Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Ethnic Detectives

The Ethnic Detectives, edited by Martin Greenberg and Bill Pronzini (Dodd, Mead & Company, 1985) is an anthology of seventeen stories whose sleuths are members of minority groups and whose cultural experiences often play a primary role in a crime or in crime-solving. Obviously, the editors had to determine how exactly to define "ethnic" for inclusion in this book. In the introduction, they say that such a distinction isn't all that simple and point out how in one sense, even Edgar Allan Poe's C. August Dupin qualifies. The principal definition is that the sleuth is a member of a minority group within a dominant culture, and whose mannerisms, world view, and approach reflect upon his or her background.

The reasons for writing such a character are many and varied, but as Greenberg and Pronzini point out, "These are particularly interesting characters because their adventures frequently concern problems of identity, of the search for one's roots, and of reconciling different heritages — problems that are the stuff of emotion and high drama." And, as the editors ultimately conclude, "Vive le roman policier! Vive la difference!"

This particular group of stories were chosen to represent different ethnic groups, without duplication. Thus, we have one each of the Chinese detective (Judge Dee by Robert van Gulik); one of a couple of different Native American tribal detectives (David Return by Manly Wade Wellman and also Tony Hillerman, mentioned below); the Czechoslovakian detective (Dr. Jan Czissar by Eric Ambler); the Filipino detective (Jo Gar by Raoul Whitfield) and so forth. Most of these authors will be new to the majority of crime fiction readers, with only a handful well-known, such as Georges Simenon (Inspector Maigret), Tony Hillerman (Jim Chee), and Marcia Muller (Elena Oliverez).

Reading the book is something akin to eating at an international food fair, with little tastings that may satisfy, but leave you wanting more. The most effective stories are those from the authors who have lived the longest with their characters, primarily Hillerman and his Navajo Corporal, Jim Chee, and for the most intense banquet of all, a novella-length story from Ed McBain featuring the various multi-cultural detectives of his 87th Precinct series the author featured in dozens of novels and stories.

The Ethnic Detectives is a fascinating look at the various ways writers slip into worlds not their own and try to create fiction that conveys the spirit of people who live there. Like most such efforts, some of these attempts are successful, others a little less so. But it's an easy way to travel around the world vicariously and be pleasantly entertained at the same time.

Mystery Melange

The winner and runner-up were announced for this year’s Glencairn Glass Crime Short Story Competition, held in partnership with the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival. Kathy Schilbach – also writing under the name Kate Finnemore – has been named the overall winner for her dark and disturbing story, "Making Friends." Ross Alexander was selected as runner-up for his compelling story, "Life Wasted." Kathy receives the £1,000 first prize and a guest appearance at the Bloody Scotland Festival in September. Ross receives £500, and both winning stories will be published on the Bloody Scotland and Glencairn Glass (whiskyglass.com) websites.


Art Taylor will lead Kaye George, John Betancourt, Leslie Budewitz, and Richie Narvaez in a short story panel, "Why Short Stories?" What is it about reading and writing short stories that appeals to mystery lovers? What makes a good short story? What are the key differences in structuring a short story and a novel? The panel will discuss these and other questions, offering advice for others who would like to try their hand at short story writing. The event s sponsored by the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime. For more information and to register, follow this link.


On Wednesday, September 16th at 5:30 p.m., the Literary Guild of Orange County will present a Fall Literary Salon featuring Naomi Hirahara, Rachel Howzell Hall, and Mary St John Putnum at the Mission Viejo Country Club in Mission Viejo, CA. For registration and ticketing information, follow this link.


The organizers of the Malice Domestic conference, held annually in Bethesda, Maryland, announced a new virtual event, Malice with Friends, a unique virtual crime fiction experience. Four different online sessions will take place from September through February, with various levels of registration options, including "pay what you can." The schedule kicks off Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. ET with  Mindy Quigley in conversation with Kathleen Marple Kalb. Other authors taking part include Kelly Oliver, Alan Gordon/Allison Montclair, Adrian Andover, Catriona McPherson, Deborah Crombie, and Connie Berry.


Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch (Northwestern University) will be teaching the Newberry Library online course "The Golden Age of Mystery Fiction: Soft-Boiled and Hard-Boiled," which will run from Oct 14–Nov 11, 2026 and will "explore the role of popular culture in both exposing and containing societal anxieties and aspirations." Books expected to be covered are Vera Caspary's Laura; Agatha Christie's The Labors of Hercules and The 13 Problems; Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Boscombe Valley Mystery, "The Red Headed League," and "Silver Blaze"; and Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon. (HT to The Bunburyist)


The New York Times profiled the research of novelist Michael Connelly (of the Harry Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series) into the Black Dahlia case and how he has come to believe the co-called Zodiac Killer was behind the infamous crime. Connelly knows he is putting his reputation on the line with his theories, as laid out in the podcast Killer in the Code, but despite some skepticism, he finds the evidence "completely convincing."


Editor George Easter announced that Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine will now be freely available without a subscription and that he'll be adding free copies of back issues shortly. Approximate dates of the publication are February 10, May 10, August 10, and November 10.  Deadly Pleasures also hands out the annual Barry Awards for the best crime fiction titles of the previous year, and this year's winners will be announced at the Opening Ceremonies of Bouchercon (Calgary, Canada) on October 22, 2026. 


Short crime fiction sometimes gets short shrift, so it's nice to see it getting some love thanks to Crime Reads, where Olivia Rutigliano compiled a list of "The Best Crimey Short Story Collections in Recent Years," and Gigi Pandian and Tom Mead wrote about "Murder in Miniature: The Very Best Short Mystery Fiction."


The New York Times penned an essay about Iceland, a Nordic nation with very few homicides, yet where crime fiction is its favorite literary genre. That means writers such as Ragnar Jónasson and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir face a challenge: making murder feel believable in the safest country in the world.


Here's a fun trend in South Korea that I'd be glad to see spread far and wide: book lovers recently flocked to buy cover art, collectibles, and even literary buns as part of  part of “Beyond the Sentence,” a temporary pop-up store by Minumsa, one of Korea’s best-known publishers,


Kevin Tipple's Thursday Treats blog has news of some of the latest short crime fiction publications include Literary Garage, WayWords, Legends: Monsters that Go Bump in the Night, Black Cat Weekly, Midnight Mousers: 12 Original Cat Tales, two new Canadian anthologies, and more.


This week's crime poem up at the 5-2 Crime Poetry Weekly is "A Matter of Privilege" by F.I. Goldhaber.


In the Q&A roundup, Crime Fiction Lover spoke with Jessica Housand about her debut novel, the "narco thriller," Blood Gilt;  CFL also chatted with James B Petrie, a licensed PI in Cary, North Carolina, who published his debut novel, Dig Deeper, featuring Joe MacGregor mystery, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer turned private eye; Writers Who Kill welcomed James M. Jackson to talk about his latest political thriller, Niki Unbound; the Maine Crime Writers spoke with Bruce Robert Coffin about his his latest book, Dark Harbor, featuring Detective Brock Justice and his rookie partner Detective Chloe Wright; Deborah Kalb interviewed Tess Gerritsen, author of the new novel The Shadow Friends, the third in her Martini Club series; and Debbie Burke spoke with Rick Bleiweiss about his upcoming novel, The Cupid Killer and Other Murderers, part of the Pignon Scorbion historical mystery series and the first novel published under Blackstone’s new imprint, WhoopInk, led by Whoopi Goldberg.

Bookstore Signing-Palooza for September

For those readers who still love print books, here are some mystery bookstore signings coming up in September where you can still see some of your favorite authors in person. (Note that some of these stores also host virtual events if you're unable to travel, so you can check with the bookstores' events calendars for more information.)

Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA:   Laurie R. King

Book People, Austin, TX:  Kasey Lansdale

Mysterious Bookshop, New York City:  K.B. Brodsky, Rob Hart, Michael Koryta, Adrian McKinty, Ed Park, Alexander McCall Smith

 

Mysterious Galaxy, San Diego, CA:  Charlotte Lillie Balogh (in conversation with Justine Pucella Winan), James Islington, Jennifer Givhan (in conversation with Sarina Dahlan)

 

Mystery Ink, Huntington Beach, CA:  Lee Goldberg & Tod Goldberg

Mystery Lovers Bookshop, Oakmond, PA:   Hank Phillippi Ryan, Alexander McCall Smith

Mystery to Me, Madison, WI: Jasper Fforde

Once Upon a Crime Books, Minneapolis, MN:  Don Bentley, Lucinda Berry (interviewed by Jess Lourey), Jennifer Gordon, William Loving, Daniel G. Miller, SL Smith

Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale, AZ:   James R. Benn, Don Bentley with Kyle Mills, Lucinda Berry & Emma C. Wells, Andre Hardy, Laurie R. King, Michael Koryta, Jonathan Santlofer, Nina Simon

