Oline Cogdill

The finalists for the 34th annual L.A. Times Book Prizes were announced Wednesday morning: 50 books in 10 categories are in the running to win.

The winners of the L.A. Times book prizes will be announced at an awards ceremony April 11, the evening before the L.A. Times Festival of Books, April 12-13. Held on University of Southern California's campus in Bovard Auditorium, the awards are open to the public; tickets will be made available in late March. Details can be found online at www.latimes.com/bookprizes.

Several years ago, I, along with Sarah Weinman and the late, great Dick Adler, twice were judges for the mystery/thriller category. The third year, Sarah and I were joined by Dick Lochte. I make it a policy never to comment on award nominations.

Here are the finalists in the crime fiction category.

MYSTERY/THRILLER

Hour of the Red God, by Richard Crompton (Sarah Crichton Books)
The Cuckoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) (Mulholland Books)
Sycamore Row, John Grisham (Doubleday Books)
The Rage, Gene Kerrigan (Europa Editions)
The Collini Case, Ferdinand von Schirach (Viking)

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