Annal:2005 Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel
From AwardAnnals
Results of the Macavity Award in the year 2005. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
The Killing of the Tinkers: A Novel
- 2005 Macavity-Novel winner
- 2005 Anthony-Novel nominee
- Score: 16.55
When Jack Taylor blew town at the end of The Guards his alcoholism was a distant memory and sober dreams of a new life in London were shining in his eyes. In the opening pages of The Killing of the Tinkers, Jack’s back in Galway a year later with a new leather jacket on his back, a pack of smokes in his pocket, a few grams of coke in his waistband, and a pint of Guinness on his mind. So much for new beginnings.
Before long he’s sunk into his old patterns, lifting his head from the bar only every few days, appraising his surroundings for mere…
- 2005 Anthony-Paperback nominee
- 2005 Macavity-Novel nominee
- Score: 12.55
The colder it gets…the hotter it gets.
Three years ago SFPD Homicide Investigator Kate Gillespie was in pursuit of a suspect who murdered a hooker in a sleazy motel, and she nearly lost her own life in the process. The shooter escaped into the San Francisco shadows and the trail went colder than the grave. Now Kate’s appearance on a Bay Area “crime stoppers” TV show produces new leads that carry her back into the sordid world of drugs and prostitution—and point her toward a local crime boss whose missing wife is possibly linked to multiple men and multiple…
Darkly Dreaming Dexter: A Novel
- 2005 Barry-Novel nominee
- 2005 Macavity-Novel nominee
- Score: 12.55
Meet Dexter, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing…a monster who cringes at the site of blood…a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likable: he only kills bad people.
Dexter Morgan isn’t exactly the kind of man you’d bring home to Mom. Though he’s playful and has a wonderfully ironic sense of humor, Dexter’s one character flaw (his proclivity for murder) can be off-putting. But at heart Dexter is the perfect gentleman, supportive of his sister, Deb, a Miami cop, and interested only in doing away with people who really deserve his…
High Country Fall: A Deborah Knott Mystery
- 2005 Macavity-Novel nominee
- 2004 Agatha–Novel nominee
- Score: 12.55
Judge Deborah Knott has agreed to “tie the knot” with childhood friend Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant, and her numerous relatives are acting as if it’s the love match of the century. It’s not, and suddenly Deborah’s wondering whether friendship, mutual history, and good sex are enough to make a marriage. Her antidote for cold feet? She’s heading for the hills.
When asked to fill in for a vacationing judge in Cedar Gap, a five-hour drive from her flatland home, Deborah readily agrees. It’s the perfect place to clear her head with its fresh mountain air, gorgeous…
California Girl: A Novel
- 2005 Edgar–Novel winner
- 2005 Anthony-Novel nominee
- 2005 Macavity-Novel nominee
- 2004 Hammett nominee
- Score: 28.55
California in the 1960s, and the winds of change are raging. Orange groves uprooted for tract houses, people flooding into Orange County, strange new ideas in the air about war, music, sex, and drugs, and new influences, ranging from Richard Nixon to Timothy Leary.
For the Becker brothers, however, the past is always present—and it comes crashing back full force when the body of the lovely and mysterious Janelle Vonn is discovered in an abandoned orange-packing plant. The Beckers and the Vonns have a history, beginning years ago in high school with a rumble…
Playing with Fire: A Novel of Suspense
- 2005 Macavity-Novel nominee
- 2004 Hammett nominee
- Score: 12.55
Fire. It violently destroys futures and pasts in a terrified heartbeat, devouring damning secrets while leaving even greater mysteries in its foul wake of ash and debris.
The night sky is ablaze as fire engulfs two barges moored end to end on a Yorkshire canal. On board are the blackened remains of two human beings. One was a reclusive and eccentric local artist, the other a junkie, a sad and damaged young girl.
To the seasoned eye of Inspector Alan Banks, this horror was no accident, its method so cruel and calculated that only the…
