The nominees for the 2010 Anthony Awards have been announced by the 2010 Bouchercon. Recipients will be announced at the Anthony Awards brunch on Sunday, October 17 in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco during Bouchercon.

As usual, congratulations to all the nominees. And, as usual, this is a terrific list.

BEST NOVEL

THE LAST CHILD – John Hart [Minotaur Books]
THE MYSTIC ARTS OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH – Charlie Huston [Ballantine Books]
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE – Stieg Larsson, translated by Reg Keeland [Quercus/Knopf]
THE BRUTAL TELLING – Louise Penny [Minotaur Books]
THE SHANGHAI MOON – S.J. Rozan [Minotaur Books]

BEST FIRST NOVEL

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE – Alan Bradley [Delacorte Press]
STARVATION LAKE – Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
A BAD DAY FOR SORRY – Sophie Littlefield [Minotaur Books]
THE TWELVE/THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST – Stuart Neville [Soho Press]
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM – Stefanie Pintoff [Minotaur Books]

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

BURY ME DEEP – Megan Abbott [Simon & Schuster]
TOWER – Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman [Busted Flush Press]
QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE – Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
STARVATION LAKE – Bryan Gruley [Touchstone]
DEATH AND THE LIT CHICK – G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
AIR TIME – Hank Phillippi Ryan [Mira]

BEST SHORT STORY

“Last Fair Deal Gone Down” – Ace Atkins, CROSSROAD BLUES [Busted Flush Press]
“Femme Sole” – Dana Cameron, BOSTON NOIR [Akashic Books]
“Animal Rescue” – Dennis Lehane, BOSTON NOIR [Akashic Books]
“On the House” – Hank Phillippi Ryan, QUARRY: Crime Stories by New England Writers [Level Best Books]
“Amapola” – Luis Alberto Urrea, PHOENIX NOIR [Akashic Books]

BEST CRITICAL NONFICTION WORK

TALKING ABOUT DETECTIVE FICTION – P.D. James [Bodleian Library/Knopf]
THE LINE UP: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives – Otto Penzler, ed. [Little, Brown and Co]
HAUNTED HEART: The Life and Times of Stephen King – Lisa Rogak [Thomas Dunne Books]
DAME AGATHA’S SHORTS: An Agatha Christie Short Story Companion – Elena Santangelo [Bella Rosa Books]
THE TALENTED MISS HIGHSMITH: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith – Joan Schenkar [St. Martin's Press]

And so begins the next round of award nominations.

The Anthony Award nominations just came out this week.

I think each author should be proud to have his or her work on this list. After all, it is not easy to rise above the other works in a year. Believe me, I know how many mysteries are published each year.

Final voting will take place during Bouchercon  2009, the 40th Annual World Mystery Convention, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on Saturday, October 17, at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

As usual, congratulations to each nominee and good luck.

Best Novel
Trigger City by Sean Chercover [William Morrow]
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly [Little, Brown and Company]
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger [Atria]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny [Minotaur]

Best First Novel
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris [Minotaur]
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer [Doubleday]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith [Grand Central]

Best Paperback Original
The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
Money Shot by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy [Berkley]
In a Dark Season by Vicki Lane [Dell]
South of Hell by P.J. Parrish [Pocket Star]

Best Short Story
“The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron from Wolfsbane and Mistletoe [Ace]
“A Sleep Not Unlike Death” by Sean Chercover from Hardcore Hardboiled [Kensington]
“Killing Time” by Jane K. Cleland from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (November)
“Skull and Cross Examination” by Toni L. P. Kelner from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (February)
“Scratch a Woman” by Laura Lippman from Hardly Knew Her [William Morrow]
“The Secret Lives of Cats” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (July)

Best Critical Nonfiction Work
African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey [McFarland]
How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson [Perseverance Press]
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeffrey Marks [McFarland]
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale [Walker & Company]

Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein [Random House]
Paper Towns by John Green [Dutton Juvenile]
Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson [Delacorte]
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart [Little, Brown]
Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash by Wendelin Van Draanen [Knopf]

Best Cover Art
Death Was the Other Woman designed by David Rotstein and written by Linda L. Richards [Minotaur]
Death Will Get You Sober designed by David Rotstein and written by Elizabeth Zelvin [Minotaur]
The Fault Tree designed by David Rotstein and written by Louise Ure [Minotaur]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo designed by Peter Mendelsund and written by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Money Shot designed by Steve Cooley and written by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]

Special Service Award
Jon and Ruth Jordan
Ali Karim
David Montgomery
Gary Warren Niebuhr
Sarah Weinman