The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out ourMystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out ourGlobal Thriller Awards).
These titles have moved forward from the 2025 CLUE Long List to the 2025 Clue Book Awards SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Clue Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Suspense and Thriller!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
A.J. Mccarthy – The Boy on the Dock
Aja Holland – Casco Bay
Ana Manwaring – Kickback
Arthur Coburn – Murder in Concrete
Ashley Thomas Sheikh – Kentucky Blood: Book I of the Kentucky Blood Series
Avanti Centrae – The Picasso Job: A Phoenix Thriller
Becky Anyanwu – Mind the Blinds
Brian Cuban – The Body Brokers
Carlo J. Emanuele – The Sins We Inherit
Cathi Stoler – No Good Time: A Nick Donahue Adventure
Charlotte Stuart – Unicorns Can Be Deadly a Discount Detective Mystery 5
Cheryl Campbell – Bodies in the Bayou
Chris Chan – Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History
Dan Ramm – Long Branch: Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story
Danielle M. Wong – Tiny Wild Things
David Tenenbaum – Premonition
Dwight Holing – The Thunder Head
E. Alan Fleischauer – The Dark and Evil Sky
Ellis K. Popa – Awaken the Dawn
Francesco Paola – Left on Rancho
Frank J. Edwards – Doctor Witch
Holly Harrison – Death in the Land of Enchantment
Jack Luellen – Someone Had to Lie
Jeannée Sacken – The Women Who Stand Between
Jl Spears – Daemon Protocol
Joe Salerno – The Decision
Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
Kd Sherrinford – The Whistle of Revenge
Kevin Hwang – The Regression Strain
Kit Karson – Savage Malice
Larry Weindruch and Richard A. Yach – Nicky V: A Chicago Crime Story
Leslie Liautaud – Butterfly Pinned
Marian Exall – Loners
Matthew John Parker – The Lost Last Prophecy
Melanie Anagnos – Nightswimming: A Jamie Palmieri Mystery
Michael Wendroff – What Goes Around
Mike Van Horn – The Ivy Leaguers
Miriam Verbeek – The Bank
Nannette Potter – Deception’s Edge
Otho Eskin – Black Sun Rising
Paty Jager – Crapshoot
Paty Jager – Wolverine Instincts
Paul Levine – Midnight Burning
Phillip Vega – Death in Utopia
Sarah P. Blanchard – Grabtown
Sean Hagerty – Cabal
Sheila Sharpe – Artist, Lover, Forger, Thief
Stephen G. Eoannou – After Pearl
Stephen J Wallace – Hazardous Lies
Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Warrior Pose
T.O. Paine – The Crisis
Tamar Anolic – This Side of the Law
Theresa Janson – Reservations: A Samantha Wright Crime Series
TJ Stecker – Redacted
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Our design is inspired by books designed by the incomparable Coraline Bickford-Smith. Her simple, beautiful, and evocative designs do so much to make the book work as a visual ambassador, capturing the essence of story and compelling potential readers to pick it up, click on it, or share it with others. A well-designed cover signals professionalism, sets expectations for your genre, and serves as a powerful marketing tool to stand out in both digital and physical spaces.
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring clear genres, audience, time periods, typography, and longevity across genres of Historical Fiction, Romance, Literary, Satire, Speculative Fiction, and Youth Reads.
These titles have moved forward in the Long List of the 2025 CCDA Fiction entries to the 2025 CCDA Fiction SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 CCDA Fiction Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards novel competition for Fiction Books!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works:
AJ Humphreys – Trip a Psychological Horror Novel
Andrew D.H. Moore – Children of Solo
Anne Polli – Mason the Magnificent
Catherine M Mathis – Ines the Queens of Portugal Trilogy
Charlie Robinson Cover by Ruth Noble – Bow Tie Sex
Christine Knapp – Murder on the Green
Debbie Black Cover by Kelly Black – Deetjen’s Closet a Quest for Magic
Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
Ellis K. Popa – Dawn To Dusk
Erika Lynn Adams – Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder
George Petersen – The Summer of Haight
Glen Dahlgren – The Wrath of Order
Gregg Brandalise – The Death of Us All
JL Spears – Daemon Protocol
Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
KD Straus – To Be True
Leslie Liautaud- Butterfly Pinned
Margaret Porter – Sequins and Starlight
Maria Giuseppa – R&R a Feast of Words
Mark A. Gibson – Roses in December
McKinley Aspen – Cogitatio Shadows in the Wind Book Two
Michael Bailey – Sweet Hunger
Miki Taylor – Bentley Makes a Dump Cake
Once Upon a Dance – A Tail of Twirls
Richard G Nixon – The Legend of Fingerless Will Nixon the Scottish Borderlands 1508-1509
Sarah V Barnes – She Who Rides Horses a Saga of the Ancient Steppe Book One
Sarah V. Barnes – A Clan Chief’s Daughter
Sean Hagerty – Cabal
Sue C. Dugan – Forever Ever Always
Susan Rogers – Warrior Pose
Sydney Roubian – Scarecrow Finds a Heart
Tamar Anolic – The Keepers
Theresa Janson – Reservations a Samantha Wright Crime Series
T.O. Paine – The Crisis
Travis Davis – War on the Porch
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Our design is inspired by books designed by the incomparable Coraline Bickford-Smith. Her simple, beautiful, and evocative designs do so much to make the book work as a visual ambassador, capturing the essence of story and compelling potential readers to pick it up, click on it, or share it with others. A well-designed cover signals professionalism, sets expectations for your genre, and serves as a powerful marketing tool to stand out in both digital and physical spaces.
Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring clear genres, audience, time periods, typography, and longevity across genres of Historical Fiction, Romance, Literary, Satire, Speculative Fiction, and Youth Reads.
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CCDA Fiction entries to the 2025 CCDA Fiction LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 CCDA Fiction Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards novel competition for Fiction Books!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works:
AJ Humphreys – Trip a Psychological Horror Novel
Andrew D.H. Moore – Children of Solo
Anne Polli – Mason the Magnificent
McKinley Aspen – Cogitatio Shadows in the Wind Book Two
Catherine M Mathis – Ines the Queens of Portugal Trilogy
Charlie Robinson Cover by Ruth Noble – Bow Tie Sex
Christine Knapp – Murder on the Green
Debbie Black Cover by Kelly Black – Deetjen’s Closet a Quest for Magic
Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
Ellis K. Popa – Dawn To Dusk
Erika Lynn Adams – Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder
Gary Gabel – The Constitution Kids
George Petersen – The Summer of Haight
Glen Dahlgren – The Wrath of Order
Gregg Brandalise – The Death of Us All
JL Spears – Daemon Protocol
Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
KD Straus – To Be True
Leslie Liautaud- Butterfly Pinned
Margaret Porter – Sequins and Starlight
Maria Giuseppa – R&R a Feast of Words
Mark A. Gibson – Roses in December
Michael Bailey – Sweet Hunger
Michele Sayre – Darke Realms One Tough Temporary She Alpha Arcana 2
Miki Taylor – Bentley Makes a Dump Cake
Once Upon a Dance – A Tail of Twirls
Richard G Nixon – The Legend of Fingerless Will Nixon the Scottish Borderlands 1508-1509
Sarah V Barnes – She Who Rides Horses a Saga of the Ancient Steppe Book One
Sarah V. Barnes – A Clan Chief’s Daughter
Sean Hagerty – Cabal
Sue C. Dugan – Cat-Atonic
Sue C. Dugan – Forever Ever Always
Susan Rogers – Warrior Pose
Sydney Roubian – Scarecrow Finds a Heart
Tamar Anolic – The Keepers
Theresa Janson – Reservations a Samantha Wright Crime Series
T.O. Paine – The Crisis
Travis Davis – War on the Porch
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out ourMystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out ourGlobal Thriller Awards).
These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CLUE entries to the 2025 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Clue Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2025Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Suspense and Thriller!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
A.J. Mccarthy – The Boy on the Dock
Aja Holland – Casco Bay
Ana Manwaring – Kickback
Angela Greenman – The Child Riddler
Arthur Coburn – Murder in Concrete
Ashley Thomas Sheikh – Kentucky Blood: Book I of the Kentucky Blood Series
Avanti Centrae – The Picasso Job: A Phoenix Thriller
Becky Anyanwu – Mind the Blinds
Bill Bennett – Swimming with Manatees
Brandon Lawniczak – Home Envy
Brian Cuban – The Body Brokers
Carlo J. Emanuele – The Sins We Inherit
Carolyn Summer Quinn – Fate Can Toss a Boomerang
Cathi Stoler – No Good Time: A Nick Donahue Adventure
Charlotte Stuart – Unicorns Can Be Deadly a Discount Detective Mystery 5
Cheryl Campbell – Bodies in the Bayou
Chris Chan – Well-Behaved Children Seldom Make History
Chuck Morgan – Preserve Protect and Defend
Dan Ramm – Long Branch: Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story
Danielle M. Wong – Tiny Wild Things
David Tenenbaum – Premonition
Diana Louise Webb – Last of the Autumn Rain
Dwight Holing – The Thunder Head
E. Alan Fleischauer – The Dark and Evil Sky
Ellis K. Popa – Awaken the Dawn
Ephrem Paredes – Pasadena Confidential
Eric Magun – Thank God for the Sinners
Francesco Paola – Left on Rancho
Frank J. Edwards – Doctor Witch
Holly Harrison – Death in the Land of Enchantment
Italia Tornabene – Femme Fatale: Shades of Retribution
Jack Luellen – Someone Had to Lie
Jeannée Sacken – The Women Who Stand Between
Jl Spears – Daemon Protocol
Joe Salerno – The Decision
Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
Kathleen Troy – Never Believe a Lie Twice
Kd Sherrinford – The Whistle of Revenge
Kevin Hwang – The Regression Strain
Kit Karson – Savage Malice
Larry Weindruch and Richard A. Yach – Nicky V: A Chicago Crime Story
Leslie Liautaud – Butterfly Pinned
Lew Paper – Legacy of Lies
Marian Exall – Loners
Matthew John Parker – The Lost Last Prophecy
Melanie Anagnos – Nightswimming: A Jamie Palmieri Mystery
Michael Wendroff – What Goes Around
Mike Van Horn – The Ivy Leaguers
Miriam Verbeek – The Bank
Nannette Potter – Deception’s Edge
Otho Eskin – Black Sun Rising
Paty Jager – Crapshoot
Paty Jager – Wolverine Instincts
Paul Levine – Midnight Burning
Phillip Vega – Death in Utopia
Sarah P. Blanchard – Grabtown
Sean Hagerty – Cabal
Sharon Lynn – Dark Web Gaslight
Sheila Sharpe – Artist, Lover, Forger, Thief
Stephen G. Eoannou – After Pearl
Stephen J Wallace – Hazardous Lies
Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Warrior Pose
T.O. Paine – The Crisis
Tamar Anolic – This Side of the Law
Theresa Janson – Reservations: A Samantha Wright Crime Series
TJ Stecker – Redacted
William Forester – The Secret Book
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
Only 1 week left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!
