The Anthony Award for Best Short Story, established in 1986, is an annual award presented as part of the Anthony Awards on behalf of Mystery Writers of America. [1]
| Year | Author | Title | Publication | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Linda Barnes | “Lucky Penny” | New Black Mask #3 | Winner | |
| John Lutz | “Ride the Lightning” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Loren D. Estleman | “Eight Mile and Dequindre” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Peter Lovesey | “Vandals” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Ruth Rendell | “The Convolvulus Clock” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 1987 | Sue Grafton | “The Parker Shotgun” | Mean Streets | Winner | |
| Clark Howard | “Scalplock” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Wayne D. Dundee | “Body Count” | Mean Streets | Finalist | ||
| 1988 | Robert Barnard | “Breakfast Television” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | |
| Ed Gorman | “Turn Away” | Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction | Finalist | ||
| Harlan Ellison | “Soft Monkey” | Mystery Scene Reader #1 | Finalist | ||
| Joyce Harrington | “The Au Pair Girl” | Matter of Crime #1 | Finalist | ||
| Max Allan Collins | “Scrap” | Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction | Finalist | ||
| 1990 | Nancy Pickard | “Afraid All the Time” | Sisters in Crime | Winner | |
| Sharyn McCrumb | “A Wee Doch and Doris” | Mistletoe Mysteries | Finalist | ||
| Shelley Singer | “A Terrible Thing” | Sisters in Crime | Finalist | ||
| Susan Dunlap | “No Safety” | Sisters in Crime | Finalist | ||
| 1991 | Susan Dunlap | “The Celestial Buffet” | Sisters in Crime 2 | Winner | |
| Marilyn Wallace | “A Tale of Two Pretties” | Sisters in Crime 3 | Finalist | ||
| Sarah Shankman | “Say You're Sorry” | Sisters in Crime 3 | Finalist | ||
| Sharyn McCrumb | “Remains to Be Seen” | Mummy Stories | Finalist | ||
| Sharyn McCrumb | “The Luncheon” | Sisters in Crime 2 | Finalist | ||
| 1992 | Liza Cody | “Lucky Dip” | A Woman’s Eye | Winner | |
| Linda Grant | “Last Rites” | Sisters in Crime 4 | Finalist | ||
| Margaret Maron | “Deborah's Judgment” | A Woman’s Eye | Finalist | ||
| Maxine O'Callahan | “Wolf Winter” | Sisters in Crime 4 | Finalist | ||
| Peter Lovesey | “The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Wendy Hornsby | “Nine Sons” | Sisters in Crime 4 | Finalist | ||
| 1993 | Diane Mott Davidson | “Cold Turkey” | Sisters in Crime 5 | Winner | |
| Doug Allyn | “Candles in the Rain” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Edward D. Hoch | “The Summer of our Discontent” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Gabrielle Kraft | “One Hit Wonder” | Sisters in Crime 5 | Finalist | ||
| Rochelle Krich | “A Golden Opportunity” | Sisters in Crime 5 | Finalist | ||
| 1994 | Susan Dunlap | “Checkout” | Malice Domestic 2 | Winner | |
| K. K. Beck | “A Romance in the Rockies” | Malice Domestic 2 | Finalist | ||
| M. D. Lake | “Kim's Game” | Malice Domestic 2 | Finalist | ||
| Robert Lopresti | “Crow's Feat” | Constable New Crimes 2 | Finalist | ||
| 1995 | Sharyn McCrumb | “The Monster of Glarnis” | Royal Crimes | Winner | |
| Ed Gorman | “One of Those Days, One of Those Nights” | Crime Yellow | Finalist | ||
| Ian Rankin | “A Deep Hole” | London Noir | Finalist | ||
| Robert Barnard | “The Gentleman in the Lake” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 1996 | Gar Anthony Haywood | “And Pray Nobody Sees You” | Spooks, Spies & Private Eyes | Winner | |
| Bill Crider | “How I Found a Cat, Lost True Love, and Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” | Cat Crimes Takes a Vacation | Finalist | ||
| Elizabeth Daniels Squire | “The Dog Who Remembered too Much” | Malice Domestic 4 | Finalist | ||
| Jean B. Cooper | “The Judge’s Boy” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| K. K. Beck | “Rule of Law” | Malice Domestic 4 | Finalist | ||
| 1997 | Carolyn Wheat | “Accidents Will Happen” | Malice Domestic 5 | Winner | |
| Brendan DuBois | “The Dark Snow” | Playboy | Finalist | ||
| Eve K. Sandstrom | “Bugged” | Malice Domestic 5 | Finalist | ||
