Bouchercon XXXIX

Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XXXIX and the 23rd Anthony Awards ceremony.

Bouchercon
The convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland on October 9, 2008; running until the 12th. The event was chaired by Ruth Jordan, publisher and editor of Crimespree magazine, and Judy Bobalik, editor of the Reflections in a Private Eye magazine.

Special Guests

 * Lifetime Achievement awards — Robert Rosenwald & Barbara Peters
 * Distinguished Contribution to the Genre award — Lawrence Block
 * International Guest of Honor — John Harvey
 * American Guest of Honor — Laura Lippman
 * Toastmaster — Mark Billingham
 * Fan Guest of Honor — Thalia Proctor

Anthony Awards
The following list details the awards distributed at the twenty-third annual Anthony Awards ceremony.

Novel award
Winner:
 * Laura Lippman, What the Dead Know

Shortlist:
 * James Lee Burke, The Tin Roof Blowdown
 * Lee Child, Bad Luck and Trouble
 * Robert Crais, The Watchman
 * William Kent Krueger, Thunder Bay

First novel award
Winner:
 * Tana French, In the Woods

Shortlist:
 * Sean Chercover, Big City, Bad Blood
 * Lisa Lutz, The Spellman Files
 * Craig McDonald, Head Games
 * Marcus Sakey, The Blade Itself

Paperback original award
Winner:
 * P. J. Parrish, A Thousand Bones

Shortlist:
 * Megan Abbott, Queenpin
 * Ken Bruen & Jason Starr, Slide
 * David Corbett, Blood of Paradise
 * Robert Fate, Baby Shark's Beaumont Blues

Short story award
Winner:
 * Laura Lippman, "Hardly Knew Her", from Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table

Shortlist:
 * Rhys Bowen, "Please Watch Your Step", from The Strand Magazine February/May 2007
 * Steve Hockensmith, "Dear Dr. Watson", from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine February 2007
 * Toni Kelner, "How Stella Got Her Grave Back", from Many Bloody Returns: Tales of Birthdays with Bite
 * Daniel Woodrell, "Uncle", from A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Female Noir

Critical / Non-fiction award
Winner:
 * Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower & Charles Foley, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters

Shortlist:
 * Roger Sobin, The Essential Mystery Lists
 * Patrick Anderson, The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction
 * Christiana Gregoriou, Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction

Website award
Winner:
 * Stan Ulrich & Lucinda Surber, Stop, You're Killing Me!

Shortlist:
 * Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
 * J. Kingston Pierce, January Magazine (and The Rap Sheet)
 * Tess Gerritsen & J. T. Ellison et al., Murderati
 * David Montgomery, Crime Fiction Dossier

Special service award
Winner:
 * Jon Jordan and Ruth Jordan, Crimespree Magazine

Shortlist:
 * Ali Karim, Shots magazine
 * Maddy Van Hertbruggen, 4 Mystery Addicts
 * Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
 * Judy Bobalik, for being one of the best friends and supporters of mystery writers