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