Bouchercon Bouchercon, the Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention, is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher, and pronounced the w ...

is an annual convention of creators and devotees of

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

and

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...

; also the inspiration for the

Anthony Awards The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XVII and the inaugural Anthony Awards ceremony.

Bouchercon

The convention was held in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

on October 10, 1986; running for two days until the 12th. The event was chaired by Gail M. Larson, owner of the bookshop "The Butler Did It".

Special Guests

*Guest of Honor —

Donald E. Westlake Donald Edwin Westlake (July 12, 1933 – December 31, 2008) was an American writer with more than one hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray int ...

*Fan Guest of Honor — Chris Steinbrunner *Toastmaster —

Mary Higgins Clark Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins; December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020) was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her ...

Anthony Awards

The following list details the awards distributed at the first annual Anthony Awards ceremony.

Novel award

Winner: *

Sue Grafton Sue Taylor Grafton (April 24, 1940 – December 28, 2017) was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" ('' "A" Is for Alibi'', etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the ...

, '' "B" Is for Burglar'' Shortlist: *

Sarah Caudwell Sarah Cockburn (27 May 1939 – 28 January 2000), who wrote under the pseudonym of Sarah Caudwell, was a British barrister and author of detective stories. Her series of four murder stories written between 1980 and 1999 centered on a group of y ...

, ''The Shortest Way to Hades'' * John D. MacDonald, '' The Lonely Silver Rain'' *

Charlotte MacLeod Charlotte MacLeod (November 12, 1922 – January 14, 2005) was a Canadian Americans, Canadian-American mystery fiction writer. Biography Charlotte Matilda MacLeod was born in 1922 in Bath, New Brunswick, Bath, New Brunswick, Canada, but Emigrat ...

, ''The Plain Old Man'' *

Sara Paretsky Sara Paretsky (born June 8, 1947) is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski. Life and career Paretsky was born in Ames, Iowa. Her father was a microbiologist and moved the ...

, ''Killing Orders''

First novel award

Winner: *

Jonathan Kellerman Jonathan Seth Kellerman (born August 9, 1949) is an American novelist and psychologist known for his mystery novels featuring the character Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department. Born on the Low ...

, '' When the Bough Breaks'' Shortlist: *Susan Kelly, ''The Gemini Man'' *Dick Lochte, ''Sleeping Dog'' *Robert Reeves, ''Doubting Thomas'' *

Andrew Vachss Andrew Henry Vachss ( ; October 19, 1942 – November 23, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths. Early life and career Vachss grew up in Manhattan on ...

, ''Flood''

Paperback original award

Winner: *

Nancy Pickard Nancy Pickard (born September 19, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American crime novelist. She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. She also ...

, '' Say No to Murder'' Shortlist: *P.M. Carlson, ''Murder is Academic'' * Earl Emerson, ''Poverty Bay'' *Kate Green, ''Shattered Moon'' *Patrick A. Kelley, ''Sleightly Murder''

Short story award

Winner: * Linda Barnes, "Lucky Penny", from ''The New Black Mask, No. 3'' Shortlist: * Loren Estleman, "Eight Mile and Dequindre", from ''

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (''AHMM'') is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AH ...

'' May 1986 *

Peter Lovesey Peter Harmer Lovesey (10 September 1936 – 10 April 2025), also known by his pen name Peter Lear, was a British writer of Historical mystery, historical and Detective fiction, contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known ser ...

, "Vandals", from ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fic ...

'' December 1985 *

John Lutz John Michael Lutz (born April 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', and for his work as a writer on the NBC series ''Saturday Night Live'' for seven ...

, "Ride the Lightning", from ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' January 1985 *

Ruth Rendell Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion ...

, "The Convolvulus Clock", from ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' August 1985

Movie award

Winner: *''

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

'' Shortlist: *''

Blood Simple ''Blood Simple'' is a 1984 American independent neo-noir crime film written, edited, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh. Its plot follows a Texas bartender ...

'' *'' Fletch'' *'' Jagged Edge'' *''

Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of ''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear'') is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...

TV Series award

Winner: *''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'' Shortlist: *''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

'' *''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

'' *''

Mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

'' *'' Spenser For Hire''

Grand Master

Barbara Mertz Barbara Louise Mertz (September 29, 1927 – August 8, 2013) was an American author who wrote under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. In 1952, she received a PhD in Egyptology from the Universi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchercon 17 Anthony Awards 17 1986 in Maryland