Best Novel

The Killing of the Tinkers by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
Cold Case by Robin Burcell (Avon)
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay (Doubleday)
High Country Fall by Margaret Maron (Mysterious Press)
California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker (HarperCollins)
Playing with Fire by Peter Robinson (William Morrow)

Best First Novel

Uncommon Grounds by Sandra Balzo (Five Star)
Summer of the Big Bachi by Naomi Hirahara (Delta)
Whiskey Sour by J A Konrath (Hyperion)
Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak (Doubleday)
Misdemeanor Man by Dylan Schaffer (Bloomsbury)

Best Nonfiction

Famous American Crimes & Trials, Vol. 1 by Frankie Y Bailey & Steven Chermak, (Praeger Publishers)
Just the Facts: True Tales of Cops & Criminals by Jim Doherty (Deadly Serious Press)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories edited by Leslie S. Klinger (W.W.Norton)
Latin American Mystery Writers: An A-to-Z Guide by Darrell B. Lockhart (Greenwood Press)
Forensics for Dummies by D.P. Lyle, MD (Wiley Publishing)

Best Short Story

"Viscery" by Sandra Balzo (EQMM, December 2004)
"The Widow of Slane" by Terence Faherty (EQMM, March/April 2004)
"The Lady's Not for Dying" by Alana White (Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, Winter 2004)

Anthony Awards: The Anthony Award Committe has announced the following nominees for the award, named for Anthony Boucher. The awards will be presented on Saturday, September 3, at Bouchercon 2005, the World Mystery Convention at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago.

Best Novel

The Killing of the Tinkers by Ken Bruen (St. Martins/Minotaur)
The Madman's Tale by John Katzenbach (Random House/Ballantine)
Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger (Simon & Schuster/Atria)
By a Spider's Thread by Laura Lippman (HarperCollins)
California Girl by T. Jefferson (HarperCollins)
Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (St. Martins/Minotaur)

Best First Novel

Uncommon Grounds by Sandra Balzo (Five Star)
Until the Cows Come Home by Judy Clemens (Poisoned Pen Press)
Retribution by Juliane P. Hoffman (Putnam)
Whiskey Sour by JA Konrath (Hyperion)
Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak (Random House/Doubleday)

Best Non Fiction

Famous American Crimes & Trials by Frankie Bailey & Steven Chermak (Greenwood Publishing)
Men's Adventure Magazines by Max Allan Collins et al (Taschen)
Blue Blood by Edward Conlon (Penguin Putnam/Riverhead)
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes edited by Leslie S. Klinger (Norton)
The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein (TimeWarner/Little, Brown)

Best Paperback Original

Cold Case by Robin Burcell (HarperCollins/Avon)
Putt to Death by Roberta Isleib (Penguin/Berkley Prime Crime)
Blue Blood by Susan McBride (HarperCollins/Avon)
The Halo Effect by M.J. Rose (Harlequin/Mira)
Twisted City by Jason Starr (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Best Short Story

"Voodoo" by Rhys Bowen (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Nov. 2004)
"The Widow of Slane" by Terence Faherty (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2004)
"It's Crackers to Slip a Rozzer the Dropsey in Snide" by Ted Hertel, Jr. (Small Crimes; Betancourt/Wildside)
"Hunter Trapper" by Arthur Nersesian (Brooklyn Noir; Akashic Books)
"Wedding Knife" by Elaine Viets (Chesapeake Crimes;Quiet Storm)

Best Cover Art

Sohrab Habibion for Brooklyn Noir (Akashic)
Gregory Manchess for Fade to Blonde (Hard Case Crime)
Sal Barracca/Bradford Foltz Design for Whiskey Sour (Hyperion)
Robert Santora for Good Morning Darkness (TimeWarner/Mysterious)
Michael Kellner for Monkology (Dennis McMillan)

Hammett Prize: The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers has announced the nominees for the Hammett Prize, which is given each year for "a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a US or Canadian author". The winner will be announced at Bouchercon in Chicago in early September.