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 way ...

is an annual

convention Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

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'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

and

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

. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher, who is also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XL and the 24th Anthony Awards ceremony.

Bouchercon

The convention was held in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

on October 15, 2009; running until the 18th. The event was chaired by critical / non-fiction writer and owner of ''The Mystery Company'' bookshop Jim Huang; and Mike Bursaw, owner of the Indianapolis "Mystery Mike's" book store.

Special Guests

*Lifetime Achievement award —

Allen J. Hubin Allen J. Hubin (born March 5, 1936, in Crosby, Minnesota) is an American historian of crime fiction, a literary critic and bibliographer of crime fiction. Biography Hubin studied at Wheaton College (Massachusetts), Wheaton College and the Univ ...

*Guest of Honor —

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bes ...

*Toastmaster —

S. J. Rozan S. J. Rozan is an American architect and writer of detective fiction and thrillers, based in New York City. She also co-writes a paranormal thriller series under the pseudonym Sam Cabot with Carlos Dews. Life and career S.J. (Shira Judith) Roza ...

*Honored Youth Author —

Wendelin Van Draanen Wendelin Van Draanen Dutch name, see (born January 6, 1965) is an American writer of children's and young-adult fiction. Biography Van Draanen was born in Chicago, Illinois. One of her very early influences was ''Dandelion Wine'' by Ray Bradbu ...

*Fan Guest of Honor — Kathryn Kennison

Anthony Awards

The following list details the awards distributed at the twenty-fourth annual Anthony Awards ceremony, located at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Novel award

Winner: *

, ''

The Brass Verdict ''The Brass Verdict'' is the 19th novel by American author Michael Connelly and features the second appearance of Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael "Mickey" Haller. Connelly introduced Haller in his bestselling 2005 novel ''The Lincol ...

'' Shortlist: *Sean Chercover, ''Trigger City'' *

William Kent Krueger William Kent Krueger 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 novel. In 2014, his stan ...

, ''Red Knife'' *

Stieg Larsson Karl Stig-Erland "Stieg" Larsson (, ; 15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004) was a Swedish writer, journalist, and activist. He is best known for writing the ''Millennium'' trilogy of crime novels, which were published posthumously, starting in 2 ...

, '' The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' *

Louise Penny Louise Penny is a Canadian author of mystery novels set in the Canadian province of Quebec centred on the work of francophone Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec. Penny's first career was as a radio broadcaster for the Can ...

, ''

The Cruelest Month ''The Cruelest Month'', by Louise Penny, is the third novel in the ''Three Pines Mysteries'' series, which feature Inspector Armand Gamache. In December 2022, the novel was adapted to streaming television at Amazon Prime Video as the two-part se ...

First novel award

Winner: *

, '' The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' Shortlist: *Rosemary Harris, ''Pushing Up Daisies'' *Julie Kramer, ''Stalking Susan'' *

G. M. Malliet G. M. Malliet is an American author of mystery novels and short stories. She is best known as the author of the award-winning Detective Chief Inspector St. Just mysteries and the Rev. Max Tudor mysteries. The first book in her US-based series, Aug ...

, ''Death of a Cozy Writer'' *

Tom Rob Smith Tom Rob Smith (born February 19, 1979) is an English author, screenwriter and producer. Personal life and education The son of Swedish mother Barbro and English father Ron, both antiques dealers, Smith was born and raised at Norbury, South Lon ...

, ''

Child 44 ''Child 44'' (published in 2008) is a thriller novel by British writer Tom Rob Smith. This is the first novel in a trilogy featuring former MGB Agent Leo Demidov, who investigates a series of gruesome child murders in Joseph Stalin's Soviet ...

Paperback original award

Winner: *

Julie Hyzy Julie Hyzy is an American author of mystery fiction. Life and career Hyzy writes a series of books about sleuth Alex St James, a news researcher, which combines mystery and adventure, and another about Olivia Paras, assistant chef at the White h ...

, ''

State of the Onion State of the Onion is a book written by Julie Hyzy and published by Berkley Books (owned by Penguin Group) on 2 January 2008, which later went on to win the Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented a ...

'' Shortlist: * Max Allan Collins, ''The First Quarry'' *

Christa Faust Christa Faust (born June 21, 1969, in New York City) is an American author who writes original novels, as well as novelizations and media tie-ins. Faust won the 2009 Crimespree Award (Best Original Paperback) for '' Money Shot''. ''Money Shot'' ...

, ''Money Shot'' *Vicki Lane, ''In a Dark Season'' *P. J. Parrish, ''South of Hell''

Short story award

Winner: * Sean Chercover, "A Sleep Not Unlike Death", from '' Hardcore Hardboiled'' Shortlist: * Dana Cameron, "The Night Things Changed", from ''Wolfsbane and Mistletoe'' * Jane K. Cleland, "Killing Time", 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 ''AHMM'' ...

'' November 2008 * Toni L. P. Kelner, "Skull and Cross-Examinations", from '' Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' February 2008 * Laura Lippman, "Scratch a Woman", from ''Hardly Knew Her'' * Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "The Secret Lives of Cats", from ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' July 2008

Critical / Non-fiction award

Winner: * Jeffrey Marks, '' Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography'' Shortlist: *Frankie Y. Bailey, ''African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study'' * Kathy Lynn Emerson, ''How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries'' *

Kate Summerscale Kate Summerscale (born 1965) is an English writer and journalist. Biography Summerscale was brought up in Japan, England and Chile. After attending Bedales School (1978–1983), she took a double-first at Oxford University and an MA in journ ...

, ''The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective''

Young adult award

Winner: *

Chris Grabenstein Christopher Grabenstein is an American author. He published his first novel in 2005. Since then he has written novels for both adults and children, the latter often with frequent collaborator James Patterson. He graduated from the University of Te ...

, '' The Crossroads'' Shortlist: * John Green, ''

Paper Towns ''Paper Towns'' is a novel written by John Green, primarily for an audience of young adults, and was published on October 16, 2008, by Dutton Books. The novel is about the coming-of-age of the protagonist, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and his search fo ...

'' *Lauren Henderson, ''Kiss Me, Kill Me'' *

Trenton Lee Stewart Trenton Lee Stewart (born May 27, 1970) is an American author best known for the The Mysterious Benedict Society (series), Mysterious Benedict Society series. Stewart is a graduate of Hendrix College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He lives in L ...

, '' The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey'' *

, ''Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash''

Cover art award

Winner: *

Peter Mendelsund Peter Mendelsund is a novelist, graphic designer known for his book and magazine covers, and the creative director of ''The Atlantic''. Mendelsund has been described by the ''New York Times'' as "one of the top designers at work today" and "the be ...

; for

, '' The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' Shortlist: *David Rotstein; for

Linda L. Richards Linda L. Richards is a Canadian author and journalist. The founder and publisher of January Magazine and a contributing editor to the crime fiction blog The Rap Sheet, she is best known for her strong female protagonists in the thriller genre. ...

, ''Death Was the Other Woman'' *David Rotstein; for Elizabeth Zelvin, ''Death Will Get You Sober'' *David Rotstein; for Louise Ure, ''The Fault Tree'' * Steve Cooley; for

, ''Money Shot''

Special service award

Winner: * Jon Jordan and Ruth Jordan, '' Crimespree Magazine'' Shortlist: *Ali Karim, ''Shots'' magazine *David Montgomery *Gary Warren Niebuhr *Sarah Weinman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchercon 40 Anthony Awards 40 2009 in Indiana