Remembering Barry Gardner: Barry Award nominees

For the past fifteen years Deadly Pleasures magazine has posthumously honoured reviewer Barry Gardner with a series of crime fiction awards bearing his name: the annual Barry Awards. Now the nominees for the 2012 Barry Awards have been announced (hat tip to Janet Rudolph) - here are the lists of the nominees, plus some comments from me about some of the books/awards categories:

Best Novel

• THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES (aka MERCY), Jussi Adler-Olsen tr. Tiina Nunnally
• THE ACCIDENT, Linwood Barclay
• THE HURT MACHINE, Reed Farrel Coleman
• IRON HOUSE, John Hart
• HELL IS EMPTY, Craig Johnson
• THE TROUBLED MAN, Henning Mankell tr. Laurie Thompson

 I've read three of the six nominated books. While I did enjoy both THE TROUBLED MAN and THE ACCIDENT, for me IRON HOUSE by John Hart was the best of the three. I've also heard very good things about MERCY - it's on my TBR shelf but I haven't quite got to it yet.

Best First Novel

• LEARNING TO SWIM, Sara Henry
• THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, Keigo Higashino tr. Alexander O Smith & Elye J Alexander
• THE BOY IN THE SUITCASE, Lene Kaaberbol and Agnette Friis tr. Lene Kaaberbol
• TURN OF MIND, Alice LaPlante
• THE INFORMATIONIST, Taylor Stevens
• BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, S J Watson

I haven't read any of these novels, although I do have both the Higashino and SJ Watson books on my shelf at home, waiting to be read. BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP has appeared on many 'best of 2011' lists I've seen, although I've also read mixed reviews from some who think it's been a bit over-rated.

Best British (Published in the UK in 2011)

• NOW YOU SEE ME, S J Bolton
• HELL'S BELLS (aka THE INFERNALS), John Connolly
• BAD SIGNS, R J Ellory
• THE HOUSE AT SEA'S END, Elly Griffiths
• OUTRAGE, Arnaldur Indridason tr. Anna Yates
• DEAD MAN’S GRIP, Peter James

Again, none read from this category - but I have the RJ Ellory, Peter James and Arnaldur Indridason books on my TBR shelf at home. I've heard good things about BAD SIGNS and OUTRAGE, in particular.

Best Paperback Original

• THE SILENCED, Brett Battles
• THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER, Oliver Pötzsch
• A DOUBLE DEATH ON THE BLACK ISLE, A. D. Scott
• DEATH OF THE MANTIS, Michael Stanley
• FUN AND GAMES, Duane Swierczynski
• TWO FOR SORROW, Nicola Upson

Best Thriller

• CARVER, Tom Cain
• COUP D’ETAT, Ben Coes
• SPYCATCHER (aka SPARTAN), Matthew Dunn
• BALLISTIC, Mark Greaney
• HOUSE DIVIDED, Mike Lawson
• THE INFORMANT, Thomas Perry

The winners will be announced at the Bouchercon convention, held in October.

So, which of the above books have you read and enjoyed? Which would you like to see win?