Tony Hillerman Prize Honors Best First Mystery Novel

Sponsored by St. Martin's Press and Western Writers of America, the Tony Hillerman Prize is awarded annually for the best first mystery set in the Southwest. The winner receives a contract with St. Martin's Press for publication of the novel and $10,000. Named after New Mexico's best known mystery author, the Tony Hillerman Prize competition is open to any professional or non-professional writer who has never been the author of a published mystery, or under contract with a publisher for publication of a mystery. Murder or another serious crime or crimes must be at the heart of the story, with the emphasis on the solution rather than the details of the crime.

The prize was established in 2006 to honor Albuquerque mystery writer Hillerman and has been awarded for The Replacement Child by Christine Barber, The Ragged Edge of Nowhere by Roy Chaney, The Territory by Tricia Field, City of Saints by Andrew Hunt, Bad Country by CB McKenzie, Dark Reservations by John Fortunato, and The Homeplace by Kevin Wolf. The 2017 winner is Carol Potenza's novel, Hearts of the Missing.

Visit this site for the guidelines
http://us.macmillan.com/minotaurbooks/tonyhillermanprize#guidelines