Powell’s, Portland, OR: Emily St. John Mandel, Kevin C. Morris

Tattered Cover, New York, NY:   James Islington

Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA:   Joseph Fink (in conversation with Mara Wilson), Andre Hardy, Kaitlin Reilly (in conversation with Monica Suriyage)

Author R&R with Neville Blackwood

Neville Blackwood is a former senior UK police officer whose thirty-year career placed him at the heart of some of the most dangerous and complex criminal investigations of modern times. Specializing in covert operations, terrorism, organized crime, homicide, and human trafficking, he worked with various UK police forces, including Scotland Yard, and also the UK Foreign Office, where he helped shape responses to murders, kidnappings, terrorist incidents, and human trafficking cases involving British nationals overseas. Inspired by decades on the front line of criminal investigations, Neville brings rare authenticity to crime fiction.

His debut novel, Covert, is set in the shadows of 1990s London, where untouchable crime boss Freddie Morgan rules by fear. Tasked with bringing him down, Detective Sergeant Mark Carter is seconded to a covert Met Police unit, whose aim is to infiltrate Morgan’s heroin operation. Backed by a fraudster-turned-informant with everything to lose, Mark knows that one wrong move means exposure and certain death. But as the undercover sting tightens, he uncovers something far more dangerous: corruption within his own ranks. With the lines between law and crime beginning to blur, Mark is forced to confront a brutal question—who can he trust when even his own team may be compromised?

 

Neville Blackwood stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing the book:

 

When people ask about the research behind Covert, my answer is slightly unusual because, in many ways, the research began decades before I wrote a single word.

 

I spent thirty years in policing, much of it working in serious and organised crime investigations, including the shadowy and highly sensitive world of undercover operations in London. During that time, I saw first-hand the pressures, ethical dilemmas, risks, and psychological strain that come with covert policing. Those experiences inevitably became the bedrock of Covert.

 

When I look back on my career, what stays with me most is not simply the operational complexity of investigations, but the profound human consequences behind them. I was involved in cases that represented life-changing and sometimes life-shattering moments. Those experiences exposed me not only to criminal behaviour at its darkest, but also to extraordinary resilience, courage and vulnerability. They informed my understanding of human nature and inevitably influenced the emotional depth and moral tension I wanted to bring to Covert.

 

Writing fiction required a different discipline from investigating crime. Memory can provide atmosphere, authenticity, and emotional truth, but it doesn't automatically create a compelling narrative. I quickly realised that lived experience had to be shaped, structured, and sometimes restrained in service of the story.

 

One of my biggest challenges was deciding how much real operational detail to include. I wanted the novel to feel authentic without turning it into a procedural manual. That meant drawing on the realities of surveillance, informant handling, covert meetings, intelligence development, and courtroom strategy, while carefully fictionalising operational specifics.

 

I reflected deeply on cases I had worked, and spent time thinking not just about what happened operationally, but how it felt emotionally - and the memories came flooding back! Crime fiction often focuses on action, but what fascinated me most was the human dimension: trust, betrayal, fear, loyalty, and moral ambiguity. Undercover work is rarely black and white; people operate in shades of grey, and I wanted that complexity to run through the novel.

 

I am not a heavy planner when writing fiction. In Covert I began with a strong framework, key characters, and major plot points, but allowed the story room to evolve. Sometimes characters took the narrative in directions I hadn't anticipated. In that sense, writing felt surprisingly similar to major crime investigation: you start with a hypothesis, follow the evidence, test assumptions, and remain open to unexpected developments.

 

If there is one thing my policing career taught me that helped most as a novelist, it is observation. Detectives are trained to notice what others miss: inconsistencies, body language, small details that reveal larger truths. Writing demands much the same discipline.

 

Ultimately, Covert is fiction, but it is fiction grounded in reality. My aim was not simply to write a crime thriller, but to give readers an authentic glimpse into a world few ever see—one where the line between law enforcement and criminality can become dangerously blurred, and where truth is often the hardest thing to uncover.

You can learn more about Neville Blackwood via his website and follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads, and Instagram. Covert is now available via Cranthorpe Millner and all major booksellers. 