The Clue Awards, The Global Thriller Awards, and the Mystery and Mayhem Awards are still open!
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Clue Award for Suspense/Thrillers!
Pamela Beason –If Only
Jeff Nania –Musky Run
Sean Hagerty –Jones Point
Kathryn Caraway –Unfollow Me
Carl Vonderau –Saving Myles
Shanessa Gluhm –A River of Crows
Michael Pronko –Shitamachi Scam
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Clue Grand Prize Winner:
Enemies Domestic by John DeDakis
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Global Thriller Awards!
T.O. Paine –The Delusion
Charlie Robinson –Heavy Hysteria: A Novel of Corporate Intrigue Involving the Minerals of this Sacred Earth
Tony Ollivier –The Tokyo Diversion
Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke –Change of Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Novel
Ron Singerton –Ruptured
Sheri T. Joseph –Edge of the Known World
Carla Seyler –A Place Unmade
Randall Krzak –Frozen Conquest
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Global Thriller Awards Grand Prize Winner:
A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston
Congratulations to the 2024 Winners of the Mystery & Mayhem Awards!
Patrick E. Craig –The Boy In Blue Denim
Lori Roberts Herbst –Graven Images
Gail Noble-Sanderson –A Cup of Revenge – A Drew Davies Railway Mystery – Book 2
M. K. Graff –Death in the Orchard: A Trudy Genova Mystery
Miriam Verbeek –The Forest
Kari Bovee –The Pryce of Conceit
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 M&M Grand Prize Winner:
If Two Are Dead by Jeanne Matthews
At Chanticleer, we see your success as our success. The CIBAs provide dedicated promotion at every advancement tier, from our highly anticipated Long Lists to our prestigious Grand Prize Winners. We work tirelessly to maximize your digital footprint through our high-traffic website, social media campaigns, and newsletter features that energize both authors and readers.
We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April, 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.
Readers are always searching for their next great thriller, and your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.
Only 2 weeks left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!
The Cover Design Awards are still open!
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Award for Fiction!
Ann Phillipp –Grand Theft Death
C.L. Olsen –Old Crabby Turtle
Deborah Swenson –Till My Last Breath
Laura C. Rader –Hatfield 1677
Gail Noble-Sanderson–The Book of Rules
Margaret Porter –A Change of Location
Mark A. Gibson –A Song That Never Ends
Travis Davis- One of Four
R.W. Meek- The Dream Collector Book 1; Sabine and Sigmund Freud
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Cover Design Fiction Grand Prize Winner:
Luna, Rhone and Stone Book 2 by Strider S.R. Klusman
Congratulations to the Winners of the 2024 Cover Design Awards for Non-Fiction!
Anne Gately – Sunburnt: A Memoir of Sun, Surf and Skin Cancer
Kasey J. Claytor–Finding The Light: Navigating Dementia with My Son
Kathryn Caraway –Unfollow Me
Linda M. Lockwood –Sky Ranch: Reared in the High Country
Marianna Marlowe –Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
And a huge round of applause for the 2024 Cover Design Awards Non-Fiction Grand Prize Winner:
Teaching in the Dark by Genet Simone
The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.
We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.
Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 2026) where Winners from all 28 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.
In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.
The Cover Design Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in every genre. The Grand Prize Winner, Strider Klusman’s book, Luna will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Cover Design contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
Hannah Ballard’s most successful relationship: her career.
Her superpower is an uncanny ability to discover perfect movie settings while avoiding the limelight herself. She’s involved in pre-production for a film based on a bestselling historical novel when a chance meeting with an aristocratic landowner leads her to Somerset and his estate in picturesque Milver Vale—the ideal backdrop for a period drama. Martin Latimer, Marquess of Milverston, believes the release of a high-profile motion picture can increase tourism and bolster the local economy. And he hopes to spend more time with its intriguing location manager.
After Hannah suffers a professional setback, proximity and mutual passion propel the couple into an exhilarating affair. But Martin soon becomes a magnet for the scandal-hungry media, forcing Hannah into a painful and damaging decision.
Powering through heartbreak is hard. Especially when coping with unemployment—and dealing with members of her fractured family. For their protection, she must part from the nobleman asking her to stay with him. Who makes her believe that, at long last, she actually could be falling in love.
