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Anthony Awards 2009

The 2009 Anthony Awards went to The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein (Best Children's/Young Adult), Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeffrey Marks (Best Critical/Nonfiction Work) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Best First Novel), with winners in 2 more categories. 25 books were nominated across 5 categories.

Winners

Best Children's/Young Adult

  1. The Crossroads by Chris Grabensteinsource (opens in a new tab)

Best Critical/Nonfiction Work

  1. Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeffrey Markssource (opens in a new tab)

Best First Novel

  1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larssonsource (opens in a new tab)

Best Novel

  1. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connellysource (opens in a new tab)

Best Paperback Original

  1. State of the Onion by Julie Hyzysource (opens in a new tab)

Nominees

Best Children's/Young Adult

  1. Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Hendersonsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Paper Towns by John Greensource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash by Wendelin Van Draanensource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewartsource (opens in a new tab)

Best Critical/Nonfiction Work

  1. African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Baileysource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Crime Travel by Barb Goffmansource (opens in a new tab)
  3. How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emersonsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscalesource (opens in a new tab)

Best First Novel

  1. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Mallietsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harrissource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Stalking Susan by Julie Kramersource (opens in a new tab)

Best Novel

  1. Red Knife by William Kent Kruegersource (opens in a new tab)
  2. The Cruelest Month by Louise Pennysource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larssonsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Trigger City by Sean Chercoversource (opens in a new tab)

Best Paperback Original

  1. In a Dark Season by Vicki Lanesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Money Shot by Christa Faustsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. South of Hell by P.J. Parrishsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The First Quarry by Max Allan Collinssource (opens in a new tab)

About the Anthony Awards

Book categories only; short story, novella, cover art, audiobook narration, TV, website, fan and service awards are skipped. Year is the Bouchercon year. Sources: Bouchercon's own winners-and-nominees pages for 2006-2019, 2023 and 2024; bouchercon.com has no pages for 2020-2022 or 2025, so those years come from Stop, You're Killing Me! (stopyourekillingme.com), with winners checked against Wikipedia and 2025 press reports. Three official cells are wrong or short and cite Stop, You're Killing Me! instead: 2009 Paperback Original (official page repeats Scot & Soda, a 2020 nominee), 2023 Best Novel (official page omits finalist The Maid), and 2024 Anthology (official page omits Happiness Is a Warm Gun). Stable category names: Best Novel was Best Hardcover Novel in 2021 and 2023-2025; Best Paperback Original became Paperback/E-book/Audiobook Original from 2021; Best Children's/Young Adult covers the Children's/YA, Young Adult (2016, 2020) and Juvenile/YA labels; Best Humorous Novel was Cozy/Humorous in 2025. Categories that did not run in a year have count 0. The 2015 Critical/Nonfiction nominee Dru's Book Musings is a website but is listed as the organization named it.

Organization: Bouchercon. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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