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 XXXIX and the 23rd 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 9, 2008; running until the 12th. The event was chaired by Ruth Jordan, publisher and editor of ''Crimespree'' magazine, and Judy Bobalik, editor of the ''Reflections in a Private Eye'' magazine.
Special Guests
*Lifetime Achievement awards —
Robert Rosenwald &
Barbara Peters
*Distinguished Contribution to the Genre award —
Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block (born June 24, 1938) is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York-set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Ma ...
*International Guest of Honor —
John Harvey John Harvey may refer to:
People Academics
*John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician
*John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture a ...
*American Guest of Honor —
Laura Lippman
Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels. Her novels have won multiple awards, including an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards, an Edgar Award, a Gumshoe Aw ...
*Toastmaster —
*Fan Guest of Honor —
Thalia Proctor
Anthony Awards
The following list details the awards distributed at the twenty-third annual Anthony Awards ceremony.
Novel award
Winner:
*
Laura Lippman
Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels. Her novels have won multiple awards, including an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards, an Edgar Award, a Gumshoe Aw ...
, ''
What the Dead Know
''What the Dead Know'' is a crime thriller by the American writer Laura Lippman, published in 2007. The story, set in Baltimore in 2005, is about an investigation into a woman who claims to be Heather Bethany, a girl who had gone missing thirty ...
''
Shortlist:
*
James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke (born December 5, 1936) is an American author, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won Edgar Awards for his novels ''Black Cherry Blues'' (1990), ''Cimarron Rose'' (1998), and ''Flags on the Bayou'' (2024). He has ...
, ''
The Tin Roof Blowdown''
*
Lee Child
James Dover Grant (born 29 October 1954), primarily known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British author who writes Thriller (genre), thriller novels, and is best known for his ''Jack Reacher (book series), Jack Reacher'' novel series. The boo ...
, ''
Bad Luck and Trouble
''Bad Luck and Trouble'' is the eleventh book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. It was published in 2007, and written in the third person.
The title is derived from the song lyrics by singer Albert King "Born Under a Bad Sign".
...
''
*
Robert Crais
Robert Crais (pronounced ; born June 20, 1953) is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as '' Hill Street Blues'', '' Cagney & Lacey'', '' Quincy'', '' M ...
, ''
The Watchman''
*
William Kent Krueger
William Kent Krueger (born November 16, 1950) is an American novelist and crime writer, best known for his series of novels featuring Cork O'Connor, which are set mainly in Minnesota. In 2005 and 2006, he won back-to-back Anthony Awards for best ...
, ''Thunder Bay''
First novel award
Winner:
*
Tana French
Tana French (born 10 May 1973) is an American-Irish writer and theatrical actress. She is a longtime resident of Dublin, Ireland. Her debut novel '' In the Woods'' (2007), a psychological mystery, won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barr ...
, ''
In the Woods
''In the Woods'' is a 2007 mystery novel by Tana French about a pair of Irish detectives and their investigation of the murder of a twelve-year-old girl. It is the first book in French's Dublin Murder Squad series. The novel won several awards ...
''
Shortlist:
*Sean Chercover, ''Big City, Bad Blood''
*
Lisa Lutz, ''The Spellman Files''
*
Craig McDonald
Craig McDonald is an American novelist, journalist, communications specialist, and the author of the Hector Lassiter series, the Zana O'Savin Series, the novel ''El Gavilan'', and two collections of interviews with fiction writers, ''Art in the ...
, ''Head Games''
*
Marcus Sakey
Marcus Sakey is an American author and host of the Travel Channel show ''Hidden City''.
Personal life
Sakey was born in Flint, Michigan, and after marriage he settled in Chicago. Before becoming a writer, Sakey ran a graphic design company, Hin ...
, ''
The Blade Itself''
Paperback original award
Winner:
*
P. J. Parrish, ''
A Thousand Bones''
Shortlist:
*
Megan Abbott
Megan Abbott (born August 21, 1971) is an American screenwriter and author of crime fiction and non-fiction analyses of hardboiled crime fiction. Her novels and short stories have drawn from and reworked classic subgenres of crime writing from a ...