From New York Harbor to the battlefields of France, relive World War I through the eyes of an unknown soldier, as told through his diary. See how the 100-year-old diary brings a father and his estranged son back together by retracing his experiences fighting in the battlefields of France in 1917 – 1918 to his final resting place—the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
His diary was found next to his lifeless body by a young French girl who witnessed his death and bravery as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. How the unknown soldier felt and what he experienced fighting on the Western Front in World War One —his day-to-day struggles and life as a private and then as an NCO. As he led his men into combat. The pride and fear he felt and the overwhelming stress he encountered, sometimes frozen with fear from the sheer brutality of modern warfare from all sides. His bravery in combat and leadership in training and on the battlefield. How he coped as he watched his fellow soldiers, battle buddies, and friends die one after another. Some from battlefield injuries from conventional weapons and gas attacks, but also diseases from the unsanitary conditions of trench warfare and influenza. His only wish was to come out alive, a wish that would never come true.
But return home, he did.
From Chanticleer:
One of Four: World War One Through the Eyes of an Unknown Soldier by Travis Davis is a compassionate and intimate portrait of the tenuous and unforgiving First World War, as shown through the eyes of an American soldier on France’s front lines. Based on real people and events in 1918 France, One of Four begins with a young French girl, Camille, who stumbles upon a diary lying next to an unknown American soldier. He was killed among his comrades in a German ambush near the banks of the Aire River, as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. When Camille comes of age, she leaves her hometown to seek a better life in Paris. There, she is killed after joining a German resistance group. But before her death, she tucked the soldier’s diary in her Bible and hid it in a local bookstore.
Decades later, a man by the name of Walter travels to France with his son, Alex, to whom he’d become estranged after the painful divorce from Alex’s mother. He hopes this will be a journey of healing and exploration and that their time together will revive their shaky relationship. While there, Alex purchases the Bible left by Camille many years ago. By reading the hidden diary entries of the soldier together, Alex and Walter’s relationships takes an unexpected turn.
Patricia Schuster acquires both independence and furniture polish after inheriting her grandmother’s house and antique business. Her new life in the Northern California town of Lakeville is in jeopardy, however, when she is falsely arrested for stealing a rare 1950’s Cadillac and is blackmailed by Jimmy, a toothpick-wielding used-car salesman. When the real car thief ends up dead, she turns to her grandmother’s friends—four women in their golden years who play fast and loose with the law. But how far over the line will Patricia have to go to find a killer and clear her name?
From Chanticleer:
Grand Theft Death is best read when you need a break from reality. Don’t read it if your two feet are firmly placed in all things serious. In fact, don’t read it if you areeven thinking of going to the serious side of life. This book is as realistic as a Saturday morning cartoon – and twice the fun.
The characters are delightfully quirky, the situation fun and surprising, and the action as snappy as popping corn. The heroine, Patty Schuster, is kind, sincere, wry, and unique, at the same time so easygoing that she can roll with the endless punches the plot throws at her and carry on with a good heart.
Good thing, since the plot treats Patty like a punching bag.
She starts out in jail, falsely arrested for car theft, then gets tangled up with thieves, spies, forgers, smugglers, bad cops, good cops, sleazy hoteliers, double-crossing gangsters, nosy neighbors, felonious grannies, and divorcing parents—not to mention murder of the friend in trouble she tried to help, which led to her arrest.
Colonist Benjamin Waite, a devoted husband, father, and skilled military scout in King Philip’s War, reluctantly obeys orders to guide a brutal attack against a camp of Algonquian Natives.
After the catastrophic event, Benjamin is burdened with guilt and longs for peace. But the Algonquians, led by the revered sachem Ashpelon, retaliate with vengeance upon Ben’s Massachusetts town of Hatfield, capturing over a dozen colonists, including his pregnant wife Martha and their three young daughters.
Hatfield 1677 is a tale of three interwoven yet diverging journeys of strength and survival. Benjamin is driven by love and remorse to rescue his family; Martha is forced into captivity and desperately striving to protect her children; and Ashpelon is willing to risk everything to ensure the safety and freedom of his people.
Based on the lives of the author’s ancestors, this riveting and unforgettable novel gives voice to three vastly different experiences in North America during a time before the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Then, the land was but a wilderness and a battleground; equality was not yet perceived as self-evident; and liberty and happiness were nothing more than dangerous pursuits.
For over three hundred years, that’s what the Hamilton family has called a shrinking swath of farmland in the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina.
Home.
That’s the failing tobacco farm where Walter and Maggie Hamilton choose to raise their three children. Walter has big plans to make the farm more profitable, but his plans are interrupted by World War II and family heartbreak. Walter returns from the war a changed man and finds Maggie, too, has changed, neither of them for the better. But at least their family is together again at…
Home.
More than anything, that’s where their eight-year-old son, Jimmy Hamilton, wants to be. However, after an unspeakable tragedy, he’s sent away from the only life he’s ever known to live with a kindly uncle in North Carolina.
Home.
That’s where Jimmy is finally going to be, unless fate has plans of its own…
A Song that Never Endsis the first installment of the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and beyond the gardens of stone at Arlington.
From Chanticleer:
A Song That Never Ends, the first volume of a two-part series by Mark A. Gibson, opens a dramatic fictional saga of the Hamilton family from the late 1930s Depression era, to 1967 and the Vietnam conflict. Here against the backdrop of a South Carolina tobacco farm, we come to witness a family in turmoil.
