2023 Barry Award Nominations Are Out

Award season continues with the 2023 Barry Award nominations!

The Barry Awards are a set of literary awards that are given annually to recognize excellence in crime fiction. The awards are named in honor of Barry Gardner, a renowned fan reviewer and critic of crime fiction.

The Barry Awards were first established in 1997 by Deadly Pleasures magazine, which is a quarterly publication that focuses on crime and mystery fiction. The awards are given out in several different categories, including Best Mystery/Crime Novel, Best Debut Mystery/Crime Novel, and Best Thriller. Absent this year is the award for Best Paperback Original.

The winners of the Barry Awards are selected by a panel of judges who are themselves writers, reviewers, and critics in the crime fiction genre. The judges change from year to year, and they are selected by Deadly Pleasures magazine.

The Barry Awards have become one of the most prestigious awards in the crime fiction genre, and they are highly coveted by authors and publishers alike. Winning a Barry Award can help to increase an author’s visibility and recognition within the crime fiction community, and can also lead to increased sales and broader readership.

Here are the nominees for 2023’s Barry Awards:

Best Mystery/Crime Novel

• The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh
• Desert Star by Michael Connelly
• The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer
• Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offutt
• Secret Identity by Alex Segura
• City on Fire by Don Winslow

Best Debut Mystery/Crime Novel

• Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
• Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor
• Shutter by Ramona Emerson
• The Maid by Nita Prose
• Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild
• Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor

Best Thriller

• In the Blood by Jack Carr
• Winter Work by Dan Fesperman
• Sierra Six by Mark Greaney
• Bad Actors by Mick Herron
• Goering’s Gold by Richard O’Rawe
• Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

The winners will be announced during Bouchercon-San Diego on August 31st, 2023.

For more on the Barry Awards, please visit deadlypleasures.com.