THE REVERSAL named winner of The Strand Magazine Critics Choice Award for Best Novel

Thanks to one of the best book blogs on the Internet, The Rap Sheet (a must-read for any crime fiction fan), I've ltoday learned that Michael Connelly's excellent crime novel THE REVERSAL, which brought Mickey Haller and Harry Bosch together to 'solve' a case, was this week named the winner of the Critics Awards, organised by Strand Magazine. I'm pleased to see THE REVERSAL get this recognition, as it was one of my very favourite reads of 2010 (out of 70-plus crime novels), and Connelly remains one of my all-time favourite crime writers.

You can read my 2010 Weekend Herald article based on an interview with Connelly about THE REVERSAL, here.

It was the second win in a row for Connelly, as he also won the Critics Choice Award last year for NINE DRAGONS, a tale that takes Harry Bosch to Hong Kong. Debutant author Paul Doiron won Best First Novel for THE POACHER'S SON.

Recognising excellence in the field of mystery fiction, the Critics Awards were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists, including Dennis Drabelle (The Washington Post), Dick Lochte (Los Angeles Times), Jordan Foster (Publishers Weekly), Jack Batten (Toronto Star), Jeff Ayers (Associated Press), Mary Ann Gwinn (Seattle Times), Jeff Johnson (Chicago Sun Times), Sarah Weinman (Los Angeles Times), and Larry Gandle (Tampa Tribune). In the Best Novel category Connelly had been up against:

• Faithful Place by Tana French (Viking)
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
• Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (William Morrow)
• I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman (William Morrow)

"This was a great group of nominees," said Andrew F. Gulli, the managing editor of The Strand. "Connelly’s win is a true testament to his talents as a crime writer and Paul Doiron is a writer who has a great future."

Read my recent New Zealand Listener article on Connelly, about his latest novel THE FIFTH WITNESS and the film version of THE LINCOLN LAWYER, here. You can also read 2010 Ngaio Marsh Award finalist Neil Cross's interesting piece on Connelly from the same issue of the Listener, here.