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The Dashiell Hammett Prize

Past Winners, Nominees, and Judges

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 Cover Image David Joy

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)
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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)
The Do-Right Cover Image Lisa Sandlin.png

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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2013

Winner: Angel Baby: A Novel, by Richard Lange (Mulholland)

Nominees:
Cataract City: A Novel, by Craig Davidson (Doubleday Canada)
Green Light for Murder, by Heywood Gould (Tyrus Books)
Caught, by Lisa Moore (House of Ansansi Press)
The Double, by George P. Pelecanos (Little, Brown)

Judges:

Steven Kruger (Author/Critic)
Ben McNally (Bookseller)
Karen Solie (Poet)
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2012

Winner: Oregon Hill, by Howard Owen (Permanent)

Nominees:
Defending Jacob: A Novel, by William Landay (Delacorte)
Truth Like the Sun: A Novel, by Jim Lynch (Knopf)
Patient Number 7, by Kurt Palka (McClelland & Stewart)
Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson (Emblem/Canada; Grove/US)

Judges:

Rob Dougherty (Bookseller)
Janet Groth (Author)
Edward D. Miller (Author/Critic)
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2011

Winner: The Killer is Dying: A Novel, by James Sallis (Walker & Company)

Nominees:
Feast Day of Fools: A Novel, by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, by Sara Gran (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
The Cat's Table, by Michael Ondaatje (McClelland & Stewart)
The Informant, by Thomas Perry (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/An Otto Penzler Book)

Judges:

Kevin Connolly (Poet/Editor)
Eileen Hutton (Brilliance Audio)
Paula J. Massood (Author/Critic)
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