The calm and reserved Walter Hamilton and his rebellious, impulsive wife Maggie strive to build a life and raise a family. But the couple is tested by a series of misfortunes—miscarriages and stillbirths, and Walter’s enlistment during WWII leaving him with guilt-induced PTSD as he deals with the memory of fallen comrades.
At the center of this heartfelt story is James, the middle child, who at the tender age of eight is forced from his home due to a horrific accident and sent to live with a widower uncle.
Wales, 1946. In the beautiful seaside village of Mumbles, Drew Davies, a young Welsh woman, is determined to pursue a career in a profession that has been historically denied to women. Living with her grandparents in their charming stone cottage, Drew’s quiet life changes course suddenly when murder, espionage, and a cast of scoundrels and saints enter the picture, but not even murder can stop Drew in her tracks. This is the first historical cozy mystery in Gail’s new Drew Davies Railway Mysteries series.
Most bullies are hurting somewhere inside. This magical and heartwarming tale about an old giant sea turtle and a tiny little fish teaches us about BRAVERY, TRUST, FORGIVENESS, and HOPE. And to HELP others in need, no matter how different we are.
This is the story of an old sea turtle with a rusty fish hook stuck in his foot! He is quite crabby about his unfortunate situation, and likes to terrorize the little sea creatures. One day he catches little fishy, and plans to have him for dinner until little fishy tells the old turtle that if he will trust him and let him go, he will come back with his friend Mr. Swordfish, and he can saw that old rusty fish hook off so he will feel better!
A portion of the profits from this book are donated to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation center.
The Dream Collectorimmerses the reader into the exciting milieu of late 19th Century Paris when art and medicine were in the throes of revolution, art turning to Impressionism, medicine turning to psychology. In 1885, Julie Forette, a self-educated woman from Marseilles, finds employment at the infamous Salpêtrière, hospital and asylum to over five thousand disabled, demented and abandoned women, a walled city ruled by the famed neurologist and arrogant director, Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot.
Julie Forette forms a friendship with the young, visiting intern Sigmund Freud who introduces her to the altering-conscious power of cocaine. Together they pursue the hidden potential of hypnotism and dream interpretation. After Freud receives the baffling case of the star hysteric, Sabrine Weiss, he is encouraged by Julie to experiment with different modes of treatment, including “talking sessions.” Their urgent quest is to find a cure for Sabrine, Princess of the Hysterics, before Dr. Charcot resorts to the radical removal of her ovaries.
In Paris, Julie finds a passion for the new art emerging, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and forms friendships with the major artists of the period, including Pissarro, Monet, and Degas. Julie becomes intimately involved with the reclusive Cezanne only to be seduced by the “Peruvian Savage” Paul Gauguin. Julie is the eponymous ‘Dream Collector’ collecting the one unforgettable, soul-defining dream of the major historical figures of the period.
Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Breath, Book 1 of the Desert Hills Trilogy
A 2021 Chatelaine First Place Winner!
Emily Sweeney, MD, is a vibrant young trauma physician at a major Seattle medical center who is tragically taken from the comfort of her 21st Century life. Suddenly, dropped into the 1880s unforgiving frontier, she is determined to survive, or die all over again. Using her knowledge and skills as a physician, Emily struggles to save a stranger in the desert hills of the Arizona Territory. In the end, can she return to her previous life and leave behind the man she’s come to love?
Caleb Young, a once-prominent Boston attorney in 1880, is haunted by his past filled with lies and deception. Hoping to outrun his demons, he willingly leaves his privileged life behind. Heading straight into unforeseen trouble, he is shot for revenge and left to die in the desert hills. Now, dependent on a beautiful woman who appears out of nowhere using her hands and heart to save him, will he finally have a reason to live.
Two lives forged out of truth and trust, can their love survive, or will it take its last breath?
For a country kid, the odd styles and new-fangled contraptions of the steam era were beyond Rhone’s comfort zone, but he was here to do a job, if he managed to graduate from the OPR Academy.
Using his front as a nobleman’s son, Rhone and his unique partner, Stone, are sent to an easy first assignment, the little harbor town of Corgy. But he quickly discovers the mayor dislikes him and that pirates are hounding the shipping trade. With one disliking him, and he disliking them both, things weren’t starting off well. Unfortunately, it was his job to fix problems and he was glad he had Stone along to help.
Only when he met Bella, the fiery waitress at The Common House, and Captain Black, of The Backwater Mistress, did he find his answer and an entirely uplifting experience you won’t want to miss.
From Chanticleer:
Luna, the second book in Strider S.R. Klusman’s YA Rhone and Stone Series, follows Rhone and his alien partner Stone as they develop a ship that can sail through the air.
The two train to become agents for the Office of Public Recrimination, urged to join by their friend – and now boss – Aundrea. Rhone struggles through training with the help of his trusty partner, but a much more difficult test remains before them – their first assignment.
Aundrea sends them to Corgy, a port town, without explaining their mission. But it doesn’t take long for Rhone to encounter troubles from shore and sea alike.