| Janet LaPierre | “Luminarias Make it Christmas-y” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 1998 | Edward D. Hoch | “One Bag of Coconuts” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | |
| Jan Grape | “A Front-Row Seat” | Vengeance Is Hers | Winner | ||
| James DeFilippi | “A Fog of Many Colors” | New Mystery | Finalist | ||
| James Dorr | “Paperboxing Art” | New Mystery | Finalist | ||
| Simon Brett | “Ways to Kill a Cat” | Malice Domestic 6 | Finalist | ||
| 1999 | Barbara D'Amato Chittenden | “Of Course You Know that Chocolate Is a Vegetable?” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | |
| Harlan Coben | “A Simple Philosophy” | Malice Domestic 7 | Finalist | ||
| Jan Burke | “Two Bits” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Peter Robinson | “The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage” | Malice Domestic 7 | Finalist | ||
| Rick Riordan | “A Small Silver Gun” | MSCMM | Finalist | ||
| 2000 | Margaret Chittenden | “Noir Lite” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | |
| Barry Baldwin | “A Bit of a Treat” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Bill and Judy Crider | “At The Hop” | Till Death Do Us Part | Finalist | ||
| Jeffery Deaver | “Triangle” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Laurie R. King | “Paleta Man” | Irreconcilable Differences | Finalist | ||
| 2001 | Edward D. Hoch | “The Problem of the Potting Shed” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | |
| Donald Olson | “Don't Go Upstaris” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Peter Robinson | “Missing in Action” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Rhys Bowen | “The Seal of the Confessional” | Unholy Orders | Finalist | ||
| Rochelle Krich | “Widow's Peak” | Unholy Orders | Finalist | ||
| 2002 | Bill and Judy Crider | “Chocolate Moose” | Death Dines at 8:30 | Winner | |
| Margaret Maron | “Virgo in Sapphires” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Rochelle Krich | “Bitter Waters” | Criminal Kabbalah | Finalist | ||
| S. J. Rozan | “Double-Crossing Delancy” | Mystery Street | Finalist | ||
| Ted Hertel, Jr. | “My Bonnie Lies...” | Mammoth Book of Legal Thrillers | Finalist | ||
| 2003 | Marcia Talley | “Too Many Cooks” | Much Ado About Murder | Winner | |
| Bob Truluck | “A Man Called Ready” | Measures of Poison | Finalist | ||
| Clark Howard | “To Live and Die in Midland, Texas” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Lauren Haney | “Murder In The Land Of Wawat” | The Mammoth Book Of Egyptian Whodunnits | Finalist | ||
| Toni Kelner | “Bible Belt” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2004 | Rhys Bowen | “Doppelganger” | Blood On Their Hands | Winner | |
| Eddie Muller | “Wanda Wilcox Is Trapped” | Plots With Guns | Finalist | ||
| Elaine Viets | “Red Meat” | Blood On Their Hands | Finalist | ||
| Jack Bludis | “Munchies” | Hardbroiled | Finalist | ||
| Sandy Balzo | “The Grass Is Always Greener” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2005 | Elaine Viets | “Wedding Knife” | Chesapeake Crimes | Winner | |
| Arthur Nersesian | “Hunter Trapper” | Brooklyn Noir | Finalist | ||
| Rhys Bowen | “Voodoo” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Ted Hertel, Jr. | “It's Crackers to Slip a Rozzer the Dropsey in Snide” | Small Crimes | Finalist | ||
| Terence Faherty | “The Widow of Slane” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2006 | Barbara Seranella | “Misdirection” | Greatest Hits | Winner | |
| Elaine Viets | “Killer Blonde” | Drop-Dead Blonde | Finalist | ||
| Libby Fischer Hellmann | “House Rules” | Murder in Vegas | Finalist | ||
| Marcia Talley | “Driven To Distraction” | Chesapeake Crimes I | Finalist | ||
| Nancy Pickard | “There Is No Crime On Easter Island” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2007 | Simon Wood | “My Father's Secret” | Crimespree Magazine | Winner | |
| Bill Crider | “Cranked” | Damn Near Dead | Finalist | ||
| Dana Cameron | “The Lords of Misrule” | Sugarplums and Scandal | Finalist | ||
| Elaine Viets | “After the Fall” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Megan Abbott | “Policy” | Damn Near Dead | Finalist | ||