Media Murder for Monday

It's the start of a new week and that means it's time for a brand-new roundup of crime drama news:


THE BIG SCREEN/MOVIES

Extraction 3, the latest entry in Netflix‘s action franchise starring Chris Hemsworth, has rounded out its cast with five additions: two-time Golden Globe nominee Pierce Brosnan (MobLand), plus Don Lee (Train to Busan), Joe Taslim (The Furious), Chi Lewis-Parry (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple) and Siena Agudong (Amazon’s upcoming Carrie series). Extraction 3's logline is being kept under wraps, as are the roles of the new hires. The project is currently filming in Australia, with Idris Elba and Golshifteh Farahani co-starring alongside Hemsworth. The Extraction films are based on the graphic novel Ciudad from Ande Parks and illustrator Fernando León González and follow Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake, an Australian mercenary taking on high stakes rescue missions the world over. Sam Hargrave returns as director, working from a script by David Weil.

 
TELEVISION/STREAMING

A first look was revealed for Edward Bluemel as Agatha Christie's iconic Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in BritBox‘s upcoming six-part drama series Hercule. The origin series, which is currently shooting in Liverpool, is an intimate study of legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in Britain between the wars. Hercule will center around three of Agatha Christie’s early stories, while also introducing Hercule Poirot to future friends and allies and one particular nemesis. In addition to Bluemel, previously announced cast includes Henry Ashton ( A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder), James D’Arcy (Oppenheimer), Calvin Demba (Supacell), Phil Dunning (Am I Being Unreasonable?), Jack Gleeson (House of Guinness), Tamsin Greig (Riot Women), James Nesbitt (Run Away), Guy Remmers (The Buccaneers,), Rebecca Rittenhouse (Maggie), and Mawaan Rizwan (The Split Up).


The limited thriller series, The Headlands House, starring Colman Domingo has landed at Netflix following a competitive bidding war. The drama is currently in development at the streamer from writer and executive producer Cameron B. Dupont (Yellowjackets). The story follows a marriage that begins to fracture after a gay couple move into their dream home, only to discover that its prior residents were brutally murdered on the property—and their own lives may now be in danger, too.


Prime Video's The Terminal List has released first-look photos for Season 2, featuring Chris Pratt as James Reece, with all eight episodes premiering on Wednesday, October 21. From the best-selling novels by Jack Carr of the same name, The Terminal List centers on Navy SEAL Commander James Reece as he battles unknown conspiratorial forces seeking to upend the world order. Season 2 comes from Carr’s second novel, True Believer, with Reece uncovering a conspiracy that reaches from Moscow to Langley and ties into his own family’s history. Other returning cast include Tom Hopper, Constance Wu, Dar Salim, Luke Hemsworth, and Gabriel Luna.


The CW has announced premiere dates for a pair of spinoff series, Private Eyes West Coast and Law & Order Toronto:  Criminal Intent. Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson star in Private Eyes West Coast, a spinoff of the Canadian series Private Eyes, reprising their roles as private investigators Matt Shade and Angie Everett. In the 10-episode first season, Shade and Everett have left behind their P.I. firm and settled into a new life on the Canadian West Coast, but their new quiet life is shaken when a night out lands them at the scene of a murder. L&O Toronto: Criminal Intent returns for its sophomore season with Toronto’s brightest detective duo, Detective Sergeants Henry Graff (Aden Young) and Frankie Bateman (Kathleen Munroe), who see clues others may have missed and solve the toughest of cases using their unique set of investigative skills, with the help of the Specialized Criminal Investigations Unit.


Mark Gatiss's cozy crime drama, Bookish, has landed a Season 3 order at UKTV‘s U&Alibi channel, running six episodes and launching in 2027, and also a two-part Christmas special for this year. The show follows Gatiss as unconventional bookshop owner Book, who helps police solve crimes in the years after World War II. He has a lavender marriage with Trottie (Polly Walker), which helps hide his sexuality during an era when homosexuality was illegal in the UK.


AMC+ has slotted Friday, October 2 for the premiere of Kill Jackie, its upcoming revenge thriller series starring and executive produced by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Kill Jackie is based on bestselling author Nick Harkaway’s (writing as Aidan Truhen) novel, The Price You Pay. Zeta-Jones stars as Jackie Price, who has been living a luxurious existence for the last twenty years – traveling the world, selling fine art and, above all, trying to stay anonymous after escaping a dangerous past as an international drug smuggler. But just as life starts to feel a little boring, it takes a sudden lethal turn when she discovers that The Seven Demons, a squad of the world’s most terrifying hitmen, have been hired to kill her.


