2023 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalists

With so many crime fiction and nonfiction books coming out each year, there needs to be a way to find the top stories to read. That is why following contests is so important. They give us the judges’ suggestions for the top reads of the year.

The Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards are given to honor the Best Books of the previous year (2022). The winners will be announced on Saturday, August 19, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee at the 2023 Killer Nashville Awards Dinner.

 

Best Action Adventure

Revelation by Victor Acquista

Shadow War by A.M. Adair

Sister! A Natalie McMasters Mystery by Thomas A. Burns, Jr.

The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman

The Ballad of Clay Moore by Eric S. Hoffman

The Shadow of War by Timothy S. Johnston

Richter The Mighty by J.B. Manning

Bloody Soil by S. Lee Manning

Franco’s Lost Gold by Johan Rosenlind

Best Comedy

A Dusty Demise by SL Calder

Her Dying Day by Mindy Carlson

Five Moves of Doom by A.J. Devlin

Jiggered By Gin by Lucy Lakestone

Richter the Mighty by J.B. Manning

Goldhammer by Haris Orkin

Birthdays are Murder by Cindy Sample

Gambling with Murder by Lida Sideris

How to Kill a Kingpin by Gabrielle St. George

Gag Me: A Friday Harbor Novel by Susan Wingate

Best Cozy

The Dog Days of Murder by M.K. Dean

Five Belles Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein

Murder at the Willcotts Hotel by Sasser Hill

Black Magic Murder by Polly Holmes

Murder at the Wedding by Christine Knapp

Killer in the Kitchen: A Chesapeake Bay Mystery by Judy L. Murray

Murder in the Third Position by Lori Robbins

A Deadly Bone to Pick by Peggy Rothschild

Bushwacked in the Outback by Nancy Raven Smith

Doodled to Death by C.B. Wilson

Best Historical

Whiskey Love by Joy Allyson

Murder at the Galliano Club by Carmen Amato

The Counterfeit Wife by Mally Becker

The Lady’s Guide to Death and Deception by Katherine Cowley

A Spying Eye by Michelle Cox

A Kind and Savage Place by Richard Helms

A Bend of Light by Joy Jordan-Lake

Funeral Train by Laurie Loewenstein

Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver

The Gallery of Beauties by Nina Wachsman

Best Investigator

The Photo Thief by J.L.Delozier

Hidden Pieces by Mary Keliikoa

Grind Slowly, Grind Small by Thomas Holland

Thunder Road by Colin Holmes

Dead Drop by James L’Etoile

Behind the Lie by Emilya Naymark

Party Wine by D.R. Ransdell

Crystal Blue Murder by Saralyn Richard

Abducted in Appalachia by Drew Strickland

A Nice Place To Die by Joyce Woollcott

Best Juvenile / YA

In Myrtle Peril, a Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery by Elizabeth Bunce

Dead Flip by Sara Farizan

Sugaring Off by Gillian French

Imagining Elsewhere by Sara Hosey

Bleary Eyes by Summer Rain

Deadly Setup by Lynn Slaughter

Best Literary

The Return of Faraz by Aamina Ahmad

Treasure of the Diary by Tom Collins

Last Professional by Ed Davis

Rook by Stephen Eoannou

The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger

Best Mainstream / Commercial

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

A Patient Enemy by S.E. Greco

One Gun by Vinnie Hansen

Best Mystery

Badge of Edisto by Hope Clark

The Art of the Decoy by Trish Esden

Innocent Spouse by Leonard Getz

Pesticide by Kim Hays

Her Sister’s Death by K.L. Murphy

The Secret in the Wall by Ann Parker

A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Cause for Elimination by Marla White

The Bone Records by Ruth Zahradnik

Best Nonfiction

Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier by Robin Barefield

American Airman: a memoir of a wounded veteran by Jonathon Benjamin

Bub: Essays from Just North of Nashville by Drew Bratcher

Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath by Bill Browder

The Tuskegee Strangler by Linda Lou Long

Going Under: Kidnapping, Murder, and a Life Undercover by John Madinger

Someone Knows by Christine Mager Wevik

Lies People Tell: An FBI Agent’s Toolkit for Catching Liars and Cheats by Frank Runles

Kill Your Characters: Crime Scene Tips for Writers by Steve Rush

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The Future of Humanity by Esteban Corio

2003: The Time-Loop Device by David Cornish

Nula by Frank Gratton

Beauty and the Alchemist by Elle Hartford

Midgard by Jeanne Hull Godfroy

Death Warrant by Bryan Johnston

The Registration by Madison Lawson

Traveler by Nola Nash

Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

The Wizard’s Brew: A Zane Vrexon Mystery by Jordan Reed

It’s Been A Long, Long Time by Janet Raye Stevens

Master of Shadows by Joss Walker and R.L. Perez

Best Short Story Collection/Anthology

Of Course He Pushed Him & Other Sherlock Holmes Stories: The Complete Collection by Chris Chan

An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales of Intrigue by Marianne Donley

Countess of Shadows: The Ladies of Almack’s Omnibus No. I by Marissa Doyle

The Darkened Doorstep by Catherine Jordan

Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga by Lindy Ryan

The Therapeutic Death: Violent Short Stories by J.B. Stevens

Incredible Witness by J.D. Webb

Best Southern Gothic

Delusion of the Collar and the Key by Alexandria Ausman

The Ark and the Whale by James Fulmer

House of Mirrors by Nola Nash

The Unkindness of Ravens by John Ryland

River of Ashes by Alexandria Weis and Lucas Astor

Best Supernatural

Misguided Revenge by D.M. Bourgeois

Picture Unavailable by Andrew J. Brandt

The Island Mother by Jon Cohn

The Kill Club by James Glass

Buried Trust by Nancy Hughes

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

Dead Reckoning by Jacob Moon

The Girl in the Corn by Jason Offutt

The Unkindness of Ravens by John Ryland

Grave Intervention by Dr. Shira Shiloah

Best Suspense

The Danger With Diamonds by Traci Hunter Abramson and Sian Ann Bessey

The Niece by Georgina Cross

Flash Point by Tracey Devlyn

Chasing Justice by Kathleen Donnelly

Trust Me by Kelly Irvin

Target Acquired by Lynessa Layne

The Dinner Guests by Kiersten Modglin

A Quiet Retreat by Kiersten Modglin

Fallout by Carrie Stuart Parks

We Spread by Iain Reid

Best Thriller

Not Dead Yet by Traci Abramson

They Come At Knight by Yasmin Angoe

Foregone Revenge by Terry Barnett

Girl in Ice by Erica Ferencik

Blackout by Erin Flanagan

The Child Riddler by Angela Greenman

Terror’s Sword, A Kyle McEwan Novel by Kevin Kuthens

Hooker Avenue by Jode Millman

One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose

Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer by Michael Stockham

Best Western

Trout Town by Dave Ames

Roundtree Days by Gerald Elias

Blood on the Trail by Terrence McCauley

 

The 2023 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Finalists @TimSuddeth @OpeningaMystery @KillerNashville #SilverFalchions #mysteries Click To Tweet