| Toni Kelner | “Sleeping with the Plush” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2008 | Laura Lippman | “Hardly Knew Her” | Dead Man's Hand | Winner | |
| Daniel Woodrell | “Uncle” | A Hell of a Woman | Finalist | ||
| Rhys Bowen | “Please Watch Your Step” | The Strand Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Steve Hockensmith | “Dear Dr. Watson” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Toni L. P. Kelner | “How Stella Got her Grave Back” | Many Bloody Returns | Finalist | ||
| 2009 | Sean Chercover | “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” | Hardcore Hardboiled | Winner | [3] |
| Dana Cameron | “The Night Things Changed” | Wolfsbane & Mistletoe | Finalist | ||
| Jane K. Cleland | “Killing Time” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Kristine Kathryn Rusch | “The Secret Lives of Cats” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Laura Lippman | “Scratch a Woman” | Hardly Knew Her | Finalist | ||
| Toni L. P. Kelner | “Skull and Cross Examination” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2010 | Hank Phillippi Ryan | “On the House” | Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers | Winner | [4] |
| Ace Atkins | “Last Fair Deal Gone Down” | Crossroad Blues | Finalist | ||
| Dana Cameron | “Femme Sole” | Boston Noir | Finalist | ||
| Dennis Lehane | “Animal Rescue” | Boston Noir | Finalist | ||
| Luis Alberto Urrea | “Amapola” | Phoenix Noir | Finalist | ||
| 2011 | Dana Cameron | “Swing Shift” | by Moonlight | Winner | [4] |
| Chris Holm | “The Hitter” | Needle | Finalist | [5] | |
| Doug Allyn | “Scent of Lilacs” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [5] | |
| Mary Jane Maffini | “So Much in Common” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [5] | |
| Patricia Morin | “Homeless” | Mystery Montage | Finalist | [5] | |
| Simon Wood | “The Frame Maker” | The Back Alley | Finalist | [5] | |
| 2012 | Dana Cameron | “Disarming” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | [4] |
| Barb Goffman | “Truth and Consequences” | Mystery Times Ten | Finalist | ||
| Daryl Wood Gerber | “Palace by the Lake” | Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology | Finalist | ||
| Neil Gaiman | “The Case of Death and Honey” | A Study in Sherlock | Finalist | ||
| Roberta Isleib | “The Itinerary” | MWA Presents The Rich and The Dead | Finalist | ||
| Twist Phelan | “Happine$$” | MWA Presents The Rich and The Dead | Finalist | ||
| 2013 | Dana Cameron | “Mischief in Mesopotamia” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | [4] |
| Barb Goffman | “The Lord is My Shamus” | Crimes: This Job is Murder | Finalist | ||
| Karin Slaughter | “The Unremarkable Heart” | MWA Presents: Vengeance | Finalist | ||
| Shelia Connolly | “Kept in the Dark” | Best New England Crime Stories: Blood Moon | Finalist | ||
| Todd Robinson | “Peaches” | Grift | Finalist | ||
| 2014 | John Connolly | “The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository” | Blibiomysteries, The Mysterious Bookshop | Winner | [4] |
| Art Taylor | “The Care and Feeding of Houseplants” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Craig Faustus Buck | “Dead End” | Untreed Reads | Finalist | ||
| Denise Dietz | “Annie and the Grateful Dead” | The Sound and the Furry | Finalist | ||
| Travis Richardson | “Incident on the 405” | Malfeasance Occasional: Girl Trouble | Finalist | ||
| 2015 | Art Taylor | “The Odds Are Against Us” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Winner | [4] |
| Barb Goffman | “The Shadow Knows” | Chesapeake Crimes: Homicidal Holidays | Finalist | ||
| Craig Faustus Buck | “Honeymoon Sweet” | Murder at the Beach: The Bouchercon Anthology 2014 | Finalist | ||
| John Shepphird | “Of Dogs & Deceit” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Paul D. Marks | “Howling at the Moon” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| 2016 | Megan Abbott | “The Little Men” | A Bibliomystery by MysteriousPress.com | Winner | |
| Johnny Shaw | “Feliz Navidead” | Thuglit Presents: Cruel Yule: Holiday Tales of Crime for People on the Naughty List | Finalist | ||
| Erin Mitchell | “Old Hands” | Dark City Lights | Finalist | ||
