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The Dashiell Hammett Prize

Past Winners, Nominees, and Judges

2010

Winner: The Nearest Exit, by Olen Steinhauer (St. Martin's/Minotaur)

Nominees:
Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster, by Jonathan Eig (Simon & Schuster)
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel, by Tom Franklin (William Morrow)
Iron River, by T. Jefferson Parker (Dutton)

Judges:

David Savran (Author)
Bonnie Scherr (Ivy Book Store, Baltimore)
Robin Whitten (AudioFile)
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2009

Winner: The Manual of Detection: A Novel, by Jedediah Berry (Penguin Press)

Nominees:
Bury Me Deep: A Novel, by Megan E. Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Devil's Garden, by Ace Atkins (Putnam)
The Long Fall, by Walter Mosley (Riverhead)
The Way Home, by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

Judges:

Stephanie Anderson (WORD Book Store)
Glenn Burger (Author)
Tamar Lewin (National Reporter, New York Times)
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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)
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2007

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

Nominees:
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel, by Michael Chabon (Harper Collins)
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, Glob & Mail
Luanne Rice (Novelist)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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 J. Robert Janes (McArhur/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)
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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)
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