Olivia Colman has boarded the sixth season of Hulu's cozy murder mystery show, Only Murders in the Building, set to take place across the pond. Colman is the latest addition to the star-studded cast of Season 6, following Doctor Who alum Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker (Capaldi’s successor and the first woman to portray the iconic Time Lord), and David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor. The previously announced Season 6 recurring guest stars also include Nicola Coughlan, Richard Ayoade, Adrian Lukis, Kathryn Hunter, Jennifer Saunders, Sean Teale, Simone Ashley, Amar Chadha-Patel, Rhea Norwood, Matthew Beard, Sharon Horgan, Martin Freeman, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Jamie Demetriou, Anjana Vasan, Jane Horrocks, Derek Jacobi, and Lesley Nicol.  


Apple TV has revealed that Bad Monkey season 2 will make its global debut on December 2 with one episode per week every Wednesday until the finale on February 3, 2027. The streamer also shared a gallery of photos from the upcoming episodes and some of the new cast members joining the series, including Oscar nominee John Malkovich and Handmaid's Tale alum Yvonne Strahovski. The series is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen and centers on Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a one-time detective who can't leave his former profession behind even though he's now a restaurant inspector.


Channel 4 has announced Complicit, a compelling new six-part murder mystery that peers into the shadows of a suburban neighborhood and the hidden lives of its residents. Claire Goose (The Bay) leads the cast as Jen Molloy, starring alongside Moe Dunford (House of Guinness) who plays Jen’s lover, Damian Barr, and Jason O’Mara (The Lincoln Lawyer) as her husband, Chris Molloy. When Jen Molloy slips back home after a night of passion with a man who isn’t her husband, she has no idea how devastating the consequences will be. When a death follows, one split-second lie threatens to destroy everything she holds dear. If protecting your family meant allowing a killer to walk free…what choice would you make?


PODCASTS/RADIO/AUDIO

On the Poisoned Pen Bookstore podcast, Barbara Peters spoke with Kemper Donovan about his third Ghostwriter Mystery, Sweet Spot, in which a ghostwriter-turned-sleuth must find a devious killer who’s transforming her new assignment into a real-life thriller.

 
Simon Conway returned to Spybrary to discuss his latest espionage thriller, The British Agent—a contemporary, globe-spanning story involving missing British-made surface-to-air missiles, Ukraine, American extremist militias, political conspiracy—and his new protagonist, Chuff.


Elaine's Literary Salon welcomed Lynda Allen to discuss her new Liv Wilde Mystery, Flashes of Fire and Fury, and how "menopause is a superpower."


Crime Time FM host Paul Burke chatted with authors whose stories were included in the new anthology, Watching the Detectives.


On the Pick Your Poison podcast, Dr. Jen Prosser investigated a routine medication that turned catastrophic when a patient's brain "lost its brakes," leading to one of the most dramatic poisoning emergencies you'll ever encounter.  

Killer Nashville's Thrills

This weekend, the 2026 Killer Nashville Conference announced the winners of the annual Silver Falchion Award for works published in the previous year. The winners for the Claymore Award for unpublished manuscripts can be found via this link. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!

Best Action Adventure:  Boiling Point by Ley Esses

Other finalists:

• The Terror of Roan by Jodi Bowersox
• No Easy Way Back by Josh Jensen
• Unstoppable by Michael Maloof
• The Fatal Saving Grace: An Ed Earl Burch Novel by Jim Nesbitt
• Eight Minutes by Gregory N Whitis

Best Comedy (includes comedic P.I. and crime caper):  Seams Like The Perfect Crime by Lois Winston

Other finalists: 

• Blame It On Paris by Helen Aitken
• Love At First Spark by Helen Aitken
• Bye Bye Blackbird by Elizabeth Crowens
• All’s Faire In Love and Murder by Cindy Sample
• In$Urance Blues (A John Smith Mystery) by Charlotte Stuart

Best Cozy:  Seven For A Secret Never To Be Told by Derek Wheeless

Other finalists: 

• Killer Cache by Michelle Bennington
• Tough Fluff - Fluff and Flowers Mystery 1 by Sheryl C.D. Ickes
• Death By  Mistake: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery by Abigail Keam
• Murder On The Green by Christine Knapp
• Airplane, Atlanta & An Assassin by Mary Seifert

Best Historical:  Traitor In The Lake by Carol Amorosi

Other finalists: 

• Time Agents: Alterations by Jodi Bowersox
• No Mercy For The Innocent by Nancy Herriman
• Shroud of Ice by Sharon Krasny
• Needle and Bone by Tonya Mitchell
• Treasures In Time by Susan Reiss

Best Investigator (includes procedural, serious P.I., detective, and noir):  Chase Harlem by Elise Burke Brown

