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THE HAMMETT PRIZE:
PAST WINNERS, NOMINEES, AND JUDGES

2008

 WINNER: The Turnaround, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

NOMINEES:

 •   Leading Lady, by Heywood Gould (Five Star) 
 •   The Finder: A Novel, by Colin Harrison
       (Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar,Straus & Giroux)
 •  City of the Sun: A Novel, by David Levien (Doubleday)
  •   South by South Bronx, by Abraham Rodriguez (Akashic)

JUDGES:
   •  Harvey Finkel (Clinton Book Shop)
   •  John Matteson (Author)
   •  Carolyn Wakeman (Author/Critic)

                                            2007   

 WINNER: The Outlander, by Gil Adamson (House of Anansi Press)

NOMINEES:

 •   The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel, by Michael Chabon  
       (HarperCollins)    
 •   End Games: An Aurelio Zen Mystery, by Michael Dibdin [1947-
       2007] (Pantheon)
  •  Dahlia's Gone: A Novel, by Katie Estill (St. Martin’s)
  •   Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novel, by Martin Cruz Smith 
      (Simon & Schuster)

JUDGES:
   •  Gary Giddins (Author, Critic)
   •  Michael Posner (Arts Features writer, Globe and Mail)
   •  Luanne Rice (Novelist)

                                               2006

WINNER: The Prisoner of Guantánamo, by Dan Fesperman (Knopf)
NOMINEES:

     •  Ghost Dancer, by John Case (Ballantine)
    •   Dark Companion, by Jim Nisbet (Dennis MacMillan)
    •  The Crimes of Jordan Wise, by Bill Pronzini (Walker)
    •  Four Kinds of Rain, by Robert Ward (St. Martin's)

JUDGES:

      • Joe Drabyak (Bookseller.
       President, New Atlantic Booksellers Association) 
      • Jill Lepore (Author, Critic)
      • Eric Ormsby (Poet, Essayist)

                                                2005
WINNER: Alibi: A Novel, by Joseph Kanon (Henry Holt)

NOMINEES:

     •  Islandbridge, by John Brady (McArthur & Co.)
    •  The Door to Bitterness, by Martin Límon (Soho Crime)
    •  No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf)
    •  The Power of the Dog, by Don Winslow (Knopf)

JUDGES:

      • André Aciman (Author)
      • Karen Rothmyer (Editor, The Nation)
      • Lynn Slotkin (Theatre reviewer, CBC-Radio/The Slotkin Letter)

2004

WINNER: Prince of Thieves: A Novel  by Chuck Hogan (Scribner)

NOMINEES:

       •  The Havana Room by Colin Harrison (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
       •  The Madman's Tale: A Novel by John Katzenbach 
           (Ballantine)
       •  California Girl: A Novel by T. Jefferson Parker (William
           Morrow)
       •  Playing with Fire: A Novel of Suspense by Peter Robinson 
           (William Morrow)

JUDGES:

        •  Joe Cahill (Editor, Crain’s Chicago Business)
        •  Mary Ann Caws (Critic, Translator)
        •  Benjamin Cheever (Author)
 

2003

WINNER: The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman (Ballantine)

NOMINEES:

  • The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt (Putnam Publishing Group)
  • Tropic of Night by Michael Gruber (William Morrow)
  • Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)
  • Every Secret Thing: A Novel by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)

JUDGES:

  • Margot Bettauer Dembo (Translator)
  • Sidney Offit (Author)
  • Richard Ouzounian (Toronto Star)

2002

WINNER: Honor's Kingdom by Owen Parry (Morrow)

NOMINEES:

  • Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
  • The Eighth Day by John Case (Ballantine)
  • Flykiller by Robert Janes (McArthur/Orion)
  • Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown)

JUDGES:

  • Robert Con Davis-Undiano (World Literature Today)
  • Dennis Drabelle (Washington Post Book World)
  • Elizabeth Hay (Author)

2001

WINNER: Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst (Random House)

NOMINEES:

  • Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)
  • Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker (Hyperion)
  • Right as Rain by George P. Pelecanos (Little, Brown)
  • Hollowpoint by Rob Reuland (Random House)

JUDGES:

  • Neil Baldwin (author)
  • Mike O'Connor (publisher)
  • Elisabeth Weis (critic)

2000

WINNER: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Doubleday/McClelland & Stewart)

NOMINEES:

