-only cocktail party in New York City, hosted by The Strand Magazine.” Congratulations to All!

 Best Novel:
Wonder Valley, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco)

Best First Novel:
The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal (Morrow)

Lifetime Achievement Awards:  
Jonathan Gash (aka John Grant), British creator of the antiques-focused Lovejoy mysteries; 
and 
J.A. Jance, best known for her J.P. Beaumont series and her Joanna Brady series. Both of those authors will receive their commendations during that same July 11 fête. 

Publisher of the Year Award: Tom Doherty of Tor/Forge books

To see all the nominees, go here.

HT: The Rap Sheet

Strand Magazine Critics Award

The Strand Magazine Strand Magazine Critics Awards:

Best Novel:
The Whites, by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt (Picador)

Best First Novel:
Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (HarperCollins)

Colin Dexter and Jeffery Deaver received this year’s Strand Critics lifetime achievement awards.

HT: Chantelle Aimée Osman

2015 Strand Magazine Critics Award

The Strand Magazine nominees for the 2015 Strand Magazine Critics Awards:

Best Novel:
• Career of Evil, by Robert Galbraith (Mulholland)
• A Banquet of Consequences, by Elizabeth George (Viking)
• The Lady from Zagreb, by Phillip Kerr (Putnam)
• Forty Thieves, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious Press)
• The Whites, by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt (Picador)
• The Cartel, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

Best First Novel:
• The Truth and Other Lies, by Sascha Arango (Atria)
• Normal, by Graeme Cameron (Mira)
• The Marauders, by Tom Cooper (Crown)
• Past Crimes, by Glen Erik Hamilton (HarperCollins)
• The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead)
• Disclaimer, by Renée Knight (Harper)

The winners will be announced on July 5.

Colin Dexter and Jeffery Deaver have been chosen to receive this year’s Strand Critics lifetime achievement awards.

HT: The Rap Sheet

Strand Magazine Critics Awards

2014 Strand Magazine Critics Awards: “recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction.” These were presented tonight.

Best Novel:
The Fever, by Megan Abbott (Little, Brown)
After I’m Gone, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)

Best First Novel:
Dear Daughter, by Elizabeth Little (Viking)

HT: Sarah Weinman

Strand Magazine Critics Awards

On Wednesday, July 9, the Strand Magazine Critics Awards were announced. Lauren Beukes won the Strand Critics Award for Best Novel for The Shining Girls (Mulholland Books). Roger Hobbs won the Best First Novel award for Ghostman (Knopf). And, R.L. Stine and Peter Lovesey were awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contributions to the genre.

The Strand Magazine Critics Awards

The Strand Magazine announced the nominees for its 2013 Critics Awards for Best Mystery Novel and Best First Mystery Novel.

Best Novel:
• The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes (Mulholland)
• Solo, by William Boyd (Harper)
• Sandrine’s Case, by Thomas H. Cook (Mysterious Press)
• A Serpent’s Tooth, by Craig Johnson (Viking)
• Ratlines, by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
• The Double, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

Best First Novel:
• Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly (Grove Press)
• Ghostman, by Roger Hobbs (Knopf)
• A Killing at Cotton Hill, by Terry Shames (Seventh Street)
• Walking Into the Ocean, by David Whellams (ECW Press)
• Norwegian by Night, by Derek Miller (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)


Also, Peter Lovesey and R.L. Stine have been named as the recipients of The Strand’s Lifetime Achievement Award “for excellence in crime and thriller writing.”

Strand Magazine Critics Awards

This just in...

Winner of the Strand Magazine Critics Award for Best Novel: The Cut by George Pelecanos

I'll update with winner of the Best First Novel shortly....

Strand Magazine Critics Awards Nominees

The Strand Magazine has announced its nominees for the 2011 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction, the Critics Awards were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists, from news venues such as USA Today, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, and several other daily papers.

Best First Novel:
The Hypnotist Lars Kepler (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Sister by Rosamund Lupton (Crown)
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (Harper)
The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis (Soho)
The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly (Pamela Dorman Books)

Best Novel
The Affair by Lee Child (Delacorte Press)
The Drop by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
Buried Secrets by Joseph Finder (St Martin’s Press)
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (Knopf)
The Cut by George Pelecanos (Reagan Arthur Books)

Lifetime Achievement awards
Joseph Wambaugh
John Sandford

"This year’s awards are set for a tight finish, many of the judges were nearly unanimous in what they thought were their top ten books," said Andrew F. Gulli, the managing editor of The Strand. "The second round of voting should be very interesting."The awards will be presented at an invitation-only cocktail party, hosted by The Strand on July 11, 2012, in New York City.

Strand Magazine Critics Awards Nominees

The Strand Magazine announced its nominees for the 2010 Strand Magazine Critics Awards

Best Novel:
The Reversal by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
Faithful Place by Tana French (Viking)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)
I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)

Best First Novel
Blacklands by Belinda Bauer (Simon and Schuster)
Rock Paper Tiger by Lisa Brackmann (Soho Press)
The Poacher's Son by Paul Doiron (Minotaur Books)
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (Twelve)
Snow Angels by James Thompson (Putnam)

"The panel chose a fantastic list of books this year," said Andrew F. Gulli, the managing editor of The Strand. "It's always nice to see some books that you felt were great, but somehow fell under the radar of a lot of people get the recognition they deserve."

The awards will be presented in the categories of Best Novel and Best First Novel at an invitation-only cocktail party, hosted by The Strand on July 6, 2011, in New York City.

Strand Magazine Critics Awards

Winners of the 2009 Strand Magazine Critics Awards:

Best Novel: Nine Dragons, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

Best First Novel (tie): Beat the Reaper, by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown), and Starvation Lake, by Bryan Gruley (Touchstone)

Elmore Leonard was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award

Hat Tip to The Rap Sheet

Strand Magazine Critics Awards Nominees

The Strand Magazine has announced its nominees for the 2009 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction, the Critics Awards were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists, including Ron Charles (The Washington Post), Julia Keller (Chicago Tribune), Tom Nolan (Wall Street Journal) Paul Harris (The Guardian), and Hallie Ephron (The Boston Globe).

Best Novel:

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company)
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston (Ballantine Books)
Life Sentences by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)
The Renegades by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Riverhead Books)

Best First Novel

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (Little, Brown and Company)
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (Penguin Press)
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin Books)
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Touchstone)
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (Harper)

The Strand bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award to Elmore Leonard for his huge body of mystery and crime novels which have been translated into dozens of languages and are regulars on the New York Times best-seller lists.

The awards will be presented in the categories of Best Novel and Best First Novel at an invitation-only cocktail party, hosted by The Strand on July 7, 2010, in New York City.