The North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers is pleased to announce nominees for their annual Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing by a US or Canadian author.  The  nominees are as follows:

James Lee Burke, Feast Day of Fools: A Novel (Simon & Schuster)

Sara Gran, Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead ( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Michael Ondaatje, The Cat's Table (McClelland & Stewart/Canada; Knopf/US)

Thomas Perry, The Informant (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/An Otto Penzler Book)

James Sallis, The Killer is Dying: A Novel (Walker & Company)

A reading committee of IACW/NA members selected the nominees, based on recommendations from other members and the publishing community.  The committee was headed by Deen Kogan and included Jedediah Berry, Vicki Cameron, Lorenzo Carcaterra, and Thomas Laird.

The winner will be chosen by three distinguished outside judges: Kevin Connolly, Canadian poet and editor; Eileen Hutton, founder of Brilliance Audio; and Paula J. Massood, author of Black City Cinema: African American Urban Experiences in  Film.

The organization will name the HAMMETT PRIZE  winner, during the Bloody Words Conference, in Toronto, June 1-3. The winner will receive a bronze trophy, designed by sculptor Peter Boiger.