He and Stone meet Mayor Dugan, who takes an instant dislike for Rhone, posing as a wealthy merchant’s son. But it’s his front, designed so by the ladies of the OPR, and commands a great deal of respect and authority from the locals, if not Bella. Sometimes it’s difficult not to forget his actual purpose for being at Corgy. As an agent of the OPR, he must solve the town’s greatest problem, a rash of pirate attacks on Corgy’s vital ocean-borne trade; if they continue, Corgy won’t survive.
The submissions for the 2025 Cover Design Awards – CCDAs – are underway, and both Fiction and Non-Fiction divisions close on July 31, 2025!
In the three seconds it takes you to read this sentence, a potential reader has already decided whether your book is worth their attention. That’s the brutal reality of today’s marketplace: your cover has exactly three seconds to communicate genre, grab attention, and compel someone to pick up your book or click that buy button.
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards celebrate the visual art of storytelling—recognizing the designers, publishers, and authors who understand that powerful cover design isn’t just decoration, it’s marketing. Whether displayed 50 feet tall at a trade show or reduced to a thumbnail on Amazon, your cover is your book’s most important piece of retail real estate.
The 5-Element Formula for Cover Success
Every winning cover must instantly communicate five critical elements:
Genre – Is it clearly science fiction, romance, mystery, or a memoir within those crucial three seconds?
Target Audience – Does it speak to young adults, literary fiction readers, business professionals, or general trade audiences?
Mood – Suspenseful, romantic, humorous, dark, or inspirational—the emotional tone must be unmistakable.
Timeframe – Contemporary, historical, futuristic, or period-specific settings should be immediately apparent.
Place/Culture – Whether it’s small-town America, ancient Rome, or outer space, location context sells books.
As Chanticleers founder Kiffer Brown says: “Effective covers sell the first book. The content between the covers sells the second book.”
Celebrating Our First ever 2024 Grand Prize Winners for the CCDAs!
Fiction Grand Prize Winner: Luna by Strider Klusman
This YA steampunk adventure cover perfectly exemplifies winning design—immediately communicating its genre through Victorian-inspired mechanical elements, targeting young adult readers with dynamic character positioning, and establishing a fantastical mood that promises adventure. The cover tells potential readers exactly what they’re getting: imaginative steampunk storytelling for the YA market.
Non-Fiction Grand Prize Winner: Teaching in the Dark by Genét Simone
This powerful memoir cover demonstrates how non-fiction design can convey both emotional impact and genre clarity. The visual elements immediately signal this as narrative non-fiction while the mood suggests a serious, transformational story that will resonate with educators and readers interested in social justice themes.
Both winners will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. They’ll also be invited to participate in Chanticleer 10-Question Interviews and receive featured coverage across our promotional platforms.
Design Categories That Drive Sales
Fiction Categories:
Literary/Contemporary/Satire – Sophisticated design for discerning readers
Romance – Emotional connection and genre expectations
Historical Fiction – Period authenticity with modern appeal
Supernatural & Speculative Fiction – Otherworldly elements that intrigue
Suspense/Thriller/Mysteries – Tension and danger in visual form
Youth Reads – Age-appropriate design that appeals to young readers and their parents
Non-Fiction Categories:
Narrative Non-Fiction Works – Story-driven design for memoir, biography, and true stories
Advisory/How-To/Guides – Clear, professional design that builds trust and expertise
Looking at Cover Excellence
Check out some of the outstanding cover designs we’ve celebrated recently that showcase the perfect marriage of artistic vision and market savvy!
These covers represent the gold standard: designs that work whether they’re displayed in bookstores, featured in online retailers, or showcased at book fairs and conferences.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional cover designs we receive every year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
Your cover design deserves recognition in an industry where visual impact drives sales. From indie authors investing in professional design to major publishers showcasing their best work, the Cover Design Awards celebrate the artistry that makes books impossible to ignore.
Your Cover is Your Silent Salesperson
In bookstores, at trade shows, on digital platforms your cover works 24/7 to sell your book. Whether you’re a designer proud of your visual storytelling, a publisher showcasing your best releases, or an author who invested in professional design, the Cover Design Awards provide the recognition that turns great design into marketing momentum.
You know you want it…
Don’t let your cover blend into the crowd—the deadline is July 31, 2025!
Submit to the Cover Design Awards today and make your book impossible to ignore!
The Clue Awards features the best suspense and thriller books, including both fiction and true crime! We are delighted to feature these amazing authors from the last five years of Clue Grand Prize Awards!
Here is the official Hall of Fame for the Grand Prize Winners of the Clue Awards!
Enemies Domestic
By John DeDakis
The review for the 2024 Grand Prize Winner is forthcoming, in the meantime here is what some Goodreads readers have been saying-
“A fantastic thriller which will keep you locked in. The story picks up exactly where Fake left off and is another super satisfying ride on the Lark Chadwick roller coaster. And it was scarily realistic. We live in a time of societal dilemmas, a few of which are explored in Lark’s personal life. The book both entertains and shares multiple angles of some tough discussions.” -Matthew
“If you haven’t read the other books in the series, don’t sweat it. ENEMIES DOMESTIC reads like a standalone thriller. The plot is frighteningly realistic, loaded with suspense and intrigue, and cleverly crafted. I was on edge until the very end.” -Lori
“Suspend your disbelief and you’ll race through John Dedakis’ sixth novel featuring Lark Chadwick, a reporter who’s tapped to be the president’s press secretary. Trouble begins when a rightwing journalist falsely reports she is planning an abortion. When she fails to arrive at the White House two days later, the search for her begins followed by a hunt for her captors. And that’s only in the opening chapters of this gripping thriller.” -Barry
In The Other Murder by Kevin G. Chapman, two ambitious journalists find themselves at the knife’s edge as they seek to uncover the entire truth of a gruesome double homicide.
