And the Anthony Award goes to (envelope please) ... Michael Connelly!

A few hours ago, the Gala ceremony for the 2009 Anthony Awards was held at the Bouchercon event in Indianapolis. With a grateful nod to The Rap Sheet (who were in attendance) for the heads-up, news of this year's winners is quickly being spread.

As Maxine Clarke predicted in a comment on my blog post before the event, the two big winners on the night (well, afternoon), were Michael Connelly for THE BRASS VERDICT (Best Novel) and Stieg Larsson for THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO (Best First Novel). Good to see the Americans starting to catch up with what Europe and some of the rest of the world have grown to appreciate about Larsson over the past few years.

THE BRASS VERDICT is Connelly's second novel to feature defence attorney Mickey Haller (who debuted in THE LINCOLN LAWYER), and also brings Haller and Connelly's most-loved main character, Harry Bosch, together - Bosch is investigating the murder of a Hollywood lawyer, while Haller has taken over that lawyer's most high-profile case, the defense of a prominent Hollwyood executive accused of slaughtering his wife and her lover.

You can read an extract of THE BRASS VERDICT here.

The Anthony Awards are chosen by the attendees at Bouchercon each year. The other category winners this year were:

Best Paperback Original: STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy

Best Short Story: “A Sleep Not Unlike Death,” by Sean Chercover (from HARDCORE HARDBOILED, edited by Todd Robinson) - note Chercover was also shortlisted for Best Novel.

Best Critical Non-fiction Work: ANTHONY BOUCHER: A BIOBIBLIOGRAPHY, by Jeffrey Marks


Best Children’s/Young Adult Novel: THE CROSS ROADS, by Chris Grabenstein

Best Cover Art: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO designed by Peter Mendelsund and written by Stieg Larsson (Knopf) - note the US cover (pictured left) is quite different to the covers of this book I have seen in other countries (including the NZ/Aust copy I have).

Special Service Award: Jon and Ruth Jordan of Crimespree magazine fame.

Thoughts/comments on the winners and/or the event welcome.