  • Hot Springs by Stephen Hunter (Simon & Schuster)
  • The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale (Mysterious Press)
  • The Ice Harvest by Scott Phillips (Ballantine)
  • One-Eyed Jacks by Brad Smith (Doubleday Canada)

JUDGES:

  • Bill Brownstein (The Montreal Gazette)
  • Elizabeth Macklin (poet)
  • David M. Van Leer (critic)

1999

WINNER: Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smtih (Random House)

NOMINEES:

  • Heartwood by James Lee Burke (Doubleday)
  • L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais (Doubleday)
  • In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson (Avon)
  • Personal Injuries by Scott Turow (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

JUDGES:

  • Lewis Lapham (Harper's Magazine)
  • Katha Pollitt (poet, critic, The Nation)
  • Marie Winn (author)

1998

WINNER: Tidewater Blood by William Hoffman (Algonquin)

NOMINEES:

  • Praying to a Laughing God by Kevin McColley (Simon & Schuster)
  • The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa by Robert Noah (St. Martin's)
  • The Last Days of Il Duce by Domenic Stansberry (Permanant)
  • Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell (Holt)

JUDGES:

  • Barbara Ehrenreich (author)
  • Nina King (Washington Post Book World)
  • Ann Porter (Key Porter Books)

1997

WINNER: Trial of Passion by William Deverell (McClelland & Stewart)

NOMINEES:

  • Cimarron Rose by James Lee Burke (Hyperion)
  • Trunk Music by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
  • A Wasteland of Strangers by Bill Pronzini (Walker)
  • Acts of Murder by L. R. Wright (Doubleday Canada)

JUDGES:

  • Margeret Cannon (Toronto Globe & Mail)
  • Mark Danner (author)
  • Victor Navasky (The Nation)

1996

WINNER: Rose by Martin Cruz Smith (Random House)

NOMINEES:

  • The Poet by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
  • Buzz Cut by James W. Hall (Delacorte)
  • Innocent Graves by Peter Robinson (Viking)
  • Damaged Goods by Stephen Solomita (Scribner)

JUDGES:

  • C. J. Cherryh (author)
  • John Hollander (critic)
  • Andre Schiffrin (The New Press)

1995

WINNER: Under the Beetle's Cellar by Mary Willis Walker (Doubleday)

NOMINEES:

  • Smithereens by Susan Taylor Chehak (Doubleday)
  • The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
  • Breakheart Hill by Thomas H. Cook (Bantam)
  • True Crime by Andrew Klavan (Crown)

JUDGES:

  • Robert Fulford (Toronto Globe & Mail)
  • Shannon Ravenel (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)
  • Jane Urquhart (author)

1994

WINNER: Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke (Hyperion)

NOMINEES:

  • Dogs of God by Pinckney Benedict (Doubleday)
  • Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore (Doubleday)
  • Third and Indiana by Steve Lopez (Viking)
  • Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland (Random House)

JUDGES:

  • Frederick Barthelme (author)
  • Alan Cheuse (All Things Considered)
  • Esther Margolis (Newmarket Press)

1993

WINNER: The Mexican Tree Druck by James Crumley (Mysterious Press)

NOMINEES:

  • The Black Ice by Michael Connelly (Little Brown)
  • By Evil Means by Sandra West Prowell (Walker)
  • Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor (St. Martin's Press)
  • An Occasional Hell by Randall Silvis (Permanent Press)

JUDGES:

  • Margaret Atwood (author)
  • Digby Diehl (critic)
  • David R. Godine (Publisher, Godine)

1992

WINNER: Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman (Putnam)

SPECIAL MENTION: The Ones You Do by Daniel Woodrell (Holt)

NOMINEES:

  • Trick of the Eye by Jane Stanton Hitchcock (Dutton)
  • White Butterfly by Walter Mosley (Norton)
  • Humans by Donald E. Westlake (Mysterious Press)

JUDGES:

  • Joni Evans (Turtle Bay)
  • Herbert Gold (author)
  • Raymond Sokolov (The Wall Street Journal)

1991

WINNER: Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard (Delacorte)

NOMINEES:

  • Elsinore by Jerome Charyn (Mysterious Press)
  • Murther & Walking Spirits by Robertson Davies (Viking)
  • Harlot's Ghost by Norman Mailer (Random House)
  • The Women of Whitechapel & Jack the Ripper by Paul West (Random House)

JUDGES:

  • Joyce Carol Oates (author)
  • Elizabeth Pochoda (Entertainment Weekly)
  • Alan D. Williams (Grove Press)