Other finalists: 

• Proof by Jon Cowan
• After Pearl by Stephen Eoannou
• Those Who Chose Evil by Kate Flora
• Blood On The Wire by Candace Irving
• Justice For The Forgotten by R. Weir

Best Juvenile / Y.A.:  The Nascent Bloom by Evie Kelley

Other finalists: 

• Knights In Manhattan by Kay DiBianca
• Doppelgänger Jumper by Judy Lyn Gregg
• Missing Mom by Lynn Slaughter
• Honeysuckle and Bone by Trisha Tobias
• Risky Pursuit by Nancy G. West

Best Literary:  Women Like Us by Katia Lief

Other finalists: 

• Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History by Chris Chan
• The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst
• Eye of The Storm by Charles Gomez
• The Fact Checker by Austin Kelley

Best Mainstream / Commercial:  The Cold Winter: Battle of Niagara Falls by Chris Underwood

Other finalists: 

• The Miner's Myth by Russell Johnson
• The Butcher and The Liar by SL Woeppel

Best Mystery:  Damage Control by Kirsten Shuford

Other finalists: 

• The Demonologists' Legacy by K. Scott Culpepper
• A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni
• Rule One by Michael Lucker
• Hard Town by Adam Plantinga
• Broke Road by Matthew Spencer

Best Nonfiction:  Boss Brooks: A True Story of Fraud, Family and Forgiveness From Tennessee To Texas by Kathy Turner

Other finalists: 

• The Villain's Journey-How To Create Villains Readers Love To Hate by Debbie Burke
• Nether Land: High School Temptation, Insurance Haze, Stolen Resolution, and Murder by Kem Hinton
• Beach Blanket Bedlam by John Lamb
• Earthbound: The Obstacles To Human Space Exploration and The Promise of Artificial Intelligence by Dennis Meredith

Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy:  The Moorwitch by Jessica Khoury

Other finalists: 

• Touch of The Elegrian by Cheryl Arko
• Broken Alliance by David E Graham
• Wizard of Most Wicked Ways by Charlie N. Holmberg
• The Violence of Sound by Jeff Wheeler

Best Short Story Collection / Anthology (awarded to individual author or collection editor):  Shadows of Trust by Traci Abramson

Other finalists: 

• The Not So Frail Detective Agency by Sandra J Cady
• With Our Bellies Full and The Fire Dying by Debra H. Goldstein
• Gone Fishin': Crime Takes A Holiday by James M. Jackson 
• The Conjurer's Wife by Sarah Penner
• For Every Evil Under The Sun by Zoe Fay-Stindt

Best Southern Gothic:  The Education of Asa Paxton: Coming of Age In The Heart of Dixie by Gary Minder

Other finalists: 

• Ghosts In The Glades by Staci andrea
• The Pilgrim: A Tale of The 3M Detective Agency by Thomas Burns
• Unbroken Circle by C. S. Devereaux
• The Battle of The Smokehouse by Ashley Thomas Sheikh
• The Wretched and Undone by J. E. Weiner

Best Supernatural:  Dead Weight by Richard Rybicki

Other finalists: 

• Haunted By  A Broken Oath by Dee Armstrong
• A Walking Shadow by Teel James Glenn
• Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
• A Love This Grim by Elora Morgan
• Too Cursed To Kiss by J. Morgyn White

Best Suspense:  Last Seen by JT Ellison

Other finalists: 

• The Peeper by John Bukowski
• The Forbidden Heiress by Gledé Browne Kabongo
• Wyoming Double Jeopardy by Juno Rushdan
• Big Sky Slayer by Juno Rushdan
• Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

Best Thriller:  Line of Succession by David Bruns

Other finalists: 

• Welcome To Cottonmouth by Jay S. Bell
• Seraph by Cheryl Fallin
• The Forbidden Strain by Brian Montross
• The Butcher and The Liar by S.L. Woeppel
• All That Lies Beneath by D.L. Wood

Best True Crime:  Down To The Bone by Caitlin Rother

Other finalists: 

• Vacations Can Be Murder: A True Crime Lover's Travel Guide To New England by Dawn Barclay
• Junior: A Son of The Gulf Cartel by Mike Chavarria
• The Killing Fields of East New York by Stacy Horn
• Speak Her Name: Stories From A Life In True Crime by Mary Jumbelic

Best Western:  The Thunder Head by Dwight Holing

Other finalists: 

• Cut Them Down by T.G. Brown