| Hilary Davidson | “The Siege” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Holly West | “Don't Fear the Ripper” | Protectors 2: Heroes | Finalist | ||
| Travis Richardson | “Quack and Dwight” | Jewish Noir: Contemporary Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds | Finalist | ||
| 2017 | Megan Abbott | “Oxford Girl” | Mississippi Noir | Winner | |
| Art Taylor | “Parallel Play” | Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning | Finalist | ||
| Holly West | “Queen of the Dogs” | 44 Caliber Funk: Tales of Crime, Soul and Payback | Finalist | ||
| Johnny Shaw | “Gary's Got A Boner” | Waiting To Be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak, Inspired by the Replacements | Finalist | ||
| Lawrence Block | “Autumn at the Automat” | In Sunlight or Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper | Finalist | ||
| 2018 | Hilary Davidson | “My Side of the Matter” | Killing Malmon | Winner | [6] |
| Art Taylor | “A Necessary Ingredient” | Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI | Finalist | [6] | |
| Barb Goffman | “Whose Wine Is It Anyway” | 50 Shades of Cabernet | Finalist | [6] | |
| Debra Goldstein | “The Night They Burned Miss Dixie’s Place” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [6] | |
| Jen Conley | “God's Gonna Cut You Down” | Just to Watch Them Die: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Johnny Cash | Finalist | [6] | |
| Susanna Calkins | “The Trial of Madame Pelletier” | Charlaine Harris Presents Malice Domestic 12: Mystery Most Historical | Finalist | [6] | |
| 2019 | S. A. Cosby | “The Grass Beneath My Feet” | Tough Magazine | Winner | [7] [8] |
| Art Taylor | “English 398: Fiction Workshop” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [7] [8] | |
| Barb Goffman | “Bug Appétit” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [7] [8] | |
| Greg Herren | “Cold Beer No Flies” | Florida Happens | Finalist | [7] [8] | |
| Holly West | “The Best Laid Plans” | Florida Happens | Finalist | [7] [8] | |
| 2020 | Alex Segura | “The Red Zone” | Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico | Winner | [9] |
| Art Taylor | “Better Days” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | ||
| Art Taylor | “Hard Return” | Crime Travel | Finalist | ||
| Hector Acosta | “Turistas” | Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!: Stories to Benefit the People of Puerto Rico | Finalist | ||
| Hilary Davidson | “Unforgiven” | Murder-a-Go-Go's: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of the Go-Go's | Finalist | ||
| 2021 | Alex Segura | “90 Miles” | Both Sides: Stories from the Border | Winner | [10] [11] [12] |
| Art Taylor | “The Boy Detective & The Summer of ’74” | Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [12] | |
| Barb Goffman | “Dear Emily Etiquette” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [12] | |
| Gabriel Valjan | “Elysian Fields” | California Schemin’: The 2020 Bouchercon Anthology | Finalist | [12] | |
| James W. Ziskin | “The Twenty-Five Year Engagement” | In League with Sherlock Holmes | Finalist | [12] | |
| 2022 | S. A. Cosby | “Not My Cross to Bear” | Down & Out Books | Winner | [13] [14] |
| E. A. Aymar | “The Search for Eric Garcia” | Finalist | [14] | ||
| Gabriel Valjan | “Burnt Ends” | Finalist | [14] | ||
| Gigi Pandian | “The Locked Room Library” | Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine | Finalist | [14] | |
| Richie Narvaez | “Doc's at Midnight” | Finalist | [14] | ||
| Tracy Clark | “Lucky Thirteen” | Midnight Hour | Finalist | [14] | |
| V. M. Burns | “The Vermeer Conspiracy” | Midnight Hour | Finalist | [14] | |
| 2023 | Barb Goffman | “Beauty and the Beyotch” | Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine | Winner | |
| Bruce Robert Coffin | “The Impediment” | Deadly Nightshade: Best New England Crime Stories 2022 | Finalist | [15] | |
| Curtis Ippolito | “The Estate Sale” | Vautrin Magazine | Finalist | [15] | |
| E. A. Aymar | “Still Crazy After All These Years” | Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon | Finalist | [15] | |
| Gabriel Valjan | “C.O.D.” | Low Down Dirty Vote Volume 3: The Color of My Vote | Finalist | [15] |