2015
Claymore Award
2015 Winner – Michael F. Stewart, The Boy Who Swallows Flies
1st Runner Up – Jean Rabe, The Christmas Card Killer
2nd Runner Up (tie, listed in alphabetical order) –
Philip Cioffari, Night and Its Burdens
Sasscer Hill, Dark Side of Town
Claymore Award Finalists:
(in alphabetical order by author)
J.D. Allen, 19 Crimes
Philip Cioffari, Night and Its Burdens
Nikki M. Clarke, Wicked Hands
Alice Fitzpatrick, The Thing of Darkness
Sasscer Hill, Dark Side of Town
L.G. Jenkins, Diptastic
J.E. Mooney (Jean Rabe), The Christmas Card Killer
Ben Orlando, The Lost Journals of Sundown
Michael F. Stewart, The Boy Who Swallows Flies
Jonathan Stone, Two for the Show
Silver Falchion Award
Best Novel
Cozy/Traditional Mystery – Charles Todd, Hunting Shadows
Finalists:
Andrea Camilleri, Angelica’s Smile
E. J. Copperman and Jeff Cohen, The Question of the Missing Head
Mary Daheim, The Alpine Yeoman
Margaret Maron, Designated Daughters
Crime Thriller – Lisa Unger, In the Blood
Finalists:
Paul Doiron, The Bone Orchard
Gwen Florio, Dakota
Tod Goldberg, Gangsterland
John Lescroart, The Keeper
Historical – Anne Perry, Death On Blackheath
Finalists:
Rennie Airth, The Reckoning
P.F. Chisholm, An Air of Treason
Kathleen George, The Johnstown Girls
Alex Grecian, The Devil’s Workshop
Literary Mystery / Suspense / Thriller – Catriona McPherson, The Day She Died
Finalists:
Linda Castillo, The Dead Will Tell
John Katzenbach, Red 1-2-3
Stephen King, Mr. Mercedes
Tom Rob Smith, The Farm
Political / Adventure / Espionage Thriller – Terry Hayes, I am Pilgrim
Finalists:
Adam Brookes, Night Heron
Matthew Dunn, Dark Spies: A Spycatcher Novel
Assaf Gavron, The Hilltop
Ward Larsen, Assassin’s Game
Private Detective / Police Procedural / Mystery – John Sandford, Field of Prey
Finalists:
Ace Atkins, The Forsaken
Reed Farrel Coleman, The Hollow Girl
Christopher Fowler, Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart
David Mark, Sorrow Bound
Romantic Suspense – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Truth Be Told
Finalists:
Carey Baldwin, Judgment
Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison, The Lost Key
Janet Evanovich, Top Secret Twenty-One
Rebecca James, Sweet Damage
Speculative / Horror / Science Fiction / Fantasy – F. Paul Wilson, Fear City
Finalists:
Stephen Lloyd Jones, The String Diaries
Tim Lebbon, Coldbrook
John Scalzi, Lock In
Jonathan Wood, Yesterday’s Hero
Long-form Novelty Fiction – Danica Novgorodoff, The Undertaking of Lily Chen
Finalists:
Notes from the Cat House – Jack Ketchum
Best First Novel
Cozy / Traditional / Historical – Allen Eskens, The Life We Bury
Finalists:
J. Bard-Collins, Honor Above All
Nancy Coco, To Fudge or Not to Fudge
Hannah Dennison, Murder at Honeychurch Hall
TJ O’Connor, Dying to Know
Literary Suspense – Laura McHugh, The Weight of Blood
Finalists:
Tom Bouman, Dry Bones in the Valley
John Darnielle, Wolf in White Van
Samuel W. Gailey, Deep Winter
Oliver Truc, Forty Days Without Shadow
Leta Serafim, The Devil Takes Half
Thriller / Mystery – Lori Rader-Day, The Black Hour
Finalists:
Sarah Hilary, Someone Else’s Skin
Mark Nielsen, Hotlanta!