, ''Queenpin''
*
Ken Bruen
Ken Bruen (3 January 1951 – 29 March 2025) was an Irish writer of hardboiled and noir crime fiction.
Life and career Education and teaching career
Born in Galway on 3 January 1951, he was educated at Gormanston College, County Meath and la ...
&
Jason Starr
Jason Starr (born November 22, 1966) is an American author, comic book writer, and screenwriter from New York City. Starr has written numerous crime fiction novels and thrillers.
Starr's ''Tough Luck'', a novel published in 2003, was a Bar ...
, ''Slide''
*David Corbett, ''Blood of Paradise''
*
Robert Fate, ''Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues''
Short story award
Winner:
*
Laura Lippman
Laura Lippman (born January 31, 1959) is an American journalist and author of over 20 detective fiction novels. Her novels have won multiple awards, including an Agatha Award, seven Anthony Awards, two Barry Awards, an Edgar Award, a Gumshoe Aw ...
, "Hardly Knew Her", from ''Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table''
Shortlist:
*
Rhys Bowen
Janet Quin-Harkin (born 24 September 1941, Bath, Somerset) is an author best known for her mystery novels for adults written under the name Rhys Bowen.
Career
Before she began writing novels, Quin-Harkin worked in the drama department of the B ...
, "Please Watch Your Step", from ''
The Strand Magazine
''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...
'' February/May 2007
*
Steve Hockensmith
Steve Hockensmith (born August 17, 1968) is an American author. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He currently lives in California's bay area with his wife, two children, and pet dog.
Early life and education
Hockensmith attended Bridgeport ...
, "Dear Dr. Watson", 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 ...
'' February 2007
*
Toni Kelner
Toni Leigh Perry Kelner, writing as Toni L.P. Kelner and Leigh Perry, is an author of three mystery series: the eight Laura Fleming novels and related short stories; the Where Are They Now? series, which includes three novels and a forthcoming s ...
, "How Stella Got Her Grave Back", from ''Many Bloody Returns: Tales of Birthdays with Bite''
*
Daniel Woodrell
Daniel Woodrell (born March 4, 1953) is an American novelist and short story writer, who has written nine novels, most of them set in the Missouri Ozarks, and one collection of short stories. Woodrell coined the phrase " country noir" to describ ...
, "Uncle", from ''A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir''
Critical / Non-fiction award
Winner:
*
Jon Lellenberg,
Daniel Stashower &
Charles Foley, ''
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters''
Shortlist:
*Roger Sobin, ''The Essential Mystery Lists''
*Patrick Anderson, ''The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction''
*Christiana Gregoriou, ''Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction''
Website award
Winner:
*Stan Ulrich & Lucinda Surber, ''
Stop, You're Killing Me!''
Shortlist:
*Sarah Weinman, ''Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind''
*J. Kingston Pierce, ''
January Magazine
''January Magazine'' is an internet-based book-related publication. Founded by author Linda L. Richards in 1997, ''January Magazine'' has added various sections and offshoot publications since. The magazine is physically based in Vancouver, Bri ...
'' (and ''The Rap Sheet'')
*
Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsen (born Terry Tom; June 12, 1953) is the pseudonym of Terry Gerritsen, an American novelist and retired general physician.
Early life
Tess Gerritsen is the child of a Chinese immigrant and a Chinese-American seafood chef. While grow ...
&
J. T. Ellison et al., ''Murderati''
*David Montgomery, ''Crime Fiction Dossier''
Special service award
Winner:
*
Jon Jordan and
Ruth Jordan, ''
Crimespree Magazine''
Shortlist:
*Ali Karim, ''Shots'' magazine
*Maddy Van Hertbruggen, ''4 Mystery Addicts''
*Sarah Weinman, ''Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind''
*Judy Bobalik, for being one of the best friends and supporters of mystery writers
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchercon 39
Anthony Awards
39
2008 in Maryland