And the Nominees Are…

Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction, the Critics Awards were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists, from news venues such as The Washington Post, LA Times, Chicago Sun Times, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, The Guardian, and several other daily papers.And the Nominees Are...This will mark the third best novel nomination for Tana French (Broken Harbor) and the second nomination for Dennis Lehane (Live by Night). This will also be the first time a past best first novel nominee has been nominated for the best novel award (William Landay for Defending Jacob).Best NovelThe Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye (Putnam)

Broken Harbor by Tana French (Viking)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown)

Defending Jacob by William Landay (Delacorte Press)

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)

Best Debut Novel

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash (William Morrow)

The Yard by Alex Grecian (Putnam)

The Expats by Chris Pavone (Crown)

Disappeared by Anthony Quinn (Mysterious Press/Open Road)

The 500 by Matthew Quirk (Reagan Arthur Books)

Faye Kellerman will be given The Strand’s Lifetime Achievement award for excellence in crime writing. The author of scores of bestsellers including most recently Gun Games (2012) said, “I am thrilled and honored to be given this title and distinction especially from such a treasured magazine like Strand. In the current days of fast-food reading of tweets and posts, Strand has remained a stalwart publication that features the best in new and traditional mystery short stories.” Kellerman has been writing for almost thirty years and is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s finest mystery novelists.

“I wasn’t surprised that Gillian Flynn was nominated for Gone Girl,” said Andrew F. Gulli, the managing editor of The Strand. “But there were some surprises this year and that’s what makes these awards so unique.”

The awards will be presented at an invitation-only cocktail party, hosted by The Strand on July 9, 2013