Matthew Palmer, The American Mission
Chrysler Szarlan, The Hawley Book of the Dead
Neely Tucker, The Ways of the Dead
Andy Weir, The Martian
Best Nonfiction
Academic – Charles Brownson, The Figure of the Detective: A Literary History and Analysis
Finalists:
Edited by Patricia Prandini Buckler, Bloody Italy: Essays on Crime Writing in Italian Settings
Edited by Curtis Evans, Mysteries Unlocked: Essays in Honor of Douglas G. Greene
Amnon Kabatchnik, Blood on the Stage 480 B.C. to 1600 A.D.: Milestone Plays on Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem
Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
James Mancall, James Ellroy: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction
Mainstream Crime Reference – Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know
Finalists:
Lucy Worsley, The Art of the English Murder
Memoir / Biography – Karen Abbott, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
Finalists:
Kai Bird, The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames
Sarah Churchwell, Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby
Lacy M. Johnson, The Other Side: A Memoir
J.W. Ocker, Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe
True Crime – Deborah Halber, The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America’s Coldest Cases
Finalists:
Kevin Cook, Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, The Crime that Changed America
Joshua Horwitz, War of the Whales
William J. Mann, Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
Matt Richtel, A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention
Best Children, Middle Grade, and Young Adult
Children’s Picture Book – Julie Kraulis, An Armadillo in Paris
Finalists:
Dan Bar-El, Illustrated by David Huyck, Nine Words Max
Zachary Hyman, Illustrated by Zachary Pullen, The Bambino and Me
Monica Kulling, Illustrated by David Parkins, Spic-and-Span! Lillian Gilbreth’s Wonder Kitchen
Eric Walters, Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, Hope Springs
Children’s Chapter Book – Dori Hillestad Butler, Illustrated by Aurore Damant, The Haunted Library
Finalists:
Bryn Fleming, Range Riders: Cassie & Jasper to the Rescue
Lewis B. Montgomery, Illustrated by Amy Wummer, The Milo & Jazz Mysteries: The Case of the Buried Bones
Scott Sonneborn, Illustrated by Timothy Banks, The Frankenstein Journals: Volume 1
Martin Widmark, Illustrated by Helena Willis, The Whodunit Detective Agency: The Diamond Mystery
Middle Grade – Jacqueline West, Still Life (The Books of Elsewhere, Book #5)
Finalists:
Dan Bar-El, Illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss, Audrey (Cow)
Charis Cotter, The Swallow: A Ghost Story
Kate De Goldi, Illustrated by Gregory O’Brien, The ACB with Honora Lee
Tania Unsworth, The One Safe Place
Young Adult – Kimberly G. Giarratano, Grunge Gods and Graveyards
Finalists:
Kate Brauning, How We Fall
Elle Cosimano, Nearly Gone
Hollis Gillespie, Unaccompanied Minor
S.J. Laidlaw, The Voice Inside My Head
Best Anthology, Collection, and Attending Author
Anthology – Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger (Editors), In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon
Finalists:
Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Barbara Ross, and Leslie Wheeler (Editors), Rogue Wave: Best New England Crime Stories
David Baldacci (Editor), Faceoff
Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson (Editors), Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War
Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Editor), Fiction River Special Edition: Crime
Collection – Terry Odell, Seeing Red: From the Case Files of Detective James T. Kirkland
Finalists:
C.J. Box, Shots Fired: Stories from Joe Pickett Country
Jeffery Deaver, Trouble in Mind: The Collected Stories, Volume 3
Craig Johnson, Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories
Joyce Carol Oates, High Crime Area: Tales of Darkness and Dread
Attending Author – C. Hope Clark, Palmetto Poison
Finalists:
Stacy Allen, Expedition Indigo
R.G. Belsky, The Kennedy Connection
Philip Cioffari, Dark Road, Dead End
Connie Dial, Unnatural Murder
Chris Knopf, A Billion Ways to Die
Bryan E. Robinson, Limestone Gumption
Robert Rotstein, Reckless Disregard: A Parker Stern Novel
Charles Salzberg, Swann’s Lake of Despair
Rich Zahradnik, Last Words
John Seigenthaler Legends Award – Robert K. Tanenbaum
Dupin Detective Award – Bobbi Blake
SEMWA Magnolia Award – Ross Cavins