“An error does not become truth because of multiplied propaganda, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.” –Mahatma Gandhi
Hannah, a journalist with the American Cable News network, is pulled away from a date by her editor to cover the breaking news of a shooting in Washington Square Park. The victim is Angelica Monroe, a White girl from Westchester County and a sophomore at NYU. She was shot at a close range, as shown by the dark hole above her left eye.
The murder becomes much more mysterious and complicated when Paulo, a reporter for a small community newspaper, makes a connection between Angelica’s murder and the shooting of a Latino teen, Javier Estrada, on the other side of the park on the same night.
Shelley Nolden’s debut novel, The Vines, embraces multiple genres as it chills, fascinates, and horrifies, from historical and magical realism to fantasy and horror.
Nolden has melded fanaticism, medical anomalies, and the frailties of human behavior together with a historic setting, creating a narrative Kudzu vine that grows rapidly and spares nothing in its path. This particular vine consists of two main branches that intertwine, bridging time and linking parallel realities, one past, one present.
The Gettler men of Long Island, New York have shepherded a secret medical research project for generations, with the exception of Finn, the youngest man in the family.
Detective Rudyard Bloodstone is facing the most bizarre crime spree of his career as a copper on the Victorian streets of London. Someone is using a poisonous Cape cobra as a weapon.
What begins as a simple robbery scheme turns deadly when a wealthy businessman is killed via cobra attack, the crimes go from strange to deadly. Rudyard (Ruddy) and his partner, Archie Holcomb, have few clues and no idea what would cause such a change in the criminal’s behavior.
When the criminal returns to the estate and attacks the victim’s daughter, Ruddy’s suspicions are confirmed.
Famed marine biologist and researcher Claudia Rawlings is presumed dead. When Claudia’s research vessel goes down, her daughter Riley goes on a desperate search to discover what happened, eventually turning to Dagger Eastin, co-owner of Hunters and Seekers a marine salvage business. Dagger soon realize this isn’t a simple search and reclaim mission when someone takes a shot at him during an exploratory dive with Riley.
Former Navy SEALs, Dagger, and his partners Kaleb LaSalle and Stone Garrison are the definitions of relentless, and they quickly become embroiled in the investigation that has caught the attention of some very influential people, all seeking Claudia’s important research. And while Riley learns that her mother has left behind clues to her missing research, the Hunters and Seekers pull out all the stops to help and protect her. The wild scavenger hunt sends Dagger and Riley on a trip to discover the truth, but Russian spies, big oil cronies, and psychopathic hitmen lurk around every corner.
From political conspiracies to medical mysteries, these Hall of Fame winners prove that exceptional crime fiction comes from authors who understand that the best thrillers don’t just entertain—they reveal uncomfortable truths about power, justice, and human nature.
Each of these celebrated authors shares one crucial element: they didn’t let their stories remain unsolved mysteries buried in obscurity. They submitted to the Clue Awards and transformed their manuscripts from hidden evidence into compelling cases that readers can’t put down.
The Case for Your Crime Fiction
Your thriller deserves more than digital silence.
In today’s saturated market, even the most gripping crime stories can disappear without a trace. These Hall of Fame winners broke through the noise because they understood that exceptional writing needs strategic promotion and credible recognition.
This could be your story next year.
The Clue Awards don’t just crown winners—we build careers through comprehensive promotion at every advancement tier. From Long List to Grand Prize Winner, we’re actively working to connect your crime fiction with readers who are hungry for exactly the kind of story you’ve crafted.
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Thriller and Suspense Mysteries. The Grand Prize Winner, John DeDakis’s book, Enemies Domestic will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Clue contest page year ’round!
The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!
With her housemate Blake away and her lover Chase also absent, Sam Westin embarks on a backpacking trip in the North Cascades, hoping to photograph elusive gray wolves. Blake, reeling from a recent breakup, has taken a six-week job far away in Evansburg, caring for three gorillas while their owner, Dr. Grace McKenna, is on vacation. But events take a dark turn when the baby gorilla is shot by an intruder, prompting Grace’s lover, Detective Finn, to investigate. Sam’s impromptu trip becomes dangerous when she finds a corpse and then stumbles upon an injured immigrant and packhorse carrying drugs. After a gunshot forces her to flee her campsite, Sam faces a perilous cross-country journey with the injured man and horse in tow. In Evansburg, while following the trail of the gorilla shooting, Detective Finn stumbles upon a murdered woman in a nearby abandoned house and her child hiding in the gorilla barn. With both investigations going nowhere fast, it will take Sam visiting Blake and the gorillas to spot a clue that may be the link needed to solve all the crimes.
