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The Dashiell Hammett Prize

Past Winners, Nominees, and Judges

2022

Winner: Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen (Minotaur)

Nominees:
Copperhead Road by Brad Smith (At Bay Press)
Don't Know Tough by Eli Cranor (Soho Crime)
What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline (G.P. Putnam)
Gangland by Chuck Hogan

Judges:
Kenneth Turan (Film critic)
Nancy Kilpatrick (Horror writer and editor)
Ann Goldstein (Translator)
Cover image of Pay Dirt Road

2021

Winner: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)

Nominees:
Stung by William Deverell (ECW)
Five Decembers by James Kestrel (Hard Case)
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
The Sacrifice of Lester Yates by Robin Yocum (Arcade CrimeWise)

Judges:
Mae Woods (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Meta Carstarphen (Editor at Communication Booknotes Quarterly)
Jennifer Fremlin (Writer and professor, Huntingdon College, Alabama)

 
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2020

Winner: When These Mountains Burn by David Joy (G.P. Putnam's)

Nominees:
Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black (Soho)
The Mountains Wild by Sara Stewart Taylor (Minotaur)
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)
Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March (Minotaur)

Judges:

Todd Dickinson (Aaron's Book of Lititz, Pennsylvania)
Mary Norris (Author and Copy Editor of The New Yorker)
Molly Fisk (Poet Laureate of Nevada County, California)
When these mountains burn.png

2019

Winner: Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock (Poisoned Pen Press)

Nominees:
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicolas Meyer (Minotaur Books)
Blood Relations by Jonathan Moore (Mariner Books)
The Murals by William Bayer (Severn House)
Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan (Counterpoint)

Judges:

Marina Endicott (Author)
Rob Vollmar (Book Editor, World Literature Today)
Deborah Dundas (Book Reviewer, Toronto Star)

2018

Winner: November Road, by Lou Berney (William Morrow)

Nominees:
Paris in the Dark, by Robert Olen Butler (Mysterious Press)
The Lonely Witness, by William Boyle (Pegasus)
Cut You Down, by Sam Wiebe (Random House Canada)
Under My Skin, by Lisa Unger (Park Row)

Judges:

Gary Giddins (Jazz Critic, Author)
Steven Beattie (Editor, Quill and Quire)
Kristin Bates (Book Seller)

2017

Winner: August Snow, by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime)

Nominees:
The Marsh King's Daughter: A Novel, by Karen Dionne (G. P. Putnam’s Sons)
The Tragedy of Brady Sims: A Novel, by Ernest J. Gaines (Vintage)
Two Days Gone: A Novel, by Randall Silvis (Sourcebooks Landmark)

Judges:

Vera Marowitz (Bookstore Manager)
Robert Sutherland-Cohen (Author)
John Timpane (Media & Fine Arts Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer)

2016

Winner: The White Devil, by Domenic Stansberry (Molotov Editions)

Nominees:
The Second Life of Nick Mason, by Steve Hamilton (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Revolver, by Duane Swierczynski (Mulholland Books)
The Big Nothing, by Bob Truluck (Murmur House Press)

Judges:

Margot Bettauer Dembo (Translator)
Ron Koltnow (Former PSales Rep/Critic)
David Nasaw (Author)

2015

Winner: The Do-Right, by Lisa Sandlin (Cinco Puntos Press)

Nominees:
The Stranger, by Harlan Coben (Dutton)
Sorrow Lake: A March and Walker Crime Novel, by Michael J. McCann (Plaid Raccoon Press)
The Whites: A Novel, by Richard Price, writing as Harry Brandt (Henry Holt)
The Organ Broker: A Novel, by Stu Strumwasser (Arcade)

Judges:

Peter Eckersall (Author/Critic)
Gina Pollock (Bookseller)
Luanne Rice (Author)

2014

Winner: Mr. Mercedes: A Novel, by Stephen King (Scribner)

Nominees:
Wayfaring Stranger: A Novel, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
Smoke River, by Krista Foss (McClelland & Stewart)
Gangsterland: A Novel, by Tod Goldberg (Counterpoint)
Goodhouse: A Novel, by Peyton Marshall (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Judges:

Morris Dickstein (Author/Critic)
Daniel Simon (Editor-in-Chief, World Literature Today)
Frank Wilson (Former Books Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer, Blogger@#booksinq)
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