Olympic medalist Anna MacDonald comes home to Namekagon County to emcee the Great Wilderness Race as predators stalk the Northwoods. While occasional interactions with potentially dangerous animals are old hat for most residents, this changes when unpredictable behavior patterns make it unclear who is the hunter and who is the hunted. Sheriff John Cabrelli and the new Musky Falls chief of police work swiftly to keep the community calm as they try to piece together the clues before it is too late.
Musky Run is the fourth book in the award-winning Northern Lakes Mystery series, following Figure Eight, Spider Lake, and Bough Cutter.
By day, we’re your neighbors. Your boss. Your teacher. By night, we hunt the monsters who hunt our children.
As a Special Operations soldier, Dane Cooper was trained and tested to handle the toughest, most dangerous situations around the world. He was not, however, prepared for the abduction of his daughter.
That kidnapping sends him into a downward spiral, the depths of which are unknown even to Dane. But a lifeline is thrown to him by a mysterious cabal, which sees his skills as paramount to helping others.
Now investigating other grieving parents’ cases, Dane must conceal his efforts from the zeal of an FBI agent hot on the trail of the vigilante cabal, a dedicated Virginia Bureau of Investigation team, and an elusive network of monsters at the center of it all. Punishing the wicked while searching for his little angel, Dane must also overcome the struggle with his own demons.
This harrowing true crime novel telling the story of the authors experience with a stalker is not yet released, but we are excited to see it come out eventually and see her story told! Unfollow Me is also Chanticleer’s 2024 Journey Grand Prize Winner and won a First Place for Cover Design in Non-Fiction. For more information see the authors website at kathryncaraway.com and unfollowme.com for the authors advocacy project for stalking awareness.
From Chanticleer:
When you’re a target of stalking, “Each day is a fight to stay alive. Even while sleeping, you must be ready.” So reveals Kathryn Caraway in Unfollow Me, a spine-tingling true crime novel tracing a life shattered by severe stalking.
Although the author uses the pseudonym “Kathryn Caraway” throughout this novel to protect her identity, her harrowing tales of being the target of a stalker and fighting for her rights to freedom and safety are a testament to the real danger she was exposed to. Caraway’s experience creates a compelling story of one woman’s brave quest for justice against her torturer.
Kathryn emotionally, mentally, and physically falls apart at the hands of a violent, ubiquitous presence. Despite the severity of the crimes committed against her, Kathryn’s concerns are routinely dismissed as irrational and hysterical by law enforcement officials, lawyers, and even long-time friends.
Before a malicious intruder targets her, Kathryn is a beloved mother, a wonderful friend, and a confident employee. But after she is introduced to Todd, he begins to slowly strip her life from her control.
When the FBI can’t help, an unassuming banker takes matters into his own hands to bring his son home
Wade, a respected banker in La Jolla, CA, and his estranged wife, Fiona, make the unbearable decision to send their teenage son, Myles, away to an expensive treatment center after a streak of harmful behavior. After a year of treatment, Myles comes home, seemingly rehabilitated. But soon, he sneaks off to Tijuana to buy drugs—and is kidnapped.
When the ransom call comes, Fiona is frantic and accepts help from Andre, the Quebecois whose charity Fiona runs. Wade is wary of Andre’s reputation and the bank he owns, but seeing no other way to secure a kidnap negotiator or the ransom, he swallows his doubts to get his son home.
In order to get the ransom money, Wade makes a deal with Andre—he’ll work for Andre’s bank in exchange for the cash. But as Wade races to rescue Myles before his kidnappers lose their patience, he realizes he’s wrapped up in more crime than just a kidnapping—he’s now indebted to a cartel.
In 1988, Sloan Hadfield’s brother Ridge went fishing with their father and never came home. Their father, a good-natured Vietnam veteran prone to violent outbursts, was arrested and charged with murder. Ridge’s body was never recovered, and Sloan’s mother—a brilliant ornithologist—slowly descended into madness, insisting her son was still alive.
Now, twenty years later, Sloan’s life is unraveling. In the middle of a bitter divorce, she’s forced to return to her rural Texas hometown when her mother is discharged from a mental health facility.
Overwhelmed by memories and unanswered questions, Sloan returns to the last place her brother was seen all those years ago: Crow’s Nest Creek. There, she is shocked to hear a crow muttering the same syllable over and over: Ridge, Ridge, Ridge.
When the body of another boy is found, Sloan begins to question what really happened to her brother all those years ago. What she discovers will shock her small community and turn her family upside down.
In Tokyo, there isn’t always respect for older people. Sometimes, it’s the opposite.
After the suspicious deaths of a seventy-something woman and a student recluse, Detective Hiroshi tracks down a gang of scammers who target retirees, robbing them of their pensions, life savings, and even the deeds to their homes. Hiroshi teams up with Detective Ishii, who’s been running a women’s crime task force. Together, they find out who has been ripping off the pensions, life savings, and deeds to homes in shitamachi, the older, eastern side of the city.
With his personal life on hold (almost), Hiroshi finds out how complex the traditional life of Tokyo still is. With old-school Detective Takamatsu and ex-sumo wrestler Chief Sakaguchi watching his back, he finds out who’s behind the scams, and who’s behind the scammers.
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).
